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Showing posts from 2012

Merry Xmas

I got a Nexus 7 as a present from my generous wife so I may be posting more frequently here. Anyway, happy holidays to everyone except the spammer who has attempted to comment in excess of fifty times today - you can rot on hell.

Komatiite

Komatiite (play /koʊˈmɑːtɪ.aɪt/)[1] is a type of ultramafic mantle-derived volcanic rock. Komatiites have low silicon, potassium and aluminium, and high to extremely high magnesium content. Komatiite was named for its type locality along the Komati River in South Africa. True komatiites are very rare and essentially restricted to rocks of Archaean age, with few Proterozoic or Phanerozoic komatiites known (although high-magnesian lamprophyres are known from the Mesozoic). This restriction in age is thought to be due to cooling of the mantle, which may have been up to 500 °C hotter during the early to middle Archaean (3.8 to 2.8 Ga). The early Earth had much higher heat production, due to the residual heat from planetary accretion, as well as the greater abundance of radioactive elements. Geographically, komatiites are restricted in distribution to the Archaean shield areas. Komatiites occur with other ultramafic and high-magnesian mafic volcanic rocks in Archaean greenstone belts.

Under the Lights

On an empty stage, under bright harsh lights In a closed glass case, airless and sealed tight I sit upright on a bare wooden chair Telling myself I no longer care The world is bleached, it's all knife-edged shadows It tastes of ash and bitter smoke, burned rose And I am under the light , on the stage Sweating and squirming, lost in a deep rage At what I have lost, at who I am now And the lights blur, I tense up, I know how I feel a different kind of grieving A grief at what I am now losing I'm naked under the lights , being watched By millions of eyes and I know I am lost

Rigs I Have Worked On #12 - GSF Celtic Sea

Rig Name: GSF Celtic Sea Rig Manager: Transocean Ltd. Rig Owner: Transocean Ltd. Competitive Rig: Yes Rig Type: Semisub Semisub Generation: 4 Rig Design: Friede & Goldman L-907 Enhanced Pacesetter Rated Water Depth: 5,750 ft Drilling Depth: 25,000 ft

Summer Poem #2

Oh fly, fly up to the sky Summer Bean Fly up, fly back, tell me what you've seen "I saw stars like snowflakes on black, black cloth I saw two moons kissing, a comet like a moth Meteors hissing across it all Planets dancing as if at a ball" Oh swim, swim into the sea Summer Bean Swim down, swim back, tell me what you've seen "I saw fish flicker in front of crinkly coral I saw crabs scuttle, a ship in a bottle Seaweed ripples in the heavy waves Seahorses hide in deep, dark caves" Oh dig, dig into the ground Summer Bean Dig down, dig deep, tell me what you've seen "I saw worms wiggle, beetles in the soil I saw Molten rock bubbling, all on the boil Glittering gold, blue black stone I saw all this and then I went home."

Bubbles - Part 4

Anne had found that there was a point where the complexities of a plan and the events it tried to influence collapsed to a short lived node of potential. All that could be done was to hope for the go signal before the node evaporated and a secondary plan had to be used. The go signal arrived two hours before the Earth viewing in 4Dome, the optimal time for plan one. *** Over the years on standby in Cylinder3 John and Sarah accreted bits of personality like an old ship accreted barnacles. They interacted with their co-workers, a group of social misfits themselves on the verge of forcible personality surgery. They went out eating and drinking, went to gaming parlors loud with the clatter of steel balls and the shimmering noise of sub3Dome strings. Their monitors allowed this, approvingly watching shallow cover become deep. Potentially useful roots were put down in a disaffected community. "Simon, Erica, we need your help." "Sure, what do you need?" Different g

Bubbles - Part 3

Anne and Thomas transited from Jovian to Lunar orbit in a years long slow sleep. Their weaponry and other dubious tech was removed or downgraded. Their brain augments were present but still empty. However, the mesh of Holes within their skulls, between them and across the system, allowed them to restore what had been taken from the last back-up. The Holes were the reason for their traveling as cargo, rather than simply stepping across to Luna. Pass a hole though another Hole and both would disappear in a cloud of hard radiation. Pass Anne or Thomas through a Hole and their entirely artificial mentalities would vanish, followed shortly by their biological brains. It was probable that their soul-spheres would survive. The question was, how far would their soul-sphere back-ups even make sense, given the highly distributed and non-local nature of their psyches. Jenkins was drip-feeding them the original contents of their optical networks. However, by the time they boarded the Slowship Bulk

