those whose marrow shall not be frozen
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| Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 |
drzarron
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10:01p |
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A Vulcan bomber has taken to the skies to the first time after a £7 million restoration. The permit to fly from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) completes a three-year project to make the Vulcan airworthy again. The Cold War icon landed at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire shortly after 6pm on Thursday and will now take part in the base's international air show at the weekend.
Read the Rest of the Daily Telegraph article....
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ambasadora
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8:51p |
Seton Hill Writers Poetry News #1: My poem "Misplaced my keys" is in the March/April issue of Star*Line.  Star*Line March/April 2008 Issue Also, in that same issue was Fairytale Graveyard, a gift booklet of horror poetry from the SFPA for World Horror Con 2008. Among the contributors was Seton Hill's own Michael A. Arnzen with his poem "The Fall Down the Stairs of the House of Usher." #2: In other SFPA news, K. Ceres Wright's poem "Doomed" was nominated for a 2008 Rhysling Award and is part of The 2008 Rhysling Anthology. #3: Rachael Pruitt's poem "Merlin" is in Issue 12 of Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction. Heidi Ruby Miller, SFPA, The 2008 Rhysling Anthology, Paradox, Misplaced my keys, writing, Michael A. Arnzen, K. Ceres Wright, Rachael Pruitt, poetry, Star*Line, Seton Hill Writers |
| Friday, July 4th, 2008 |
khaosworks
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9:28a |
Stargate: Continuum
Just watched this. Much better than The Ark of Truth, basically because this felt more like old-school Stargate SG-1. A couple of issues with the changing history thing behaving a bit different from how we've seen it work in the past, more for plot expediency purposes, which is a little annoying because it could have been handled in another way and more adroitly (and we know the writers are capable of it because they've done it before).
Otherwise, it holds pretty well together, and even the paradoxes thrown up can be made sense of without brain damage (you hear me, Russell T Davies?) and apart from the glitch mentioned, is consistent with what we've seen before – continuity being one thing that the Stargate television franchise has always done well. Also, the cameos from old characters we've not seen for years for various reasons are well worth it. That, and seeing dear Don Davis as General Hammond one last time.
Only reason I feel okay about watching this before the official release is because I've already pre-ordered the DVD. Much recommended for Stargate SG-1 fans. But then, if you are, you really should be buying this already.
Current Music: You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This - Toby Keith |
| Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 |
timons
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9:21p |
Just Don't Bother What can I say about Odyssey of the Gods, except Please, Just Don't Bother?? That should go without saying, really, for any title by Erich von Däniken; but to be succinct and clear, this book is a CWOET*. I cannot for the life of me remember what impulse caused me to pick it up off the discount table. Was I thinking I might get an SF story idea from it? Who knows? In my youth I was always being given books like Chariots of the Gods? and The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind and (though I was taken in by it at first) America, B.C. by people who wanted my reaction. For the most part they expected me to be impressed, but instead they got long sets of annotations explaining everything that didn't work in the arguments, based on my initial reading. I got rather sick of them, after a while. (I remember setting a "60 mistakes and I can stop" rule.) Then I met a science fiction editor at a major publishing house, who explained how the alien abduction books, and the von Däniken books and their clones, are seen by the industry. Essentially there is part of the public who want their novels to pretend that the text is real, so that the readers can completely immerse themselves in the fiction. It's a form of escape, in this case from the pressures of science and reason (and responsibility, I assume). He pointed out that many of the books were written by SF and Horror authors, as a side gig. Okay, then I guess I should review this one as a novel. As a novel, it sucks. There is no plot. There is no coherent argument, and the argument gets even less coherent in the last third when he fights a long straw man battle with another flake who wrote a book saying that Atlantis was Troy. EvD then keeps telling us that Atlantis can't be Troy, which I wouldn't have thought in the first place, so what's the point? And then, based on a single piece of ambiguous data, he suddenly suggests it was next to Cuba. Which makes just about as much sense as the Troy business. The book keeps hinting that space aliens were behind most of the Greek myths, but half the assertions he makes are errors in fact to begin with. The whole thing reads like the drunken ramblings of a guy who loves to be a big shot in the local tavern, acting like he knows more than the people who actually tried to learn something about the world; sneering at experts while depending on them for every fact that he manages to use. But then he's just as likely to use a retired cheerleader for scientific information. No plot, no through line, no interesting characters, and a great deal of stupid argument. A few interesting inferences, but they never pay off. Forget it. CBsIP: student manuscripts Strategikon, Maurice Imperator The Chess Garden, Brooks Hansen *Complete Waste Of Everybody's Time Current Mood:  annoyed |
kitanzi
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9:14p |
Droool Just cause it's making me hungry, and I know a lot of folks who will like this - Food Porn Daily. http://foodporndaily.com/Pardon me while I wipe my chin. |
harperjen
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8:53p |
summer vacation. . .with a toddler! So, to save money (really!) we opted to drive, rather than fly, to my cousin's place in Colorado Springs. With a 17-month-old. While SHE did incredibly well, I have to say I am NEVER making that drive again. We are flying or we are not going. This was my Dodge Grand Caravan, with my mother and father, my husband, my daughter, my brother, and me. Six seats, six people. LOOOONG drive!
