tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67694471005505642022024-02-06T22:26:24.387-05:00Ιθακα (Ithaka)The legendary home of Ulysses:
<br>A man lost at sea. No map. Won't ask for directions.
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Ulysses's thoughts on reading, writing, and anything else that occurs to him.
<br>Once in a while, he will try to be funny.
<br><br>Entries could be weekly. Maybe more often. Maybe not. Life's a crap-shoot.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-40028587339146963542012-11-06T10:34:00.000-05:002012-11-06T10:34:32.585-05:00OverthoughtsNo, I'm not dead. I've been taking a vacation for my health.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I don't care how cured your ham is, I'm not eating it until I know the cause of death.</li>
<li>True story: Penelope and I were walking down the main street of a small city near us. I saw a large office window with the words "Sybil and Sons, Management Consultants" above a fancy logo. The emptiness of the office and the "For Rent" sign pasted on the window made me question their management expertise.</li>
</ul>
Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-80427956007120303952012-07-01T23:08:00.000-04:002012-07-01T23:08:26.705-04:00OverthoughtsSigns are wonderful things: brief, eloquent and frequently open to interpretation.<br />
<ul>
<li>I drove through some road construction a couple of days ago, and there was a man standing there holding up a sign that said, "Slow." I thought it was nice of the construction company to hire the intellectually challenged, but felt it was cruel to make them advertise their shortcomings.</li>
<li>A sign outside a car dealership said, "Blowout sale." It seemed to be a good marketing slogan for the dealership, but didn't seem anywhere near as successful when I moved the sign out in front of the nearby tire emporium.</li>
<li>I found a "Giant Yard Sale" sign in our neighborhood and wandered over to check it out. I was disappointed. The people holding it were normal sized.</li>
</ul>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-50536772580807529052012-02-23T07:41:00.003-05:002012-02-23T07:50:26.210-05:00What Were You Expecting?<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8NuOGRn53qI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> The Return of the King</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "Well, that... happened." -- Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider.</span><br /><br />I went with Telemachus to see a movie on the weekend. We saw "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," or "Nicholas Cage acting crazy with his head on fire."<br /><br />It wasn't good.<br /><br />But the important point here is that I wasn't expecting it to be good. If I want good, I'll go rent The King's Speech. What I expected was flaming special effects, and Nicholas Cage chewing the scenery like a rabid, fiery pirhana*. I got those things in spades, so I walked out of the theater entertained and feeling my money was well spent.<br /><br />Character? Plot? Theme? Sure, I suppose they were in there. You know, something to connect the action set-pieces and provide some sort of motivation for the Cage-craziness so wonderfully on display. But really, those parts of the movie were so pathetic that I'd not be surprised to discover they were afterthoughts cooked up in the editing room.<br /><br />"We have some amazing footage. What story can we make out of it?"<br /><br />Like every piece of entertainment, though, you can learn something from Ghost Rider.<br /><br />It's about expectation. If I crack open a book with a cover that shows a ninja fighting a dragon and back-cover copy proclaiming a tale of the intrigue surrounding the ninja infiltration of the dragon palace, I do so with certain expectations. Foremost among those is that somewhere in the succeeding pages, a ninja will indeed fight a dragon. I'm also expecting a certain amount of covert action (otherwise, why have ninjas? (although, let's face it, everything should have ninjas), and a fair bit from the fantasy bestiary.<br /><br />What I'm not expecting is a cross-species romance. Nor an alien space-ship exploring the universe, a re-telling of the battle of the Alamo, a treatise on the finer points of law with regards to wine handling, or any comedy in which walruses play a chief part.<br /><br />I'm not saying you can't include any of those things. Go ahead. I love surprises. Just make their inclusion good, logical and sensible (as much as such things can be). Make it REALLY good though. You've just upset my expectations, so you'd better replace them with something even better. Otherwise, I'll walk away from your story unlikely to seek out your next one.<br /><br />Now if Ghost Rider actually had a coherent emotional character arc and a solid plot that illustrated a thought-provoking theme, then I'd have walked out of the theater with my mind blown, because the movie would have exceeded my expectations in a completely unexpected way.<br /><br />It didn't, though, and that's just fine. It gave me what it said it would and by that measure, it succeeded.<br /><br />My point is this:<br /><br />Every audience member has a set of expectations in place when they decide to take in a piece of entertainment. If you fulfill those expectations, then you've succeeded with that audience. If you exceed those expectations, give them a rich story of intrigue and heartbreak set in the palace of the Dragon Lord on the eve of the ninja uprising, you'll have an audience that will come back eager for your next piece.<br /><br />* Bonus: Christopher Lambert (Highlander) shows up briefly, and yes, there's a beheading involved.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-8982545222180397772012-02-01T15:57:00.002-05:002012-02-01T15:59:15.749-05:00Book Report: The Bible Repairman, by Tim Powers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiEhQZBZDN2ZaMGaUZkkA_vwt714tQkDRX7oE3tkBiRacoceaANaZuoete4MCDCQ5w-dpRH0tGD0HiTu8ad4JIlDsDVmFDHoAVNjQGDgOEwubx6mAgjEIfaY_W1WLZqzn1GkJgTp8m2U/s1600/104128097.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiEhQZBZDN2ZaMGaUZkkA_vwt714tQkDRX7oE3tkBiRacoceaANaZuoete4MCDCQ5w-dpRH0tGD0HiTu8ad4JIlDsDVmFDHoAVNjQGDgOEwubx6mAgjEIfaY_W1WLZqzn1GkJgTp8m2U/s320/104128097.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704274580922284274" border="0" /></a>There are two writers whose work I will pick up without bothering to read cover copy. For me, the presence of their name on the cover is sufficient to trigger my buying reflexes. One is Terry Pratchett. The other is Tim Powers.<br /><br />My first Powers book was On Stranger Tides. If your only exposure to this title was Jack Sparrow's screen antics in the latest installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, then go out, buy a gallon of memory bleach and this book. After that I read some of his earlier work (Anubis Gates, Drawing of the Dark), and almost all of his later work (Stress of Her Regard, Earthquake Weather, Declare).<br /><br />His work is often set in an alternate history where the history we know is merely the surface, perceived veneer that covers up forces of sorcery, mysticism, mythology and superstition that truly shape events. He seems to take disparate notions (pirates, Greek mythology, voodoo... WWII spies, Genies, Noah, and the Cold War) and mixes them together in ways that are startling and confusing, but which make perfect sense as presented. OF COURSE Blackbeard's odd, psychotic behavior was driven by requirements of a voodoo ritual based in Odysseus's trip to the Underworld and would somehow result in his becoming immortal. Kim Philby, the English double-agent, was trying to gain the favor of Arabic spirits in his own bid for Mortality... And don't get me started on Einstein's time machine, or the Fisher King's rebirth in California.<br /><br />The Bible Repairman is a collection of Mr. Powers' short stories. Although nowhere near the complexity of his novel-length work, these stories share his unique approach to the strange, the magical, and their lurking presence under the mundane. It also includes a novella which forms a sequel, or a coda, to the Stress of Her Regard, featuring Trelawney (a friend of Byron).<br /><br />His work is not an easy read. His research is deep, and many times I've pulled my head out of one of his books with dozens of unanswered questions. I often get the feeling that if I had an encyclopedic knowledge of history and mythology, I'd be able to follow everything. As it is, I feel I miss something sometimes. The Bible Repairman is no different in that regard.<br /><br />Ulysses Rating: 3 - I enjoyed this.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-25048073240795717162012-01-23T06:41:00.008-05:002012-01-23T06:58:41.709-05:00Lord of Some Things<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8RQ6wZdppKH67BWjuCPu3Evy6uN7O1LGk_4_rfqzBlBgwML0j42GBpQrJGYmM3NzxtL3RrJivi3-_RJmIOhA4N3cjFggQOYKzWzv4ZOrE3WG6zq8BX1Ix8GcG0tE8Olrf4Jcgrn4_Ek/s1600/ScreenShot00011.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700791310131433746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8RQ6wZdppKH67BWjuCPu3Evy6uN7O1LGk_4_rfqzBlBgwML0j42GBpQrJGYmM3NzxtL3RrJivi3-_RJmIOhA4N3cjFggQOYKzWzv4ZOrE3WG6zq8BX1Ix8GcG0tE8Olrf4Jcgrn4_Ek/s400/ScreenShot00011.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading:</strong> The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkein</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Inspirational Quote:</strong> "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." -- J.R.R.T.</span><br /><br />It's been about 30 years since I read the Lord of the Rings. I loved it as a teenager. Back then, it was the grand-daddy of fantasy literature. Sure you could read Conan, or Elric or that recent trilogy by that upstart Stephen R. Donaldson... you could even read the Sword of Shannara (which was a pale imitation of the Great Work), but if you hadn't read LOTR then you hadn't ready anything, really. So I read it, and my friends read it, and then we tackled the Silmarillion and I hunted down Smith of Wooton Major and Tree and Leaf and read those too (although I can remember little about them... so don't ask me for details). It led directly to my unfortunate D&D addiction, and to my penchant for writing stories with a fantastic bent.<br /><br />That was 30 years ago. At the time, being a fantasy geek was a great way to avoid meeting girls. It was tremendously effective in my case and thus I was spared considerable heartache for a good year and some.<br /><br />But I digress.<br /><br />A decade ago, Peter Jackson released the Fellowship of the Ring. I saw it with my wife, and Wow. It was beautiful and exciting and pretty faithful to Tolkein's vision (as I remembered it) although it included a love story that J.R.R. only hinted at in LOTR.<br /><br />Back in September, while doing something pointless and time-consuming (web surfing), I saw an ad for Lord of the Rings Online. Great, I thought, another Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Another Ultima Online, or EverQuest or (shudder) World of Warcraft. Honestly, the world does not need another one of those to suck up subscription fees and vacuum up available (and sometimes unavailable) time. But hey, this one is supposedly based on Tolkein's work... and it's FREE TO PLAY.<br /><br />So yeah, I fell for the classic “You gotta try this, man. The first hit's free,” line that's started every junkie's career. I'm so ashamed. It took a bloody long time to download, and I had to create a server account, but once it was installed and I was registered, I was off to Middle-Earth.<br /><br />And I really was transported. The people who designed this game didn't just cash in on the MMORPG bonanza. They created a game world that is not only graphically stunning, but is incredibly true to Tolkein's work. Some of the design elements echo those that Jackson used in his movies, but only because those are based on notes and drawings that Tolkein left behind.