27 June 2009: Walpole

[13:51] Jago Constantine: hey, purple, welcome :)
[13:51] Purple Baum: hi
[13:51] Jago Constantine: this is our steampunk airship :P
[13:51] Purple Baum: `So let me change into something that matches the decor, brb
[13:52] Jago Constantine: heh ok / eddi put on your suit :P / the one from made men lol
[13:53] Eddi Haskell: oen second
[13:53] Jago Constantine: ok
[13:53] Eddi Haskell: its messed up now / ok
[13:53] Jago Constantine: we can always re-rez the airship / Welcome back :)
[13:53] Purple Baum: I'm back
[13:54] Jago Constantine: cool outfit
[13:54] Purple Baum: Here is my steampunk backpack, it's still a work in progress
[13:54] Jago Constantine: it's great!
[13:54] Jago Constantine: is it a jetpack or for breathing?
[13:54] Jago Constantine: or something else
[13:54] Purple Baum: I am also working on a gun. I just started building it today so it's very basic
[13:55] Purple Baum: It's the powerpack for the gun
[13:55] Jago Constantine: ah cool / it might be tricky connecting the two
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: im gonna log in again
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: im using snowglobe and it is very pretty
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: but
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: i cant figure things out
[13:55] Jago Constantine: Hey, Jack, welcome :)
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: snowglobe looks good / be right back
[13:56] Purple Baum: Yeah. I am pretty new to building so I am still looking for ideas (and tutorials) on how to connect them
[13:56] Jack Ozigard: hi all
[13:56] Jago Constantine: maybe something like lockmeister
[13:56] Jago Constantine: this is our steampunk airship, jack
[13:57] Jago Constantine: feel free to take a seat, both of you :)
[13:57] Purple Baum: ty / Here's the gun
[13:57] Jago Constantine: very nice
[13:58] Jack Ozigard: nice ship :)
[13:58] Jago Constantine: Yeah, it's amazing ... Eddi was given it for free I think
[13:58] Jago Constantine: he did some photography in the creator's vessels
[13:58] Eddi Haskell: back
[13:59] Jago Constantine: Welcome back, Eddi :)
[13:59] Eddi Haskell: snowglobe looks great but it is confusing
[13:59] Eddi Haskell: the new viewer
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: ive come out with two new videos in the past two days
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: one on caledon
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: the steampunk community
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: and one on steampunk airships
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: they are really just photo montages
[14:00] Jago Constantine: hey, melch :)
[14:00] Melch Savon: Hey Everybody!
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Ok, well we can start
[14:01] Jago Constantine: For new attendees - basically, we go 'round the circle and each talk about what we read last
[14:02] Jago Constantine: that's the basic framework but there's a lot of latitude in our conversation :)
[14:02] Melch Savon: We're 300 feet up -- don't you mean altitude?
[14:02] Jago Constantine: lol / I've been reading some of Kevin Anderson's novels
[14:03] Melch Savon: Which novels are those?
[14:03] Jago Constantine: his fat space opera - The Saga of Seven Suns
[14:03] Melch Savon: ah
[14:04] Jago Constantine: I admire the man for being able to write so much
[14:04] Jago Constantine: but he's very workmanlike, I don't think anyone would accuse him of being a poet
[14:05] Purple Baum: This is the same Kevin Aderson that was co-writing the new Dune noverl, right?
[14:05] Jago Constantine: yeah / I really can't forgive him and Brian Herbert for those
[14:06] Purple Baum: I agree
[14:06] Jago Constantine: I've said before in these meetings that Brian Herbert was developing his own, distinct whimsical style
[14:06] Jago Constantine: which I really enjoyed
[14:06] Purple Baum: I enjoyed the first on mostly because of the novelty but after that it was not good
[14:07] Jago Constantine: but obviously the $$$$ were too enticing
[14:07] Purple Baum: *one
[14:07] Purple Baum: I am reading Illium by Dan Simmons
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Great!
[14:07] Jago Constantine: I love it
[14:07] Jago Constantine: How are you finding it?
