The following short article appeared today on CNN.com. I think it needs no further explanations or commentary!
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A measure seeking to commemorate President Bush's years in office by slapping his name on a San Francisco sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot.
The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
Supporters say the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq.
Local Republicans say the plan stinks and they will oppose it.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Do as you're tolled
[From The Dallas Morning News, www.dallasnews.com]
Ben Westhoff: My topsy-turvy tangle with Texas toll roads
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 6, 2008
I visited Dallas, on business, for the first time in March. I enjoyed the local sights, shuttling around the northern suburbs and coming into the city for delicious Tex-Mex and an excellent rock show. The weather was great; everyone was kind.
But one aspect of my Texas odyssey left a bad taste in my mouth. Upon returning home to Hoboken, N.J., I received a notice in the mail from a Montana-based collection agency called Violation Management Services. It indicated that I had been billed for four 60-cent tolls in Texas , plus a $5 service fee for each. These $22.40 worth of charges had already been conveniently – make that inconveniently – charged to my credit card.
I had no idea what this was about. Though I remembered handing over dollars to some toll attendants, I certainly didn't recall driving through any tolls without paying.
Upon investigation, however, I realized this was exactly what I had done. It turns out that I couldn't have paid even if I'd wanted to. And the same confusing system ensnares other visitors all the time.
Let's back up a little. Upon arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, I endured a long shuttle ride to the airport's rental car center. After getting over the fact that I was going to have to pay a huge percentage of my Advantage Rent A Car bill in taxes and fees (including a 15 percent sales tax, an 11.11 percent airport fee, a $2.50-per-day licensing fee, a $4-per-day airport concession fee and a 77-cents-per-day transportation fee) I quickly scanned my rental agreement and signed it.
What I apparently glossed over – and what other Dallas renters miss all the time – is a clause permitting the rental car company to turn over the collection of any unpaid tolls to a third-party agency. Why would I have paid the clause any mind? I'm not the type to break any traffic laws, much less bust through tolls like this was an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.
Little did I know that along State Highway 121, physical tolls have been replaced by electronic tolls. Instead of humans or machines collecting change, cameras snap pictures of your license plate, and you aren't given the option of stopping to pay.
It works like this: If you have a TxTag, Toll Tag or EZ Tag, the charge is deducted from your account. If you don't, a bill is sent to the address corresponding with the vehicle's license plate number. That means that if you're driving your own car, the fee (plus a surcharge) is sent to you at home. (If your kid is driving your car, it still gets sent to you at home, but that's another matter.)
But if you're driving a rental car, the bill is sent to the rental car company. Then – in the case of Advantage and at least a few others – the rental car company passes it along to a third-party collection agency, which adds a service charge and bills you. I had to pay $5 per "infraction," but some companies hit you a lot harder; renters with Thrifty and Dollar are charged $25 each.
I called Violation Management Services, Advantage's collection agency, to complain. The agent said that although plenty of others like me have made similar complaints, we have no recourse.
But I should look on the bright side, she said; until last fall, the company charged $40 for each infraction of this type. Only after being besieged with complaints did they lower their fee to $5. Why? "Because it's not fair to you to have to pay $40 for something you don't have any control over," she explained.
But $5 is fair?
The agent next referred me to TxTag, the company that handled the Highway 121 tollway when I visited. (As of April 4, responsibility was handed over to the North Texas Tollway Authority.)
She explained that, yes, other people had the same complaint. But she implied that we were all a bunch of whiny complainers, since there are clearly marked signs on 121 explaining that the road is a tollway.
But there's no indication that 121 is a special kind of toll road. It's beyond me how a non-local can be expected to know the difference between (A) toll roads where you can pay with change and (B) toll roads that send you a bill in the mail. (Though more common in other countries, electronic tolls that employ video cameras are still quite rare in the U.S.)
