51) The War of Powers (Robert Vardeman and Victor Milan) - fantasy (457 pages). This was being read by a teacher in the front seat of the bus on the way to a high school camp many years ago now, and I've always remembered enjoying the bits I could catch over his shoulder. Now I've finally read the whole thing. This is a good example of late 70s pulp fantasy. Linear plot, cardboard-cutout characters and visual images basically out of a Boris Vallejo painting. But for all that it's quite a lot of fun, like a more adult version of a Hugh Cook book. Not up to the standards of today's best fantasy, by any means, but rollicking and carefree. Like comparing Big Trouble in Little China to Enter the Dragon. 3/5

This morning I've been babysitting a colleague's birman kitten while she's at meetings (he's on his way to getting the snip this afternoon).

No work done, but lots of fun.

The boots I ordered a couple of weeks ago arrived! Yay! I of course bullied the Goblin Monkey in to collecting the parcel from the post office this morning so he was late for work. The penance is now I have to sit at work knowing the package in the cupboard is my new pretties.

Well, I did open the paper very carefully and try one of them on. It fits perfectly. Then of course I showed the girls across the corridor. Who surprised me by being delighted with them and not going all weird. They are after all not exactly what other people consider office wear: black leather thigh high, pointy toed, 4" stiletto heel boots, with buckle and lacing detail. We loves the inter-mah-net.

Think I might change my lj name to Imelda...

A great practical joke on the Royal Navy in 1910.

Really, some folk just don’t get this “other people” thing: He reportedly told investigators he cut down the [electricity] pole because he enjoyed the sparks it made.

A primer for polemicists. Perhaps Naomi Klein should have read it before writing her latest screed: Yet when it comes to the right-wingers who constitute her book's main subject, Klein's reportorial spirit is nowhere to be found.
… She pays shockingly (but, given her premises, unsurprisingly) little attention to right-wing ideas. She recognizes that neoconservatism sits at the heart of the Iraq war project, but she does not seem to know what neoconservatism is; and she makes no effort to find out. Her ignorance of the American right is on bright display in one breathtaking sentence … Naomi Klein's relentless lumping together of all her ideological adversaries in the service of a monocausal theory of the world ultimately renders her analysis perfect nonsense.

About Nietzsche’s objections to (pdf) Darwinian and Spencerian thought. (Nietzsche may have rejected Kant’s ethics and teleology, but, as this paper makes clear, he clearly accepted his epistemology.)

About the deep problems in the concept of cultural identity: For nineteenth century social Darwinists, morality - how we ought to behave - derived from the facts of nature - how humans are. This became an argument to justify capitalist exploitation, colonial oppression, racial savagery and even genocide. Today, virtually everyone recognises the falsity of this argument. Yet, when talking of culture rather than of nature, many multiculturalists continue to insist that is defines ought.
In any case, there is something deeply inauthentic about the contemporary demand for authenticity.

About al-Hurra, the US Arab language TV station.

Visting the desert castles of Jordan: these castles are ancient and a bit run down, and some of them aren't really castles, but caravanserais, forts, hunting lodges, and pavilions. Pictures.

A letter from Zimbabwe. Mugabe and the Opposition are having talks.

Going to see this new Batman movie with a friend next Thursday evening. Gold class of course. Its the only way i can deal with the cinema, especially with a movie that long.

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Edith_Wharton

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/31693.html

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Celia_Thaxter

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/30981.html

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Brenda_Ueland

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/27098.html

"So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering."

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/David_Frost

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1547.html

"[The television is] an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20080514-000009.html

How corporate logos rule your subconscious.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20030902-000006.html

You and your favorite brand.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20040109-000005.html

How product placement really works.

After I mostly got my database layer working, I decided to rethink it. I do that sometimes; it's usually better to get the underpinnings right early on, because it only gets harder if you leave it: when you're putting the finishing touches on the wallpaper is no time to reconsider the floor plan. I've written database layers before, and also played with third-party ones, but never been entirely happy. Embedding SQL into PHP is a bad idea, the same way embedding PHP into HTML is: thinking bilingually is difficult, and besides they don't make dual syntax modes for text editors, even Emacs. The best solution I've invented is the Xenolith Engine one: a bunch of SQL queries in a separate .sql file, accessed by name from a database library. Probably I would have just used that, except... I now have access to MySQL 5.0 on all the servers I use (my own laptop; my personal webhost at Nearly Free Speech, and the better-years-late-than-never upgraded sca.org.au server), and MySQL 5 has stored procedures! So I can put the functions where they belong — in the database — and get past this bilingual piffle once and for all.

