And I did like this one when I found it at greybon. What’s a book you most want to read again for the first time?: Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d probably want to pick something that changed my head in some significant way, which biases the field in favour of things I read earlier in my life–the structures in… Read more →
Author: Mr. McLaren
Professor Membrane’s Modern Medicine Sideshow…
And the professor is back to lead us through the second in our series of posts looking at real, actual, modern science stories that illustrate the “we’re living in science fiction” notion. Last time we focused primarily on medicine, and specifically on different kinds of regeneration. We’re still working our way through modern mad medical science–I have a giant archive… Read more →
A Singular Discussion
Having just mentioned that I prefer transcript to video, let me cite another case where I would make an exception. Here’s a quote from an IM chat I was having with a Boston pal last week: (9:15:32 AM) Chris: Friday 7pm The Singularity: An Appraisal Alastair Reynolds Karl Schroeder Charles Stross Vernor Vinge Arguably the idea of the Singularity —… Read more →
Vaguely book-related
You know the drill: links with pithy comments. Let’s start off this list with Jo Walton costing me a pile of money. I’ve mentioned before enjoying her Tor.com reviews, and finding significant alignment between her tastes and mine… so when she reviews a series of spy novels that I somehow have never even heard of, and makes them sound very… Read more →
“Man is a substance clad in shadows”
Many things these days contribute to my lack of sleep–social activity, parent scheduling, social evenings in different cities, my stubborn refusal to go to sleep when I should, time spent playing with the world through this Internet thing, and–of course–things I start to read when I should go to bed that I just-can’t-put-down. Sometimes you can see this coming, so… Read more →
“Without music life would be a mistake”
(photo credit: www.iliaphotography.com) In the weeks (well, at this point I guess I could say “months” although it doesn’t feel like it) that I’ve been back in Ontario, I’ve had a number of encounters with things that were once regular parts of my life before my near-decade out East, and some have been shocking and jarring, others kind of like… Read more →
Aside
What does it say about me that when I followed a link to the website for the upcoming Naked Girls Reading Science Fiction show, I was frustrated that the site had lots of information about (and pictures of) the “girls” who would be reading, but no information about what science fiction they would be reading?
Paperback Alley
I mentioned that I’ve started the process of unpacking my books in the new house. I began with the mass-market paperbacks, for a few reasons: they’re the smallest bit of the collection, so they present a relatively undaunting place to start The place where I wanted to put them was ready–unlike the room that will be the “main” library, which… Read more →
Attn: Roach
For inside joke comedy reasons, I really want to bottle some beer (although I have no idea how to brew–as with fiction and music, I’m really excellent on audience, but not much on creator) just so I can label them something like this: Yeah, OK, I was just playing around with an online label designer from an Australian u-brew joint…… Read more →
Any Excuse For A Toast
As a former resident of Nova Scotia, I believe it is within my remit to raise a glass today and toast the 247th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years War. Among other things, the treaty essentially saw the French hand over claims to Canada–particularly Nova Scotia and Cape Breton (then called Ile… Read more →
Aside
The preceding post was brought to you by Crémant St. Nicolas cidre légere mousseaux from Ciderie St. Nicolas. Here’s a lovely picture of it on my desk. (It won’t oust Archibald’s Hard Cider as the champ, but it will fuel blogging quite nicely.)
The return, and regeneration, of Professor Membrane
I am dragging the Professor out of the archives to headline a series of link posts I’m going to be doing about medical “we live in science fiction now” stories (and maybe some medical “mad science”) pieces as well. I’ve been gathering these stories for quite some time–each one alone is a bit shocking or amazing, but when you start… Read more →
Reports of my demise…
Yeah, still alive. I kind of fell off the Internet there for a couple of weeks. Not blogging, barely making use of any other communications tech. Still reading a lot of stuff, but all input, no output. This was not a planned thing, I just found that my real life was taking up too much time for me to support… Read more →
Bookish Links On A Friday Night
Well, the most interesting book world story right now is surely the whole hardball face-off between Amazon and Macmillan. I expect the most interesting discussion at Making Light. It’s been a pretty depressing week in the book world: too many stories of authors dying. I guess there will only be more and more stories about the passing of authors who… Read more →
I’m not curt, I’m efficient
I always find Joel Spolsky’s essays interesting reads. Often I agree with him, and sometimes they make me want to argue with him over a beer, but I never feel like my time is wasted. His recent short piece on the problem of over-communication, though, is a one that hits a place near-and-dear to my heart. Recommended read for anyone… Read more →
