17 April 2010: 'Family Values' by Sarah Genge

[13:54] Saga Highfield: So, that volcano in Iceland.
[13:54] Fleche Xeno: it blows.
[13:54] Saga Highfield: Hehehe it absolutely does
[13:55] Palen Cale: **giggles**
[13:55] Saga Highfield: Do you think it'll last much longer?
[13:55] Palen Cale: i hope i'm not stepping on anyone
[13:55] Fleche Xeno: no more than a week I think
[13:55] Saga Highfield: I think you did, Palen, but he was made of brass just then
[13:55] Melch Savon: It's a miracle -- I made a Saturday!
[13:55] Saga Highfield: so that's okay
[13:56] Palen Cale: good. I didn't kill him
[13:56] Fleche Xeno: i'm made of sturdy material / is the chat in voice or text?
[13:56] Sora Bluebird: hello
[13:56] Saga Highfield: Hello all
[13:56] Jago Constantine: hey folks
[13:56] Paolo Alfa: hello everyone
[13:56] Felix Fossett: greetings all you recent arrivals
[13:56] Melch Savon: Hi Jago, all
[13:57] Jago Constantine: hey melch :)
[13:57] Melch Savon: I am here. Call it a miracel
[13:57] Melch Savon: :)
[13:58] Felix Fossett: ok, it's a miricle
[13:58] Palen Cale: this is a nice place....I've been meaning to come here for a long time now
[13:59] Jago Constantine: Ok we'll wait a few minutes for people to show up :P / like Eddi :)
[13:59] Sora Bluebird: of course!!
[13:59] Felix Fossett: i'm rather inexperienced with this whole second life thing, i find it difficult to find interesting place
[14:00] Felix Fossett: intersting=nerdy enough for me
[14:00] Fleche Xeno: showcase is the best index
[14:00] Palen Cale: i've been here for two years and I still have a hard time now and then finding things to do
[14:00] Saga Highfield: does any of you have a job in sl?
[14:00] Palen Cale: no
[14:00] Fleche Xeno: I teach marketing. / but thats' about it. :)
[14:00] Saga Highfield: that's a lot
[14:01] Jago Constantine: that box avatar doesn't work well with chairs it seems melch :)
[14:01] Felix Fossett: you can do that?I don't have a job in First Life®, hey a job is a job
[14:01] Jago Constantine: hey paolo, welcome
[14:01] Fleche Xeno: sure you can / might be teachig more calsses soon :)
[14:01] Saga Highfield: that's cool
[14:02] Paolo Alfa: hello, some more people are in the other room
[14:02] Felix Fossett: this would, I assume, require 3d rendering software though, wouldn't it?I mostly only use the Adobe Suite
[14:02] Saga Highfield: Sad, but I don't think I have anything to teach, and other jobs seem sort of inappropriate
[14:02] Jago Constantine: hey, fleche, felix, saga and palen - are you here for the sci fi meeting?
[14:02] Fleche Xeno: I am. :)
[14:02] Felix Fossett: jah jago
[14:02] Palen Cale: yes
[14:02] Saga Highfield: sure
[14:02] Jago Constantine: ok cool ... we usually meet in this next room
[14:03] Saga Highfield: oh okay then
[14:03] Jago Constantine: turn on streaming music as well because we're listening to a story this week
[14:03] Palen Cale: rats, the oven timer just went off - gotta check on the cake. Go ahead and start without me
[14:03] Jago Constantine: ok we'll start soon / hmm the music stream dropped out for me and won't restart / can everyone else here music at the moment? / hear
[14:04] Fleche Xeno: nothing for me
[14:04] Saga Highfield: nope
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Sora is your stream working?
[14:04] Paolo Alfa: no nothing
[14:04] Sora Bluebird: sorry
[14:05] Sora Bluebird: it should start again now
[14:05] Jago Constantine: ah ok now I hear it :)
[14:05] Saga Highfield: oh here it is
[14:05] Jago Constantine: welcome eppie
[14:05] Sebastian Diranovitz: I iz blind!!!
[14:05] Paolo Alfa: yes
[14:05] Jago Constantine: ok as I said in the notice for the meeting / today we're listening to another podcast story / Family Values, by Sarah Genge / from the Escape Pod podcast / if you all hear moonlight sonata then we can begin :)
[14:06] Paolo Alfa: I have to go just before 3, so please don't think me rude
[14:06] Jago Constantine: sure thats ok :)
[14:06] Melch Savon: Hear it
[14:06] Melch Savon: /me wonders if this is still on his iPode ...
[14:06] Palen Cale: oops
[14:07] Jago Constantine: hey palen watch the fire :)
[14:07] Felix Fossett: i may leave at any time, my cable connection is less than perfect
[14:07] Palen Cale: i walk thru fire.....i guess I'm special
[14:07] Jago Constantine: sure felix :) / the story is just beginning on the music stream / apparently a jane austen like story xD / welcome sebastian / you're on a lamp xD / hey eddi
[14:08] Sebastian Diranovitz: I noticed but I am lagging... Sorry... LOL
[14:08] Sebastian Diranovitz: I promise not to ruin the furniture
[14:08] Eddi Haskell: hi
[14:08] Felix Fossett: a lamp lagger
[14:13] Jago Constantine: hey simeon :) / there we go folks ... a short story this week :) / let me know when you finish
[14:18] Palen Cale: what was the author's name?