Sure, if I'd seen a sign saying, "Renters, get the heck off the road now, or you're going to get stuck with surcharges!" I would have exited immediately and hoped my GPS could come up with an alternate route. But as far as I could tell, Highway 121 drivers aren't given any explanation of what's going on until they get to the toll itself, at which time they're informed that they can use a tag or else "Pay By Mail."
This is where it begins to seem like a cruel hoax. Pay by mail? Huh? Where does one get the envelope?
I next asked the TxTag operator what course of action she would have suggested for me. Avoiding the road altogether? "Pretty much," she said. "In the case of 121, that's what we would recommend. Otherwise, there will be extra charges, and there will be extra fees."
An NTTA representative was more sympathetic. "If I was from another state, I might not [understand] something like that either," he said, suggesting that the next time I'm in town I use service roads instead of Highway 121.
Perhaps Advantage would have more helpful advice, given the number of renters they send out on the streets of North Texas every day?
But no. An agent said that the next time I was in town, I had another option. She gave me an 800 number to call shortly after going through an electronic toll, and the charge would be excused. (They even have a sign saying as much on the premises.)
But that number is for TxTag, which no longer administers the road. And an operator with the new administrator, NTTA, said she had no idea what the Advantage agent was talking about; they would not, in fact, excuse these charges.
This is a relatively small problem now; only Highway 121 and one Dallas North Tollway exit use the electronic tolls. But soon all NTTA tolls in the area will be electronic. Starting in August, the remaining cash booths will be ripped out.
No doubt, many drivers will find this more convenient. But, as the system is configured now, it is a potential nightmare for visitors. It's easy to image folks returning home with three- and four-figure surcharges "conveniently" added to their credit cards.
Aggravation for renters is not the only problem with electronic tolls. Economic studies – including one conducted by M.I.T. recently reported on in Scientific American – also show that toll prices rise more quickly when drivers aren't physically dispensing money.
But despite these problems, I do not advocate eliminating camera-aided tolls. They have a couple of important advantages. By making traffic flow faster, they are more convenient and gentler on the environment than old-fashioned tolls; long lines of idling cars burn more gas and produce more exhaust.
I do suggest, however, that y'all work a little harder to make life easier on out-of-town guests. One suggestion would be to maintain a single toll lane for renters or folks who want to pay with cash. Short of that:
• Rental car companies could charge the tolls directly to the renter's credit card themselves – without employing a collection agency, and without adding a surcharge. In fact, The Dallas Morning News just reported that Advantage is thinking of severing ties with Violation Management Services and trying a method in which renters pay $5 a day or so to cover their tolls.
• Renters could be given the opportunity to rent a tag apparatus from the rental car company.
• At the very least, renters should be made aware upon signing their agreements that they may encounter tolls they won't be able to pay. They should be told exactly where those tolls are and informed of alternate routes.
Every municipality has its quirks. Here's hoping that this one can be fixed, which would permit people like me to enjoy their time here even more. I'm sure Dallas residents would rather visitors remember their trip for the Tex-Mex and rock shows rather than the toll violations.
Ben Westhoff is a freelance writer; his e-mail address is ben.westhoff@ gmail.com.
Ben Westhoff: My topsy-turvy tangle with Texas toll roads
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 6, 2008
I visited Dallas, on business, for the first time in March. I enjoyed the local sights, shuttling around the northern suburbs and coming into the city for delicious Tex-Mex and an excellent rock show. The weather was great; everyone was kind.
But one aspect of my Texas odyssey left a bad taste in my mouth. Upon returning home to Hoboken, N.J., I received a notice in the mail from a Montana-based collection agency called Violation Management Services. It indicated that I had been billed for four 60-cent tolls in Texas , plus a $5 service fee for each. These $22.40 worth of charges had already been conveniently – make that inconveniently – charged to my credit card.
I had no idea what this was about. Though I remembered handing over dollars to some toll attendants, I certainly didn't recall driving through any tolls without paying.
Upon investigation, however, I realized this was exactly what I had done. It turns out that I couldn't have paid even if I'd wanted to. And the same confusing system ensnares other visitors all the time.
