A Michael Crichton Christmas 2011

By Marla Warren

On the first day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
A T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the second day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the third day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the fourth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the fifth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the sixth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the seventh day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the eighth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the ninth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the tenth day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Ten Congos drumming
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the eleventh day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Eleven Spheres a-humming
Ten Congos drumming
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

On the Next day of Christmas Michael Crichton gave to me
Twelve Micros munching
Eleven Spheres a-humming
Ten Congos drumming
Nine E.R.s in peril
Eight Airframes crashing
Seven States a-Fearing
Six Prey a-fleeing
Five Eaters of the Dead
Four Timelines
Three Lost Worlds
Two Jasper Johns
And a T-Rex who tried to eat me

I wrote the original version of this on December 22, 2007. I intended it to be a fun treat for the holidays. With Michael Crichton's untimely death, it's poignant to think about what he gave us.

In 2009 I revised “A Michael Crichton Christmas” to include Pirate Latitudes. My good friend Erik and his friend Angel, with some help from their families, created a video based on it.



It’s amazing and I can’t believe they put all that work into it! Merry Christmas to all!

The Best of Musings on Michael Crichton

For those who work in retail, the phrase “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” has a very different meaning. I’ll write more about Micro as soon as I come up for air.

In the meantime, enjoy our ten most popular posts:

Pirate Latitudes – Matanceros
This is overwhelming the most popular post I’ve ever written.

The Origin of Pirate Latitudes – Part 1

The Origins of Pirate Latitudes - Part 2

What Michael Crichton Said About Micro

Micro Cover Revealed!

Pirate Latitudes - Additional Reading List

Interview – “Travels of Michael Crichton”

Michael Crichton’s Recommended Reading

Michael Crichton Artwork – Quoted by Joseph Kosuth

Stephen King Tribute to Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton Trivia – 12/11/11

What was the original title of “ER”?

Last week’s trivia question:

Which of Michael Crichton’s novels is the longest? And which is the shortest?

First, let me clarify that the question concerned only the novels Michael Crichton published under his own name. Length was determined by the number of pages in the first edition hardcovers.

The longest Crichton novel, Dan answered correctly, is State of Fear (2004) with 603 pages.

Charles Epting gets credit for identifying the shortest Crichton novel -- Eaters of the Dead (1976) with 193 pages.

Remember to vote for your favorite photos in the Micro Yourself Photo Contest!

What’s Up with Micro

Michael Crichton’s Last Stand
What the Jurassic Park author’s posthumous novel Micro tells us about how scientists talk to the public.
By David Guston, Slate, Dec. 5, 2011

Micro: The new Gulliver’s travel adventure
By Neil Lee Ambasing, Sun Star Baguio, Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Michael Crichton's 'Micro' is a major success
By Sean Quinn, Staff Writer, The Setonian, December 7, 2011

Remember to vote for your favorite photos in the Micro Yourself Photo Contest!

Michael Crichton Trivia – 12/4/11

Which of Michael Crichton’s novels is the longest? And which is the shortest?

Last week’s trivia question:

“Numquam Obliviscemur Michaelis Crichtonis”

What does this phrase mean and what is its significance?

Samir answered:

All I know is 'Numquam Obliviscemur' translated from Latin is 'Never Forget', so the basic translation is 'Never Forget Michael Crichton'

Correct! As for the significance of the phrase, it’s concealed in one of the maps in the new novel Micro. See if you can find it.

Mortuus sed non oblitus.

Remember to vote for your favorite photos in the Micro Yourself Photo Contest!

Micro Yourself Photo Contest

Finally finished my entry for the Micro Yourself Photo Contest.

Do butterflies have teeth??!!

Take a look and see what you think. I would greatly appreciate any votes for my photo, should you deem it worthy. I had fun creating it.

And there are many fabulous photos in this contest. Here are some I found particularly impressive. (I used to work as a photographer, so I’m looking at them from that point of view.)

Daniel Owens – Making my way through Travels

Gunner Geezer - Flea, Myself and I

Trent Ford - Atomic Tennis!!!

Belinda Kay Snow – Soothing Our Wild Beast

Jason Thornton - Myself contemplating upon a quote from Jasper Johns…

Graham Bradley - My best version

Kevin H. - Avoid spiders and frogs while climbing

Aaron TheIcon Spriggs - Not only did I shrink, but I went back in time…

Brad Hesse – Micro-Managing Money

Melody Scott - Strange things from the deep!

C.S Skates - Tiny Dancer

Carl Scott - Man, I hope that's decaf!

Melissa Lucero Diaz - Who say's little brother's aren't pests?

According to the rules of the contest:

Voting Period: Up to Fifty (50) Finalists eligible for the grand prize, first prize, second prize, and third prize winners will be selected by public voting from among the eligible entries. The voting period will begin at 9:00AM (ET) on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 and end at 11:59pm on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Users will be able to vote for each submission only once and should base their vote on the following criteria: i) how successful the photo is at making its subject look miniaturized; and ii) creativity and originality.

Judging Period: A team of HarperCollins employees will deliberate over the finalists chosen via public voting from December 20th, 2011 – January 4, 2012, and one (1) grand prize winner, one (1) first prize winner, five (5) second prize winners and twenty (20) third prize winners will be selected from the fifty (50) finalists on or about January 5, 2011. Judges will evaluate the photos based on the following criteria: i) how successful the photo is at making its subject look miniaturized; ii) creativity and originality; and iii) how well the photo captures the spirit of Michael Crichton’s body of work.

So if you can make it into the top 50 based on votes, you’ve got a shot at the Grand Prize. The judges take it from there.

Good luck to everyone who entered!