Rocket Science: Chapter 3 – Procrastinating at the bar
Dan WildPrevious chapter Marley lifted his head from the desk and looked around the library. It was mid-evening and buzzing with students. He collected his laser stylus and fold-up tablet, or flablet, and headed to the Quasar Bar to spend money and time. Marley didn’t drink unless there was someone to drink with him. At the …
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Rocket Science: Chapter 2 – A haircut, red dust and Octomaids
Dan WildPrevious Chapter Marley had not taken Interspecies Liaison seriously. Presentation was important, so the first requirement – have a haircut. He recalled his visit to the Bad Ends. The hairdresser had asked, “Do you want to look like him?” He pointed to a picture of Frisky Benjamin, the famous C-grade actor. And the haircut was …
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Rocket Science: Tales from the Orion Arm
Dan WildChapter 1 – The Omniverse The Multiverse was in a particularly bad mood when it first noticed Chuck Marley. It had just snacked on Y77, a small test universe on the fringes of imagination. Y77 was a failed universe and the Multiverse decided to eat it and start again. However, the ingestion of Y77 left …
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HMRC pour the Cup of Pain
Dan WildIt must have been a cold day, greyer than usual for the London bureaucrats who are trying to chase down an alleged tax debt I accrued before I left Olde Blighty. As if Centrelink didn’t provide enough angst for me last year. You’ll recall from a previous post that Centrelink (UK readers, this is Aust. …
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Sonnet 3 — After WS
Dan WildScatter my ashes in your vale of kings,Or by a pond secure from frosty wind;Or lake, perhaps, where yesterday’s tidingsBring repose and solace I might yet findFrom the harsh sun that burnt me brown as duskIn autumn. Winter is yet to come, I fear,When sheilas dress refined and smell of muskWhile silent Indian gurus are …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 51-69
Dan WildPrevious.. Invocatio: To its own substance; woven tracery ran Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o’er The solid rind, like a leaf’s veined fan— Of which Love scooped this boat—and with soft motion Piloted it round the circumfluous Ocean. –Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Witch of Atlas, XXXIII, 308 51The bath continued… The river Lethe …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 42-50
Dan WildPrevious… 42[This stanza has intentionally been left blank] 43He slunk into the bath after high tea,Bringing a wafer wiv ‘im. Today he’d sayGoodbye to innocence, as minstrelsyBeckoned – he hoped he’d be able to stayThe course of his dream, but what could allayThe fear? Failure was no longer an optionTo be contemplated at break of …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 31-41
Dan WildPrevious.. 31Half a day before the gathering stormRose Percy, not Percival of Wagner’sDour overture, based on the French wormOf Tours – these were really snaky nagas,Like an open pack of Lady gagasBought from a small Chinese tobacconistThat sells everything except hate. No ragasWould be played today, nor would F. LizstBe taken out of the stool …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto I, stanzas 21-30
Dan WildStanzas 1-20 21Next eve the band Toucani reconvened,A final chance to demonstrate the planTo put on stage was sound. Absent a fiendOr devilish surprise, the piano manPercy was full prepared, the billy canOf his musical ideas ready to overflow.He was not going to AfghanistanTo liberate or command, althoughHis nerves seemed to say that this was …
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The Multiverse – All you need to know
Dan WildThe multiverse is the universe of universes. Its existence is postulated but not proven. Quantum physicists and philosophers are its most passionate advocates as well as its detractors. I’m a very passionate advocate: it would be nice to know there’s a universe where my neighbours don’t dump rubbish in the recycle bin, leave the lid …