The depths of interstellar space and the philosophy of ancient Greece are just two of the worlds explored by Allyn Gibson in his writings. Whether his story is one of the final frontier, a tale of the present day, or ruminations on comic books and pop culture, Allyn brings ideas and magic to the page.
Make-BelieveThe winner of the Psi Phi Award for Best Star Trek Short Story of 2006, “Make-Believe” presents a radically different sort of Star Trek story that speaks to the series’ enduring appeal.
The Spindle of NecessityThe sixth Doctor meets Plato of Athens on an impossible quest to meet the gods. Published in The Quality of Leadership and Re:Collections.
Collective EncountersArticle in Star Trek Magazine #20 (US)/#147 (UK). A look at the history of the Borg, from the Federation’s first encounter, to possible origins, and eventual demise.
Feb
8
On Health Care Reform and the Republican Party
February 8, 2010 by Allyn · Leave a Comment
Are Republicans genuinely interested in governing? Are they genuinely interested in solving society’s problems?
I have to wonder.
The Republicans have been saying, all along, that they’ve been frozen out of the health care reform process. That the Democrats are ignoring their ideas.
And yet, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post points out that the things the Republican Party wants are already in the Senate bill.
President Obama himself has said that the bill pending is Congress is a Republican bill. It’s what Bob Dole and Bill Frist have proposed in the past. The Senate bill is actually to the right of the Healthy Americans Act, which was introduced by a Republican Senator from Utah.
So, I ask. Are the Republicans interested in solving society’s problems? Or do they just want to score political points?
Ezra Klein’s answer? “John Boehner and Mitch McConnell responded to Barack Obama’s summit invitation by demanding Obama scrap the health-care reform bill entirely. This is the context for that demand. What they want isn’t a bill that incorporates their ideas. They’ve already got that. What they want is no bill at all.”
In other words, the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt has become the party of nihilism.
Or the party of poo-flinging monkeys.
Feb
8
On Blizzardammerung
February 8, 2010 by Allyn · Leave a Comment
On Friday, the world knew, an apocalyptic snowstorm was coming.
It was coming up the jet stream, from the south. We could see fifteen inches, twenty-four inches, perhaps even forty inches of snow. A winter storm warning was issued from 10 am Friday to 10 pm Saturday.
Some thought the office would be closed on Friday. Some called it, in hushed tones, “snowpocalypse” or “snowmaggedon.” I thought these words over-used. I coined my own neologism — “blizzardammerung.” A touch of the Wagner, really.
The snow started to fall about noon on Friday. Lightly at first, then growing steadily heavier. There wasn’t anything to be concerned about at that point; the temperature was still nicely above freezing. Anything that touched the ground melted. The world was wet, not white.
I left the office about three. Trudged the two blocks to the light rail station, rode the train home. It was pretty.
The snow picked up. It fell, harder and harder and harder. Giant flakes. Monstrous flakes.
I went to bed. There might’ve been three inches on the ground.
I woke up about four. I heard thunder. Thunder and snow — a bad combination.
I looked out the bedroom window. I couldn’t see anything. Perhaps, the storm had fizzled out?
No, it turned out. The snow had changed over to fine, heavy snow. There must’ve been a foot or more outside.
The snow continued to fall unabated.
Twenty inches. Twenty-four inches. Thirty inches. Thirty-six inches. Records were shattered.
Blizzardammerung, as I called it, ended about four o’clock Saturday afternoon. The sky cleared off. There was a gorgeous sunset.
This is what the storm looked like from orbit — a vast expanse of white along the mid-Atlantic. It looks like Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where I lived ten years ago, was especially hard hit.
Sunday, I started digging out.
Snow is heavy. Snow to the depth of four feet is especially heavy. I ache. I’m sore. I could dig for days and weeks and still not escape the house. I’m still not done.
The office may be open today. Or it may be closed. I really have no idea. The office phone system is down. So is the office e-mail system. The governor wants people to stay off the roads today. That’s okay; I still need to dig out more before I can reach the roads.
We’re to have more snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Five, maybe ten inches.
I am tired of snow.
Feb
6
On Neil Gaiman’s New Gig
Neil Gaiman, long-rumored as penning an episode of Doctor Who, has confirmed at the SFX Weekender Convention that he will, in fact, be writing an episode of Doctor Who.
Gaiman announced this first through his Twitter feed, and then spoke at length with SFX magazine:
As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching — from behind the sofa — when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called “The House of Nothing.” But it definitely isn’t called that any more.
Countdown. You’ve got about 14 months.
This is pretty exciting stuff.
Gaiman! Doctor Who! And Stephen Fry has been making noises about possibly writing for Doctor Who again, after a previous script fell through.
Doctor Who. It’s become… respectable. Just look at the talent lining up. Gaiman. Fry. Richard Curtis, the creator of Blackadder. Michael Moorcock. Could it be that Doctor Who is becoming the media franchise to beat?
Geronimo!
Feb
4
On Holmesiana
January began and ended with Sherlock Holmes.
On New Year’s Day, I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film. Then, in the mood for more Sherlock Holmes, I read Loren D. Estleman’s Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula for perhaps the tenth time. This was followed by reading some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories; specifically, the first volume of a new edition of the stories illustrated by Batman artist Kelley Jones. This was followed, mid-month, with the discovery of Ellery Queen’s The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes online — and I added the poster of Frederic Dorr Steele’s cover to that long-suppressed anthology to my collection. Finally, January ended with The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The War of the Worlds, Titan Books’ reprint of Manly Wade and Wade Wellman’s Sherlock Holmes’ War of the Worlds.