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Sarah Genge
[14:18] Melch Savon: I am onto Yehle's wrap up
[14:19] Jago Constantine: ok if everyone is in the wrap up we can turn it off maybe
[14:19] Palen Cale: fine with me
[14:19] Saga Highfield: ok with me
[14:19] Simeon Bookmite: yep I missed it all
[14:19] Melch Savon: /me retunes his attennii
[14:19] Paolo Alfa: fine
[14:19] Sebastian Diranovitz: I gotta run guys... Ill talk to you later... :-)
[14:19] Jago Constantine: cya sebastian / :)
[14:19] Saga Highfield: bye
[14:19] Palen Cale: i missed the ending - Sandoval got a double off the Dodgers at just the wrong moment and I got distracted.
[14:19] Felix Fossett: lol
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: bye sebastian
[14:19] Melch Savon: I always find these vignettes of a vaugely recogvizable society interesting.
[14:19] Jago Constantine: Ok ... I should have mentioned the story had sex in it before we began lol / I hope no one was offended :P
[14:20] Eppie Shoreman: I missed the ending also, my mother called :(
[14:20] Melch Savon: Melch has ... spores!
[14:20] Saga Highfield: hehe
[14:20] Palen Cale: anyone who has been on SL for a while can't possibly be offended by a story like this
[14:20] Palen Cale: so this group meets once a week?
[14:20] Jago Constantine: yes we do / every second week we listen to a story
[14:20] Felix Fossett: um, this is my first time, i never got the story
[14:20] Jago Constantine: the rest of the time we discuss what we read / http://media.rawvoice.com/escapepod/media.libsyn.com/media/escapepod/EP168_FamilyValues.mp3
[14:21] Fleche Xeno: when I got make my vingrette, I'm gonna get unreasonably aroused.
[14:21] Jago Constantine: that is the link to the story to download if you like :)
[14:21] Palen Cale: thanks, Jago
[14:21] Jago Constantine: the sex for those creatures was remarkably casual anyway / so it hardly felt prurient to be hearing it described
[14:21] Palen Cale: yeah, what sluts, huh? / **giggles**
[14:21] Fleche Xeno: like SL sex/
[14:21] Felix Fossett: or, 1970s IRL sex
[14:21] Jago Constantine: heh well
[14:21] Fleche Xeno: the descritioon of the sex was very clinical.
[14:21] Melch Savon: We all want those strange wisps of energy
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: So in a way its a planet where sex is based around hand jobs.
[14:22] Melch Savon: "stray"
[14:22] Paolo Alfa: she...showed her bare capillaries...shocking
[14:22] Jago Constantine: lol / that was interesting too / I wondered why they don't have artificial heating :P
[14:22] Melch Savon: The story itself was about social status though, right?
[14:22] Saga Highfield: Yes, but that was based on sex anyway
[14:22] Fleche Xeno: politic, and the powe mechanism in nonpromla groups
[14:22] Melch Savon: Kind of simplified Jane Austen for aliens?
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: I thnk I would be gay on that plaet too, who wants to be squeezed for spores all day?
[14:22] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:22] Saga Highfield: :D
[14:22] Palen Cale: that cracks me up, thinking of Jane austen reading this story. What would she make of it?
[14:22] Melch Savon: don't go there Eddi
[14:23] Paolo Alfa: and politics, politics and sex are the same everywhere
[14:23] Melch Savon: She'd ask "who is Mr. Darby here?"
[14:23] Palen Cale: **giggles**
[14:23] Fleche Xeno: we can hardly expect a story to be written by a human not to contai human related ideas
[14:23] Felix Fossett: what would jane austin think of Pride, Predjudice and Zombies?
[14:23] Saga Highfield: I think she'd be horrified. Spores! How rude!
[14:23] Jago Constantine: I got the impression that the heat exchange was more pleasurable than the sex part
[14:23] Palen Cale: **giggles**
[14:23] Fleche Xeno: I thought the heat exchange was a simple metahpor for resources
[14:23] Melch Savon: Or maybe a shareable afterglow?
[14:23] Jago Constantine: and that the males provided heat to the females
[14:23] Sora Bluebird: i need to go..hugs!
[14:23] Jago Constantine: thanks sora, cya later :)
[14:23] Fleche Xeno: you need heat, so you get it from an exchange of resouces that she held as a status as a gestation host
[14:23] Saga Highfield: bye sora
[14:23] Eddi Haskell: bye sora
[14:24] Jago Constantine: yes it mentioned her high kudos
[14:24] Fleche Xeno: not differnt thatn a matriarchial society / if you add a few spears / it'd amazonian genre
[14:24] Jago Constantine: I guess they didn't need to be very technologically advanced at all / hence no artificial heating / and marine organisms probably can't develop technology anyway
[14:24] Saga Highfield: I wouldn't say they wouldn't need to be advanced in all aspects though
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: I think the aritficial enegy woudl be something you introduce
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: to examine the disruption it can cause in that society
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: like the pill on ours.
[14:25] Saga Highfield: Maybe they don't need heating, but transport? building? computing?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: or fertility treatment
[14:25] Jago Constantine: well ... I didn't see anything that required any of those
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: the story was neat in what it said / power exchange
[14:25] Jago Constantine: they could have been at a greek or roman level socially
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: they you'd have to explain that soceity
[14:25] Jago Constantine: artificial heating would cause a population explosion
[14:25] Fleche Xeno: this was contained in someone's home for a party
[14:25] Jago Constantine: and break down the relationship system / women's need to have a creche of men
[14:26] Fleche Xeno: I'm not sure it's a need
[14:26] Fleche Xeno: but it's how a woman gains politicla power in that society
[14:26] Eddi Haskell: S and M is based around weedkiller
[14:26] Jago Constantine: it was described as a home with rooms, but it could have been a coral reef or something lol
[14:26] Saga Highfield: true
[14:27] Jago Constantine: there was little description of the building or whatever it was
[14:27] Melch Savon: /me waves goodbye as he must away. Great story though!
