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

30 January 2010

[13:33] Kghia Gherardi: Hi there, Jago
[13:35] Kghia Gherardi: Hi Brett
[13:35] Brett Rascon: hi
[13:36] Kghia Gherardi: HI yyvony
[13:36] yyvonny Wylder: Hello :))
[13:36] yyvonny's Free Translator: Hello:))
[13:36] Kghia Gherardi: There is a science fiction discussion in about 25 minutes
[13:37] yyvonny Wylder: yes
[13:37] yyvonny's Free Translator: yes
[13:37] Kghia Gherardi: it will be in the other room, lead by Jago. But you are welcome to explore Bookstacks. :)
[13:38] Calliope Sweetwater: brb
[13:38] Kghia Gherardi: ok
[13:43] yyvonny Wylder: maybe if you have the time you can tell me how
[13:43] yyvonny Wylder: im not english you know
[13:43] yyvonny Wylder: i have no hud
[13:44] yyvonny Wylder: ok but nothing happent
[13:47] yyvonny Wylder: its your turn dear
[13:47] yyvonny Wylder: yes
[13:47] Brett Rascon: ok
[13:47] Brett Rascon: I'll try and start
[13:47] yyvonny Wylder: but you must make a \word of it i think
[13:48] Brett Rascon: ok, that's my word
[13:48] Brett Rascon: your turn
[13:49] Brett Rascon: you must click on a square
[13:49] Brett Rascon: then click a letter
[13:49] yyvonny Wylder: ram
[13:50] yyvonny Wylder: i say ram
[13:50] yyvonny Wylder: in local
[13:51] yyvonny Wylder: dont you answer me
[13:51] yyvonny Wylder: what is a quar
[13:51] Brett Rascon: the board is made up of lots of squares
[13:51] Brett Rascon: yes ?
[13:53] yyvonny Wylder: what is a quarewe
[13:54] Jago Constantine: Hi, Zobeid :)
[13:54] yyvonny Wylder: like a fra,\me
[13:54] Zobeid Zuma: Hii
[13:55] yyvonny Wylder: you give me a headache i must allways everythig at least 3 times ask before you give a clear answer
[13:55] Jago Constantine: Hi, Gilles :)
[13:55] yyvonny Wylder: its your turn
[13:56] Gilles Kuhn: hello
[13:56] Jago Constantine: Cool avatar!
[13:56] Gilles Kuhn: thanks :-)
[13:56] Jago Constantine: Are you here for the sci fi meeting?
[13:56] Gilles Kuhn: indeed
[13:57] Jago Constantine: Ok we'll start in a few minutes when some more people show up :)
[13:57] Jago Constantine: Take a seat when you rez
[13:57] Zobeid Zuma: I wish I could get my good computer back from the shop, it takes so long for stuff to rez on this one.
[13:57] yyvonny Wylder: the word dont show up
[13:57] Jago Constantine: well this sim is slow rezzing anyway usually
[13:58] yyvonny Wylder: tram
[13:58] yyvonny Wylder: they are goin from my bord
[13:58] Jago Constantine: hey eddi :)
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: hi jago
[14:00] Jago Constantine: We're up to 76 group members in the sci fi group :)
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: is eveyrone laggy or is it me?
[14:01] Gilles Kuhn: i'm afraid its you
[14:01] Jago Constantine: I find if you sit you don't get lag walking around :)
[14:01] Zobeid Zuma: I haven't been reading, haven't been coming here. . . But I thought, maybe if I come and listen, it'll help motivate me to pick up a book.
