Happy Birthday hayzil!!!

Happy Birthday to locker_monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, still playing Gotham City Impostors, but annoyed that they've recently gone the route of "pay more to get different weapons than you can acquire from the game alone". I don't mind selling the cosmetic things like costumes or calling cards or mascots. I don't even really mind selling weapons as long as you can acquire them in-game through completing feats or something. But when you start selling advantages, I want to play less and less. Every time someone uses one of the new weapons or advantages, I think "%!%!ing cheaters," because in my worldview, that's what they're doing.

I also decided to try out the Walking Dead video game. Well... it's more of an 'interactive story' than a game. Sure, there are game-like elements, but really... it's pretty simplistic and the plot is very, very linear (at least, the first chapter).

Game play's okay, I guess, a little like a point and click adventure, but sometimes it's not clear exactly where you're meant to click to do something, and some of the characters are almost comically stupid. (spoilers behind cut) ( Read more... )

I know it sounds like a lot of complaints, and it's certainly a very imperfect experience, but I kind of liked it just the same. It's fun to make certain tough choices and have it affect how they react to you, or have different dialog options to partly choose your way through the story. And it's surprisingly affecting to have your character having to take care of, and comfort through dialog, a kid he's found who's parents are almost certainly dead (but far away, so you have the option to lying to her).

It's a series of 5 chapters, each sold separately (on some platforms you might be able to subscribe to all of them in advance for a discount, but not on XBL apparently), and only the first has been released so far. Right now I think I might try the second, but unless it really wows me, I don't think I'll go beyond that (well, maybe I'll see if I can... acquire it, through... magic, somewhere down the line). Because $30 for the whole thing feels a bit steep for something that's, at this point, feeling a little like a railroad (I don't get the impression that anything you can do can get you to avoid ending up in the same locations in part one, for example, or fail to save certain characters who are in danger, because the plot just won't let you progress until you complete the task where ( Read more... )... and I'll be very surprised if #5 doesn't take place in the same locations no matter what you choose to do in any previous chapter, just maybe with some different people).


Anyway, in other news, I decided to order The Sunless Countries (book 4 of the Virga series), now that it's out in TPB format, and also Catching Fire because, well, I needed to get my order over $25 for free shipping, and that was the one I chose to do that. Also got a new computer chair... well, old one, but new to me, and for free. Had two choices... I think in retrospect I chose the wrong one. Oh well, it's still not bad, just I think the other one would have fit into my space better and been a little more comfortable.

Also today seems to be a weird one for meeting women from my building. Normally the most interaction I have is an occasional hallway nod, but today 3 different women in the laundry room with a hello, one woman who was locked outside and knocked on the laundry room window to ask if i could let her in, and, when I took the elevator up with my new chair, shared it with somebody I'd never met but who apparently lived on my floor on a bike (that is, she got on the elevator on a bike, I assume she doesn't live on my floor on a bike) and had a brief conversation with her (and exchanged apartment numbers, though not names). I'm not reading anything into it, it's just weird it all happening on the same day considering the otherwise relative anonymity of my apartment experience.

What else to talk about? Internet has been infuriatingly spotty these last couple weeks but especially in the last day or two. Somebody's coming in (again!) on Thursday, hope whatever's wrong gets fixed.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did not leave reality the other day.

Last night in a dream, somebody asked me if I wanted to leave this reality. When I said yes, they said that sometime tomorrow, I would open a door and there would be a woman there offering her hand. If I took it, she'd lead me out of this reality. If I refused, there would only be two other chances at some undisclosed point later in my life.

So... it's a longshot, but just wanted to give you a heads up in case you never hear from me again, that might be what happened.

Also had a dream where I was giving a public service announcement in support of gay marriage (and by the way I was damned eloquent, even if I now can't remember what I said). It is likewise a longshot, but if I wind up on TV, know that they're recruiting people through dreams right now.

I think there might also have been a dream about aliens in there somewhere. That one's probably just a dream.

Right now, I'm really enjoying Avatar: The Legend of Korra (I refuse to call it TLAB). Especially what glimpses we saw at the end of the last episode that I hope will get far more detail. But instead of talking directly about Korra, I want to talk about what might potentially come After Korra.

Okay, it's just started really, and a little early to make predictions or even be thinking about the far future... But I'm still marvelling over how we actually got a sequel, and it's not only very good, but also very different from the original series, when it struck me... "Wouldn't it be cool if we somehow got a complete cycle of Avatar stories, one for each element, each in a somewhat different genre?" Immediately after, I thought... "Never going to happen" (at least, as animation), and yet, the thought of "But what if?" persisted. I mean Korra takes place 70 years after Airbender and has appropriate technological jumps (it's a sort of a bit of 1920s vibe), so it only stands to reason that if they made yet another sequel, it would be another time jump.

So, here are my (not especially novel) ideas of what they might do with Earth and Fire avatars... ( Read more... )
Anyway, in my head it's all pretty cool.

But enough about Avatar. What else is there?

Well, right now, Game of Thrones, but I don't feel especially talky about it. I still really enjoy it, but it's just one of those things I don't really need to converse about a lot, partly because of worries of "okay, most of the story has already been told in advance, I just don't know it yet", so it's hard to speculate or anything without looking like a fool or having people give spoilers. But yes, I do very much like it.

Other than that, not much, a couple shows running out the clock, a couple that I don't care enough to talk about, and then it's just the wait until the next new thing's on.

So let's talk about the next new thing. It's almost time for the networks to announce their schedules for the next year, and while we don't have the list of shows, we do have lists of PILOTS that the networks have been considering.

Not every show that winds up on the schedule will necessarily come from this list (and certainly, most of the shows on this list won't be on the schedule), but it gives a sort of early peek at what I MIGHT be interested in. I don't have an easy link to all the pilots there are, I looked through a bunch of sources and made notes of which ones I might be interested in, or that are in my wheelhouse but I'm unsure about. So that's mostly going to be genre-stuff - SF, Fantasy, etc.

But pilots of note that are vying for spots next year that caught my interest:
( Read more... ) So, not super encouraging. Two worth an automatic check-out, one I'll probably look at mostly due to comic-loyalty, nine that I might look at if the trailers will look good, but I'm leaning towards passing on. And that's of the stuff that holds even the slightest interest to me at all. Everything else proposed is snoozeville. But that's just the main networks.

