13 February 2010

[13:54] Jago Constantine: Hey, Zobeid :)
[13:55] Zobeid Zuma: Hello
[13:56] Jago Constantine: Hi, Simeon :)
[13:56] Simeon Bookmite: hi there
[13:57] Jago Constantine: hey, metro, leiben
[13:57] Metro Annamemnon: hi!
[13:57] Leiben Lorakeet: Hello Jago, know if we have to turn voice on or anything?
[13:58] Jago Constantine: No, we chat in local for the meeting :)
[13:58] Leiben Lorakeet: great
[13:58] Jago Constantine: brb just getting a drink
[14:00] Egil Milner waits for things to rez.
[14:01] Zobeid Zuma: It can take A While.
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Ok back :) / Thanks for coming, folks! / For those of you who are new, the meeting usually runs as follows / we go round the circle and take turns to discuss what we've read in the genre recently / I usually start, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to read anything this week :P / hehe / I did listen to some podcast stories
[14:03] Mesmer Jericho: hello everyone
[14:03] Leiben Lorakeet: Hello
[14:03] Jago Constantine: hey, mesmer, nika
[14:03] Mesmer Jericho: sorry to barge in ^^
[14:03] Nika Farshore: hello :)
[14:03] Jago Constantine: no worries / are you here for the science fiction meeting?
[14:04] Mesmer Jericho: well, yes ^^
[14:04] Jago Constantine: cool ... welcome :) / we just started
[14:04] Mesmer Jericho: not sure what form it'll take, though? ^^ i'll just hang back and see what you're all up to
[14:04] Jago Constantine: the format is that we go round the circle talking about what we read last
[14:04] Zobeid Zuma: unfortunately. . . I had water invading my work area, so I've spent most of my days running a shop vac instead of reading. :(
[14:05] Jago Constantine: I was just saying I didn't get to read anything but I have been listening to podcast sci fi
[14:05] Mesmer Jericho: alright, sounds neat
[14:05] Jago Constantine: (because next week's meeting we'll be listening to a story) / So I can't really talk about the story :) / So ... Simeon - have you read anything lately?
[14:06] Leiben Lorakeet: Ive been reading classic science fiction this past week
[14:06] Zobeid Zuma: This is a spoiler-free zone. :)
[14:06] Jago Constantine: lol yes zobeid
[14:06] Simeon Bookmite: I Have been listening to the podcast versions of Fledgeling and saltation
[14:06] Jago Constantine: hmm fledgeling?
[14:07] Simeon Bookmite: by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
[14:07] Simeon Bookmite: I will be inerviewing them her tommorrow for our pudcast
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Oh, cool / what is it about?
[14:08] Simeon Bookmite: so I had to do some background work:$)
[14:08] Simeon Bookmite: saltation comes out next month.
[14:08] Simeon Bookmite: fledgling came out in september
[14:08] Simeon Bookmite: from Baen
[14:09] Jago Constantine: Hi, RihaNa, welcome :)
[14:09] Simeon Bookmite: mostly they are back story for the liaden Universe
[14:09] Metro Annamemnon: hi, paolo!
[14:10] Jago Constantine: Ok... I haven't read any liaden books
[14:10] Paolo Alfa: hello all
[14:10] Zobeid Zuma: There's a big faction of Liaden fans in SL. . . I'd never heard of those books until I came here.
[14:10] Mesmer Jericho: hey paolo
[14:10] Zobeid Zuma: And still haven't gotten around to reading any.
[14:10] Simeon Bookmite: they cover the early years of one of tjhe characters so that we can see how she fits into the overall picture.
[14:11] Jago Constantine: Can you give a bit of an overview of the Liaden universe?
[14:12] Simeon Bookmite: Its pure space opera.
[14:12] Simeon Bookmite: characterisation is good hardware is pretty generic,
[14:13] Simeon Bookmite: Liaden is one of the major human Cultures
[14:13] Simeon Bookmite: terra ia another
[14:14] Jago Constantine: are there aliens?
[14:14] Simeon Bookmite: yes but not in the books I read.