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Sure :)
[14:01] Jago Constantine: Anyway if you're new, the format of the meeting is that we take turns discussing what we read last
[14:02] Jago Constantine: I'll start - this week I had the chance to read 7th Son: Descent by J. C. Hutchins
[14:02] yyvonny Wylder: thanks
[14:03] Jago Constantine: This novel apparently began as a podcast and was published
[14:03] Jago Constantine: so I suppose its an example of an author building up popularity online
[14:03] Jago Constantine: one moment
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: im trying to mute that object
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: the game board
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: i think it worked
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: you can mute objects
[14:05] Jago Constantine: oh I was just going to ask them to stop until later
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: well im not sure it works but i have not had a green notice in a few mintues
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Ok anyway
[14:07] Jago Constantine: hi, Djudson
[14:07] Calliope Sweetwater: Apologies. I can't stay. Rl calls
[14:07] yyvonny Wylder: i bin stopt
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Anyway 7th son is more of a technothriller than sci fi, I suppose
[14:08] Jago Constantine: It begins with the president being assassinated by a 4-year old
[14:08] yyvonny Wylder: i diddnt know that we not may play the game
[14:08] yyvonny Wylder: we must buy one from us one
[14:08] Jago Constantine: and revolves around a group of men who turn out to be clones
[14:09] Jago Constantine: They'd all be leading their own very different loves
[14:09] Jago Constantine: Hi, Jacobe - I'm sitting here :)
[14:09] Jago Constantine: different lives
[14:10] yyvonny Wylder: yes only what is the price
[14:10] Jago Constantine: I didn't really get into the book, but I was curious about the description of how the clones were made
[14:10] Jago Constantine: and the ramifications
[14:10] yyvonny Wylder: i like scrabble much more
[14:10] Jago Constantine: A secret government project raised a boy to about his early teens I think
[14:11] Jago Constantine: then copied his memories into the 7 clones
[14:11] yyvonny Wylder: then you have both your ow letters
[14:11] Jago Constantine: and raised them (boys from brazil style) with a series of very similar foster parents and lifestyles
[14:11] yyvonny Wylder: you can find it yourself to
[14:12] yyvonny Wylder: ok
[14:12] Jago Constantine: I enjoyed those aspects better than the hunt for the assassin plot
[14:12] Jago Constantine: the way they related to the people who they thought were their dead parents
[14:13] Jago Constantine: who they remembered to be their parents
[14:13] Jago Constantine: anyway, I don't really recommend it unless you're into clones :P
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: thats what i tell people about redgrave skins
[14:14] Jago Constantine: Again, 7th Son by J. C. Hutchins
[14:14] Jago Constantine: Ok, um DJudson - have you read anything recently you'd like to talk about?
[14:15] DJudson Baran: yes i just finished tad williams Otherland 4 books about a million words
[14:15] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:15] Jago Constantine: I liked them but I think I only read 2 of the series before burning out
[14:16] DJudson Baran: it takes patents. but the computer aspects are amazing
[14:16] DJudson Baran: it talke SL about five steps ahead
[14:16] Jago Constantine: pardon?
[14:17] Zobeid Zuma: It's about a virtual world?
[14:17] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:17] Jago Constantine: a series of them from memory
[14:17] DJudson Baran: it also takes the "perales of pauline" out in every chapter
[14:18] Jago Constantine: My favourite world from the book, only seen briefly
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Is one in which two people having been um roleplaying as rulers in the land of oz
[14:18] Jago Constantine: maybe the scarecrow and the tin man waging war?
[14:19] Jago Constantine: the emerald city is a green-painted concrete gulag
[14:19] Zobeid Zuma: heh. . . And that brings to mind A Barnstormer In Oz. :)
[14:19] DJudson Baran: yes, plus alice in wonderland
[14:20] Jago Constantine: one line stuck with me, the scarecrow giving an oz version of the line from bladerunner
[14:20] Jago Constantine: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe
[14:20] Jago Constantine: I forget the oz references lol
[14:21] Jago Constantine: Also now that I think of it there was a seen from a giant kitchen, like the greenies sim here in Second LIfe
[14:21] Jago Constantine: *scene :P
[14:21] Zobeid Zuma: oh, it's been a long time since I was there :)
[14:21] Jago Constantine: anyway, what did you think DJudson?