One cable network that has announced a bunch of upcoming shows in development is Syfy. Alas, it's no longer the Sci-Fi channel, either in name or in spirit, really, but at least it has a couple SF shows, movies, and miniserieses on the slate. Full announcement is here, (and far too much is lame reality shows), but I'll list a couple potential highlights behind the cut.
( Read more... )

A little bit with potential, and actually a better odds than all the mainstream networks, although not all of this is necessarily due for next year.

We'll see how things shake out in a few weeks when everything gets officially announced.

Happy Birthday 80sfiend!!!!!

Been a while since I've done this...

Finished: City at the End of Time, by Greg Bear

Three young people in the modern day have the ability to 'fate-shift', to become parallel universe versions of themselves. They also share inexplicable dreams of a city in the far future, the last city in existence, and guardian-ship over strange stones called sum-runners. They're pursued by people who seem to want to complete the destruction of time.

Okay, the title is an evocative image, and the premise is intriguing enough that I had to pick it up. And it starts off fairly well... the city of the Kalpa is odd but plausibly 'so far futuristic it might as well be magic' without outright seeming magic most of the time. And the modern-day stories of being on the run from the Chalk Princess and her minions... well, it's engaging enough, if a little too into the 'fantasy' side for my tastes. It goes reasonably well for about half the book. Then it all turns to $@!$.

(spoilers behind cut, fairly significant ones)
( Read more... )

Finished: Century Rain, by Alastair Reynolds

Last one was a book I thought had promise at first, but wound up hating. Here's a book with an almost opposite story. I though I wouldn't much care for it, but I wound up really enjoying it. Part of the reasons for my misgivings was the author - I've liked some of his work, but I didn't like my first experience with him, and even some of the sequels have elements I didn't much like, mostly because it was full of characters I didn't like.

The other part was that the premise, although okay, wasn't one I was super-excited about. I thought from the description that it was going to be a specific, fairly common type of SF story, and to my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be completely different. To explain more goes into minor spoiler territory, so I'll cut.( Read more... )

So, with a few flaws, quite liked, and I'd even like to see a follow-up.

Finished: Accelerando, by Charles Stross (reread)
Finished: Glasshouse, by Charles Stross (reread)

Both rereads, and multple-time-rereads, so there's not much more to say on them. Always enjoy Stross, particularly these two works of his.

Finished: Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman

A prose superhero novel, following dual storylines, one of Doctor Impossible, a supervillain engaging in his latest plot to take over the world, and another, Fatale, a cyborg hero and relatively new member of the New Champions, who are reforming to investigate the disappearance of Superman (or rather, the Superman analog of the world, named CoreFire).

It's fairly enjoyable, using the tropes of superhero comics, if not in particularly novel ways, than at least in novel form (ha, see what I did there?). Some decent explorations of characters, but too much of it feels familiar, like warmed over stuff I've already read many times, and only a cool new insights to why things are the way they are. Still, not every book has to break new ground, and I liked it, except, I think, it fell down at the end a little, and by extension, throughout the book. (minor spoilers, although I don't actually reveal much about the ending itself, just the feel of it).

( Read more... )

But minor flaws, and I did enjoy it, and hey I got it used for $2, so at that price, a bargain.

Started: The Evolutionary Void, by Peter F. Hamilton
Started: Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, by Robert Charles Wilson

Happy Birthday to geomant!

Happy Birthday to anomilygrace and donna_c_punk!!!!!

Happy birthday celisnebula!!!

A belated happy birthday to gaymuffin!!!

Happy Birthday ciaracat!!!

After a fairly long dry spell of meh, it's actually a good time to be watching TV again for me, so let's do a TV post!

First, the last couple weeks I've been engaging in something I actually do fairly rarely... marathoning TV shows I've already watched. Two in particular, because (in one case) the new season and (in the other) a new sequel series are starting. Those are Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aside from both being awesome, they have other things in common as well:

Birds used as messengers
Lots of Ice
Mostly-extinct dragons
Characters who are underestimated because a physical disability/difference but who are in fact among the most awesome characters.

Watching these both at the same time (I did about 2/3 of Avatar, then switched to GoT the weekend before season 2 of GoT, then back to Avatar), it's only natural to consider mashing them up, but let me assure you, there's NO WAY TO DO IT THAT IS NOT TOTALLY !@$@!ED UP. But occasionally hilariously-so, even if you really can't map them directly, you'd have to consider it a fusion world where some characters are combined, others exist side by side, and others have totally new roles. Like, Winterfell might be the waterbenders, making Katara and Sokka Starks. That would naturally put the Fire Nation as Lannisters, despite Daenerys being more connected to fire and dragons (she could be the last airbender, though!). Tyrion/Iroh might be a fusion character, providing both the voice of reason and all the awesome. But there's no way to make it work, trust me (and yet, why can't I keep myself from trying? Oh well, I'm sure it'll pass)

Anyway, let's separate them (which is probably for the best), and give some thoughts on the rewatch, followed by my thoughts on the new stuff:

Avatar: I was worried it wouldn't hold up, but it really did. Oh, sure, it's a kids cartoon, and there are all sorts of little flaws if you look for them (Earthbenders using their powers in totally awesome ways in some episodes, but completely ignoring ways to be awesome when surrounded by stone buildings in others being one off the top of my head... same for Waterbending sometimes), but it's probably one of the best cartoons I've seen. It's the type of cartoon that if I worked on it, I'd be extremely proud of... in fact, I sort of 'play' with franchises as a secondary stream of enjoyment... thinking of ways that I'd make it better if I had my way and was in control, but with Avatar, it's one of the few cartoons where I almost wouldn't change anything except trivial things. It's got a long continuing storyline that actually wraps up, and virtually every episode actually makes progress towards that goal (I was particularly surprised how tight the first season was... I expected there to be a fair amount of throwaway episodes, but there weren't... season 3 had a couple more where I think they tried to pad things out), the heroes occasionally totally lose, people die (not many, and certainly not as many as in a real war, but it is a kid's cartoon), and, of course, there are some awesome characters.