[14:14] Jago Constantine: heh ok
[14:15] Simeon Bookmite: they are I gather big slow moving and pretty unstopable.
[14:15] Metro Annamemnon: brb
[14:16] Jago Constantine: ok and what time is your interview tomorrow?
[14:16] Simeon Bookmite: 1 PM in the podcast studio
[14:17] Jago Constantine: cool :)
[14:17] Simeon Bookmite: I will put out a LM before hand
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Simeon :) / Ok, Leiben ... have you read anything good lately? / You there? / Hi, Richard, welcome :)
[14:19] Leiben Lorakeet: oops sorry was afk, Just finished the foundation series.
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Ah, nice / all the books, or the original foundation series?
[14:20] Leiben Lorakeet: The original, Yeah so there are some newer ones i have not read yet, but it is neat to go back, and for its time it still holds up well
[14:21] Jago Constantine: We were just talking a few weeks ago about the reasons Asimov created a human-only setting
[14:22] Simeon Bookmite: was never tempted by the later ones
[14:22] Leiben Lorakeet: yes? I liked that about them.
[14:22] Zobeid Zuma: Why was it, I wonder?
[14:23] Jago Constantine: From memory, John W Campbell didn't like stories where aliens were more advanced than humans / or defeated them / Something like that
[14:23] Simeon Bookmite: yeah as i said hard to sell stories where welose
[14:23] Mesmer Jericho: i have to admit i liked it also. there's often sort of an automatic assumption that aliens are part of space.
[14:24] Jago Constantine: Yes / I'm something of a contact pessimist
[14:24] Zobeid Zuma: This is something I've thought about. . .
[14:24] Leiben Lorakeet: Wow, thats not why i liked that. Well star wars kinda stole the empire from the foundation series, but in starwars i always thought it was unrealistic that all those aliens would share a government
[14:25] Zobeid Zuma: I'd like to see a setting where there are only humans at first, but then we spread out and create new species. . . We become the "progenitors" if you will.
[14:25] Jago Constantine: None of the aliens in star wars are really *alien* though
[14:25] Zobeid Zuma: Is anyone aware of a setting like that, I wonder?
[14:25] Mesmer Jericho: and also, like you mentioned, that they are superior to humans. i wonder why that is? because we tend to view ourselves as being inherently inferior?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: zobeid - I think there are
[14:25] Simeon Bookmite: nods just guys in suits
[14:25] Jago Constantine: maybe cordwainer smith's books
[14:26] Zobeid Zuma: David Brin came close with this stories about uplifted species. . . But he posited a galaxy already full of them by the time humans appear.
[14:26] Jago Constantine: Well the idea of there being superior aliens is a consequence of the age of the cosmos
[14:26] Simeon Bookmite: nods strange author cordwainer
[14:26] Jago Constantine: aliens could have evolved aeons before us
[14:27] Egil Milner logs off to head home. "If I get there in time, I'll return."
[14:27] Mesmer Jericho: and then exploded aeons ago ^^ but i see your point.
[14:27] Paolo Alfa: They're almost certainly are aliens, but whether we'll have much to do with them is something else, or them with us.
[14:28] Zobeid Zuma: I think it's very questionable whether there are other civilizations already in our own galaxy. . . meaning, anywhere near enough for us to ever encounter them.
[14:28] Zobeid Zuma: But it's so uncertain, it's perfectly plausible to write stories either way.
[14:28] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:28] Simeon Bookmite: think civilisation is a human concept
[14:28] Jago Constantine: I sometimes wonder what would happen to sci fi if we ever meet aliens / I mean, as a genre / how can you write stories when you *know* what's out there
[14:29] Zobeid Zuma: I think Larry Niven did do a good job with his aliens in the Known Space and Ringworld series. . . They weren't just suits.
[14:29] Mesmer Jericho: well, it'd just be fiction? ^^
[14:29] Jago Constantine: yes LOL / thriller novels
[14:30] Zobeid Zuma: No matter how much is known, there always will be unknown too. :)
[14:30] Mesmer Jericho: the genre would spread out into different genres, like crime novels ("the martian on the balcony"), romance ("while you were hibernating") and so on...
