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    Sunday, May 27th, 2012
    wiscon
    [ firecat ]
         		3:51p
    fjm
         		9:30p
    I'm watching you...

    Focus on small orange blob in top right window. He was watching Miss P right to her door. Wary or besotted? She, of course, never gave him a glance. Probably a good thing.

    Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

    fjm
         		9:28p
    fjm
         		9:26p
    bev_vincent
         		12:29p
    Unless this is the one where…

    Trying to whip my new short story into shape. I need to get it into the mail by Tuesday morning to make the deadline. I also posted two new book reviews at Onyx Reviews: Long Gone by Alafair Burke and Flashback by Dan Simmons. The latter garnered a lot of negative—acrimonious even—reviews because of its right-wing conservative stance, but I enjoyed it for the most part. I don’t believe the book’s politics are necessarily Simmons’ but even if they are, it doesn’t matter. He posited a future where certain things happened, extrapolating from contemporary pressure points, and went on from there. He could have picked a different set of stressers and pissed off a different political faction. I am a moderate liberal, mostly, but I didn’t find my hackles rising…much. Writers like Tom Clancy irritate me much more, for some reason.

    We went to see Men in Black III yesterday. We went to a 3:45 showing. I expected the multiplex (17 screens) would be a madhouse and that there would be a queue to get into that particular showing. Instead, we walked straight up to the box office, had no line at the concessions stand, and entered a mostly empty theater twenty minutes before showtime. It never did fill up. There was a much larger audience when we saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at an earlier screening the previous week. We’d seen the trailer for MiB3 and thought it would be amusing.

    It was. It wasn’t the best. movie. ever. or anything like that, but it was a lot of fun. Will Smith was firing on all cylinders, and Tommy Lee Jones was his usual cranky self. The revelation was Josh Brolin playing a 29-year-old version of Agent K (Jones). Some reviewers speculated that Jones might have dubbed in the dialog, but that is apparently not the case. Brolin deserves some sort of award for the way he mimicked Agent K’s voice and demeanor while at the same time playing him as a looser, less uptight version of him. Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) plays a character named Griffin who experiences reality in five dimensions: he can see every possible variant of reality, all at the same time. He is charming and full of energy. He reminded us of a younger Robin Williams and was dressed like Williams’ character from The Fisher King. Lots of cool and gross aliens and whiz-bang effects. For the most part they set aside the problems inherent with time travel and just inject Agent J back into 1969. There are a couple of scenarios that deal with the issues a black man might face in that era, and then they drop that, too, all for the better. And there is a poignant revelation toward the end that surprised the hell out of us.

    The only negative thing I have to say about the film is the 3D experience. I can’t say that it enhanced the film one little bit and we had to wear these stupid glasses for two hours, which is a pain when you already have to wear glasses. The best 3D effect was the billboard that told you to put on your 3D glasses—those glasses really popped out of the screen. There were a few 3D trailers: who on earth thought The Great Gatsby needed to be in 3D? The estate footage looked impressive with the added depth, but not much else seemed to be the better for it. I haven’t seen many films in 3D in recent years—I think Coraline was the last one. It had a few impressive moments where ghostly apparitions seemed to emerge from the screen and float around the theater. In general, I’m not sure I’m sold on the concept.

    Originally published at Bev Vincent. You can comment here or there.

    dsgood 1:25p
    Happy Birthday, ellenmillion!
    wiscon
    [ chaila ]
         		2:23p
    WisCon Premiere Vid: Parable [Octavia Butler's Parables book series]
     Title: Parable
    Music: "The Day the World Went Away", Ark Sano piano cover of Nine Inch Nails
    Fandom: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. See notes at the vid post for sources used to construct the vid.
    Notes: Premiered at the 2012 [community profile] wiscon_vidparty. Note that this is a slightly different version than the one that played at the party.

    Streaming and download links at my journal.
    wiscon
    [ chaila ]
         		2:12p
    WisCon Premiere Vid: Parable [Octavia Butler's Parables book series]
     Title: Parable
    Music: "The Day the World Went Away", Ark Sano piano cover of Nine Inch Nails
    Fandom: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. See notes at the vid post for sources used to construct the vid.
    Notes: Premiered at the 2012 [community profile] wiscon_vidparty. Note that this is a slightly different version than the one that played at the party.

