An update on the white landscape looking thingy’s.....

I'm following up on a blog entry that i did back on August 2, 2007
It was about those little white tent/landscape thingy's all over the east side.
Here's a link to the pictures I took of them and where they are located on a google map.Google Map

Well, I still haven't figured out what they are.
But it's turning in to an interesting story.

First, a recount of all the theories I've heard so far.
1) Some study by the DNR or City of Madison. Who knows what the study is about, but some sort of study.
2) UW student art project.
3) Asian Lady-Beetle (or Gypsy Moth) trap.
4) Protection for saplings planted underneath them. (I didn't see any saplings there, but who knows)
5) Model landscapes ot aid in Alien Landings.
6) Gnome tents (I rather like that one.... I admit, i'm tempted to wach for a sale on garden gnomes somewhere and buy one for each tent thingy I've seen)
7) Chipmunk Beer tents. (I don't buy in to this one... if chipmunks had beer tents I think they'd have more colour)
8) Something that forms a visible pattern form the sky? (Seriously, I saw this in an email thread)
9) Something tied in to the GPS coordinates of each landscape-tent-type-thingy. (whoa....)
10) Utility Facilities (this was one the email string that was sent around amongst city departments)
11) Some wiccan thing. I'm a little fuzzy on the detals of this theory. But it changes my mental image of wiccan practioners. Gone are the half naked earth godesses dancing around fires.... here instead are abstract artists who work with plaster and wire frames.

So I sent an email to the city a while back.
I just did a search for city of madison, and sent it to about every email address i could find.
I mostly expected to be brushed off, or politely told to "go the hell away".
But surprisingly they seemed curious too.
They sent the email around to the departments I'd missed, but no one had any idea.

The best part of the email string is where they loose the sense of scale in the pictures I attached.

Instead of thinking of them as little waist-high recreations of landscapes, they thought of them as very large structures that could shelter vehicles.

But by the end of the summer the emails died down, and even though we still drive by them every time we get groceries, I'd pretty much forgotten about the mystery.

Then I got a call and an email from Chris the reporter at the Wisconsin State Journal.

"Christopher: I'm a reporter with the State Journal. I've reviewed the correspondence copied below and spoken with the city about these structures you reportedly found.The city believes you probably put them there and then reported them, and they took the whole thing as a joke (they don't appear to be angry about it).I'm interested in talking to you about this for a story.
Chris"

Ah-ha!

Someone else has become obsessed as well! (Or they were assigned the story, and didn't really have a choice in the matter, i'm not sure which it is).

And the best, part...and this tickles me fukkin' pink....the City has come to the conclusion that I'm the creator responsible!

Is that some strange version "whoever smelt it dealt it"?

I spoke to Chris the Reporter on the phone tonight, and I think there's a story in the works. And he has many-many more resources at his disposal than I do.

So I've go tthe feeling that now that he's looking in to it, the mystery is that much closer to being solved.

Now that my curiosity has been rekindled, I'm thinking about leaving little notes just saying "did you make these? ...just curious" and my email address by a few of them.

Does that take me across the line from amusingly curious and straight into "creepily obsessed" though?

okay...
the update is done.
I'm going to digress on boring things now....
Go read something else.

For me, this has been sort of a lesson in following threads. I've always believed that there are threads of inter-connectivity laying in plain sight all around us.

We just train ourselves to ignore them. We see things that are amazing and maybe a little magical around us every day. But we're always late for work, or stuck in our cars, or tired and stressed and just wanting to get home to out TVs. Do you know how many times we drove past those damn things.... how many times I'd say to Sarah "I wonder what those are, I wonder how I could find out what they are for."

How many times she'd say "you should call the city, or post something online."

Until finally I said "fuck it, I'm going to take some pictures, and send some emails."

And it's been interesting. It's been a very interesting little journey.

But I wonder how many other mysteries there are like that that I'm still missing every single day. How many of those little threads I pass all the time because I'm too busy with the mundane to give the magical a chance.

My nickname for instance... my online alter ego. "Johnny Panic"
I can count the number of people on one hand who have recognized that reference.
So what are the odds that the reporter (Chris the Reporter) who picks up this story, is one of the very rare few who recognizes the reference? I could list others, but after a bit I start to sound a little nutty... a little more nutty. And anyways.. they are my threads... go find your own :)

I'm jaded... and cynical... and becoming a grumpy old man.
I don't believe in much.
And with every passing day I believe in a little less.
But I do believe in the inter-connectivity.
And I believe that we should pick up those threads when we see them.
Follow them when we can.
And enjoy the trips they take us on when we make an effort to tug on them a bit.

