The Illustrated Man was a pretty sad story. A man in danger of losing his job gets tattoos all over his body in order to become the carnival's illustrated man. To his suprise, his tattoo artist tells him that her tattoos can predict the future. After she tells him that, she gives him two of these future telling tattoos. Before he can see them, the carnival boss sets an unveiling but when he unveils the new tattoo it is a image of him killing his wife. The next day his wife is furious and as foretold he kills his wife. Later that night, the carnies find his wife dead and chase him down and kill him. Then they decide to look at his second tattoo and see something that shocks them all. It was a group of carnies looking down on a tattooed man's back with a tattoo of a group of carnies looking . . .
After reading I wondered if any one is really a illustrated man? I found that there is a man that has tattoos all over his body. Tom Leppard is a man who has his entire body tattooed with leopard spots, enough that he is listed in the Guinness Books of World Records as the World’s Most Tattooed Man. He is known for his feline split upper lip, facial whiskers, and of course his tattoos. Just imagine the pain he must of went through just like the man in The Illustrated Man.
Monday, January 21, 2008
All Summer in a Day
All Summer in a Day has a setting that is on Venus and in a classroom. Read this summary to understand the book better.
The story is mainly about Margot, a girl who moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier. She is a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years. She fondly remembers the sun and the way it looked and felt. She does not play much with the other children in the underground city they live in and she is an outcast because of her sensitivity and that she may return to Earth.
The kids are jealous of her because she remembers the sun. She almost exploded from living with the never ending rain because she got tired of it.
The other children do not believe her when she talks about the sun and the class bully starts to mess with her. So, while the teacher is out of the room, he convinces the other children to lock Margot in the closet.
The teacher finally comes back and takes the children outside once the sun comes out. They finally see the sun and the sky. When they are outside they forget about Margot.
Once the rain starts, the children go back inside. Then one of the children remembers that Margot is still locked in the closet. They walk to the closet, realizing what they have done, and let Margot out.
I liked how Ray used Venus as the setting so I wanted to find out if it is possible for humans, with the technology that we have now, to live on Venus and I found many interesting things. They say Venus may be the least hospitable place for life in the solar system, Venus's atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, the dense atmosphere produces greenhouse effect that raises Venus's surface temperature, and Venus's surface is actually hotter than Mercury's despite it being nearly twice as far from the Sun.
Sounds like it would be nearly imposable to live on Venus. I'm just glad that I'm right here down-to-Earth.
The story is mainly about Margot, a girl who moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier. She is a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years. She fondly remembers the sun and the way it looked and felt. She does not play much with the other children in the underground city they live in and she is an outcast because of her sensitivity and that she may return to Earth.
The kids are jealous of her because she remembers the sun. She almost exploded from living with the never ending rain because she got tired of it.
The other children do not believe her when she talks about the sun and the class bully starts to mess with her. So, while the teacher is out of the room, he convinces the other children to lock Margot in the closet.
The teacher finally comes back and takes the children outside once the sun comes out. They finally see the sun and the sky. When they are outside they forget about Margot.
Once the rain starts, the children go back inside. Then one of the children remembers that Margot is still locked in the closet. They walk to the closet, realizing what they have done, and let Margot out.
I liked how Ray used Venus as the setting so I wanted to find out if it is possible for humans, with the technology that we have now, to live on Venus and I found many interesting things. They say Venus may be the least hospitable place for life in the solar system, Venus's atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, the dense atmosphere produces greenhouse effect that raises Venus's surface temperature, and Venus's surface is actually hotter than Mercury's despite it being nearly twice as far from the Sun.
Sounds like it would be nearly imposable to live on Venus. I'm just glad that I'm right here down-to-Earth.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Gift
The gift was a great story to me because I love the thought of space travel. To understand why I like the story read this summary.
The story starts out in an airport where a family waits to board a rocket and security is telling this man that he can't bring a tree on the rocket because it exceeds the weight limit. When he and his family board the ship his son reminds him again that it is almost Christmas and he promised that he would get what he wanted for Christmas, a tree.