Particularly Toph (I love the running joke of the team forgetting she's blind, or of her playing with it by talking about things she couldn't possibly know), and Sokka (badass normal and comic relief character rolled into one), but many of the characters are great.

It was great we-watching it again, but it wasn't just for fun, it was because starting soon (and the first two episodes are already available) is The Legend of Korra!. I'll get to some minor spoilery comments after the cut, but first, general thoughts: I really enjoyed it! I was worried that after all the build up, they wouldn't be able to deliver, but the action was good, the animation and character designs awesome, and I loved the overall look, a sort of 1920s vibe crossed with Steampunk (and of course, the obvious asian influence). Best of all, it really does feel like a WORLD, one that actually could exist somewhere... too many cartoons fail on that. The only non-spoilery thing, in seeing the first two episodes, that I have to complain about are that, right now, I don't have as many awesome characters to latch on to as Avatar did. I like Kora, Bolin might be fun, Mako hasn't had much time to develop (and many, just hearing his voice I never would have guessed he's voiced by David Faustino... Bud Bundy of all those years ago), the kids are kids, not even as relatable as the Avatar kids (but of course, they're younger as well), and everyone else, so far, seems to be an authority-figure-type. However, it's only two episodes in, and it took a whole season before ATLA got Toph and a half season before Zuko became much more than a angry antagonist.

A few more thoughts with a few more spoilers (nothing big) behind the cut: ( Read more... ) All in all, a very good start.

Game of Thrones: Season 1 (which just earned a Hugo nomination for best Long Form dramatic presentation) really benefits from a second watch. The first time through, I had a lot of trouble telling people apart and didn't pick up on connections between characters because of it, so on the second time, things I missed or didn't know were important early one stood out. Still liked the same characters most: Jon Snow, Tyrion, and Arya (not in that order), but there are plenty of awesome ones.

Still think the sex and nudity gets a little too... gratuitous, sometimes as though they had a contract that there had to be one sex scene or a certain number of bare breasts per episode (and I seriously hope the Ros character has some major role in the later books/seasons, because otherwise her scenes could be eliminated entirely and probably improve the whole)

Season 2 is already started, only two episodes in, and watching it on the tail of a rewatch of the first season, it feels like a direct continuation... that is, if you hadn't told me where the season breaks were, I wouldn't have known a new season started (and if you'd told me one had, I'd have placed it probably a few episodes before season 1 ended). That's good, but at the same time, leaves me without much to say... the characters I liked, I continue to like, and there are great scenes throughout. Of the new stuff (minor spoilers)( Read more... )

Anyway, Korra and Games of Throne will keep me looking forward to TV for the forseeable future... and when GoT ends, Falling Skies (which is enjoyable, but not great) should be starting up.

Now, on to some other shows, either starting up again or starting to wind down, that I feel compelled to offer some thoughts on...

Ultimate Spider-Man: No... no, no, no, no, no. Why? We had such a GOOD cartoon with Spectacular Spider-Man, and I can understand the (stupid) corporate reasons it had to go, and could have forgiven it if it was replaced with something awesome, but.... this? This?

The animation's good, I guess. And I actually like the idea of (minor spoilers)( Read more... )

But no.... it's not the idea... it's the presentation of everything else. Like the constant cut-away gags... what is this, Family Guy? And the last episode where they literally made it like a video game fighting game two different times in the episode, complete with an announcer and score. Or having Peter constantly break away to give a bio on every villain or supporting character they encounter, instead of having their details explained through the action and dialog. What, have kids attention spans dropped THAT much since I was one?

But worst of all is crap like ( Read more... ) Bah. I guess I'll continue to watch, but... man, disappointed.

In slightly better news, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes started up again, and while I'll never love it the way I do a few other shows, it's at least solidly enjoyable on a regular basis. I also need to catch up on Young Justice and Generator Rex (which I believe is, sadly, ending).

Moving away from cartoons, we have other shows that are either ended, continuing, relatively new that I've given a chance to but haven't commented on, and just in general I have a few thoughts on.

House: This is supposedly the last season. Is it really too much to ask that instead of constantly pulling the "Shocking development! Oh, no, wait, it turns out House is just messing with everybody to prove some obscure point!" card, they actually make some big developments that lead to wrapping up? Seriously, I can't take them seriously anymore. Ehh, really I only still watch this because there's not much else on Mondays at that time.

Speaking of...

Alcatraz: I wanted to like it. I like the leads. Unfortunately, it seems to be exactly as I feared... it's just a series of one-shot criminal-chasing stories with the 'twist' that the criminals are all from the past... which might be cool enough, except that they never ONCE seem to ACT like they're from the past in any way. They seem to be able to slip into the modern world with no trouble, even getting jobs without existing in any database. When they're holding someone hostage, they remember to get the cell phone, too! I simply can't buy the premise, because they're not selling it... and when I can't buy the premise, the mystery about it doesn't thrill me. I have no confidence I'll be able to believe whatever backstory they come up to explain it, because they can't even get the simplest part of their story believable. I was already expecting a crappy LOST style ending just because of the creators, but now I'm expecting that they couldn't possibly do anything BUT one. If it survives at all, I'll continue to watch if nothing good is up against it, but it's not good enough to download.

Fringe: Have been going a little cold on the series this year. There were a few standout eps (like the Astrid ep), but mostly... it all just feels like a waste. And this last episode really solidified something for me (spoilers, both for the season as a whole and the most recent Lincoln ep): I'm thinking more and more that this season should have completely abandoned the storyline about ( Read more... )

Once Upon A Time: Yes, surprisingly, I'm still watching this, but I don't really care all that much. Aside from too many characters having cartoonish morality, which I guess is kind of expected, my main problem is the lack of... momentum. I'm sick to death of shows that tease that there's going to be some big change, the bad guy's going to get exposed, only to 'surprise twist' at the end and the bad guy saw it coming and was able to cover up. Or the character who knows the truth and might convince Emma/the world about it dies. It's gotten beyond predictable, and there's no tension whatsoever, you know that nothing big's going to change until the season finale, and even then, they're probably planning to stretch
it out for years.

