We had some real snow a few days ago in Berlin! I loved it. It didn't stay for long... (Boohoo.)

A few days ago the great British "everyman" actor John Hurt died. He got some fame in s.f. films, but more so in classic roles, e.g. as Caligula in the I, Claudius series, and as the non-hero Winston Smith in 1984. I greatly respected his work, although he seemed to be a bit of an arrogant guy, from interviews (an example, on NPR).

Which is why he seemed perfectly cast for the role of an intellectual macho in one of David E. Kelley's - of i.a. Ally McBeal fame - earliest writing jobs: FROM THE HIP, the story of a "stormy" young lawyer, who is so ambitious that his antics land him the defense of an indefensible murder case. One of my favourite films, partly because of the great Hurt performance in it. R.I.P.!

Bookwise, I have just started reading my first ever s.f. book for the umpteenth time, 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY - one of the most well-known s.f. authors, another Brit, Arthur C. Clarke, wrote it for i.a. the director of the same-named film, the iconic Mr. Kubrick, from his original manuscript. Clarke is only the 2nd-greatest s.f. stylist - his author friend Asimov once indicated - but I like his style tremendously, because it's dry, short and factually "hard". He was a royally acclaimed astronomer & technical guru, who i.a. predicted the prodigious use of geo-stationary satellite networks in future (our present). He wrote many, many short stories and some novellas, his real métier - which may explain his unusually "short" style in the eyes of novel readers.

I like his ending a lot more than Kubrick's somewhat muddled one. (Kubrick & his art department didn't always stick too closely to Clarke's script...) To have read the book helped me see - as an astounded teenager - and love the film the first time I saw it.