I popped in to a couple of local businesses to quiz them about their time-keeping techniques today. The account told me he uses time tracking built in to his tax software, which rings a bell, but I mentioned this to my mother (the ex-accountant) and she surmised that it probably wasn't a very good solution. The receptionist at the building inspection office said they don't usually track that sort of thing, but she half talked herself into believing that maybe they should, because they were relying on guestimates and they may be way off without realising it. She gave me the bosses' card, so I might give them a call when the prototype is working and see if they'd be interested in trying it out, free of charge for a little while, in return for a promise to let me know if it has an effect on their calculations. That kind of data is useful for marketing.

In other news: I got the Politarchopolis website back up and running. As I've probably mentioned, the PHP4 DOMXML library that I used for my XML stuff isn't available in PHP5, so I had to make some changes. Fortunately, I only had to change one library file, and once I found the right plan of attack it was fairly easy, even despite the documentation which, as is usual for PHP, was woeful. So at least that's out of the way.

Ho hum. Time to write some stored procedures. Goody.

Stuart's dog Koko is staying with me at the moment while he is overseas. She is normally fine with this, but this time something is definitely wrong. She was in what i'd call a serious state of depression, more or less from the moment she arrived. My theory is that she saw Stu's packling and thought he has abandonned her.

I've been doing little things to try to cheer her up and get her involved with the household and since her appetite has stayed ok, i've not worried too much about it. However, the last couple of days her appetite has started to drop off and i don't really like where this is going.

She notably brightened up when Fish came to visit, so i thought i'd put out the call for anyone who knows Koko and has a bit of time to help a depressed mutt, to come on over and help cheer her up. Take her for a walk - or just spend a few minutes patting her while we chat. It all helps.

It's probably best to give me a call first though...

My glands are swollen and I feel lame. Stupid glands! I had better be well by tomorrow so that I can ride to Parramatta, I was looking forward to that.

Do not attempt to eat chips while reading the second paragraph on page 316 of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/ViCl2MftwWg/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-07-24/

The subject says it all. Also I met some awesome artists and might be going to Portland after comicon and before San Diego Con

Some of you know that this year is the 20th anniversary of my father's death. Very, very few of you know that he died of bowel cancer.

An excellent Australian short story writer (and entirely nice guy), Paul Haines, is being treated for the same disease. Some of his treatment ($20,000 worth) is not covered by any medical benefits. By pure chance, it's something that my father helped trial at about the same time in his treatment. It's improved a great deal and I'm told there's a big difference since those early trials. The big difference is that Paul has a chance to live. And we have a chance to help him.

I want to ask two things.

Firstly, that anyone who wants to help, contribute through paypal (girlejones has a button).

Secondly, I've been trying and failing for the last hour to get my contribution in. Paypal doesn't want to talk to my computer. Can someone who's likely to see me soon and who is willing to let my money piggyback on theirs email me, please?

ETA: GJ has given me the code for my very own donate button! It doesn't solve my computer problems but it means you can donate now, here. Be daring, make a difference!

ETA2: I'm fine now, Matthew has come to my aid.

Benefits of having an Irish colleague go back to Ireland for a visit: Jameson Whisky infused fudge and chocolate truffles. Bliss.

I've decided I feel particularly positive about my looks today. My boss said I looked elegant this morning, Irish colleague says my hair looks lovely (I wore it loose, something I rarely do at work) and random uni boys have been looking at me longer than they should. Yay.

I think i would have been one of those babies content to sit with pot and wooden spoon bashing away. I love drumming. I love boxing. I love discipline. See the link?

All require mass amounts of whacking! Whacking things is FUN.

Boxing was fun this morning :-)

http://www.asofterworld.com

The building fire alarm just went off and by the smell on the ground floor it was due to someone burning their lunch.
So both buildings, east and west, wandered (with a notable lack of urgency) outside to congregate in the sun on a crisp Canberra day. All 500 odd people.
Then they called the all clear and let us back in.

It is a thrill a minute, roller coaster ride of excitement out here at the airport.

- I love the fact my local hairdresser is open until 8.30pm on Wednesday. All inner-westies should go to Do or Dye. They rock.

- When searching for a healthy take away dinner do NOT accidentally see pork belly at the Portuguese place. Because all ideas involving healthy fly out the window.

- After my first personal training session at new(ish) gym on Tuesday I am still unable to walk properly. It's like my legs are drunk.

- Spaced finally getting a non-UK DVD release. Hooray! Now where's Brass Eye?

- Recommend me a book.

Got my tax return. Oh so much yays for lots and lots of filthy earth monies! :) It's enough to completely fund the trip I want to do next (start in Bejing, up through Mongolia, Trans-Mongolian, Trans-Siberian and finish in St Petersberg), but I'm being practical and paying off my credit card and putting the rest against the offset account for the mortgage and I'll do the stuff 'round the house that needs to be done.

