Yesterday

was a day full of events. Some small, some big.

Firstly, I collected my now, registered Birth Certificate from the Brasilian authorities.

Secondly, I rescued a Blue Tit that had become trapped in some plastic on our balcony. I released it, but it kept flying into a half window we have. I reached my finger out, it sat, calmly on my forefinger and waited for me to lift it high enough. It then paused, as is to say thanks and was away.

Thirdly, I saw a pizza delivery guy loading his 1 year old son into the box on the back of the bike. Some hungry customer is going to be a mite confused.

And finally, we completed all our paperwork.

As of 5.15pm, February 28th, we shall be Mr David Wing and Mrs Clarissa Troller Habekost.

A good day, all in all.

Now, the count down to marriage begins.

Nebula Award Stories 6

Yep, it's another sci-fi book review.

Feel from to skip along to the next Brasil themed post if you like. I just can't stop reading this stuff.

A collection of short stories ranging from the unique to the obscure.

Slow Sculpture, tells the story of a woman, suffering from breast Cancer who ends up in the orchard of a rather confusing man. It seems the gentleman in question is a mechanic/doctor/carpenter/botanist/etc and it jst so happens, if she promises to keep her Gob shut, he's got the cure to what ails her.

By the Falls is told as a conversation piece, based on an interview between a journalist and the old man that lives under the water fall. In this world, the land below the waterfall, the people are oblivious to life above. Curious to some extent, by ambivalent in equal measure, even when the occasional stray pet washes up on the shore or a house floats by.

Purely for the British readers, check out In The Queue.

Not all great stories, but this collection (edited by Clifford Simak- Why call them back from Heaven?) is worth a flick through and the £2 you'll find it for in your local charity shop.

February 1st- a year

February 1st made it a year since Clarissa and I met again.

We'd corresponded via email and made the conscious decision to limit our phone/Skype chats for that unspoken tension aspect of a reunion. You don't want to say everything before you meet but then again, you don't want to lose touch.

Clarissa flew into London on the 1st February 2012, a day earlier than she had informed me she would. Seems that ol' pesky time difference thing reared it's ugly head and I had an email's warning, just before she left for the airport to change my travel plans to meet her.

So, I threw away our train tickets and booked a pair of tickets on the National Express Bus service and headed to the station to get the 6 am bus to London- Heathrow Airport. At this time, Clarissa was en route.

I was feeling somewhat nervous. I am a person that likes warning, advance warning...the more advanced the better and given that my notification was, on this occasion, all of half a day earlier, I had little time to prepare.

I was living in the family house in Sheffield with my brother and, given that he is loathe to help out much, I found myself running around the house with the vacuum cleaner and a feather duster. Yes, very manly I looked too.

I had so much stress and nervous energy building up in me I had real trouble sleeping. I needn't have set the alarm, I woke every hour on the hour.

The taxi arrived at 5am and we were off to the bus station.

The ride was fairly uneventful, but due to the remaining tension I was unable to enjoy reading my book or relax in any way. If I'd been able to pace, I would have.

I arrived (via a connection at London Bus Station) at Heathrow Airport and made my way, as relaxed looking as I could, to the terminal. I got lost on the way. Not crazy lost, where you end up in Bristol, but lost as in I took the wrong turning and ended up at a totally different terminal, all the was across the airport. No real issue and quite expected as I tend to get lost on a regular basis- having gotten lost as a Cub Scout looking for a post box (it was just over the road-I was distracted).

So, I finally ended up at the correct terminal, but given my nerves, I had gotten the earliest bus possible and now had 1 1/2 hours to wait.

I enjoy people watching and made ample use of my wavering, erratic eyes. I also made an unconscious decision to drink coffee (something Clarissa would later refer to, as I forgot to buy some chewing gum and subsequently had not-so-pleasant breath).

The minutes rolled by...slowly.

At last, the doors to duty free opened and the first of the passengers started to trickle through.

A series of lost looking individuals wandered out (the lonely ones are always in a hurry to get out, then they just stand there), then a few families, then a traveller or two (the hippy/twenty-something variety) and then, then I saw her.

Clarissa was looking quite relaxed and perusing the duty free champagne.

Now, I like Champs as much as the next fella, but, given that it'd been a long trip down, a long night before, the nervous tension of getting back in touch and that we had not physically seen each other in a decade...I had hoped that she might run through the gate at a sprint and throw herself into my arms.

But no.

She stopped shopping, turned and walked towards the gate.

Time slowed. I promise you, it really did.

She saw me, I saw her.

She slowed, then sped up.

I had strategically placed myself at the opening to the visitors barrier and made sure that there was a clear line of sight and access.

I walked, then ran.

Arms out, not hint of embarrassment on either side, we collided, grabbing each other and holding each other tight. I kissed her (on the cheek- don't be so presumptuous) and we looked at each other, ignoring the other passengers around us.

We pushed the trolley and her bags out of the way, past the other visitors/families and to an area with a little more space.

