10 April 2010

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

5 September 2009

[13:56] Eddi Haskell: such slow rez
[13:56] Flawnt Alchemi: hi LL.
[13:56] Flawnt Alchemi: "all" ;-)
[13:56] Shadowen Silvera: howdy
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: hiya flawnt
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: hi SS
[13:58] Flawnt Alchemi is it heiSS or is it me...
[13:58] Jago Constantine: Hey, Shadowen - cool avatar
[13:59] Flawnt Alchemi: hi camilla dear
[13:59] Shadowen Silvera: thanks
[13:59] Camilla Delvalle: hello flawnt
[13:59] Flawnt Alchemi: did you get a new haircut, camilla?
[13:59] Flawnt Alchemi snorts.
[13:59] Camilla Delvalle: maybe
[14:00] Simeon Beresford: hi folks
[14:00] Karl Mearkus: Hi everyone
[14:00] Jago Constantine: Hi, everyone :)
[14:00] Jago Constantine: Thanks for coming to Science Fiction Saturday!
[14:00] Jago Constantine: And thanks again to our hosts at Bookstacks
[14:01] Flawnt Alchemi claps, muffled.
[14:01] Jago Constantine: As usual, we'll go round the group and talk about what we've read during the week
[14:01] Jago Constantine: I'll begin by talking about the book I read - Hunter's Run
[14:02] Jago Constantine: It was written by Gardner Dozois, George R R Martin and Daniel Abrahams
[14:02] Jago Constantine: It was a long collaboration, originally between the first two authors, but they never finished
[14:02] Jago Constantine: it was completed a few years ago by Abrahams
[14:03] Jago Constantine: Anyway, it's a pretty light weight novel about a man being chased by aliens on a largely wilderness-type world
[14:04] Jago Constantine: the twist is that one of the aliens is actually a clone of him, and it's written from the clone's perspective
[14:04] Flawnt Alchemi: neat
[14:04] Jago Constantine: I thought it was alright, but I'm glad I got it from the library instead of paying for it :)
[14:05] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Coach
[14:05] Flawnt Alchemi: what didnt work in it?
[14:05] Coach Bravin: Hi Jago
[14:05] Flawnt Alchemi: or rather why didnt it work for ya
[14:05] Coach Bravin: Hi all
[14:06] Jago Constantine: Well, it was just written at too low a level for me
[14:06] Camilla Delvalle: i have read book by george rr marting
[14:06] Jago Constantine: I felt I was reading a young adult novel or something
[14:06] Jago Constantine: maybe that was it
[14:06] Camilla Delvalle: how do you mean low level?
[14:06] Flawnt Alchemi: you mean the language?
[14:06] Jago Constantine: Yes, I think so
[14:07] Flawnt Alchemi: ursula le guin writes at that level, too, sometimes
[14:07] Eddi Haskell gave you Incident at Oak Ridge, Terry Bisson.
[14:07] Flawnt Alchemi: but she still hits my spot every time
[14:07] Camilla Delvalle: interesting that it had three authors
[14:07] Flawnt Alchemi: actually a lot of times...
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Maybe I didn't like the fact that it was mostly set in the wilderness, and that isn't my thing
[14:07] Jago Constantine: It's hard to say
[14:07] Flawnt Alchemi shudders - wilderness
[14:07] Camilla Delvalle: did you notice the style of the differnt writers?
[14:07] Jago Constantine: the background civilization isn't very well fleshed out either
[14:07] Jago Constantine: No it's hard to spot and signs of that
[14:08] Jago Constantine: It was co-written by Dozois and Martin when they were young authors decades ago
[14:08] Flawnt Alchemi wonders about other (better) multi author collaborations
[14:08] Jago Constantine: and completed by newish author Abrahams
[14:08] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Pasirto
[14:08] Flawnt Alchemi: brothers strugatzky are a brilliant example. you wouldnt know it.