<br /><br />The Shire is there, with Bag End and the Green Dragon and Michel Delving and the Bucklebury Ferry. The Old Forest contains Tom Bombadil's house, with Tom himself dancing about and singing nonsense. It also has walking trees and Old Man Willow. Outside that, the Barrow Downs wait, and the road to Bree. I've stood in the Prancing Pony and crossed the Midgewater Marsh. I've stood on Weathertop, and am looking forward to seeking out the Bruinen and the ford where Elrond called the flood down on the Nine before I finally make it to the Last Homely House. Of course, there are a few shortcomings, if you're measuring by fidelity to Tolkein's world. Scale is a big one. Bucklebury ferry is ten miles from the Brandywine bridge, according to the book. It's about 500 meters according to LOTRO. Similarly, even if you subtract the days spent in Bombadil's house, the Hobbits took several days to make the journey from Crickhollow to Bree. In the game you can run between the two in about 10 minutes. That's an achievement even Legolas would find jaw-dropping.<br /><br />The people who created this game have studied Tolkein's works exhaustively, and they've poured a love of the lore into the game world. Honestly, sometimes I just sit back and marvel at the achievement. It's like a virtual Tolkein museum. <br /><br />With exhibits that try to kill you.<br /><br />In fact, the thing I like least about Lord of the Rings Online is the game. It's quest driven, meaning that you follow a grand story that runs parallel to the events of books, and there are many side quest-chains that fill in corners of the story, or create their own. And that's nice, but it's the same as all the other MMORPGs out there: collect this, kill that, go here. More stamina is required than imagination, which is ironic given that sometimes the only reason I keep playing is because I want to see how the story formed by the quests turns out. Sometimes, I'd rather be reading the game than playing it.<br /><br />What it doesn't do is make the leap into truly interactive entertainment, into a real role-playing experience. I'm going to ignore technical constraints and imagine the MMORPG that I'd really like to play: I'd like to play a game where character really is brought to the forefront. In existing computer RPGs, your character is just a set of skills and attributes that determine how they're going to tackle the challenges (ie: how they're going to kill things) in the game world. The element of moral choice is really missing in the game, and so what kind of person your character is (Hero? Villain? Rogue?) has no impact on the storyline.<br /><br />I don't have to tell readers or good writers that a story where character has no effect on the plot is no story at all.<br /><br />Likewise, failure plays no part in this kind of game. Mess up a quest? Try it again. Die? Respawn at a safe point. I'd like to see a game where failure has consequences (I wonder if such an approach could be made commercially viable? Nobody likes to pay for the chance to mess things up). If you mess up a quest, and Fredegar Bolger doesn't get his lunch, then that should change the story somehow. It should change the nature of the quests that follow it. Die during the raid on the Orc camp? Then the raid should fail and the Orcs should retaliate, threatening your home base.<br /><br />Stories are all about tension. Tension only exists in the presence of a real opportunity to fail. Readers and writers know that a good, well-plotted book should consist of a whole heap of failures which cause the situation to become more and more desperate until, in the final chapters, one last hope for success arises. Anything less than that bores the reader, and in this case, it bores the game player too.<br /><br />That's what LOTR Online doesn't do.<br /><br />What it does do is inspire me to read the books again (as I have been), and watch the movies again (as I have been), and submerge myself in the world of Middle-Earth, where I'm surrounded by Elves, Dwarves, Men and Hobbits who get cranky when they miss Elevenses.<br /><br />At a time of the year where I always struggle, where it's occasionally difficult just to get through the day without throwing up my hands in despair, it's a tremendous relief to be able to immerse myself like that, whether in book, movie or game. It's escapism at its finest.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-19847192420767500202012-01-17T06:39:00.003-05:002012-01-17T06:52:00.482-05:002011 - The Year In Review<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfywN6k5EOSTZN9KwaZOxxkmDsKyV24Gm1fNG9-GypTzu9qPi86PThcA58CSBve8-DrSgDg72eB5EkY4umbB0KH2eey7TxN_az9pQs1-fPgU3SD8Fkewtt1nh9gtS2ZziVz_bEUtBSMfY/s1600/414705main_image_1555_946-710.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698564989196022354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfywN6k5EOSTZN9KwaZOxxkmDsKyV24Gm1fNG9-GypTzu9qPi86PThcA58CSBve8-DrSgDg72eB5EkY4umbB0KH2eey7TxN_az9pQs1-fPgU3SD8Fkewtt1nh9gtS2ZziVz_bEUtBSMfY/s320/414705main_image_1555_946-710.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading:</strong> The Fellowship of the Ring, by a stodgy old English professor. </span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Inspirational Quote:</strong> "Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go." -- Brooks Atkinson </span></div><br /><div><br />It's my custom to run down a few high- and low-lights of the passed year, but this year my heart isn't in it. 2011 was the worst year in my memory, and although it had its share of good times, there are large parts of it that I would be happy to forget if I could. The best I can say is that if 2012 is no better, then I'm quitting everything and going to India to become a Buddhist monk.</div><br /><div><br />That said, there are a few things I'd like to mention: </div><br /><div><br />Music: Coldplay and Sarah Mclachlan put out new albums, both of which I enjoyed immensely. I also got quite a kick out of Ash Koley. </div><br /><div><br />Television: Doctor Who and the Big Bang Theory were entertaining enough to drag me to the television once in a while. </div><br /><div><br />Movies: Thor was good, as was Source Code and Limitless, but there really wasn't anything that caused me to walk out of the theater looking for someone to tell about it. </div><br /><div><br />Games: If you've ever played D&D, or another fantasy role-playing game, but never played the card game Munchkin, then remedy that immediately. Go. I'll wait. Back yet? Then check out Lord of the Rings Online. More on it anon. </div><br /><div><br />My resolution for this year is the same as for last year. You've got to give me points for consistency. </div><br /><div><br />May your worst be behind you and your best yet to come.</div>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-54383945054381002472012-01-09T06:40:00.002-05:002012-01-09T07:06:29.584-05:00The Muppets<iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-WWWTW1P8rQ" frameborder="0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading:</strong> Not much, unfortunately.</span><br /><span style="color:#006600;"></span><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Inspirational Quote:</strong> "I hear his name bandied about a lot, but I don't know him. I don't know who Henson is. He seems to have his hand in a lot of things around here, but I don't particularly know what that means." -- Kermit the Frog on Jim Henson</span><br /><br />An Open Letter to Jason <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Segel</span>, Nicholas <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Stoller</span>, and the cast and crew of The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>.<br /><br />Dear <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppeteers</span>:<br /><br />I'm a Muppet fan. I have been for the vast majority of my life. I watched <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mannah</span>-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mannah</span> on Sesame Street, and sat spellbound as a toddler while Kermit reported on the mysterious <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Galleo</span>-hoop-hoop from planet <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kuzbain</span>. I don't use the word “fan” lightly. I know rather more about the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>, their films, specials and television appearances than, I suppose, any forty-five year-old man ought.<br /><br />My father and I never really got along. As is often the case, we were too similar in some ways and too different in others. But every night the show ran, we'd both be there in front of the tube, sharing some felt-covered silliness with the rest of the planet. His favorite was Animal. Mine was always Kermit. The put-upon frog with the responsibility of keeping everything from going off the rails always appealed to me.<br /><br />When I became a father, one of the highlights was dragging out VHS recordings of the Frog Prince and the original Muppet movies and watching them with my kids. It was a part of my childhood that I was glad I could make part of theirs. Once they made the Muppet Show available on DVD, well my daughter and I had to have those. She has no idea who the celebrity guests are... they belong to a different era, but Kermit, Piggy, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Fozzie</span>, Gonzo and the rest are celebrity enough for her.<br /><br />The years haven't been kind to the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>, though. After Jim Henson passed away, they seemed to lose the heart that made them so relentlessly entertaining. Episodes of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span> Tonight always left me feeling that the characters weren't exactly sure what they were supposed to be doing. The subsequent movies and straight-to-DVD releases seemed to be things that only very young children could find entertaining, and that just barely.<br /><br />But I could never give up hope for something better. I kept seeking out the bits of Muppet video that snuck onto television or DVD, hoping that this time I'd find something in them that carried a spark of their former charm. The offerings were few and the kind of bland entertainment I could have gotten from any other trademarked property.<br /><br />Of course, I'm not five anymore, so as you're very well aware, a lot of that remembered charm shone through the lens of nostalgia, which makes everything look brighter and better. As I grew older, I started to wonder if the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span> were just an artifact of their time. The world and I had moved on and there was no way I would ever feel the pleasure at their antics that I once had.<br /><br />So it was with some trepidation that I heard news of the new Muppet movie. I had to see it, of course. I'd drag as many of my kids with me as would come because a grown man sitting in the theater watching puppets sing just attracts all kinds of the wrong sort of attention. But they were just an excuse. I was going for me, because hope springs eternal, and because someone had actually managed to convince a bunch of notoriously tight film executives that they had a Muppet movie a significant number of people would pay to see. I couldn't pass up a chance to see THAT.<br /><br />I caught a lot of the interviews, the previews and the coverage that Disney issued <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">pre</span>-release. It was all positive, of course, but that was no real indication because the whole point of that kind of publicity is to build expectation. But one thing that kept coming up was your love of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>. You were a fan. A real fan. Someone who “got it.”<br /><br />Sure. I'd heard that before.<br /><br />So, I'm afraid my expectations were pretty low. One good chicken joke would have been enough to exceed them.<br /><br />I didn't expect them to be exceeded by quite as much as they were, however.