[14:27] Jago Constantine: thanks melch, cya next week :)
[14:27] Saga Highfield: bye melch :)
[14:27] Fleche Xeno: time for me to get bac to writing ;) / cya all
[14:27] Jago Constantine: cya next week :) / any other thoughts folks?
[14:28] Saga Highfield: I like the idea of Jane Austen listening to this
[14:28] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:28] Saga Highfield: errm that
[14:28] Palen Cale: she would be bewildered and horrified
[14:28] Jago Constantine: probably
[14:28] Saga Highfield: With all of us in general as well
[14:28] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:28] Palen Cale: Mr. Darcy would turn up his nose at us
[14:29] Saga Highfield: oh well
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: Not with me i WOULD TELL AMUsing little royal anecdotes
[14:44] Palen Cale: **giggles**
[14:44] Felix Fossett: 8 ^ )
[14:44] Palen Cale: men could get away with almost anything back then, as long as it was not in polite society
[14:44] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:45] Eddi Haskell: As the saying goes, do whatever you want in private as long as you don't scare the horses.
[14:45] Saga Highfield: would men be able to get away with as much in the story we just heard?
[14:45] Paolo Alfa: I have to go, see you all next week, thanks
[14:45] Jago Constantine: cya next week paolo :)
[14:45] Saga Highfield: Bye Paolo
[14:45] Jago Constantine: I read a quote somewhere about the victorians
[14:45] Felix Fossett: later paolo
[14:45] Eppie Shoreman: I don't think so.
[14:45] Jago Constantine: that even though they were hypocrites
[14:45] Palen Cale: Not around respectable females
[14:45] Jago Constantine: at least they did know how to behave in public :P
[14:45] Palen Cale: only in the lower depths of society
[14:45] Saga Highfield: unlike us uncivilized lot, huh?
[14:46] Felix Fossett: the 21st Century Savage
[14:46] Jago Constantine: lol yes / I can't believe people who wear hats indoors for instance :P
[14:46] Felix Fossett: oh jago that's my pet peeve / well one of 327 pet peeves
[14:46] Palen Cale: /me giggles as she glances at Eppie
[14:46] Jago Constantine: lol / Oh I should mention too / that http://gardenstreet.org/drabblecastarchive/MP3Warehouse/files/Drabblecast_154.mp3 / is another version of the story / from the drabblecast podcast / I haven't heard it, but it might be worth checking out
[14:47] Simeon Bookmite: never heard of drabblecast
[14:47] Felix Fossett: i tried to click on that, it did nothing for me, do i need to enable something?
[14:47] Jago Constantine: hmm maybe copy and past the link into your web browser / it opens windows media player for me
[14:47] Felix Fossett: i couldn't even highlight it
[14:47] Eppie Shoreman: it didn't work for me either.
[14:48] Felix Fossett: could it be because I'm using a Mac?
[14:48] Jago Constantine: you can't highlight it? / maybe
[14:48] Eppie Shoreman: no, I'm on a pc.
[14:48] Jago Constantine: do a google search for drabblecast family values
[14:48] Felix Fossett: ok thanks
[14:48] Simeon Bookmite: loaded for me
[14:48] Eppie Shoreman: this is the third time today that I haven't been able to get onto a link.
[14:48] Jago Constantine: I actually like drabblecast more than escape pod ... it's weirder and funnier
[14:48] Simeon Bookmite: but the viewer does give me problems with links often / looking forward to a drablecast tale in the future then
[14:49] Jago Constantine: yes I'll pick one for the next podcast meeting :)
[14:49] Simeon Bookmite: steve ely is always so earnest
[14:49] Jago Constantine: heh / before we wind up, would anyone like an invite to the science fiction discussion group?
[14:50] Palen Cale: sure
[14:50] Saga Highfield: yes, please
[14:50] Jago Constantine: ok great :)
[14:50] Saga Highfield: thank you :)
[14:50] Eppie Shoreman: bye everyone
[14:50] Jago Constantine: So next week we'll be talking about books / so think about what you read during the week
[14:51] Saga Highfield: bye eppie!
[14:51] Jago Constantine: bye eppie!
[14:51] Simeon Bookmite: bye / bye every one :^)
[14:51] Eddi Haskell: bye
[14:51] Saga Highfield: have a great week everyone
[14:51] Jago Constantine: cya folks :)
[14:51] Palen Cale: the Giants are ahead 7-0 so it's a great weekend so far / see you all next time

10 April 2010

[13:45] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Jago
[13:45] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Fleche
[13:45] Fleche Xeno: hey
[13:46] Jago Constantine: hi, folks :)
[13:46] Kghia Gherardi: Jago, is this a podcast today or a what are you reading discussion?
[13:46] Jago Constantine: what are you reading :)
[13:47] Fleche Xeno: hey
[13:47] Simeon Bookmite: hi Jago
[13:48] Quin Jules: mind if I join you guys?
[13:48] Eddi Haskell: you can join us
[13:48] Jago Constantine: Come join us Quin :)
[13:48] Quin Jules: thanks :)
[13:48] Eddi Haskell: this is a science fiction discussion group!
[13:49] Kghia Gherardi: notices sent
[13:49] Jago Constantine: brb just getting a cup of tea / thanks kghia !
[13:49] Fleche Xeno: before we start, can I tap everyone's brain/
[13:49] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Eddi
[13:49] Kghia Gherardi: Welcome, Quinn
[13:49] Eddi Haskell: hi KG
[13:49] Kghia Gherardi: Sure
[13:49] Fleche Xeno: I'm looking for books/stories
[13:49] Fleche Xeno: that deals with first encoutner
[13:49] Fleche Xeno: on earth
[13:49] Quin Jules: hey
[13:49] Fleche Xeno: like alien visiting earth
[13:50] Fleche Xeno: the only tying sticks in my mind is the miniseries V
[13:50] Fleche Xeno: and I want something more interesting than that.