[14:08] Simeon Beresford: only thing of abrahams I have read is his short "Flat Diane", which was very good
[14:09] Camilla Delvalle: george rr martin usually has a lot of details
[14:09] Jago Constantine: Actually, it feels a lot like a 1970s sci fi novel, which is understandable given when it was begun
[14:09] Jago Constantine: Yes, well it's nothing like Martin's later works
[14:09] Camilla Delvalle: how is 1970 sf?
[14:10] Tillery Woodhen is Online
[14:10] Jago Constantine: Heh don't ask me to try and pin it down, it's just a feeling
[14:10] Simeon Beresford: pre or post star wars?
[14:10] Jago Constantine: Hmm... not sure when it was begun
[14:11] Simeon Beresford: star wars kicked of a return to space opera
[14:11] Jago Constantine: This isn't really space opera - it's planetbound
[14:11] Simeon Beresford: but action adventure ?
[14:11] Jago Constantine: Yeah, it's action
[14:11] Simeon Beresford: nods
[14:12] Camilla Delvalle: i dont think i would like a novel by a man hunted by aliens in the wilderness either
[14:12] Flawnt Alchemi wishes for some action. writes down "more action".
[14:12] Jago Constantine: Anyway ... Shadowen - have you read any good books lately?
[14:12] Shadowen Silvera: Always :)
[14:13] Flawnt Alchemi laffs.
[14:13] Jago Constantine: Heh please share
[14:13] Shadowen Silvera: typing
[14:13] Shadowen Silvera: I have the typing sound turned off so please be patient
[14:13] Jago Constantine: ok
[14:15] Shadowen Silvera: Unfortunately the library delivered several books at once that I had put on hold so I haven't been able to finish them yet. Currently reading: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, The Losers by David Eddings, Flow my tears the Police Man said by phillip k dick
[14:15] Shadowen Silvera: a few others but they are not scifi
[14:15] Raver Xeno is Online
[14:15] Jago Constantine: Nice
[14:15] Jago Constantine: Which one are you liking the most?
[14:15] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Justine
[14:16] Camilla Delvalle: i have read by eddings and gibson
[14:16] Justine Rhapsody: Thanks, hello everyone
[14:16] Flawnt Alchemi raven catching up on human literature? ;-)
[14:16] Shadowen Silvera: Cryptonomicon for the geek elemens, The Losers for the humanistic
[14:16] Camilla Delvalle: hello justine
[14:16] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Arkady
[14:16] Simeon Beresford: the eddings got his usual plot?
[14:16] Flawnt Alchemi: i am curious about "the losers" - havent heard of it
[14:16] Arkady Poliatevska: hi Jago
[14:16] Shadowen Silvera: no the losers is not typical eddings
[14:16] Jago Constantine: Is Losers a fantasy?
[14:17] Shadowen Silvera: Fiction I suppose but it does have a fantastical element
[14:18] Shadowen Silvera: Set in oregon and washington its a sort of good against evil story
[14:18] Shadowen Silvera: not far into it but its good
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Cool
[14:18] Jago Constantine: Thanks :)
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: ir oregon good and washington evil?
[14:18] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:18] Flawnt Alchemi: lol
[14:18] Shadowen Silvera: Hope the good side would be oregon cause otherwise im living in the wrong state
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: well at least they know how to say please and thank you there , not like seattle
[14:19] Jago Constantine: Ok, Eddi - have you read anything this week?
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: yes
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: i caught my attention
[14:19] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Nolligan
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: the story was by Terry Bissson
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: it was called return to oakridge
[14:19] Nolligan Nino: hi
[14:19] Nolligan's Google Translator: जागो Constantine
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: i gave a note card to jago with the story on it
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: on nolligan
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: its about a time warp
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: well it was really good but i cant figure out the ending
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: has anyone read the story ?