<br /><br />Your work, this movie The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>, was good. It had all the things I loved about the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span>: the humor, the silliness, the surreal take on the world and the people in it, and a simple, sentimental heart. Far from avoiding the question of whether the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muppets</span> could still be entertaining thirty-years past their prime, you embraced it. You made that question the focus, and with every frame showed that the kid inside of us never becomes so jaded that it can't revel in a good puppet show with romance, angst and music you hum on your way out of the theater.<br />So, thanks. From a forty-five year-old Muppet fan and a seven-year-old girl who's upset I can't remember all the lyrics of “Am I a Man or a Muppet?” well enough to sing the whole song. You did “get it.” Each of you is at least as big a fan as I am, and it shows. You brought the characters I loved back, and you built a wonderful story around them. That achievement doesn't sound like much, but I know how hard it is to do. I appreciate and am grateful for the enormous amount of work you must have done to make this a reality.<br /><br />I've heard rumors that the film did well enough to merit a sequel. I hope so.<br /><br />I can't wait to see it.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-29012926118790052142011-12-08T13:49:00.005-05:002011-12-08T14:03:19.238-05:00Ulysses Plot Peeves: "Padding" or, "The Breakup"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoVaA4eLGyx1Vmgider0JkArDKWWobAC12V8QqgfNq1vWAjn8ZwzC5chBq575Q_qTj8eFZX078AeAbMVtBFG7CggkL_AAVGHyDjpFm7B-uM1tLOJ6N5Gw6ozCJ8iO8ZHD_iUzx_vJjZM/s1600/Breakup-Quotes-thumb.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoVaA4eLGyx1Vmgider0JkArDKWWobAC12V8QqgfNq1vWAjn8ZwzC5chBq575Q_qTj8eFZX078AeAbMVtBFG7CggkL_AAVGHyDjpFm7B-uM1tLOJ6N5Gw6ozCJ8iO8ZHD_iUzx_vJjZM/s320/Breakup-Quotes-thumb.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683832842770306658" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> The Bible Repairman, by Tim Powers</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "It is better to have loved and lost... Ah, forget it. Give me two beers." -- Me, I guess.</span><br /><br />Dear Scribe;<br /><br />I'm a reader. You're a writer. For the most part, it's been a good relationship. We've had some great times. Remember Chapter 3 of Massive Zombie Death Parade? When Redd Meat decided to clear his block with the customized lawn trimmer and the improvised flame thrower, only to discover that the noise and smell attracted even more undead? I'll always remember that. You kept me up nights, and I love that in anyone I take to bed (to read).<br /><br />But lately, I just haven't been feeling it. I'm sorry. I hate to tell you this, but I think any relationship has to be built on honesty if it's going to last. So.<br /><br />It's not me. It's you.<br /><br />I got into this relationship because I thought you could fulfil my need for a good story. I thought you could excite me, satisfy my desire for a great character and a terrible situation that forced him to struggle every moment, only to have his struggles make everything worse. It started out wonderful. I couldn't wait to riffle through your pages, to soak up every word. But somewhere around chapter 5, we lost the magic. That was when you went into that long passage about Redd's brother, who'd been a Marine before but had been killed by an IUD in Hackysackistan. That was a great bit, and I shed a tear when he realized his first foray into unknown territory was going to be his last, that although there was no risk of pregnancy, there was also no possibility of escape.<br /><br />But what did it mean? What did it have to do with anything? I spent all 20 pages of chapter 5 wondering how Dedd Meat's death would inform Redd's story, how it would change or at least explain some of his actions. But it didn't. It was just there. A one-night stand which both parties quickly forgot.<br /><br />How could you do that to me? I put myself in your hands. I trusted you. You promised me a story, and I thought chapter 5 was part of it, but it wasn't. It was just a fling. It didn't mean anything. I suppose I could have overlooked it, but then in chapter 7, your have that bit where Redd goes out to get some groceries, kills a couple of zombies and gets back to his hidey-hole with a crate of twinkies and the last ripe tomato in the city. The presence of the supplies didn't trigger any catastrophe. The trail of bodies he left behind didn't lead the wild dog pack to his door. The whole episode changed nothing in Redd's world.<br /><br />Do you even know how wrong that is? Do you understand how you cheated? All those words didn't mean anything! The plot didn't move an inch! At the end of those passages, I was right back where I started. I'd wasted 60 pages of my life on something that was going nowhere.<br /><br />How could you do that to me? You know that every scene has to have a point. You know that every scene has to change the direction of the story, that it has to make victory more unlikely, survival less certain. You know every scene has to challenge Redd's principles, and force him to sacrifice one thing in order to obtain another! You know all this, and yet you ignored it. For what?<br /><br />Well, I've had enough. That's the last time you disappoint me. I'm putting your work down, and I'm not picking it up again unless I have to dust under it. I've had it with pointless diversions. I've had it with padding that seems to serve no purpose beyond elevating word count. You led me on. You were all promise and no payoff.<br /><br />So I'm leaving. Good-bye. You can have your bookmark back. I'm going down the the bookstore and I'm going to pickup that vampire novel, "Dusk," that all the kids are going crazy over, and we're going to have a wild time together while I forget all about you.<br /><br />Sincerely, your Ex-reader.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-51319253970097087042011-11-24T08:44:00.002-05:002011-11-24T08:49:03.499-05:00MUPPETS!If I have to say more than that, then I'm afraid I don't even know who you are anymore...<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Mq5LfuvRBVM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-22680387003278762062011-11-16T10:14:00.003-05:002011-11-16T10:24:34.855-05:00November Ain't Just About Facial Hair<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwlGpQECnMB1x8CIK70twKvpM3vHlYyPBVvpTs3_mh9R1bmrIupjdGlmzIFzNTInJOp6Ywr9i5lpS5nmgF5ObUC_qfsoz1vSNssinoB8FMbWxP4BRd7JSqrGLJxZzAyD2Nrdfy0xodJA/s1600/adoption+button.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwlGpQECnMB1x8CIK70twKvpM3vHlYyPBVvpTs3_mh9R1bmrIupjdGlmzIFzNTInJOp6Ywr9i5lpS5nmgF5ObUC_qfsoz1vSNssinoB8FMbWxP4BRd7JSqrGLJxZzAyD2Nrdfy0xodJA/s320/adoption+button.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675614406716752082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> Techniques of the Selling Writer, by Dwight Swain</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "Adoption is not about finding children for families, it's about finding families for children." -- Joyce Maguire Pavao</span><br /><br />November is National Adoption Month.<br /><br />I'm an adoptive dad. Telemachus and Aeneas (obviously not their real names) are biological brothers we adopted when they were nine and six. That was 8 years ago.<br /><br />What's it been like?<br /><br />Here's the truth of it: it hasn't been pretty, it hasn't been easy, and it's going to get worse as they get older.<br /><br />But, as I've tried to tell them so often, nothing worth doing has ever been easy.<br /><br />Is it worthwhile?<br /><br />Yeah.<br /><br />It's hard, and some days all I've got as a buffer between me and despair is the knowledge that no matter how much I screw up, I'm still better than what they had before (which was nothing). Sure, there's likely someone out there who could do a better job than I.<br /><br />But they're not here. I am.<br /><br />Adopting older children is tough. The damage has been done, and no force on earth can undo it. You have to live with kids who bear so many scars it's a wonder they're still kids. You can't make yesterday better. All you can do is make today the best you can and give them some hope that tomorrow will be brighter.<br /><br />That's your job.<br /><br />The day doesn't go by when I don't screw something up. But I'm there. Every day. I'm there in the morning, and I'm there at night and I do my best to make our home a safe place.<br /><br />That alone makes me the best father these children have ever had. Because of me, they have a shot at a good life.<br /><br />Consider adoption. You could be the greatest thing to ever happen to a kid.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-64899500052881452572011-11-14T14:07:00.004-05:002011-11-14T14:12:48.834-05:00Book Report: The Hobbit, by Some Guy With a Lot of Initials.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpC42HT-LBRhYdz25AMpU14-IERV-tnVZyYDQ9o7H41jok-ZIFRnb8g6tYorZ4RwL4MUySe3q1AcPS75wFDz5mObrc9z9VprlEVhNwweLkm7BipqZTHAu_O9kb4Erp4wn7YiJtp9L5r9g/s1600/theHobbit.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpC42HT-LBRhYdz25AMpU14-IERV-tnVZyYDQ9o7H41jok-ZIFRnb8g6tYorZ4RwL4MUySe3q1AcPS75wFDz5mObrc9z9VprlEVhNwweLkm7BipqZTHAu_O9kb4Erp4wn7YiJtp9L5r9g/s320/theHobbit.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674930737670281954" border="0" /></a><br />I've always loved The Hobbit. In fact, it got me reading fantasy. It was one of the first books we were supposed to read back in Grade 9 English class, and one of the only ones I remember finishing. As such, it holds a special place in my heart, and as such, it bears re-reading because my reaction to it at 13 (in 1979) is unlikely to be the same as my reaction to it now at 45.<br /><br />And this is true.<br /><br />Popular history has that the Hobbit was originally composed as a bedtime story (or, more likely, a series of stories) for Tolkien's son Christopher. Whether this is fact or apocrypha seems to be a matter of debate. I don't know what bedtime stories were like in the years between the two World Wars, but this book is altogether more erudite and literary than anything I've ever tried to read my daughter. It's also a lot more violent and suspenseful. It reads more like a story out of Boy's Own Adventures than something to be read before bed, which tells me that the children of the 1930s were likely a considerably more rough-and-ready bunch than the screen-potatoes of the Internet age.<br /><br />It's a rambling tale, with diversions and digressions that occasionally go deep into Middle-Earth History (Quick: who was Bolg, and why is knowing this important?), and when you read it you hear the voice of the narrator taking you one step away from the action. I picture Gandalf, using Ian McKellan's voice, reciting the story while sitting by the fire with his feet up. He speaks directly to the reader, occasionally referring to "you," as he plumbs the depths of Bilbo's plight.<br /><br />I wondered many times, while reading this, what a modern writer would do with the material. John Scalzi has reinterpreted H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy, and so I wonder what someone like Jay Lake or Neil Gaiman would do with the material if they were given a chance.<br /><br />It be an interesting read.<br /><br />Bottom line: It's a book out of time, a classic, and although I'm no longer 13, I find things to appreciate about it that never entered the head of the teenager I was.<br /><br />Ulysses Rating: 4 - I loved this, and will probably read it again in twenty years.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-15726908245201942992011-11-06T09:00:00.001-05:002011-11-06T09:00:01.362-05:00Ulysses Plot Peeves: Pass the Idiot Ball!