Let's back up a little. Upon arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, I endured a long shuttle ride to the airport's rental car center. After getting over the fact that I was going to have to pay a huge percentage of my Advantage Rent A Car bill in taxes and fees (including a 15 percent sales tax, an 11.11 percent airport fee, a $2.50-per-day licensing fee, a $4-per-day airport concession fee and a 77-cents-per-day transportation fee) I quickly scanned my rental agreement and signed it.
What I apparently glossed over – and what other Dallas renters miss all the time – is a clause permitting the rental car company to turn over the collection of any unpaid tolls to a third-party agency. Why would I have paid the clause any mind? I'm not the type to break any traffic laws, much less bust through tolls like this was an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.
Little did I know that along State Highway 121, physical tolls have been replaced by electronic tolls. Instead of humans or machines collecting change, cameras snap pictures of your license plate, and you aren't given the option of stopping to pay.
It works like this: If you have a TxTag, Toll Tag or EZ Tag, the charge is deducted from your account. If you don't, a bill is sent to the address corresponding with the vehicle's license plate number. That means that if you're driving your own car, the fee (plus a surcharge) is sent to you at home. (If your kid is driving your car, it still gets sent to you at home, but that's another matter.)
But if you're driving a rental car, the bill is sent to the rental car company. Then – in the case of Advantage and at least a few others – the rental car company passes it along to a third-party collection agency, which adds a service charge and bills you. I had to pay $5 per "infraction," but some companies hit you a lot harder; renters with Thrifty and Dollar are charged $25 each.
I called Violation Management Services, Advantage's collection agency, to complain. The agent said that although plenty of others like me have made similar complaints, we have no recourse.
But I should look on the bright side, she said; until last fall, the company charged $40 for each infraction of this type. Only after being besieged with complaints did they lower their fee to $5. Why? "Because it's not fair to you to have to pay $40 for something you don't have any control over," she explained.
But $5 is fair?
The agent next referred me to TxTag, the company that handled the Highway 121 tollway when I visited. (As of April 4, responsibility was handed over to the North Texas Tollway Authority.)
She explained that, yes, other people had the same complaint. But she implied that we were all a bunch of whiny complainers, since there are clearly marked signs on 121 explaining that the road is a tollway.
But there's no indication that 121 is a special kind of toll road. It's beyond me how a non-local can be expected to know the difference between (A) toll roads where you can pay with change and (B) toll roads that send you a bill in the mail. (Though more common in other countries, electronic tolls that employ video cameras are still quite rare in the U.S.)
Sure, if I'd seen a sign saying, "Renters, get the heck off the road now, or you're going to get stuck with surcharges!" I would have exited immediately and hoped my GPS could come up with an alternate route. But as far as I could tell, Highway 121 drivers aren't given any explanation of what's going on until they get to the toll itself, at which time they're informed that they can use a tag or else "Pay By Mail."
This is where it begins to seem like a cruel hoax. Pay by mail? Huh? Where does one get the envelope?
I next asked the TxTag operator what course of action she would have suggested for me. Avoiding the road altogether? "Pretty much," she said. "In the case of 121, that's what we would recommend. Otherwise, there will be extra charges, and there will be extra fees."
An NTTA representative was more sympathetic. "If I was from another state, I might not [understand] something like that either," he said, suggesting that the next time I'm in town I use service roads instead of Highway 121.
Perhaps Advantage would have more helpful advice, given the number of renters they send out on the streets of North Texas every day?
But no. An agent said that the next time I was in town, I had another option. She gave me an 800 number to call shortly after going through an electronic toll, and the charge would be excused. (They even have a sign saying as much on the premises.)
But that number is for TxTag, which no longer administers the road. And an operator with the new administrator, NTTA, said she had no idea what the Advantage agent was talking about; they would not, in fact, excuse these charges.
