beancounters

The last word in sci-fi

These nine words came from science fiction? Cool.

Robotics. This is probably the most well-known of these, since Isaac Asimov is famous for (among many other things) his three laws of robotics. Even so, I include it because it is one of the only actual sciences to have been first named in a science fiction story (”Liar!”, 1941). Asimov also named the related occupation (roboticist) and the adjective robotic.

In the comments section, the origin of the term robot was argued pretty heavily, but it appears the author is right and robotics originated with Asimov. Sci-fi authors also coined such words as zero-gravity, deep space and pressure suit. Aren't there others?

Reading this list reminded me that the modern waterbed was first described by Robert Heinlein in his sci-fi books. Several years later, this guy Charles Hall actually built the thing could not get it patented because of the works of Heinlein. One wonders why Hall didn't approach Heinlein about going in on a patent with him. I know I would have.

Speaking of Heinlein, did you know his Colorado house is for sale? It looks very unassuming, but the AbeBook blog folks want to buy it.

[Y]ou just KNOW there’s going to be a secret room full of jetpacks, with a launchpad and a control panel. And it TOTALLY has to have a holodeck. And like…a SPACE SHOWER of some kind.

Tweetbook

Tweetbook
Originally uploaded by STML

James Bridle says he may be the first to have his own collected Twitter tweets hardbound. Click on the picture to see the whole Flickr set.

I'm not a fan of vanity fiction, but I still think it'd be cool to produce a set of my blog posts or Scrine posts - not to inflict on strangers but to keep.

HP6 previews

The sci-fi website io9 has thoughtfully collected all the HP6 preview videos that were shown on ABC Family this weekend. I must say, Lavender Brown is much more fetching than she seemed in the book. Hermione has some serious competition. And I want a pair of glasses just like Luna Lovegood's. I bet I'll be able to find them on Etsy in a few weeks.

Be sure and put Beedle the Bard on your Christmas lists so we can all dish after the holiday. What will happen to this quaint little concept book when Warner Brothers gets its hands on the movie rights? Could it really be movie material? Who should direct? Who should star? Will JKR amass enough of a fortune from a Beedle movie to buy Greenland and paint the whole thing in Gryffindor colors? Plus, if there's time, we might discuss the stories themselves.

Grindylows gotta swim

Snitches gotta fly ... and pundits gotta pontificate. From the London Daily Mail:

Outspoken atheist Professor Richard Dawkins is to warn children of the dangers in believing "anti-scientific" fairytales such as Harry Potter.

Prof Dawkins will write a book aimed at youngsters where he will discuss whether stories like the successful JK Rowling series have a "pernicious" effect on children.

The 67-year-old, who recently resigned from his position at Oxford University, says he intends to look at the effects of "bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards".

'Looking back to my own childhood, the fact that so many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes, whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's something for research.'

O my [collisions of subatomic particles occurring in random fashion], the man may be onto something!

Because history shows there's no way that children can differentiate between scientific reasoning and fictionalized accounts of magic.  I mean, look at the kids who grew up reading C.S. Lewis, De Saint-Exupery, Madeline L'Engle and Tolkien. Whole generations of young minds, absolutely ruined for science. Beware!

In other JK Rowling news, it looks like nobody's prepared to remedy the mix-up regarding my personal copy of Beedle the Bard. By all rights, one of those handmade copies should have come to me. If it hadn't been for me, with all the blogging I did about the books, encouraging all eleven of you to buy them (and talk them up to your own few dozen readers), it's doubtful JK Rowling would have amassed the fortune she has today.

Not that I'm bitter! I'm just saying, it's important to remember where you came from.

Anyway, as I predicted, the almighty pound wins again, and Beedle the Bard is coming to bookstores, just in time for the holidays. But this time, I won't encourage you to buy a single copy.

Although it looks pretty cool.

You know. For a book that will sap your children's brains and everything.

What a cut-up: books as art

One of the most enduring search phrases that leads readers here to the Beancounters blog is this one: "what to do with old encyclopedias". Well, here's a great idea. Turn them into art!

Dark Roasted Blend has posted a definitive collection of "books as art" internet memes. Surely one of these would work for you, o intrepid googler.

I recommend you scroll and see the whole range of ideas. I'm enchanted with this framed piece. I have serious doubts about my ability with an Exacto-knife, but do you think somebody would accept a commission?

JKR and the lexicon of doom

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday halted publication of an unofficial encyclopedic companion to the popular Harry Potter book series in a copyright case author J.K. Rowling argued would threaten other writers.

In spite of being a huge Harry Potter fan, and at the risk of losing my blogger cred, I'm not going to pile on the hate here. I really had no opinion going in about this case. Legal opinions I would read seemed to land on both sides of this issue. Now that the decision has been handed down, maybe we'll get some post-game commentary to mull over.

