Russ Allbery

Who was the little girl in this interview?

"Would you like to go to the moon?" CBC reporter Walt Lacosta asks a young girl in this charming 1969 interview.

"Yes," she responds without hesitation.

When questioned if she thinks she'll ever make it there, the young girl smiles and responds with a simple "no."

"Why not?" Lacosta asks.

"Because I'm not a boy," she says says shyly but definitively.

Nicked from dewline

TIME: 43 min.
DISTANCE: 5 mi.
TOTAL: 227 mi.
NOTES: An advantage of exercising in the afternoon: since it is the least productive part of the day for me, I actually look forward to getting away from the computer.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone 1.3, "Quality of Life"
SHIRE RECKONING: Two miles to the foot of the Weather Hills!

---

1. There was too much slow-motion portentous hockey in this episode, but they get points for the kid demonstrating agency and common sense.

2. Anthony Michael Hall is sure working that Martin Sheen impression for all he's worth.

3. David Ogden Stiers is lovely lovely lovely. Also hateful.

You stay classy, RMS.

I've been putting off reporting on The Road by Cormac McCarthy because, oddly enough, I liked it so very much. It's the story of a man and his son wandering mostly aimlessly across a desolate America in the middle of what is probably a nuclear winter. I got it because so many of you were speaking highly of it and because I tend to be drawn to the post-apocalyptic. After I'd finished reading it, I called my father to see if HE'D read it. My father and I have very few books in common, since I like sci-fi and he likes straight fiction that's been well-reviewed by the New York Times. This, I thought, would be a book we might have in common.

"I really like McCarthy," said my dad, "But I've actually avoided reading The Road on purpose. I heard it was... bleak."

"It IS bleak," said I, "But it's beautiful in the bleakness."

It's very very bleak, and pretty disturbing in some spots, but there IS a beauty to it that seems to be held in common by very well-done post-apocalyptic stuff (like World War Z). Oddly, it most reminded me of a play I was in my senior year of highschool, a weird little thing called "A Fable" or something like that.

I was worried that the ending would ruin it, but it didn't. Even the lack of quotation marks didn't bother me for very long, it ended up making the whole thing more... bleak (sorry for over-repetition of this word).

So I think you should read it.

(52/100)

Ice-cream trucks were not a part of my childhood. Possibly this is why I find them hostile rather than charming. But I can tell you one thing. If it was my job to drive that thing around all day while it played the first four lines of "Pop Goes the Weasel" over and OVER AND OVER, I would be a gibbering lunatic inside of a week.

Stark. Barking. Mad.

::listens apprehensively::

... I think it's gone.

Which means, of course, because I watch horror movies, too, that it's IN THE CLOSET! AIEEEE!!!

I just got off the phone with Adam Schiff's office (D Calif.). It seems someone reported he had signed onto a Blue Dog letter. I was told, very gently, after I explained that I wanted a public option, no trigger; prescription drugs with the gov't being able to bargain: because what I really want, single payer, isn't going to happen anytime soon, that he supported a public option.

That's when I was told a blogger had made a mistake. I said I was sorry if I'd added to a hectic day, and was allowed to explain that I really wanted single payer. That I far preferred a gov't "beaureaucrat" making the decisions over a corporate one. I wanted the interest of that gatekeeper to be the solvency of the system, not the profit margin.

I was allowed to ramble about the VA, NHS, and Canadian systems.

If he is being called madly because of a mistake, well I'm sorry, on the one hand. If it turns out he did/was considering the possibility, then a lot of calls probably stopped it. I worked to get him elected in the first place (Maia and I ran lights for a fundraiser, when he was running against Fred Rogan). I'd have no qualms against working to unseat him if he drops the ball on this.

To be honest, I was surprised to see it. He's a trifle more conservative than I am, a bit less progressive, but he's been pretty much on the right side of the issues, showing a bit more spine than most Dems when Bush was in Office.

So... if someone who looks to have as freindly a constituency as this, gets swamped with calls, there may be some spillover (because it will be talked about in the waiting room for 15 minute calls; when they are doing face-to-face with constituents).

Might be the time to call your rep too. Tell them you heard about the Blue Dog Letter, and you are against it.

Public Plan
No Trigger
No Profit over People
Bargaining Power for Prescriptions

In short, healthcare, to make a healthy nation.

For reasons which are moderately apparent, I was asked to do some self-portraits last night.

The light was difficult. My skin tones, and the wood, are fine, but the shirt is actually a sightly blue-toned lavender.

Play the Fife Slowly II


Just Looking


If you look in the background you can see my youngest sister peeking over my shoulder.

Henry Spencer's Apollo special: Welcome to Lunarville

etcet gave me five words. 'Tis the grand old meme thing again, see. Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

( Sweden, Linguistics, Book reviews, InfoSec, Ø )

As usual, if you want me to expand on one of these, please indicate that in a comment.