[14:30] Leiben Lorakeet: If we did, im sure it would open a whole new genre of science fiction exploring our new neighbhors.
[14:30] Richard Ghostaltar: Isn't the key word "science"?
[14:31] Richard Ghostaltar: SF doesn't need aliens
[14:31] Jago Constantine: true / Ok ... Mesmer, what have you been reading lately?
[14:32] Simeon Bookmite: mm you can some up most of Niven's aliens in a few pages. which i dont think you should bevable to withany alien with depth
[14:32] Mesmer Jericho: well, actually... i haven't been reading sf in a while - that's part of why i thought i'd stop by here, see what's being read
[14:32] Jago Constantine: no worries :)
[14:32] Mesmer Jericho: so unless you want to hear my other books, i'll respectfully pass ^^
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Ok, Paolo - would you like to talk about something you've read lately?
[14:33] Paolo Alfa: I've just gotten about halfway thru Snow Crash
[14:33] Jago Constantine: nice :)
[14:34] Paolo Alfa: And I'm going to start One Hundred Years of Solitude today. Is that fantasy?
[14:34] Jago Constantine: Yes / So how are you finding Snow Crash?
[14:35] Brekka Sveiss: Thanks for the invite Jago
[14:36] Paolo Alfa: I like it, but don't quite understand it
[14:36] Jago Constantine: Which parts?
[14:37] Paolo Alfa: It's hard to tell what's real and what's virtual
[14:37] Paolo Alfa: which I think is the whole idea
[14:38] Jago Constantine: hmm ok ... from memory the virtual aspects are pretty clear / I haven't read it for a while though / one hundred years of solitude will be very different to follow it :)
[14:39] Paolo Alfa: yes, i started it once, heavy going really
[14:40] Paolo Alfa: but I hear it's the best of Magical realism, and arent' the Twilight books that?
[14:40] Jago Constantine: um no / hehe / I would describe them as paranormal romance
[14:41] Paolo Alfa: But they treat vampires as real, I mean as they would really act, not like scary monsters
[14:42] Jago Constantine: sure / but I think the genre of magical realism is more surreal
[14:42] Simeon Bookmite: Umm vampire are scary monsters
[14:42] Jago Constantine: the twilight milieu is fairly consistent
[14:42] Zobeid Zuma: I like for vampires to be scary monsters.
[14:42] Jago Constantine: even science fictional in that there is a rational explanation for vampirism
[14:42] Paolo Alfa: well, yes, but they wouldn't try to appear as such, that
[14:43] Metro Annamemnon: i read once that magical realism comes from thetransposition of the catholic church onto native belief systems.
[14:43] Jaen Wirefly: do you think most sci-fi is geered toward young adults?
[14:43] Mesmer Jericho: magic realism seems like when you infuse the "real world" with a kind of subtle mysticism? whereas twilight is just vampires all around, no questions asked - another reality, not a different perception of reality...
[14:43] Mesmer Jericho: (blah blah blah, that was long, sorry)
[14:43] Jago Constantine: Wikipedia: Magic realism, or magical realism, is an aesthetic style in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or even "normal" setting.
[14:44] Simeon Bookmite: nods well said mesmer
[14:44] Metro Annamemnon: i think it's a way of thinking, of giving realism another layer of meaning.
[14:44] Simeon Bookmite: magic realism can and does merge with fantasy
[14:44] Jago Constantine: You'll see when you read 100 years of solitude / how magical it is
[14:45] Metro Annamemnon: like a natural disaster being the hand of god.
[14:45] Simeon Bookmite: but its less defined
[14:45] Metro Annamemnon: or alien visitation being another face of god :)
[14:46] Jago Constantine: Here's a good example - the woody allen movie Purple Rose of Cairo ... where the character comes out of the movie screen
[14:46] Jaen Wirefly: great movie btw
[14:46] Jago Constantine: no explanation or anything, it's a given
[14:47] Simeon Bookmite: inexplicable things happening and being accepted is magic realism for me, most fantasy
[14:47] Paolo Alfa: I've got to see that
[14:47] Simeon Bookmite: the inexplicable is explained
[14:47] Jago Constantine: yes its systemic simeon
[14:47] Metro Annamemnon: or, put another way maybe, the inexplicable is taken for granted.
