dorettas@iddic.UUCP (Doretta Schrock) (09/18/85)
> Back in V 10 #277 (July), druxo!knf@topaz.arpa mentions a song "Children of > the Sun", which I believe is actually a reference to the song "After the > Gold Rush", on an album by a group called (I think) Gold Rush. This song is > particularly memorable to me, is the first cut on the album, and is sung > [excellently] acappella. It [at least the last part?] goes something like: > > I was lying in a burned out basement > with the full moon in my eye. > I was hoping for a replacement, > when the sun burst through the sky. > > There was a band playing, in my head, > and I felt like getting high, > thinking about what a friend had said, > I was hoping it was a lie. > > "Well, I dreamed I saw the silver spaceship flying, > in the yellow haze of the sun. > There were people crying, and banners flying, > all around the chosen one. > > All in a dream, all in a dream, > the loading had begun. > Flying Mother Nature's silver seed > to a new home in the sun. > Flying Mother Nature's silver seed > to a new home in the sun." > > -+- Sid Maxwell, DEC @ Spit Brook Rd, Nashua NH 1) In reference to the above song "After the Gold Rush": I am almost positive that it was done by Neil Young (you should recognize that falsetto), and yes, the album is called "Gold Rush". I was also told (you can store this with unconfirmed UFO sightings) that the words referred to a soldier dying in a (Vietnam?) war. Definitely a good, if haunting, song. 2) My 2-cents about first SF: "Lord of Light" is by far my favorite SF work. I have given that book to several people for their first read... which explains why I recently bought my 5th copy of the paperback! However, I think there is something to be said for short stories, esp. by humanists such as Ray Bradbury (is he persona non grata in these parts? I can't remember seeing his name on the net). "Farenheit 451" (I know, not a SS) and the "R is for Rocket" collection are both good. My mother, sweet Republican Presbyterian realist/pragmatist that she is, loved "Fire and Ice" in that book, and has continued to read others like it. 3) Can anyone give me (no deluges or flames, please) title(s) of SF coming from the assumption that there is *no* way around the speed of light (i.e., no hyperspace, LucasDrive [the drive that allows you to go anywhere in the Universe in 20 minutes], etc.). This would include stories concerning humanity settling other solar systems using relativistic flight, but especially works written around the thesis that while we can explore, travel, and settle this system, we just never do get out of it. I haven't been able to locate any with a cursory search, and would appreciate any input (or discussion). Mike Sellers UUCP:.. {ucbvax,decvax,uw-beaver,hplabs,ihnp4,allgra}!tektronix!iddic!dorettas "We are the Sultans of swing..."
norman@lasspvax.UUCP (Norman Ramsey) (09/20/85)
In article <2181@iddic.UUCP> dorettas@iddic.UUCP (Doretta Schrock) writes: > 3) Can anyone give me (no deluges or flames, please) title(s) of >SF coming from the assumption that there is *no* way around the >speed of light (i.e., no hyperspace, LucasDrive [the drive that allows _Tau Zero_ by Poul Anderson is excellent, although the (sublight) ship does leave our solar system. _The FOrever War_ by Joe Haldeman. Special relativity is a star performer in this one. There are lots of others, of course, but I assume you want spaceflight to be important. In her Hainish novels, Ursula LeGuin keep people at sublight speeds, but she breaks other rules. I can't think of others off the bat. -- Norman Ramsey ARPA: norman@lasspvax -- or -- norman%lasspvax@cu-arpa.cs.cornell.edu UUCP: {ihnp4,allegra,...}!cornell!lasspvax!norman BITNET: (in desperation only) ZSYJ at CORNELLA US Mail: Dept Physics, Clark Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 Telephone: (607)-256-3944 (work) (607)-272-7750 (home)