[14:08] Purple Baum: I'm about a 200 pages in. So far it's interesting
[14:08] Jago Constantine: It's one of my favourites - although I was disappointed by the sequel, Olympos
[14:09] Purple Baum: I enjoyed Hyperion / and most of it's 3 sequels
[14:09] Jago Constantine: for those of you who haven't read it, Ilium is set in the far future
[14:09] Jago Constantine: and somehow in ancient troy
[14:09] Jago Constantine: where the greek gods are real
[14:10] Jago Constantine: welcome, don :)
[14:10] DonJuan Writer: allo
[14:10] Purple Baum: Hello
[14:10] Jago Constantine: is that a new moustache?
[14:11] DonJuan Writer: it's a dali handmedown
[14:11] Jago Constantine: nice
[14:11] Jago Constantine: I liked the hyperion series too, Purple
[14:11] Jago Constantine: but some of Dan Simmons' works I can't get into
[14:12] Jago Constantine: there was one about a retired astronaut, I can't recall the name
[14:12] Jago Constantine: I loved The Terror
[14:12] Jago Constantine: about an expedition to find the northwest passage
[14:13] Jago Constantine: Ok, Eddi - have you read anything this week?
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: sorry
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: phone
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: ok
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: Professor Panini
by Matthew Grigg
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: isa s short story
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: its set in 2028
[14:14] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: and some professor has made a machine
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: that allows you to exchange your thought , actually your brain
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: with someone else
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: so first he tries it on a duck and a dog
[14:14] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: it works but / the dog goes crazy / cause hes a duck / and tries to fly / but ducks cant fly / so / he runs into the maching / machine / before the dog kills himself jumping off the balcony
[14:15] Jago Constantine: so he's chased by a vicious duck dog
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: the nachine / yes
[14:15] Jago Constantine: :)
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: well he has a special machine that makes toasted bagels
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: all he has to go is say
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: buttered sesame
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: and the machine gives you a buttered bagle
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: so
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: he accidentlaly changes minds
[14:16] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: with the machine / and he dont know what to do / so / he gets the maching to call 911
[14:16] Jago Constantine: welcome back, jack
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: the emergency service
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: hi
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: by flinging bagles at the telephone
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: they police come
[14:17] Eddi Haskell: and he keeps on flinging bagels at the police
[14:17] Eddi Haskell: and they cant figutre it out
[14:17] Jack Ozigard: (the region was suddenly gone)
[14:17] Eddi Haskell: so / at the end of the story he accepts his fate / and spends the rest of his life as a butter toaster making bagles for some rich family
[14:17] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:17] Eddi Haskell: iom not making that up / deep hih
[14:18] Jack Ozigard: which book is that eddi?
[14:18] Jago Constantine: that's pretty weird lol
[14:18] Melch Savon: now that is a funny story
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: ill give you the rul
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: url
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: i liked it
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ProfPani724.shtml
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: jago if i had to pick a story to read would it be that one?
[14:19] Jago Constantine: for the group?
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: yes / i thinik it is very me
[14:19] Jago Constantine: it is :P
[14:20] DonJuan Writer: reminds me of red dwarf, there's a manically bored toaster in that
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: yeah / i thought it was an allegory
[14:20] Jago Constantine: yes lol / I like the toaster from red dwarf
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: its my birthday / lol
[14:20] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:20] Jago Constantine: happy birthday again, babe :)
[14:21] Purple Baum: Happy Birthday
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: thanks!
[14:21] Melch Savon: Happy Birthday Eddi -- doing something fun I hope!
[14:21] Jack Ozigard: happy birthday!
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: thanks people
[14:21] Jack Ozigard: I forgot to bring presents
[14:21] DonJuan Writer: I raise my glass to you
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: aww thanks
[14:22] DonJuan Writer: every seven seconds
[14:22] Jago Constantine: lol don
[14:22] Melch Savon: here it is -- bday cake all around
[14:22] Jago Constantine: So, Don - what did you read last?
[14:23] Melch Savon gave you Slice of Birthday Cake.
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] DonJuan Writer: I'm writing at the moment, reading tends to remind me of things I haven't thought of and slow me down
[14:23] Jago Constantine: heh cool cake melch
[14:23] Slice of Birthday Cake whispers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, & Best Wishes
[14:23] Melch Savon: Always be prepared with da props
[14:23] Eddi Haskell: yeah it is
[14:23] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:23] Melch Savon: What are you writing donjuan?
[14:24] DonJuan Writer: working on a sci-fi story about the deepest hole in the world
[14:24] Melch Savon: ... a tunnel to the other side?