[14:47] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:48] Jaen Wirefly: fantasy, sci-fi and horror almost always overlap
[14:48] Jago Constantine: sure there are blurred boundaries
[14:48] Metro Annamemnon: these days, surely.
[14:48] Metro Annamemnon: before i always though of fantasy as very Campbell-esque.
[14:48] Jago Constantine: hmm campbellesque?
[14:49] Metro Annamemnon: Joseph Campbell-esque.
[14:49] Jago Constantine: oh I get it / I was just talking about John W Campbell so I got confused
[14:49] Metro Annamemnon: The Hero's Quest.
[14:49] Simeon Bookmite: "some one comes to town some one leaves town" Big, Little lots of New weird.
[14:50] Jago Constantine: I thought 'someone comes to town' was a little contrived seeming / forced
[14:50] Simeon Bookmite: anythiong buy an author who gets hewr ideas from a dream diary :%0
[14:50] Metro Annamemnon: I haven't read that.
[14:50] Jago Constantine: its by cory doctorow
[14:50] Simeon Bookmite: still the world worst typist.
[14:50] Metro Annamemnon: Is Jeff Vandermeer doing an anthology on The New Weird? Or is that somebody else?
[14:51] Jago Constantine: the protagonist's father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine / new weird is different again
[14:51] Jaen Wirefly: wow that is bizzare
[14:51] Jago Constantine: yeah but the symbolism seems a little heavy handed
[14:51] Simeon Bookmite: yeah and forced as jago said
[14:51] Metro Annamemnon: Sorry, i might be losing the thread here :)
[14:52] Jago Constantine: no worries metro
[14:53] Simeon Bookmite: just saying fantasy does not have to follow quest motifies, or ghost motifs for that matter
[14:54] Simeon Bookmite: urban fantast can take on magicrealim elements
[14:54] Metro Annamemnon: What do you think a 'new' definition of fantasy would be? It HAS gotten blurry.
[14:54] Paolo Alfa: what is the title of this book? with the protagonist washing machine and mountain?
[14:54] Zobeid Zuma: Fantasy isn't what it used to be.
[14:55] Jago Constantine: Someone comes to town, someone leaves town / by Cory Doctorow
[14:55] Metro Annamemnon: SciFi is different, too.
[14:55] Paolo Alfa: thank you
[14:55] Jago Constantine: Wikipedia again: Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting.
[14:55] Simeon Bookmite: nods but both have always changed
[14:55] Jago Constantine: that's very broad isn't it :P
[14:56] Metro Annamemnon: My old definition of scifi would have just encompassed hard scifi and that's no longer appropriate.
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Sure ... there's lots of great sci fi outside the hard stuff
[14:57] Simeon Bookmite: lord Dunsey had little in common with fritz leiber or george macdonald Fantasy has always attrated oddballs
[14:58] Jago Constantine: mervyn peake
[14:58] Zobeid Zuma: I read somewhere once that fantasy worked by presenting readers with the familiar, and SF by presenting the unfamiliar. But if that was ever true, it's totally broken down now.
[14:58] Leora Darkstone: how is sci fi different today?
[14:59] Simeon Bookmite: its broadened i think.
[14:59] Metro Annamemnon: I think it's a much broader category, only loosely based on science spec.
[14:59] Leora Darkstone: From just space opers?
[14:59] Simeon Bookmite: during the fifties it was defined by american magazines
[14:59] Leora Darkstone: sorry operas?
[14:59] Simeon Bookmite: nowadays there is awide range of influences
[15:00] Jago Constantine: Sorry, folks, it's 3.00pm I have to log now ...
[15:00] Metro Annamemnon: i fell in love with it in the early 60's. it was pretty hard scifi spec fiction.
[15:00] Leora Darkstone: I think the biggest changes I have seen is de emphasis on hard science
[15:00] Jago Constantine: thanks for a great discussion ... feel free to hang around and keep talking :)
[15:00] Mesmer Jericho: bye bye, jago
[15:00] Zobeid Zuma: Well, the whole computer revolution and cyberpunk genre totally changed the focus of SF.