I really want a show that actually DOES things, that doesn't HAVE a status quo that must remain intact until the end (or at least, when it has a status quo, doesn't insult our intelligence by constantly trying to fool us into thinking that they might be changing it)

(And seriously, Rumplestiltzkin? ( Read more... )

Supernatural: I just don't care any more ever since ( Read more... ) I watch mostly to mock. The show is really just hackwork now... remember how I praised Avatar for being a world that feels like a real world, that most cartoons don't manage that? Supernatural doesn't manage it either. It doesn't make sense by its own rules. Whatever the writers think is a good idea at any given moment is what they'll do, there's no cohesive whole like it had in the first couple seasons.

These aren't the only shows I watch, but they're the only ones I feel the need to comment on at the moment.

So, yeah, happy Easter to all that celebrate it (and those who celebrate it next week instead, like a lot of my family, happy Easter next week!). We had our Easter Dinner yesterday (next week we'll be having a dinner, but it's not Greek Easter dinner, it's a birthday dinner for my sister-in-commonlaw... and this week the Easter dinner doubled as a birthday dinner for my Dad)... anyway, it was awesome, with lamb and roast beef, potatoes, gravy, rice and veggies, other veggies, salad, cheesecake and coconut cream pie for desert.

Awesome food, and generally a good time was had by all. I'm glad that even though it wasn't Greek Easter, we did lamb anyway... it's pretty much the one time of year we get it.

I'll have a TV post in a couple days, thanks to some good things either starting up again or being rewatched (or both), and a couple thoughts on ongoing series that I haven't commented much on.

Oh, and I promised (well, okay, I didn't promise, but I suggested it may be possible) pictures of my new haircut in an earlier post. So, here I am coming through. I don't normally post pictures of myself, but what the heck, I'll make an exception... look behind the cut for ye liveliest awefulness.
( Read more... )

Kind of cool but a little weird, too... from Google's news a couple days ago:

Google Interior View lets you look deeper into the world than ever before!

Announcement
March 30, 2012


Users will soon be able to visit the inside of any building, right from Google Maps!


With Street View in Google Maps, you can take a virtual drive over the Chrysler Building or see the bustle of Times Square from the comfort of your own home, but you've never been able to go inside. What if you want to tour the lecture halls of prospective universities, check out a potential apartment, or even peek in on your neighbor's place and see how they decorate?

To gather imagery of locations like these, we are adding to Google Street View our newest innovation: Google Interior View. By using a 360-degree backpack-mounted camera, our team of operatives will canvas the buildings of the world, street by street, room by room, and take high-quality images of everything, with the hopes of one day giving you unfettered access to the whole world. Some buildings have already beeen scanned and input into the system... look for the icon of a Pegman climbing into a window on the map at various locations... there's the US Congress Building, the Statue of Liberty, and more, but we don't want to reveal all of them yet... find them yourselves! And they're just the beginning... over the course of this year, we plan to expand to offer views of many more public and private buildings in cities across the United States. Other countries are expected to follow next year.

But we're not stopping at public buildings and corporate partnerships... we want to see inside your home, too! Our team will actually be going door-to-door, hoping to get high-quality, 360-degree views of every room of every house, every apartment, every workplace!

Now, we recognize that this is a little idealistic... not everybody wants to invite us into their private homes, for some reason! It's not like we're going to learn much about you we don't already know from your search history, browsing habits, and social networking. Think of it as being the next step of being a part of the global community!

Still, for those of you who are uncomfortable with this, we want to make it as easy for you as possible. Therefore, we are allowing you to opt-out of our Interior View team members from documenting your home. Simply follow this link and provide your name, address, and proof of home ownership*.

But please don't opt out. Just say yes to our team members, they're here to help connect the world in a way never seen before, and your cooperation is important!

Our Interior View team members will be knocking on your door soon, and keep checking Google Maps as new buildings become browsable. We look forward to showing you the world, and seeing your little part of it!

*Please note, you must own your home in order to opt-out. But if you live in an apartment or otherwise rent, your landlord will have to give you 24 hours notice before we enter your premises.

Happy birthday goddesscomplex!!!

Yes, I'm another year older. Well, technically, I'm exactly the same age as I was the day before, plus a couple days.

What did I do? Nothing particularly special. Got one phone call from my grandmother, and a handful of Facebook messages wishing me a happy birthday from people who know me in person, a few other online greetings from people who don't. My dad and stepmom took me and my brother and his girlfriend to lunch, a little greek place that's actually not far from where we live.

Had a gyro dinner, which didn't come with either tzatziki or pita (we asked for the tzatziki later and got it, it just was a bit weird that it didn't come standard), and rice and onion rings and a greek salad as sides, and it was all delicious. Also shared with others at the table a plate of "Feta Fries", which is fries with feta cheese and some kind of oil/vinegar/oregano/other stuff dressing over the fries, and it was remarkably good. Like REALLY good.

The place is close enough, and good enough, that when taste of the Danforth rolls around, instead of going to the Danforth, I'll go there and get a gyro sandwich (which was on the menu and includes the tzatziki and bread aspect I would assume), and maybe even more Feta-fries. Not just because it's probably good but it's also the only restaurant in walking distance aside from the Danforth itself that has pork gyros instead of just chicken gyros (I still don't get that. That's not a real gyros!). And maybe for the occasional gyro cravings as well..

Later had tacos (the mexican Gyros) for dinner, and a bit of cheesecake for dessert.

So, yeah, that was my birthday.

Oh, and thank you st_aurafina for the LJ gift!

In other news, I got my yearly haircut. No, no pictures. Well, perhaps eventually pictures. But not now.

The Legend of Korra's first two episodes have been released, but I haven't watched them yet... why? Because I'm engaging on a rewatch of all of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the second book (Earth) now. I want to finish before I watch Korra... and it has the side benefit of meaning less of a wait before the THIRD episode, which comes out late April.

Avatar: The Legend of Korra has a release date... and it's earlier than I expected (at least, considering how late it was announced): April 14th.

Also, two trailers.... 1 and 2.

