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Another re-read. Wanted some comfort reading and there it was at eye level on the shelf.
Man, I like this book. I think this copy belongs to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greenjavatroll , though.
Man, I like this book. I think this copy belongs to
greenjavatroll , though.
Book club book.
Fantasy & Science Fiction - April
May. 23rd, 2006 06:55 amA fun issue. Lucius Shepard gives a crushing review of Stay so I guess I should avoid renting that movie. On the other hand, he gives a recommendation for a few low budget horror movies:
- Cookers
- Soft for Digging
- The Descent
-- and I'm two books behind on my list here, and I'm several movies behind on maintaining a list of movie club movies. My mage on Azjol-Nerub is level 49 (nearly level 50) and wandering (nay, staggering) around Un'Goro Crater getting his butt stomped.
Accelerando - Charles Stross
May. 9th, 2006 07:06 amI downloaded the HTML version of this ages ago and only got around to reading it when it was the only book close to hand on the plane. Atrocity Archive is probably my favourite fiction by this author, but this story gives it a good run for its money. Now I'm going to have to find a paper version, I guess, for ease of lending -- most people not enjoying web page based novel reading (how to bookmark on the fly?) or having their own readers that will convert from HTML.
I used TealDoc to read this book, but I'm running an older version of the software. The converter had a few problems with the text, which I would fix up in emacs next time, like – for dashes that the converter just left as the raw character entity. This is the kind of thing that would probably annoy lots of other people, but didn't really phase me at all.
I used TealDoc to read this book, but I'm running an older version of the software. The converter had a few problems with the text, which I would fix up in emacs next time, like – for dashes that the converter just left as the raw character entity. This is the kind of thing that would probably annoy lots of other people, but didn't really phase me at all.
Back from Toronto
May. 7th, 2006 12:21 pmInteresting events from my trip:
The woman next to me on the plane when I left Edmonton was absolutely terrified during take off and landing. She had brought a pillow with her and buried her face in it, crying, and gripping the seat with her other hand. I asked if there was anything I could do, thinking that maybe she would want to hold someone's hand or that some other form of comfort would be appropriate -- I have no idea what -- but she just shook her head. I still feel very badly for her.
Once my cab left the airport and hit the west end of the 401, I was struck by how much trucking there is on the road these days -- much more than I remember. And the west end of the 401 looks like shit. And my cab driver was very skilled, avoiding two near accidents. The radio was reporting tire fragments from an exploded tire more or less closing off a lane on one of the collectors and, further ahead, a burning truck. I didn't see any sign of these things, but surrounded by cube vans being driven like sports cars and towering semis, it didn't inspire confidence. There's a reason I left Toronto.
I got to practice with an aikido-l friend on Wednesday and got a good chucking about.
I've almost finished the electronic version of Accelerando I put on my PDA before I left.
I watched Underworld - Evolution in the hotel room one night. S'okay.
My suitcase, as you can see, has reached end-of-life and must be replaced. WestJet has given me $100 credit with them. Funny, because I was planning to replace it. Part of the internal support structure was messed up, although not the part impacted in this shot.
The woman next to me on the plane when I left Edmonton was absolutely terrified during take off and landing. She had brought a pillow with her and buried her face in it, crying, and gripping the seat with her other hand. I asked if there was anything I could do, thinking that maybe she would want to hold someone's hand or that some other form of comfort would be appropriate -- I have no idea what -- but she just shook her head. I still feel very badly for her.
Once my cab left the airport and hit the west end of the 401, I was struck by how much trucking there is on the road these days -- much more than I remember. And the west end of the 401 looks like shit. And my cab driver was very skilled, avoiding two near accidents. The radio was reporting tire fragments from an exploded tire more or less closing off a lane on one of the collectors and, further ahead, a burning truck. I didn't see any sign of these things, but surrounded by cube vans being driven like sports cars and towering semis, it didn't inspire confidence. There's a reason I left Toronto.
I got to practice with an aikido-l friend on Wednesday and got a good chucking about.
I've almost finished the electronic version of Accelerando I put on my PDA before I left.
I watched Underworld - Evolution in the hotel room one night. S'okay.
My suitcase, as you can see, has reached end-of-life and must be replaced. WestJet has given me $100 credit with them. Funny, because I was planning to replace it. Part of the internal support structure was messed up, although not the part impacted in this shot.
February F&SF
Apr. 30th, 2006 11:19 pmOh, yes, very late finishing this one. Too many other distracting books.
Notables:
Now, what to take on the plane...
Notables:
- Thirteen O'clock by David Gerrold - very fun story, very interesting narrator.
- The Long and the Short and the Tall by John Morressy - another Kedrigern story, always worthwhile
- Parsifal (Prix Fixe) by James L. Cambias - very amusing, and lots of grail trivia.
Now, what to take on the plane...