[15:00] Leora Darkstone: bye jago
[15:00] Paolo Alfa: thanks for haviing it ,bye
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Next week we're listening to an audio story, so please do come along for that!
[15:01] Metro Annamemnon: thank you, Jago.
[15:01] Zobeid Zuma: I'll be here.
[15:01] Metro Annamemnon: What's the story?
[15:01] Jago Constantine: hehe I'll send a group notice out during the week when I pick it :)
[15:02] Metro Annamemnon: Enjoyed it. Bye!
[15:02] Simeon Bookmite: space opera is works where people run around with rayguns and fly spqace ships and nobody feels any need to explain the science, but are glad of an excuse to fight

28 February 2009: Liberation Square

[14:03] Jago Constantine: So, have you read anything this week?
[14:03] Lewis Luminos: finished Perdido Street Station / omg what an ending / poor Lin / and poor Yag too :(
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Yeah ... / Harsh stuff
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: definitely not a happy ending
[14:04] Jago Constantine: He's not a happy ending kind of writer
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: and then I read something esle that wasn;t science fiction at all
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:04] Jago Constantine: GET OUT!
[14:04] Jago Constantine: just kidding
[14:04] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:05] Jago Constantine: What was it?
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: The Piano
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Was there a movie of that?
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: yes but I've not seen it / I intend to now
[14:05] Jago Constantine: I think I've seen parts of it anyway
[14:05] Lewis Luminos: not my usual sort of book, but I enjoyed it
[14:05] Jago Constantine: or maybe that was a spoof / lol
[14:06] Lewis Luminos is not into chick-flick stuff normally
[14:06] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:06] Jago Constantine: Well, I read Stephen Baxter's 'Space'
[14:06] Lewis Luminos: was it good?
[14:06] Jago Constantine: It was great
[14:07] Jago Constantine: It's really mindblowing cosmological science fiction
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Begins maybe 20 years in the future and goes for 10,000 years lol
[14:07] Lewis Luminos: wow thats some saga
[14:08] Jago Constantine: Yeah... it's told as vignettes from different points in history / As characters travel through hyperspace (kind of) and skip through time in the outside universe / It's written from an interesting angle about the fermi paradox and why we haven't seen any aliens
[14:09] Lewis Luminos: sounds like an interesting approach / oh? what does it say about that?
[14:10] Jago Constantine: yeah it is, it's the second book in a trilogy but it stands alone / that's kind of a spoiler :P
[14:11] Lewis Luminos: I read a few books in the battletech/Mechwarrior universe, and there are no aliens there either
[14:11] Lewis Luminos: but it doesnt detract from it at all.
[14:12] Jago Constantine: This has aliens, and the question is why did they show up now
[14:12] Lewis Luminos: aah
[14:12] Jago Constantine: just when we emerge into a high tech civilisation / because there should have been some around long before us / Anyway, I'd previously read the third novel in the series, and was disappointed / So I'm glad I read them out of order / lol
[14:13] Lewis Luminos: was that because you read them out of order?
[14:14] Jago Constantine: No, I think I would have been disappointed anyway / The third book had some interesting ideas
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: I try to read them in sequence wherever possible
[14:14] Jago Constantine: me too
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: my library annoys me, sometimes they only have one book out of a trilogy
[14:14] Lewis Luminos: usually not the first
[14:15] Jago Constantine: lol I hate that / And noone will borrow that book unless they read the first / so it's pointless
[14:15] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:15] Jago Constantine: I see the same thing in DVD stores / When I look for anime series
[14:15] Lewis Luminos: yeah
[14:15] Jago Constantine: they sold the first disc and have discs 2-12 on the shelf lo
[14:15] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: my daughter collects anime so I'm familiar with that complaint
[14:16] Jago Constantine: Do I want to order it in? No! I want it now or I get something else :P
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: lol
[14:16] Jago Constantine: I just joined netflix or the australian version
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: I never really got into anime much at all
[14:16] Jago Constantine: that's fantastic, the best way to do it
[14:16] Lewis Luminos: I dont have the patience to watch them
[14:17] Jago Constantine: heh they can vary wildly in their quality
[14:17] MT Mimulus: Hi Jago
[14:17] Lewis Luminos: rather read the manga / hi MT
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Hi, rant, hi, MT
[14:17] MT Mimulus: Hello Lewis
[14:17] Lewis Luminos: hi Rant
[14:17] Jago Constantine: Try clicking on the innner edge
[14:17] rant Ugajin: hi
[14:18] Jago Constantine: We're just discussing what we read this week
[14:18] rant Ugajin: sorry to be late
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Lewis finished Perdido Street Station by China Mieville / I read Space by Stephen Baxter
[14:18] rant Ugajin: i came to listen
[14:19] Jago Constantine: That's cool :) / Did we lose MT?