At the Olbrich Botanical Gardens

This is just a picture I like.
I can't even take credit for it (Sarah took it, she's the frikkin' Macro setting Queeen).

for real?

So there's this billboard that i pass when I drive in to work.

I caught my eye (I guess that means it was effective, right?)

And it made me curious. Not to buy a product, or visit a store, but just trying to figure out what the heck it meant. What was it supposed to stand for.



It's not a great picture, here let me zoom in a bit.



Still not the best, sorry.

It says "They murdered 50 million babies... Now they can't figure out marriage! Where are the real Christians? 1-877-YRU-REAL"

And I'm wondering, is it that obvious?
Or is it really good sarcasm?
Who are these 50 million babies they speak of?
The medical journal The Lancet puts the civilian Iraqi death toll at 655,000 since the invasion or Iraq. But that's not nearly 50 million. (yes, I'm being intentionally obtuse)

And who is this "they" that can't figure out marriage. I mean since marriage was written into laws, there-by taking it from just a religious ceremony and instead turning it in to a legal status with licensing and official documents and everything, it seems like a lot of effort has been put into "figuring it out". I mean sure, we had some problems... remember back when two consenting adults of different races couldn't legally marry? But we ironed that out. (By the way, what about that phrase, "legally marry". How many times do you hear "they're legally married" versus "they're biblically married"?)

And sure, maybe we've got a bit more to iron out, but I've got faith that the next generation is going to put it right, and soon any two consenting adults (unrelated of course) will be able to legally marry each other.

And where are the real christians? Well. From the firs ttime I saw that it reminded me of a da on State Street.

We were walking along, the sun was shining, the dapple shadows played across the sidewalk and all that usual crap. We had Babcock hall ice cream on the mind, so we weren't dilly-dallying.

Up ahead there was a bit of a ruccous. A man in a suit and tie on a street corner with a sandwich board yelling "we are all sinners! we are all damned to hell!" at everyone that went by. Most people avoided him, the unlucky few who wandered too close were handed a little blue pamphlet that probably told them that by going to this guys church, they'd be able to avoid hell.

We crossed the street and walked under tha shade of the awnings.

We passed a restaurant almost directly across from annoying-yelling-your-a-sinner guy, and there were two priests eating lunch. Slumped down in their chairs, and obviously trying hard not to be noticed. I might be projecting, but I'm pretty sure that one of them was even purposely keeping his chin as far down as he could to hide his collar.

What we didn't see were the volunteers two blocks off state street at the homeless shelter making sandwiches.
We didn't see the bus quietly pulling away from the church sending a group of people down to New Orleans to lend any help they could.

So whenthe sign asks me, "where are the real Christians" I think i might know. They aren't wearing sandwich boards or yelling at passers-by. They aren't hanging vile signs from over passes or telling you who god hates. They are working quietly to try to make the lives of other people better. But you might miss them, mostly because they don't think it's important to point out that they are christians. No buttons, no signs, no shouting. They kinda think that if their actions don't show it, that any words pleading it would be worthless. I wonder where they got that idea....

Maybe the people with the billboard are genuinely curious, maybe they really can't find them.

So finally, today, I took a picture, and googled that phone number.

I found a website.

But here's the thing.
Now I really don't know if it's a well played joke or not.

They are called the Remnant, or something. Here's there page.

Check out the Pastors names
Pastor Kevin and wife Toni Sinnen
Pastor Chet and wife Karen Schmear

Seriously?
Pastor Sinnens and Pastor Schmears?
That seems a little suspicious.

And the Pastors email address
4sinnenless@asapnet.net

Come on... that's gotta be a joke, right?

But as I read further... it sorta seems like maybe they are serious.

But those pictures...

And quotes like this
"We are expected to obey God's Biblical guidelines for proper Christian behavior, hair, and dress.
See GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR HAIR, and WHO WEARS THE PANTS Bible studies below."


I don't know if I'm amused, sickened, or frightened.

I know! I'll take it as an opportunity to try inserting a poll in m blog for the first time ever!