After thinking it over for a little while he tells his son that he is sticking to his promise and he will get what he wants for Christmas. His father goes through this trouble thinking because it his son's first rocket ride and he wanted it to be special.
So when it hits 12:00 on the dot his son shouts for joy and his dad fulfilled his promise by taking his son into a room with a window and lets him soak up the wonderful lights, even better than a tree, that the stars give off.
After reading that story I was wondering about there ever being public space travel and I found public space travel could possibly become a generator of launch demand during the second decade of this century, the rate would be two to three a year and up to as high as 50 passengers a year by 2020, and in 2021 over 15,000 passengers could be taking suborbital hops.
This looks promising for my dreams but I still wish I could be with the boy in space right now.
The story starts out in an airport where a family waits to board a rocket and security is telling this man that he can't bring a tree on the rocket because it exceeds the weight limit. When he and his family board the ship his son reminds him again that it is almost Christmas and he promised that he would get what he wanted for Christmas, a tree.
After thinking it over for a little while he tells his son that he is sticking to his promise and he will get what he wants for Christmas. His father goes through this trouble thinking because it his son's first rocket ride and he wanted it to be special.
So when it hits 12:00 on the dot his son shouts for joy and his dad fulfilled his promise by taking his son into a room with a window and lets him soak up the wonderful lights, even better than a tree, that the stars give off.
After reading that story I was wondering about there ever being public space travel and I found public space travel could possibly become a generator of launch demand during the second decade of this century, the rate would be two to three a year and up to as high as 50 passengers a year by 2020, and in 2021 over 15,000 passengers could be taking suborbital hops.
This looks promising for my dreams but I still wish I could be with the boy in space right now.
The Veldt
The Veldt was a very unusual story from my point of view. Here is the summary of the story and after it's done you mite understand why I think it is so unusual.
Lydia and George Hadley live in a high-tech home that tends to their every need. It cooks the food, brushes their teeth, and even ties their shoes. The house also contains a high-tech nursery. Lydia tells George that she thinks something might be wrong with the nursery, and she wants him to take a look at it.
They go to the nursery, and as they stand in the room. The room transforms into an African veldt, with a blazing hot sun and everything. The couple sees lions off in the distance that seem to be eating something. Suddenly the lions turn and run toward George and Lydia. The two run out of the nursery and slam the door.
Then they tell their children that they can't enter the room any more. The children go nuts and through fits and the hole-nine-yards. Once the parents give in to their spoiled children, they call a man that checks smart houses to look at their house. Before the man can get the kids help, they lock their mom and dad in the nursery and it comes to life and it kills them before the man can come back and be a witness.
I went online to find out some information on smart-homes and I found that the smart home relies on a number of small computers distributed around the house that are either used to turn devices and appliances on and off or to send and receive information, the use of computer controls allows the home to be operated in a variety of ways, and the smart home system is designed to keep you and your house safe in any circumstances. Well in this case the smart house wasn't ready for these children because the nursery sure didn't protect them.
Lydia and George Hadley live in a high-tech home that tends to their every need. It cooks the food, brushes their teeth, and even ties their shoes. The house also contains a high-tech nursery. Lydia tells George that she thinks something might be wrong with the nursery, and she wants him to take a look at it.
They go to the nursery, and as they stand in the room. The room transforms into an African veldt, with a blazing hot sun and everything. The couple sees lions off in the distance that seem to be eating something. Suddenly the lions turn and run toward George and Lydia. The two run out of the nursery and slam the door.
Then they tell their children that they can't enter the room any more. The children go nuts and through fits and the hole-nine-yards. Once the parents give in to their spoiled children, they call a man that checks smart houses to look at their house. Before the man can get the kids help, they lock their mom and dad in the nursery and it comes to life and it kills them before the man can come back and be a witness.
I went online to find out some information on smart-homes and I found that the smart home relies on a number of small computers distributed around the house that are either used to turn devices and appliances on and off or to send and receive information, the use of computer controls allows the home to be operated in a variety of ways, and the smart home system is designed to keep you and your house safe in any circumstances. Well in this case the smart house wasn't ready for these children because the nursery sure didn't protect them.
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