29 August 2009

[13:53] Aviano Gearz: here
[13:53] Simeon Beresford: It is in chat not voice
[13:53] Aviano Gearz: i am here
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: here
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: Mom
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: i am here
[13:54] moomintroll Flanagan: what are you sitting on Avi
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: oh
[13:54] moomintroll Flanagan: I tried to sit on your lap
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: hahah
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: try again
[13:54] moomintroll Flanagan: but it wouldn't let me
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: there's no pose ball
[13:54] Aviano Gearz: sit on my right side
[13:55] moomintroll Flanagan: sit on the chair
[13:55] Aviano Gearz: lets chat in voice
[13:55] Aviano Gearz: you sit first
[13:55] moomintroll Flanagan: what on?
[13:55] Aviano Gearz: here
[13:55] Aviano Gearz: just left click
[13:55] Aviano Gearz: we have a sofa set
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: can you sit
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: is it worknin
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: working
[13:56] moomintroll Flanagan: two chairs here Avi
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: no
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: one is here
[13:56] Aviano Gearz: sit here
[13:56] moomintroll Flanagan: I can't see any
[13:57] Aviano Gearz: right click here
[13:57] moomintroll Flanagan: oh yes
[13:57] moomintroll Flanagan: now
[13:57] moomintroll Flanagan: there
[13:57] Aviano Gearz: hahahah
[13:57] moomintroll Flanagan: ahhhhh
[13:57] Aviano Gearz: now it looks good
[13:57] moomintroll Flanagan: sweet
[13:58] Aviano Gearz: i can even sleep if the event gets boring
[13:58] Aviano Gearz: hahahaha
[13:58] Aviano Gearz: :)
[13:58] moomintroll Flanagan: yes
[13:58] moomintroll Flanagan: I will smooth your forhead
[13:58] Simeon Beresford: hi jago
[13:58] moomintroll Flanagan: blimey
[13:58] Aviano Gearz: hi Simeon
[13:58] moomintroll Flanagan: ants in your pantss?
[13:58] Aviano Gearz: OMG
[13:59] Jago Constantine: Hi, folks :)
[13:59] Aviano Gearz: helu
[13:59] Aviano Gearz: who is the host?
[13:59] Karl Mearkus: Hi Jago
[13:59] Jack Ozigard: hi jago
[13:59] Jago Constantine: I'm the host ... thanks for coming :)
[13:59] Simeon Beresford: jagp hosts
[13:59] Aviano Gearz: nice to meet you
[13:59] Jago Constantine: For anyone new, the way the group runs is that we go round the circle
[13:59] Aviano Gearz: may i know what this event is all about?
[14:00] Jago Constantine: and talk about what science fiction we read since the last meeting
[14:00] Jago Constantine: or if it's your first time, what you read last
[14:00] Aviano Gearz: oh i think i am at the wrong place...
[14:00] Aviano Gearz: i dont have anything to share
[14:00] Aviano Gearz: but i can listen if you guys dont mind
[14:00] Jago Constantine: Well, you can just sit in if you like
[14:01] Aviano Gearz: oh yes
[14:01] Aviano Gearz: Mom do you like this place?
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Hi, Fourside
[14:01] Jack Ozigard: there was too much folks last time, so not everybody got a turn. I guess listening is very okay
[14:01] Fourside Janus: m
[14:01] Fourside Janus: Hi
[14:01] Aviano Gearz: hi Fourside
[14:01] Aviano Gearz: so it a voice discussion?
[14:01] Jago Constantine: So this week I read an Alastair Reynolds novel, Century Rain
[14:01] Jago Constantine: No, it's chat
[14:02] Jago Constantine: You're trying to sit on me, Fourside :P
[14:02] Fourside Janus: oops, sorry!
[14:02] Jago Constantine: This was different to Reynolds' usual novels set in the Revelation Space universe
[14:02] Jago Constantine: a stand-alone, set in the future and in a world resembling 1950s Paris
[14:03] Simeon Beresford: 2 worlds?
[14:03] Jago Constantine: It's kind of an alternate history in a sense, but as an alternate history it's not very satisfying
[14:03] Jago Constantine: Yes
[14:04] Bryce Galbraith: Hi all
[14:04] Simeon Beresford: hi
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Because you don't see enough of the alternate world to get much of a feel for it
[14:04] Jago Constantine: it's not well fleshed out
[14:04] Jago Constantine: But the future parts were interesting, so I didn't mind so much
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Anyway, I recommend it if you're a fan of Alastair Reynolds' work
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Ok, Bryce, did you read anything this week?