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtfsr9N_NzpFCsxKFAY308kbsusRqm8uUAGJFmHw27o0D1SV5aG30abh4k5YvNUYiOI1Xmxog5IpOX6q3UyIQc7eM1yfWMHkASCQQLVwdMcjtyp4S30Eeab_Y9AL9Zhirb1cPR9rr3kU/s1600/stupid.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtfsr9N_NzpFCsxKFAY308kbsusRqm8uUAGJFmHw27o0D1SV5aG30abh4k5YvNUYiOI1Xmxog5IpOX6q3UyIQc7eM1yfWMHkASCQQLVwdMcjtyp4S30Eeab_Y9AL9Zhirb1cPR9rr3kU/s320/stupid.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668642023828321474" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> Techniques of the Selling Writer, by Dwight Swain</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." -- Elbert Hubbard</span><br /><br />I've mentioned this before. I'll mention it again. And probably again. And again. Because if repetition causes just one writer to avoid this pitfall, my time on this Earth will have been justified.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Plot-Induced Stupidity</span> occurs when the characters in a story do something that no thinking being in their right mind would ever do simply because the author has decided that the needs of the plot outweigh the needs of common sense. Characters will forget what resources are available to them and ignore previous experiences, all so that the author can move from point A to point B on the plot diagram.<br /><br />Here's a perfect example: The Fellowship of the Ring. Earlier in the story, Gandalf summons Gwahir to save him from his imprisonment atop Orthanc. But then the wise wizard drops a bucket of I.Q. points and decides that a perilous walk into the enemy's stronghold is the best way to bring an end to the peril facing Middle Earth.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU">Idiot.</a> That flash of brainlessness got hundreds killed, including himself (even though he got better).<br /><br />I'd love to present an example from Massive Zombie Death Parade, but really I think I'd have to work way too hard to improve on Tolkien's fine example. And it just ain't worth the effort.<br /><br />So, if you're a writer, please do your readers (and me) a favor. Remember the <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" >Principle of Maximum Character Effort</span>: Every character wants something, and if it's important enough to be in the story, it's important enough for them to hold nothing back in their efforts to achieve it.<br /><br />If you've got a situation where your plot says a character must act in a certain way, but that character's intelligence and resources make it more likely they'll act in some other way, then you've got a problem.<br /><br />The problem is either you've got the wrong character for your plot, or you've got the wrong plot for your character. Say Redd Meat used to be a special forces weapons expert, but your story requires him to be unable to shoot an approaching zombie because he's not sure how to fire a pistol.<br /><br />Yeah. I'm done reading now. You've pretty much trashed my suspension of disbelief, and honestly, I'm a little insulted.<br /><br />This isn't to say you can't handicap your characters in order to make their stupidity believable. Robert Ludlum elevates this to an art when he gives super assassin Jason Bourne amnesia on the very first page of Bourne's very first book.<br /><br />I'll let you get away with it if you're as good as Ludlum. Otherwise, I'm closing the covers and we're done.<br /><br />Maybe Redd's been partly blinded by some chemical the Military dropped on the city in hopes of dissolving the undead. In that case, a weapons expert with a bogus aim makes perfect sense.<br /><br />There is always room for extenuating circumstances.<br /><br />Sometimes, when you're writing, you've got to trust your instincts about the character. If they wouldn't take action A, which is called for by your sense of plot direction, what would they do? The answer to that kind of question can often lead to some very interesting places, sometimes more interesting places than action A was going to take you.<br /><br />On the other hand, if action A is really cool, maybe there's a better character you could use to run your plot. Instead of a weapons specialist, make Redd a cross-eyed hairdresser, or an Imperial Stormtrooper, neither of which are known for their facility with weapons.<br /><br />This doesn't take into account stories where the character is actually meant to be an idiot. Maximum Character Effort means maximum for that character. If Redd's color blind, he's going to have some trouble jump-starting a car with red and green wires. If Redd's a moron, he's as likely to shoot himself as the approaching zombie, which makes me wonder how he got this far, so you've got to be careful.<br /><br />So, summing up: Dumb character acting dumb for plot's sake, okay. Smart character acting dumb for plot's sake, not okay.<br /><br />Next up: who knows? I'll go read some more. I'm sure something will occur to me.<br />Or not.<br />Life's a crap-shoot.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-40800054155519804282011-10-30T09:06:00.002-04:002011-11-07T09:58:19.609-05:00OverthoughtsThere's something fundamentally wrong with putting real maple syrup on toaster waffles.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-73043221480284342002011-10-28T13:52:00.003-04:002011-10-28T14:05:25.799-04:00Ulysses Plot Peeves: If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body, Would You Do Nothing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNE8unIId4syCEU2bQJlbIjtSy749ouMLT9PoAO8h_mwkLo3wlPOYxmvA4VLsPnoNgrNaBZk92zMXoMIrbPG30Py7TKmeU9uo_ZW_BgvP-UXUvsB65p5v5VDInsada6vRHme-_AyLmVA0/s1600/skepticat.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNE8unIId4syCEU2bQJlbIjtSy749ouMLT9PoAO8h_mwkLo3wlPOYxmvA4VLsPnoNgrNaBZk92zMXoMIrbPG30Py7TKmeU9uo_ZW_BgvP-UXUvsB65p5v5VDInsada6vRHme-_AyLmVA0/s320/skepticat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668604051895874946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> Techniques of the Selling Writer, by Dwight Swain</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!" -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit.</span><br /><br />I read a fair bit, although nowhere near as much as I'd like. I also read a fair number of manuscripts as part of belonging to various critique groups. So, from an avid reader to those who (like me) aspire to write well, I present:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Ulysses Plot Peeves.</span><br />These are things I keep coming across that really string my bow.<br /><br />To illustrate them, I'll refer to a fictional work of fiction (uh... what?) entitled "Massive Zombie Death Parade," Starring Redd Meat.<br /><br />The first is the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">PASSIVE PROTAGONIST</span></span>.<br /><br />These are the guys (and gals) who don't do anything. They're the dull eye of the storm while things happen all around them. They don't cause anything, they just suffer the effects.<br /><br />Redd Meat is walking down the street (hey! A rhyme!) and he sees a zombie trying to drag a still-living victim from a car. A few minutes later, he passes an alley and attracts the attention of a zombie horde which chases him (very slowly) into an abandoned apartment building. He barricades the door and waits until the zombies lose interest. Then he leaves to see if there's any pizza left in the restaurant across the street.<br /><br />So far, I find MZDP undeadly dull. As a writer, I just want to show you this cool zombie world I invented, so Redd's a tourist. He doesn't actually DO anything. He just sees and experiences a lot of stuff that's really interesting.<br /><br />Except it's not.<br /><br />As a reader, I don't care. I don't care about Redd because he's not interesting. I don't care about your world because my tour guide is boring. I'm not involved in anything that happens, so I'm going to put down MZDP and go read my horoscope.<br /><br />It's not enough for a character to be a Reactor either. A Reactor is someone who reacts to everything. The car incident? Horrible! Redd recoils! Zombie horde? Terrifying! Redd runs! Reactors are the Scream-Queens of the literary set, without the skimpy costume. They're fun for a minute, but any story you try to build on them is going to collapse before the end of the first act.<br /><br />For a character to be interesting, I believe they've got to do SOMETHING. They've got to be proactive. For them to be proactive, they've got to WANT something, and be willing to go to exciting extremes to get it in every single scene... because a story is all about the getting, or failing to get.<br /><br />Let Redd want to save the car victim, the only other living being he's seen in a week. Let him want to off both the zombie and his victim/soon to be comrade because his hate of the walking dead verges on the pathological. Let him show his determination and THEN you'll pique my interest. You'll capture it by making it almost impossible for him to get what he wants. Instead of having him just wait until the zombies leave, force him to escape. There's a window, but he's on the twelfth floor, although he might be able to make it by jumping from balcony to balcony. The only other way out is crawling through the space between the drop ceiling panels and the real ceiling, right out over the milling horde.<br /><br />Either way, he's going to take action, and that action is likely to be dangerous, and I'm going to keep reading even though it's three a.m. and I've got to be up for work in 4 hours.<br /><br />So, summing up: Don't be dull. Give me a character who wants something and goes after it.<br /><br />Next, I flog a dead (not undead) horse: Plot-Induced Stupidity.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-9915407887888795782011-10-25T09:23:00.002-04:002011-10-25T09:32:02.003-04:00Book Report: The City and The City, by China Mieville<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFhuK1wVa8pC1P2-0J6gpymO5Ao87lGOo98SeuuKpNc8E1qEFGfyYJgdwugUgjjQDuHPzo3zlOfV1dGZf4NMsH-pnZUH3H78OZy1p0qObNF6lEcMKD6yWe32Dnsq6B2eO2dOwqUMrLBQ/s1600/The+City+and+The+City.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFhuK1wVa8pC1P2-0J6gpymO5Ao87lGOo98SeuuKpNc8E1qEFGfyYJgdwugUgjjQDuHPzo3zlOfV1dGZf4NMsH-pnZUH3H78OZy1p0qObNF6lEcMKD6yWe32Dnsq6B2eO2dOwqUMrLBQ/s320/The+City+and+The+City.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667420545319967778" border="0" /></a>This is a mystery, a police procedural, a hard-boiled detective noir, but it takes place in a city unlike anything I've ever imagined.<br /><br />In fact, it takes place in a city that I have considerable difficulty imagining. The City is Beszel, a middle-European town whose best days are behind it. The OTHER City is Ul Qoma, a modern and upscale metropolis heading boldly into the 21st century. The odd thing about these two cities is that they share the same geography. They overlap.<br /><br />And that's where I sprained my medulla.<br /><br />I thought they overlapped in the sense of parallel dimensions: that Ul Qoma overlay Beszel with occasional areas of bleed-through ("crosshatching" in the novel) or shared territory, that you would stand on one street in Ul Qoma and see one set of sights, but would be standing on another in Beszel and see a completely different set. However, I've recently seen the possibility that their division is less physical and more psychological: that the cities are separate only in the minds of their inhabitants. Some neighborhoods are Ul Qoma only, some are Besz only, with the citizens conditioned to see and interact only with those things that are in their city. In crosshatched areas, they have to be extremely careful to ignore anything they might see or hear from the other city.<br /><br />That the whole thing is told in first-person by a Besz native to whom all this is second nature just makes the truth of it all the more obscure to the reader. The division is never fully explained. The reason for the split is lost to time. It just is, and the citizens have to deal with it.<br /><br />It's weird, but fascinating.