Arthur C. Clarke

At Anthony's behest, we hereby note the passage of one of scifi's luminaries, Arthur C. Clarke. (Link includes a great picture!)

The Star - I agree, this was a life-altering short story ...

His thoughts on 'Star Trek'

His last published short story - a little light on plot and plausibility, but thought-provoking.

Cutter lives!

Digital EQ, the Elfquest Online project, is posting all the old Elfquest comics, one at a time. Issues 1 - 5 of the graphic novel are up now, with more promised. Including the subsequent series, which I never read. Wendy and Richard Pini produced this series back in 1978, before graphic novels really took off. Highly recommended.

Free reads

A novel written by Robert Shea (co-writer of the Illuminatus! trilogy) has been posted on his website under a Creative Commons license. It's his son's idea; he wants to share his father's works with the world, royalty-free. Isn't that refreshing?

Beetle the Bard purchased by Amazon

Hmm. That was entirely too neat and tidy. How long before Amazon.com gets the Royal Permission to publish distribute it? Place your bets in the comments section ...

We're incredibly excited to announce that Amazon has purchased J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. The book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is one of only seven handmade copies in existence. [...] Enjoy these first images of the book. We'll be adding reviews of each of the fairy tales as we can get them up in the coming hours (if you want to be sure of a link that will permanently work, use www.amazon.com/beedlebard).

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just kind of bitter because my own copy of Beedle seems to have gotten lost in the mail ...

A mystery from afar

Remember the book of fairy tales Dumbledore gave Hermione in HP7? Well, look at this!

LONDON (AP) — J.K. Rowling has completed her first book after her wildly popular series on teen wizard Harry Potter — an illustrated collection of magical fairy stories titled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

Only seven copies of the handwritten book have been made, Rowling said Thursday. One will be auctioned next month to raise money for a children's charity, while the others have been given away as gifts.

"'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' is really a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, and writing it has been the most wonderful way to say goodbye to a world I have loved and lived in for 17 years," Rowling said.

Yeah, yeah, we know, she's sentimental. Cut to the chase!  All I need to know is, Is my gift copy arriving by air mail, or is JKR delivering it personally? Because if she's on her way, I'm going to need to steam-clean the carpets and stuff. Just wondering. Well, I'm sure she'll call ahead. I can't wait!

On Dumbledore and the rest

So, over the weekend, JK Rowling told a crowd in Carnegie Hall that she always considered Albus Dumbledore gay. And the audience cheered.

I've really been postponing writing this post while I think about exactly what to say. This is why I'd never become an A-list blogger - I'm not into timely punditry. I like to have days and weeks to process information fully before I write anything. But enough of that. Let's see ...

If I'd been in Carnegie Hall that night, I would have cheered, too, and this is why: not because she says she secretly wrote somebody or other as a homosexual, but because she finally admitted that sexuality exists!

I'm sure you noticed how strait-laced the HP characters are. Except for a little teen snogging, no one seems to have a single thought about sex until and unless they're married. Almost nobody hooks up after high school. There are no trysts at the Leaky Cauldron. Nobody is a member of the Gringott's "Mile Below Club". (Heh.) No children are ever born outside of wedlock - even Tom Riddle's mother, a young woman who endured abuse and calamity all her life, managed to get a ring on her finger right before getting knocked up. There's never a breath of a word about sexual relations ... children just spring forth in subsequent chapters, as if by magic. (Sorry.)

I'm not complaining whatsoever. The Harry Potter books are children's literature, whatever you may think of the dark nature of the later books. And in children's lit, they never talk explicitly about sex. It's just not done. Hell, traditional children's books never mention peeing, either.

(By the way, what's up with that? Doesn't anybody ever need to pee at Hogwarts? As near as I can tell, there are only two bathrooms in all of Hogwarts. One is for snobby prefects only. And the other is never used because it's haunted by Moaning Myrtle and it smells strongly of Polyjuice Potion.  Oh, and it has a bloody great snake slithering through it sometimes. I guess I'd forgo peeing for an entire school year, too, under those conditions.)

We have indulged our inner kids, and we have loved us a very good series all these years. So to hear JK Rowling invite us to revel in a moment of adult sensibility, must have been exhilerating.

Now. Is Dumbledore really gay? I say, not necessarily. Stay tuned.

British is to American as waffle is to bark

Good news for us (slightly) confused American Harry Potter fans: Strictly British is a glossary of little-understood words in the HP series. I recommend you browse it for a few minutes. Even though I've read quite a lot of British fiction in my years, it turns out I misunderstood a goodly number of terms.

For instance, in HP5, Fitch the custodian is forced to punt students across a swamp in the hallway. Until now, I thought that meant he would pick them up and kick them down the hall! Strictly British tells me he actually took them across in a boat. That's a sliiiight difference.