Of course I'll probably also spend a bit of it in Sydney this weekend. Yay for Anton's and Gallery Serpentine! :)

Big trip late next year hopefully mostly funded by next years' tax return!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20080514-000008.html

The word "like" is not just for teens or women.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20051228-000007.html

Tone of voice can be a giveaway.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20061128-000005.html

Moving beyond semantics.

It's under 3 degrees outside and it's only 7.30. Under these circumstances, fast vehicles are warming. Especially this fast vehicle. Thanks Elisa!

ETA: 20 minutes later and it's 1.5 degrees. I predict hot chocolate in my near future. Or ginger tea. Or both.

Guess what's on TV this Friday, guys! Love Actually! It's like a premiere! That has NEVER BEEN ON TV BEFORE!

Today I did teach.

It was the first day of the new class. The same students, but a new title and a new source of funding. I fuelled everyone's creative energy with oranges and hands. They wrote about both, ate the oranges and thought deeply about the hands. I'm really relieved that I got my teaching in the right order, because otherwise my students would have been polite and quiet and circumspect while they worried about my sanity.

At one stage I was asked why these oranges looked ordinary but were sweet and juicy. Of course I ventured into the history of the orange (going back only a few hundred years, because I was being restrained) and the student in question made jokes about belly buttons. It could have been worse. We could have made jokes about seafaring ships.

Our word of the day was 'hype.'

And yes, when I got home, I slept some. I still feel fluish, but not quite as bad as this time yesterday. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll feel better still, but if I don't I shall make ginger tea and scare it away.

Extra note, unrelated to anything that has gone before:

If you can get to Canberra in mid August, check out this. I shall be making a giant vegetarian casserole. I shall also be over my virus. I have no idea if, however, I shall be over the Minicon. I expect I shall. Anyhow, two weekends in August of great SFish goodliness - one for everyone worldwide and one for locals who like food and might have an interest in dancing afterwards (or might not).

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/Z8Xt8CdOtVQ/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-07-23/

holy shit that was twelve kinds of awesome

So this morning I posted the trailer for Quarantine and mentioned it was a remake of [•REC] (a film, it's worth noting, that was only made last year). Anyway, I found the awesome trailer for [•REC] that's nothing but night vision footage of audience reactions!




PS: Please, please, PLEASE vote for my entry? :)

http://www.seagatememories.com/detail.php?uid=487c432ae5805

Today I did not nana nap during the day, wooohooo, jet lag over in time for Comicon starting tomorrow. I hopefully I can record again before I snooze (it's 11.40pm).

Here is the third post I did yesterday though! On the content lite side, although if you scroll towards the end you'll get something different.

Short summary: a mother misreads QANTAS's legal gibberish, which forces her two year old daughter to miss a flight and stay behind with grandparents. The best bit of the article is the final two paragraphs:

Mrs Grace asked whether mothers or fathers aged under 15 would be allowed to travel with their own child.

This hypothetical situation was put to the Qantas spokesperson, who described it as a "ridiculous, irrelevant" question.

You can just see the spokesgerbil's revulsion at the idea. "How dare you suggest that persons under the legal age could ever have children? That would require that they have sex! That's... appalling! Get back in your box, silly provincial woman! Don't you dare pollute my worldview with your perversions! Get back! Back, I say!"

Later reports indicate that the spokesgerbil is recovering well in Christchurch Hospital, but that the spittle-flecked carpets of his office have had to be replaced.

We had a fabulous day in Tallinn. We had a ghost tour of the town, went up one of the church towers, wandered around the old town and the older town, had dinner at a Medieval restaurant - there was much excitement at that. There will be photos once I get home sometime next week.

I bought the cutest felt hat! That was my special holiday present. It is fabulous.

Succubus

mybrainfreeze & Priapus http://fetlife.com/users/17474

Step 1. Move classrooms to a new lab at the beginning of semester 2.
Step 2. Struggle with a stuck draw, much to their amusement, that holds the projector remote during classes on Monday and Tuesday.
Step 3. Come in early on Wednesday and fix said draw.
Step 4. Start class last period Wednesday pretending the usual struggle with draw. Sigh exasperatedly. Pull out sonic screwdriver (from ThinkGeek.com), apply it to draw, open draw effortlessly, replace screwdriver in pocket.
Step 5. Begin class as if nothing had happened.

I've never seen so many open mouths at the same time.

I've had enough of today. Over it. Want to go home.

It's not a bad day, I just don't really feel like being at work and then teaching tonight. Unfortunately it's only the second class of semester and one of my students is the wife of a guy who works here and he's currently in a meeting with my boss so I can't run away without someone noticing. Poop.