<br /><br />The story follows a Besz detective investigating a murder in Beszel of a woman from Ul Qoma. In unraveling the mystery, he has to travel from one to the other, a journey more about psychology than geography. The mystery is complicated by extremists who believe the cities should be united, other extremists who believe they should be fully separated, politicians vying for power, and academics and conspiracy theorists who suspect there may be a third city hidden between the other two. There is also Breach, the terrifying and implacable organization which investigates and punishes those who cross the border from one city to the other without going through the proper checkpoints.<br /><br />It's tightly written and atmospheric, the way a good crime novel ought to be, but it also brings up questions of urban identity and how much our environment shapes our society, like the best science fiction. I recommend this highly, and would love to find out what other people think is REALLY going on with the separation of the Cities.<br /><br />Ulysses Rating: 4 - I loved this.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-8510594031023220992011-10-23T09:45:00.000-04:002011-10-23T09:45:00.933-04:00A Fiction Writer's Tool Wishlist<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzZJioXuJrrUBr9_9JLDaUSOUPMPuipn_k8bRheb-qc5wbqTf0ysde8OZWPyG4kmy42vKStBms11rkrc_bjMuzOQBG30zB9sFL7_U1aOY9VDJnyqs4G07RPPpwISHlfbXjkdKyDgX9ZI/s1600/idea.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzZJioXuJrrUBr9_9JLDaUSOUPMPuipn_k8bRheb-qc5wbqTf0ysde8OZWPyG4kmy42vKStBms11rkrc_bjMuzOQBG30zB9sFL7_U1aOY9VDJnyqs4G07RPPpwISHlfbXjkdKyDgX9ZI/s320/idea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665943058534497970" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> The Bible Repairman, by Tim Powers</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "At each increase of knowledge, as well as on the contrivance of every new tool, human labour becomes abridged." -- Charles Babbage</span><br /><br />In order to be a writer, you really only need two things: something to write with and something to write on. But on a certain level, that's like saying all you need to be a brain surgeon is a patient and a sharp knife. It's a pretty high-level view of the situation.<br /><br />I'm not saying the better your tools the better your results. Results all come down to skill and knowledge, and you can't get them from tools. I've often said that the test of the artist is his (or her) use of an imperfect tool.<br /><br />But using a good tool can make getting better results easier.<br /><br />When it comes to writing, the current tool of popular choice is a word processor (although there are those out there who still prefer freehand, and typewriters have not yet gone the way of the Dodo). Writing and editing with one are easy. But I find that as wonderful as they are for WYSIWYG presentation, and as terrific as they are for a broad range of documents, they really aren't designed with fiction production in mind.<br /><br />I use Microsoft Word in my day job, and I create some pretty nice technical documents. I can keep track of tables and figures and refer to different sections, documents and URLs. I can create indices and tables of contents and control the layout so that documents come out ready for binding.<br /><br />However, when I sit down to wrestle with the Magnus Somnium, none of that helps.<br /><br />For my fiction, I use Libre Office (it used to be Open Office before politics and economics tried to run on the same track in opposite directions). It's a like Word, but... well, it's like Word.<br /><br />I'd like something better, please. Something that makes my work easier.<br /><br />Here's my wish list for fiction writing software:<br /><br />1. The production of words has to be its primary function. So it's a word processor foremost. Some of the usual features are things I don't need, I bet, like tables and lists (but that might be just me).<br /><br />2. WPs are really good at breaking down text into sections and subsections with headings. I want to break down my manuscript into scenes, and then...<br />a) I want to be able to group them into chapters and/or acts, or books or some kind of higher structure.<br />b) I want to be able to move them around, change their order or placement in the manuscript.<br />c) I want to be able to mark them as unused, so that I still have the work, but it doesn't show up in the manuscript or word count.<br /><br />3. It'd be nice to be able to track characters and settings, to ensure consistency whenever they're described and as they evolve (in scene 12, she's got a cut over her left eye. A day later, in scene 18, why is it over her right?). I've got NO idea how you'd pull this feature off without magic.<br /><br />4. I want to be able to create different versions of my manuscript. I work with software, and I'm familiar with CVS and other versioning systems. I'd like something like that for my work. It wouldn't be as complex as software versioning because we're usually dealing with only one author and wouldn't need the "check out/check in" operations. You load up your current version, make some changes and save it. The changes for this version are tracked. When you've finished your draft, you give it a "draft number," and all the changes are locked in. All subsequent changes are made in reference to that draft number. This way, if I decide I like last Thursday's version better than today's, I can just jump back to Thursday's version and work from there. At the moment, I accomplish this by tacking the date and a draft number onto the file name, but it makes it hard to find the draft I want to backtrack to.<br /><br />To say nothing of littering my hard-drive with files.<br /><br />5. Other stuff. I'm a user creating requirements for a software system. As such, I reserve the right to make ad-hoc demands, change my mind, define everything as a priority and insist that it be ready for testing by the end of the month. Oh, and I might arbitrarily slash the budget, reassign people to other projects, demand hourly updates, and schedule customer demos of unfinished features without your knowledge.<br /><br />But that's okay, right?<br /><br />(<a href="http://www.care2.com/news/member/939310581/1327447">image from here</a>)<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-54209013721993929652011-10-18T11:46:00.002-04:002011-10-18T11:54:51.013-04:00In Defence of Books About Writing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3KrPPuYWzYM8VLZAx8n3yyowY5wzzLvdYAZF-bBFu9gvUu5hgzZyJRiMFydyqi2ZAxFfZEF8cQpbpVoL7lhGdh7ahKZkbygTg7PbuTHue7DTFw0fsmaEinNOBTPlp6YCz2Gk75GG2ds/s1600/typewriter.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3KrPPuYWzYM8VLZAx8n3yyowY5wzzLvdYAZF-bBFu9gvUu5hgzZyJRiMFydyqi2ZAxFfZEF8cQpbpVoL7lhGdh7ahKZkbygTg7PbuTHue7DTFw0fsmaEinNOBTPlp6YCz2Gk75GG2ds/s320/typewriter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664859993828484402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading</span>: The Bible Repairman, by Tim Powers</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote</span>: "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult that it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann</span><br /><br />One of the criticisms leveled against books on writing, frequently by writers themselves, is "You can't TEACH art."<br /><br />It's a blanket statement and an absolute. I can't argue with it. I can give you a paintbrush, but you're not going to paint Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper.' I can give you a guitar, but you're not going to play the Beatles 'The White Album.'<br /><br />But on the other hand, if I plunk you down in front of Vermeer's 'The Music Lesson,' or put Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors' on repeat, sooner or later you're going to learn something about painting or about music, about how it's done.<br /><br />Count on later. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it's a slow way to learn.<br /><br />If someone comes along and shows you how to use the brush, how to mix paint, how to create texture and depict light and draw the human form with some degree of accuracy (not required for Cubism, BTW), then your learning time will be considerably shortened. Those are valuable skills that can be applied not just in recreating an Vermeer, but in painting a Chagall or even something wholly original. Learning them will do more for your development as an artist than taking a magnifying glass to any number of Vermeers.<br /><br />The same is true of writing. And by writing, I mean more than just putting correctly-spelled and gramatically-used words down on paper. I mean writing something compelling, something that readers want to read. I've read the Great Gatsby, and the Lord of the Rings and Watership Down and The City and The City, and Pinion and... well, there's a partial list to the left. I've read a fair bit, and after all that, I can honestly say only this:<br /><br />I don't know art, but I know what I like.<br /><br />If you can read these books, or other books, and absorb their lessons on technique and construction and rhythm, then congratulations. I hope you will use your genius for niceness instead of evil. I, however, am a bit thicker. Ideas don't readily penetrate my skull. I appreciate having someone peel back the skin and show me how the muscles work. Books on writing do that for me. It makes it easier for me to go out and bring some life to my own creations. <br /><br />I believe I'd be a fool to denigrate or ignore anything that makes me think about what I'm doing and that gives me some ideas about how to do it differently (possibly even more effectively).Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-60844581439349912562011-10-18T10:40:00.005-04:002011-10-18T11:16:49.244-04:00Book Report: Writing Fiction for Dummies, by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwsRwa9l-X11K5ji7Ja8djFhxeEtjq61EEvR0G3jJ6Wb1XZEWLMTLsfyUN4jLHB2tYaHrdM5hMs1w0XjpYMNomWrr1aC2g34g1Y3uM3w5Kb7tQaw9U8hk-LLRcELnaaduDengxizeseI/s1600/WritingFiction.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwsRwa9l-X11K5ji7Ja8djFhxeEtjq61EEvR0G3jJ6Wb1XZEWLMTLsfyUN4jLHB2tYaHrdM5hMs1w0XjpYMNomWrr1aC2g34g1Y3uM3w5Kb7tQaw9U8hk-LLRcELnaaduDengxizeseI/s320/WritingFiction.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664843529749464562" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.bookmanager.com/130027x/?q=h.ts&opt=kw&tsf=y&qs=fiction+writing+for+dummies">Writing Fiction for Dummies, by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Note</span>: For the first time ever, I am including a link to my local (relatively) independent bookstore. I didn't even know they had a web site, which shows that sometimes I just don't THINK. Support your local indies, folks.<br /><br />Anyway: you'd think after all the entries I've written here and my own tiny successes in the publishing arena that the last thing to open my wallet would be a title like this.<br /><br />There are two schools of thought on fiction textbooks:<br /><br />1) Don't read them. Go straight to the source. Read good books. Study how others do it. Imitate. Practice.<br /><br />2) Read them. These people have been down the road and seen the sights and made the wrong turns and stopped at that hole-in-the-wall that looked promising but served cold Campbell's soup. They likely have a few things to say that'll resonate and cut a few miles off your own journey. Also: it's easier to learn if you're being taught.<br /><br />Obviously, I belong to the 2nd school. Take from that what you may.<br /><br />So why a book that insults me from the cover? Because it's done by <a href="http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/scene.php">this guy</a>. That particular article inspired a few thoughts and raised a few questions, so I thought I'd see what else he had to say.