[13:50] Quin Jules: Some of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles stories are pretty good for that kind of feel.
[13:50] Quin Jules: it's sort of opposite, but the feeling's the same
[13:50] Simeon Bookmite: footfall is one
[13:50] Simeon Bookmite: but it did not impress
[13:51] Fleche Xeno: anyone recent works on that kidna of general
[13:51] Fleche Xeno: I know calculating god had the briefst mention
[13:51] Fleche Xeno: but it was more about the idea of a god head
[13:51] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Judi. Welcome
[13:51] Kghia Gherardi: Any of Tobias Buckell's work, Si?
[13:51] Kghia Gherardi: Welcome, Everly
[13:51] Everly Porterfield: thank you
[13:51] Simeon Bookmite: no
[13:51] Jago Constantine: ok back
[13:51] Kghia Gherardi: We are talking science fiction in the back room
[13:51] Everly Porterfield: waiting for rez..
[13:52] Simeon Bookmite: the wirld war series by turtledove
[13:52] Simeon Bookmite: second world war with aliens
[13:52] Simeon Bookmite: world war
[13:52] Quin Jules: huh. sounds interesting.
[13:52] Jago Constantine: ok thanks for coming everyone
[13:52] Judi Newall: Oops sorry thought I'd rezzed all
[13:52] Fleche Xeno: thanks simeon
[13:53] Jago Constantine: For anyone who hasn't been to one of these meetings before / we go round the group and take turns discussing what we've read last in sci fi
[13:53] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[13:53] Quin Jules: sounds like fun. :)
[13:53] Jago Constantine: its been a while since we had one of these meetings - / we've been listening to podcast stories a lot lol
[13:54] Simeon Bookmite: so we should all have read something
[13:54] Eddi Haskell: i love thoese stories
[13:54] Jago Constantine: yes lol / ok I'll begin
[13:54] Everly Porterfield: /me smiles, listens
[13:54] Jago Constantine: the last sci fi I read was Alastair Reynolds' Redemption Ark
[13:54] Everly Porterfield: new book?
[13:54] Jago Constantine: it's from his revelation space series - from 2002 / so not new
[13:55] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[13:55] Jago Constantine: I've just been going back through the series
[13:55] Everly Porterfield: premise?
[13:55] Jago Constantine: The revelation space books are a hard sci fi space opera / so no FTL travel / the human race is spread across a few dozen light years / about 600 years in the future
[13:56] Everly Porterfield: /me listens.
[13:56] Eddi Haskell: yah
[13:56] Jago Constantine: there seem to be a few main factions ... in this book we see a lot of the Conjoiners
[13:56] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Roy. Welcome.
[13:56] Roy Smashcan: Hiya
[13:56] Jago Constantine: who are into enhanced intellect and are almost an incipient group mind / they're having a war with another group, the demarchists, but it turns out that they're only going through the motions in the war / and preparing to face a greater threat
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: what is a demarchist just a name?
[13:57] Jago Constantine: Demarchy is a political concept / in which, I think, people are hooked into the political process in their mind
[13:57] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[13:57] Jago Constantine: and vote on issues all the time / it's a kind of direct democracy
[13:58] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[13:58] Jago Constantine: without elected representatives I think
[13:58] Roy Smashcan: A more efficient Switzerland?
[13:58] Everly Porterfield: /me grins.
[13:58] Jago Constantine: lol
[13:58] Eddi Haskell: Demarchy (or lottocracy) is a form of democracy in which the state is governed by randomly selected decision makers who have been selected by sortition (lot).
[13:58] Quin Jules: lol
[13:58] Fleche Xeno: so a mob-rule? emergent consensus model?
[13:58] Everly Porterfield: with a hive mind
[13:58] Quin Jules: huh
[13:58] Jago Constantine: well the demarchists in the novel don't seem to have elected representatives / and they're not a hive mind like the conjoiners seem to be becoming
[13:59] Everly Porterfield: ah, had that backwards
[13:59] Fleche Xeno: so it's people voting on issues on a contonla basis, high end electronic democracy?
[13:59] Jago Constantine: thats right
[13:59] Fleche Xeno: i've seen that in a few stories
[13:59] Everly Porterfield: Not sure I have...
[13:59] Jago Constantine: in other books its explored a bit more
[13:59] Simeon Bookmite: what is the greater risk?
[13:59] Fleche Xeno: please continue
[13:59] Jago Constantine: for instance it seems that some people have more weight given to their votes / if they consistently make what turns out to be the best decision in retrospect / as determined by computers / AIs
[14:00] Everly Porterfield: oh..hm.
[14:00] Jago Constantine: so one quasi-mythical person has a vote worth 4 votes :P
[14:00] Fleche Xeno: so democracy as a test bed that evolves into an expert-influenced model?
[14:01] Jago Constantine: yes ... well I imagine that a lot of people wouldn't know much about the issues they're voting on
[14:01] Everly Porterfield: so, it's a sci-fi book that makes a political statement.
[14:01] Jago Constantine: that's really just background in this book
[14:01] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[14:01] Jago Constantine: its mostly about the threat of the Inhibitors, and the response to it
[14:01] Roy Smashcan: Ah, which book is this?
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds
[14:01] Roy Smashcan: Ok, thanks
[14:02] Jago Constantine: as I said the Inhibitors are berserker probes / machines that want to destroy intelligent life / they turn up in sci fi now and then / Reynold's interesting take / on the subject is that they are not simply destroying civilizations / for the sake of it, but only doing it as a temporary measure until after / a great catastrophe 3 billion years in the future
[14:03] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[14:03] Jago Constantine: after that their job will be done and life can flourish / of course that's no comfort for humans right now lol
[14:04] Quin Jules: lol one would imagine not
[14:04] Everly Porterfield: /me grins.