14 Characteristics of Fascism

Bush vs Zombies

I've always suspected...

But now I've got proof



She's all that and a bag o' chips.

Ragin' Grannies

These are Madison's Ragin' Grannies.
I wish i would have recorded the song they were singing, it cracked me up.
It was a little angry, very political, and more than a tad bid bawdy as well.

Lake Mendota

new pain in the living room = crap in the kitchen

This was our kitchen while the living room was being painted.
I particularly like the vertical couch, I think it will be all the rage in the near future.
Not very comfy - but ever so stylish.....


I think the end result was worth it. I like our new walls.
It might not be the frikkin' taj mahal, but it's a big improvement for us, and we like it.

The couch did have to go back to being horizontal, I guess the fad was short lived.

in chalk... on a rock....

I caught another firefly.
Here'swhere I'm keeping the others I've caught so far....

Carcassone at the union

While our little place was being painted we played Carcassone at the union on a beautiful sunny day.



----------------
Now playing: Gorillaz - New Genious
via FoxyTunes

you know you're old....

...when you think this is the perfect end to a perfect birthday.




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Now playing: Bare Naked Ladies - Brian Willson (live)
via FoxyTunes

our new table top game

This is a new table top game we picked up. It's called Carcassonne. Like most good games, it's deceptively simple. Have puzzle, have game, our family has loved it.



----------------
Now playing: Regina Spektor - Just Like the Movie
via FoxyTunes

ever get the feeling....

..that the world is trying to tell you something?

I've been a little.... pensive??? ....lately.
Maybe it's the age I'm hitting, maybe it's watching one too many movies about love
and mortality
and all that shit.

I love being in love.
And I love seeing people in love.
But there's that little twist that lovers try ever so hard not to acknowledge.
but it's worked it's way into a cliche
Love and loss...
the rose and the thorn...
blah blah blah.

We try not to think about the inevitable truth that eventually the one we love will leave us
- and we will be alone.
Or
that we will leave the one we love behind
- and abandon them to their fear.

One way or the other
despite what all the pretty cards say
we won't always be together
and the one time it counts
i won't be able to save you

i would rather turn away from that thought in denial
than dwell upon it in truth
but it's always there somewhere
tugging a little in my mind

and this thought is always there somewhere



There is so much that I want
to do with you
to experience with you
to share with you

and so little that i'd want to do without

just some memories from a very good weekend.

It was a few weeks ago now. But it was a good weekend, and worth a little look back.

The weekend of my brother's wedding in Duluth.

The weekend he took the plunge

-metaphorically



- and literally



We walked a long way that weekend.
Maybe a little too far that one day....



but we made it back.

And I think Sarah learned a few things along the way.
...even if it did kinda sneak up behind her.




We looked for sea glass under the sun - in water so cold my feet went numb.
No matter how many times i'm told.... i'll never believe that sea glass is just stone smoothed garbage.

I know it's magical, and that day proved it.



oh dear wife of mine....
that is not sea glass.
that is the mythical Lake Superior "Nose Rock"



and no....
dear daughter of mine -
that is not sea glass either



It was a good weekend. And I'm glad we took the scenic route home.

our little patio

We don't really have a backyard. But we've got a little patio. A very little patio. It's on the west side of our place, on a thin little strip between our two story building and a big wooded hill that becomes a city park.

It's quite, there are no roads nearby, it doesn't face neighbors, and the trees dampen most of the city noises. And it's shaded. Very shaded. Somewhere between noon and two o'clock a thin bar of sunlight works it's way across the picnic table and then disappears. And that's about all the sunlight it gets.

It a beautiful place to sit in the late afternoon and read or write a little.

But nothing grows back there. Nothing. We plant grass every year, and by the end of the summer it dies. Last year we planted grass that was both hardy, and loves shade. When we bought it the guy even warned us that it's more like a weed. It will grow anywhere.

And by the end of the summer it was all dead.

So this summer we made an effort to find plants that do well in shade. We spent a weekend digging it all up, putting in new dirt, and planting things.

Some of the things were hostas.... not my favorite, but they'll survive.

We aren't about to be hired out as landscapers, or exterior decorators.

But this summer it has been my little slice of shaded heaven.

A Madison Mystery

We've been seeing these things all over the east side. They look like little miniature landscape models.