    Streaming and download links at my journal.
    wiscon
    [ heyiya ]
         		1:00p
    Vid: Black Steel (Born in Flames; WisCon 36 premiere)
     The playlist from the WisCon vid party will be posted soon! I premiered this vid––it's for the 1983 film Born in Flames, which I encourage you all to see, but it should be quite watchable as a vid about the feminist revolution if you don't know the source.

    Black Steel
    Music: Black Steel by Tricky (original song by Public Enemy; vocals by Martina Topley-Bird)
    Video: Born in Flames (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1983)
    Edited by Lila Futuransky
    "The right to violence is like the right to pee. You've got to have the right place and the right time." Revolutionary becoming in a past speculative future: a transformative homage to Lizzie Borden's 1983 film Born in Flames.

    Streaming, download etc at
    Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.
    docbrite
         		12:39p
    I Am Poppy Z. Brite's Ex-Boyfriend
     For my birthday, I got ... misgendered. Constantly. Everywhere I went. And it was almost all in queer spaces, and it was all done unintentionally and as kindly as could be, by well-meaning folks, so I couldn't even work up a righteous head of indignation; I just got depressed.

    I am not making progress. Part of it is that I haven't been able to afford my full doses of testosterone -- the treatment runs a little over $300 a month, which I pay completely out of pocket -- and so I've been stretching it out to half-doses, figuring some T going into my system was better than none. (Medically speaking, this isn't wholly unsound, as many trans guys start off on low doses.)

    Thanks to Grey, I had a wonderful birthday weekend anyway. When we're alone together, the rest of the world recedes to the point where even gender seems relatively unimportant. And he can always boost my confidence, and he's so romantic, and he even seems to think I'm interesting. I know, the man must be deranged, but I sure do love him.

    Re: misgendering, there was a good moment of comic relief at the drag show we attended last night. Local drag diva Bootsy DeVille was talking to us at the bar at Michael's on the Park before her show, and she turned to me and said, "I have a question for you. Now it's hard for me to phrase this right ... " Grey and I were both bracing for The Question, which I wouldn't have really minded answering for Bootsy, but instead she said rather hesitantly, "Did you use to be the boyfriend of a famous writer? Because we were googling Billy Martin, and there seemed to be some connection ... "

    After collapsing with laughter, we explained as best we could, and only later did I realize I should have said, "Why yes, I used to date Stephen King, but I dumped him for Grey!"

    Current Mood: recumbent
    scottedelman
         		1:18p
    How I spent Balticon (and how I think The Walking Dead will end)

    I spent yesterday at Balticon, doing a shared reading with Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John Mierau (you can see me and John in Adam Corbin Fusco‘s photo below) and taking part in a panel on The Walking Dead, in which we compared the two seasons so far and speculated on what’s to come in season three. We also gave our opinions as to how long the series would last and theories as to how it would end.

    While at the con, I broke bread with Karen and Charlie Newton, Sandy and Risa Stewart, and Patrick Darby, and chatted with the rest of the usual Balticon suspects.

    I find myself surprisingly worn out from having spent one day at what I generally consider a relaxicon, especially since last weekend’s Nebula Awards, at which far more partying and schmoozing went on (as captured below by James Patrick Kelly), didn’t leave me a fraction as tired. John Ordover speculated over on Facebook that I’m older now, but … by one week?

    Am I deteriorating that quickly?

    And that word “deteriorating” makes me think of zombies again, so I’ll toss out what I’d presented yesterday as my thoughts on how The Walking Dead would come to a conclusion, which should only be read by those who don’t care whether I might accidentally spoil something for you.

    ( Read the rest of this entry » )

    Originally published at Scott Edelman. You can comment here or there.

    greygirlbeast
         		1:04p
    "Dear whoever you might be, I'm still waiting patiently."
     All I have to offer the world is inside those books. That's it, the absolute and dubious sum total of my ability to offer aid to anyone. If what you're looking for isn't in there, you need to look elsewhere. I can't save you. I can't even help you. All I can offer is my stories. And anyone who asks more of me is overstepping boundaries they have no right to cross.