[14:05] Bryce Galbraith: Still working on Sundiver by David Brin.
[14:06] Jago Constantine: Cool
[14:06] Bryce Galbraith: Got a job and a half so it takes me a while to get through a book...
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Sure. Anything notable you want to mention from the novel?
[14:07] Simeon Beresford: nods
[14:08] Bryce Galbraith: Hmmm... the story is still developing...taking on more of a mystery now since one character was killed in a sunship.
[14:09] Bryce Galbraith: There is a tension that contact with galactic civilization has brought to man, and that figures pretty prominently in the story.
[14:10] Bryce Galbraith: Galactic civilization has been around for millenia ... more really... and so on the one hand there is already a lot of stuff that humans can learn directly without having to find it out for themselves.
[14:10] Bryce Galbraith: So there is a decline in pure research.
[14:10] moomintroll Flanagan: Thank you everyone...I have learnt something ...Now I have to go
[14:10] moomintroll Flanagan: Take care
[14:10] Jago Constantine: Thanks moomintroll :)
[14:10] Simeon Beresford: |bye
[14:11] Simeon Beresford: Hi camilla
[14:11] Camilla Delvalle: Hello
[14:11] Jago Constantine: I like the idea that there would be a decline in research because of the easily-obtained technology from the galactic encyclopedia
[14:12] Bryce Galbraith: There's also a kind of caste/class thing going on in galactic civilization too, and humans are kind of a wildcard because they don't quite fit in really.
[14:12] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Bryce
[14:12] Jago Constantine: Simeon, cool avatar ... how was your reading this week?
[14:13] Simeon Beresford: Thanks
[14:13] Simeon Beresford: this week I finished raggamuddin
[14:13] Simeon Beresford: fagamuffin
[14:13] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:13] Simeon Beresford: argh
[14:13] Simeon Beresford: ragamuffin
[14:14] Simeon Beresford: sequal to crystal rain
[14:14] Simeon Beresford: has some charactersi n common
[14:15] Jago Constantine: So you liked it?
[14:16] Simeon Beresford: Yes the lost colony from the first book restablishes contact with the main civilisation
[14:16] Simeon Beresford: where things are not going well for human
[14:16] Jago Constantine: What's the problem?
[14:17] Simeon Beresford: third class citizens living at the whim of others
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Ok
[14:17] Jago Constantine: I haven't read any Tobias Buckell
[14:18] Jago Constantine: I should :P
[14:18] Simeon Beresford: the colony is not exactly in a good spot either
[14:19] Simeon Beresford: the worm holes reconnecting it to the rest of the galaxy
[14:19] Simeon Beresford: are re openned bye the same people that the colony cut the worm holes to tisolate itself from in the first place
[14:20] Jago Constantine: ah
[14:20] Simeon Beresford: much higher tech level in this book.
[14:20] Camilla Delvalle: what kind of tech do they have?
[14:21] Simeon Beresford: colony steam and electric.
[14:21] Simeon Beresford: rlectronics al disaepreared in the ENF pulse that cut it of
[14:22] Simeon Beresford: main sivilisation
[14:22] Jago Constantine: So it cut off electronics permanently?
[14:22] Jack Ozigard: sorry I had a bad connection
[14:22] Camilla Delvalle: i guess it is not so easy to make electronics without a factory and engineers
[14:23] Simeon Beresford: yeah colony hac not advanced enough to replace them every one dependa on Laminea
[14:23] Simeon Beresford: in the main civ
[14:23] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:23] Jago Constantine: Ok ... so Fourside ... what have you read lately?
[14:23] Simeon Beresford: electronic info tags attached to eveery thing
[14:24] Simeon Beresford: four side?
[14:24] Jago Constantine: Sorry, Simeon ... you're still going?
[14:24] Simeon Beresford: nah
[14:24] Fourside Janus: Eheheheh... accidentally found Fallout1 & 2, so... nothing. >_< Go ahead simeon.
[14:24] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:24] Simeon Beresford: thought cammilla
[14:24] Jago Constantine: Lol ok Camilla
[14:24] Camilla Delvalle: me?
[14:24] Jago Constantine: Have you read any good books lately?