[14:22] DJudson Baran: At one time I had over a thousand paper back sf books
[14:22] Jago Constantine: wow
[14:22] DJudson Baran: but there is no market for them
[14:23] Zobeid Zuma: I know what you mean
[14:23] DJudson Baran: I do have most of EC Tubb "dumarest of terra" series
[14:24] Jago Constantine: I never read those
[14:24] DJudson Baran: If any of you would like them contact me and I can send them free + postage
[14:24] DJudson Baran: they are from the 1970's
[14:25] Zobeid Zuma: good era for SF. . . before all the cyberpunk stuff took over
[14:26] Jago Constantine: have you considered bookmooch or bookcrossing?
[14:26] Jago Constantine: if you were looking to give away books to good homes
[14:26] Jago Constantine: hehe
[14:26] Jago Constantine: Hello, Simeon :)
[14:27] Simeon Bookmite: hi
[14:27] Jago Constantine: Nice skirt!
[14:27] Jago Constantine: ;)
[14:27] Simeon Bookmite: if you have knees you should flaunt them
[14:27] Jago Constantine: Ok, Gilles - have you read any good SF lately?
[14:28] Gilles Kuhn: not really lately
[14:28] Gilles Kuhn: last good sf i read was david brin
[14:28] Jago Constantine: how about the last thing you read?
[14:29] Jago Constantine: oh which one?
[14:29] Gilles Kuhn: but in fact it was a reraed of the first one of the uplift serie
[14:29] Gilles Kuhn: sundivers
[14:29] Jago Constantine: oh someone else was reading that series
[14:29] Jago Constantine: hmm not here today
[14:29] Gilles Kuhn: very good one i must say
[14:30] Jago Constantine: I'm a big fan of that series
[14:30] DJudson Baran: have to go. see you next week
[14:30] Eddi Haskell: bye judson
[14:30] Gilles Kuhn: the general frame is the idea that their is contact with a very old and developped galactic multi racial civilization
[14:31] Gilles Kuhn: and that all the race were artificially uplifted to sapiency by others older race
[14:32] Gilles Kuhn: with the idea that human were not uplifted but evolveed alone to sapiency which make of thema totally exceptionnal case (anthropocentris as always...)
[14:32] Gilles Kuhn: anthropocentrism*
[14:32] Industria Dowler: Sounds interesting.
[14:32] Jago Constantine: I was just reading a review of the uplift series which complained a little about that
[14:33] Zobeid Zuma: I did read one of them myself, the one with all the dolphins.
[14:33] Jago Constantine: how the humans were shown as so special :
[14:33] Zobeid Zuma: It's very much a space opera style. :)
[14:33] Gilles Kuhn: well someone pleas me fid me asf book that dont give soem special status to humans.....
[14:33] Industria Dowler: Seriously. :)
[14:34] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:34] Gilles Kuhn: rahhh the chat interface in sl is the baddest in te world
[14:34] Jago Constantine: can it be a book entirely without humans? xD
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: well
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: i think you can transliterate koko the chimp
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: make it into a book
[14:34] Gilles Kuhn: how they ca&nnot understand that bloody text treatment must be local and not in their bloody lahggy servers
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: she has a vocabulary of 150 words
[14:35] Simeon Bookmite: thomas Disch springs to mind
[14:35] Simeon Bookmite: that book where aliens plant earth with food crops
[14:35] Jago Constantine: The Genocides :)
[14:35] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:36] Jago Constantine: great book
[14:36] Jago Constantine: the last line is awesome
[14:36] Simeon Bookmite: The Genocides
[14:36] Jago Constantine: Anything by HP Lovecraft also :)
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: why dont you recommend a story for some of us to read andduscuss by him
[14:38] Jago Constantine: Its funny because science fiction is a genre that you'd think would express the post-copernican dethroning of the human race from a significant place in the universe
[14:38] Simeon Bookmite: actually our book current sunday discusion group is doing a book of sherlock holmes?lovecroft crosovers
[14:38] Gilles Kuhn: ia Cthuly Phtagn ;-)
[14:38] Jago Constantine: but that probably wouldn't sell very well
[14:38] Jago Constantine: I'll think about that eddi
[14:39] Zobeid Zuma: It remains to be seen how signficant our place is. . . I'd say not much, thus far. But I like to imagine we have potential. :)
[14:39] Simeon Bookmite: becomeing alien is I think a good Humans are nothing special book
[14:40] Simeon Bookmite: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Alien-Ben-Bova-Presents/dp/0812503139
[14:40] Gilles Kuhn: potential for what or for whom?
