I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:38:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:49:50 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 12:44:00 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 09:09:30 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Oct 1, 11:56 am, wrote:
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:32:26 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch



wrote:
On Oct 1, 10:27 am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 1, 9:38 am, wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OndG4b5M-Q4

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That is impressive.

Watch animals who are good at climbing and you eventually get the
impression that their minds are wired diff. They do not have the fear
of falling we have although logic says they should. Clearly, this guy
has little fear of falling but I wonder how much he has practiced on
these particular rocks. Notice the white chalk on some of the blocks
indicating a lot of use by climbers.

Whether it's familiarity with the terrain, a natural talent, or a lot
of practice, I would have to concede that the backflip on the vertical
wall is unnatural. I would suspect that very few people would be able
to develop that type of skill.

--
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We should genetically engineer people to have grasping feet. In fact,
I imagine that generations from now people who live in space will
develop such. They will have little use for shoes and will need such
feet to keep from drifting around while they use their hands.

That reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago, "The Mote
in God's Eye," by David Niven and Jerry Pournelli. It's been years
since I've read it; but, it seems to me that that in the novel the
human race encounters another life form that was similar to what
you've described.

--
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I vaguely remember reading this in college... can't remember it though.
Maybe I should get it from the library....

I think that was their first collaboration. It was my favorite Sci-fi
novel until I read "Dune" by Frank Herbert.

It was. Others are "Footfall", "Gripping Hand", "Oath of Fealty".

"Dune'" was unreadable and a total waste of time much like "Battle
Field Earth" and "Dyanetics".

I'll respectfully disagree with you on this. Dune was an excellent
read, and I suspect that it's awards and accolades weren't rendered
for it's unreadability and lack of quality.

--
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I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:20:59 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:47:23 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped for the mere exercise

Yes, I do remember the "Mote in God's Eye". About a race that could
not practice birth control so their civilization kept ending in
extreme overpopulation. I forget how the problem was solved.

I was a teenager when I read the book, and I remember so little about
it. What you described evoked memories of the alien race in that
book. I came across a copy of the book a couple of years ago at a
yard sale. I purchased it to read again, and I started to do that
last winter. For some reason I never got beyond the first few pages.
(I've got too many books going at the same time right now.) All of
this has me reminsicing about favorite books, though. The "High
Crusade" by Poul Anderson was a lighthearted read, and Le Guin's "The
Left Hand of Darkness" was a thought-provoking work. Then there was
"The Forever War"...

You need to read "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi and his companion
works "Ghost Brigades" and "Zoe's War".

Is there a reason why, Tom? I really gave up on Sci-fi years ago. And
my reading list is overwhelming as it is. And I have opened
concurrently; "Hypatia of Alexandria," "World Masterpieces since the
Renaissance," and "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds."

Ah - so you really ARE Harry. Had me fooled there for a while. :)

Yeah - it's the anti-"Forever War". :)

If you are in a non-fiction muse, I got a couple of recommendations
for you then - "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall.

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidde...4477536&sr=1-1

I've Got Things To Do With My Life: Pat Tillman by Mike Towle

http://www.amazon.com/Ive-Got-Things...4477609&sr=1-1

I have some others in case you are interested.

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:36:14 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:38:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:49:50 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 12:44:00 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
m...
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 09:09:30 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Oct 1, 11:56 am, wrote:
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:32:26 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch



wrote:
On Oct 1, 10:27 am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 1, 9:38 am, wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OndG4b5M-Q4

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
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That is impressive.

Watch animals who are good at climbing and you eventually get the
impression that their minds are wired diff. They do not have the fear
of falling we have although logic says they should. Clearly, this guy
has little fear of falling but I wonder how much he has practiced on
these particular rocks. Notice the white chalk on some of the blocks
indicating a lot of use by climbers.

Whether it's familiarity with the terrain, a natural talent, or a lot
of practice, I would have to concede that the backflip on the vertical
wall is unnatural. I would suspect that very few people would be able
to develop that type of skill.

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
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We should genetically engineer people to have grasping feet. In fact,
I imagine that generations from now people who live in space will
develop such. They will have little use for shoes and will need such
feet to keep from drifting around while they use their hands.

That reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago, "The Mote
in God's Eye," by David Niven and Jerry Pournelli. It's been years
since I've read it; but, it seems to me that that in the novel the
human race encounters another life form that was similar to what
you've described.

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
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I vaguely remember reading this in college... can't remember it though.
Maybe I should get it from the library....

I think that was their first collaboration. It was my favorite Sci-fi
novel until I read "Dune" by Frank Herbert.

It was. Others are "Footfall", "Gripping Hand", "Oath of Fealty".

...and "Lucifer's Hammer."

Hey - it was late. I just KNEW I had forgot one. :)

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:41:50 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:38:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:49:50 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 12:44:00 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
m...
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 09:09:30 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Oct 1, 11:56 am, wrote:
On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:32:26 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch



wrote:
On Oct 1, 10:27 am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 1, 9:38 am, wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OndG4b5M-Q4

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
Unlimited Access, Anonymous Accounts, Uncensored Broadband Access

That is impressive.