Our actual time in Colorado Springs was wonderful. My cousin Brad, who has made smart investments in his career, has a gorgeous house, with plenty of room for everyone. Maddie immediately developed a crush on Brad and Valerie's son Michael, who is technically my second cousin, which makes him Maddie's. . .huh, third cousin? Is that right? Anyway, he's 13 or 14 years old and she followed him everywhere. He was really great about it, since he has three niece/nephews (one niece, two nephews) that he sees all the time, so that meant that Phil and I had a little less of the obsessive baby-watching thing going on and actually got to relax a bit. One afternoon, I was sitting out on the porch in an amazingly comfortable recliner, sipping ice water, listening to the wind through the pines and looking at the mountains, knitting in my hands, and realized how long it had been since I'd been alone to just BE: no housework, no baby (she was sleeping; I had a monitor with me, but had it turned down so I'd see the lights if she cried but couldn't hear it), no anything, just peacefulness. Whoa. It's been. . .well, at least several months. Getting away from the house really helps lower my stress, since my house is such a mess at this point that just looking around a room makes me want to curl up in a ball, 'cause it'll take days to excavate and organize even just one room, and I know I don't have enough time, so why start? (The exception is the living room, because brides come over to pick out wedding music, and that's where the harp is.)
Anyway, we walked through Garden of the Gods, took the cog railway up Pikes Peak (it was 30 degrees, with 20-mph winds, and snowing, and this was June 12! Didn't take Maddie because of altitude sickness--I had a mild reaction myself!), and visited the Castle of Glen Eyrie (or Aerie; don't remember which spelling they use) and saw bighorn sheep, with each touristy thing separated by long hours just hanging out at the house. Love that unhurried vacation feeling!
After that, we got a week at home, and then I took off on June 23 for the American Harp Society National Conference in Dearborn, MI. It was held at the Dearborn Hyatt, with several offsite concerts and several onsite recitals. More on that in my next post. . .right now I smell FOOD! My wonderful husband is making chili; I hate everyone's chili except his--don't ask me why. His is always good, and never twice the same, because he makes it up from whatever we have on hand at the time. Smells like he made cornbread too--following my nose to the kitchen now! Current Mood:  hungryCurrent Music: "Thirteen" by vixy & Tony |
thnidu
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8:56p |
watching the fireworks in Philadelphia ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dunkelpig would like to know of a good place to watch the Philadelphia fireworks from that doesn't involve standing. Does anyone have suggestions? |
harperjen
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8:48p |
Updates coming soon. . .so far behind! So I realized that, between traveling without Internet access and having the cable modem go down intermittently once I got back, I haven't posted to LJ for forever. Updates are coming soon. First, though, I have to credit vixyfor pointing me to this link, and elizalavellefor the amazing vixy&tony icons she's created. I swiped three and you'll see them start showing up in future posts. Beautiful work! Current Mood:  thankfulCurrent Music: "Apprentice" by vixy & Tony |
bikergeek
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8:45p |
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tigertoy
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7:33p |
Another light winks out I got my Valley of the Kings newsletter today. Kokie Joe, a sweet-tempered, friendly old tiger, was euthanized to end his suffering from end-stage renal failure. VOTK is too far away for me to be a regular volunteer or even visitor, so I haven't really gotten to know the animals there. But Kokie Joe was sweet enough that I counted him among my tiger friends even though we'd had very little time together. I'm still grieving over Otie, dammit. |
ellen_kushner
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8:06p |
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jrittenhouse
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6:25p |
Projects: overview At various times, I get into research projects; some simmer on for decades in various forms, and some break off and pick up speed because I happen to run into something that really fuels the fire, so to speak.
