Can you name yet another short story for me? This humorous SF story appeared in the
National Lampoon decades ago; I found it in a
Lampoon anthology where it was very out of place. The story was written as a transcription of a tape made by academics who had gone to a small town in Appalachia to take an oral history. The county was named Tempura County or Teriyaki County, or something else that was obviously a Japanese food. The main figure of the story was a friendly but powerful and unpredictable entity called Cyrus.
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posted by Countess Elena
on Apr 8, 2013 -
5 answers
What generic thank-you gift (between $10-20) can I give to someone working in SF when the only contact information I have is their iPhone number?
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posted by samthemander
on Feb 12, 2013 -
9 answers
Looking for your favorite works of environmentally conscious and ecologically focused science fiction and fantasy. Obscurities preferred!
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posted by gerryblog
on Sep 15, 2012 -
29 answers
What are your suggestions for a casual, inexpensive restaurant close to a Bart station in San Francisco?
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posted by shesbookish
on Aug 29, 2012 -
11 answers
I'm going to Palo Alto/Menlo Park tomorrow. I'm going to have an afternoon to kill by myself -- if I only have one afternoon, what should I do, and where should I eat in the South Bay Area?
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posted by schmod
on Aug 15, 2012 -
23 answers
What Hospital(s) would a tourist who had an accident in San Francisco likely be sent to?
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posted by Elmore
on Aug 2, 2012 -
28 answers
What early to mid 70s (probably made for TV) sci-fi movie am I half-remembering?
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posted by kimota
on Jun 9, 2012 -
11 answers
In search of a moderately priced restaurant for a smallish (~40 guests) wedding dinner in San Francisco in late August.
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posted by makonan
on May 8, 2012 -
11 answers
Ask whether the universe of the story recognizes the existence of persons. Is
this distinction between SF and Fantasy original with Ted Chiang? Can you think of any counter-examples that don't fit?
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posted by straight
on Sep 14, 2011 -
30 answers
SF plot filter. Looking for story (maybe from Larry Niven) about a mysterious machine people keep on bumping into and immediately forgetting.
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posted by Eltulipan
on Sep 8, 2011 -
8 answers
RaceWIN? Native American-written dystopian/fantasy/science/ speculative fiction. I am looking for the name of the text and author of a contemporary Native American novel that is satirical and dystopian.
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posted by MidSouthern Mouth
on May 31, 2011 -
13 answers
Help me find awesome SF books that aren't libertarian screeds, y'all. What are your favourite Science Fiction books that aren't just
swimming in libertarian ideology?
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posted by LMGM
on Apr 22, 2011 -
56 answers
Please help a new grad move to San Francisco. I will probably arrive on June 1 and start working June 10, and I have $1500 for the whole move in process. Where do I stay while I'm apartment hunting? A hotel is very expensive and a hostel is pretty cramped. I could probably stay on a friend's couch but are there any other reasonable options for 1 month stays?
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posted by yaymukund
on Apr 18, 2011 -
17 answers
Can you help me identify this SF novel? Female protagonist is employed overseeing the construction of a transportation network into deep space. She has to deal with the ship's AI who is trying to turn her son (also a crew member) against her. They run into a very strange intelligent creature and try to figure out how to keep from destroying it with their gateway network, while also carefully monitoring the amount of time that she spends outside of suspended animation.
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posted by penduluum
on Apr 13, 2011 -
6 answers
The
wife and I are heading to San Francisco for a
conference this weekend taking place at the Embarcadero Hyatt. My question is a two-parter: (a) Where in the vicinity should we go for breakfast, lunch etc. on our relatively-short breaks? and (b) After things wind down for the day, where should we explore? More criteria to follow.
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posted by supercres
on Mar 30, 2011 -
36 answers
BookFilter: Help me find this formative (but possibly terrible) 1970s sci-fi book I read in my youth!
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posted by rednikki
on Mar 5, 2011 -
3 answers
I'm getting back into reading for pleasure after years of avoiding it during college. I've found fantasy books easy to get back into, but have no idea where to start with sci-fi!
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posted by Logic Sheep
on Feb 20, 2011 -
40 answers
What alternatives are there to
IO9?