[14:41] Jago Constantine: Also with regard to human chauvinism, I'm reminded of John Campbell who only liked stories where humans beat the aliens
[14:41] Zobeid Zuma: Potential to create a civilization that spreads over a large area and lasts a long time, if nothing else.
[14:41] Jago Constantine: Which famously lead to Isaac Asimov writing the Foundation series set in a human only galaxy
[14:42] Simeon Bookmite: he had a point folks like their side to win
[14:42] Jago Constantine: well I think campbell didn't like anything with superior aliens which is more the point
[14:43] Jago Constantine: but it seems implausible given the age of the galaxy that there aren't more advanced civilisations
[14:43] Industria Dowler: People might find it hard to relate to the characters if they aren't like them. Which is boring to me. :)
[14:43] Industria Dowler: Where's the fun in that?
[14:43] Zobeid Zuma: No it doesn't. We don't have enough information to even estimate the odds of that.
[14:44] Industria Dowler: I wouldn't mind trying my hand at attempting to relate to a giant, ugly space monster that eats people.
[14:44] Jago Constantine: well I think we can look at the amount of time it took humans to evolve
[14:44] Simeon Bookmite: i think it had more to do with getting people to read another issue but you might be right
[14:44] Jago Constantine: and given our star isn't that old
[14:45] Gilles Kuhn: well about that our civilisation is only 10000 year old and we have communication since only 100 years so we are probably nowhere and cannot even imagine what a advanced civ is like
[14:45] Jago Constantine: older stars could have spawned races much earier
[14:45] Zobeid Zuma: Really old stars didn't have planets, they were too metal-poor.
[14:45] Jago Constantine: well they wouldn't have to be that much older even
[14:45] Jago Constantine: a civilisation 100,000 years ahead of our own
[14:45] Jago Constantine: which is trivial
[14:46] Zobeid Zuma: And it may be a fantastical fluke of luck that allowed us to evolve. No telling how many statistical hurdles we've already cleared. . .
[14:46] Gilles Kuhn: which i ridiculous even therer are probably intelligent life forms millions of years older
[14:46] Zobeid Zuma: So maybe intelligence is vanishingly rare.
[14:46] Jago Constantine: personally I incline towards rare intelligence
[14:46] Simeon Bookmite: inteligence has not been around long enought to prove its worth as a survival trait.
[14:46] Gilles Kuhn: well zobeid thats a very anthropocentric argument
[14:47] Jago Constantine: I think in the short term if we're going to meet other intelligent beings, they'll be ones we create or uplift
[14:47] Zobeid Zuma: Yes. . . Any argument about the likelihood of intelligence has to be anthropocentric.
[14:47] Gilles Kuhn: if and our science assume that nature work everywhere the same there must be a lot of life and intelligent life too up there
[14:47] Zobeid Zuma: Because even if it's vanishingly rare, only the races that make it past all those statistical hurdles are capable of pondering the likelihood. :)
[14:48] Simeon Bookmite: suspect we see intelgence as a social construct that the aliens will embrace
[14:48] Gilles Kuhn: i disagree life is prbably the rule not the exception autoorganisation of matter is staggering
[14:48] Simeon Bookmite: ie they will want to comunicate socialise bargain
[14:49] Zobeid Zuma: I personally suspect that *life* is pretty common, but intelligent life is quite rare.