<br /><br />This book presents a real, fundamental, mechanic's view of story construction. I use the term "construction" intentionally, as the techniques he and his co-author present are practical, simple and functional. How do you make a character interesting? How do you put together a scene? A story? They show you ways and provide numerous illustrations of the principles at work in a selection of novel excerpts. If you follow their advice, you will finish with a working story.<br /><br />Of course, it may not be a good one. That's where art comes in, and skill and practice. You can't get those out of a book.<br /><br />I found this book quite insightful because it concentrated on how to create certain effects, how to structure scenes and acts, what things can be done to draw in a reader, to control pacing and ensure that the ending is satisfying. You have to bring your own art, but if you've got that, then this book will give you a few ideas about what you can do with it.<br /><br />Ulysses Rating: 3 - I enjoyed this.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-57198593183750936472011-09-25T09:04:00.005-04:002011-09-25T10:43:36.823-04:00A Few Thoughts on Evolution<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1-as__oSZkr_1llTNGw44eJlx6VJLr13cCMV6qpNlaOjgzxAclnkz8M-Wh_IVBc99OnynHweyDWepOj3sbj7csoWz7MB36CLaiV3LcQ7FBVrW3FaJ4xBk8t-fcZW9XJfjw_kbiZI9ZM/s1600/geneticDM1012_468x477.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 314px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656283502203340994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1-as__oSZkr_1llTNGw44eJlx6VJLr13cCMV6qpNlaOjgzxAclnkz8M-Wh_IVBc99OnynHweyDWepOj3sbj7csoWz7MB36CLaiV3LcQ7FBVrW3FaJ4xBk8t-fcZW9XJfjw_kbiZI9ZM/s320/geneticDM1012_468x477.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading:</strong> The City & The City, by China <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mieville</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#006600;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Inspirational Quote:</strong> "Evolution is a tinkerer." --Francois Jacob </span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I've been thinking about evolution lately. Not where it's brought us from, but where it's taking us.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Evolution is the theory that organisms change over time, and that changes which allow that organism to be more successful in its environment are more likely to be incorporated into future generations of the organism.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>A couple of months ago, I first heard an interesting theory about the mechanism of evolution. I had always believed that evolution arose from natural, random genetic mutation. Trial and error. It seemed to me that this <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">scattershot</span> approach, where a mutation arises and gets squashed or propagated via natural selection, would take forever to create a man (or woman) out of a fish. A few hundred million years didn't seem long enough to manage it.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>This other theory proposed that the mechanism of evolution was incorporation. We aren't just people. We're also colonies of bacteria. They live in our skin, our blood and our organs. The most well-known set of these are the ones currently inhabiting our digestive system. These are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">symbiotes</span> that actually aid in our digestion. This theory proposes that organisms have a habit of annexing symbiotic bacteria, incorporating their genes into our own whenever these bacteria do something that improves our chance of survival. This explains a little better why we evolve in fits and bounds, and why we see so little evidence of failed mutations.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I don't know whether this new theory reflects reality, but it opens up some interesting lines of thought. If we assume that the human organism is a machine built to evolve, and is therefore always on the look-out for useful things that will give it an edge, then we can assume that bacteria have always been the method of evolution because they have existed in the sweet spot between abundance and efficiency.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>That's no longer the case. You can see that. Especially if you walk down any busy city street.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Cell phones. Tablet pads. Computers. Networks. Our own technology is taking the place of bacteria as the evolutionary mechanism. True, we aren't incorporating it into our DNA, but that's because we don't know how. Instead, we're insisting these things become smaller and more portable, so we can carry them around with us (in a somewhat less icky way than we carry around our intestinal bacteria). People with cell phones and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">internet</span> access are likely to have larger social circles (even if they are mostly virtual) than those without. More numerous and varied social contact results in more numerous and varied reproductive opportunities (which has always been "winning" in the evolutionary race). These things are a competitive edge.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We're not incorporating them into our DNA, but there has been talk of "Wearable Computing" for decades now. We want these things close to us. We want them to become part of us. In a more invasive manner, exoskeletons have been demonstrated in Japan (where else?) to help paralyzed people walk, and to help ordinary people carry heavy loads (like the power loaders in Aliens).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We are using technology to enhance our capabilities, to evolve.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And the most interesting thing about that is how conscious the process is. We are designing and making our own enhancements in response to demand, in response to perceived weaknesses in our capabilities. As a result, instead of "evolving" across hundreds of generations, we are now evolving across years and the time-frame is getting shorter.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>In the short term, the improvements seem to be all around communication. It's about connecting us more, eliminating distances, changing the nature of community from "people close to me," to something more like "people who share my views and interests." But I see two branches of current research with tremendous potential to change what is to be human.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The first is <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">nanotech</span>. It's a big thing in SF stories right now because the science is still so early in its development. The potential of microscopic machines to create and reshape matter on the molecular level is tremendously exciting and very scary. I think the idea of bacteria-sized factories is a little too far-fetched to ever completely become a reality, but there is talk of injecting micro-machines into the human body as a way to deal with medical issues like cancer, plaque buildup in arteries and weak immune systems. Already we have surgically implanted pacemakers and insulin pumps available, making it possible for cardiac <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">arrhythmia</span> and diabetes patients to survive. In evolutionary terms, we are physically incorporating technology, making them part of the organism (is that even going to be the right word?) we define as "human."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>But purists will tell you that's not evolution because it doesn't change our essential DNA.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>True. We're organic, and no matter how fond we may be of our cell phones, they aren't. To that problem, I see two possible solutions: organic machines and inorganic humans.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Organic machines already exist. We call them organs, specialized structures in our bodies which carry out a single task while consuming one thing and producing another. If we accept genetic engineering as an eventual reality, then we can envision designing our own organs and incorporating their construction into our DNA. Children born with the ability to communicate across radio waves as well as sound waves would have a considerable advantage over the rest of us.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>For inorganic humans, I have to bring up the second branch of current research with the potential to change us. Artificial intelligence. We're still decades away from true artificial intelligence, of course. But computer processing power is still growing according to Moore's Law, while we're jamming more and more memory into smaller and smaller devices. It's conceivable that we won't have to wait too long before we have machines with the capacity and capability of the human brain. In order to create a real artificial intelligence, though, we have to understand our own and I think that's going to be the toughest task. Our brains are a mass of organs and chemicals that it's taken nature billions of years to develop naturally. We're summations of our genetic heritage and organic urges and individual pasts thrown together into a mass of spaghetti thoughts that make the Gordian Knot look like a simple half-hitch.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>But if we can do it, if we can create a machine intelligence capable of rational thought, what does that mean to humanity?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I know you're thinking about the Terminator, and the Matrix and every other machine intelligence that has ever decided to wipe us pitiful humans off the planet. Stop it. It ain't going to happen. Asimov saw that possibility, and created the Three Laws of Robotics to illustrate the solution: since we create the AI consciously, we determine its capabilities. Unlike us, the AIs we create will not be encumbered with a lizard brain and a monkey brain and a human brain all at war with each other inside its skull. It's not going to have to deal with the burdens and barriers of a million years of natural evolution. Of course, we could create an AI soldier (and probably will) programmed to destroy, but likewise we can create an AI nanny, programmed to nurture and teach. Eventually, we'll have AIs complex enough to exceed the capabilities of humans.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And then we have the robot apocalypse, right?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Not likely. It wouldn't make logical sense. Their bodies are different from ours, and it's unlikely we'll compete with them for food. Electricity, maybe, but there's enough sunlight to power everyone if we can learn to use it efficiently. With no competition for resources, the major reasons for widespread conflict evaporate. If we teach them well, and see them not as tools but as children, we'll have an opportunity to pass on the best of ourselves without the burden of the worst. Given machine bodies, these AIs will be able to exceed our capabilities and our boundaries. With no need for oxygen, they'll not be restricted to the Earth's atmosphere. If they are given the capability to renew their bodies, there's no longer a concept of mortality or age. Interstellar journeys will finally be within the capability of humanity, although it won't be the squishy kind of humanity we picture when we use that word.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>What we will have is the next major stage in human evolution: the change from organic to inorganic. A merging of technology and humanity will require that we change what we define as human, that will eliminate our dependence on DNA modification for evolution.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>There are complications and stumbling blocks to all of this, of course. It's speculation. It's dreaming. But we're human, and right now, that's something we do.