After all the bizarre revelations about Brown's ANGELS AND DEMONS, I find I'm feeling unaccountably, and rather disturbingly, compelled to dig out the copy I once bought for airline reading and actually read it. I keep thinking, No, it can't *possibly* be *that* bad, can it?
Where did I put the damned thing?
I need help!
Tom: thank you for the heads-up re THE RULE OF FOUR. I read FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM years ago (in hardback, no less--[weep]), on the strength of how much I'd enjoyed THE NAME OF THE ROSE. And yes, now you mention it, I do remember the bit where the protagonist's enormously convoluted conspiracy theory about the Templars, et al, proved to be no more sinister than a grocery shopping list or some damn thing.
Wasn't FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM also the book where Eco has much sport at the expense of evil vanity presses?
I read that damned book a year ago or so, and I was very quickly struck by what appeared like the author's *enthusiasm* for his own research, such as it was. The bit where Langdon's on his way to the Louvre in the dead of night, but he pauses to reflect on the arcane fact that the perimeter of the Louvre building is x.y miles. [scratches head] Okay, how is this relevant? It read like authorial showing off, rather than anything more useful.
My wife, the smart one of the family, has not read the book, and has no plans to. I told her about the dying curator guy going to all this elaborate trouble, with the puzzles and the messages and the Fibonacci bit, etc etc, all as a ploy to tell crypto grand-daughter and Langdon what's going on. The wife remarked, "Why didn't he just call her on his mobile phone?"
I sat there, all stupefied. The text, to the best of my recollection, doesn't say the curator has a mobile, but I thought, gee, if only he did have one. Or, I suppose, he could have found a public phone nearby. You could cut the book's action by half. There he is, dying on the floor. Grabs phone, rings grand-daughter and maybe even Langdon too, tells them the salient details, and then dies. But I suppose that wouldn't be nearly clever enough.
What's been said here about CERN is his other book, and about 64-bit numbers, has left me gobsmacked, too.
Meanwhile, has anybody read THE RULE OF FOUR, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason? Came out around the same time, and billed as the thinking person's Da Vinci Code. I've got it, but have yet to approach it, fearing the worst.
Wow, thank you so much for posting that.
I've just been to the Cafe Press site to inspect the goodies, which look fab. I'm just having a bugger of a time trying to get a close-up look at the Cosmology poster. When I click on the "zoom-in" thingo, I wind up with a blank image. Would you mind reposting the text of this item here, please?
As far as further product ideas go: I'd also suggest your history of artificial intelligence piece, which was a hoot!
Hey folks--
I don't say much, but Making Light is pretty much my favourite site on the web, and I spend, probably, far too much time reading here, fascinated, enthralled, amused, saddened--the whole gamut. The site is a treasure. Thank you Teresa and Patrick, and the multitude of regular commenters. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Article about George Bush's Enemies List
I just found this item at Capitol Hill Blue, discussing allegations from "unnamed White House staffers" regarding a 10,000-strong enemies list Karl Rove has been building since Bush was governor of Texas. It's an interesting piece. What I'm left wondering is: is it true?
I remember Nixon and his enemies list (and Paul Newman once bragging that he was on it); Bush's is apparently far more elaborate, detailed and includes, as well as other politicos and their ilk, ordinary citizens, including noted left-wing bloggers (eg, Daily Kos). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised/dismayed by this news, all things considered, but I kind of am. And I really wish I knew whether it's true.
Wow. Fascinating stuff. Many thanks for the info, Clark.
Hmm, military wargames on computer. I remember spending way too much time around the late 80s with the computer version of Harpoon, in which you could conduct naval warfare (including anti-submarine operations and air support) with, one was told, incredibly realistic gear. Before finding this computer version I noodled a bit with the tabletop miniatures version of the game--which presented problems in that you needed enormous play areas if you wanted to include at least most of the ships in the battle. Missile ranges were such that many attacks were carried out against targets not actually visible (to the eye, at least) to notional people on the attacking ships.
I got interested in this stuff after reading Tom Clancy's first two books (when he was still producing pretty good naval thrillers), and learning that he and Larry Bond wargamed out the proceedings in the second book, Red Storm Rising, using tabletop Harpoon.
Speaking of Red Storm Rising, one of Clancy's first forays into computer games was a game called Red Storm Rising, in which you got to command an attack submarine trying, veeeeeeery carefully, to deal with enemy submarines and surface vessels. Evading enemy homing torpedoes was hair-raising stuff and wonderfully entertaining--and this was running on a Commodore 128 (ie, twice the RAM of a C64).
Re: Serenity--
I'd just like to extend a big THANK YOU to the Firefly fans on Making Light. I'd seen a few episodes of the show when it was on here in Australia, very late at night, and was deeply underwhelmed by it.
More recently, folks here began enthusing at length about the forthcoming Serenity movie, the preview screenings, etc. Even the trailer was getting folks excited. I wondered if I'd misjudged the whole thing, so I downloaded the trailer and went, "Oh, now that does kind of look interesting."
Flash-forward to this past week, while on holiday, when my wife and I saw the movie--and loved it! Michelle, my wife, came out afterwards, going all, "Phwoar!" (being Australian for "bloody excellent!") I was equally agog at this absorbing, affecting, kick-arse, thoughtful, fabulous movie. As we chatted excitedly about it for hours afterwards, I was reminded a lot of how I felt after seeing the first Star Wars movie, and the way it made prior sf movies (other than 2001 and Forbidden Planet) seem so lame. (Bear in mind: I was 15 at the time.)