My library here is largely one that I use for reference. I have a huge amount of material that isn’t in book form, and I’m going through that all the time and hacking away at it to be able to organize and marshal the stuff. At present, the idea is to digitize everything, and use various management utilities to be able to find and figure out what’s what.
Here’s a *short* list of the topics I’m still digging for:
( Read the rest of this entry » ) |
redaxe
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7:17p |
He wasn't the first to play the role, but he made it what it came to be known. Larry Harmon, the template for Bozo the Clown,  . He was one of the greats; a clown whom everyone knows and even some of those who fear clowns don't mind. He was, along with Steve Goodman and the superstar-focused NBA (which has its offices in NYC, but which was created by Michael Jordan), one of Chicago's greatest exports. Requiescat. |
bikergeek
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6:59p |
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kyttn
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6:30p |
Decision So, here's my decision regarding tomorrow. I'm going to park the car near the basement as much as I can, and even though it won't be completely hidden, it will be obvious that it is meant to be. I'll screen calls, draw the blinds and not answer the door. They do have keys, and if they come in anyway, we'll have an argument, but hopefully the obvious "DO NOT DISTURB" manner of things should keep them from doing so. EDIT: I know I'm not being totally fair to my parents. They wanted me to come over because they think it would be better for me than being alone. They still think I should enjoy coming to their house though I haven't set foot through the doors in 4 years. They are doing their best to be supportive and caring, it is just that I am the one with the problem with them and don't get comfort from being with them. They aren't mean evil people, just clueless, and sure they know more about what is good for me than I do. Current Mood:  tired |
wwetuesday
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4:47p |
Happy 4th from The Muppets
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r_ness
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5:41p |
July 1 was Moving Day in Quebec. Historically, urban leases in Quebec began on May 1 and ended on April 30, but in 1973 the law was changed so students could move after the end of the school year. That law changed extended all leases that year until July 1, and it removed the requirement for a fixed-term lease. Nonetheless, most leases in Quebec are still a year long, and they generally start on the first of July. Leases have started to spread out, but July 1st is still known as Moving Day in the cities of Quebec. The resulting trash-picking opportunities on July 2nd are apparently extensive, as documented in this blog: Anyone who wants to understand the vast excess of western society need only walk around anywhere in Montreal on July 1. There, you’ll find discarded furniture, empty boxes and lots and lots of garbage.
What gets me most about it, though, is the thought that before today, people had these things in their homes. Now it’s so useless even people walking the streets want nothing to do with them.
This is a post about Moving Day told in photos. I feel like there must be some business opportunity to take advantage of the July 1 moving day in Montreal and the September 1 moving day in Boston, but I can't figure out what. Edit: There's also this cheery press release from the Régie du logement: "For many households, July 1 is both a statutory holiday and their moving day! That is why, again this year, the Régie will be just a phone call away so as to respond to information requests from tenants and landlords on that often frenzied day. "The Régie reminds you that a new tenant's right to occupy a dwelling begins on the first day of the lease, and that the tenant who is moving out does not have a day's grace to vacate the dwelling and remove all personal effects. That said, it is obviously not possible for everyone to obtain a moving truck at the same time. The Régie du logement therefore encourages you to be courteous and civic-minded, and exercise your rights in a reasonable manner." ( http://communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQE/Juin2008/25/c6038.html) Current Mood:  impressed |
drcpunk
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5:08p |
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markbernstein
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4:59p |
Continuing the circuit
Pretty much every year, I go to FKO and OVFF.
In 2007, I went to D'Zenove, my first UK filk con.
In 2008, I made my second trip to GaFilk, and my first to Contata.
Thanks to the wonder of frequent flyer miles, I'll be attending Conflikt in 2009. It'll be only my second west coast filk con, having been GoH at Consonance in 1995.