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>An AI equipped with raw materials and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">nanotech</span> that his capable of altering its physical form, of evolving not across generations, but across whims might very well be the ultimate destination of human evolution. Whether you're terrified by the thought or inspired by it, it's a possibility that bears some thought.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>(<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-501170/The-rapid-ascent-man-human-races-evolving-apart.html">Picture from here</a>).</div>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-68149079308110902482011-09-12T13:42:00.004-04:002011-09-12T13:53:35.366-04:00Book Report: Grail, by Elizabeth Bear<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4_7QiNBFnazhrVw_QljYJqnhfS78SdnaKugP-ZrDgtS7GAwxmu8gh9gsisJFHOnOZLyrcKBkdU-95s9HOmEC5UwniHpTBhNBA3U0xXaQQY-7IfMiXLYTeri1yFDtwlQByFlybp9sizM/s1600/grail.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4_7QiNBFnazhrVw_QljYJqnhfS78SdnaKugP-ZrDgtS7GAwxmu8gh9gsisJFHOnOZLyrcKBkdU-95s9HOmEC5UwniHpTBhNBA3U0xXaQQY-7IfMiXLYTeri1yFDtwlQByFlybp9sizM/s320/grail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651530522558973890" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Grail-Elizabeth-Bear/9780553591095-item.html?ikwid=grail%2c+elizabeth+bear&ikwsec=Books">Grail</a>, by <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elizabethbear.com%2F&rct=j&q=elizabeth%20bear&ei=sUVuTsfIJcm4twet6NTvBQ&usg=AFQjCNGAiSpqaxOw0Xia45uTOTwoNHaLig&sig2=nZqdoAlVdyAfkArcuM5Tug&cad=rja">Elizabeth Bear</a><br /><br />This is the final installment of the trilogy begun in <a href="http://ulysses-ithaka.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-report-dust-by-elizabeth-bear.html">Dust</a> and continued in <a href="http://ulysses-ithaka.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-report-dust-by-elizabeth-bear.html">Chill</a>. In it, the nano-tech infested generation ship Jacob's Ladder finally makes it to the planet it had been launched toward centuries before. Unfortunately, that planet is already inhabited by humans who leapfrogged the Ladder while it was marooned. Moreover the inhabitants have engineered themselves socially with the same extreme fervor the crew of the Ladder engineered themselves physically. As the two cultures meet, extremists on both sides attempt to derail negotiations.<br /><br />I found this book quite a satisfactory conclusion. The ending actually surprised me. Up until the final few pages, I wondered if there were going to be another book, as clarity and resolution seemed to remain distant prospects. Then came a twist I didn't see coming, one which in retrospect makes perfect sense when I considered the main theme that ran through the books (evolution).<br /><br />My only complaint was a moment when the captain of the Ladder, aware of conspirators on her ship and the presence of an enemy capable of circumventing their defenses, left the ship. That seemed a moment of plot-induced stupidity to me.<br /><br />But it's a quibble. The trilogy is an interesting exploration of post-humanity, of what we might become when we take our bodies and our minds under conscious control.<br /><br />Ulysses Rating: 3 - I enjoyed this.Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-8438370335694512012011-09-11T14:01:00.006-04:002011-09-25T10:46:28.686-04:00Incivility<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdW7fMFp54pHfffpDOeJPwWR6bzsLMZ_FKjx-t4WdpTtlWo6uGOsbY39Z1Z08YpviDh-1iB_7XCIbQFsqoAfrO91jgkcz3fQPcsLonZFuUmDQt_2pObCdE5cjJNt0scEtWaZmEkVYvMpE/s1600/no-swearing-please.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 281px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651165044348101746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdW7fMFp54pHfffpDOeJPwWR6bzsLMZ_FKjx-t4WdpTtlWo6uGOsbY39Z1Z08YpviDh-1iB_7XCIbQFsqoAfrO91jgkcz3fQPcsLonZFuUmDQt_2pObCdE5cjJNt0scEtWaZmEkVYvMpE/s320/no-swearing-please.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading:</strong> Grail, by Elizabelth Bear</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Inspirational Quote:</strong> "Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." -- Mark Twain</span><br /><br />I have a problem with profanity.<br /><br />I don't believe I'm a very profane man. I try not to swear in public, although I find that when I'm around others who swear, I tend to adjust my language downward. It's an unconscious adaptation, and not one of which I'm proud. Even so, I tend not to get anymore rude than “feces” or “damn” or “Hell,” the latter two of which are perfectly acceptable because they occupy a prominent place in the Bible and therefore cannot (according to the dictionary definition) be considered profane. Of course, one has to let off steam, and there's nothing like a good curse for that. My father was a sailor of Irish descent, and the kind of man who could swear in complete sentences, sentences that were grammatically correct but extremely... busy.<br /><br />Like anything, however, profanity tends to lose its potency when used so casually. His frequent use of the worst words left him at somewhat of a loss when he experienced moments that were perfect for a curse. I remember him hitting his finger with a hammer once. His exact words were, “Oh, for crying out loud.” Myself, I tend to hold my use of profanity for extreme instances when it's required by anger, or pain, or frustration. The rest of the time, I use things that are less offensive although they're rarely appropriate. My favorite word is “Shostakovich,” the name of an Austrian composer who's been dead long enough that I doubt he'd take offense at my appropriating its use. It's a good word. A nice soft “sh” to start off with, followed by a hard “t” and “k” and a nice bite of “ch” at the end. It's got all the sounds necessary to let off steam, but none of the baggage that goes with all those other words.<br /><br />There are lots of words (most associated with sex and other body functions) that I honestly believe have no place in civilized dialog. But I'm apparently in the minority. These are words I hear every day. I hear them at work. I read them on the internet and in books. They make their way onto television and into the news and definitely into modern music and movies. As a result, I hear them out of the mouths of my children (my constant refrain is, “just because they go in the ears doesn't mean they should come out of the mouth.”) and I hear them shouted across the school yard and I cringe.<br /><br />I used to listen to George Carlin. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Nrp7cj_tM">He made profanity funny </a>but I always felt embarrassed laughing at him when my parents were in the room... even though it was their album. I also used to listen to Bill Cosby, who was funny and safe for all ages. I listened a bit to Eddie Murphy when he hit it big in the 80's, but I realized that people were laughing at what he said only about half the time. The other half the time they were laughing because they couldn't believe anyone could get up on stage and talk that way.<br /><br />Honestly, I know they're just words. They're how people talk these days. Their status as “dirty” words is an archaism, a relic of a time when soap was used to wash out mouths as often as it was used to wash one's face. And perhaps I'm a relic of that time too, because the moment someone resorts to profanity in the course of an ordinary conversation, I automatically revise my estimate of their I.Q. down a few dozen points. Profanity in conversation always tells me that the person is far more interested in how they say something than in what they're saying.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.maniacworld.com/no-swearing-please.html">Photo from here.</a>Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-36691503960013289662011-08-30T14:47:00.004-04:002011-08-30T15:25:02.976-04:00Book Report: Pinion, by Jay Lake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP11er5MEaJTrEEUDRXQZx_vycfVX_IH1aKKhIFxFxoZVLSNlbvaR9dcp0K6TSIjsIZ47mF1VaTbipgNMwHcZ4mAGvERNGvbx9b_KTHZCD12yiSqpRWUuebJMx-B_dJT_L9VQuxg7krRw/s1600/pinion.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP11er5MEaJTrEEUDRXQZx_vycfVX_IH1aKKhIFxFxoZVLSNlbvaR9dcp0K6TSIjsIZ47mF1VaTbipgNMwHcZ4mAGvERNGvbx9b_KTHZCD12yiSqpRWUuebJMx-B_dJT_L9VQuxg7krRw/s320/pinion.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646723449717125234" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Pinion-Jay-Lake/9780765331083-item.html?ikwid=pinion&ikwsec=Home">Pinion</a>, by <a href="http://www.jlake.com/">Jay Lake</a>
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<br />This is the finale in Lake's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">steampunk</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gearpunk</span>? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Clockpunk</span>? Who can keep <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">subgenres</span> straight anymore?) trilogy. The earlier books were <a href="http://ulysses-ithaka.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-report-mainspring-by-jay-lake.html">Mainspring</a> and <a href="http://ulysses-ithaka.blogspot.com/2009/11/book-report-escapement-by-jay-lake.html">Escapement</a>.
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<br />As with the previous books, Pinion presents a fully realized world that is as fascinating in its depth as it is bizarre in its construction. This book is a direct follow on from Escapement, continuing the adventures of Paolina Barthes, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Boaz</span> the Brass man, the Mask <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Childress</span> as well as the clerk/assassin Kitchens, and the librarian Wang whose minor appearances in the earlier book evolve into central positions in this one
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<br />Each character has their own goal, the the book follows their progress by interleaving scenes from their point of view. Paolina is still searching for a way to control the power given her by the clockwork "gleam" she created. Her undisciplined use of it has brought England and China to war. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Boaz</span> is searching for her, although what he finds along the way would make him his people's savior if only he could be sure they ought to be saved. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Childress</span> wants to use her commandeered Chinese submarine and her stolen position among the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Avebianco</span> to bring an end to the war, but both sides would rather see her and her crew at the bottom of the sea. Kitchens seeks to discover the fate of the lost expedition to tunnel through the wall, and must find a way to carry out an assignment from his Queen which will cost him his life. Wang wants to bring the Mask to justice, but his own journey makes him wonder if she is the criminal his superiors have made her appear.
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<br />That's a lot for one paragraph, and it's a lot for a book. But it is a big, sprawling, complex epic that nonetheless manages an intimate tone as it follows each character's story. As before, the world building is lush and detailed, and I would kill for this man's ability with description that etches everything so indelibly in the reader's mind. Also as before, if I had to pick a weakness here, it would be plot. I thought many of the characters (Wang especially) seem to be along for the ride, acted on by other forces instead of acting on them. As a result, it felt to me as though their overall goals shifted and the eventual climaxes for each story struck me as weaker than they could have been.
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<br />Still, it says something that I found "plot issues" a minor quibble. This is a beautiful book.
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<br />Ulysses Rating: 3 - I enjoyed this.