[14:49] Gilles Kuhn: why so zobeid?
[14:49] Zobeid Zuma: Life appeared early in Earth's history, practically as soon as the planet was capable of supporting it.
[14:49] Simeon Bookmite: but they may be no more intersted in things outside their speices than we are in trees
[14:49] Gilles Kuhn: i love tres !
[14:49] Zobeid Zuma: I'm quite confident we'll find life on Mars too.
[14:50] Gilles Kuhn: trees*
[14:50] Simeon Bookmite: Just a something to ignore or pour weed killer on
[14:50] Gilles Kuhn: not so confident about that but trace of extinguished life probably
[14:50] Jago Constantine: You should read blindsight Simeon
[14:50] Jago Constantine: by peter watts
[14:50] Jago Constantine: or permanence by karl schroeder
[14:51] Zobeid Zuma: If there was ever life on Mars in the past, there will be some surviving.
[14:51] Simeon Bookmite: al la disch
[14:51] Zobeid Zuma: The only question is how deep you have to dig to find it.
[14:51] Jago Constantine: or um ... a story by bruce sterling
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Swarm
[14:52] Jago Constantine: all featuring non-conscious extraterrestrials
[14:52] Jago Constantine: civilisations
[14:52] Gilles Kuhn: which author jago?
[14:52] Simeon Bookmite: swarm that a short it rings a bell
[14:52] Jago Constantine: Blindsight - Peter Watts, Permanence - Karl Schroeder, Swarm - Bruce Sterling
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Swarm is a short story from the shaper/mechanist universe
[14:53] Simeon Bookmite: nods read it
[14:53] Simeon Bookmite: gotit from fictionwise
[14:53] Jago Constantine: so all those books explore the idea that intelligence isn't necessarily a survival trait for a species
[14:54] Jago Constantine: or um consciousness
[14:54] Simeon Bookmite: think we are very likely not to be human by the time we reach the stars
[14:55] Jago Constantine: well I've said here before I don't think we'll be sending humans to the stars like spam in a can ;P
[14:55] Zobeid Zuma: Well, not in a purely biological sense. . . But it will still be human civilization.
[14:55] Jago Constantine: It will be uploaded minds or something
[14:56] Jago Constantine: but yes, human as zobeid said
[14:56] Jago Constantine: part of a human clade
[14:56] Simeon Bookmite: think our minds will have changed
[14:56] Eddi Haskell: wha is a clade
[14:57] Jago Constantine: it is a term from biology
[14:57] Jago Constantine: an organism and its descendants
[14:57] Eddi Haskell: i looked it up
[14:57] Jago Constantine: so a human clade would be the human race and any races we spawn
[14:58] Jago Constantine: even, I think, uplifted animals
[14:58] Jago Constantine: or conscious machines
[14:58] Zobeid Zuma: That works for me. :)
[14:58] Simeon Bookmite: was a short story I cant track now
[14:58] Zobeid Zuma: We need more stories about AI and robots.
[14:58] Simeon Bookmite: that made me think
[14:59] Jago Constantine: because whatever methods we use to create a new species I don't think we'd be able to avoid doing it somewhat anthropocentrically
[14:59] Zobeid Zuma: Not HAL-like supercomputers, but commonplace independent AIs.
[15:00] Jago Constantine: ok now we're out of time - would anyone like a group invite?
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: i actually wanted to speak bout a book im reading lol
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: maybe next time
[15:00] Industria Dowler: I've got one. I'll try to make it next time.
[15:01] Industria Dowler: Thanks for hosting!
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: i need to get going now
[15:01] Jago Constantine: Thanks for coming
[15:01] Zobeid Zuma: see ya next week
[15:01] Eddi Haskell: see ya
[15:01] Simeon Bookmite: see you all next week
[15:01] Jago Constantine: see you next week 2pm saturday :)
[15:01] Industria Dowler: Jago, do you always post notices to Bookstacks?

29 August 2009

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