botryoidal crystal sprays.

it's the mica channel!

O salad chef: awake

and scatter bacon bits

across the verdant iceberg bed!

 

Lo! Tis done

now watch the homespun vegans run

and from their compost-coddled

gardens tart arugula, thyme, parsley

and heirloom lettuce take

 

 

My flash story about plant sex http://www.dailycabal.com/2009/06/young_love_a_tragedy.html

Reynolds, Eric T., ed., 2007, Ruins: Extraterrestrial, Hadley Rille books, Box 25466, Overland Park KS 66225, www.hadleyrillebooks.com. Perfect bound trade paperback, 345 pages, $15.95.

 

"Nice cover," I thought, though that seems to be typical of this publisher. I enjoyed every story too. There are 23 them, and the theme is obvious from the title of the book.

I have always been fascinated by ruins. Studying them, we catch glimpses of other people, doing other things. Ruins give one a feeling of mortality and also immortality. Here we are, receiving something from those who lived long ago. Some of what we get is passed on unintentionally, and this can be at least as revealing as estimates that are meant for posterity. Considering the past reminds us that we could pass something on too. The fact that we may only have a few crumbs from the biscuit just makes vanished worlds more intriguing. We can take as a premise that ancient people were not so different, really, from us, because varied circumstances have the same basic human material to work with in creating cultures and societies. Could the same be true of ruins left by aliens? Maybe, maybe not. In _Ruins: Extraterrestrial_, a couple of dozen authors consider this question and others

 

A few excavations.

 

I'm not familiar with very many of these authors, which may be a function of my ignorance more than anything else. I was quite impressed the quality of writing.

 

In "stonework" by Wendy Waring, an archaeologist of sorts encounters a relic of a civilization that isn't quite as dead as it seems. This story doesn't answer any questions, but it raises a few.

 

Justin Stanchfield takes us "Beyond the wall." The concept of a mysterious wall whose far side is unknown is almost a cliché in science fiction. Stanchfield does manage to bring a new twist to the idea. I like the way he like the way he shows, rather than tell, what is going on. And what is that exactly? Is the wall a device that manipulates time? Does it merely manipulate minds? Maybe the difference really makes no difference.

 

Christopher McKitterick introduces a new riff on the end of humanity theme, so wonderfully played by John W. Campbell and others over the past few decades. "The empty utopia" isn't completely empty, but the last cup is about to be drained when the Martians show up in the nick of time. It is a sweet story.

 

I don't really mean to say something about every single story in this book, because that would make this review longer than it ought to be. The truth is I like just about every story in this book well enough to tell you something about it. I am afraid that talking about these stories is a bit like eating leaves potato chips. "Borrowed time" by Gustavo Bondoni left me wondering what the ending meant. That doesn't happen too often and I quite enjoyed it.

 

Harvey Welles and Philip Raines use "The dam" to look back from the far side of a profound cultural transition. Something like the singularity of Vernor Vinge. It's almost impossible for us to understand what the far side of such an event would be like, but this story provides a few clues.

 

One more. "The fateful voyage of _Dame la Liberté_" by Lavie Tidhar reminded me strongly of RA Lafferty. There's nothing like surreality to enhance a story about archaeology.

 

The bottom line is that Eric has done something really remarkable in this volume. If you are anything like me, you will like every story. Don't wait until it goes out of print!

 

In the interest of full disclosure: Eric and my wife are old friends.

 

 

The end

 

 

 

 

"Hazard Pay," first published 1999 in Scavenger's Newsletter, part of the Beam Me Up podcast released yesterday.

http://beameup.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-06-20T17_04_33-07_00

Begins 20 min. 16 sec. into the podcast.

Jun 1 09. Orpheus died in his sleep in the wee hours after fighting cancer for most of a year. In Jan. his prpnosis was <6 weeks. He was the most amiable cat I ever met. Lil stole my headphones & is asleep. I'll write more l8r.

 

He was abandoned in a cardboard box with his sister when he was barely old enough to live without his mother. From then on he was the most laid-back cat you can imagine. When he tried to dart out past your feet to get outside it was really lumbering instead of darting. In recent years he would stroll out the door past me (I could only have stopped him by running him down and he knew I wouldn't do that), amble partway down my ramp, and drop heavily to the ground right before being scooped up. Sometimes he didn't jump soon enough. On the ground he just hung out, almost waiting to be retrieved. It was only within the last six months that we realized he really did want to be out there. He just wasn't willing to be pushy about it. so in his last few months he got to relax in the sun whenever we had time to watch him. It isn't that he would make a break for it. We just wanted to know where he was so we could bring him back into safety before bedtime. He did spend one night outside, and during the night something bit him near the base of his tail. Probably the nasty cat that lives next door.

 

He never wanted to be picked up or to sit in your lap. He loved to be scratched, but when people tried to hold him (which was often, because he was so fluffy) he would lie limp in a resigned fashion. After a few tens of seconds he would start to escape, but not use his claws. You felt guilty if you didn't put him down. His sister Empress died a year or so ago and she had loved to sit on my lap. After her death he started doing that. I guess he felt it was a job someone had to do. He was in general a lot less reclusive after her death, though whether it was because he missed her or thought we did I have never been sure.

 

I've only said a few things about him here, but it's more than I could bring myself to say about her, so there you go. You are probably bored by now anyway.

 

By the way, in the photos he is the larger browner one with the white line on his nose and higher white socks.

13:33 min/sec into an hour-long podcast (#159)

http://beameup.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-05-30T18_28_45-07_00

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wual/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=14&id=1470478&pid=217

U kno, Hasp Deadbolt

went 2 ave maria grotto in cullman. rained on &
off th whole way.  actually sunny while we were there--pt 2 th shade.
 mom had been wanting to go for a couple of years she said.  I don't
really know why she hadn't wanted to all the time you're in Alabama.
Naturally, I resisted, had done so for years,  but we had to find some
place to go for the weekend and we had let it get so late it had to be
a day trip.  we really didn't _have_ to go anywhere, but mom felt for
Memorial Day weekend we needed to do_something_.

The rain started only a few miles outside of Tuscaloosa, and I had
vivid mental images all the way up there and it's starting to pour
when we arrived.  We could eat lunch before seeing the grotto, but
what if it was still raining?  As it turned out, although we probably
drove through a half-inch of rain on the way up there, when we got to
Cullman the skies were clear and they stayed that way all the time we
were there & more than half way back home.  It was like our trip was
blessed by a higher power and I didn't think that NOAA cared that
much.

We were all surprised by the grotto I think.  Both Sheila and I
expected it to be tackier than it was.  The thing is it was a five
decade labor of love by a devoted Catholic.  That prevented the level
of tackiness often found in other "attractions."

Idiosyncratic, yes; amusing, yes; inaccurate in places, definitely.
But, also graceful and impressive.  Unique, and beautiful.  Sheila is
already planning to take any her relatives who visit us in the future.
 I'm sure they will like it.  Some of my family might even like it.
But it's more meaningful if you're Catholic.

don't go in the middle of the summer.  This was a good time of year to visit.  And Coleman doesn't contain very many restaurants.  If you are as hungry as we were a lack of choices isn't a big problem.

  EMPTY SKULLS

 

The deadly and the dead,

Keep company in nameless halls;

Where pale phosphorescent creatures dance,

To a secret stygian drum.

 

Frightful shapes move in merciful anonymity,

Disturbing heaps of moldering bones,

And scattering the gnawing scamperers,

To their fetid holes.

 

The heedless giants pass and scavengers return,

To feed and breed and die,

Beneath the silent stares

Of a thousand empty skulls.