I have some photos from my trip to SF, and back.

In the Weeds


This was shot from the railing of geekchick's house. She was kind enough to put me up for the night, when the airline told me I couldn't fly to Knoxville, because I was supposed to be on a plane to Kuwait. I wasn't pleased with them, but a pleasant evening talking with her, and Chris, while drinking a Boodles and Tonic, put me in a much better mood.


Rime



I got more colorful photos here last year, but I don't know as they were more interesting. I spent Friday afternoon, before the conference, walking about this park collecting my thoughts, pondering how to do a one-day workshop here (perhaps in Mid-Sept) and just communing with Calif. (yeah, that's me... fuzzy-headed hippy). It was really good to soak in the hills, and the shore; they were so different from Tennessee, and I didn't realise how much I missed both of them.

The Leading Edge


I'm not sure anyone would believe me if I told them I was at a wetland, and didn't take any pictures of birds.

Title: Mandy
Author: Julie Andrews Edwards
Year: 1971
# of pages: 188
Date read: 4/13/2009
Rating: 3*/5 = good

Description:

A home of her own. For ten-year-old Mandy, the old stone orphanage was the only home she remembered. Matron Bridie was kind to her, but there were thirty children to look after, and sometimes Mandy felt there was something missing. One day Mandy climbed over the high orphanage wall and found a tiny, deserted cottage in the woods. Here at last was her very own home. All through the spring, summer, and fall, Mandy worked to make it truly hers. Sometimes she "borrowed" things she needed from the orphanage. Sometimes to guard her secret, she even lied. Then one stormy night at the cottage, Mandy got sick, and no one knew how to find her -- except a special friend she didn't know she had. -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I enjoyed re-reading this book as it was one of my favorite books growing up. As I read, I smiled at remembering Mandy's climbing over the wall, and even though I knew how it would end, I still worried when she was in the cottage while she was sick.

Date read: 4/13/2009
Book #: 26
Challenge: Childhood Favourites Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Children's Literature

Publisher: Harper & Row
Year: 1971
# of Pages: 188

33.
Title:  Silk
Author:  Jordan Penny
Genre:  Family drama?
Rating:  5/5

( Summary copied from www.amazon.ca )

My Thoughts:  This is the first book I've read by Penny.  I really enjoyed it.  After I read it, I went to look for more books by her and discovered that she's written a ton of Harlequin romance type books...not so much my thing.  But, this book is the first in a trilogy, so I'm excited for the other ones to come out.  I read that readers who like Danielle Steel and Penny Vicenzi will like this book also.

34.
Title:  Every Secret Thing
Author:  Laura Lippman
Genre:  Mystery
Rating:  4/5

( Summary copied from www.amazon.ca )

My Thoughts:  I liked this book.  I may have been slow to catch on, but the ending was a suprise to me.  I like it when that happens!!

35.
Title:  Tomorrow's Promises
Author:  Anna Jacobs
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating:  3.5/5

( Summary copied from www.amazon.ca )

My Thoughts:  This book was ok.  It's set in England after the war is over.  I think my problem was that I don't really know about this time period, so it seems a bit far fetched to me to think that people meet once or twice, fall in love and get married....but I'm guessing that's probably how it went back then.  It was a good story, with some good twists.

36.
Title: Beach House
Author:  Jane Green
Genre:  Chick Lit
Rating:  4.5/5

( Summary copied from www.amazon.ca )

My Thoughts:  I really enjoyed this book.  It was a quick read, but a good one.

Biology in Science Fiction reports on a panel at fabled Readercon:

This year marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species and the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth. Considering the importance of the scientific idea, This year marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species and the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth. Considering the importance of the scientific idea, there has been surprisingly little great sf inspired by it. We wonder whether, in fact, if the theory has been too good, too unassailable and too full of explanatory power, to leave the wiggle room where speculative minds can play in. After all, physics not only has FTL and time travel, but mechanisms like wormholes that might conceivably make them possible. What are their equivalents in evolutionary theory, if any? We wonder whether, in fact, if the theory has been too good, too unassailable and too full of explanatory power, to leave the wiggle room where speculative minds can play in. After all, physics not only has FTL and time travel, but mechanisms like wormholes that might conceivably make them possible. What are their equivalents in evolutionary theory, if any?

First off, I question this: there has been surprisingly little great sf inspired by it.

(Bearing in mind that "inspired by" is different from "and understood it and got the details right.")

Secondly, any actual biologists out there feel that the field is so well understood by now no grey areas remain?

Thirdly, Green Door seemed to go over reasonably well and it's all about one toy model that touches on evolution.

Food blog for the anti-fatphobic win

So, has anyone on my flist read this? I myself have not (although I did read something related in an anthology I will call the Best SF So Morose You'll Plotz SF of 2007. At least, I think it was the 2007 one).