March already. Doesn't feel like it, but that's possibly, in part, because it doesn't feel like we've had winter yet at all here, aside from a few brief blasts (which I almost entirely avoided just due to schedule). By the end of the month, I'll be 34. :P

Survived Valentine's Day, mostly by virtue of avoiding anything to do with it as much as possible, partly by design but mostly accidentally (didn't have to leave the house, and didn't watch much TV except syndicated-daily-shows that had little-to-no V-Day content). Otherwise, I'm alive. Seem to be especially sleepy lately, though. Like, I get up, feel okay for a couple hours, then want to take a nap. And whether I do or not, it seems, I'm still sleepy/sleepy again a few hours later (albeit with a short grace period when I feel able to be active).

Anyway, blah blah, nobody cares, so, Book Foo time...

Finished: Surface Detail, by Iain M. Banks

Another book in Banks Culture universe, this one dealing with one of the consequences of a galaxy where the ability to record personalities/memories is remarkably easy and common... what do you do with the people who don't, or don't want to, exist bodily anymore. The more enlightened races have a variety of options which might charitably be called virtual heavens, but then some cultures have a belief that you need a stick as well as a carrot... and since you can't guarantee they'll ever get real punishment, that means you have to create virtual hells as well, to eternally torment the personalities of those who've gone astray.

Naturally, this point of view makes some people totally aghast and there's even a (virtual) war over the whole affair going on, that threatens to spill out into the real world. There are of course, lots of other side plots.

It's a rare thing for the Culture books, but this is actually a conflict that's really worthy of the Culture universe. Most of his tales deal with extremely local affairs where it feels like the only thing stopping the Culture from going in and righting everything themselves is the worry that they might be seen as meddling busybodies interfering with local politics, individual Culture members on their own personal missions, or occasionally ones where there's a conflict between two groups with relatively similar technology level, but the conflict's still over relatively small stakes rather than high-minded principles. Here, the idea of expelling Hell from the universe, now there's something that I could imagine going to war for (notsomuch going to war to keep, but you can't have everything).

So how is it? It's good, but not quite what I wanted it to be. ( Read more... )

That said, I do think it's one of the better Culture novels. Which seems odd, considering all that I just said, but sometimes it's better to be really ambitious and fall short than to tell a smaller, simpler story and do it satisfactorily (and often the exact reverse is true, but this isn't one of those times). I'd probably put it in the top 3-5 of them, although I'd have to reread the others to decide exactly where.

Not-that-interesting-tidbit-that-amused me. As I was reading this, walking home from work that day, I looked up and saw another member of The Walking Read ahead of me (that's what I call us, those who walk like zombies reading something). As we got closer, ready to pass, I noticed that he was ALSO reading a Culture novel... Excession. Unfortunately he didn't look up at me and notice that we were both reading books in the same universe and maybe had a brief interesting conversation about it, but still, kind of a cool coincidence.

Finished: A Thousand Words for Stranger, by Julie E. Czernada

Space opera, with some romance undertones, of a girl on the run who has amnesia, and is helped by the roguish captain of a trading ship that may know more than he lets on.

It's a first novel. And it sort of reads like a first novel; there seems to be a lot of... I want to say 'wishy-washyness' in the plot, where it seems like the author can't decide where to go, or wants to kill time, with character dithering or going back on previous decisions and going back on going back on them, and so on, not to mention the premise of 'character with amnesia that drives the plot' (which is a little cliche, but exactly the kind of thing I myself might do, fool myself into thinking I could do a good enough job to justify using it anyway, and then fail at doing so especially on my first novel).

The other problem is that it contains elements that, at this point in my life, I think I'm pretty well done with in SF. This is more about me than that book. I don't think I actually knew I was done with it before I read the book, but if I had, it wouldn't have helped, because I didn't know the book contained it until I read it. I'll say exactly what it is behind the cut (it's not a HUGE spoiler, in fact it's revealed very early on, but just to be safe, and also that it's a fairly significant part of the plot may be considered a spoiler to some), but before I do, a non-spoilery analogy for the same thing. It's like vampires. I used to be really into vampires, either as villains or heroes. But, sometime shortly after Buffy, I realized that I was pretty well DONE with vampires... that I couldn't work up much interest or excitement about them anymore, and didn't want to read/watch anything that heavily dealt with them unless it was clear it was doing so in a really novel way, or is a minor part of a much larger work (like, if I'm watching a show where the supernatural is all over the place, it doesn't bother me if a vampire shows up for one episode, or one regular character is a vampire, so long as it's not a show ABOUT vampires). Except, in this book, it's not vampires, it's ( Read more... ) So for that reason, I don't see myself reading any more of the series... at least, unless my feelings change and I once more get into a mood for that element. This isn't due to the quality of the writing itself (which, being a first novel, as I said, was a little unpolished but I could see being decent and improving a lot in future works), but just because I have no interest in that aspect.

Not-so-interesting-tidbit: I did picture the male lead as being played by Nathan Fillion. I don't normally picture specific actors playing characters in books, but in this case he felt a little like Mal.

Finished: The Child Garden, by Geoff Ryman

In the future, the world has changed dramatically... most humans are taught by viruses, and their perceived character flaws are likewise 'corrected', but there have been downsides and mistakes, including a dramatic drop in human lifespan. One of the citizens of this world is Milena, an actress who has some virus education, but due to some oversight never had her personality traits 'corrected', and so feels a bit of an outcast, particularly because one of those things that has been corrected out of the population, but not her, is homosexuality. It starts as she happens to meet a genetically-aletered Polar Woman, another offshoot of the human race which hasn't taken the viruses, and feels an instant connection, and the story follows much of Milena's life.

This is a weird one, very poetical/allegorical at times, with a good deal of satirical bite or occasionally absurdist humor, the story's at times told in non-linear segments, with odd characters or types of characters weaving in and out... mostly not my preferred storytelling techniques, to be honest. At several times during the book, I thought, "You know, I'd really like to read a novel that explores many of these ideas in a style more to my tastes." There were several times I was reading and almost skimming, wanting to get through whatever they were talking about... and yet there were also times I was genuinely moved to emotion. I wasn't thrilled with the ending (my usual vague spoilers for the type but not specifics of the ending) ( Read more... )

I'm going to put this one in the 'not sure I liked it, but I'm glad I read it' category... I might give it another chance somewhere down the line, too.

Started: City at the End of Time, by Greg Bear
Started: Century Rain, by Alastair Reynolds

Happy belated birthday to firefox27, on the 26th...

Happy birthday to soleta_nf!!!

Happy birthday to angelophile!!!

