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November 28th, 2009
james_nicoll
 | 08:55 pm - About Ghost in the Shell: Man-Machine Interface
Enough with the gratuitous fan-service already.
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james_nicoll
| 07:46 pm - Question
If I wanted to read more analysis and commentary on manga, what sites should I be reading?
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marykaykare
 | 11:29 am - Interstitial Arts Foundation Auction
Guys! There are wonderful things up for auction to raise money for the Interstitial Arts Foundation. New stuff goes up every day; auctions end every day. I'm doing some Christmas shopping there. (Beats the mall! Especially this weekend.)
One of the items currently up is one of Laramie Sasseville's art bookmarks. I got one of these in another charity auction and it's so gorgeous I use it as house jewelry rather than a bookmark. It's wrapped around one of the newel posts on the stairway so that it's one of the first things you see when you come in my house!
I have also just bid on this skirt which is gorgeous and size adjustable, either by you or the original maker.
And here I go cutting me own throat, the piece I most want is Freddie Baer's necklace. The bidding ON THIS PIECE ends at 5:11 pm today, but I don't know what time zone that's in.
There is so much wonderful stuff up. Kate Schaefer's cocktail hat - Kate's hats are really wonderful and she's offered a donation to match the size of the winning bid. Which is currently only $52 - do you have *any* idea what you'd pay for a hat like that in some chi-chi store? That really cool bracelet with the moon. Some beautiful earrings.
Dudes - GO SHOPPING!
Current Mood: acquisitive
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james_nicoll
| 06:09 pm - Which should I read next in my spare time?
Aria (gondoliers on a massively terraformed Mars) or Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (A robot runs a teahouse in a largely empty Japan after what seems to have been a very low key The End of the World as We Know It)?
I should cite Aria the next time the Comparatively Utopian Settings Problem (CUSP) comes up. Although I suppose there's a large fraction of readers who would find the pace at which nothing really happens in Aria excruciating.
Not that Aria is supposed to be hard SF but would giving the place a 1 bar atmosphere like Earth's and covering almost all of the planet with oceans provide enough to provide enough of a greenhouse effect to keep the world warm or would we need to fiddle with the atmospheric composition as well?
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james_nicoll
| 05:51 pm - Generalization Saturday
Poll #1491510
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 84Are the Japanese as a whole more tolerant of cute than people in Canada and the USA?
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seanan_mcguire
 | 09:19 am - Notes for a sleepy Saturday.
1. I'm taking entries for the pet photography ARC giveaway through the end of the weekend. No horses, snakes, or hermit crabs yet, but I'm holding out hope!
2. There's a shiny new interview with me over at Book Love Affair, discussing the next two Toby books, the first of my books as Mira Grant (Feed), how I keep myself from spontaneously combusting, and various other topics of interest. I'm answering questions throughout the day, so please, swing by, and see if anything sparks your curiosity!
3. I'm going to be appearing December 12th in San Francisco as part of the Writers With Drinks series. To quote the website, "Writers With Drinks combines erotica with literature, stand-up comedy with science fiction and poetry with essays." The show is at The Make-Out Room (3225 22nd. St., San Francisco), from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. The doors open at 7 PM. I don't know yet just how many drinks this writer will have, but if I have enough, my piece for the evening will probably be the full stand-up version of The Microwave Story. Be there!
4. In case that's not good for you (and it may not be, as not everyone is local to me), I'm also going to be doing a book reading/concert at the Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle, on December 26th. Vixy and Tony are going to be there to help me blow the roof off, and there will be lots of other exciting goodies throughout the night. It's gonna be awesome.
5. I'm going to go finish Discount Armageddon now.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/geeky.gif) geeky
Current Music: Grease 2, "Score Tonight."
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papersky
 | 09:25 am - Another moon poem
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) nineweaving had spam this morning containing the phrase "submersible moonphase" and asks for poetry or flash fiction.
To the Aegean she tosses the moonpath,
rippling highway of silken silver
if you could walk it, if you could
take that first step, if you could
keep your balance as she rises
you could dance with Artemis
beside Apollo Eleven.
Our oceans are her cloak
tossed over her arm,
dragging behind her
glinting, glimmering,
shot through with silver
waxing, waning
tugged by her tides.
Still she stands poised
rising full over the mountain's rim
a great silver coin
as if a push would roll her
splashing coldly down at Kythera
impossible, underwater
submersible moonphase.
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cflute
 | 03:11 am - Orycon HO!
Made it to OryCon shortly after noon. Took a couple of hours rest time then launched into the whirlwind: two panels, up to the car to fetch the musical gear, over to the room to do a quick run-through with my band-mates, then onstage in the Oregon room at 7pm. Concert set went mostly okay, I thought. I was relieved that my voice didn't buckle under the strain, but I know it showed some. Short night's sleep and two hours talking in a loud environment with limited water and two hours of panels are the worst possible lead-in to a concert set, alas. Oh well. I survived, and sounded okay, so the hard part of the con is done as far as I'm concerned.
Got to the Art Show reception this evening. A few nice visual pieces, a lot of very interesting bead and glass art, but seems like a less varied selection than usual for an OryCon. Wonder what's up with that.
Like the new hotel (Doubletree Lloyd Center) very much. All the panels and concerts are on the main floor. So is the restaurant - which is staying open later than their usual on the con's behalf, and all of the staff I've spoken with here seem to be enjoying themselves and us. The sleeping rooms (at least in the xx50-and-up group) are quite spacious - and quiet. We happen to have lucked into an odd-numbered room, which means that we have lovely panoramic views of the Willamette River and downtown Portland.