Now we're trying to hunt down the Firefly DVDs.
Again, thank you to Making Light folks for getting me all interested in something I had been too quick in dismissing.
Hmm, my lovely wife Michelle turns out to be one Mighty Ripper, while I prove on inspection to be Mad Dog Melvin! Not sure what to be more boggled about. Arr!
I can't consume alcohol because of various medications I need to take, and this makes for plenty of awkward situations in Australian society, including encounters with a certain kind of crusty Australian bloke who will tell you he just won't trust you if you don't have a drink with him.
I did once inadvertently drink a quantity of this very nice rum one Australia Day--and paid for it mightily the following day with an horrific medication-related reaction of such intensity everyone who saw me thought I must be deathly ill.
In recent years I've discovered the joys of espresso-based coffee, and then had to face the prospect of going decaf (to help the blood-pressure, but there was also the possibility that coffee had a role in the hellish, near-constant headaches I get). Since going the decaf route, I've been very pleasantly surprised that the good stuff tastes no different (though sometimes lacking that "bite" I used to really like). I personally like the long macchiato (two shots of espresso with a splash of steamed milk to "stain" the coffee), and, when celebrating, the affogato (a shot or two of espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla icecream). Both are dreamy, even without caffeine.
Greg London wrote:
Of course, I don't know if australia has parties, or two parties, or many parties, but it would be interesting to know.
Here in Australia we have a great many political parties, far more than most people realise--until they go to vote in elections, and are presented with ballots featuring candidates for all manner of tiny groups they've never heard of.
The main parties here are:
The Australian Labor Party (once represented left-of-centre causes, including workers' rights, but have been moving ever rightward for some time);
The Liberal Party (who are actually deeply conservative tories);
The National Party (often in coalition with the Liberals, they represent regional and rural interests);
The Australian Democrats (a small group founded by a Liberal Party guy who left, fed up with corruption and party-machine politics--their original catchphrase was that they would "Keep the bastards honest" by maintaining the balance of power in the Senate);
The Greens (left-of-centre group in the Senate, interested in workers' rights, the environment, human rights generally);
You also see a scattering of independents in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate. At times in recent political history, independents have actually had the balance-of-power, and found themselves courted by both mainstream groups (the Lib-Nat Coalition on one hand, and the Labor Party on the other) in order to get things done.
The other unusual thing about politics and elections in Australia is that voting in state and federal elections is compulsory for all citizens. There are always a few conscientious objectors who refuse to participate, and others who deliberately mess up their ballot papers, but these are a tiny minority.
Hope this helps. If I've got something wrong, my apologies. I know there are a few other Australians posting here. If you guys have anything to add, please do.
I live in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. I don't get into the city core all that much. Last year my wife and I went on this epic trip across Canada, and then to New York and Boston for Noreascon 4.
One night, after a book signing/reading thing in Calgary, there was a group of us standing outside the bookshop, chatting. A guy comes along, asking for money. I asked him how much he needed. He said a few dollars, so I gave him what I had in my pocket. He said thank you, and left.
The other folks in the group, all locals, told me that while I was very nice to have done that, I was also foolish, and that this guy was now almost certainly off to the liquor store/etc, to feed his probable habits. This was pretty disturbing--not the encounter with the guy, but the agreement that I was wrong to give the guy money.
Background: I have a mental illness. While right now I'm happily married and live in a beautiful home and have the privilege of writing full-time, my life wasn't always like this. Years ago I had every expectation that I would end up homeless like a great many other mentally ill people I've known over time. I still fear that I could wind up homeless and unable to pay for the medication I need to keep my head straight enough that I can write.
This guy in Calgary wasn't the only guy we encountered during our trip who asked us for money. I tried to give money to every one I encountered--because I can only too easily imagine myself in their situation one day, and I would hope that someone would help me, rather than assume I just want to feed some habit.
(Of course, there are panhandlers etc in the city of Perth: I just don't see them much because I hardly ever go into the city.)
Just read Mr Clopper's rebuttal. He says at one point,
"...We have a thousand authors who have not had one book printed. That goes to prove we take the same risk in publishing anything as every other mainstream publisher."
Surely I'm not alone in thinking this is not exactly a ringing endorsement of PA's business practice. It sounds to me like 1000 people, each of whom would have received $1, who might be feeling pretty dismal about this disastrous choice they've made.
And I can't imagine a "mainstream" publisher taking anything like that kind of risk, that they would have contracted for 1000 books that never sell, even a bit.
Oh crap. I meant "Ghost Prisoners". My apologies.
I just wanted to say "bravo!" to Paula Lieberman for "Ghost Soldiers" (way upthread from here). I have many times thought/felt the same things, only not put so eloquently.
Sally: you might also try Fresh Provisions, open 24 hours, in Mount Lawley. Alternately, the new David Jones store in the city (in the food court area) might conceivably stock it. God knows they stock everything else.
I just wanted to say "thank you!" to Jo Walton and the others here who have had such interesting and useful things to say and suggest about plot. I've found it all very helpful.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
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| 2005 | 19 |
| 2004 | 10 |
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