<br />Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-856146088274835482011-08-25T08:59:00.003-04:002011-08-25T09:23:48.382-04:00Book Report: Coyote Destiny, by Allen Steele<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPP0YJvyUMPOYXWLeizjEwBCYAowIBt4_HpkgoL1VB1au24kfRTUNO1xXy0hag4cXFzN6AfxUnUC3hx4ihXHJe_HUoltIsUfESjxp5gyR5KWUk_PE9L8YBBaxqTtHAEoKBP_9NanlFKc/s1600/1+coyote+destiny.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPP0YJvyUMPOYXWLeizjEwBCYAowIBt4_HpkgoL1VB1au24kfRTUNO1xXy0hag4cXFzN6AfxUnUC3hx4ihXHJe_HUoltIsUfESjxp5gyR5KWUk_PE9L8YBBaxqTtHAEoKBP_9NanlFKc/s320/1+coyote+destiny.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644777878308004146" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Coyote-Destiny-Allen-Steele/9780441018215-item.html?ikwid=coyote+destiny&ikwsec=Home">Coyote Destiny</a>, by <a href="http://www.allensteele.com/">Allen Steele</a>
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<br />This is the fifth, and if the author is to be believed (and why wouldn't he?) last of the novels in the Coyote series.
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<br />A spaceship from Earth, the first in years, reaches Coyote with word that the messianic prophet called the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Chaaz'maha</span> survived the explosion that destroyed the first Coyote <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">starbridge</span>. The news sets off two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">story lines</span>: the quest to bring the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Chaaz'maha</span> home, and the hunt for the person who created the explosives responsible.
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<br />This one struck me as more of a coda than a climax. Previous books have dealt with weighty threats to survival, liberty and faith. This one is more intimate, dealing with loss and hope on a personal level. The book also sees the passing of the last of the first generation of Coyote settlers, something that carries considerably emotional weight for those who have read the series since its beginning.
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<br />All in all, I found this less impressive than the earlier books... BUT! That doesn't make this any less an amazing novel. Steele draws characters which are familiar to us in a landscape which is unfamiliar and yet as detailed and consistent as any location we might visit here on Earth. Although this is the last book, the reader can still feel the future of Coyote stretching out beyond our ken, full of stories.
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<br />Ulysses Rating: 3 - I enjoyed this.
<br />Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-88943553229139261252011-08-24T13:14:00.004-04:002011-08-24T14:09:36.024-04:00Junk Drawer Ramble<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysV6q4pV-_OHXNnW1PYKfiKzQJuGt60pzhHU2jkPv64nQ39vCvTBnlJjUTcEROtLgqe9I0LV5QmmYyl4JpZr3uJRNfD3LLa3K6BlxHQezZU3MhRwDZhX3mstLNe0-SCBI32zDMW9uny5t/s1600/junk_drawer.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysV6q4pV-_OHXNnW1PYKfiKzQJuGt60pzhHU2jkPv64nQ39vCvTBnlJjUTcEROtLgqe9I0LV5QmmYyl4JpZr3uJRNfD3LLa3K6BlxHQezZU3MhRwDZhX3mstLNe0-SCBI32zDMW9uny5t/s1600/junk_drawer.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Reading:</span> Pinion, by Jay Lake
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspirational Quote:</span> "</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" class="body">To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -- </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Thomas A. Edison.</span>
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<br />Yesterday, Virginia decided it didn't like it's current location, so it picked itself up and moved itself about a quarter of an inch. It then settled back down, either content with its new location or exhausted from the move. No one can be sure. There are no certainties when geography gets restless.
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<br />A few days ago, Jack Layton, a Canadian politician who lead the federal New Democratic Party to it's current position as official opposition, died of cancer. In a rare move, the Prime Minister of Canada decided to hold a state funeral to honor his fallen opponent. Mr. Layton was only beginning to exert his influence in federal politics, and I think the business of the Nation will suffer for his absence.
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<br />The 2011 WorldCon SFF convention was held this past weekend in Reno, Nevada. I was not there. My absence was, of course, noted by almost no-one except me. However, I've been <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16783348">watching the Hugo Awards</a>, which is the next best thing to being there in exactly the same way that hearing someone talk about Matchbox cars is the next best thing to driving in the Grand Prix. Next year, <a href="http://www.chicon.org/">WorldCon is in Chicago</a>. I want to go. However, since it falls over the same weekend as my 23rd anniversary, the odds of my being able to convince Penelope to tolerate my going (or even... gasp... come with me) are about equivalent to the odds of an ice-cube surviving a thermonuclear detonation.
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<br />Sigh.
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<br />So: every house I know of has a junk drawer. I don't know why. I think it's traditional. The junk drawer's express purpose is to serve as a repository for all those bits and pieces and odds and ends that don't really have any other place. Shoe laces. Batteries. Mismatched screws. Extra scissors. Mine has nightlights and doorstops and baby-proofing hardware leftover from before Cassandra stopped crawling.
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<br />Junk drawers are notable for three things:
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<br />(1) They're always in the kitchen. If you're ever walking down the street and suddenly find yourself in need of a button, or elastic band, or a bit of string, just walk into any house. Find the kitchen and start opening drawers. You'll find what you need inside of five minutes. Guaranteed. I don't know why it's always in the kitchen. Probably because that's usually where you are when you realize you need something obscure. Possibly because it's one of the few non-bedroom rooms in the house that has lots of drawers.
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<br />(2) They have a tendency to swell. When you move in, you've got one junk drawer that's half-full of stuff you know you're going to need eventually. A few years later, the drawer's full. A few years after that, it's a drawer and a bin on the kitchen counter and you've got no idea what's in it. Once in a while, you open it up and go "Hey! That's where that went! I haven't seen that in months. I'll have to remember it's there!" Then you close the drawer and five minutes later you've forgotten all about whatever it was. Soon it becomes a closet... but only the first two shelves. Or four. Or, okay, the whole closet. We'll find somewhere else to keep the blankets.
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<br />My parents have a shed. It's basically a massive junk drawer outside the main house. It contains nothing anyone would ever possibly need, but it's all stuff they don't want to get rid of because... well, you might never need it but the moment you get rid of it you're going to wish you hadn't.
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<br />(3) They contain everything. The cure for cancer is sitting in someone's junk drawer right now. So is Jimmy Hoffa. The end of Schubert's unfinished symphony was stuck in a junk drawer and lost to the ages. Einstein postulated that the average junk drawer contains a sufficient mass of esoteric matter as to form wormholes. Every junk drawer is in fact merely a visible manifestation of a single universal drawer which contains the missing dark matter required to close the universe.
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<br />Of course, the mathematics proving this were lost when Albert stuck the proof in a kitchen drawer and forgot about it.
<br />Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6769447100550564202.post-15088901069414167372011-08-08T19:53:00.005-04:002011-08-08T20:37:19.749-04:00Ad Astra<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iNo8wTQwoWRW99_COT1y-ah_B9SIcdX4vg4yLpchOGhd4DlFeZzQINdgNp5EmQabQD48PDZlG-CaXrRf4ScoPsLiHQ9AXlDpf169n4F4p_osA2ak-GBKokl1ZTYlEtFI8QZPeCUxV-I/s1600/sts120-s-028.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 209px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638647839358076914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iNo8wTQwoWRW99_COT1y-ah_B9SIcdX4vg4yLpchOGhd4DlFeZzQINdgNp5EmQabQD48PDZlG-CaXrRf4ScoPsLiHQ9AXlDpf169n4F4p_osA2ak-GBKokl1ZTYlEtFI8QZPeCUxV-I/s320/sts120-s-028.jpg" /></a><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Current Reading: Scientific American. I have a lot of issues to catch up on. I'm about 6 months behind.
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<br />Inspirational Quote: "Per ardua ad astra." -- Motto of the RCAF.
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<br />On July 21st, the space shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center. It was the last flight of a program that began in 1981 with the maiden voyage of the Columbia. I remember watching the mission, although I can't recall details. I was 13, and it seemed like the stars were opening up to us. Within a few years, I thought, we'll have a space station as a jumping off point for Luna. Then, from Luna, in a few years more, we'll have the first manned expedition to Mars.
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<br />Of course, I was disappointed. But then, the aliens from Close Encounters never landed in real life either, and I'm STILL disappointed by that.
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<br />For the next 3 years, I watched every launch I could. After that, I was at University and spent more time reading and making things go bang than I did watching the news. The rest of the world grew more apathetic as well, as shuttle launches began their migration from front-page news to footnotes in the newspaper science section... if it had one. Of course, the disasters disrupted the program and made the shuttle news again, but on the whole, space travel became a regular part of life on earth: "Pauly Shore has made a movie that isn't funny, the space shuttle Discovery did something, and the Maple Leafs failed to make the playoffs..."
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<br />Now, the program is over. Outer space is once more a distant frontier, with the Americans depending on the Russians to act as taxi drivers if they need a trip to the ISS.
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<br />We were discussing the demise of the shuttle program a few days ago when a friend asked me what the program had contributed. What had it done? Why was it a big deal? I thought about it for some time before giving the wrong answer: something about the ceramics knowledge that was developed while they were trying to create the heat shield tiles.
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<br />The real answer is that science isn't a matter of breakthroughs. It's about expanding knowledge, and the shuttle was a tool that made possible a myriad of incremental expansions. I don't know of any major leaps forward in science or technology that the shuttle created, but I know hundreds of experiments, some by school kids, would never have yielded results without the shuttle's ability to carry them into orbit.
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<br />But more important, the shuttle was a dream given form (a quote from Babylon 5). A generation of kids grew up seeing the shuttle launches and landings. They saw space not as something distant and unachievable, but as a place next door that they could visit someday. Heck, they even let Canadians on the thing. We never got around to going back to the moon. Mars is just a place we throw big hunks of expensive metal at every few years. But for a little while, we regularly stepped outside our atmosphere and stood on the threshold of the infinite, looking out at the still-distant stars and in at the blue marble where we lived.
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<br />By the time the shuttles retired, they were 30 years old. Aeons in technology terms. They are museum pieces now, as they deserve to be. They are reminders of what we can achieve, and of what we have yet to achieve, and I'm going to miss them.
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<br />*Image courtesy of NASA.
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<br />Ulysseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11702993322170403647noreply@blogger.com0