Darwin's Radio, by Greg Bear. When this was recommended to me at the end of the summer, it was with the caveat that it had a very slow beginning. Which it did; actually, more like a very slow first third or half. I think that's mostly a consequence of the author not delving into the 'front lines,' as he puts it (the more personal, character driven area of the plot), and rather focusing mostly on the broadly sweeping lines of scientific discourse and global events.
      Now, the trick is, all that dry, more academic stuff is probably quite necessary to setting up the best parts of the novel; and that's not to say that it's not interesting, it was just dry and slow for my tastes. The ideas the book are based on range from unnerving to seemingly profound, and to risk a cliche are nothing if not thought-provoking. Aside from the questions raised which would be infinitely better addressed by someone who is more interested in sociology or anthropology than me, one thing I noted was the parallel between something a favorite literature professor randomly lectured on once (use and comprehension of language as a marker of 'humanity;' tangentially that marks babies as not-quite-human) and in this novel augmented verbal and nonverbal communication as markers of evolution, or evolved humanity. Which really makes for a quite lovely end result of the scientific side of the story, though the rest of the story makes for a quite worrying ending (which is interestingly set in Tucson).
      If this could have been condensed, it would have made for an amazing Outer Limits episode, with guaranteed shivers and goosebumps. And to return to the 'front lines' or not issue in terms of where a good story might be located, I generally enjoy 'front lines' stories where the scientific and global plot are secondary to the characters' development and own stories (a horribly over-used reference being Evolution's Shore), so if one is more interested in the conceptual idea being primary (say, Philip K. Dick fans, perhaps), Bear's style might be more interesting as well.

      Also, between two Hitchcock movies (Notorious, which I haven't seen but the ending I caught seemed good, and Rebecca, which I have seen but don't really remember unfortunately because it was at four or five in the morning, though I've listened about the corresponding novel) on the boobtoob there was an old preview where Hitchcock himself goes on and on in this incredibly deadpan but also incredibly subtly hilarious way about birds, which suddenly somehow turns creepy at the end, and culminates as an advertisement for The Birds. I used to be kind of iffy about wanting to see his movies, but this little preview-thingie caught my attention - it was brilliant.

      And, Bloodsport III is a very, very bad movie, but its fightscenes are way ahead of the time, even for now, including all sorts of quite realistic grappling and throws and inventive combinations. So, basically, just watch the last twenty minutes or so like I caught and you're golden.

lens culture - interesting photography idea

The Full Moon Atlas - I recently had a great conversation about amateur astronomy, but unfortunately don't have the Seattle guy's contact info to give this to him...

I'm thinking this would have been good for a Jurassic Park movie