I attended
Van Nuys High School (1977) and
Los Angeles Valley College (1980).
Among other things, I like to go
out
into the desert and look at
plants
and
rocks, or
some of the
other scenic locations
to be found outside of the city.
I'm a Charter Life Member of the
Good Sam Club,
and like going camping and being on the road. I've been
all over the western US over the years and have come to appreciate
a lot more "Blue Highways" than many people. Their loss.
(I highly recommend the book
Blue Highways
by William Least Heat Moon.)
I tend to collect embroidered patches for places I've actually been
to, things I've actually done, and events I've participated in.
Every one of them has a story behind it, and I'm proud to be able to say that.
(I'm not like some people who collect every kind of patch they
can lay their hands on.)
A good number of my patches are from Boy Scout activities,
and I can tell you about each specific camporee and where it was held.
I estimate I have enough patches to nicely cover at least four or
five jackets, not counting the ones I already have sewn onto
one "brag-rag" right now.
Railfan: the short story of how I got interested is:
Once upon a time, I saw a train.
The more detailed version: my brother works for GTE and one of his
coworkers was a railfan (whom they called "The Railfan").
A few years ago, The Railfan tipped everyone off about a rare
opportunity to see an antique steam train, the
Southern Pacific 4449 "Daylight",
which was coming
down from Oregon to the desert in Southern California to film a
movie
("Tough Guys"
starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas).
The Railfan knew what day it was coming through Van Nuys but wasn't
sure about the time, as it was going to make many stops for
photo runbys and stuff along the way.
I got over to the train tracks on Van Nuys Blvd at Keswick Street,
supposedly a good half hour ahead of when the train was supposed to
get there. And it was already there! Beautiful orange and black
paint scheme, venting lots of steam, a wonderful sight. And dozens of
other people getting a good look.
My brother missed out, but I sure didn't. Since then I've been
especially interested in old railroads, steam engines, and related
subjects. Most particularly the history and lore of the various
desert shortlines here in California, such as the San Diego and
Arizona Eastern through Carriso Gorge, the Tonopah and Tidewater,
and others.
Favorite Authors:
- Clive Cussler.
This man has written over a dozen adventure novels featuring a trademarked
character named Dirk Pitt (who makes James Bond look like a wimp).
Every one of them is better than the last, and now
when I see a new one has just come out, I scoop it up and buy it without
even looking at the back cover to see what it's about.
Also, you need to read them in the order they were written. Mr. Cussler
often drops a reference to something from an earlier work.
Lately, starting with "Dragon", he's been including himself
by name in the story, but it's meant to be a surprise. (So if you should
run across a spoiler list, don't look at it!)
Among those novels I feel are his better ones:
-
Raise the Titanic!
Terribly dated but still a good read, and forget
about the movie if you saw it; the book is far better.
-
Vixen 03.
About a military plane missing in the Rockies for
decades with a deadly cargo aboard.
-
Night Probe!
Pretty exciting story here. Also, while he
did everything but call a certain retired British agent "James Bond",
you know that's who he meant!
-
Cyclops.
Probably the best integrated subplots he's done;
blimps, space stations, Fidel Castro: everything somehow tied in
with everything else.
-
Dragon.
Those robots were pretty far out.
-
Sahara.
Drink up! It's a long way to Timbuktu.
-
Inca Gold.
His best one so far, I think.
The underground river legend mentioned in the story is based
on fact. Read about
Earl Dorr's Lost River of Gold under Kokoweef Mountain.
And if I could, I'd sure love to have a framed copy of the group portrait
of the NUMA gang in the novel, the one
that hangs in Admiral Sandecker's office!
-
Shock Wave.
Made me want to read up about diamond mining.
- Harry Harrison. He's written lots of good stuff including:
- Robert A. Heinlein. What else can I say about him?
He was one of the gods of modern science
fiction. There were a few of his works that I just didn't prefer
at all
(Starship Troopers),
or just couldn't get hooked on at all
(Stranger in a Strange Land).
I've found that Heinlein fans come in
three types. One type likes Starship Troopers and nothing else;
another likes "Stranger..." and nothing else.
And then there's the third group which I suppose I belong to.
That's the group that includes his major series of "Future History"
stories with people like
D.D. Harriman and
Lazarus Long.
His Future History started in the 1940's, but as the years went by,
he found his stories more and more outdated, but he kept to his
original theme anyway. In the 1980s he found a way to explain it:
his stories happened in an alternate universe, one in which
history took a few minor turns differently.
If you have never read Heinlein (wow, really?),
get a thick anthology of his titled,
The Past Through Tomorrow
which has most of his Future History
series; then read
Time Enough For Love,
The Number of the Beast,
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and finally
To Sail Beyond the Sunset.
- Larry Niven. One of the best sci-fi writers since Heinlein.
He has a huge series of stories also set in a common background,
called
"Known
Space."
The Ringworld
stories of course are his
crowning glory, but he's written many other great ones.
Destiny's Road
is one recent one I liked.
He also wrote a nice little story called
"The Return of William Proxmire"
which is a huge tip of the hat to Heinlein (who got
to read it just before his death in 1988). Be sure to pick up his anthologies
Playgrounds of the Mind
and N-Space.
