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Classic SciFi 9: Isaac Asimov I, Robot & Killer Robots

In Books, The rest by tony4 Comments

     Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  1 April 2017 Isaac Asimov I, Robot & Killer Robots Today Introduction The killer robots come later. I bought two novels at Asia Books in Bangkok in late February and was offered, as part of a promotion, one book free from a remainder pile. I dithered between a beginners guide to Nietzche (not a Belgian — …

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Atoms, Bytes, Genes

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Featured image: Detail from Genetic Drift 1, Tony Stewart, July 2004    Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  2 February 2017 Atoms, Bytes & Genes: Science in the 21st century Preamble I made a political statement about science in a recent article 1984 The Way We Were. We also needed someone in the 1990s and in the twenty-first century to remind us that …

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What is History 5: EH Carr Historians & their facts

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   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  1 January 2017 My what is history series somewhat naively perhaps looks at history from the broad perspective of what processes an intelligent naked ape might go through to develop civilisation. From that perspective the study of human history should also consider the external forces, including geography, environment, disease and natural disasters that have …

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1984: The way we were

In Australia, Books, The rest by tony2 Comments

   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  14 December 2016 1984: The way we were and the way we are now It is 1984. I am just shy of 19, Reagan is about to be re-elected in the US, Thatcher is administering the UK, and our new prime minister, Bob Hawke, along with his treasurer, Paul Keating, is planning his own quiet …

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Secret City Trilogy Steve Lewis & Chris Uhlmann

In Australia, Books, The rest by tonyLeave a Comment

   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  21 November 2016  Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis’s novels, The Marmalade Files, The Mandarin Code and The Shadow Game (Secret City) Cybersecurity I have been thinking that I should write something about cybersecurity and the slow moving tragedy of what is happening to the Internet. But there is so much, the task seems daunting and …

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Food writing 3: More Articles I liked from Choice Cuts

In Food, Books by tony1 Comment

   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  7 October 2016 Food writing 3: More Articles I liked from Choice Cuts by Mark Kurlansky Writing about food some fine writers and articles Introduction In Food writing 1, I analysed Mark Kurlansky’s anthology Choice Cuts: A Savory Selection of Food Writing from Around the World and Throughout History, 2002. The book contains 234 articles, which covers …

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Food writing 2: Articles I liked from Choice Cuts

In Food, Books by tony2 Comments

     Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  11 September 2016 Food writing 2: Articles I liked from Choice Cuts by Mark Kurlansky Writing about food some fine writers and articles Introduction In Food writing 1, I analysed Mark Kurlansky’s anthology Choice Cuts: A Savory Selection of Food Writing from Around the World and Throughout History, 2002. The book contains 234 articles, which covers …

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Food Writing 1: Mark Kurlansky, Choice Cuts

In Food, Books by tony3 Comments

     Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  1 September 2016 Food Writing 1: Choice Cuts by Mark Kurlansky, a look at food writing across history Writing about food an introductory excursion Introduction I am a fan of Mark Kurlansky’s writing. I loved Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, 1997 and The Basque History of the World (1999). Although …

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What is History 4: Love

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Featured image: Comedian colleagues demonstrate jealousy, Japan    Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  1 August 2016 My what is history series somewhat naively perhaps looks at history from the broad perspective of what processes an intelligent naked ape might go through to develop civilisation. From that perspective the study of human history should also consider the external forces, including geography, environment, …

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Classic SciFi 8: Ursula Le Guin The Word for World is Forest

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   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  1 August 2016 Classic SciFi 8: Ursula K Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest, 1972 Introduction The Word for World Is Forest is a science fiction novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in 1972 in the anthology Again, Dangerous Visions, and published as a separate book in 1976. Dangerous Visions 1967 was a path-breaking collection of stories edited …

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Classic SciFi 7: William Gibson Mona Lisa Overdrive

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   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  18 July 2016 William Gibson, Mona Lisa Overdrive, 1988 Introduction Mona Lisa Overdrive takes place eight years after the events in Count Zero and fifteen years after Neuromancer. This is the final article in the series of 5: Neuromancer, Count Zero, William Gibson’s Art of Prophecy and The Art of Prophecy. The Story in Mona Lisa Overdrive …

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Classic SciFi 6: William Gibson Count Zero

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   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  17 June 2016 William Gibson, Count Zero 1986 They set a slamhound on Turner’s trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair. It caught up with him on a street called Chandni Chauk and came scrambling for his rented BMW through a forest of bare brown legs and …

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Classic SciFi 5: William Gibson’s Art of Prophecy

In Books, The rest by tony2 Comments

   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  10 June 2016 Classic SciFi 5: William Gibson’s Art of Prophecy Introduction The articles Classic Scifi 4: William Gibson Neuromancer 1984 and The Art of Prophesy & William Gibson provide a necessary background. The articles to follow on Count Zero 1986 and Mona Lisa Overdrive 1988 will complete the series. I introduced the Guardian article by Ed …

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The art of prophecy

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Featured prophecy image: Tiger & Crow Mannequins, Shop Display Bangkok    Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  Friday 13 May 2016 The art of prophecy & William Gibson  Introduction I hadn’t intended to write this article about prophecy at all. Following Classic Scifi 4: William Gibson Neuromancer the next step was to analyse William Gibson’s prescience and his ability to prophesy elements …

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Classic SciFi 4: William Gibson Neuromancer

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   Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony,  20 April 2016 Featured image: Molly from Brazilian cover William Gibson, Neuromancer 1984 The local came booming in along the black induction strip, fine grit sifting from cracks in the tunnel’s ceiling. Case shuffled into the nearest door and watched the other passengers as he rode. A pair of predatory looking Christian Scientists were edging …