Life is good. |
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osewalrus
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4:38p |
Link Harvest: Media Companies Notice Metered Pricing Has Problems A good summary both of the potential negative effect of metered pricing on broadband use and on the fact that consumers who sign up for high speeds don't get them, because when it comes to imposing obligations on the carriers, it's still "best efforts." http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/07/03/ddn070308gigabyteinside.htmlThe one annoying thing is that it glosses over the fundamental reason why metered pricing got junked in the mid-1990s. The FCC regulations ensuring access by ISPs to telco infrastructure, the Computer proceedings, allowed dozens of dial up ISPs to come into the market and charge based on actual cost. Mind, there was some regulatory arbitrage, and we used to have widespread peering, but this whole complex environment which set the pattern and the regulations that enabled competition at the consumer level inevitably drop out of the story. |
per_solo
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4:40p |
Convention. Convention bound. Igor Bars have been made, and differently than last time, so we'll see how it goes. SJ Games packed, so I can hopefully run some pick-up games, and get a few points this year. :-P Must remember to pack camera...and work on a few things. Tired, and stressed a tad. A test right after convention kinda sucks. To friends coming in tomorrow, will see you there! Have a safe trip. To Tom, I've been keeping up with your posts, and am glad to hear things are going better. We will, of course, miss you. Have a great weekend all! Current Mood:  busy |
muskrat_john
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3:29p |
Go Dad! Go Mallards! And...CVG2008 Settling in nicely at CONvergence, thank you very much. I've had many Big Worries weighing on me, recently. The main worry for today has thankfully now passed: I just got a call from England telling me my dad came through knee replacement surgery very well indeed. My dad is an ex-Marine, and has possibly the highest pain tolerance of anyone I've ever known, so when he says it was painful, I'm assuming it was the kind of thing that would leave me a gibbering wreck, had I gone through it. So, hey, if you're reading this, why not leave my Dad a "get well soon" message in the Comments section. After all, he is halfway responsible for my being here (life-wise and cartoon-wise, not CONvergence-wise, that is). I know it'd really cheer him up, getting get-wells from around the world. And it'd make my day, too! Thanks a million! (And, it goes without saying, those of you fortunate enough to still have your dads around, go tell 'em how much they mean to you, even a fortnight after Fathers' Day). **** Went out to dinner last night with cajones, chebutykin, princeofcairo, and mollpeartree. We hit a place downtown called "Ike's Food and Cocktails."Much cool, fun food was consumed. Case in point: Lobster Corndogs. I'd say more about the rest of the food, but after "Lobster Corndogs," what's left to say, really? **** Speaking of cajones, here's the Guest of Honor badge he created for me.  Did I mention cajones rocks? Hard? **** My pal alexbot3000 visited over the weekend. We dragged him and his wife, Kristen, to a Madison Mallards game, where Alex threw out the first pitch in front of a crowd of about 6,000, and the Mallards then proceeded to get spanked, 14-2.  Video of Alex's throw DOES exist. It WILL be posted! Bwa-ha-ha! Nevertheless, a terrific time was had, and the Mallards are in the thick of the pennant race, still. If they win both games of their double-header tonight, or if they win one, and the Wisconsin (Wausau) Woodchucks lose, they'll be first-half champions, and gain entry to the Northwoods League playoffs later this summer. So I'm wearing my Mallards gear around CONvergence. I even briefly contemplated popping 60 miles south, down to Rochester tonight, to see the Honkers play the St. Cloud River Bats (the theory being, it's better to see some Northwoods baseball than none when your team's in the thick of the hunt). But that would mean leaving CONvergence immediately after the opening ceremonies, and for goodness sakes, there are cabana parties to check out! Cabana Parties: the Lobster Corndog of the convention scene. Now...GO MALLARDS! And...GET WELL SOON, DAD! Update - Dad's doing great, is now sleeping, and the Mallards are up 6-2 in the 5th inning of the first of a doubleheader...they've got the bases loaded, one out, and just scored two runs! Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for international calling plans and internet radio... Current Mood:  nerdy |
benet
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3:24p |
Me, on the aether So I am going to be on the radio this evening, reading some science news tidbits on WORT FM's community science show, Perpetual Notion Machine which runs 7:30-8PM Central Time. (I'm still getting over a lurgy, so I may sound even more sepulchral than usual.) Should you happen to be curious, WORT is at 89.9 (for those here in Madison), and you can also get an audio stream here. The show is also archived after broadcasting, and available as a podcast. Current Music: Lowest of the Low, "Bleed A Little While Tonight" |
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r_ness
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4:29p |
Sweet Heat: For Jamaicans, It’s About Jerk From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02jerk.html: ON most summer Sundays, Brooklyn is burning.
