Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen ! Today is a special day. What is so special about october 3 ? Well, for one here in Germany it´s a national holiday: German Unity Day, or rather the day of (re)unification. It commemorates the reunification of Germany in 1990. But if that´s not enough for you I can give you another reason.
Welcome on board I.S.S. Rover !
A recurring phrase on this blog, what is so special about it ? It has been a year since I first uttered the above written phrase, and that marks the first anniversary of this blog. And what a year has that been … So, Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the anniversary post of the Keshik´s Excursions !
I hope you enjoyed the journeys we made, I certainly did. And I sincerely hope that you will continue enjoying them as I don´t intend to stop sharing my experiences and projects, be they planned or happen coincidentaly. Some of the projects announced in the “Itinerary” are still running ( The Black Company series (re)read project ), or being in preparation ( Dune “cross-media” coverage in the light of the anniversary of the 1984 David Lynch movie ), and there are some new plans and projects brewing, but about them a bit later. First let me take a look back at this past year.
It has been a year bearing many changes. First of them was this blog, for how and why I explained in the first ever post:
So let me try and explain. I already mentioned new experiences. When I decided to start this blog I was determined to do something new, where the “new” gets to a whole new level. I mean I am no stranger to seeking out new things, but I want to do it differently now.
If you want to get to know more about this, go and read the post here. As second it was the year marking the frst anniversary of my regained freedom. Thirdly: it is the year where I started to read my fiction more, and more in english, thanks to discovering Bookdepositpory.com. And not to forget the lifechanging event- that even stopped my blogging for a while: the Great Relocation Project – aka moving to live and work in Germany ( about that you can read: here ). And that are only the events I can recall not thinking too hard, as I don´t have too much time1.
And I am proud say that I managed to fulfill my promises/goals declared in those first posts ( or at least 95% of them – editor ). Not to mention the small joy of having fifty posts in these first twelve months, a small achievement I didn´t declare openly, but still strived for; it was a bit of a pressure I put on myself, so that I remember the initial declaration and goals of this blog, the most prominent of them being: SHARING2.
But that´s enough of glory and joys of the past. Lets look what holds the future. As it is said:
The only constant in this world is the change itself.
We are changing for the better or for the worst, but nonetheless: we are changing. And so is changing this blog – together with me. Don´t worry, these changes won´t be that dramatical, more like just geting in line with some new ideas, or rather impulses and promisses I made during the year. New projects are coming, lets look at them in no particular order.
Orbit (2008)
As first I am starting a new weekly read project, something I wanted to do again since I finished The Human Division of John Scalzi. So what is it gonna be ? After some thinking the choice has fallen on The Last Wish of Andrzej Sapkowsi. A collection of short stories about Geralt of Rivia ( the witcher himself ) that precede the Witcher saga, and were earlier published in Fantastyka, a polish sci-fi and fantasy magazine. It is a book/series recommended to me by Kasia We, a reader and one of the main inspirators of this blog -and yes a friend, a fellow bookworm, and child of Embercombe.
And if I´m talking about weekly read projects, there will be another one starting somewhere in the early 2015:
TOR (2015)
John Scalzi´s The Human Division is returning for a second season. On september 19 was revealed the new cover art bearing the actual title: The End of All Things. And this project bears a big “NEW” mark with itself, as around that same time I made another decision that will dramatically influence this project. It´s not only going to be the first serialised novel I will be reading “real time” for the first time in a long time, but will also be among the first “proper” e-book reading experiences, if it won´t be the first ever. What does “proper” e-book reading mean here ? It means that the time has come for me to purchase an e-book reader: partly to be able to haul big quantities of books without having to exert myself physically, secondly to not have regrets buying books that otherwise wouldn´t be worth putting on the shelf. So now that I have a stable job and income I can finally afford to buy books regularly, which means I will be able to buy e-books too, and that warrants an e-book reader.
And not to forget some other fields of Keshik´s Excursions I came up with what seemed a brilliant idea at that moment. Let me elaborate. As I´m now living in Germany I have access to large quantities and broad choice of quality beer. Such a broad choice that I will be trying out a new beverage every weekend for a long time. And so I thought why not turn it into a culinary project, and write about these beers. At the moment I´m not sure of the format, or anything else, how this will be realised, but I´m gonna try and see ifi t works out.
And to return to the reading front a bit, before I depart. I think I have found two contenders to fill in the place left by the late iain M. Banks. As I have been searching for other inspirational, and “fresh” voices in the genre of space – opera/sci-fi I did find two names that are mentioned by many to be worthy of Banks´ legacy. And those names are: Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton, both of them “fellow” british writers. I will be starting with Reynolds´ Revelation Space ( it´s already enroute – editor ). And for Hamilton, well I haven´t decided yet; his books tend to be bricks, and also parts of quite tightly knit series, so I will take a shot at him after I got my e-book reader.
Aaaaaand, cut ! Well that´s it for today´s anniversary post, ideas, news, new projects, random ranting etc But don´t be too surprised if surprises happen, like for example a Harlan Ellison christmas read project and the likes of it. Sorry for dragging on this long, or finishing so early, but I have stated my reasons already, so get over it. Now I wish you a good night, have fun, and stay safe till we meet again. Captain of I.S.S. Rover over, and out !
But before we part, we need to have some music, there is no anniversary without music. But this time it won´t be a single number, butrather a whole “album”, or rather mixtape. As I said: “I´m hooked on a feeling …” And it is a worthy tribute of an era and a device I have fond memories of.
1. Don´t have much time ? How come ? – Well … To be honest this national holiday of German Unity doesn´t appeal much to mee, so I was working overtime today, and so will I tomorrow, which means I don´t have all night to tinker with this post, but will have to get some sleep too. That´s it.
2. Ohh, I did forget to share something with you. Mea Culpa ! I just couldn´t find yet the time, and/or inspiration to write about it. At the beginning of september I inspected the local cinema, and watched the “Guardians of the Galaxy”. And I must say I´m hooked on a feeling, or rather the “Awesome Mixtape Vol. 1” ( And if you ask: “Yes I still do own a Sony Walkman.” )
Keshik's excursions 