Miscellanea #5

(Miscellanea: A collection of miscellaneous matters; matters of various kinds (Webster’s 1913). Noteworthy tidbits gleaned from all over, sans commentary.)

Steinbeck, at Last, Welcomed Home
During his lifetime, John Steinbeck and his hometown became so estranged that the author once objected to the naming of a local school building after him because he figured it would be an excuse to cuss his name. Theirs was a troubled and mostly unforgiving relationship, one with spells of love and hate and most emotions in between…. (NY Times)

Briton returns book 42 years late
An ex-RAF serviceman has been rewarded with a cup of tea after returning a book to Malta 42 years late. (BBC News)

Salon Interviews Neal Stephenson
Salon has a great interview with Neal Stephenson, author of such science fiction favorites as Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Quicksilver…. (Slashdot)

Things for me to catch up with
I had a romantic notion that I would keep a diary throughout all of last week, perhaps even blogging as I went, but the realities of running so far through somewhere so hot and inhospitable pretty much put an end to that…. As a sneak preview: it was over 120 degrees; I broke some bones in my ankle on the third day; most people were on heavy painkillers by the sixth… (Ben Hammersley’s Dangerous Precedent)

How Life Imitates Star Trek
40 years of invention inspired by Star Trek. Enterprise’s gadgets come back/down to earth. ‘In the 23rd century universe of Star Trek, people talked to each other using wireless personal communicators, had easy access to a vast database of information and spent hours gazing at a big wall-mounted video screen….’ (SF gate) (2020 Hindsight)

Olympic flame ceremony
Pictures from the ruins of Ancient Olympia in Hera as the Olympic torch is lit. (BBC Sport | Olympics 2004 | UK Edition)