- 12. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
- Short form review; Dawkins is right, but I wish he wasn't such a dick about it. In more detail, the earlier parts of the book work well - Dawkins does a good job of presenting the logical, rational arguments against religious belief. His later sections on arguments about religion being a force for "evil" hold up less well, in my opinion - many of them hinge on fanaticism being bad, and religion as a strong force for fanaticism. I'm not sold on the slippery slope Dawkins uses. Additionally, I found myself twinging at some instances of subtle sexism and other isms. Dawkins has more than a little bit of That Guy in his writing, and it irked me.
- 13. The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks
- Okay, I finally read Banks. Years ago, I started Use of Weapons and gave up a third of the way in. With this one, I found I didn't really get hooked until about halfway. I think it was the robots that sold me. I definitely enjoyed the space operaness, and think I will revisit more of the Culture novels later.
- 14. Saturn's Children by Charles Stross
- Moar robots! Asimovian robots built to serve humans in a universe where mankind has gone extinct. The protagonist is a sexbot built not long after the last man died. Robots have developed thier own society. Because it's Stross, there's weirdness, and awesomeness. I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it.
August 30th
September 13th
Some sort of other games on July 26th
The question I am asking myself is this; "What am I doing to make the future more awesome?"
How does one make the future more awesome? Technology is one way. Organ cloning, iPhones, collaborative technology and the stuff of incomprehensible buzzwords. The raw tools of the Amazing Future are the technological and scientific discoveries of today.
Another way is cultural1 - art, Art, music, fashion, literature and the other dozens of media that bond us all together. The simultaneous record and genesis of our collective unconscious. Vaguely speaking, contributing to intentionally changing society into something a little bit niftier.
I have friends doing thier part on the technology side. I have friends doing thier part to stave off the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, and friends working to be ready for when it comes anyway. Friends who write, friends who create art, friends that fight for political change, friends who are walking paradigm shifts2 in stylish shoes.
When I look at my own life, I find that I just sort of sit here waiting for the Future to arrive. I am a passive consumer of the Future, sitting around reading about tomorrow and wondering when my flying car and jet pack are going to arrive.
Now, having 31 years of experience of being me, I strongly suspect that I'm not going to undergo some major change of self that's going to see this changing.
In the end analysis, the answer to the question "What am I doing to make the future more awesome?" is simply "Waiting. Watching. And hoping I notice the Future when it comes by." I don't know that that is good enough, but it might be all I've got.
1And yes, I'm blurring media, art and culture together into one bucket. It is intentional.
2I cannot believe I just intentionally used the phrase "paradigm shift".
Same window broken. This time they had enough time to get the other doors open and ransack the trunk etc. They took the $2-3 from the dash, and made a mess. They didn't take our CDs, and didn't touch the stereo.
We checked the other cars down there, and found that one car had been ransacked that we could tell. No other cars had broken windows, including the one that's identical to ours in the other garage.
Once was sort of bemusing, but I'm quite pissed off at this point.
But what about gummy bears? If you could have gummi bears in any flavours, what would they be?
Assume the standard colours are:
Red
Green
Yellow
Orange
"White" (aka that pale yellow colour)
How fun would it be to have a liquor flavoured gummi bear set?
Red: port
Green: absinthe
Yellow: tequila
Orange: scotch
White: gin
Your mission is to come up with exciting gummi bear flavour sets.
- 9. Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
- Take one part Tim Powers, one part Kevin Smith three parts just plain awesome, and you have Minister Faust. Why haven't you read this book already? There is plenty of fanboy/geek fodder, weird stuff, relationships, egregious displays of writer-craft, and it's all wrapped up in one enjoyable hell-of-a-ride. This book is good enough that it made me want to hang out in Edmonton.
- 10. ßehemoth by Peter Watts (ebook)
- The last of the rifter books. The last book heaps yet more damage and horror on everyone before bringing things to a satisfying conclusion. On the whole, I do believe that Watts is significantly more of a pessimist than I am. I still enjoyed the series, and will read more Watts as it comes out.
- 11. The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
- Like China Mieville if he were more of an optimist. I mean, only a *bit* more. Also, more pulpy, and more steampunky. Magic, steam-powered robot men, airships, political commentary and a few refreshing variations from the classic fantasy/hollywood story elements.
I got a shipment of taboo absinthe from BC last week. Added to the new brand the LCBO carries, I now have three kinds. Some time in the fall, I think I need to have a Girls Gone Wilde party (tea and absinthe! Victorian/Steampunk dress encouraged) and do an absinthe tasting. And really, three glasses should be plenty for just about anyone.
I also finally got my copy of In A Wicked Age, an Indie RPG that I got to try out at ACUS.
Finally, I also got notice that the Freakangels stuff I order a month ago has finally shipped.
- Murder in Toronto
- Ryerson prof looks at homicide rates in different neighbourhoods, and looks at how they are similar, and then looks at neighbourhoods with similar characteristics but lower homicide rates. One theory is that tall appartment buildings are to blame, because they diminish the sense of community.
- We Evolved On the Grasslands To Have This Debate
- Local RPG author Robin Laws does a decent round-up on Evolutionary Psych and the gaming community.
(apologies - I have liften these from all over, and have for gotten who I swiped them from)
- NHS Behind the Headlines
- The UK's NHS gets into the science behind popular news stories.
- Behind the Headlines on BPA
- As an example - what the most recent study on BPA plastics actually says. In brief - it establishes that drinking from BPA bottles increases BPA in your body. There isn't much in the way of research explaining exactly what that does to a person. Which isn't to say that it's proven safe, just that isn't hasn't been proven harmful, either.