[14:19] rant Ugajin: she went to eat / do you know Dan Simmons?
[14:19] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:19] Jago Constantine: Yes, the last book I read of his was The Terror
[14:19] Lewis Luminos doesn't
[14:19] Jago Constantine: I loved it
[14:19] rant Ugajin: what is his trilogy called? / based on greek myths
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Hmm not sure about a trilogy ... he wrote four books in the Hyperion Cantos
[14:20] rant Ugajin: those are them
[14:20] Jago Constantine: and I think it was two based on the greek myths
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Ilium and Olympos
[14:20] rant Ugajin: yes / must read them again
[14:20] Jago Constantine: I loved the first greek one, but the sequel a bit less
[14:20] Lewis Luminos: ohh. I say Olympos this week in the library
[14:20] rant Ugajin: what did you guys read last?
[14:21] Lewis Luminos: *saw
[14:21] rant Ugajin: is that in world?
[14:21] Lewis Luminos: I read Perdido Street Statiion
[14:21] rant Ugajin: have you talked about it Lewis?
[14:21] Jago Constantine: He can recap :)
[14:21] rant Ugajin: please
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: sure, well its a very gritty urban setting / fairly low-tech world, almost steam-punk-ish
[14:22] Jago Constantine: I would call it steampunk
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: with a classic science fiction theme - bug-hunting / in this case literally
[14:22] rant Ugajin: bug hunting?
[14:22] Jago Constantine: like in alien
[14:22] Lewis Luminos: the heroes are after some giant killer moths
[14:23] Jago Constantine: the plot revolves around hunting a monster / or The Thing
[14:23] Lewis Luminos: whilst dodging the militia and the local drug-gangs / *nods* same sort of theme as Alien, / xcept the setting is an urban city, not a spaceship
[14:23] rant Ugajin: i see
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: anyay. I really enjoyed it
[14:24] Jago Constantine: I recommend the sequel too, I liked it more - The Scar
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: yeah I will have to buy that one I think
[14:24] Lewis Luminos: definitely want to read more about the city
[14:24] Jago Constantine: It's set in a city too, but one made of thousands of ships lashed together
[14:25] Lewis Luminos: oh its not New Crozubon then?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: No, though it has characters from there
[14:25] Lewis Luminos: ooh. :)
[14:26] Jago Constantine: So I read Space by Stephen Baxter / it's a cosmological science fiction novel / looks at big questions about the universe
[14:27] rant Ugajin: wha are the big questions?
[14:27] Jago Constantine: the plot stretches over thousands of years as characters travel through hyperspace / The main one is the fermi paradox - where is everyone? / Why haven't we discovered any trace of aliens / They show up in the book, so the question becomes, why now? Why did they appear just when we did
[14:28] rant Ugajin: we are immortals?
[14:28] Jago Constantine: the characters?
[14:28] rant Ugajin: yes the charachters
[14:28] Jago Constantine: they live a long time because of the hyperspace ... they skip through normal time
[14:29] rant Ugajin: but they live and die
[14:29] Jago Constantine: basically they're being transmitted and reassembled at different places / yes
[14:29] Lewis Luminos: interesting philosophical questions there
[14:29] rant Ugajin: haha
[14:29] Lewis Luminos: about self identity
[14:29] rant Ugajin: ??