[14:25] Camilla Delvalle: No but I can talk about anime series Elfen Lied?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: Sure, I like that one :)
[14:25] Camilla Delvalle: I is japanese comic series
[14:26] Camilla Delvalle: It begins with a naked woman escaping from institution by splatting 23 guards
[14:26] Jago Constantine: Heh
[14:26] Jago Constantine: It's very violent
[14:26] Camilla Delvalle: much blood :)
[14:26] Camilla Delvalle: i like
[14:26] Camilla Delvalle: but she is shot in head and loose memory and drop in ocean
[14:27] Jago Constantine: It's fun that it crosses the ultra-violent plotline with the romantic one
[14:27] Camilla Delvalle: and float a shore in the village
[14:27] Fourside Janus: Like Kill Bill?
[14:27] Jago Constantine: the anime cliche where the one guy is living with a bunch of women
[14:28] Camilla Delvalle: maybe like kill bill in that a lot of people are splatted and there is blood flying everywhere
[14:28] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:28] Camilla Delvalle: but most of the series is very cute
[14:28] Camilla Delvalle: there is a homeless girl with a little dog and they are both adorable
[14:29] Camilla Delvalle: when i thougt that the dog was splatted i was going to die, but it wasnt
[14:29] Jago Constantine: Yes ... a friend found the series a little slow, in between the ultra-violent parts lol
[14:29] Camilla Delvalle: well it is slow, but not too much i think
[14:29] Camilla Delvalle: it is very relaxing for the mind
[14:29] Jago Constantine: I loved the theme song
[14:29] Jago Constantine: from the opening credits
[14:30] Camilla Delvalle: because there are not so many disturbing comic-book effects
[14:30] Camilla Delvalle: yes the music is beautiful
[14:30] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Singularity
[14:30] Camilla Delvalle: it is drawn quite realistically i think
[14:30] Camilla Delvalle: and not so much overacting, the characters are quite calm
[14:30] Jago Constantine: It reminded me of Neon Genesis Evangelion
[14:31] Camilla Delvalle: and there is some romance
[14:31] Camilla Delvalle: and many feelings
[14:31] Camilla Delvalle: how did it remind?
[14:31] Camilla Delvalle: of neon?
[14:31] Jago Constantine: Another anime series where ultra-violence is mixed with everyday life and romance
[14:32] Camilla Delvalle: ok
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Also with stylish animation
[14:32] Camilla Delvalle: i think Elfen Lied is quite artistic
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Anyway, thanks, Camilla ... Bobby, how is your reading going
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Yes, it's nicely drawn
[14:32] Bobby Lomba: Goody! Just started mote in god's eye
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Brilliant :)
[14:32] Bobby Lomba: cant say much about it, havent read much
[14:33] Bryce Galbraith: I remember that -- I loved that book :)
[14:33] Bobby Lomba: Its ok so far
[14:33] Jago Constantine: Yes, well it gets good when you actually get to the mote :P
[14:33] Bobby Lomba: Yeah, im there
[14:34] Jack Ozigard: isn't that a cyberpunk book?
[14:34] Jago Constantine: No, not cyberpunk ... space opera
[14:34] Bobby Lomba: no, future first contact thing
[14:34] Bryce Galbraith: No, more of space/first-contact story.
[14:34] Jack Ozigard: ok thanks
[14:34] Camilla Delvalle: what is a mote?
[14:35] Jago Constantine: A speck of dust
[14:35] Jago Constantine: In this case it's a metaphor for a star
[14:35] Camilla Delvalle: aha
[14:36] Jago Constantine: Ok, well I look forward to hearing about it when you finish the book, Bobby
[14:36] Bobby Lomba: yep:)
[14:36] Jago Constantine: Ok, Karl ... great avatar!
[14:36] Jago Constantine: Have you got a book to talk about?
[14:37] Jack Ozigard: do you think we should water him?
[14:37] Edward Aelberts: Nice.
[14:37] Bobby Lomba: think its a meat eater
[14:37] Karl Mearkus: Hi
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:38] Simeon Beresford: never get your coffe til after your turn karl
[14:38] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:38] Karl Mearkus: sorry, well I read my first non-fiction science fiction book "The world without us"
[14:38] Jago Constantine: Oh, I saw the tv show of that
[14:38] Fourside Janus: Ooh, that's a good one.
