David Brin sent the message below to this list, but it bounced because he
wasn't subscribed. Julia asked me to forward it to you. Well, who am I to
refuse? :)
Jeroen
_________________________________________________________________________
Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://go.to/brin-l
>Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 16:05:30 -0700
>To: "J. van Baardwijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From: "d.brin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: So much for a good idea...
>
>
>Dear Jeroen and Brin-L gang...
>
>In answer to the failed effort to arrange a Brin-L Anniversary Party
>9announced by Jeroen below) ... ah well!
>
>I remain a proud (temporarily lapsed) member of Brin-L and proud to know so
>many bright minds. I hope someday a chance will come to be active on the
>list once more.
>
>Alas. Life with 3 small kids (age 4,7,9) -- plus many deadlines -- has
>left me with less time for writing and a particular need to focus on fewer
>projects.
>
>Still, I'll be happy to answer occasional enquiries and or meet groups of
>you, e.g. at Worldcon or at one of my speaking gigs or whenever a reunion
>is organized.
>
>I will append below some personal news and news about my work.
>
>I hope you all are thriving! (As for the year "2001", see my remarks on
>the date, posted at http://www.kithrup.com/brin/ !)
>
>Stay well/creative/busy/ useful/happy --
>
>
>With cordial regards.
>
>David Brin
>www.davidbrin.com
>
>
>Cheryl & I took a very quick trip to Paris and then Barcelona, where I gave
>speeches and interviews to help present the University of Catalonia
>Literary Awards. Paris was, of course, wonderful, despite being as dirty
>and rude as we recall from living there 90-92. Naturally, we ate like
>crazy and walked off every calorie, rushing about to see all our old
>favorite sites and many new ones. Paris in late November can be brutally
>cold, windy and wet, and yet all the museums were packed! What a racket
>they have going.
>
> Barcelona was warmer. It is a jewel of a city, filled with wonders
>and the most delightful people. The blend of old and hyper-new is better
>than anywhere I've seen. I was surprised to learn that the Catalonian
>language is closer to French (actually Occitan) than it is to Spanish! The
>architecture of Gaudi is simultaneously so wonderful and offensive that it
>makes the brain hurt, provoking unexpected thoughts. That is what the best
>art should do, of course, even when it's painful.
>
>=======
>
>I've been busy with this new public speaking thing. In June I spoke to a
>World Bank Conference in Miami, then to a Pentagon futurist meeting, then
>DARPA, the Library of Congress... and a certain "agency" with the best gift
>shop on the planet. The week before I was in Cincinnati, addressing the
>execs and techies of Procter & Gamble. I also spoke to SAP's Tech 2000
>gathering in Las Vegas, where I met Penn & Teller! Penn is bigtime a sci
>fi & technology fan.
> My prediction as a "noted futurist"? I predict my present surge of fancy
>speaking engagements will all dry up in 2002, when people, sick of "da
>futchah," will go nostalgia-crazy and want nothing but retro!
>
>======\========================
>
>We just had an exhausting & expensive family vacation -- 2 nights in Vegas
>(doing almost everything there is to do with kids), then Hoover Dam (Ben,
>the born engineer, was in utter heaven), then The Grand Canyon, staying at
>Bright Angel Lodge, right at the rim, then blitzing through Anasazi Country
>visiting ancient ruins and volcanic cinder cones and Meteor Crater!
>Amazing & exhausting. And here at home awaited 7 phone messages and 59
>emails! Shows how the world shifts. Ho hum, back to the grind!
>
>==================
>
>The title of my new novel - the most original thing I've done in years - is
>KILN PEOPLE. Take the notion of golems - temporary artificial people made
>of clay. Add "home copiers" in which you can ditto yourself to copies with
>your memories and a genuine imprint of your soul. They last for 1 day. If
>they are good, you download their memories at day's end, and thus they live
>on. As a citizen of this future, you've done this a zillion times, taking
>it for granted. You live your life in parallel, sending expensive "study
>golems" to the library while cheap models clean the house and your real
>body goes to the gym to work out. 2/3 of the population is made of clay,
>has no rights, and doesn't think that's unfair.
> So far, it's huge fun. Bad puns like psycho-ceramics. Golem blanks
>come in ceram-wrap. Get it? ;-)
>
>=========================
>
>
>
>
>
>At 9:19 PM +0200 5/27/01, J. van Baardwijk wrote:
> >Fellow Brinellers,
> >
> ><Official statement>
> >After careful deliberations, the Organizing Committee has decided to
> >discontinue its efforts to organize the earlier announced Brin-L 5th
> >Anniversary Party which was to take place in July 2001 in San Diego, CA,
> USA.
> ></Official statement>
> >
> >In other words: our Party is cancelled. :(
> >
> >The reasons? First, everything kind of came to a standstill during this
> >list's black period last year. Second, in the last several months several
> >members of the Organizing Committee have been too busy with matters related
> >to either work or private lives.
> >
> >All hope is not lost, though. The Committee is currently considering
> >organizing a party later this year, or sometime next year. When there is
> >any news about that, I will certainly let you know.
> >
> >Personal note: Oh well, at least my .sig gets one line shorter now...
> >
> >
> >Jeroen
> >Who is sad to see a good idea go down the drain
> >
> >_________________________________________________________________________
> >Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://go.to/brin-l