[14:30] Jago Constantine: Yeah ... there are lots of cool, big scale effects too / like terraforming the moon and so on / alien invasions / So next I'm going to read an old anthology I picked up ... Galactic Dreamers / edited by Robert Silverberg.
[14:32] rant Ugajin: what is that about Jago?
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Stories by Jack Vance, James Blish, Brian Aldiss, J G Ballard, Cordwainer Smith
[14:32] Jago Constantine: sounds good
[14:32] rant Ugajin: hi boris
[14:32] Jago Constantine: It says it's about / "Visionary" science fiction
[14:33] Lewis Luminos: isn't ALL science fiction "visionary"?
[14:33] rant Ugajin: what does visionary mean in this context?
[14:33] Jago Constantine: yeah, but some more than others
[14:33] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:33] Jago Constantine: wait I'll grab it and check the blurb
[14:33] rant Ugajin: lol
[14:34] rant Ugajin: where's betsy?
[14:34] Jago Constantine: 'for Silverberg ... the best science-fiction stories are visionary and mystical'
[14:34] rant Ugajin: k
[14:34] Lewis Luminos: I would agree with that
[14:34] Jago Constantine: 'offering that transcendental experience that only the best science fiction can provide / I think it's supposed to be mind-expanding :) / I'll let you know how it is next week at the meeting :) / What are you reading next, Lewis?
[14:36] Lewis Luminos: The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
[14:36] Lewis Luminos: set in the near future
[14:36] Jago Constantine: I've never read any of hers :P
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: about a guy who's a genius mathematician
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: well more than that
[14:37] Lewis Luminos: mind like a computer
[14:37] rant Ugajin: i sec brb
[14:37] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh and what does he do?
[14:38] Lewis Luminos: I'm not sure yet, not started reading it
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh ok
[14:38] Lewis Luminos: seems to be somewhat cyberpunk-y, based on the blurb
[14:38] Jago Constantine: Ok
[14:39] Lewis Luminos: talks about a Corporation that he works for
[14:39] Jago Constantine: Anything with corporations sounds a little cyberpunk
[14:39] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:39] Lewis Luminos: *nods* part of the definition :-D
[14:40] Jago Constantine: Oh, if I made a group for Science Fiction Saturday, would you be interested?
[14:43] Jago Constantine: You there?
[14:43] Lewis Luminos: sorry yeah
[14:43] Lewis Luminos: and yes definitely
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Cool :)
[14:44] Lewis Luminos: thanks :)
[14:44] Jago Constantine: I was thinking maybe we could have meetings elsewhere sometimes
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Like at Insilico :)
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Of course, I like to get traffic up on my land lol
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: I have a meeting venue available too
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Oh how did your philosophy group go?
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: not started yet
[14:45] Lewis Luminos: First one next weekend
[14:45] Jago Constantine: ah ok
[14:46] Jago Constantine: What's your venue like?
[14:46] Lewis Luminos: its a garden, with seating,
[14:46] Lewis Luminos: dancefloor, in case anyone wants a party
[14:46] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:47] Jago Constantine: Well, I'm kind of talked out :P
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Less people this week lol
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Fewer
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Got anything else sci fi you want to talk about?
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: these things take time to get into a pattern
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Yeag
[14:48] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:48] Lewis Luminos: ah MT is back
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Oh I watched a sci fi anime called Gasaraki, which was pretty dull
[14:49] Lewis Luminos: maybe she has a book to talk about
[14:49] Jago Constantine: Hi, MT, are you a sci fi reader?
[14:49] Jago Constantine: rant is afk I think
[14:50] Jago Constantine: anyway I don't recommend Gasaraki unless you're into mecha
[14:50] MT Mimulus: Sorry I had to leave
[14:50] Jago Constantine: No worries :)
[14:50] Jago Constantine: Have you read any science fiction lately, MT?