[14:24] Jago Constantine: is this a bottomless pit?
[14:25] Melch Savon apologies -- he is doing matrix math at the moment, and his mind is all logical
[14:25] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:25] DonJuan Writer: well, was summising on this, what would happen if one jumped into a tunnel through the world, would you bounce in and out through the different polarity of gravity until you levitated in the middle?
[14:25] Jago Constantine: That's what I assume
[14:25] Melch Savon: Ignoring heat and pressure in the center of a huge gravity well
[14:25] Jago Constantine: Actually, wouldn't the deepest hole only go to the centre? If it went further it would be getting shallower again
[14:25] DonJuan Writer: so, there is a gravitational singularity going on there
[14:26] Melch Savon: There is a centerpoint where the forces balance out
[14:26] DonJuan Writer: where the force balnces out, luke?
[14:26] Jago Constantine: yeah, zero g in the centre
[14:26] Melch Savon: Right
[14:26] Purple Baum: Wouldn't you shoot out from the other side?
[14:27] Melch Savon: Purple, no, because once you go through the center the net pull is back to the center
[14:27] DonJuan Writer: oh, well, it's all an unfolding story, like the Kraken Wakes, about the build up to and the eventual digging
[14:27] Jago Constantine: In Iain Banks' non-culture novel The Algebraist, everyone in the universe uses warp from deep space except for one group who cleverly use it from the core of gas giants where they live
[14:27] Melch Savon: oh, I like that premise
[14:27] DonJuan Writer: cleverness in a darwinian sense there
[14:28] Jago Constantine: that's kind of a spoiler actually, but not too big / so this hole gets dug in your story? / that would be a monumental effort
[14:30] Jack Ozigard: it reminds me of the hollow earth theory though
[14:30] Jago Constantine: yes ... journey to the centre of the earth
[14:30] DonJuan Writer: yes, it's a desperate measure to solve a problem... don't ask me more 'cause it aint writted yet
[14:30] Jago Constantine: this is beyond the centre of the earth :P / Ok, Melch - your turn :)
[14:31] Melch Savon: This week I re-listened to the original Hitchiker Guide to the Galaxy radio broadcasts
[14:31] Jago Constantine: nice
[14:31] DonJuan Writer: oh, had those on lp as a kid
[14:31] Melch Savon: Everyone here is probably familiar with them, but I still think they are the best telling of the story
[14:31] Jago Constantine: I like the books best :P
[14:32] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:32] Melch Savon: Arthur Dent remains beautifully clueless
[14:32] DonJuan Writer: if the radio series is the same as the lp's, I agree with you melch
[14:32] Melch Savon: Beyond that, I noted that the USA gave us Indiana Jones with a big whip; the Brits gave us Doctor Who with a big scarf (Tom Baker). I am wondering how to interpret that
[14:33] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:33] Jack Ozigard: lol
[14:33] Jago Constantine: Was the scarf ever used as a weapon?
[14:33] Jago Constantine: I mean more than for tripping or blinding people
[14:33] Melch Savon: no, but often as a tool
[14:33] Purple Baum: USA also gave yes Yogurt with a big schwartz
[14:33] Purple Baum: *us
[14:33] DonJuan Writer: as a segue, an american invited me (a brit) to his fourth of july picnic... my Russian friend said, "Was he too cheap to rent a clown?"
[14:34] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:34] Melch Savon: flip switches from a distance without exposing yourself to the laser ray, that sort of thing
[14:34] Jago Constantine: that's a good line I might use that
[14:34] Melch Savon: donjuan, we have presidents to play that role every day of the year
[14:34] Jago Constantine: I can totally see Tom Baker strangling someone with a scarg
[14:34] Jago Constantine: f
[14:34] Melch Savon: doctor who -- serial murderer
[14:34] DonJuan Writer: what? I thought there had been a change?!? ;)
[14:35] Jago Constantine: the perfect crime
[14:35] Jago Constantine: locked room mysteries are easy with a tardis
[14:35] Melch Savon: Same basic policies, same general disillusionment, some destruction of the dollar. No, not really much of a change.
