Let's get the sad news out of the way first. One of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton passed away died yesterday. He was a phenomenal writer. If you have not read any of his stuff, you should. He was a great writer of what are called techno-thrillers. He was incredibly scientific in his books and led your imagination to wonder exactly what man could do if he tried.
I remember when I was reading Jurassic Park, arguably his most successful commercial book. It was incredibly in depth and thought provoking. The movie, like many, did it no justice as the complexities of the story didn't translate well. The same can be said of the book Timeline, which again was a fantastic story, but a film disaster. It seems Crichton suffered from the Stephen King effect: his books were never very good movies. The book Congo also rates up there as one of my favorites of all time. I loved the book but the bastardization of the movie by Hollywood made me sick. The same can be said for Sphere with Dustin Hoffman. When given creative rights to film, his stories did very well. Jurassic Park, while not as good as the book was still an exceptional movie. The same can be said for Twister (which he wrote) and the television series ER which he was crator/writer/executive producer.
A lot of people don't know that Crichton was also the author behind classics like The Great Train Robbery and The Andromeda Strain.
It is sad to lose someone who was so talented and so respected in literary circles. Personally I will miss him as an author. He was quite a talent.
On the good news front, I am proud to say that I was able to stay up until midnight last night and watch Barack Obama accept the title of President-elect of the United States. I am proud of the American people for looking past the genetic makeup of the man and accepting him for what he can bring the people of the country. He is an incredible man, and having listened to him in person, potentially a great leader.
I know there are still a lot of bitter Republicans out there. I hope they can see past the defeat they received in this election and don't let their bitterness cloud the potential successes of our new President. I hope that in four years, when the election rolls around again that President Obama is in a position where re-election in not a question, that his policies in such a short time have driven our nation into the future that is as fruitful and bright as any time in American history.
It is a good day.
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