    ---

    I've had much worse birthdays than yesterday. [info]readingthedark came down in the late afternoon. We had dinner at Tortilla Flats. We played an absolutely abominable game of "World of Warcraft" Monopoly (and why the hell are the Draenei represented nowhere in the game?!), and, in theory, Geoffrey won. We had some frozen caramel and cashew ice-cream pie thing. I got stoned. We talked too much. I got to sleep just as the sun was rising.

    My thanks to all the "happy birthday" wishes yesterday. There were something like four hundred via Facebook, and, honestly, that just freaks me right the fuck out. Thank you for being there.

    ---

    Spooky is still having a Caitlín Was (Most Years) Actually Born on the 27th of May Sale in her Dreaming Squid Dollworks and Sundries Etsy Shop. Cool and bow-tie stuff, with FREE SHIPPING, which will run through Monday. In order to take advantage of the sale, you need to use this code during checkout: CRKBIRTHDAY. Buy something bow tie, kittens!!! No, really!

    ---

    Looking back from -08, here is what I will say: I want such very simple things. That's actually true. Instead, my life has presented me with a baffling array of complexities. I didn't say that quite right. "Baffling complexities" isn't actually what I mean. If the cosmos had some collective consciousness, if all our gods and goddesses and demons were anything more than fairy tales, they might understand what I meant to say. Those things I wish I had, though – those things I still hope for to the point I feel ashamed and ungrateful for not being gladder for what I have instead – they are so simple they might take your breath away.

    Breathe In,
    Aunt Beast

    Current Mood: you think there's a word?
    wiscon
    [ holyoutlaw ]
         		12:04p
    Ta-Nehisi Coates
     Although this post is about 50 Cent's endorsement of gay marriage rights, I think it says something about iterative process that's quite relevant to some of the discussion in yesterday's "Intersectionalism is not the Oppression Olympics" panel:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/50-cent-endorses-marriage-equality-wonders-why-theres-no-white-history-month/257678/
    jay
         		12:00p
    My tweets
    james_nicoll
         		11:41a
    Dear subconscious
     Why is this song in particular ear-worming me today?



    Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.
    sartorias
         		8:40a
    Avengers and the Time Machine . . .
     Everybody seems to be at cons, or on vacation, so I thought I'd play the Time Machine game.

    Last night, went to see Avengers. Since there's no use talking about it without spoilers, here's the cut and the spoiler warning.
    ( Read more... )
    james_nicoll
         		10:38a
    What was I doing in 2009
     That resulted in

    And then, they're disappointed and can't seem to understand why casual SFF readers don't give a shit about the John Clute, M. John Harrison, and James Nicoll of this world?


    Seriously, if you say "John Clute, M. John Harrison and", "James Nicoll" is not going to be the name that leaps to mind to complete the trio.

    (For the record, I like a lot of anime, dislike many comics not because of the medium but because many comics are fuck-awful but, and this is the important bit, many are not, and ditto for movies. I prefer SF to F but A: that's more of a chocolate versus butterscotch thing than my god over your heathen beliefs thing and B: F and SF overlap a lot)

    Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.
    james_nicoll
         		10:22a
    You know how I often have a 'don't read the comments' warning?
     Self-admitted Texan Elizabeth Moon suggests treating people like chattel goods, as is the custom of her people, and it is not close to being the craziest thing you will see at the other end of this link.

    Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.
    wiscon
    [ sistermarysith ]
         		8:49a
    A Momentary Taste of Wiscon #3 is now online
    The third edition of "A Momentary Taste of WisCon" is now online with updates on tonight's Dessert Salon, news on reserving your membership and your hotel room for WisCon 37, today's program changes, and the moment Ellen Klages was touched by His Noodly Appendage at last night's Tiptree Auction.
    scottynola
         		8:31a
    How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away
     I was a bad Gregalicious yesterday.

    I tried to write yesterday, really I did.