[14:20] Flawnt Alchemi: nope
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: he won a big award for it
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: well
[14:20] Nolligan Nino: soz didn't see you
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: its like the philadelphia experiment
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: yah i dont see some people
[14:20] Eddi Haskell: and
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: two guys go back to 1944
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: they end up in oakridge
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: where the uranium isoptop was purified or something
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: im sure others nhere know more about this than me
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: and
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: then at the end
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: there true selves
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: meet them and everyone tries to kill everyone lese
[14:21] Shadowen Silvera: sorry jago groups are full
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: else
[14:21] Nolligan Nino: me too
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: see
[14:22] Simeon Beresford: lol
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: if they interfere with oakridge, they interfere with the manhattan project
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: and then
[14:22] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:22] Simeon Beresford: sumss up so many plots
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: who knows that would have happened
[14:22] Arkady Poliatevska: the beaver is never born?
[14:22] Eddi Haskell: but its really good i just cant figure out the quantum at the end
[14:22] Jago Constantine: lol Arkady
[14:23] Eddi Haskell: yes the beaver might not be born, hugh beaumonth might have been part of operation coronet
[14:23] Arkady Poliatevska: too old a reference for many
[14:23] Eddi Haskell: and barbara billigsley could have become a dyke biker, who knows?
[14:23] Jago Constantine: Yes :P
[14:23] Arkady Poliatevska: :)
[14:23] Camilla Delvalle: never heard of :)
[14:23] Jago Constantine: Ok, thanks, Eddi
[14:23] Eddi Haskell: Im named after a very famous obnoxious teenager, eddi haskell
[14:23] Jago Constantine: Nolligan - have you read any sci fi this week?
[14:24] Shadowen Silvera: I've been musing to myself as to what the world would be like if the hindenburg disaster hadnt happened.
[14:24] Nolligan Nino: not this week
[14:24] Camilla Delvalle: it would be nice with airships
[14:24] Shadowen Silvera: oops wrong window
[14:24] Jago Constantine: Ok, no worries :)
[14:24] Arkady Poliatevska: some other airship would have bloen up spectaculalry
[14:24] Jago Constantine: lol shadowen
[14:24] Justine Rhapsody: Airships are so beautiful
[14:25] Nolligan Nino: but I recently re-read a classic - the land ironclads by HG Wells
[14:25] Eddi Haskell: and nothing famous would have ever happened in new jersey except mob killings
[14:25] Jago Constantine: Cool
[14:25] Arkady Poliatevska: in france in ther early twentieth century..
[14:25] Jago Constantine: I haven't read that
[14:25] Flawnt Alchemi: me neither
[14:25] Eddi Haskell: is it about tanks?
[14:25] Arkady Poliatevska: the very first concrete buidings were airship hangers
[14:25] Arkady Poliatevska: because they caught fire so freqquently
[14:26] Nolligan Nino: written in 1910 it imagines a european war that is resolved by the use of 'tanks' essentially
[14:26] Jago Constantine: Cool ... I wonder how prescient it was?
[14:26] Eddi Haskell: well tanks were thought up in 1914 under churchills juridiction
[14:26] Jago Constantine: I mean maybe the writing was already on the wall
[14:26] Jago Constantine: tank-wise
[14:26] Nolligan Nino: I don't think so
[14:26] Eddi Haskell: they were invented to end trench warefare
[14:27] Nolligan Nino: nobody expected trenches - it was wars of movement pre 1914
[14:27] Flawnt Alchemi: interesting.
[14:27] Camilla Delvalle: they didnt know there could be such a great war at that time
[14:27] Simeon Beresford: were trences in american civil
[14:27] Eddi Haskell: yup. it was the farthest thing from their minds
[14:27] Nolligan Nino: make sme wonder which sci fi writers today will be judged as 'prescient
[14:27] Jago Constantine: "the first description of a tank-like vehicle and its usefulness in trench warfare is found in an H.G. Wells short story, "The Land Ironclads", in the Strand Magazine, December 1903"
[14:27] Eddi Haskell: wow
[14:27] Nolligan Nino: sorry 1903
[14:28] Eddi Haskell: did he visit the future
[14:28] Eddi Haskell: serioulsy
[14:28] Eddi Haskell: how could he see this stuff????????
[14:28] Nolligan Nino: how could Neal Stephenson see a place similar to sl?