Happy birthday to docparker333 and robyrt!!!

Also, apologies and a belated happy birthday to fenrishero... I can only say that Gotham City Impostors has been eating my brain for a little while lately.

I guess I haven't been posting much. Part of this is the traditional post-Christmas-spiral-into-crippling-even-more-depression-than-usual, which I'm weathering but, as usual, doesn't make me feel especially communicative (also yay, even greater depression trigger coming next week). But also I haven't really been doing much, things have been dead on a number of fronts. TV's kind of blah, I'm checking out Alcatraz but I'm still a bit iffy on it. At least some of that's due to change... Walking Dead comes back this month, and April for Game of Thrones, the new Spidey cartoon, and, I'm hoping, the new Avatar series (I heard a rumor somewhere, but I don't remember where or know how accurate it was).

But I have been reading... so, let's do a book foo!

Finished: Spin State by Chris Moriarty

Part of the reason this book caught my eye was because the author was listed as one of the apparently few female writers who write 'hard SF'. Part of this is because they're apparently actually steered away from it, due to the percepion (whether real or not) that readers aren't interested in it. To the point that, in this case, Chris Moriarty looks like a male name (and I actually checked... in the 'about the author' section, and references to her in other reviews printed in the book, not only is there no picture, but they seem to studiously avoid any gender pronouns that might give the game away). The odd thing was, I saw these books in the store an awful lot before I knew Chris was a female author, and it just didn't catch my eye even to the point where I picked it up and read the back (maybe once)... pretty much what got me to give it a real look was hearing she was a she.

Anyway, enough about the author. The story involves a military officer and genetically-constructed being who's drafted to do a murder investigation in a mine on her homeworld. And the verdict... the science was a little less Hard than I was hoping, and the story's just okay, but it didn't blow me away. More spoilers behind the cut, nothing huge but just in case. ( Read more... )

I'll probably read the sequel, eventually.

Finished: Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold

Another book in the Miles Vorkosigan series by Bujold, involving a short, brittle-boned but brilliant spy from a society where mutation is feared. In this one, he's on a diplomatic mission to another culture where he gets involved in shenanigans.

I don't really have a lot to say about it. I enjoyed it, and yet... I think I may be done with the series. Not because this one is bad by any means, and the character is still appealing, but I've read 5-6 books with him in it and it just feels like if I don't read any more, I'm okay with it... and in fact, the effort of trying to figure out which books I've already read and which one I need to get next to continue reading his adventures outweighs the positives I'd get from actually doing it. Maybe this is just my general blahs leaking through undeservedly on the series, and in a few months I'll get an inkling to try again, but right now I'm not feeling any particular urge to keep reading it.

Finished: The Windup Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi

Set in a future where oil has virtually run out and so the world has expanded (or horizons have shrunk, depending on your point of view?), metaphorically (because sail is about the fastest form of travel and so it takes weeks to make journeys that used to take hours), and biotechnology has in some ways ravaged and in others improved the world, the story is set in Thailand where a corporate spy seeks a suspected secret genetic library and a fugitive genetic engineer, Thai officials cope with severe corruption and the competing drives to protect their borders from dangerous products and to help themselves by encouraging trade, and a genetically engineered girl is a slave not just because she was designed to be subservient but also because she has no right to exist in the country and would be mulched if the wrong people find out.

The book won both the Hugo and Nebula (tying one of them, I believe, but it's still a win), and I can see it as an ambitious work. I'm actually not really sure if I like it or not. Part of the problem was that there were few people I could really wholeheartedly root for, aside from the title character. Viewpoint characters who seemed okay at first would contain traits I find wholly unsympathetic (and the exceptions to the rule are usually horribly mistreated in the course of the story). That can be a good thing, it can mean the characters are complex but in this case, I don't know. I'm also not sure I buy entirely into some of the premises of the world. Yet there were cool ideas and occasionally images, and I think I'll be thinking about it longer than most books I read.

I'm still struggling with the 'did I like it' question. I'm deeply ambivalent about it, but I am glad I read it.

Finished: The Oroboros Wave by Jyouji Hayashi
This is a translation of a Japanese SF novel.

This one actually IS a hard SF novel. Humanity discover a miniature black hole in our solar system and decides to harness it, build a ring around it to provide virtually unlimited energy. In many ways it's a series of linked short stories with a few shared characters, rather than a novel. In fact, they tread on a lot of the tropes of classic hard SF short stories... there's the "slight astrophysical mystery that has a rather mundane, though unexpected cause", the "new biological life form" and others.

It also feels a little stilted at times, particularly where characters are concerned, which may simply be because of the translation, or it may be just like a lot of English hard SF (particularly of early decades), where that aspect was second fiddle to the plot and science.

I did really enjoy it though, maybe in part because I was craving hard SF and not entirely satisfied by the other books on my list. I felt it fell down a little towards the end, where it feels a little unfinished, but I suspect that's because (if I interpreted the author's note correctly), it's meant to have a sequel.

This is my first experiment with the "Haika Soru" imprint of novels (from Viz Media, who also I believe imports Manga), and only the second Japanese-translated novel I've read, after Battle Royale (also released through Viz, but not from that imprint... probably before). So, quite a good start. I think I'll be checking out more of their work in time.

Started: Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
Started: A Thousand Words for a Stranger by Julie E. Czernada


In other news, the Beta for Gotham City Imposters is now closed. The game releases today on some platforms, tomorrow for XBL I think I'll purchase the game, it is quite a bit of fun, and now I don't entirely suck anymore. I'm still nothing compared to awesome players, and my aim overall sucks (particularly when in a running battle), but there are certain methods and tricks I can use that make me potentially formidable among newer players or those who don't pay attention - I use a stealth build, invisibility gas and a one-shot (With about 30 seconds between uses) weapon that kills virtually everybody in one hit. So I'm getting skilled at sneaking up on people, uncloaking, and throwing my hatchet to kill them. Doesn't work as well if they're running around, since you have to aim it precisely, but nothing's quite so satisfying as taking down a huge guy while he's guarding an objective. (Invisibility also isn't perfect, you can see a blurr, so I can be targeted and spotted, it's just not always easy).

Happy Birthday occamsnailfile!!!!!!!!