- Jerry Pournelle. He's written some good stuff on his own,
but his best works are those he's cowritten with Larry Niven,
including:
- The Mote
in God's Eye. If there is any must-read sci-fi
list, this novel would be in the top running for #1.
(The FX technology now exists to make this one incredible movie if they
were to produce one, but only an epic 5-hour treatment could pull it off
properly. But I'd go to see it if they did.
It might do better as a 10 hour miniseries for TV, but only if it's
in HDTV letterbox format. Maybe in a few more years?)
- The
Gripping Hand. A worthy sequel to Mote.
- Footfall.
A landmark novel of a modern-day alien invasion;
kind of withers next to Harry Turtledove's
Worldwar
series now, though.
- Lucifer's Hammer.
The makers of all of these recent
killer comet and asteroid movies owe a lot to this novel.
(And I think it's real weird that Arthur C. Clarke could write his
own killer comet novel well on the heels of this one, give it practically
the same name,
and actually get away with it!)
- Harry Turtledove. He's being called "The Master of Alternate History"
and I think he deserves the title. There's a big wave of alternate history
novels right now, and he's leading the way with the best ones.
- The Guns of the South.
Time travellers equip the Confederate armies
in 1864 with fantastic new rifles called "AK-47's."
- The Worldwar
series. Earth is invaded by aliens... in 1942.
A four-book series which I consider far superior
to Niven and Pournelle's Footfall. The sequel series
Colonization
is being released now.
- The Two Georges,
written by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove.
This one's about a police investigation into a theft of a famous
historical painting, in a present-day North America which
didn't have a Revolutionary War.
I'm sure a lot more stories could be written about this realm, we didn't
get to see much of the place although they did a lot of travel and
dropped lots of tidbits.
- Mike Resnick. He's edited a series of alternate universe anthologies.
Current Favorite TV Shows:
Other Favorite Shows Which Sometimes Still Live in Rerun and Syndication Heaven:
- Caroline in the City
- Mad About You
- Coach
- Married With Children
- Cheers
- Three's Company
- Too Close for Comfort
- Alice
- Hee Haw
- I Dream of Jeannie
- Gilligan's Island (I'll bet this will still be on TV a century from now)
Absolutely Despised TV Shows
(most of them gone and good riddance!):
- Roseanne. How dare she keep comparing
herself to Lucille Ball? Lucy had class. Roseanne does not.
The smartest move ABC did was not let her start a new show.
- Home Improvement. Funny? I don't think so Tim.
- Laverne and Shirley (or, Lavoine and Shoiley)
- Beverly Hills 90210. When the show started, the lead characters were appalled
at the snobbery they encountered; one season later they were among the worst
snobs themselves!
- CHiPs. By the time the series was wisely cancelled, they were doing the
jobs of the police, sheriff, marshal, and everybody else except
patrolling the highways!
Sports:
I'm not that much of a sports fanatic.
I do like stock car racing,
offroad racing,
and L.A. Dodgers and
Arizona Diamondbacks baseball.
Music:
I play the guitar a little bit; I only know 3 chords, but many
professionals don't seem to know that many either.
As far as listening interests go, I mostly go for country music.
I especially like the 1940s style of "Western Swing"
popularized by
Bob Wills
and more recently by groups such as
"Asleep at the Wheel".
(If you've never heard western swing, get one of their
CD tributes
to Bob Wills,
and enjoy.)
My favorite female vocalists are
Barbara Mandrell,
Pam Tillis,
Deana Carter
and Kathy Mattea,
and for male vocalists I still like
Merle Haggard,
Randy Travis and
George Strait.
(And I am definitely not any fan of
Garth Brooks,
so don't even bother asking!)
Computers:
I have been using computers since 1975. I learned to program in
BASIC at a local computer store, just from reading magazines, long
before I had my own computer.
Over the years I've been a member of various local computer clubs,
including such legendaries as PPC, WVAUG, VTHG, ONUG, OPEN,
NOCCC,
TUG-NET, and TAP.
(Don't make me explain the acronyms!)
I got my feet wet with an
HP-67,
TI-59, and
HP-41C
way back in the 70s.
My first regular computer was an Atari 800 (in 1981), then a Tandy Model 100
portable (in 1983), an Osborne Vixen (in 1985), a Zeos 286/12 (in 1989),
and now my current system which is a Zeos 486/66 system (in 1993).
I'll be looking for a new system soon because this one is very nearly
"used up." ("Used up?? Used up?!?")
If there's anything I've learned, don't skimp on the speed,
because it'll be obsolete again in 4 short years, or less.
I use Yahoo Messenger on my desktop at work.
Keeps me informed of new email, how well my favorite teams
are creaming their opponents, and how my
investments are doing.
Chat? Me? Don't be silly. I prefer to get real work done.
(Besides, the chat module won't work through the company firewall!
Not like I tried it or anything of course!)
Why do I have the handle of Scratchi?
(It's not from the Simpsons.
The origins are much farther back in time.)
It all started a few years ago, and the whole gory story can be
found right over here.
Caution: not for the faint of heart, especially ham operators!
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This page is written and maintained by David Bartholomew.
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Yeah, that's me. I never come out well in pictures.
The first one is from an old company photo ID badge from 1994,
before I grew a beard.
The second one was from a convention in October 2000.
No matter what happens though, in photos
I usually end up looking like some wide-eyed relative of Charlie Manson.