This is a relatively small problem now; only Highway 121 and one Dallas North Tollway exit use the electronic tolls. But soon all NTTA tolls in the area will be electronic. Starting in August, the remaining cash booths will be ripped out.
No doubt, many drivers will find this more convenient. But, as the system is configured now, it is a potential nightmare for visitors. It's easy to image folks returning home with three- and four-figure surcharges "conveniently" added to their credit cards.
Aggravation for renters is not the only problem with electronic tolls. Economic studies – including one conducted by M.I.T. recently reported on in Scientific American – also show that toll prices rise more quickly when drivers aren't physically dispensing money.
But despite these problems, I do not advocate eliminating camera-aided tolls. They have a couple of important advantages. By making traffic flow faster, they are more convenient and gentler on the environment than old-fashioned tolls; long lines of idling cars burn more gas and produce more exhaust.
I do suggest, however, that y'all work a little harder to make life easier on out-of-town guests. One suggestion would be to maintain a single toll lane for renters or folks who want to pay with cash. Short of that:
• Rental car companies could charge the tolls directly to the renter's credit card themselves – without employing a collection agency, and without adding a surcharge. In fact, The Dallas Morning News just reported that Advantage is thinking of severing ties with Violation Management Services and trying a method in which renters pay $5 a day or so to cover their tolls.
• Renters could be given the opportunity to rent a tag apparatus from the rental car company.
• At the very least, renters should be made aware upon signing their agreements that they may encounter tolls they won't be able to pay. They should be told exactly where those tolls are and informed of alternate routes.
Every municipality has its quirks. Here's hoping that this one can be fixed, which would permit people like me to enjoy their time here even more. I'm sure Dallas residents would rather visitors remember their trip for the Tex-Mex and rock shows rather than the toll violations.
Ben Westhoff is a freelance writer; his e-mail address is ben.westhoff@ gmail.com.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Storming the brain with nonsense
Management consultants and government committes have always been about the buzzwords. However, they have been out of control for a while now. When we see the reports and PowerPoint presentations at their meetings, we technical folks come away with a feeling of emptiness. Now, we know that there are enough people out there who have become fed up enough with all the mindless jargon:
[From CNN.com]
Speak the King's English, please, no more buzzwords
[From CNN.com]
Speak the King's English, please, no more buzzwords
LONDON, England (AP) -- British bureaucrats have been warned: no more synergies, stakeholders or sustainable communities.
The body that represents the country's local authorities has told its members to stop using management buzzwords, saying they confuse people and prevent residents from understanding what local governments do.
The Local Government Association, whose members include hundreds of district, town and county councils in England and Wales, on Friday sent out a list of 100 "non-words" that it said officials should avoid if they want to be understood.
The list includes the popular but vague term "empowerment;" "coterminosity," a situation in which two organizations oversee the same geographical area; and "synergies," combinations in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Officials were told to ditch the term "revenue stream" for income, as well as the imprecise "sustainable communities." The association also said councils should stop referring to local residents as "customers" or "stakeholders."
The association's chairman, Simon Milton, said officials should not "hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases."
"Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?" he said.
The association sent its letter after reports that one town council had told staff to use the term "thought showers" instead of "brainstorming."
Officials at Tunbridge Wells council in southern England felt brainstorming might offend people with epilepsy, a condition that involves periodic electrical storms inside the brain.
However, the National Society for Epilepsy said it had surveyed its members and they did not find the term offensive.
"Brainstorming" is not on the Local Government Association's list.Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Innocent by way of... Sudoku!
From CNN.com:
Sudoku-playing jurors halt $950,000 trial
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- An Australian judge has aborted a drug trial after discovering that some of the jurors were playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given.
The $950,000 drugs trial was aborted after the judge discovered that jurors had been playing Sudoku.
Sydney District Court Judge Peter Zahra ended the trial Tuesday for two men facing drugs conspiracy charges. The trial had been running for 66 days and had cost taxpayers an estimated US $950,000.The judge was alerted after it was observed the jurors were writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes.