[14:39] Karl Mearkus: really enjoyed the speculation - the descriptions of new york a few days after humanity has mysteriously disappeared
[14:39] Jago Constantine: Yeah, it would be a good reference for a post-apocalyptic novelist
[14:40] Bryce Galbraith: I saw the original documentary based on the book and then a few of the episodes they did afterward. Pretty enjoyable :)
[14:40] Jago Constantine: lol karl
[14:40] Karl Mearkus: and strange a real life group called the voluntary human extinction movement
[14:40] Jago Constantine: I've heard of them too
[14:40] Karl Mearkus: highly recommended for you humans - let the greenery run the place for a bit ;)
[14:40] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:40] Fourside Janus: O.o
[14:41] Camilla Delvalle: was the entire book about humans disappearing?
[14:41] Karl Mearkus: that was the start point and then investigating things like plastic, forests cities
[14:41] Jago Constantine: Yes, it's about how things would run down and decay
[14:42] Edward Aelberts: Does it give a reason for the disappearance, or does it let the reader imagine one?
[14:42] Jago Constantine: how traces of human civilisation would vanish over time
[14:42] Jago Constantine: It's non-fiction, so it's just 'what if humans disappeared
[14:42] Karl Mearkus: fingers crossed though
[14:42] Edward Aelberts: It sounds really good.
[14:42] Vel Alchemi: Does it say anything about the return of dammed up streams and rivers?
[14:42] Camilla Delvalle: how large time scale has it?
[14:43] Jago Constantine: the tv show mentions the hoover dam
[14:43] Jack Ozigard: sounds like a very interesting read for world builders
[14:43] Karl Mearkus: from 1 day to 150 thousand years time scale
[14:43] Jago Constantine: how it might be the last place that there is electricity
[14:43] Karl Mearkus: when plastic might start going
[14:43] Camilla Delvalle: i guess there would be a lot of stuff left
[14:43] Camilla Delvalle: when does plastics disappear?
[14:44] Karl Mearkus: only when someone evolves to eat them I'm afraid
[14:44] Simeon Beresford: depends on the plastic
[14:44] Karl Mearkus: but yes highly recommended
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Yes, and I recommend the documentary :)
[14:45] Jack Ozigard: there's plastic eating fungi in chernobyl I understood
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: how much would be left according to the book?
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Actually, the last trace of human civilization to exist would be the voyager space probe, or the apollo landers
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: lol
[14:45] Bryce Galbraith: It's sort of surprising how quickly some stuff would fall apart.
[14:45] Karl Mearkus: all plastic that has been manufactured since the 1950s still exists and will exist for another 100 thousand years, but mybe thats for another discussion
[14:46] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:46] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:46] Jago Constantine: we should get back on track
[14:46] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Karl :)
[14:46] Simeon Beresford: i seem to remember ceramics survive best
[14:46] Bryce Galbraith: Depends on climate too....
[14:46] Jago Constantine: Jack - have you read any good books lately?
[14:46] Bryce Galbraith: Maybe we'll have to have to have a discussion just based on that one book sometime :)
[14:46] Camilla Delvalle: there are dinosaur bones in the ground that are older then that i guess
[14:46] Jack Ozigard: I reread the Docteur Mystere comics I have
[14:47] Jago Constantine: Yes :)
[14:47] Vel Alchemi: Aliens coming to earth a millinium from now will find procelin sinks and toilets.
[14:47] Jack Ozigard: Mystery of Milan and War of the Worlds
[14:47] Jago Constantine: I haven't heard of that series
[14:47] Jack Ozigard: they are french or italian, but have been translated into engflish
[14:47] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:47] Jago Constantine: What is the setting? they sound victorian
[14:47] Jago Constantine: 19th century
[14:48] Jack Ozigard: they are based on adventures by paul d'ivoi
[14:48] Jack Ozigard: http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/pauldivoi.htm
[14:48] Jack Ozigard: the setting is a bit vidctorian but outside britain
[14:48] Jack Ozigard: in War of the worlds it is the moon
[14:48] Jack Ozigard: in Mystery of Milan, it's.... Milan
[14:49] Jago Constantine: they sound interesting ... I'm surprised they haven't been translated
[14:49] Jack Ozigard: I do think warof the worlds is mostly scifi
[14:49] Jack Ozigard: it has a lot of caeos in it
[14:49] Jack Ozigard: have been translated
[14:50] Jack Ozigard: here: http://www.milehighcomics.com/comicindex/trade-paperback/title/Title-DOCTEUR-MYSTERE--MYSTERIES-OF-MILAN-HC--2004--by-SAF-COMICS.html
[14:50] Jago Constantine: ok ok cool
[14:50] Jago Constantine: I misread your sentence :P
[14:50] Jack Ozigard: and here: http://www.milehighcomics.com/comicindex/trade-paperback/title/Title-DOCTEUR-MYSTERE--WAR-OF-THE-WORLDS-HC--VOL--2---2005--by-SAF-COMICS.html
[14:50] Jack Ozigard: I type not very well this late at night
[14:50] Bryce Galbraith: I need to head out now. Nice talking with you all :)
[14:50] Jago Constantine: Thanks for coming, Bryce
[14:51] Jago Constantine: So you enjoyed the comics?