I thought my time had come and gone for a shot at it, but...

I got accepted into the beta for Gotham City Imposters on X-Box 360.

It's my very first Beta! Well, professional beta, anyway.

For those who don't know, it's a first person team-based game where teams of citizens either identifying with Batman or the Joker compete with crazy weapons (and lots of character customization) for domination, expected to be released sometime in February. I was planning on buying it anyway and unless it sucks I still am (assuming of course that they don't just give beta-players a free copy of the game after, but I doubt life would be that nice... still I get a chance to try it out before the majority anyway).

I'm thinking I'll go on the side of the Bats, because I'm a justice-dude. Or maybe a justice-girl. I haven't decided yet (this part of the post being written before I've tried it out, while it's downloading). Maybe a justice girl, if I can echo a little bit of a Cass Cain or Spoiler vibe in my costume (or both).

And after playing?

Okay, the costume options are a little less extensive than I'd hoped, at least in the beta, and you have to level up a few times to unlock customization features and buy costume options... but it's still a kind of fun game, even ignoring the fact that, and I can't stress this enough, I totally suck at it. Right now I'm leaning towards still purchasing it when it comes out.

Happy Birthday thebitterguy!!!!!!

Instead of starting with Book Foo as usual, I'll start with TV/movies...
There's not been a lot going on in recent weeks... heck, even recent months have been dry, but since traditionally the last week of the year you look back and choose best/worsts, what the hell, I'll go ahead and do the same.

For 2011:
Best New Series: Of the fall season, Grimm, I guess, although none wowed me. Of 2011 in general... Game of Thrones, I think. Started off a little slow, but I got really into it. Falling Skies gets an honorable mention.
Best Returning Series: ... Walking Dead, I guess. Again, not a whole lot of returning series' that I care about anymore.
Biggest Downslide of a Returning Series: Probably Doctor Who. It was still solidly enjoyable, but missing something. But again, with few returning series I even watch, even that stood out.
Most Regretted Cancellation: Probably Stargate Universe, even though it was actually cancelled the year before, it ran out its run of new episodes in 2011.
Best Movie: X-Men: First Class, I guess. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was surprisingly good considering it should have been a thoughtless cash-in to a long-running and long-played out series.
Most Disappointing Movie: I only saw "The Last Airbender" in 2011, and I so WANT to name that, but if I do that, I also have to name Inception for 2011. So, I'll go with Green Lantern. Okay, but could have been much better.

For 2012:
Most Anticipated New Series: You know what, I think it might just be Avatar: The Legend of Korra (and it looks like they may actually be using that as the title, instead of the awkward 'Last Airbender: Legend of Korra' one). Of non-animated shows, I guess Alcatraz.
Most Anticipated TV Return: Doctor Who, just because it'll take so LONG. It had BETTER be good with that long a wait, Moffat. Oh, and Game of Thrones, season 2.
Most Anticipated Movies: Avengers, Hunger Games, Prometheus, World War Z, Amazing Spider-Man are all high on my anticipation list. If I had to choose one... Avengers, just because a) Whedon, and b) seeing how they'll manage all the big stars (by which mean the characters) in one movie.
Most Dreaded Movies: I somehow don't care a bit about The Dark Knight Rises based on what I've seen so far, but I won't go so far as to say I dread it. John Carter is probably my choice... I think a great movie could be made by adapating (even if somewhat loosely) the Mars books, but somehow I'm getting train-wreck vibes from it.

And now onto books... first, the last Book Foo of 2011...

Finished: Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge

So, I've now read all of Vinge's novel length work. And, while I was reading before, I always wondered... when was it he became awesome? I mean, his earlier work certainly had some good ideas, but was a little clunky and didn't quite click. So, I'd wondered, was my first exposure to him, A Fire Upon The Deep, where he hit awesome? A bit depressing, but okay.

Luckily, I have solved the question in a happy way. He hit awesome with Marooned in Realtime. The Peace War was almost awesome with a really good idea, but it was this sequel that he really hit his stride and wrote a kickass novel. In fact, I'd almost suggest skipping the Peace War entirely - it's not really necessary to the plot of the book, some of the political situations and the very few continuing characters can probably work just as well if introduced to you as they were in the book, and the story, although hinging on the same technological gimmick, is completely independent. Of course, I'm not the type to take that advice from other people.

(back of the book-type synopsis of the overall concept behind the cut, along with more detailed thoughts, but no big spoilers) ( Read more... )

Finished: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

I'm a little late to the party, but I finally finished it, and I have to say... meh.
A bit more spoilers behind the cut, but nothing really serious.
( Read more... )

All in all, I never quite bought into HP-love, it was a mildly enjoyable kids series but never the kind of thing I thought should be the phenomenon it's become. And this is, well, an ending. Ironically, I think the series actually WOULD be best served by Rowling giving up control, letting it exist as an environment rather than a story, so say, having comics/cartoons set at Hogwarts after Voldemort's era would actually be a GOOD thing, rather than diluting the story... here, the story wasn't all that impressive, what was impressive was the setting Rowling created, and the setting needs to be used by others to live up to its full potential. So, get over yourself, Rowling, and sell out for the good of your creation! Well, I suspect she already has sold out in many ways (so many licensing deals out there for products), but sell out in a way that lets others be creative with what you've built, rather than purely commercially.

For 2012, my first books will be...
Started: Spin State by Chris Moriarty
Started: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

That makes my book list for 2011, more or less in order, the following...
1. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower Book VI), by Stephen King (reread)
( Read more... )
42. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling

So, 42 books, last year was 47, the year before was 44, so falling behind a bit, but a few of them were big books, and also haven't had as much dead time as work. Still, must try to pick up for next year, and I have plenty of new books on my 'to read (and already purchased)' pile.

And, we'll end off more or less with a traditional meme...

( Read more... )

I don't really celebrate New Years, and although I usually stay up past midnight just because, this year I really think I'll just sleep through it.

But, before I go... the mnemonic device I use to instantly calculate the day of the week any day of the year falls on, this year will be:

Sunlight Wakes The Surf Too Furiously...
Surf Will Still Move The Sand

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be something I can remember...
(For those that don't know, the start of each word in the phrase points to a day of the week. The month at the Nth position in the phrase starts with that day of the week. The 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of the month also start on that day of the week, so the rest is easy calculation. So for March 24th, my birthday, it goes like this: March is the third month, you go to the third word, To. The word "The" starts with Th, which stands for Thursday, so the 22nd is a Thursday. That means the 24th is a Saturday.)