The jury foreperson admitted to the judge that four to five jurors were playing puzzle games for up to half the time the trial had been going.
A new trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.Saturday, March 22, 2008
Taking the scenic route
I am not sure if the following report is true, but it does make for funny press. Also, if you cannot afford the Opera, just drive through some heavy traffic!!
Romanian Policemen Take Ballet Lessons
Balkan Travellers
27 February 2008
Next time you’re stuck in a Timişoara traffic jam and looking for a diversion to pass the time, just look out your window at the policeman directing the traffic. And don’t be surprised if you find certain elements of his moves reminiscent of a Swan Lake performance: instead of rigidly standing, arms outstretched, the policeman may signal you to go by standing in the arabesque pose, with one leg stretched straight out to the back and one arm extended out to the front.
This is because, as reported by international media, traffic policemen in the western Romanian city of Timişoara are taking regular ballet lessons to make them more elegant and graceful when directing traffic. Around two dozen members of the city’s community police are attending classes under two former dancers of the city’s Opera Ballet.
"The aim is to develop an ability to regulate traffic and achieve elegance in their movements, which will not only be agreeable to the eyes but could also help drivers waiting at a red light get rid of their stress or sadness," head of community police in the town of Timişoara, Dorel Cojan, told international media.
The initiative, which will at first consist of two classes per week for a month, is directed only at community policemen, who are responsible mainly for road safety and sometimes regulate traffic manually.
In the meantime, if you won’t be going through Timişoara anytime soon, but want to witness some graceful male ballet moves, we recommend renting the recorded version of the controversial Swan Lake performance, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, where the swans’ parts are danced by men.
Romanian Policemen Take Ballet Lessons
Balkan Travellers
27 February 2008
Next time you’re stuck in a Timişoara traffic jam and looking for a diversion to pass the time, just look out your window at the policeman directing the traffic. And don’t be surprised if you find certain elements of his moves reminiscent of a Swan Lake performance: instead of rigidly standing, arms outstretched, the policeman may signal you to go by standing in the arabesque pose, with one leg stretched straight out to the back and one arm extended out to the front.
This is because, as reported by international media, traffic policemen in the western Romanian city of Timişoara are taking regular ballet lessons to make them more elegant and graceful when directing traffic. Around two dozen members of the city’s community police are attending classes under two former dancers of the city’s Opera Ballet.
"The aim is to develop an ability to regulate traffic and achieve elegance in their movements, which will not only be agreeable to the eyes but could also help drivers waiting at a red light get rid of their stress or sadness," head of community police in the town of Timişoara, Dorel Cojan, told international media.
The initiative, which will at first consist of two classes per week for a month, is directed only at community policemen, who are responsible mainly for road safety and sometimes regulate traffic manually.
In the meantime, if you won’t be going through Timişoara anytime soon, but want to witness some graceful male ballet moves, we recommend renting the recorded version of the controversial Swan Lake performance, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, where the swans’ parts are danced by men.
Meat my son
How much would you pay for free stuff? If you are a shop-lifter, the answer is probably... not much. After all, why steal if you have to pay anyway? It sort of violates the very basic definition of "free".
Unless you absolutely must have that 40-inch plasma television set at all (or no!) cost.
Or that enticing packet of meat!! One shop-lifter in the Netherlands decided to renounce his own son for a measly packet of food. I guess the drugs are so easy to get, that thieves must aim higher for the challenge of it all. Read on (courtesy of Reuters)! As the economists like to say, there is nothing called a free lunch.
Fleeing shoplifter forgets son
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A shoplifter looking to make a quick getaway from a Dutch supermarket after stealing a packet of meat left police a crucial piece of evidence -- his 12-year-old son.
In his haste the 45-year-old thief made a solo dash to his car, batting away a supermarket worker who had flung himself on the vehicles' bonnet in a bid to stop the escape.