Bubbles - Part 2

On Cylinder1 Anne and Thomas had their appointment at 1902 Spinward, Three Outward. A largish piece of real-estate mostly taken up with ceremonial hedges, low hills topped by wooden gazebos, winding gravel paths and the omnipresent water features. Gentle rippling light from the sea on the other side of the cylinder lent the scene a sense of peace. They both felt appreciation of an artfully reconstructed piece of Earth style total defense. Especially one that originally contained a very large, very dirty nuclear device as its centerpiece. The central house consisted of plates of creamy white fake limestone hanging from an umbrella of compacted Lunarian dust. Their new employer, Mike Jenkins, knelt on a cushion, a circle of important looking icons slowly circling him. He made a stylized gesture to Anne and Thomas who obediently knelt, dropped into Jenkins personal lagoon in Ocean and immediately drowned. *** John and Sarah reflexively started to destroy the terrible image and eve

Bubbles - Part 1

Mid Twenty-Third Century Later, when they could think of the boat trip dispassionately, it would be clear to both of them that the whole vacation had been set up as R&R before the task ahead. They looked over the side into the startlingly deep water, depth upon depth, shading to turquoise or jade depending on how far the river bed had been burned. They easily caught a nearly tame trout and cooked it whole in the sand box, leaving the sand to produce something edible out of the fish. Before they could eat, however, they were summoned by 3Council4Dome for reassignment. The boat stopped pretending to sail and the pretty blue tiller rattled loosely as they pulled alongside a narrow pier. It was Johns’ turn to be chivalrous so he got out first and helped Sarah onto the fake limestone slab. They were met by a small wheeled drone that called itself 4HumanCompliant1028Drone3Council4dome. “And for short?” asked Sarah. “No,” said the drone, leading them up the slope towards the edge of 4Dome

Clearance Sale - Part 2

My contract had ended and until I got another one I was left to drift around the apartment, cleaning, adjusting furniture, surfing the net and so on. We had plenty of groceries after a friend gave us a ride to a bigger store so I had no reason to head to the supermarket. One day, however, I had a craving for some rich chocolate ice cream. After shouting my conscience into silence I set off down the road. Once again there was a small crowd in front of the ex-office supply store. I was startled. What else could be left to sell? As I got closer I saw that the store had been modified in strange ways. There were heavy looking struts on the windows and a peculiar and heavy looking door at the entrance. In the door was some kind of pressure outlet and from it ran a hose to a powerful and noisy machine. "Ah, madam. welcome back," the tall man said. His face was flushed a deep red, as though he'd been drinking heavily. "Are you here to see the latest part of our program?

Clearance Sale - Part 1

That summer we had no car. Fortunately we lived within walking distance of a supermarket, although it didn't seem like walking distance after struggling home with a backpack in one hundred degree temperatures. Each time I went to the store I would walk past another that specialized in office supplies. As big as the supermarket with large glass windows at the front, presumably to show off the wonders within. The fact that it was obviously failing ruined this image. The store always appeared to be a place of dust, no-one there except for obviously demoralized staff and a few zombie-like customers. Then one day as I walked to the supermarket I saw large signs in office stores' window. "EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!!" As I'm sure was intended, the red and blue stripes filling the poster around the text were less a patriotic statement than a crude attempt to arrest the eye of a casual passer-by. I stopped to see what I hopefully expected to be a train wreck. Anything that requ

Disguise the Secret - Part 3

She tried to shake off the inhibitions of a lifetime and set off towards the hill. She climbed it feeling fragile and was intensely nervous, filled with thoughts of what she had been told about this mound. That witches gathered there each new moon; that the fairy folk, with their silver skins and strangely jointed limbs, lived beneath it; that it was the centre of the world and the protecting walls of cloud spun slowly around with the top of the hill as their pivot. As she reached the top she saw a fire had been lit in the middle of a wide circle of flat stone slabs. On the other side of the fire from her sat the old man, unexpectedly tall with a face invisible under his thick dirty beard but with eyes a friendly, warm brown. He said nothing, just looked at Ana as though sizing her up for some task. She felt like a free labourer being assessed by a potential client. He began to play on a small drum -- a simple repetitive beat that got inside Ana’s head. She could see the sparks risi