[14:36] DonJuan Writer: There is a new president called Obama, who came claiming change to the drama, there's a stock-market crash, so he's printed some cash, now we're pinning our hopes on his karma
[14:36] DonJuan Writer: boom-boom
[14:36] Melch Savon thinks that might be an amusing bit of fan fiction -- Dr. Who, aka Jack the Ripper?
[14:36] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:37] Melch Savon: Pretty much. Started printing money Bush's last term, went into overdrive under Obama
[14:37] Melch Savon: anyways that was it for me this week
[14:37] Jago Constantine: The Doctor was seen at the garden party at the same time as the murders occurred ... so he has an alibi
[14:37] DonJuan Writer: but an enjoyable limmerick, noe-the-less?
[14:37] Melch Savon: *grin* Of course he does!
[14:37] Jack Ozigard: yes
[14:38] Jago Constantine: then explain the distinctive scarf-hairs on the victim's throat
[14:38] Melch Savon: Reasonable doubt. The Queen herself was visiting him in his cell at Torchwood
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:39] Jago Constantine: then he regenerates and blends into the crowds like hannibal lecter
[14:39] Melch Savon: Now I think we confuse him with The Master
[14:39] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:39] Melch Savon: Who, ironically, is the true hero of our story
[14:39] Jago Constantine: ooh what a twist
[14:39] Jago Constantine: Anyway ... Jack - read any good books lately?
[14:39] Jack Ozigard: well, no
[14:39] Jack Ozigard: that is
[14:40] Jack Ozigard: I don't read a lot of books but rather short stories from amateur writers
[14:40] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:40] Jack Ozigard: and I was workling on my owen story which is incidentally a jack the ripper meets steampunk thing
[14:41] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:41] Jago Constantine: feel free to use our idea :P
[14:41] Melch Savon: I've infected the room with a meme!
[14:41] Jack Ozigard: it seems to be very difficult to do
[14:41] Jago Constantine: just make it HG Wells' time traveller
[14:41] Jago Constantine: and voila
[14:41] Melch Savon: Oh, Jago, how *original*
[14:41] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:41] Jack Ozigard: people keep telling "that is not how it was with jack the ripper"
[14:42] Jack Ozigard: readers know the facts
[14:42] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:42] Melch Savon: fine, change the character to ... Mina Harker?
[14:42] Jack Ozigard: I do too, and avoidthed the name jack, set in in 1915 or thereabout
[14:43] Jack Ozigard: no, I introduced rabbi löw into the story :)
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: was he a haskellski?
[14:43] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:43] Jack Ozigard: he raised the golem
[14:44] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:44] Jack Ozigard: I will think about the Dr Who vs Jack the ripper thing
[14:45] Melch Savon: Hey story ideas are bountiful. good ideas less so, but still ...
[14:45] Melch Savon: /ao off
[14:46] Jago Constantine: Ok, Purple - what did you read this week?
[14:46] Purple Baum: Well, before Illium I was reading "Venus on a half shell"
[14:47] Purple Baum: It's by Kilgore Trout
[14:47] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:47] Purple Baum: But the real author is Philip Jose Farmer
[14:47] Jago Constantine: I never read that one
[14:47] Jago Constantine: but I've heard of it a lot
[14:48] Jago Constantine: what's it about?
[14:48] Purple Baum: He got permission from Kurt Vonnegut to use the Name Kilgore Trout as a psudoname
[14:49] Purple Baum: It's about the last human travelling through space with an owl a dog and a female robot trying to figure out the meaning of "everything"
[14:49] Jago Constantine: nice
[14:49] Jack Ozigard: a female robot?
[14:50] Purple Baum: He encounters weird civilizations and pokes fun at government, sex and other things
[14:50] Jack Ozigard: it sounds odd
[14:50] Purple Baum: It's pretty amusing and very sarcastic
[14:51] Jago Constantine: sounds like Farmer
[14:51] Purple Baum: And yes a female robot. Her story is another bit of sarcasm
[14:52] Purple Baum: The book has been out of print. I got a used copy off of amazon
[14:52] Jago Constantine: yeah that's why I never read it
[14:52] Jago Constantine: hard to find
[14:53] Purple Baum: I'm not sure what I'll read next, but I am interested in reading "Roadside Picnic"
[14:54] Purple Baum: It's the book that is the base for the story of the movie and videogame "STALKER"
[14:55] Jago Constantine: I love roadside picnic
[14:55] Jago Constantine: strugatsky brothers
[14:55] Jago Constantine: I think that's the name
[14:55] Purple Baum: So I'll probably get it but it's also out of print
[14:55] Jago Constantine: I think it's available again
[14:55] Jago Constantine: in one of those sci fi masterworks kind of editions
[14:55] Purple Baum: I'll check it out
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Ok, it's getting on to 3pm - time to wind up :)
[14:57] Eddi Haskell: before everyone goes would you like to see this picture i found?