    But I spend the morning cleaning the kitchen/office, and emptying my email inbox. By the time I was finished with all of that it was time to go to the gym and train with Kosta--arms and shoulders. After that it was off to the post office and the grocery store, so by the time I got home from that, I was exhausted. I tried, I swear. I opened the documents I was working on and stared at them, tried to do some writing--but finally decided I was too tired to be creative, and surrendered to the inevitable. I retired to my easy chair with a book for the writing award I am judging this year (seriously, I agreed to judge a book award YET AGAIN), and spent the rest of the day reading.

    I did go to bed relatively early, and slept deeply and soundly, waking up promptly at seven this morning, and now I've already gotten the emails answered, the kitchen/office is already pretty clean, and so once I am done with this entry, I can go back to work on Timothy. I'm trying very hard not to be angry at myself for blowing off yesterday (or taking the day off); and a good writing day today and tomorrow could actually get me back on track.

    We'll see how that goes, won't we?

    But I am thinking it's going to be a good writing/editing day. I am going to the gym at noon to do (sigh) cardio (caveat--I only lost a pound last week and didn't do any; and I can see a difference already in me with the twelve pounds I've already lost; and if I can just lost another eleven and get down to 200...) and meet Jean, and then I can come home and write/edit some more.

    But I do think a good strong push--if I can keep it up--will result in everything getting finished when it's supposed to...

    And with that, back to the spice mines.

    Current Mood: bouncy
    jaylake
         		6:26a
    [conventions] World Steam Expo, Day Two
     So the whack factor ran a little higher yesterday. All to the good. After sleeping quite late (by my standards) and a morning workout, I met up with @howardtayler for a leisurely lunch off-site. We had a terrific conversation about writing, life and the value of kindness. Howard also did nifty caricatures of both our waitress and her manager. It was hilariously fun to watch them react with such delight.

    Walking back from lunch, we passed a pretty radical steampunked car.

    Steampunk car

    More photos later when I have the bandwidth to upload them. (That would not be right now, unfortunately.)

    Back inside, I hooked up with Ellie Copperbottom of the League of S.T.E.A.M. to host a High Tea. Which was a blast, and very odd at the same time. After that, I recorded a brief podcast interview with them. Then I wound up down in the Vendor Room signing books, where we all but sold out of my stock at the table of Off the Beaten Path Books. Gail Carriger and I crossed paths there again.

    Dinner consisted of me and a very helpful concom rep making a White Castle run. Sixty dollars later, the League and I were pigging out hard. From there, things devolved into an evening of music, hot tubbing (well, warm tubbing), drinking, and electroshock therapy. I managed to enjoy an electric kiss with a lovely young woman, as well as try out the new sport of electric motorboating. Plus people were doing shots off Boba Fett's icy head, but I eschewed that particular pursuit.

    Today I have an author panel and a reading and a day of hanging out.

    So, yeah. A lot of fun here. A lot of fun.



    Photo © 2012 Howard Tayler, used with permission.

    jaylake
         		6:10a
    [photos] Your Sunday moment of zen
     Your Sunday moment of zen.

    100_3159.JPG

    San Francisco houses, 2006. © 2006, 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

    The current photo series is from my 'favorites' file, hence the dates jumping about

    Creative Commons License

    This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
    jaylake
         		6:08a
    [links] Link salad parties with the dangerous punks
     Easter Island statues had bodies — Did no one ever think to look?

    CSR project aims to create a high-speed, carbon-neutral steam-powered locomotive — Oh, cool. (Thanks to David E. Vincent.)

    Egos and Immorality — Paul Krugman on the Wall Street fairy tale.

    Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history — This is stupid. The evolution debate has been history for a long time. What you have today is a combination of religious willful ignorance and conservative political opportunism. It's not a "debate" in any meaningful sense of the word, as the anti-evolution side has no evidence, logic or credibility.

    Conservatives used to care about community. What happened? — They lost their fucking minds.

    ?otd: Ever been electric motorboated?



    5/27/2012
    Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (Con time)
    Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
    Hours slept: 6.5 (solid)
    Weight: n/a
    Currently reading: Shattering the Ley by Benjamin Tate; Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht

    bad_service
    [ jadekirk ]
         		1:50p
    noscans_daily
    [ icon_uk ]
         		12:50p
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