Police in the southern Dutch town of Kerkrade said they managed to contact the thief via the boy, but he had refused to return and collect his son. The man told officers to get hold of the youngster's mother instead.
The thief later turned himself in Thursday, a police spokeswoman said.
Unless you absolutely must have that 40-inch plasma television set at all (or no!) cost.
Or that enticing packet of meat!! One shop-lifter in the Netherlands decided to renounce his own son for a measly packet of food. I guess the drugs are so easy to get, that thieves must aim higher for the challenge of it all. Read on (courtesy of Reuters)! As the economists like to say, there is nothing called a free lunch.
Fleeing shoplifter forgets son
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A shoplifter looking to make a quick getaway from a Dutch supermarket after stealing a packet of meat left police a crucial piece of evidence -- his 12-year-old son.
In his haste the 45-year-old thief made a solo dash to his car, batting away a supermarket worker who had flung himself on the vehicles' bonnet in a bid to stop the escape.
Police in the southern Dutch town of Kerkrade said they managed to contact the thief via the boy, but he had refused to return and collect his son. The man told officers to get hold of the youngster's mother instead.
The thief later turned himself in Thursday, a police spokeswoman said.
Thou shalt hire this cheater!
In the world of American professional sport, it is easy to assume that the teams, which are essentially privately owned for-profit companies, are run and managed with an iron fist. Well, at least as many metallic fists as there are teams. If the board wants to acquire a player badly enough, it will find the financial muscle to get him.
By the same token, if they do not wish to have a particular player on their team, for whatever reason(s), they must surely have the power to refrain from making him an offer.
So I was thoroughly taken aback when I read that the players' union for Major League Baseball is considering slamming various teams for collusion... to keep Barry Bonds out of their roster this year! Read all about it here in this article in the New York Times dated 19 March, 2008. Imagine, here is a self-admitted steroid user who now holds the home run "record". The quotation marks say it all. He holds the record on paper, but it will forever be tainted by his use of performance enhancing drugs. The drug problem is so deep today that it is almost no fun following the game anymore.
Why should players be entitled to astronomical salaries, if there is no market demand for them? Is MLB a communist entity that must ensure that all players, good and bad, cheaters and fighters, must get paid a few million a year to sustain their high-brow lifestyles?
Worse, these cheaters are being shielded and defended by their union! Does anybody know why there should be negotiations for drug testing? When was the last time the International Olympic Committee negotiated to reduce or remove a ban on a player caught using drugs? Still, the American definition of sport involves a lot of marketing jargon, and has nothing to do with ethics or fair play. Give what the crowds want to see. The ball flying out of the ballpark. If the players must inject themselves once in a while, so be it.
The players' union has some guts even to consider the collusion theory, let alone air it in public. In my view, this only strengthens the perception that Bonds is a cheat. I hail the teams that are keeping from making him a gigantic dollar offer. What the sport desperately needs is many more such decisions that will hopefully serve as a deterrent to druggies.
By the same token, if they do not wish to have a particular player on their team, for whatever reason(s), they must surely have the power to refrain from making him an offer.
So I was thoroughly taken aback when I read that the players' union for Major League Baseball is considering slamming various teams for collusion... to keep Barry Bonds out of their roster this year! Read all about it here in this article in the New York Times dated 19 March, 2008. Imagine, here is a self-admitted steroid user who now holds the home run "record". The quotation marks say it all. He holds the record on paper, but it will forever be tainted by his use of performance enhancing drugs. The drug problem is so deep today that it is almost no fun following the game anymore.
Why should players be entitled to astronomical salaries, if there is no market demand for them? Is MLB a communist entity that must ensure that all players, good and bad, cheaters and fighters, must get paid a few million a year to sustain their high-brow lifestyles?
Worse, these cheaters are being shielded and defended by their union! Does anybody know why there should be negotiations for drug testing? When was the last time the International Olympic Committee negotiated to reduce or remove a ban on a player caught using drugs? Still, the American definition of sport involves a lot of marketing jargon, and has nothing to do with ethics or fair play. Give what the crowds want to see. The ball flying out of the ballpark. If the players must inject themselves once in a while, so be it.