What are the cool review and news sites for science fiction and fantasy? For comic books? For sf&f tv and movies?
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posted by bonehead
on Feb 17, 2011 -
17 answers
In which I try to recall the name of a SF podcast in which a "freelance librarian" in a totalitarian future broadcasts a radio signal to the past, in an effort to change history.
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posted by outlier
on Jan 2, 2011 -
2 answers
Can you identify this book? I read it in the mid-1980s. It may or may not have been a YA (Young Adult) title. The protagonist was a young girl, and her society lived peacefully up in the trees. She was interested in seeing the world down on the surface. There may have been another society down there. At one point she lost her temper with someone (a pet?) and blurted out something like "I would like to
dead you!" at which her family was shocked and horrified at her violent thoughts. I particularly remember being struck by that part, that she understood the concept of killing but didn't know the verb.
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posted by tomboko
on Dec 27, 2010 -
2 answers
I seem to be teetering on the edge of getting somewhere with my writing, but I'm not there yet. How can I learn to get a handle on pacing and characterization in my novels and short stories?
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posted by PhoBWanKenobi
on Dec 8, 2010 -
17 answers
Where should I start with James Tiptree, Jr.?
posted by OmieWise
on Oct 28, 2010 -
8 answers
Get Me Out Of My Travel Rut: My tour takes me to the beatific city of San Fransisco soon and while I visit about once a year, I usually end up going to same places/doing the same things. What's terribly new in SF? What are the fresh must-see shows, restaurants, nightspots, stores, or Things To Do. Ideally I'm looking for things/places that have opened within the year. Will have a car and able to make day trips out into the environs.
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posted by The Whelk
on Oct 17, 2010 -
16 answers
Can someone refresh my memory about
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds? I'm reading
Redemption Ark and a few things I feel like I should remember aren't coming back.
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posted by OmieWise
on Oct 7, 2010 -
4 answers
Help me remember a science fiction story: colonists beaten to objective by faster earth ship.
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posted by snarfois
on Aug 18, 2010 -
19 answers
Please help me ID a short science fiction story. Space tragedy, Spanish names, and revenge.
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posted by wzcx
on Jul 16, 2010 -
4 answers
How can I stop the noise coming from the steam pipe (?) in our bedroom's wall? We just moved into an apartment in a not-so-well maintained 1920s-era building.
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posted by pantufla
on Jul 13, 2010 -
7 answers
A friend is considering going to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for "Web Design and New Media" with the goal of becoming a web designer. Questions are (a) Is this school well-regarded by potential employers and (b) is it a good value for the tuition? They have zero interest in doing straight programming without design work involved.
posted by benzenedream
on May 13, 2010 -
17 answers
Trying to track down a kid's sci-fi short story about a girl whose neighbour was an alien who could detach and 'fix' body parts.
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posted by Paragon
on May 12, 2010 -
6 answers
Summer housing in San Francisco: is it totally crazy to fly down and start looking only two weeks before my job starts?
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posted by ewiar
on Mar 28, 2010 -
6 answers
Can the hive mind recommend a reasonably-priced Seiko watch repair place in San Francisco?
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posted by Quietgal
on Mar 20, 2010 -
4 answers
The Bay area, a pivotal center of technology, finance, home to CAL, Stanford, and many, many literate folks does not have a semi-decent local newspaper. How and why? Can anything be done?
ps: the local "news" blogs are really no better (SFist, beyond chron, etc)
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posted by macadam9
on Mar 18, 2010 -
13 answers
Identify a science fiction story about a giant, unfixable traffic jam. (spoilers inside.)
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posted by escabeche
on Sep 16, 2009 -
29 answers
My visceral dislike of the movie
District 9 combined with years of other sub par science fiction movies has pretty much killed any desire to see more films of the genre. Help me rekindle the flame. (Minor District 9spoilers inside)
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posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Aug 19, 2009 -
82 answers
Science fiction - filter: I used to read and love Dick, Farmer, LeGuin, and others who coupled great writing with directly confronting sex, violence, and societal change. What contemporary authors might I like?
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posted by Forktine
on May 28, 2009 -
40 answers
