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The Day the Moon Blew Up

gatesnotes.com

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Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#51

Post by mirimir »

Jedd wrote: post #40

I believe I've read all of Stephenson's books (yes, even The Big U) Seveneves is in the top 5, but only just -- the Baroque Cycle (though not sci-fi) takes up three of the first five spots. In terms of can't-put-down-once-started, Reamde tops the list, but, again, not sci-fi. People seem to want to compare the content to Anathem, even suggesting it may fit into the same universe - though I can't see it myself. For wh…

I also loved The Baroque Cycle, and Mongoliad (which also, now that I think of it, features that immortal mystic). It's hard to explain the connection with Anathem without too many spoilers. So I'll just note that Earth does explicitly exist in the Anathem universe.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#52

Post by cialowicz »

johnloeber wrote: post #33
eric_arrr wrote: post #8

A couple of fun things hidden (or not exactly) in this video: There's no missing a couple of Neal's swordfighting buddies at 1:07. Wondering where the camera stand is? Look for its reflection in the window behind Bill at 1:52. What car did Bill drive to the meet-up? Probably not the Model X. My money is on the Porsche 959 shown at 2:17. (It's also a safe bet that the meet-up actually began at the Burgermaster, since…

It looks like Bill drove that dark-blue Model S that you could see around 0:50. You can tell that it's not a Model X from the interior seat configuration.

Bill is a known 959 enthusiast [1]. Considering that only 345 were ever made and only a handful of those were imported into the US, I'd say that car is very likely his.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_959#.22Gates_959.22

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#53

Post by eric_arrr »

adventured wrote: post #48
eric_arrr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bill might well drive a Model X and any number of other cars -- his daily was an armored mid-90's Lexus LS for many years -- but if there's a Porsche 959 parked at the south Kirkland Burgermaster, the odds are overwhelming that it belongs to Bill. This because only 345 Porsche 959's were ever built, and none were eligible for import into the US. That is, until Bill made himself instrumental in the passage of the show…

Gates owns a silver 959. This one: https://www.instagram.com/p/MgiOYcGyhI/

The silver one was presumed his, but not confirmed as such.

But Bill being Bill, he might be collecting them. :)

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#54

Post by eric_arrr »

Jedd wrote: post #40

I believe I've read all of Stephenson's books (yes, even The Big U) Seveneves is in the top 5, but only just -- the Baroque Cycle (though not sci-fi) takes up three of the first five spots. In terms of can't-put-down-once-started, Reamde tops the list, but, again, not sci-fi. People seem to want to compare the content to Anathem, even suggesting it may fit into the same universe - though I can't see it myself. For wh…

Since you're a REAMDE fan, I'll let you in on a secret:

The character of Peter is largely based on 3ric Johanson, who just happens to have been in the news this week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11703350

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#55

Post by eric_arrr »

ef4 wrote: post #17

The first third of Seveneves is a real gut punch. The only other world-ending story that comes close in terms of emotional impact for me was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". Stephenson manages to show humanity in all its realistic messiness but still leave you proud -- on balance -- that humans mostly get our act together in a desperate attempt to preserve a seed of life and culture.

I kept thinking Seveneves would adapt wonderfully as a three-season television series, with one season for each part of the book.

Oh, those season finales!

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#56

Post by 100k »

"If Stephenson wrote Huckleberry Finn it would be 4,000 pages long and mostly about paddlewheel design"

-- https://twitter.com/baconmeteor/status/663076130077802496

I have heard good things about this book, but it has been a while since I could get into Neal Stephenson's work. My favorite is one of his earliest, Zodiac. It's the only book of his I've read that doesn't just...end.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#59

Post by GantzGraf »

Was anybody else turned off by the author's approach to characterisation in this book? I feel like he's over-explaining their reasoning/motivation for doing the things they do to the point where it's irritating. It's like he's trying to tell you everything about a character in the shortest time possible. No subtlety.

Am I overreacting? I'm still within the first third but I don't think I'll be able to get through the book if it's entirely like this.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#60

Post by RyJones »

eric_arrr wrote: post #8

A couple of fun things hidden (or not exactly) in this video: There's no missing a couple of Neal's swordfighting buddies at 1:07. Wondering where the camera stand is? Look for its reflection in the window behind Bill at 1:52. What car did Bill drive to the meet-up? Probably not the Model X. My money is on the Porsche 959 shown at 2:17. (It's also a safe bet that the meet-up actually began at the Burgermaster, since…

The timeline looks like they started in Seattle, drove through the arboretum, over 520, went to the Kirkland Burgermaster, drive by his office by the Bluetooth SIG, endeding at Houghton Beach Park in Kirkland just north of Carillon Point.
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