Happy Birthday izzat and liabrown!!!!!!!

First, Happy Birthday escap1974! Sorry, I don't think I even got on LJ yesterday.

So yes, as some of you are probably wear, this past weekend was a holiday for many people.

My family was among those celebrating, and how did we do it?

Well, unlike previous years, we didn't do the traditional turkey and (ham or roast), potatoes, etc, etc etc. My stepmother, who normally would be doing the cooking, didn't feel up to it this year, and instead, we all went to Mandarin, an all-you-can-eat buffet. That was fine by me, I haven't been there in years and love their food.

I had three heaping platefuls, with nary a spot left unfooded, and then a smaller plate of desert. This is going from memory, but this is what I recall having:
Scallop (1)
Egg Roll (1)
Chicken Dumplings (3)
Breaded Torpedo Shrimp (8? 9?)
Chilled Peel and Eat Shrimp (5ish, and I don't peel, I just eat)
Lobster Claw (1)
Lobster Thermador (1)
Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls (5ish)
BBQ Spare Rib (1)
Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
Lemon Chicken
Black Pepper Steak (on all 3 plates)
Spicy Chicken
Curry Chicken
Crispy Fried Chicken
Some other breaded chicken dish
Tofu with Mixed Vegetables
Sauteed Mushrooms
Singapore Noodles
Chicken Fried Rice
Thai Shrimp/Vegetables
I have a feeling there were a couple more things but I can't remember what they are.

For desert:
Pineapple slice
Slice of cheesecake with Cherry Sauce
Cube of Jello (to put to the test the old saying that there's always room for it).

My favorite is, as usual, the black pepper steak, although the spicy chicken gave it a run for its money.

The surprise of the night was tofu with vegetables. I don't know if I ever tried it before, and I know it's got a bad reputation, but it actually tasted decent, with a good texture that was a little reminiscent of meat... not enough to go back for seconds, but I could see myself eating it if it was prepared similarly again.

The regret, aside from not having enough room to go back for more of everything, was that I never got a chance to try the sushi bar. I'm not a fish person in general, and raw fish in particular sounds even less appetizing, but they had a couple choices that didn't actually seem to involve fish, or involved other seafood that are on my approved list, but in my 3 plates I never made it there. Also never made it to the prime rib steak, but I'm comfortable with that sacrifice.

After that, we went home to do gift exchange, where I realized I possibly ate a little too much and came very close to running to the washroom to puke a few times, but I managed to keep it all down. Also, crazy, everybody's got tablets now. Well, not everybody, but there were two there that the kids were mainly using, plus various cellphones including some pretty advanced ones (I didn't realize my brother has an android phone with lots of apps). I dunno, I can see some of the appeal, but I'd still prefer an actual computer with an actual keyboard. But then, I write. Also the games everyone was playing seemed to be variants of exactly the same game with just different graphics (squash the ant but not the bees vs pop the popcorn but not the bombs).

The gift haul:

Money (some of which devoted to a specific thing, which will be mentioned later)
Can of 3 varieties of popcorn (butter, white cheddar, and caramel corn)
Box of chocolates
Terry's Chocolate Orange
Socks
T-shirt
Irish Spring Gift Pack (containing a 5-bladed razor, shaving gel, deoderant, and two different varieties of body wash: Original, and "New, Legendary Classic". Somebody at the Irish Spring Marketing department needs a talking to.)

Normally we go to one of my aunt's house afterwards, and I didn't really feel like it but was going to because, well, family, but we were just out the door and about to go there when they called and said everyone'd already gone home. Normally it lasts a few hours later than that, but apparently my aunt was really tired. Anyway, I can't complain too much, I was happy to go home where I pretty much went straight to bed.

Next morning went to see my grandmother and one of my other aunts at her place, and she also served a bunch of stuff, had (in no particular order) sausages (Greek and smoked), zelnic (a sort of cheese pastry), cabbage roll, feta cheese, some other kind of Greek cheese, an olive or two, a Greek cookie, some honey balls, some hors d'oerves with avocado and proscutto and cheese on melba toast, a rice-in-grape-leaves things, a chocolate, and... I think that's it. We were given some turkey to take home.

After that, watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, which I rather enjoyed, not great, and the first 2 minutes or so annoyed me, but after that, quite charming. Then just a little bit of downtime before bed.

Today, I had to work. However, I had another goal... to stalk the most elusive prey of the concrete jungle... a boxing day deal on a new computer! Okay, I exaggerate. But part of the money I was given was specifically designated towards my computer, which I'd been wanting for a while (my oldest, aside from generally running slow, has been starting to suffer occasional bluescreens after a power failure about a week or two ago). Figured I'd get one Boxing day, saw one in the Future Shop flyer for $100 off and decided I'd go for it. I came very close to not getting it, too.

AFter work I took the streetcar to the Future Shop I usually go to, walked inside and it was crazy busy. Overheard two of the employees talking, and one said 'pretty much all of the Doorcrashers sold out already', and my heart sank because what I wanted was a doorcrasher deal. Looked around, found another similar model but $100 more, figuring that was the 'upsell' one (where they get you when you're disappointed that the cheaper one ran out), heart sank further. Employee asked if I needed help, I showed her the flyer and asked if they had and and said no, they sold the last one just a few minutes ago. So, I figured I'd wander around, get an idea of prices for what I might get otherwise, and then suddenly, between two boxes of other stuff was one lone box of the computer I wanted. Held my hand on it while waiting to get the attention of an employee (because it had a sign attached so I wasn't sure if it was saleable or considered for display or something), but they sold it and I was out of there and in a cab home within minutes. Victory is mine!

It's not setup yet at all, still in the box, because I need to temporarily take one computer off line so I can transfer stuff over from the computer on its way out, and I don't want to do that just yet. But soon. Soon.

For the record, it's a Gateway, Intel Core i5 processer 2300, 6Gig, 1 TB HD, blah blah blah, I think it'll be shiny.