[14:50] MT Mimulus: I'm reading The Algebraist right now
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Cool, Iain Banks
[14:51] Jago Constantine: I liked that one
[14:51] MT Mimulus: Yes. Its very good - funny
[14:51] Jago Constantine: The aliens are whimsical
[14:51] Jago Constantine: the main aliens
[14:51] Lewis Luminos: hehe
[14:51] Lewis Luminos: sounds fun
[14:52] MT Mimulus: It is. A good read
[14:52] Jago Constantine: they have an economy based on kudos
[14:52] MT Mimulus: Sounds familiar, doesn't it
[14:52] Lewis Luminos: yeah but I can't place where from
[14:52] Lewis Luminos: great idea though
[14:53] Jago Constantine: it's like Cory Doctorow's book
[14:53] Jago Constantine: the magic kingdom one
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: like trading favours
[14:53] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:53] Jago Constantine: In that people have power based on their reputation
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: *nods*
[14:53] MT Mimulus: But lacking any logic to the system
[14:53] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:53] Lewis Luminos: ohh I remember where I've come across that idea before
[14:54] MT Mimulus: Whre is that Lewis?
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: Vampire the masquerade. The RPG
[14:54] Jago Constantine: lol really?
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: it all revolves round political intrigue
[14:54] Jago Constantine: how did that work
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: social status
[14:54] Lewis Luminos: depends on who owes you favours
[14:54] Jago Constantine: oh cool
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: the more important the people that owe you, the more important you become
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: thus you rise up the social ladder
[14:55] Lewis Luminos: whilst trying to avoid being staked, of course
[14:56] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:56] MT Mimulus: How often do you hold these discussions, Jago?
[14:57] Jago Constantine: this is the second one
[14:57] Jago Constantine: once a week is the plan
[14:57] MT Mimulus: Is there usually a theme proposed?
[14:57] MT Mimulus: Or I should say, will there be?
[14:57] Jago Constantine: The theme is just sci fi :)
[14:58] Jago Constantine: What we've done is talk about what we each read last, and what we want to read next
[14:58] MT Mimulus: I see
[14:58] Jago Constantine: With some free discussion of course
[14:59] Jago Constantine: I just made a group if you're interested
[14:59] MT Mimulus: Yes
[14:59] Jago Constantine: Although the notices will be in events too
[14:59] MT Mimulus: If I have room
[14:59] Lewis Luminos: and on SL Universe forums :)
[14:59] Jago Constantine: yes, and on SLU
[15:00] Jago Constantine: Thanks for joining :)
[15:00] MT Mimulus: Thanks Jago
[15:00] Jago Constantine: We might have meetings at different locations sometimes
[15:00] Jago Constantine: I was thinking Insilico, the cyberpunk sim
[15:01] MT Mimulus: I haven't been there - should be interesting
[15:01] Jago Constantine: or the museum of robots
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: that would be cool :)
[15:01] MT Mimulus: Yes it would be
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Feel free to post to group chat
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: maybe we should dress the part too
[15:01] Jago Constantine: During the week if you like
[15:01] MT Mimulus: OK
[15:01] Lewis Luminos: ok
[15:02] Jago Constantine: It is a group for discussion after all ;)
[15:02] Jago Constantine: If we meet at an rp place like insilico it would be good to dress the part :)
[15:02] Lewis Luminos: yeah thats what I was thinking
[15:02] Jago Constantine: I will check with the Insilico owner and see if she'd let us meet there
[15:03] MT Mimulus: ok
[15:03] Jago Constantine: they have an out of character bar
[15:03] Jago Constantine: Is rant there, MT? Would he like to join the group?
[15:04] MT Mimulus: I don't think so
[15:04] MT Mimulus: He seems to be away
[15:04] Jago Constantine: Would he be interested in the group?
[15:05] MT Mimulus: I think he is interested in Sci Fi but I don't know about joining a group
[15:05] MT Mimulus: Hello Boris
[15:05] Lewis Luminos: even the dog is trying to wake him up
[15:05] Jago Constantine: heh
[15:05] MT Mimulus: haha
[15:05] Jago Constantine: I just set the group so any of you can invite members
[15:05] Jago Constantine: It's also open enrolment anyway :)
[15:05] MT Mimulus: OK Jago
[15:05] Lewis Luminos: cool, thanks