[14:57] Jago Constantine: I have to go have some breakfast
[14:57] Jago Constantine: lol eddi
[14:57] Eddi Haskell: of my haskell family ancestors arriving on ellis island in 1914
[14:57] Melch Savon: DonJuan, Jack -- I am curious, do you two use writing software?
[14:57] Eddi Haskell: from Eastern Europe
[14:57] Melch Savon: Eddi - sure!
[14:58] Eddi Haskell: thats my great grandmother
[14:58] Jack Ozigard: picture - yes please
[14:58] Eddi Haskell: ida haskellski
[14:58] Eddi Haskell: they say we look alike
[14:58] Jack Ozigard: software? no. I can do a bit of programming though
[14:58] Jago Constantine: A friend of mine writes using this
[14:58] Jago Constantine: http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html
[14:58] Jago Constantine: It's a free program
[14:58] Jago Constantine: lol eddi
[14:59] Jack Ozigard: a in that sense.
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: and that is great uncle yankel haskellski. They cold only afford a girls outfit
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: he went on to invent the junk bond
[14:59] Melch Savon: Thanks Jago. I've seen it, but find my spreadsheet is better. I have been thinking about buying a Mac program, like StoryMill
[14:59] Jack Ozigard: I was used to use a typewriter. that did not have any software
[14:59] Melch Savon: Eddi - are you kidding?
[14:59] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: well
[14:59] Jago Constantine: yes he is
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: people say i look like them
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: lol
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: isnt that photo priceless?
[15:00] Melch Savon: It is pretty cool
[15:00] Jago Constantine: hehehe
[15:00] Jago Constantine: Anyway, I'm not sure where next week's meeting will be ...
[15:00] Purple Baum: I can see the resemblance
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: yes
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: welljago isnt it july 4?
[15:01] Jago Constantine: we are planning to move our land to the new adult continent
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: we have to have firworks
[15:01] Jago Constantine: is it? what is the significance of that date>
[15:01] Melch Savon: Identical faces -- you photoshopped them in?
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: there is a program photofunia that is an effect they have
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: online editing
[15:01] Melch Savon: ah
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: i have to admit its funny
[15:02] Eddi Haskell: this is one of my photos
[15:03] Eddi Haskell: we can meet in caledon sky steampunk city
[15:03] Eddi Haskell: thats cool
[15:03] Eddi Haskell: that is it
[15:03] Jago Constantine: I'll think about it ... maybe in caledon, or maybe insilico again
[15:03] Melch Savon: Insilico is a truly amazing place
[15:03] Jack Ozigard: the picture reminds me of early online porn: waiting ages untill you get to see something
[15:03] Melch Savon: But it's less blocky
[15:03] Melch Savon: Not even ASCII art
[15:04] Jack Ozigard: indeed melch
[15:04] Jago Constantine: the picture is changing too fast to see lol
[15:04] Jack Ozigard: it is a grey screen most of the time
[15:04] Purple Baum: I recognize that NCI place
[15:05] Jack Ozigard: from caledon yes
[15:05] Eddi Haskell: i interviewed the guvnah and the vicereigne this week for vr style
[15:05] Jago Constantine: Ok, I'm going to log and have breakfast
[15:05] Eddi Haskell: jago dont go yet
[15:05] Jago Constantine: ok
[15:05] Eddi Haskell: need to ask you
[15:05] Melch Savon: Ciao all -- it's been fun as always
[15:05] Jago Constantine: See you next week!
[15:05] Purple Baum: OK, cya everybody
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: hey guys
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: before you go
[15:06] Jago Constantine: thanks for joining the group, Purple
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: we have a cool museum here
[15:06] Purple Baum: ty
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: jago dont talk it up
[15:06] DonJuan Writer: cheers. got called away. see y'all
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: if yo uwant to see it
[15:06] Purple Baum: I'll check it out