A tale of two planets

In Norman Spinrad's delicious tale of interstellar bohemians, Child of Fortune, there is a festival planet that discourages indigent wanderers through a methodically no-frills welfare system. Featureless grey public stations distribute a scientifically flavor-free, bland-textured block of rations called fressen, and distilled water, and that's it. To obtain anything else, one had to sing, dance, paint, make crafts, bake finger food, or otherwise amuse and satisfy the whims of festival-goers. Sounded much like a small blue planet I know, where featureless grey producers in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York serve up fressen all day on cable TV, while outside, all over the North Country, it's raining soup--bouillabaisse today, I think.

Cold Waves

Just in case you were wondering, it was warmer on Mars yesterday than it was in Canton. Daytime temperature recorded by the NASA rover Spirit was a sultry 12 degrees Fahrenheit. My daughter left the beach in Santa Monica in the morning and arrived in Montreal at 6 pm to find it 100 degrees colder. (Serves her right for not taking me along.) A few more degrees and the radio waves will freeze right out of the air. You could pick up a big chunk of a Beethoven sonata and use it to pound in fence posts. Stay warm.