We've been trying to figure out what the heck they are. Finally last night we broke down and took some pictures of them.


They are made out of molded canvas on a wire frame, each one is shaped differently, but they all look like little mountains to me.

Does anyone know what they are?

Here's a link to a google map showing the locations we've seen them in so far.

a couple Feingold videos

I'm glad Russ is our guy.
He makes me proud in the way that not many politicians do anymore.

---

A new friend of mine

I love Concerts on The Square.
I think most big cities have some form of this event. And maybe even all state capitals.
So I'm not saying it's unique to Madison, but gosh darnit, I'm going to let myself continue to think that Madisons Concerts on the Square is still special amongst them.

We got there around 3:30, spread our blanket on the ground. Off to the side a bit, not right in the "prime real estate" in front of the orchestra. But hell, you can hear the music all the way around the capitol anyway.

We went to get a couple low to the ground style lawn chairs and something to eat - and I took the picture you see up above. I've taken that picture a hundred times. But I can't resist trying again and again every time I walk by. I've got a feeling it's one of those scenes that causes people to instinctively reach for their cameras. Especially in later afternoon on to sunset.


We got our food, settled in on our new chairs (I left the tags on mine because that's what all the cool kids are doing these days). We got some new books from our favorite State Street book store - A Room of One's Own - and I took mine out and started reading.

And that's when I met my new friend.



See her there up on top of the book (okay... graphic novel. no..... not comic book. graphic novel. sheesh)

I don't think she was any sort of exotic butterfly... and maybe she didn't have the brightest colours in the butterfly encyclopedia...

But she sat there on my book for a while. I finished the page, waited a little bit, and then slowly turned to the next page.

She - I never did get her name - fluttered up, caught a light breeze, and then spiraled back down onto my book just in time for the next page.

She kept doing that over and over.

And you know what the best part was?

Check out the title of the book.

huh?

I remember a time when I didn't care about politics... I kinda miss that. I don't like that little videos like this can get me all worked up.



SO let me get this straight....
It was right to impeach and prosecute Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice when he lied about getting a blow job because he later admitted that he lied?

It is wrong to punish Scooter Libby for the exact same crime because he never admitted that he was guilty?

1st.... Isn't one of the traditional supposed conservative values personal responsibility? What happened to that? That was one of the things I liked about the conservative side of politics. What happened to "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime?" Now it's "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime, unless you've got friends higher up the foodchain. Then don't worry about it. do all the crime you want."

2nd.... What the hell kind of logic is that? Where else would that logic work?
A man goes out and commits a crime - he shoots someone, he sells some drugs, any other crime really - he is caught and found guilty in a court of law. BUT throughout the entire thing, he never admits that he's guilty. So at the end of it all he should go free? How does that make any sense?

3rd.... We have a long standing tradition of going a little easier on people who admit to their crimes. It's pretty well established that admitting to your crime is a part of remorse and responsibility and eventually reform. NOT admitting to your crimes usually indicates the opposite, and infers that you'd do the exact same thing again.

grrrr arg...
It's not even the pardon (or the commuting that will soon turn in to a pardon) that really bugs me. It's the hypocrisy.

a few 4th of July Pictures

Just a few 4th of July pictures. They are from this weekend actually. Saturday night.
Madison has this HUGE fireworks festival called Rythm and Booms. They estimate around 200,000 people attend. We went the first year, we threw down a banket close enough that it rained ash on us the entire evening. But the crowds, and the stress trying to get out of the place, and being nervous anytime your kid is more than 5 feet from you.... just wasn't our style.

So now we sit across the lake at the Memorial Union at the UW.

We get there early. Get a decent table. Play games, eat ice cream, drink a little beer and read a lot. It's perfect for us. We watch the fireworks across the lake, and we have no problem whatsoever leaving. (the year we went down to the actual show we waited in line for almost 2 hours to catch a shuttle bus back to our car).

It was a good day all around.

did you just say "parakeet"?

We were a the park this weekend.
The weather has been absolutely perfect. In the 80s, sunny, a little bit of a breeze, low humidity.... perfect.
Sarah and I grabbed a table and broke out the cribbage board.

Ashley went over and introduced herself to the other kid playing there. She was a few years younger than Ashley, but that was okay, Ashley is pretty flexible that way.