[14:04] Jago Constantine: anyway, it's an enjoyable book - one of the better ones in the series I think
[14:04] Everly Porterfield: /me smiles.
[14:04] Jago Constantine: because of the revelations about the inhibitors, and seeing them in action when they reach the first solar system in human space
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: what is human space or am i being bart simpson today again
[14:05] Jago Constantine: the novels are quite dark and gritty if you like that kind of sci fi / that is the part of the galaxy where humans are :)
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: ah
[14:05] Simeon Bookmite: hi Bart
[14:05] Jago Constantine: lol / ok that's my reading / Eddi - did you read anything?
[14:05] Everly Porterfield: thanks Jago
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: I have been reading alot of alternative history
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: but i cannot figure somethinng out
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: and i am wriging my own now
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: writing
[14:06] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: can i ask the group a question?
[14:06] Jago Constantine: sure!
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: in alternative history
[14:06] Everly Porterfield: /me listens.
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: and i cannot remember the exact name it was a footnote
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: there are two schools of thought
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: 1.
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: if in the past events changed
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: such as in britain in May 1940 when Churchill took over as Prime Minister from Chamberlain
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: it almost went to Lord Halifax who was ready to cut a deal with the Germans for peace
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: right
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: if THAT happened one school of thought holds that the future would be very different
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: a second school of thought holds
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: that at some point, if an event in the past changed
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: everything would turn out to be the same in the end at nth point of time
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: what are they talking about?
[14:07] Everly Porterfield: course correcting
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: how can someone say that
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: can you explain to me
[14:07] Quin Jules: I think it has to do with how influential the event is.
[14:07] Jago Constantine: well they're talking about how determined history is
[14:08] Everly Porterfield: nod
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: I think we need to make a distinction between needing to change some historilca precedent
[14:08] Jago Constantine: predetermined
[14:08] Eddi Haskell: only God can do that right
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: to use the alternate historical as a background
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: vs. examinigng history
[14:08] Eddi Haskell: yeah
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: by changing causal points
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: to create potential historical narrative
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: I think there' is the great confusion
[14:08] Jago Constantine: Well in a materialistic universe things are theoretically determined by the previous physical states / (barring quantum effects)
[14:08] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Eppie
[14:08] Simeon Bookmite: they say that economic abd social pressures have more influence than indivuals
[14:08] Eddi Haskell: hi eppie!
[14:08] Fleche Xeno: One book I recommend is Focult's Pendalum
[14:09] Fleche Xeno: it's a great novel
[14:09] Everly Porterfield: and we do not know what things are happening behind the scenes.
[14:09] Eddi Haskell: oh great
[14:09] Everly Porterfield: love that book
[14:09] Fleche Xeno: about how our mind can reinteerpte history
[14:09] Fleche Xeno: and how conspiracy theory are created, not ot crate alternate universe
[14:09] Fleche Xeno: but to undermine our understanding of the commonly agreed upon causes.
[14:09] Fleche Xeno: and ,thsu, shift our mind about how we preceive theworld.
[14:09] Everly Porterfield: hm
[14:10] Fleche Xeno: a conspraicy theory doesn't change the historicla fact
[14:10] Fleche Xeno: but links them with an alternative causal theory
[14:10] Fleche Xeno: while an alternate history changesthe hoistorical facts
[14:10] Fleche Xeno: to play with ideology
[14:10] Eddi Haskell: i can understand what you are saying
[14:10] Eddi Haskell: i get it i think
[14:10] Jago Constantine: anyway basically Eddi / I think both schools of thought are correct at different times / individual changes can have great consequences / or not
[14:11] Fleche Xeno: conspiracy theory is psychology. alternate history is mix some whale bones with t-rex bones
[14:11] Quin Jules: depending on what other events hinge on those
[14:11] Fleche Xeno: and create a new creature.
[14:11] Jago Constantine: say if hitler had died in WWII
[14:11] Everly Porterfield: or maybe someone is writing history and we'll never know it because we're only the characters in the book
[14:11] Jago Constantine: WWI I mean
[14:11] Fleche Xeno: with conspiracy theory, you only swtich the bons around. but you can't take any away.
[14:11] Jago Constantine: the stage was set for fascism to arise in europe perhaps / so maybe there would have been a war similar to WWII
[14:11] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[14:11] Quin Jules: but perhaps not on the level of WWII
[14:11] Roy Smashcan: Maybe we're all just characters on the screen in some online game O_o
[14:11] Everly Porterfield: /me grins.
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: one book I recomend on alterate history, The Polish Policemen's Union, by michael chabon
[14:12] Eddi Haskell: roy i have often thought that
[14:12] Jago Constantine: say maybe the communists would have taken over in Germany instead
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: it's an alterant history
[14:12] Simeon Bookmite: New ideas that gain influence have more effect than an individual character i think.
[14:12] Quin Jules: lol We're all a massly huge game of the Sims God is playing right now
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: but the alt hist is background.
[14:12] Jago Constantine: well that might be a big change now lol
[14:12] Eddi Haskell: yiddish i think it is
[14:12] Jago Constantine: yes, yiddish :)
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: yes, yiddish
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: I was reading about wiki entry on wwii book you gusy mentioned
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: and got piroski on my mind
[14:12] Fleche Xeno: the chabon book is a great example of alternate history as backgournd
[14:13] Roy Smashcan: The Chabon book was a Hugo winner in 2008.