We stopped and looked at each other.

Always the one for the romantic gestures and realising that 10 years is just 1 decade too long, I grabbed Clarissa a kissed her squarely on the lips.

She kissed back.

So, her we are, 1 year on.

We celebrated with beers, peanuts and a few games of pool.

   

Stone

Written by Adam Roberts, Stone is a single person dictation, in letter format to a...stone.

Plot: In the future people have DotTech, Nanobots that, for the last few thousand years have cured all ailments, extended life in the average Human and allowed for genetic and physical changes as and when desired- even saving them when decapitated or thrown from 40 storey buildings. Ae, our storyteller, is imprisoned on the Jailstar, seemingly the only prisoner and one of the very, very few people in the Galaxy with a desire to commit murder. Told through letters to her/his only friend, Ae recounts the last few years, her escape, her murderous rampage, her troubles with Humanity as a whole and her eventual recapture.

The narrative is varied and extremely descriptive, allowing for journeys to far flung corners of the Galaxy in foamy bubbles, encountering rainy planets (named Rain), dodging giant sea worm/fish/things and generally debating the morality of singular and mass murder.

A good read, but, despite it's questions/answers, leaves the reader desiring a little more from the eventual outcome/reasoning.

Why call them back from Heaven?

Therein lies the question.

Set 200 years in the future, Clifford Simak asks the question, if immortality were but a stones throw away, would God survive?

Like so many of the pioneer Science fiction writers, Simak pays respect to the idea of a deity, while questioning it's place in our future. 

Plot: The world is effectively run and controlled by Forever Centre, the company behind cures to Cancer, other genetic diseases and is actively searching for the answer to immortality. Rumour has it, they're only 10-20 years away. Daniel Frost works for the centre as the PR guru. It's his job to quash any and all negative rumours from dissenting people across the world. One day, following a messenger mishap, Frost winds up with a note he shouldn't have. An innocuous note. Of not real import, he believes and as such, he pockets it for no other reason other than it was in his hand and the bin was further away. It isn't until Frost is framed by the head of security and evicted from the Human race that he begins to suspect there may have been something to that note. 

Mass produced-uninteresting cars, no theatre or film and TV is the Opium for the masses. Simak introduces us to a future where the world saves all its hard earned money for their "second lives". They invest in stock/shares, stamps and other collectibles. Life is lived until it's over, then they are placed in stasis and re-animated in an immortal future-somewhat richer too.

Could you waste a full life, for the chance at life everlasting?

Sad fact: Simak died on my birthday- April 25th.

Smile :-)

Well, I'm probably tempting fate (so I'm touching wood- no naughty comments please) but, the apartment is nearly completed. I say complete, there are shelves to be installed and painting to be done and re-done, but at least the construction and deconstruction are almost over. We even have a shower! (for close friends, you'll know that we have been making use of the laundry sink for some months now and an actual shower is somewhat of a luxury.

This is all a preamble to me saying, I'm pretty happy.

We are nearly at the end of an extremely stressful time and quick frankly are just looking forward to sitting down in the morning, drinking far too much coffee and taking a few minutes to talk, calmly.

As I said, I'm pretty happy and as a result, would like to share a few photos from our Canada trip that make me smile. I hope you enjoy them.

The Troller Habekost women.

Mauricio, livin'/lovin' life.

I couldn't find the Adult ones.

I know I have large ears, but this was extreme.

Never met this girl before in my life. Best marry her I guess.

When Cla attacks!

The Day After Tomorrow aka Sixth Column

Nope, not the Jake Gyllenhal film, this is the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and it's superb.

Following on with my constant sci-fi obsession, this is the latest in random books I have lately discovered in the second hand book shops of Porto Alegre.

Heinlein was, along with Arthur C.Clarke and Issac Asimov, one of the leaders in scientific sci-fi novels. With a distinctive outlook on future and possible future events and a very accessible writing style, Heinlein takes his readers step by step through his stories, never once assuming anything of them but an avid interest in the genre. This is not to say that his approach is to "dumb-down" his stories, merely to clarify them.

Plot: Following decades of non-interaction with the powerful PanAsian block, the U.S.A is on its knees. Suffering mass defeat and invasion by their conquerors, due to a serious lack of intelligence regarding their enemies. The civilian population is either in camps or pressed into servitude and the only chance for the country lies with the 6 men left in a secret military research facility. As a last act, the military command sends Major Ardmore to take control and mount a unilateral, last ditch attempt to free the US from their new Masters.

Upon reaching the base, Ardmore must decide how to make use of a new, extreme- almost Godly power, manage a skeleton staff and gain intelligence from his mountain fortress as to the movements of the PanAsian lords of the U.S.A.

This story is one of those books that you detest putting down. The ending is all too soon and you find yourself wishing that this novella (not for lack of information but for the sheer joy of the read) was much, much longer.

Highly recommended, as are all the Heinlein novels I've had the pleasure to read so far.