What's a wotcher?

At last, someone explains what Tonks is always yelling at Harry. Had you heard this before?

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

August 05, 2007: wotcher

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wotcher&defid=1180351

A shortened form of "what cheer!"

A greeting between friends, used mainly in London. Also spelled
 "[wotcha]."

"Wotcher, Harry!"

-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Done!

Perfect. Loved it. Who else is done? Show of hands ...

(Warning: spoilers will soon appear in the comments.)

Marathon

BB: Does anybody want to go swimming today?

Bunny: [silence]

Me: Um ... Sorry, if we go in the water, our books will get wet.

Yes, it's a marathon reading session at the Beancounter house. Bunny and I got home last night and started our respective HP7s. We read until 1 a.m., and then got up early and resumed. BB started today and claims he is already on pg. 442, but he's just messing with us.

Yes, we bought three of the same book. Yes, that is so weird. No, you've never heard of such a silly thing before. Yes, you have got to laugh about us to all your friends, but please don't link back to us. Give us assumed names, at least.

We're on Chapter 11 and it's 11 a.m. Taking a break now to blog while Bunny grabs a shower.

Am now utterly convinced, though I suspected it years ago, that Rowling patterned the allies and enemies in this series after WWII. One wonders if that will carry through to the end? No, must not speculate.

OK, she's almost done. 'Bye.

Series of unfortunate ads

It's Saturday, and if you're my kind of fanatic, you're too busy reading HP7 to check blogs today.*

For the rest of you ... you have plenty of time to gaze upon the ironic splendor of these 15 unfortunately placed ads.

*Guess what? For as much as BB and I were anticipating HP7, it turns out neither of us ordered a copy! We each though the other had done it, and never got around to actually asking each other. Meanwhile, my brother took his son and my Bunnylou to Borders last night for the big HP Deathly Hollows Ball. They were out until 2 a.m. Now Bunny is going to get way ahead of me in the book, while I work my way through throngs of li'l wizards at the bookstore this morning, buying my own copy. Drat!

The Breakfast Wand

[Here, Anthony ... It's kind of a work in progress.]

Snape [played by Ben Stein]: Welcome to detention, everyone. Mind the swamp. Please take a sheet of parchment and write an essay on why you think you're here. Is everyone present? Potter ... Potter ... Potter ... [Exit.]

Harry [to Neville]: I can't believe I'm a sixth year student and I'm still too stupid to avoid detention. Why are you here?

Neville: I ... well, I was really upset about getting a 'Troll' grade on my Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. You know my grandmother ... what she'll say ... so I was going to finally end it all, and strangle myself with some Devil's Snare.

Hermione: Oh, poor Neville.

Neville: Turns out it was a Weasley's joke Devil's Snare, and it just cut off the circulation in my --

Draco: God, you people are all a bunch of pansies!

Pansy: Hey!

Draco: You wanna know what my old man did to me when I took my O.W.L.s home? It was a banner year in the ol' Malfoy household! He said 'Smoke up, Draco!' And then he gave me this. [Rolls up his sleeve and shows the Deatheater snake.]

Pansy: Eww, tattoos are so sixteen years ago.

Shelter from the spoilers

Hiding out from a cruel online world that wants to shove spoilers into my open eyes is getting more and more difficult. Luckily for us all, here at Beancounters nobody has a clue - and we're willing to share all we don't know. So hang out here today and have some laughs; it's safe.

Anthony riffed on 'mouse's earlier remark:

Harry (hanging over a cliff): You killed my father.

Snape: Dumbledore never told you what happpened to your father...

Harry: He told me enough. He said you and Wormtail sold him out to the Dark Lord!

Snape: No, I am your father.

Harry: No! That's impossible!

Snape: Search your feelings, Harry. You know it to be true. And by the way, Hermione Granger is your sister...

[This could be the most original, thrilling scene possible in the hands of a great director. So for God's sake, don't let Lucas get near it...]

Actually, I think I like this one better:

"The Breakfast Wand"

[Harry, Hermione, Neville, Draco and Pansy are forced to do detention (without wands or spellbooks) in the dungeons of Hogwarts while Snape and Filch bitch about how Dumbledore ruined their lives. John Hughes will direct.]

Harry: Emilio Estevez
Hermione: Molly Ringwald
Neville: Anthony Michael Hall
Draco: Judd Nelson
Pansy: Ally Sheedy
Snape: Ben Stein
Carl the Janitor: Jeffrey Jones

Which will it be?

Borders is giving away stickers with every copy of HP7 reserved in advance of the release date. You get to choose whether Snape will betray the forces of good, or finally prove his innocence.

When the Borders clerk wasn't looking, I made off with one of each. What a madcap!

If you're into this sort of thing (and a few of you are), go ahead, grab one of these jpgs and post it before Saturday.