Watch animals who are good at climbing and you eventually get the
impression that their minds are wired diff. They do not have the fear
of falling we have although logic says they should. Clearly, this guy
has little fear of falling but I wonder how much he has practiced on
these particular rocks. Notice the white chalk on some of the blocks
indicating a lot of use by climbers.

Whether it's familiarity with the terrain, a natural talent, or a lot
of practice, I would have to concede that the backflip on the vertical
wall is unnatural. I would suspect that very few people would be able
to develop that type of skill.

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
Unlimited Access, Anonymous Accounts, Uncensored Broadband Access

We should genetically engineer people to have grasping feet. In fact,
I imagine that generations from now people who live in space will
develop such. They will have little use for shoes and will need such
feet to keep from drifting around while they use their hands.

That reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago, "The Mote
in God's Eye," by David Niven and Jerry Pournelli. It's been years
since I've read it; but, it seems to me that that in the novel the
human race encounters another life form that was similar to what
you've described.

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
Unlimited Access, Anonymous Accounts, Uncensored Broadband Access


I vaguely remember reading this in college... can't remember it though.
Maybe I should get it from the library....

I think that was their first collaboration. It was my favorite Sci-fi
novel until I read "Dune" by Frank Herbert.

It was. Others are "Footfall", "Gripping Hand", "Oath of Fealty".

"Dune'" was unreadable and a total waste of time much like "Battle
Field Earth" and "Dyanetics".

I'll respectfully disagree with you on this. Dune was an excellent
read, and I suspect that it's awards and accolades weren't rendered
for it's unreadability and lack of quality.

Bullfeathers as my maternal Grandfather used to say in polite company.

It was a piece of pandering ecological pseudo-intellectual pablum
which massaged the collective sensitivities of fellow authors who felt
they were being left behind in the area of "Great Thoughts". It was a
watershed moment for scifi and the genre hasn't been the same since
because scifi had been the realm of hardcore "geeks and freaks" as
Martin Greenberg once said. "Dune" showed them the way to be obtuse
as some of the more social commentary type mainstream novels - it was
a way to move to the mainstream.

Hell, just to show you how bad it was, it was rejected something like
25 times by every major scifi house - it's was first published by
Chilton - you know the people who make automobile repair books and
auto parts manuals?

It was never a best seller until David Lynch made the movie in 1984.

Rubbish - pure and simple. :)

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:38:06 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:33:57 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped quickly

We should genetically engineer people to have grasping feet. In fact,
I imagine that generations from now people who live in space will
develop such. They will have little use for shoes and will need such
feet to keep from drifting around while they use their hands.

That reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago, "The Mote
in God's Eye," by David Niven and Jerry Pournelli. It's been years
since I've read it; but, it seems to me that that in the novel the
human race encounters another life form that was similar to what
you've described.

Good lord.

It was written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Quite right. Mr. Krause had already corrected my error, made in
haste.

Sorry - a little harsher than I meant it.

It was late, I was ****ed off because I couldn't get off the
conference call and I was amped up from having to deal with morons and
poltroons. :)

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On 10/2/09 4:20 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:47:23 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped for the mere exercise

Yes, I do remember the "Mote in God's Eye". About a race that could
not practice birth control so their civilization kept ending in
extreme overpopulation. I forget how the problem was solved.

I was a teenager when I read the book, and I remember so little about
it. What you described evoked memories of the alien race in that
book. I came across a copy of the book a couple of years ago at a
yard sale. I purchased it to read again, and I started to do that
last winter. For some reason I never got beyond the first few pages.
(I've got too many books going at the same time right now.) All of
this has me reminsicing about favorite books, though. The "High
Crusade" by Poul Anderson was a lighthearted read, and Le Guin's "The
Left Hand of Darkness" was a thought-provoking work. Then there was
"The Forever War"...

You need to read "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi and his companion
works "Ghost Brigades" and "Zoe's War".

Is there a reason why, Tom? I really gave up on Sci-fi years ago. And
my reading list is overwhelming as it is. And I have opened
concurrently; "Hypatia of Alexandria," "World Masterpieces since the
Renaissance," and "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds." I have never been an organized reader.



I gave up reading sci-fi for the most part in 1968, after seeing Clarke
and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After seeing that, most sci-fi
novels seemed silly to me. I had grown up reading the masters of sci-fi
and their classics. But after 2001, all I could do was giggle my way
though the few remaining sci-fi books I read. I did like Contact,
though, and a couple of others.





--
Birther-Deather-Tenther-Teabagger:
Idiots All

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Oct 2, 3:20*am, wrote:
On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:47:23 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports

wrote:

snipped for the mere exercise





Yes, I do remember the "Mote in God's Eye". *About a race that could
not practice birth control so their civilization kept ending in
extreme overpopulation. *I forget how the problem was solved.

