Sorry you didn't like it, Gil. There's a certain percentage of planetarium viewers who don't want science fiction elements anywhere in (or even near) their shows. Perhaps you fall into that category. Or perhaps it just didn't work for you. In any event, thanks for weighing in.

Sadly, no short story this year. The silver lining: I am working on something Idlewild related and I'm looking forward to sharing news on that when the time is right.

Much appreciated, Eva! Y'know, over the years I've noticed a fairly high concentration of fellow September babies. Might just be false pattern recognition on my part, but I imagine many conceptions happen over the December holidays.

Thanks, both of you! Arthur, in case you haven't seen it, here's a link to surrealist Rene Magritte's "September 16" where the moon's out in front of the tree. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7829/1711/1600/rene-magritte-1957-september-16.jpg Just love that painting so I like to make sure fellow September 16thers know about it.

I like that idea, Joe. Can't do it this year, but the idea of putting out a new Idlewild short story for Halloween 2011 really appeals to me. Thanks for suggesting it!

They're such amazing birds! Thanks for the nice note, you two! Hope all's going well.

Thank you for the Wiki add, Mr. Zaitsev! Though I'm not personally familiar with the conflict in the Soviet Composer Union, I do know the Voyager team had trouble getting all the songs they wanted. For example, The Beatles "Here Comes The Sun" was on the list and while all four Beatles agreed, the record company wouldn't go for it. As for where to read about these kinds of conflict, you might try the book "Murmurs of Earth" which is out of print these days, but you might be able to find a used copy somewhere.