The Big Think

Just finished reading Return of the King. If the movie is half as good as the book (and from what I’ve heard, it’s much better than that), it’ll be something to behold. I don’t think I’ll start another book until the movie comes out. I don’t want to wear down my memory of the story with another one until I’ve seen the movie.
I’m very, very glad that I’ve taken the time, these past 2 years, to read the books before each of the movies come out. It’s been a much richer experience. It also gave me one final chance to “see” the characters, settings, and situations in my minds-eye before they forever become subjugated to powerful movie-images. Don’t misunderstand, I love good movies, and I love good movies made from good books, but nothing matches the inner imagination for sheer scale.

I’ve discovered that Orson Scott Card (dang, this blog is starting to sound like a fan club) is that rarest of creatures: a political thinker willing to compromise, listen to the opposition, and maybe even change an opinion. As a centrist republican with a few “far right” and a few more traditional democratic views myself (target market? Me? Yeah, right), Card is one of those people I’d like to meet for lunch to discuss ideas. Check it out.

The worlds first non-scientific Gigapixel image. Very cool.

Mars Express has just taken its first photograph of the red planet.