Author: DOuG pRATt

‘Engines of Survival’ by Larissa Kelly

Larissa Kelly on Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! fan-favorite Larissa Kelly will return for the Tournament of Champions, airing March 11-24. Meanwhile, here’s a surprise from Larissa. A piece of speculative fiction she has written, called “Engines of Survival,” that you will find at Strange Horizons Fiction:

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081222/engines-f.shtml

Now that Sarah Palin’s star has faded (although I doubt permanently), Larissa is once again the #1 reason — ahead of Alizée! — why people find this blog, so take note that she has included an e-mail address. There’s no reason to assume this isn’t really Larissa, and you have to promise me that if you write to Larissa you will be civil, respectful and well-behaved! And remember, boys, she’s married. “For all of you youngsters,” as Ed Sullivan used to say, I should explain that “Sorry Boys, She’s Married” is a play on a famous moment in Beatles history.

Sorry Girls, He's Married

Art Smart

Starting my sophomore year of college, I took one art history course per semester. They were taught by a brilliant and talented woman named Barbara Harris, who worked with the previously mentioned Arno Maris. I was fortunate to have had Ms. Harris as an instructor, because she left Westfield State College the semester that I graduated.

Barbara Harris, art historian

I never considered a career in art history, but I loved art and I enjoyed the contrast it offered to regular history classes, which are mostly about politics and war. Everybody automatically thinks of Italy when they hear the word “Renaissance,” but my favorite course was about Flemish Renaissance art. (Flemish as in Flanders, as in Belgium.) Today’s Boston Globe has a story about an Italian Renaissance painting undergoing restoration at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Playing DJ with theRADIO.com

Thanks to my dad’s cousin Lawrie for tipping me off to (yet another) new online music service. This one is theRADIO.com. Type in a song or artist and it takes you to whichever category it belongs to. theRADIO.com is from some outfit called American Media Services Interactive, and at this point I feel almost overwhelmed by the choices available today for music, whether online on cable TV, and I don’t even have XM/Sirius or HD Radio.

What I’d really like is a free-form option — except no rap or hip-hop, thank you very much. I love playing DJ, so I played with theRadio.com for a while and skipped around genres while recording. The selection includes the Turtles, a Johnny Ramone instrumental (I checked the volume in the middle of it), Lucinda Williams (a fave of Carol’s), followed by my all-time #1 favorite Bob Dylan tune, and finishing with “Reason to Believe”, recorded while I was called away, so I’m not sure who it is. Some of the inflections almost sound like Petula, but it isn’t her. Marianne Faithfull, maybe?

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/DEC/RadioDotCom.mp3]

Speaking of lovely Petula, Dave Moncur sent a link with some photos of our favourite glamour girl, who was performing in Utreht, Netherlands (K3 country!) recently. Thanks, Dave. She looks even better than when I saw her in May!

Petula Clark MAX Proms

Beware of Bear

Stephen Colbert is right to be afraid of bears. They lie. At least Smokey did. All those years he told us that “only you can prevent forest fires,” and then, as an adult, I learned the truth, that a lot of forest fires are caused by lightning. In fact, controlled fires supposedly can be beneficial.

Perhaps realizing that the message about forest fires is no longer compelling, the people behind the Smokey Bear campaign have a new ad campaign, dropping the use of the term “forest fires.” Here’s a Smokey Bear commercial with a Disney tie-in, but note that despite the mention of “the forest” it doesn’t feature Bambi, and it refers only to wildfires.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/DEC/SmokeyBear.flv 480 360]

The word “wildfire” makes me think of a sappy 70’s song about a horse, but I think they’re referring to the fires that have ravaged California in recent years. Of course, a big part of the problem in recent years has been the build-out of real estate. Not only does it increase the potential of risk to people, it squeezes out wildlife. But after being misled by the Forest Service for decades, why should I automatically believe the statistic that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans?

Astrid’s View

Once again I am pleased to feature photos of gorgeous Prudence Bury, a classic British beauty and ballet dancer, and by far my favorite girl on the “Hard Day’s Night” train with the Beatles. These were taken by none other than Astrid Kirchherr.

Pru Bury with Ringo Starr
© Astrid Kirchherr

Pru Bury with Ringo and George
© Astrid Kirchherr

And this is, of course, Astrid with Stu Sutcliffe. An iconic couple, who had a brief but powerfully resonant relationship. Their story is, by itself, almost as compelling as that of the Beatles. But, then, it was love, after all.

Stu and Astrid
© Astrid Kirchherr