Set list, for anyone who cares, from our Friday concert:
Circle Round
Autumn Leaves
Jack Frost
Blowing Winter In
The Fox
Nemesis
Landscapes
October Country
Really Been There
So, one "anon", three Faber/Hills collaborations, one "trad", three Rivkis/et al collaborations (different tunesmiths on each one), and one Owen/Faber song. Most everything came off pretty well, and both Autumn Leaves and Really Been There got hearteningly favorable receptions.
After our concert I wandered in and out listening to other performers, then wandered off to catch up with a friend from the Tri-Cities whom I hadn't seen in years. Was really nice to be able to catch up with him and his wife and hear how things are going with them - mostly pretty well, though their house sounds like it is as... interesting... in its own ways as what phoenixpdx has reported about her domicile.
Tonight's open filk was bardic-style, and moved rather slowly, but some good stuff was performed nonetheless. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's circle even more, though.
Current Location: OryCon 31
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/twotone/hamsters/tired_hammy.gif) tired
Current Music: snoring roommates
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conflikt
[hsifyppah]
 | 11:49 pm - Conflikt - cheap seats reg deadline!
Okay well not that you get better seats if you register later, they'll just cost more. Conflikt! January 29-31, 2010 in Seattle! Tom Smith, Andrew Ross, October Country! Mixed in a blender with cranberry sauce! Wait, I just dreamed that part. It's midnight and I'm in a bardic circle and I'm a little punchy.
ANYWAY! If you haven't got your Conflikt membership yet, you have until November 30 to grab one before the price jumps up! If you can't REMEMBER if you got your Conflikt membership yet, or if you're just snoopy, you can check the list of registered members here.
That list will also tell you if you remembered to buy a brunch ticket yet! Which you totally should! It's tasty. Also it comes with a sweet CD with tracks from our guests. I mean sweet in a metaphorical way, it's not in pastry format. Also, did you book your hotel room yet? All the cool kids who don't sleep in pup tents in the parking lot are doing it.
Sleepily,
I remain,
Your publicity princess,
Brooke Lunderville.
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filk
[hsifyppah]
 | 11:47 pm - Conflikt - cheap seats reg deadline!
Okay well not that you get better seats if you register later, they'll just cost more. Conflikt! January 29-31, 2010 in Seattle! Tom Smith, Andrew Ross, October Country! Mixed in a blender with cranberry sauce! Wait, I just dreamed that part. It's midnight and I'm in a bardic circle and I'm a little punchy.
ANYWAY! If you haven't got your Conflikt membership yet, you have until November 30 to grab one before the price jumps up! If you can't REMEMBER if you got your Conflikt membership yet, or if you're just snoopy, you can check the list of registered members here.
That list will also tell you if you remembered to buy a brunch ticket yet! Which you totally should! It's tasty. Also it comes with a sweet CD with tracks from our guests. I mean sweet in a metaphorical way, it's not in pastry format. Also, did you book your hotel room yet? All the cool kids who don't sleep in pup tents in the parking lot are doing it.
Sleepily,
I remain,
Your publicity princess,
Brooke Lunderville.
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mdlbear
 | 10:10 pm - Quick update from Loscon
Just a very quick note from Loscon. We arrived safely; my concert was
this evening at 5:30. Set list: Riverheart, Inherit the Earth, the two
Bears, Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of, and QV. I recorded it; that will be
up eventually, but not until after I get back to a reasonably fast
computer with gigabit access to my fileserver.
Current Location: Loscon; room 618
Current Mood: okay
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james_nicoll
| 12:21 am - This is ominous
The "ice cream" that was on sale turns out to be on closer examination "frozen dessert".
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james_nicoll
| 12:19 am - Interesting geology item
The change in inclinations through the section indicates that North America moved almost 30 degrees - around 3000 kilometres - southward in just 11 million years of volcanic activity. This means that the plate that it was located on was travelling at a speed somewhere between 20 and 40 centimetres a year, which is significantly faster even than India prior to its collision with Asia.
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November 27th, 2009
brokenallbroken
 | 02:53 pm - Neither mauled nor trampled
I swear, Goths sacking Rome didn't make as much of a mess as customers on a sale day. Going to take a nap now.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/opiummmm/foxies/sad.gif) tired
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james_nicoll
| 04:59 pm - A sudden mouse problem solved
I was trying to scroll up on something and the screen kept jerking back down to the bottom. Close examination of the mouse (a cheapee I don't much care for) I determined that
( Read more... )
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james_nicoll
| 02:36 pm - Idle thinking about what Palin said
If I am reading the figures right, there were about 370,000 babies born in Canada in 2008. Our infant mortality rate is about 5 per 1000 live births so presumably something like 1850 babies died soon after being born in 2008. The US infant mortality rate is about 6.9 per 1000 live births so if we adopted the US system and then had similar infant mortality rates, the net effect would be similar to if we kept our current system but began tossing 700 viable babies into the hyena enclosure in the nearest zoo. Sorry, that should be 700 per year.
[It was pointed out in comments I forget the financial benefits]
Instead of spendigng 11.9% of the GNP on health care, we would get to spend 17.6%. This means that we'd get much the same benefit from adopting the US system as we would if we kept out current system but set fire to a stack of currency containing about 88 billion dollars. Per year.
[Added later]
In comments it is suggested the actual figure would be closer to 100 billion dollars.
Why are infant mortality rates increasing in Nunavut?
[added later]
More importantly, does James understand the statistical implications of small sample sizes? The answer may surprise you.
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james_nicoll
| 11:49 am - Baffled again in scanlation land
Nobody will want to what her again?
That's a mistranslation, right?
[added later]
That page is safe but the one immediately following it may not be work-safe.
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