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: yah
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: chabon used alternate history to create a society that is in transiotn
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: its' like chinatown, the movie, using the owen vallye water theft, as backgrond
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: but it makes the plot more interesting
[14:13] Everly Porterfield: /me nods...although none of that is familiar.
[14:13] Jago Constantine: ok Eddi did we answer your question?
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: I think a true alterante history book is
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: Pride and Prejudice, with zombies.
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: well , the question cannot be answered but you explained it well! thanks!
[14:13] Quin Jules: lol!
[14:13] Simeon Bookmite: alternate history should cast a differnt light on our present
[14:13] Judi Newall: Sorry, major crash, I'll try again to make another meeting! Excuse me pls
[14:13] Fleche Xeno: there, the alternate history is central to the story.
[14:14] Everly Porterfield: /me grins.
[14:14] Jago Constantine: bye judi!
[14:14] Everly Porterfield: bye judi
[14:14] Simeon Bookmite: bye
[14:14] Quin Jules: bye judi! hope your computer behaves!
[14:14] Jago Constantine: kghia - have you been reading any sci fi?
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: I have all these notes and I will be writing a story that I will ditribute
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: i love to write
[14:14] Kghia Gherardi: I haven't. Just following the conversation today
[14:14] Jago Constantine: ok cool ... simeon?
[14:14] Quin Jules: e-high five to fellow writer!
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: lol
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: historians seem to thing
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: the emman telegram
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: i think it is called that
[14:14] Simeon Bookmite: I read Sly Mongoose by Tobaias Buckell
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: which caused the franco prussian war
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: is crucial sorry simone
[14:15] Jago Constantine: how was it?
[14:15] Everly Porterfield: Sly Mongoose, I've not heard of that either.
[14:15] Everly Porterfield: /me listens
[14:15] Simeon Bookmite: very good
[14:15] Everly Porterfield: /me nods...
[14:16] Simeon Bookmite: it is set on floating citys above a planet similar to venus
[14:16] Simeon Bookmite: one of the power groups sounds very similar to your Demarchists
[14:16] Jago Constantine: cool / hehe
[14:17] Everly Porterfield: so many sci-fi books are really political in nature I think. I wonder if that's really true of MOST books.
[14:17] Everly Porterfield: (in some way or another)
[14:17] Jago Constantine: well humans are political animals :P
[14:17] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[14:17] Quin Jules: true that. :)
[14:18] Simeon Bookmite: It is very much space opera
[14:38] Simeon Bookmite: and the best thing I have read by Buckell
[14:38] Jago Constantine: is it his latest book?
[14:38] Everly Porterfield: I don't know much about sci-fi, what's space opera? that's the 2nd time I heard the phrase today.
[14:39] Jago Constantine: space opera is like ... star wars
[14:39] Simeon Bookmite: Pepper the guy who turns up in a lot of his stories
[14:39] Everly Porterfield: /me nods.
[14:39] Jago Constantine: its science fiction on a grand scale / with lots of dramatic storylines
[14:39] Everly Porterfield: oh...hm.
[14:39] Simeon Bookmite: and generally sjhoots all the badies while everyone else gets on with the plot
[14:40] Everly Porterfield: /me listens to Simeon.
[14:40] Simeon Bookmite: finds that he has to play the the politics game this time
[14:40] Simeon Bookmite: to become a Sly mongoose
[14:40] Everly Porterfield: /me smiles.
[14:40] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:41] Simeon Bookmite: some body has launched a bio weapon that turns people into group Minded Zombies
[14:41] Simeon Bookmite: at the planet
[14:42] Jago Constantine: wow
[14:42] Simeon Bookmite: Pepper has to get the oposition organised work out the real target.
[14:43] Everly Porterfield: Oh Dear, I'm sorry, but RL just called me up. Sorry to interrupt Simeon. Thank you for the talk Jago.
[14:43] Jago Constantine: no worries / come again next week!
[14:43] Simeon Bookmite: nice effects allways important in s space opera
[14:43] Jago Constantine: thanks simeon :) / Roy - have you read any sci fi lately?
[14:44] Simeon Bookmite: with good tech ideas not just ray guns and rockets
[14:44] Jago Constantine: oops sorry simeon I thought you were done lol
[14:44] Roy Smashcan: Hmm. Last book I got was The Trade of Queens by Charles Stross. It's the wrapup of his Merchant Princes series.
[14:44] Simeon Bookmite: sm now
[14:44] Jago Constantine: oh I didn't like that series :P / what did you think?
[14:45] Roy Smashcan: I quite like it - but I'm a fan of all his writing.
[14:45] Jago Constantine: this was a bit too fantasy for my liking
[14:45] Roy Smashcan: I liked the way he set up the whole medieval thing then ripped it apart.
[14:46] Jago Constantine: heh / that reminds me of the connecticut yankee in king Arthur's court
[14:46] Roy Smashcan: Well, I quite like fantasy - but there's too much "Extruded Fantasy Product" out there.
[14:46] Jago Constantine: true
[14:46] Quin Jules: No kidding.
[14:46] Jago Constantine: thanks roy
[14:46] Eddi Haskell: hey I got a bunch of speedos like that at junglewear
[14:46] Jago Constantine: Quin - what have you read lately
[14:47] Quin Jules: I think the last one I read was sort of scfi/horror
[14:47] Quin Jules: It was "I have no mouth and I must scream"
[14:47] Jago Constantine: oh nice
[14:47] Quin Jules: Bad reading for the middle of the night, let me tell you XD
[14:47] Jago Constantine: harlan ellison
[14:47] Quin Jules: I really enjoyed it.
[14:47] Jago Constantine: yes me too
[14:47] Quin Jules: I hadn't read much by him, but I really like that one.