[14:51] Jack Ozigard: war of the worlds has darth vader in it and mr spock
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Jack?
[14:51] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:51] Jack Ozigard: I enjoyed the story
[14:51] Jack Ozigard: I do think the pictures could be better
[14:51] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:51] Jack Ozigard: and the text is a bit boring at times
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Thanks for that :)
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Vel - have you got a book report for us?
[14:52] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:52] Vel Alchemi: I've been going through old boxes of books.
[14:52] Vel Alchemi: And Rite of Passage by Alexi Panshin.
[14:52] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:52] Vel Alchemi: Just re-read Wasp by Eric Frank Russell.
[14:52] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:53] Vel Alchemi: They were published in the 50s so that makes them classic sci fi, I'd say.
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Definitely
[14:53] Vel Alchemi: I've also been re-reading the Dresdin File series by Jim Butcher and realized something about my taste in sci fi.
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Yes?
[14:54] Vel Alchemi: All those books are narrated by individuals and very much from one point of view.
[14:54] Vel Alchemi: So I seem to have a taste for a strong single source.
[14:54] Jago Constantine: Interesting
[14:54] Vel Alchemi: It was a surprise. But now that I have seen it, I can point to other favorites that fit that same structure.
[14:55] Jack Ozigard: no sorry
[14:55] Vel Alchemi: Who else has read those books?
[14:55] Simeon Beresford: me
[14:55] Karl Mearkus: not me
[14:55] Edward Aelberts: I haven't..
[14:55] Vel Alchemi: Want a synopsis?
[14:55] Jago Constantine: Not me
[14:55] Fourside Janus: Most I've seen is the TV series on that last one...
[14:55] Jago Constantine: I watched one episode of the Dresden Files show but didn't like it :P
[14:56] Vel Alchemi: I can see why it wouldn't translate well. The books are very introspective.
[14:56] Jack Ozigard: what is the dresden files about?
[14:56] Vel Alchemi: The main character is a wizard in modern Chicago.
[14:56] Simeon Beresford: any eric framk russel is worth reading slick humorouss advewnture
[14:57] Vel Alchemi: He gets dragged into -- and beaten up in -- all sorts of supernatural warfare.
[14:57] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Ok, we'd better move on to Edward, the hour is almost up
[14:57] Edward Aelberts: Hello everyone!
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Edward? Read anything good?
[14:57] Vel Alchemi: Hi Edward.
[14:57] Fourside Janus: Hi
[14:58] Edward Aelberts: I recently finished Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein.
[14:58] Jago Constantine: nice
[14:58] Vel Alchemi: Good one.
[14:58] Edward Aelberts: I enjoyed the character of Lazarus Long more than the story itself.
[14:59] Jago Constantine: What did you like about the character?
[14:59] Edward Aelberts: He belonged to a family with perfect genes, able to live to 150, and these people decided to invest in technology to rejuvenate themselves.
[14:59] Vel Alchemi: I always thought Lazarus was Heinlein as he saw himself.
[14:59] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:59] Jago Constantine: I think a lot of heinlein's characters are
[15:00] Bobby Lomba: aiai, got to go, thanks for the meeting!
[15:00] Jack Ozigard: cu bobby
[15:00] Jago Constantine: See you bobby
[15:00] Edward Aelberts: He was very.. simple. Living for such a long time basically hardened him to loving people.
[15:01] Edward Aelberts: He could live to old age, then be rejuvenated, which wasn't described very well in the book, and be young again.
[15:01] Edward Aelberts: If I remember right, he was 2200 years old when the book opens.
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Sorry folks, I have to log now
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Thanks Edward
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Thanks, everyone
[15:01] Edward Aelberts: No problem! I enjoyed it.
[15:01] Jack Ozigard: cu jago
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Feel free to stay and chat though :)
[15:01] Vel Alchemi: Bye, all.
[15:01] Fourside Janus: Bye
[15:01] Karl Mearkus: bye Jago
[15:02] Jago Constantine: Same time and place next week!