I was a teenager when I read the book, and I remember so little about
it. *What you described evoked memories of the alien race in that
book. *I came across a copy of the book a couple of years ago at a
yard sale. *I purchased it to read again, and I started to do that
last winter. *For some reason I never got beyond the first few pages.
(I've got too many books going at the same time right now.) * All of
this has me reminsicing about favorite books, though. *The "High
Crusade" by Poul Anderson was a lighthearted read, and Le Guin's "The
Left Hand of Darkness" was a thought-provoking work. *Then there was
"The Forever War"... *

You need to read "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi and his companion
works "Ghost Brigades" and "Zoe's War".

Is there a reason why, Tom? *I really gave up on Sci-fi years ago. And
my reading list is overwhelming as it is. * And I have opened
concurrently; "Hypatia of Alexandria," "World Masterpieces since the
Renaissance," and "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds." *I have never been an organized reader.

--
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i gave up on Sci-fi when "Lost in Space" got canceled.

I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:25:20 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped with finesse

I'll respectfully disagree with you on this. Dune was an excellent
read, and I suspect that it's awards and accolades weren't rendered
for it's unreadability and lack of quality.

Bullfeathers as my maternal Grandfather used to say in polite company.

It was a piece of pandering ecological pseudo-intellectual pablum
which massaged the collective sensitivities of fellow authors who felt
they were being left behind in the area of "Great Thoughts". It was a
watershed moment for scifi and the genre hasn't been the same since
because scifi had been the realm of hardcore "geeks and freaks" as
Martin Greenberg once said. "Dune" showed them the way to be obtuse
as some of the more social commentary type mainstream novels - it was
a way to move to the mainstream.

Hell, just to show you how bad it was, it was rejected something like
25 times by every major scifi house - it's was first published by
Chilton - you know the people who make automobile repair books and
auto parts manuals?

It was never a best seller until David Lynch made the movie in 1984.

Rubbish - pure and simple. :)

I certainly respect your opinion. I think, though, that we may look
at the genre through different eye-glasses. If there were a purist's
creed for sci-fi buffs, I was never aware of it. For me, reading
sci-fi was simply entertainment. It was something that titillated my
youthful imagination. I was compelled by the more intellectual works;
but, in a more philosophical and ontological fashion, as primal as
those things were for me back then. And in all honesty, it may very
well be that if I read "Dune" today, I may have a much different
perspective of the book, having more tempered and matured
sensibilities through which to synthesize it. I did become
increasingly disenchanted with the genre over time.

--
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I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:26:43 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:38:06 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:33:57 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped quickly

We should genetically engineer people to have grasping feet. In fact,
I imagine that generations from now people who live in space will
develop such. They will have little use for shoes and will need such
feet to keep from drifting around while they use their hands.

That reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago, "The Mote
in God's Eye," by David Niven and Jerry Pournelli. It's been years
since I've read it; but, it seems to me that that in the novel the
human race encounters another life form that was similar to what
you've described.

Good lord.

It was written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Quite right. Mr. Krause had already corrected my error, made in
haste.

Sorry - a little harsher than I meant it.

It was late, I was ****ed off because I couldn't get off the
conference call and I was amped up from having to deal with morons and
poltroons. :)

That's ok, Tom. I should know better than to post when I'm busy
anyway.

--
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I'll Stick to Boating, Thank-you...
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:54:04 -0400, H the K
wrote:

On 10/2/09 4:20 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:47:23 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

snipped for the mere exercise

Yes, I do remember the "Mote in God's Eye". About a race that could
not practice birth control so their civilization kept ending in
extreme overpopulation. I forget how the problem was solved.

I was a teenager when I read the book, and I remember so little about
it. What you described evoked memories of the alien race in that
book. I came across a copy of the book a couple of years ago at a
yard sale. I purchased it to read again, and I started to do that
last winter. For some reason I never got beyond the first few pages.
(I've got too many books going at the same time right now.) All of
this has me reminsicing about favorite books, though. The "High
Crusade" by Poul Anderson was a lighthearted read, and Le Guin's "The
Left Hand of Darkness" was a thought-provoking work. Then there was
"The Forever War"...

You need to read "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi and his companion
works "Ghost Brigades" and "Zoe's War".

Is there a reason why, Tom? I really gave up on Sci-fi years ago. And
my reading list is overwhelming as it is. And I have opened
concurrently; "Hypatia of Alexandria," "World Masterpieces since the
Renaissance," and "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds." I have never been an organized reader.



I gave up reading sci-fi for the most part in 1968, after seeing Clarke
and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After seeing that, most sci-fi
novels seemed silly to me. I had grown up reading the masters of sci-fi
and their classics. But after 2001, all I could do was giggle my way
though the few remaining sci-fi books I read. I did like Contact,
though, and a couple of others.

It's been years since I've read a sci-fi novel. I think I gave up
reading sci-fi about the same time I gave up smoking Afghan Black. But
that's merely coincidental, right?

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