We kept half an eye on them as we played cards. They settled in to a game where Ashley was the "mom" and the other kid was the college student, and they played out there version of empty nest syndrome, helicopter mom-ing, and abandonment anxiety there on the playground.

The other girls Mom was sitting on the other side of the playground by herself. We (the parental parties involved) gave a good natured wave to each other. Kinda that.... "i'm cool with our kids playing together, and I'll keep half an eye on your kid, if you keep half an eye on our kid" wave.

About half an hour in to our cribbage game, just as Ashley was saying "but if you go to college here in Madison, you'll have to come have supper with me once a week, okay?" the other mother caught my eye.

She was sitting on her bench, her eyes closed, her face tilted up towards the sun. She was listening to her daughter play, her soft smile would curl a little bit more when her daughter giggled. There was something about that moment.

God, I don't even know... Without knowing her, or anything about her at all, I felt connected to her. And I felt happy for her.
That sounds trite.
It was one of those moments that a writer obsesses with for weeks trying to put words to. That an artist tries for years to capture, and that a photographer, if she is lucky, sometimes manages to capture in that perfect frame.

I'm none of the above. But I did have our new digital camera along with us, and I tried to be subtle about grabbing a quick image. It doesn't really capture the moment (i'm so jealous of people who can take great photographs. god I wish I could. My Dad has been a good amateur photographer all his life, and my brother is an amazing photographer, but not me. That's not a pity play, just an honest assessment of my abilities. I know what i want to capture, but never seem to. I just take a TON of pictures, and sometimes i get lucky)



The picture doesn't do it justice. There was some larger truth in that moment. Something about happiness not being the day to day crap that we all have to trudge through to pay the bills, clothe our kids and out a little away for the christmas season.

Something about the notion that happiness is being able to find contentment in a warm sunny day when your daughter is playing with a new friend and the sun is falling just so across your cheeks. Existing in the moment, letting that contentment fill you up like a glass overflowing, and then taking it back with you into that drudgery. Letting that contentment sustain you until you can fill yourself up again.

Something like that...

nostalgia and comfort food

(that's cheap red wine in the corona glass)

zoom zoom zoom

The bike ride home from work today was the hardest one I've had so far.

I remember the first day that I rode in this summer thinking, "huh, this isn't that bad, maybe I'm not in bad of shape as I thought."

And the rides haven't been that bad. I'm not going to say they're fun. I wouldn't say that any sort of exercise if "fun". I'll just never be that guy. I ride my bike in to work for two reasons. The first, and the weaker reason to be honest, is because i think it's the environmentally right thing to do. I drive my car less, i spend less on gas (i've only saved $15.75 so far this summer though. And my bike has been a constant stream of acquaintance needs, flat tires, busted derailer, needed a new safety light, new helmet...)
and I'm not clogging up the roads with another car.
I can do it, so i should.

The other reason, and the larger (ha ha i made a pun) is my weight. Or not specifically my weight, but the health problems it brings when I don't watch it. I have two pretty specific breaking points. And the lower of the 2 I get kidney stones. When I was above that weight I was getting a kidney stone every three months. That sucked... a lot. And the other breaking point, about 10 pounds above that, seems ot be when i get my pancreatitis attacks. I've had one big one, and two pretty little ones. Let me tell you, next to pancreatitis, kidney stones are like a warm cuddling session in january.

So I'm motivated.

I haven't weighed myself since I started biking this summer. I wanted to give myself a nice big surprise. I was saving it for a day when i was stressed and needed a littel pick-me-up.

I've been biking since the 2nd week of June, I've put on about 90 miles. Not a huge accomplishment, but for a guy who can only associate the word 6-pack with the Taco Johns 6 pack and a pound deal... it's not so bad.

Today was stressful, this week has been stressful.
The ride home was dreadful.
It was hot and humid, and for the first time when I got off my bike, my legs shook and I felt like crap.
So i shower and weigh myself.
and....
are you ready for it?
are you trapped in eager anticipation?
are you on the edge of your seat?
are you saying "good cheese christopher, just frikkin tell us already?

fine, here it is...
I gained 3 pounds.

yup, i gained 3 god damned pounds.
Sarah said it's probably muscle.
I don't know if I believe that.
And even if that's true... what the hell is the end game here?
I slowly become this knot of sweaty stocky muscle?
I wanted to lose weight. And without that, it's going to be hard to stay motivated. There's already this little part of me thinking of reasons I should just drive in tomorrow.
It might rain...
It's going to be humid...
I could get home quicker.
I'm worried about my tire going flat again (2 flats already this summer)

I think those little voices have always been there, but I've been able to shout them down with "I'm getting in shape damnit, leave me alone!"