Gatherer of Clouds - Sean Russell
Apr. 30th, 2006 11:10 pmSecond half of the re-read. Noticed some things in common with the tail end of The One Kingdom. Like handing out gifts to all the participants. But somehow, the tone of this scene is different here. Anyway, still liked it. I needed to read this, for some reason.
Where, oh where, do I find this movie?!
Apr. 21st, 2006 07:07 amBANLIEUE 13
The two main guys in the trailer are traceurs, practioners of Parkour. That's in real life, not as part of the movie plot. So, some of the stunts here were, well, not done with wires.
The two main guys in the trailer are traceurs, practioners of Parkour. That's in real life, not as part of the movie plot. So, some of the stunts here were, well, not done with wires.
The Initiate Brother - Sean Russell
Apr. 21st, 2006 06:50 amAnother re-read. I'm going through one of those phases where I can't quite bring myself to start something new. Getting my martial arts fiction fix, I guess. I've got a little bit of February's F&SF not read yet. I've got two unopened F&SFs downstairs. I'm a little more than halfway through a book of Seamus Heaney's Finders Keepers (a collection of prose, mostly essays about various poets). But here I am re-reading stuff.
How could I not post this here?
Apr. 18th, 2006 11:30 pmThis one's for you, oldgoldalsatian: the miracle of birth
oldgoldalsatian: the miracle of birthThank you, Bruce Sterling, for this link: LabLit.com. Already they have a review for a book there, Won for All, How the Drosophila Genome was Sequenced, that sounds kind of fun.
Atrocity Archive - Charles Stross
Apr. 16th, 2006 11:22 amThis book has the longer novella, which the book takes its name from, and an additional short story, Concrete Jungle, that follows from the first story.
I first read the longer novella's installments whenpurplecthulhu brought copies of them over from the UK. I'm very, very, very glad to have this book now. Not only to reread, but also to share with friends who might enjoy a sort of /. crossed with Lovecraft story. (That's a hint, by the way.)
I first read the longer novella's installments when
purplecthulhu brought copies of them over from the UK. I'm very, very, very glad to have this book now. Not only to reread, but also to share with friends who might enjoy a sort of /. crossed with Lovecraft story. (That's a hint, by the way.)Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
Apr. 9th, 2006 12:07 amThis was a re-read. Um, because I needed to. And I'm not actually sorry at all. I'd probably have grabbed a Miles story instead, but they seem to be boxed up at present. Except for Brothers in Arms which I liked but wasn't in the mood for.
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
Apr. 4th, 2006 06:58 amOf the five novels nominated for Hugo awards for 2006, I've only read two now. Spin was one; this is the other. I've had a link to Accelerando in my bookmarks since Charlie Strauss put it up online, but still haven't gotten around to it.
Anyway, I think that Spin was better than this book from a Hugo nominee sort of perspective. If I were eligible to vote, I'd probably vote for Spin instead. But this was a perfectly fine and highly entertaining read. I understand there's another book in the same universe forthcoming and I'll make a point of picking it up.
I picked this up to read over the weekend that we went out topurplejavatroll 's mom's place because I felt like I needed a break from the collection of essays by Seamus Heaney I'm currently working through. What really blows me away is that this was a first novel.
Hmmm...I find it hard to believe those three paragraphs are at all related. Oh, well.
Anyway, I think that Spin was better than this book from a Hugo nominee sort of perspective. If I were eligible to vote, I'd probably vote for Spin instead. But this was a perfectly fine and highly entertaining read. I understand there's another book in the same universe forthcoming and I'll make a point of picking it up.
I picked this up to read over the weekend that we went out to
purplejavatroll 's mom's place because I felt like I needed a break from the collection of essays by Seamus Heaney I'm currently working through. What really blows me away is that this was a first novel.Hmmm...I find it hard to believe those three paragraphs are at all related. Oh, well.
Alone together?
Mar. 18th, 2006 11:01 amFrom link of a link, as it were. Some guys wrote a bot and sent it out into World of Warcraft where it collected all kinds of statistics about the people playing. And they wrote up some findings. I have to say, what they find meshes very well with my own experience and even with the changing nature of my own primary guild on Azjol-Nerub. The stats about guilds and player interactions with their own guilds is also exactly my experience with the avenging blades and also with No Sumus Tempestas.
( nattering on about my own guild )
( nattering on about my own guild )
Oh. My. God.
Mar. 16th, 2006 05:10 pmThank you, Warren Ellis, for having such interesting friends.
Texas T-shirts. No, seriously, go look for yourself. I'd be really, really tempted to go out and buy the one with 'Lower Canada' on it.
Texas T-shirts. No, seriously, go look for yourself. I'd be really, really tempted to go out and buy the one with 'Lower Canada' on it.
The Prestige - Christopher Priest
Mar. 14th, 2006 06:48 amThis book won the 1996 World Fantasy Award and I can certainly see why. It's a tricky little story and I don't know if it would work for just anyone. It worked for me and I really loved it. I wouldn't mind finding some more of Priest's work, but I get the impression he isn't one of those high volume writers.