The players' union has some guts even to consider the collusion theory, let alone air it in public. In my view, this only strengthens the perception that Bonds is a cheat. I hail the teams that are keeping from making him a gigantic dollar offer. What the sport desperately needs is many more such decisions that will hopefully serve as a deterrent to druggies.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Goodbye, Clarke!
A sad day for the fan of classical science fiction literature. Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. Just a few years ago, I was eating his books for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He, together with Isaac Asimov, remain my favorite authors for sheer imagination and articulation.
While he may be most well-known for his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, I will always remember Clarke's series that bears my name.
While he may be most well-known for his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, I will always remember Clarke's series that bears my name.
Selected works of Arthur C. Clarke
"Prelude to Space" (1951): His first published novel was written in three weeks during the summer of 1947.
"The Sentinel," a short story published in 1951, is among his best-known works. It is about man's contact with sentient life.
"The Deep Range" (1957): With his friend Mike Wilson he filmed the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, from which this novel is derived.
"A Fall of Moondust" (1961): The tale of a marooned moon schooner.
"Dolphin Island" (1963): After being briefly paralyzed by a head injury, Clarke wrote this novel as a farewell to the sea.
"The Treasure of the Great Reef" (1964): A recovered Clarke went on an underwater adventure off Sri Lanka, then wrote this book.
"2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): In the spring of 1964, Clarke started to write a novel about space travel that became the basis for the film. He continued the saga in three sequels, "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1988), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1996).
"Rendezvous with Rama" (1973): A research team is sent to investigate a cylindrical object hurtling through the solar system.
"The Hammer of God" (1993): Story of an asteroid hurtling toward Earth anticipated such films as "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Armageddon" (1998).
Source: www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm
"The Sentinel," a short story published in 1951, is among his best-known works. It is about man's contact with sentient life.
"The Deep Range" (1957): With his friend Mike Wilson he filmed the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, from which this novel is derived.
"A Fall of Moondust" (1961): The tale of a marooned moon schooner.
"Dolphin Island" (1963): After being briefly paralyzed by a head injury, Clarke wrote this novel as a farewell to the sea.
"The Treasure of the Great Reef" (1964): A recovered Clarke went on an underwater adventure off Sri Lanka, then wrote this book.
"2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): In the spring of 1964, Clarke started to write a novel about space travel that became the basis for the film. He continued the saga in three sequels, "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1988), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1996).
"Rendezvous with Rama" (1973): A research team is sent to investigate a cylindrical object hurtling through the solar system.
"The Hammer of God" (1993): Story of an asteroid hurtling toward Earth anticipated such films as "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Armageddon" (1998).
Source: www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm
Pluck my crwth!
Here is the latest weird word I came across, delivered right to my mailbox by Merriam-Webster's word-of-the-day service:
crwth \KROOTH (rhymes with “booth”)\ noun
crwth \KROOTH (rhymes with “booth”)\ noun
: an ancient Celtic stringed instrument that is plucked or bowed
Example sentence: “He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn, all night long.” (Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood)
“Crwth” is the Welsh name for an ancient Celtic instrument that is similar to a violin. In Middle English, the instrument’s name was spelled “crouth” before metamorphosing to “crowd,” a word still used in some dialects of England to refer to a violin. The Welsh word can also refer to a swelling or bulging body, and we can speculate that it came to be used for the instrument because of the violin’s bulging shape. Other Celtic words for “violin” also have meanings referring to rounded appearances. In Gaelic, for example, “cruit” can mean “harp” or “violin” as well as “hump” or “hunch.” As a final note, we would like to mention (in case you were wondering) that a pibgorn is an ancient wind instrument similar to the hornpipe; its name comes from the Welsh word “pib,” meaning “pipe,” and “corn,” meaning “horn.
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