Union Utopia

Two people are meeting for the first time. They are talking awkwardly. He's been watching across the terrace for almost an hour. Drawn to her for the book she's reading and her little round glasses. He's wearing athletic socks and sandals. His skin is evenly and naturally tanned and his hair shaven close to his head He has the little goatee and the sharp dark eyes of an equator intellectual. And yet he fidgets terribly when he compliments her.

Two people are saying good-bye for the last time. They are hugging and smiling and wishing each other well. Numbers have been exchanged. They'll call once they are there, and settled in.... they say.

But they never do. Four years of friendship fades in to fond memories with a sliver of guilt.

Someone in the crowd is falling headlong in to unrequited love.

He brushed by her in the line for ice cream. She isn't wearing perfume, but her dark skin smelled like the lilacs beneath the window of his childhood bedroom. He's only had two honest to goodness girlfriends in his life. He's from a small town, all corn fed, farm fit, and drunk on the city. He didn't know that he could fall for a girl with skin so dark. He'd never thought about it. He'd never ruled it out, but he'd never thought about it either. And yet, as he watched her walk away, her hips swaying beneath a backless summer dress splashed with reds and blacks and yellows, his "union utopia" ice cream dripping and forgotten onto his fingers, he lost his heart to her.

There is a girl out there somewhere - her dark hair piled on top of her head - a few loose curls have accidentally fallen to perfectly frame her face. She's wearing her favorite shirt - the one that makes her feel beautiful without looking trashy. And for the first time in her life she is feeling a dark hatred that burns to hot she forgets to feel the pain.

She's deep under the shadow of the big oak tree. You'd miss her if you weren't looking for her. She's looking out across the terrace. Her eyes don't burn. They are flat. - they aren't kissing, they aren't even touching. But he's leaning towards her, nodding in time to her every word while she twirls a blond strand of hair and dangles her high heeled show from her foot.

There's a young girl, she's maybe 11 or 12, sitting at a table by herself. She's reading "How to Survive Middle School" though she hasn't turned a page in 10 minutes. She has her own table, her own soda, her own bag or Dorritos, her back pack on the table top, her cell phone left out and carefully positioned so that it is visible even though it never rings. She's trying very hard not to glance at her parents two tables over.

A couple in their 40s holds hands, squeezing at the same moment without speaking a word as they both look at the steps to the theater.

A tall man in dreadlocks and headphones nods his head and wonders where he'll sleep tonight.

A girl smiles and waves and she approaches a group of sorta-friends, determined not to be alone tonight.

A boy, full of confidence after his first year of college, turns up the collar on his shirt and walks like he's in a movie.

A man in his middles.... sits in the shade and scribbles furiously in his journal. Like a child with his hand in a stream trying to touch everything that floats past.

it' pronounced like "meet-ch-ya"

...Friedrich Nietzsche walks into a bar, orders a beer, and drinks it. The bartender asks if he would like another. Nietzsche says, "Are you out of your mind? Did you see what happened to Descartes?"

i don't get it either....

but maybe Nietzsche was never meant to be a comedic prop.
...or was he?

Check out the Nietzche Family Circus page

it takes a random Nietzsche quote and puts it with a random Family Circus comic.

here, let me show you a couple. but first, let me warn you that i'm about to go overboard... in a big way

my potential summer reading?

I found a list of the Top 20 Geek Novels over on the Gizmodiva blog
I don't know if I'm more ashamed of how many I've read, or by how many I have yet to read.
...maybe I'll make reading the remainder of the list my summer reading goal. Anybody wanna start a Geek book group?

---

#20 Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
#19 The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
#18 The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
#17 American Gods by Neil Gaiman
#16 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
#15 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
#14 Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
#13 Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
#12 Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
#11 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
#10 Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
#9 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
#8 Foundation by Isaac Asimov
#7 I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
#6 Dune by Frank Herbert
#5 Neuromancer by William Gibson
#4 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
#3 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#2 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#1 The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

...and sausage bingo on tuesdays?