“The Gambler,” written by Paolo Bacigalupi, is a science fiction novelette focusing on a young news reporter that is struggling to adapt to the fast-paced American culture. After the pretender monarch Khamsing completely burglarized the entire country of Laos, forming the New Lao Kingdom, Laos, otherwise referred to throughout the story as “the black hole,” went into shambles. Concluding that their son should not be in such a chaotic and violent monarchy, his parents shipped him over to Los Angeles, where he became a news reporter at Milestone Media. The company's maelstrom, called LiveTrack IV, is supposed to be tremendously significant to the world of media. Livetrack IV tracks media user data such as Web site, feed, VOD, audio stream, and TV broadcast. Unfortunately for Ong, Milestone Media primarily infatuates itself with the popularity of their company. The number of click-throughs, page views, social-pokes, and ad revenue a story accumulates are precisely what Janice Mbutu, Milestone's managing director, is looking for. She emphasizes the significance of happy, fun, and pleasant reports from her staff. This inaugurates a crucial dilemma for Ong, who enjoys more serious and idealistic topics to write about, involving areas pertaining to politics, government, and environment. When Janice sees that Ong is amassing less than a thousand pings on his byline feed on average, she threatens to terminate him if he does not start accumulating at least fifty thousand pings daily. Marty, a top notch worker who generates an incredible number of readers, clicks and amount of ad dollars by formulating the story about a Russian cowboy rapper who is accused of impregnating a fourteen-year-old, speculates that Ong is on the verge of termination, and makes him a proposition. Marty offers him to interview Kulaap, an Asian pop sensation residing from Laos, whom Omg admire. Obviously, Ong agrees to take the job. When Ong is introduced to her, she is not what he expected. She seems almost entirely Americanized. He becomes even more astonished when she bluntly criticizes the questions Ong asks her during the interview. Kulaap then proceeds to put on a show for the paparazzi by taking him out on a date to a Laotian restaurant, initially for the mere fact that she wanted to help him boost his numbers. As the date progresses however, the chemistry between them amplifies. They proceed to discuss their similar experiences and adventures in Viantiane as well as other parts of Laos. The date goes amiss when the topic of Ong's stories commences. Kulaap openly blurts out disparaging remarks regarding his writings. Ong takes some offense to this and becomes uncontrollably irritated. He compares the workers in his field to a smart monkey, asserting that they will talk about whatever they think you want to hear, completely dismissing anything else that might be depressing or negative, even if it's a pivotal and consequential subject. Ong then demands for the limo driver to stop the car so he can leave. After returning to work, Janice immediately insists that Ong publish his interview/date with Kulaap. Ong boldly denies her request which only infuriates Janice. Ong tells her the next story he wants to publish is on his idea on bluets, a flower that is close to extinction because of global warming. Janice opposes the idea, postulating that nobody will read it. Infuriated, Janice bluntly threatens that Ong have fifty thousand readers daily or else she will terminate him, which will lead to his deportation back to the chaotic Laos. Gambling nearly his entire life on this decision, he boldly clicks the button to have his article published.
Alice Bradley Sheldon was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 until her death. It was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1985 she also used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. Tiptree was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012.
Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Long Goodbye (1973). She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production. In 1956, her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as "Shadow Over Mars".
"The One with the Monkey" is the tenth episode of the NBC television series Friends. It is the tenth episode of the show's first season and was broadcast on December 15, 1994. This episode marks the first appearance of Marcel, a monkey that Ross adopts to keep him company. Phoebe meets scientist David, though their relationship is short-lived, when David gets a grant to work in Minsk. The gang all make a no-date pact for their New Year's Eve party, though they all end up breaking it, with undesired consequences.
The Gambler may refer to:
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a 1946 American film noir drama directed by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay written by Robert Rossen, based on the short story "Love Lies Bleeding" by playwright John Patrick. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott and features Kirk Douglas in his film debut.