- You Ask, They... Answer?
- Natural remedy store Neal's Yard Remedies agrees to do a "You Ask, They Answer" with the Guardian. Skeptics catch on, ask a lot of awkward questions.
- Warning! Teenagers hug!
- Moral panic about teenagers hugging. Even guys! Danger! 3 second hug limit instituted.
- E is not the drug that destroys your brain, Speed is
- An old article about the much touted study claiming that MDMA destroys the brain. Apparently the study was done with meth instead of E. OTOH, after some looking I did find more recent studies linking E to long term sleep pattern disruption and depression.
- Cola destroys muscles!
- I wonder what the Behind the Headlines site has on this? Anyway, according the the Beeb, "Excessive cola consumption can lead to anything from mild weakness to profound muscle paralysis".
- Vacuum Buoyancy
- The math behind a vacuum-driven airship.
( The cost of the internet revolution? )
- Music:Leonard Cohen - The Future
Some days, though, I find it a touch depressing how much more talented other people are when compared to, say, me.
Case in point;
Faux retro novelization of movie covers
and
Faux retro movie posters
I really wish I had the time to invest in becoming that technically proficient, and encouraging my muse enough to become that creative.
In other news, I now have a one inch spiderweb crack in my windshield. At lunch I will be trying to get that fixed.
The weather is gorgeous, and this is a three day week for me. Productivity is hard.
Of course, I eventually also need to get myself stuff for working with leather, too, but that's another expenditure.
Also on the RFI subject; one of these days, I really want to learn basic wiring so I can build stuff with LEDs. I own a soldering iron, but have only a vague idea of how to use one.
I also need a month off to work on my various random projects.
For those to whom I mentioned a photoshoot at Casa Loma on the 31st, that event has been cancelled, apparently because Casa Loma cahrges extra for photoshoots.
Friday we went to dinner at Moxie's, which could be turned into an awesome goth club with little effort. Then we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens - the 2nd time for me, the 1st for Zil. It's a good, fun movie that actually allows the female protagonist to remain female, and yet strong, which is pretty rare in movies. It still fails the Bechdel test, and the women are consistently rail thin while the men vary in body type. At least it's a start, though.
Saturday included kilt shopping and a haircut. Then Zil and I went to Chimichanga's for a long early dinner followed by "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Which, for the first 2/3 of the film succeeds and fails much in the same way that the source material does. Then it collapses into a storm of pointless plot wankery and they completely ruin Deadpool after getting the character mostly right in the beginning. Also, Wolverine's hair is ridiculously pretty, and I am a geek enough that I found that distracting. On the plus side, Live Schrieber is the best possible movie Sabretooth, IMHO.
Sunday was spent lounging around watching tv and movies at home with cuddles and a fashion show.
The final wedding outfit for the ZilBro wedding is as follows: the new black utilikilt (original model), black vest, white wingtip collar shirt and a black puff tie. None of my jackets really came close to working. For footwear, we've provisionally agreed on combat boots, but only if I get them really well polished.
I also picked up something for an upcoming masquerade party, so my outfit for *that* is nearly sorted.
- 7.Feminism: Issues and Arguments by Jennifer Mather Saul
- When I last tried to read a proper book on feminism, it didn't work out so well. That book seemed to assume a solid background in academic literary/film criticism that I, as a failed CS student, lack.
In the preface to this book, Saul writes
For several years I have taught feminism to students with (in many cases) no background in feminism or philosophy, and no prior commitment to feminism. I found it extraordinarily difficult to find an appropriate text for this group. Because much feminist philosophy begins from a critique of more traditional philosophy, feminist writing tends to assume a familiarity with the basic philosophical literature. - 8.World War Z by Max Brooks
- The future history of the zombie war. A sort of documentary novel set about twenty years in the future - mankind has had ten years of being at war with the living dead, and ten years after the war to recover. A creepy book to be reading during The Swine Flu Apocalypse. It starts stronger than it ends, but I suggest all zombie fans read this book - it is essential in discussing anti-zombie survival plans.
In other words - this is a text on feminism written, more or less, for someone exactly in my position.
It's very much an introductory text, each section covering a broad topic (such as porn) in about 30 pages. This was just the kick start I needed.
The book has nine chapters:
1. The Politics of Work and Family
2. Sexual Harassment
3. Pornography
4. Abortion
5. Feminine Appearance
6. Feminism and Language Change
7. Women's 'Different Voice'
8. Feminism, Science, and Bias
9. Feminism and 'Respect for Cultures'
The chapter on porn gets credit for finally presenting Dworkin and MacKinnon in a way that didn't immediately get me so defensive I couldn't pay attention to the message. I still disagree with them, but at least I feel I have given their position half a chance. A question for my readers, especially the women: Did you, upon first viewing porn, immediately understand it as something that encourages men to be violent towards women and viewing women as exclusively sexual objects? I can certainly think of porn that doesn't seem to me to project that image, but then, I grew up in a world where Dworkin and MacKinnon were already published.
I had a hard time with "Women's 'Different Voice'", primarily because I have Issues with Essentialism - any time someone says "boys are like X and girls are like Y", I will bristle. I recognize that some of that is my Issues while still fighting the point.
There are some fantastic quotes in chapters 5 and 8, but I am not up to retyping them all just now.
I strongly recommend this book for folks who want to get started with feminist theory.
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mycrazyhair is first on the list to borrow it, followed by neeuqdrazil. The author's brother, of course, would like to encourage everyone to buy their own copy. :)Profile
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