79. George Sand: A Woman's Life Writ Large - Belinda Jack 
            This was a biography of George Sand, a 19th century French writer.  As crazily famous and influential as she was at the time (on speaking terms with Bonaparte, good friends with Flaubert, longtime lover of Chopin), she's not so well-known now, at least not outside France.  The book focuses on her life, not her oeuvre, as being the most important thing about her.  She wasn't a woman who adhered to any hard and fast rules, but concentrated on living her life.  Just so happens she wanted to live her life writing novels, having lovers, wearing pants, and smoking cigars.  Wild.
80. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A.J. Jacobs 
         Pretty much just what the subtitle tells you.  This author, who previously wrote a book on reading the whole Encyclopedia Britannica, now tries to follow the Bible literally.  He grows his beard, he wears light colored clothes, he eats fruit from trees that are older than 5 years, he writes the 10 Commandmants on his door jamb.
         This is a funny book.  When I tell people that, they immediately think it isn't serious.  That it's just a big joke at the expense of religion and the Bible.  But really, the author is funny.  His style is funny.  But he is definitely serious about taking a closer look at an important book and seeing why it changes so many people's lives and what they gain from it. 

Today, I finished reading a graphic novel based on a novel series that I loved, way back when. This collection is called Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and it's a good rendition of some of the tales that Leiber wrote about these rogues. Worth a look, either in the collections, or the graphic novel.

Cross posted to personal lj, 50bookchallenge and 15000pages

( The woods are dark, Haunted, and 3 Mercedes Lackey books )

13 / 100 books. 13% done!

4069 / 50000 pages. 8% done!

( On the Beach movie review... )

( 1-39 )

40. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I loved this book! It took me a bit to get into it but when I did, yo, it was awesome. Also, I can really see this being a movie just the descriptions and all the action. Watch out right after HP and Twilight this is next man! Haha, maybe, I'd kinda like it to be. The ending was kind of mreh though, but I guess since it's part of a series it has to leave you hanging.

41. Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk - Pretty much the exact opposite of how I felt about the Hunger Games. I hated how it was written and just hated it from the start. Which is weird because I'm a typically a Palahniuk fan, but this one? Nope. I just couldn't get into it and once I realized this I kind of sped read through it just to get it over with.

I am so far behind it pains me. I probably will have to count plays again to actually hit fifty this year. Reason number 872 why I'm looking forward to going on leave from my theatre company next spring: more time for reading.

10. The Dark Half - Stephen King
Can't say I was completely mad about it - it's clearly one of the books from King's 'not part of this universe due to drug/alcohol abuse' period. However, overall I enjoyed it and there were parts that enthralled me, as King always does. I love Thad. And it was interesting reading this after having read Needful Things - reading the books out of order didn't hinder me at all, and actually kept me going because I wanted to know how Alan evolved from this to Needful Things.

11 - 13. Diaries of the Family Dracul Series - Jeanne Kalogridis
I was on board the 'let's make a prequel to a classic novel' up until the 'let's include the classic novel as part of the story, but change a whole lot of really important themes, ideas, characters and plot to make them fit in the new author's storyline and worldview' bit. Then came the wanting to scream and yell and throw the book across the room part (I refrained from throwing, but I did yell a couple times).
This whole series has been an up and down experience for me. Some of the characters I thought were really well done; others I did not. The way the story tied itself to the original novel of Dracula was interesting... at first, but the farther it got, the more convoluted and absurd it became. Hence the changing major aspects of the original to fit into this wacky new world.
A lot of this had to do with certain plot points and character developments that were completely unnecessary. That and the sexual depravity. There already is what I refer to as a 'Lesbian Spank Inferno Dracula.' It's porn with a little bit of plot thrown in... ish. One of these types of books is enough. It really wasn't needed in this book, too. Or any other book for that matter.
Overall the series was an interesting read, however I'd like to erase this final book from my memory. I hold Stoker's novel on a pedestal, and I do so for a reason. So when a book comes along that changes nearly everything that makes Dracula special, unique, fascinating, horrific and epic, for no reason other than to make it fit a new author's ideas of what a vampire novel should be, I become quite flummoxed and displeased.

14. High School Musical: Stories from East High - Battle of the Bands
Shut up. I had a bad day. It was there. I read it.
Thank you, Disney ghostwriters for furthering my twisted imaginings of these movies. I really needed more fodder for my Rycycle theories.

15. Summer of the Danes (Brother Cadfael Book 18) - Ellis Peters
My mom's been trying to get me to read these books for years. This one she sent me in a package with other stuff as a hint. Finally got round to it and have to say while I was really impressed with the writing and style, I wasn't mad about it overall. They story was intriguing and some of the characters well done, it just didn't pull me in the way it seems to do for my mom. Also, not speaking a bit of Welsh, or Danish, a lot of the names and places made my head hurt... and made me want to learn Welsh.

Up Next:
The Black Arrow - Robert Louis Stevenson