Smoke rises from grills, many of them charcoal-fueled, illegal and loaded with jerk chicken — the spiced, smoky favorite of the borough’s large Jamaican community.
Jerk is Jamaica to the bone, aromatic and smoky, sweet but insistently hot. All of its traditional ingredients grow in the island’s lush green interior: fresh ginger, thyme and scallions; Scotch bonnet peppers; and the sweet wood of the allspice tree, which burns to a fragrant smoke.
“It’s not a sauce, it’s a procedure,” Jerome Williams, a Jamaican-born Brooklyn resident, said on a recent Sunday in Prospect Park, where families arrive as early as 6 a.m. for lakeside grilling spots, a few of which are actually authorized by the parks department. “It has to be hot, but it cannot only be hot, or you get no joy from it.”
Done right, jerk is one of the great barbecue traditions of the world, up there with Texas brisket and Chinese char siu. Its components are a thick brown paste flecked with chilies, meat (usually pork or chicken, occasionally goat or fish) and smoke, from a tightly covered charcoal grill, that slowly soaks into the food.
Boston Bay, on Jamaica’s east coast, has become the island’s most famous destination for jerk. The beach is lined with stalls selling jerk, and the sweet and starchy foods that go well with it: “rice and peas,” rice cooked in coconut milk with small red beans; sweet potatoes roasted in charcoal; and “festival,” a missile of sweet fried dough that resembles an oversize hush puppy.
“People drive all the way from Kingston for Boston jerk,” Mr. Williams said. That’s a four-hour journey of hairpin turns over the Blue Mountains, where allspice trees grow wild.
Purists say allspice smoke is a defining element of jerk. The entire tree, which Jamaicans call pimento, is used: the crushed berries are rubbed into the skin; the wood burns hot and slow; the green leaves are tossed on the fire, releasing a sweet smoke that flavors the meat with a warm, woody pepperiness.
Last year, because of the efforts of Gary Feblowitz, a jerk-obsessed cinematographer for television documentaries, pimento wood for grilling became available in the United States. It took him five years to clear red tape in the United States and Jamaica.
Jerk is so ingrained in Jamaican cooks that the notion of getting a recipe is entertaining, something like asking a Midwesterner for a hamburger recipe.
“Go around the corner to the cellphone store, the music store — you will always find someone to tell you how to do it,” Mr. Williams said, gesturing toward Flatbush Avenue, the main artery of West Indian Brooklyn.
Ms. Reid, of Islands restaurant, bakes her jerk, as her mother did before her. “I think men like messing around with hot coals,” she said, proving that some gender-culinary stereotypes transcend geography. “Women just want to get a good dinner on the table.”
To find good jerk in New York, one place to look is near hospitals (serving the many Jamaicans who work in health care), busy subway stops, or better yet, both.
Yvonne’s Jamaican food truck, which parks on East 71st Street near New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side, sells jerk pork only on Tuesdays and Fridays, and jerk chicken only on Wednesdays, but a fiery sauce of chopped Scotch bonnets pickled in vinegar every day of the week. The sauce is available by the shot and, alarmingly, by the quart. (Most local jerk is made mild, with hot sauce glugged on afterward at the customer’s request.)
“Jamaicans and Trinidadians like heat,” said Tamika Macintosh, a nurse’s assistant and an Yvonne’s regular. “The other West Indians can’t take it.”
Alternatively, follow the smoke. Some fancy West Indian restaurants make very good jerk rubs, but they are too mindful of the law to put a charcoal grill out on the sidewalk. You have to seek out the renegades.
“If the smoke is so thick outside on the sidewalk that you can’t see to put the quarter in the parking meter, that’s a good sign,” Mr. Williams said.
“We get tickets, sure,” said Desmond Mailer, the manager of McKenzie’s on Utica Avenue in Flatbush, where smoke billows from blackened oil drums 16 hours a day. “But you know, cops like jerk, too.” Current Mood:  hungry |
jeffreyab
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4:10p |
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