[14:48] Jago Constantine: yeah Its one of my favourites of his
[14:48] Quin Jules: It's got such a great creepy ambiance. So good. :)
[14:48] Jago Constantine: basically its about an AI that wipes out the human race except for a few survivors / and lets see ... / I forget how it works
[14:49] Quin Jules: And the AI has worked it out so that he can keep them alive and tortured forever.
[14:49] Jago Constantine: is it insane because its stuck where it is? I forget
[14:49] Quin Jules: It was developed during the Cold War and got fed up with how ridiculous and illogical the humans were being.
[14:49] Fleche Xeno: sounds like Matrix with a BDSM bent.
[14:49] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:49] Quin Jules: So it took over all the other AI's like it and blew the planet and the human race to kingdom come save for five people.
[14:50] Quin Jules: lol!
[14:50] Eddi Haskell: i have to go see my mom she called me bye eveyrone see ya next week!
[14:50] Jago Constantine: cya eddi babe
[14:50] Quin Jules: bye!
[14:50] Quin Jules: :)
[14:50] Jago Constantine: thanks quin! / eppie - have you read any science fiction lately?
[14:50] Quin Jules: np. :)
[14:51] Eppie Shoreman: not lately
[14:51] Jago Constantine: thats ok :) / Fleche? / ok folks / I think its about time to finish up anyway :)
[14:53] Simeon Bookmite: uep iur hour ts up
[14:53] Fleche Xeno: yeah
[14:53] Fleche Xeno: sorry. :)
[14:53] Jago Constantine: thanks for coming!
[14:53] Fleche Xeno: just in middle of galileo's dream. :)
[14:53] Kghia Gherardi: he is such a clock watcher. :D
[14:53] Jago Constantine: next week we'll be listening to a podcast short story again / hehe I go to breakfast on sunday mornings :)
[14:53] Quin Jules: Is this every week around now?
[14:53] Jago Constantine: I'm in Australia / yes every week at 2pm saturday SL time
[14:53] Simeon Bookmite: yes an hour every week
[14:53] Quin Jules: cool! I think I'll make this a habit. :)
[14:53] Quin Jules: It was really nive talking to you guys.
[14:53] Quin Jules: *nice
[14:54] Jago Constantine: glad you liked it! / bye folks!
[14:54] Quin Jules: See you next week! :)
[14:54] Simeon Bookmite: yes!

3 April 2010: 'Eight Episodes' by Robert Reed

[13:51] Jago Constantine: hi, kara :) / hey babe!
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: hi!
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: still rezzing
[13:55] Jago Constantine: ok / Hi, Eppie, welcome :)
[13:59] Eddi Haskell: hi eppie
[13:59] Jago Constantine: Welcome Neal! / Hey Paolo!
[14:00] Neal Herriat: hi Jago
[14:00] Paolo Alfa: hello Jago, everyone
[14:00] Neal Herriat: relogging
[14:01] Eddi Haskell: sl has been hard today
[14:01] Eddi Haskell: many people have to relog
[14:02] Jago Constantine: ok so if you have your music streams on you should hear some piano music at the moment / if you can all hear it, I'll start the story :)
[14:02] Neal Herriat: /me nods
[14:03] Jago Constantine: Eddi? / Paolo? / Eppie?
[14:03] Paolo Alfa: yea
[14:03] Eppie Shoreman: I can't hear you.
[14:03] Paolo Alfa: moonlight sonata
[14:04] Neal Herriat: very nice
[14:04] Eppie Shoreman: oh is the music still on? okay
[14:04] Jago Constantine: yes / ok I'll start the playback :) / As usual, we're listening to an episode of the Escape Pod Podcast / it should begin soon :P
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: yes jago?
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Can you hear the music stream?
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:08] Jago Constantine: he's one of my favourite writers too :) / lol / Hi, Pookrucker, we're listening to a story on the music stream
[14:13] Pookrucker Guyot: oh cool im just exploring
[14:13] Neal Herriat: excuse rl
[14:13] Jago Constantine: ok / hey rhiannon! / the story has already begun
[14:15] Rhiannon Dragoone: hi Jago!
[14:16] Rhiannon Dragoone: awww. I was afraid of that
[14:16] Rhiannon Dragoone: and my bandwidth won't support sound
[14:16] Jago Constantine: http://media.rawvoice.com/escapepod/media.libsyn.com/media/escapepod/EP107_EightEpisodes.mp3 / you can download it there / :)
[14:16] Rhiannon Dragoone: i tried to IM you, but ur not on my friends list for some reason
[14:17] Rhiannon Dragoone: ok, i'll download it
[14:17] Jago Constantine: oh sorry I might have cleaned you out without thinking ... I go through my list regularly
[14:18] Rhiannon Dragoone: yeah, and i've not been able to come to your meetings
[14:18] Rhiannon Dragoone: but that should change
[14:18] Rhiannon Dragoone: :)
[14:18] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:19] Rhiannon Dragoone: web browser is not opening; can't be in sl and download it
[14:19] Jago Constantine: aw ok
[14:19] Rhiannon Dragoone: i'll copy and paste the link and listen to it later.
[14:19] Rhiannon Dragoone: thanks
[14:21] Jago Constantine: hi, roxette ... we're listening to a story on the audio channel
[14:21] Rhiannon Dragoone: i'll be here next week
[14:21] Rhiannon Dragoone: enjoy
[14:21] Roxette Zane: hi, what book is this
[14:22] Jago Constantine: its a story called eight episodes, by robert reed
[14:22] Roxette Zane: thank you
[14:23] Jago Constantine: hi, mir... we're listening to a story on the audio channel
[14:24] Mir Nirvana: hi, trying to connect
[14:33] Jago Constantine: cool story :) / is everyone finished?
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: yes i did!
