chris's random thoughts

There’s a couple of authors that I’ll read just on the the strength of their name on the cover. However, one stands out: Leo A. Frankowski.

I’ve always been a fan of the “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” genre, but he takes it to a new level with the “Cross-Time Engineer” series. Most authors have their protagonists gently mincing though time, afraid to step on a bug for fear of somehow altering their futures.

Bah. I say, “Bring it on.” So does Frankowski.

I’ve always had a pet theory that time is like an infinite amount of possibilities where everything that could have occurred did occur. Therefore, a misstep by a klutzy time traveler wouldn’t affect causality. Getting back to where you left would be problematic, as you would have to navigate a finite — but nearly infinate — amount of subjective “futures” from which to choose . But, I digress. When my inner geek is faced with a problem, he starts to get sidetracked with potential solutions.

Anyway, after reading the adventures of Conrad Stargard for the umpteenth time, I decided to see if he’s put out anything new and stumbled upon his web site. I was able to get in touch with Leo, and he was kind enough to send me “Conrad’s Crusade” — the as-of-yet unpublished 7th book in the “Cross-Time Engineer” series. My jaw dropped. Needless to say, I spent the next couple of hours tearing through it.

So, not only is he one of my favorite authors, he’s also a hell of a guy.

I was on my way to work the other day. As it was after 9:00am, and none of the NPR stations carry “Morning Edition” past that, I switched over to Bob and Tom.

They had Kevin Pollock on — apparently, he is a gifted impersonator. Not a “wow, that sort of sounds like so-and-so” impersonator like Rich Little, but a “wow, that IS so-and-so.”

I had just taken a sip of coffee when they had him do Christopher Walken being interviewed:

Frankenstein never scared me. Marsupials do. ‘Cause they’re fast.

Every surface between my shirt and the windshield was sprayed. I had done this once before, but it wasn’t on 270N going 65+ (it was on Teri just prior to both of us going to work — we had to change).

I don’t know why I found this particular bit to be so amusing, but there it is.