Rabbit, Run is a 1960 novel by John Updike. The novel depicts three months in the life of a 26-year-old former high school basketball player named Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom who is trapped in a loveless marriage and a boring sales job, and his attempts to escape the constraints of his life. It spawned several sequels, including Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, as well as a related 2001 novella, Rabbit Remembered. In these novels, Updike takes a comical and retrospective look at the relentless questing life of Rabbit against the background of the major events of the latter half of the 20th century.
"The Kiss Hello" is the 103rd episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 17th episode for the sixth season. It aired on February 16, 1995. Although this was the 102nd episode to air, the cast and crew of the series credit this as the 100th episode because it is the 100th episode created. In this episode, Kramer posts the names and photos of all the tenants in his apartment building on a board in the lobby so that everyone will know each other. Jerry is uncomfortable with such pervasive socialization, bringing him to conflict with his neighbors at the same time as he investigates his Nana's story that his Uncle Leo owes his mother Helen $50.
"Gonna Roll the Bones" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Fritz Leiber, in which a character plays craps with Death. First published in Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions, it won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
"Sandkings" is a novelette by American writer George R. R. Martin, first published in the August 1979 issue of Omni. In 1980, it won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the Locus Award for best novelette, and was nominated for the Balrog Award in short fiction. It is the only one of Martin's stories to date to have won both the Hugo and the Nebula. It was included in the short story collection of the same name, published by Timescape Books in December 1981.
The Damnation Game is a horror novel by English writer Clive Barker, published in 1985. It was written just after finishing the first trilogy of Books of Blood, and tells a Faustian story that touches on topics such as incest, cannibalism, and self-mutilation in a frank and detailed manner. It was his first novel.
Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated for the National Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, and the environmental journal High Country News. Nonfiction essays of his have appeared in Salon.com and High Country News, and have been syndicated in newspapers, including the Idaho Statesman, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Salt Lake Tribune.
Maggie Horton is a fictional character from the American NBC network soap opera Days of Our Lives played by actress Suzanne Rogers since 1973, currently the longest running role on the show. The character was created by scriptwriter William J. Bell and producer Betty Corday as a romantic interest for original character Mickey Horton. For her work as Maggie, Rogers won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1979.
"Yellow Card Man" is a science fiction novelette published in 2006 by Paolo Bacigalupi. It was nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. The story serves as a prologue for Bacigalupi's novel, The Windup Girl.
"Hell Is the Absence of God" is a 2001 fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in Starlight #3, and subsequently reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy 2, and in Fantasy: The Best of 2001, as well as in Chiang's 2002 anthology, Stories of Your Life and Others.
The Windup Girl is a biopunk science fiction novel by American writer Paolo Bacigalupi. It was his debut novel and was published by Night Shade Books on September 1, 2009. The novel is set in a future Thailand and covers a number of contemporary issues such as global warming and biotechnology.
Ship Breaker is a 2010 young adult novel by Paolo Bacigalupi set in a post-apocalyptic future. Human civilization is in decline for ecological reasons. The polar ice caps have melted and New Orleans is underwater. On the Gulf Coast nearby, humanity has reverted to survival mode and a small economy has grown from the scavenging of washed up oil tankers for bits of copper and other valuables.
Provaci ancora prof! is an Italian television series.
The Water Knife is a 2015 science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is Bacigalupi's sixth novel, and is based on his short story, The Tamarisk Hunter, first published in the news magazine High Country News. It takes place in the near future, where drought brought on by climate change has devastated the Southwestern United States.
The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by American writer Kevin J. Anderson. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tor Books in May 2011. The first British edition was published in trade paperback and ebook by Robinson in February 2012 under the alternate title The Mammoth Book of Nebula Awards SF.
Peace Hotel is a 1995 Hong Kong action western directed by Wai Ka-fai in his directorial debut. It starrs Chow Yun-fat and Cecilia Yip. Produced by John Woo, Wai wrote the film's screenplay and co-wrote the story with Chow.
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