My new class is an odd mix. They should be fun to teach. I have an emo girl in my class. She's going to be... interesting to work with. At all of 15 years old, with black skinny leg jeans and dyed fringe over the eyes, she tried to impress me on Monday night with her nonchalant attitude and mangled pronunciation of anime sound track names.

I've been warned she's "a handful". Frankly I think she's like all 15 year old girls with self esteem issues and an independent streak she hasn't learned how to apply appropriately yet. She just needs guidance. *bing* Fairy gothmother to the rescue. In my intro to the class I tell them my background in gaming and costuming as a way of explaining how I got into teaching clothing production. She promptly became a fan girl when I mentioned my involvement in Pheno. Watching a chubby emo girl go 'squee' and bounce at me is slightly disturbing in a comic way. My immediate urge was to pat her on the head and smile sympathetically. I of course didn't do this because I am a professional, so I let her enthuse about it and tried to figure out how to use this knowledge to her advantage as a student.

Ah well. I get to tell them about fabric characteristics and using commercial patterns tonight. This is the fourth time I've taught this lesson in two years and while it's new to the class, I'm bored with it. Our curriculum is being rewritten for next year so hopefully I can arrange a new delivery method for this part of it.

Sleepy. Ramble done. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

A very interesting take on religion, atheists and the like.

A quote attributed to Stephen F. Robert sums it up for me: "We are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

I'd heard nothing of this until today. HBO is doing a series on Charlaine Harris' books. Sookie will be played by Anna Paquin.

The series site-
http://www.hbo.com/events/trueblood/

The series blog with some nice AR videos-
http://bloodcopy.com/

Someone just created an LJ community for weight-loss surgery people (users? victims? afficionados?) within the Society for Creative Anachronism. While I understand that the SCA is known for its blessedly relaxed attitude to modern standards of personal appearance (they say you can't do a nude calendar of SCAdians because they don't make paper that wide^[1]) it still seems an odd combination. Imagine the Venn diagram: there's a very small circle for people who plan to have or have had weight-loss surgery, and another very small circle for people in the SCA, and no doubt the intersection of those two circles is non-empty, but still: it's a funny combination.

It got me thinking. What if there was one forum, for everyone? You could self-identify by tags -- I'd pick SCA member, bard, SF fan, chorister, pedant, parent, home-schooler, cybernetic were-turnip, former president of Zimbabwe -- and then the only posts you'd see would be from people who matched some number of your tags. You could set it to "all", and get a very small but precisely-tailored community, or to different values of "some" to get progressively larger groups. It's the ultimate "us vs them" environment, except that it makes it clear, surreptitiously, that every one of "them" is an "us" in one way or another.

To make it interesting, you could have a huge collection of themes and styles, and let people vote on the appropriate style according to their tags: I could vote with my SCA member and chorister tags to have 6 point Comic Sans in shades of magenta and puce, and in any group that had those tags, that design would reign supreme... at least until more people with those tags voted for something else. The changes would be subtle for the "some" groups and more marked for the "all" groups, so you'd get visible feedback to tell you where you were. If you could merge themes in some way (colour scheme from here, font from there, images from somewhere else) then you could evolve the designs democratically, which would be interesting.

Could be interesting. One blog to rule them all, into which everyone posts. Like a merger of the friends page and the tag cloud. I wonder if anyone's thought of that before...?

(Edited to add: the domain taglog.com is owned but unused, but vennlog.com is available. If only I had time to work on this...)


^[1] Not sure who "they" are, but they're rude bastards.

Who would have thought that a troupe of Japanese taiko drummers, when witnessed from the 3rd row from the stage, would be able to get rid of one's headache?

Went and witnessed the Drum Tao performance last night. I say witnessed since it was both a visual and aural extravaganza. This is the fourth (fifth?) time I've been to a taiko concert and they never disappoint. And this time I was basically in the best seat in the house - up the front in the middle. I could see the sprays of sweat from the drummers' bodies (and they were good physiques, too, let me tell you - these guys are FIT), and was close enough to hear the panting when they paused between acts.

But really, what can be better than seeing someone hit a 2m diameter drum with a baseball bat?

There is a second show on tonight, and I really think that you Canberra people out there should get down there and check it out.

[Note: I do think, though, that they should have a look at the words to the haka. Te Rauparaha wouldn't be impressed with what they did to his lyrics.]

Dear 3AAR students,

We will commence our semester this Thursday 10 am - 1 pm as planned, in
Room HUED 107. It will be an outdoorsy kind of subject, so you will
always need to come dressed for outdoor work - in warm, waterproof
clothes and shoes. Bring to class only what you can carry around
comfortably outside. Even in our first class, we will be spending some
time outdoors.

----

3AAR is my Archaeology honours pre-req.

I guess I won't need the laptop on Thursdays then Bear :)