Of course, that might be why I started thinking of mashing Our Town with War of the Worlds over the weekend…
I first read Sherlock Holmes’ War of the Worlds about ten years ago. After five years of looking for the book in used bookstores, I found it on eBay and bought it from a seller in Richmond, British Columbia. I’ll be honest — I didn’t like it, though at the time I wasn’t sure why I didn’t like it. But I think, now, in reading the book in close proximity to some other Holmesiana, I understand now why Sherlock Holmes’ War of the Worlds didn’t work.
It’s not a Sherlock Holmes novel. It is, rather, a novel that has a character named Sherlock Holmes in it. And that is a major difference.
Sherlock Holmes’ War of the Worlds has Holmes find a Crystal Egg, from H.G. Wells’ story, “The Crystal Egg.” He takes this to Professor George Edward Challenger (from The Lost World), and the two of them study the egg, and they discover that it’s a palantir — they can see Mars with it, and they realize that the Martians can see them. This is followed by the landing of the Martian craft, the rise of the Martian walkers, the Martians’ capture of London. Essentially, the novel is little more than a retelling of The War of the Worlds, albeit from the point-of-view of Holmes and Challenger. At no point does Holmes do anything particularly Holmesian. There’s no crime for him to solve. There’s nothing that he can do to stop the Martians. He watches as events unfold. The few moments where Holmes seems to do anything Holmesian — like the final dozen pages of the book — the events come from so far out of left field that it’s mental whiplash.
Contrast this to Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula. This feels like a Sherlock Holmes story. Holmes investigates. Holmes observes. Holmes makes deductions. It feels like an authentic Sherlock Holmes story. Albeit one that is somewhat familiar, since the story intersects with Bram Stoker’s Dracula at several points. Indeed, the book positions itself as the story of Dracula that Bram Stoker didn’t tell. And it’s quite successful at doing that.
I think a good Sherlock Holmes/War of the Worlds story could be told, but it would be more about the aftermath of the Martian invasion. Perhaps plans for the Martian war machines fall into enemy hands, and Holmes has to investigate to save British national security.
Now I’m having a weird flash of Jack Harkness’ War of the Worlds. Assuming War of the Worlds happened in the Doctor Who universe. Which I would like to think it did…
Anyway.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula? Good Holmesiana. Sherlock Holmes’ War of the Worlds? Not so good Holmesiana.
And I didn’t even mention what the latter book does with Mrs. Hudson…
Feb
3
On Political Surveys
February 3, 2010 by Allyn · 2 Comments
I receive a lot of political mail. Oftentimes, it’s parties or candidates wanting donations. Last year, during the Presidential primaries, I must’ve received fundraising letters from every major candidate. Most were binned.
The letters I enjoy the most? The ones from the Republican Party or its think tanks.
Take, for instance, yesterday.
I received a letter from John Cornyn and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Cornyn, besides wanting a donation, wants me to answer a survey. “Because it is cost-prohibitive to send a survey to every registered Republican in your area — your answers and those a few other good Republicans will represent the views and opinions of ALL Republicans living in your voting district.”
In point of fact, I am registered as a Democrat in Maryland. It is true, mind you, that I self-identify as “a Teddy Roosevelt Republican,” but that means that, for all practical purposes, I vote for the Democratic candidates for office. Maybe if Republicans ran candidates who actually wanted to do something, rather than run candidates who want to do nothing, then maybe I’ll touch the screen for the Republican. But until the Republican Party realizes that nihilism is not a viable political philosophy, I’ll vote my conscience and vote against the Republican candidates.
Cornyn writes: “Our country has reached a critical juncture. Our economy, homeland security, the War of Terror, education, healthcare, and illegal immigration must be addressed now.” But instead of telling me what Republicans stand for on these issues, he follows this with: “With Democrats in control of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate… …The only truly effective way for our Party to regain the ability to the shape of the policies coming out of Washington is elect more Republicans to the U.S. Senate in 2010.”
Yes, there is an extra “the” in Cornyn’s sentence. I thought about taking it out. Then decided against it.
Does Cornyn really believe that the only way to influence policy is to elect more Republicans? They could, oh, I dunno, try to be partners in the legislative process. President Obama, in his meeting with House Republicans last week, pointed out areas where the health care reform bills took Republican ideas; indeed, it’s not often remarked upon, but the bill that passed the Senate achieves many of the same goals that a bill proposed by Bob Dole, no Democrat he, in 1992. Unfortunately, if Republicans, like Cornyn, are unwilling to be part of the legislative process, then they’re really at the root of the very political dysfunction they decry.
I’ll answer Cornyn’s survey. I’ve never been called a “grassroots Republican” before. Maybe I should make a sign — oh, something like “Down With This Sort Of Thing,” a general purpose sort of message — and to down to DC one day for a protest.
Careful now.
The other letter? My old friends at the Heritage Foundation!
They’ve sent me surveys before. Like on taxes.
The problem I have with a Heritage Foundation survey is that they don’t do nuance very well. They’re very binary.
Take, for example, the first question — “Do you believe our current tax code needs to be completely overhauled?”
Overhauled… into what? The Heritage Foundation doesn’t say. Now I, for instance, may think that we need a more progressive tax code. More tax brackets, fewer deductions, that sort of thing. Does that count as “complete overhaul”?
I love some of the choices for question ten — “Please check the five issues of most importance to you.” The list has the standards — the economy, taxes, education, health care, energy policy. The last three? “Liberal bias in the media.” “Moral decline in America.” “Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
Moral decline? Really?
I won’t enjoy the Heritage Foundation survey as much, I fear. It’s really quite bland.
Both want donations. I don’t see that as being especially likely in either case.
I really do enjoy these surveys.
I’m a grassroots Republican! 
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