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: i liked it
[14:34] Jago Constantine: There wasn't much of a plot to it ... it was basically a description of the show wasn't it
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: it did not have a deeper meaning?
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: i was looking for a deeper meaning
[14:35] Jago Constantine: well it was about the concepts I think
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: like the ultiate redemption of tory spelling
[14:35] Paolo Alfa: a story within a story
[14:35] Jago Constantine: I like the way that the show was described
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: so all the story was
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: was a description of a show then
[14:36] Jago Constantine: as being slightly awkward ... like the creators weren't totally familiar with human media / yes lol
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: now it makes snese
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: sense
[14:37] Jago Constantine: and the last line about wet breathing and songs / was the most telling .... / that it was an alien writing it lol
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: the deeper meaning to me was when they were talking about the alien civilization ejecting trillions of pods
[14:37] Jago Constantine: yeah?
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: i thought that was interesting
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: yeah
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: never quite thought of aliens
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: trying to populate the universe virally
[14:38] Jago Constantine: oh yeah
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: but im reading too much into it it is just an interesting thought
[14:38] Jago Constantine: there's a lot of sci fi with machine probes
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: we tend to think that life forms will visit each other in starships
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: deliberately
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: but why not just eject trillions of genomes
[14:39] Jago Constantine: yes ... well I don't think that so I liked this story
[14:39] Eddi Haskell: in hopes that they will take
[14:39] Eddi Haskell: i always read too much into these things lol
[14:39] Jago Constantine: that is called panspermia / the idea that life can spread from planet to planet / either naturally or artificially
[14:40] Eppie Shoreman: take care every one
[14:40] Jago Constantine: you too eppie!
[14:40] Eddi Haskell: im gonna make an avatar alt today with the name panspermia
[14:40] Jago Constantine: I think an alien probe would probably be so advanced that it could make a show that would seem very well made to us lol
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: yes really involving holography
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: time travel
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: glimpses of cosmic events
[14:41] Jago Constantine: unless the amateurish nature of the show was part of the clues it was giving
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: well
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: with any new miedium once it is introduced
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: the intiial failures occur
[14:42] Eddi Haskell: when they mimic the media they are supposed to repleace
[14:42] Eddi Haskell: an alien trying to broadcast in media
[14:42] Eddi Haskell: might see the first broadcasts on televsion
[14:42] Eddi Haskell: the 36 nazi olympics
[14:42] Eddi Haskell: and think that is what the earth is like
[14:42] Jago Constantine: yeah / thats from the novel Contact by Carl Sagan
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: instead of rozeanne barr we have leni riefesnstahl
[14:43] Jago Constantine: the first message from aliens
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: yeah?
[14:43] Jago Constantine: is a picture of hitler
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: oh thats right
[14:43] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: they were the first to broadcast!
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: all these short stories hint at more context
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: i wonder how many short stories are written
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: with the thoughts of turning them into novels
[14:45] Eddi Haskell: this one seems like it would make a great novel
[14:45] Jago Constantine: I wonder / maybe some are written as proposals for publishers / someone could make a machinima of this story in second life / hehe
[14:46] Eddi Haskell: if you did it it wuold get 200,000 hits
[14:46] Eddi Haskell: you have a knack
[14:46] Polygnotos Azemus: u r the book lovers?
[14:47] Jago Constantine: yes, hi, polygnotos
[14:47] Eddi Haskell: im the easter bunny
[14:47] Jago Constantine: we just finished listening to a story
[14:47] Polygnotos Azemus: hi nice to be here
[14:47] Jago Constantine: we have the science fiction meeting every saturday at 2pm / second life time
[14:48] Polygnotos Azemus: just sf?
[14:48] Polygnotos Azemus: no Tolstoi? lol
[14:48] Jago Constantine: I am only the sf guy / if you join the bookstacks group / you will get notices about other genres
[14:49] Polygnotos Azemus: ok! i only know a.c Clark
[14:49] Jago Constantine: cool :)
[14:49] Polygnotos Azemus: wow, beautiful place
[14:49] Jago Constantine: its very friendly looking / ok folks ... next week's meeting we will have a discussion about what we've been reading
[14:50] Polygnotos Azemus: it's really a nice interior to talk about books
[14:50] Polygnotos Azemus: i am impressed
[14:50] Polygnotos Azemus: may i sit down?
[14:50] Jago Constantine: it's a nice pub hehe / sure! / we're just winding up the meeting though
[14:50] Polygnotos Azemus: oh...
[14:50] Jago Constantine: I'm in Australia so I am going to have breakfast
[14:51] Polygnotos Azemus: oops australia
[14:51] Polygnotos Azemus: other side of the world
[14:51] Jago Constantine: yes hehe / I think the next event here is poetry tomorrow at 11am second life time
[14:51] Polygnotos Azemus: wow i like poetry
[14:52] Polygnotos Azemus: reiner maria rilke...
[14:52] Jago Constantine: cool!
[14:52] Polygnotos Azemus: german romantic love poetry\
[14:53] Jago Constantine: cya next week Paolo!
[14:53] Paolo Alfa: nice meeting, really good story, thank you for having it
[14:53] Polygnotos Azemus: u got to be a member of this group?
[14:53] Jago Constantine: if you want to learn more about sci fi, come along next saturday at 2pm Polygnotos :) / you don't have to be / but you will get notices if you are
[14:54] Polygnotos Azemus: ok! ty
[14:54] Eddi Haskell: happy easter Oly
[14:54] Eddi Haskell: poly
[14:54] Polygnotos Azemus: ty!
[14:54] Eddi Haskell: is it cool to call you polly?
[14:54] Polygnotos Azemus: bye sorry i am too late
[14:54] Jago Constantine: thats ok! / bye!