Disguise the Secret - Part 2

Into the meeting hall came Theodore, the headman. He was surprisingly small and slender. His eyes, perpetually wide and a deep clear blue, were notoriously poor at seeing, a fact that many miscreant children had taken advantage of. Apart from the eyes he was dark with black hair and skin that looked tanned all the time. He walked off center, a syncopated lurch that was the result of something breaking in his brain some years before. Even his many enemies refrained from mentioning his ailment, partly through compassion, but mainly to avoid the explosive rage he exhibited whenever it was brought up. No matter the clothes he wore he always had his grandfathers belt around his waist. A thick strip of leather held in place by leather thongs through holes. Hanging from it, all the way around, were a score or more glossy black feathers and it was this that caused awe in those open to the emotion. Having seen a bird was singular enough. To kill and eat one, to absorb its power, was both wonder

Class Warfare

The children of the rich are becoming a separate species That they are taller and better looking can be put down to Good nutrition and confidence respectively But they have long thin limbs Delicate long fingers Large but flat chests They run for miles and still have Energy for enthusiastic, cool skinned, inventive sex They are being bred for some high, thin aired Shangri-La As the world below falls apart they will breathe Clean air, they will run up and down their mountain valley Use their long thin fingers to operate computers Doing rocket science They will fight wars against us low-landers As we rise from the sludge of all that is left They will leave for Mars and we will stay Failing to deal with a biosphere spasming And collapsing back to slime mould The children of the rich are becoming a separate species

Disguise the Secret - Part 1

The lapwing's poetic meaning is 'Disguise the Secret' and it is her extraordinary discretion which gives her the claim for sanctity . Robert Graves, The White Goddess Ana carried the basket, dry reeds woven together into lines and loops, filled with mushrooms. A basket, she sometimes thought when in one of her down moods, that was sturdy enough to carry her head should one of her frequent migraines cause it to fall off. As always she stopped at the Tall Stone, the prone Lesser Stones scattered around it, paying obeisance. and she put down the basket and walked up to the tall, misshapen spear of rock, bowing a little, respectful of the power in this place. At the height of her head there were carvings, almost invisible after centuries of erosion, covered with lichen. Above there were three spirals in a rough triangle. They were perfect, as though measured out with ruler and string. Their edges were sharp and they were deeply incised, as if with an inconceivably h

Fifteen ways of Looking at a Lapwing

1. " The secret of the lapwing is, disguise the secret. " (Robert Graves, The White Goddess) 2. The Lapwing is hopping across the grass Its play of a broken wing convincing all critics And attracting them away from the nest. 3. Small black eyes peering out of the hedgerow Constant patrols to secure the perimeter Lacking any defensive capability beyond the wing trick The Lapwing scans the sky for signs of hope 4. We will summon all of our resources And those of our allies Spy satellites the size of pickups Will gently rotate and re-focus  Ballistic, sub-orbital Spy planes will fly overhead taking 10,000 pictures a second Glittering machines The size and shape of spiders Will skitter through the hedgerow Looking for the nest 5. To be the first to fly across the field of broken bones And see the roadway of shards the dead will walk upon To fly across, along, up 6. Against a sky that looks as though The blue were matte paint Hastily slapped on the

Sea of Dreams - Part 4

We dug back into the shoreline according to some plan dictated by Constancy. As far as we could tell, we and the other crews were were making complex the simple, beautiful curve of our coastline. Curves were becoming irregular fractals once the high basalt dams came down. The serious questions were, "Why do this?" and, "Why do it so inefficiently?" *** I had a feeling I'd find Neil getting drunk somewhere on the Sea of Tranquility seafront. He always liked high class bars with nice views, when he was sane and presentable enough to get served. Sure enough I found him at a table looking out over the Sea of Tranquility, kept company by a G&T. I sat opposite him and ordered a coffee from a sullen looking waiter. "So what's going on Neil? Why was I brain-screwed by Constancy then bugged by her?" "A black dog and a white dog fight, which one . . . ." "No Neil, no more of that shit. Answers please" "Loo