[14:28] Eddi Haskell: i wish i coujld do things like that
[14:28] Flawnt Alchemi: wells wasnt a cottage writer...he was on top of science in his time and knew everyone who know anything
[14:28] Shadowen Silvera: Imagination combined with current information
[14:29] Jago Constantine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank#History
[14:29] Flawnt Alchemi: fabians, russell...plus the world was actually simple then (or was it?)
[14:29] Eddi Haskell gave you jago oil.
[14:29] Camilla Delvalle: There were ironclads on the sea, so it would not be a far leap to imagine ironclad wagons powdered by steam or something
[14:29] Shadowen Silvera: If you know it could be possible but doesnt exist (yet) its fun to imagine what it would be like if it was. with enough clues you can come up with a good idea
[14:29] Simeon Beresford: all the scientific heavy weights new big changes in the air
[14:30] Camilla Delvalle: they also had trains, so they could think up trains without rails
[14:30] Jago Constantine: Yes
[14:30] Eddi Haskell: yes the first ironclad le gloirie 1858 france
[14:30] Simeon Beresford: and wells new them all
[14:30] Jago Constantine: That wikipedia link mentions some ideas for use of steam vehicles in war
[14:30] Nolligan Nino: easy to say with hindsight
[14:30] Eddi Haskell: well necessity is the mother of invention and they needed tanks
[14:31] Jago Constantine: So Nolligan - is it a good read, or is it just notable for its prediction of tanks?
[14:31] Shadowen Silvera: makes one wonder if there will ever be battle suits ala heinlein's starship troopers
[14:31] Eddi Haskell: iwant to read it
[14:31] Camilla Delvalle: or mechas like in anime
[14:31] Nolligan Nino: quite a good read , quite short too
[14:31] Nolligan Nino: good but not brilliant
[14:32] Nolligan Nino: but I like HG Wells generally
[14:32] Eddi Haskell: who cares about that will there be hot shower scenes with casper van dien again?
[14:32] Flawnt Alchemi: /e nods nolligan
[14:32] Jago Constantine: http://www.zeitcom.com/majgen/60w-1_landironclads.html
[14:32] Jago Constantine: That's the story online
[14:32] Flawnt Alchemi: ty jago
[14:32] Jago Constantine: lol eddi
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Ok, thanks, Nolligan
[14:32] Nolligan Nino: :-)
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Karl - have you got a book report for us?
[14:33] Karl Mearkus: Nope, didn't get to any SF this week
[14:33] Jago Constantine: Ok :)
[14:33] Jago Constantine: Justine?
[14:33] Karl Mearkus: I'm just here to hoover up all your tips ;)
[14:33] Eddi Haskell: dont you feell guillty when you say that? i do.
[14:33] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:33] Flawnt Alchemi hides.
[14:34] Justine Rhapsody: oh yes,
[14:34] Jago Constantine: heh wb justine :)
[14:34] Justine Rhapsody: lol you caught me
[14:34] Justine Rhapsody: I am reading Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress, the second in the trilogy.
[14:34] Jago Constantine: Oh, I was just listening to an interview with her
[14:35] Justine Rhapsody: I like these books, her characterizations are wonderful.
[14:35] Justine Rhapsody: Oh really!
[14:35] Simeon Beresford: the folks that dont sleep?
[14:35] Jago Constantine: an old one from The Future and You podcast
[14:35] Shadowen Silvera: thanks
[14:35] Jago Constantine: like a few years old
[14:35] Justine Rhapsody: yes the sleepless and then there are super sleepless lol
[14:35] Justine Rhapsody: Yes they are. I only recently discovered that I like her writing, so went back and got those.
[14:35] Jago Constantine: And how does it compare to the first book?
[14:36] Justine Rhapsody: oh its a good continuation
[14:36] Justine Rhapsody: she brings in a various concepts, nano,
[14:37] Justine Rhapsody: and i especially like how she creates the supersleepless as having new ways of thinking, completely different than humans can think now.
[14:37] Jago Constantine: Here are 6 episodes of the future and you with Kress http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com/?search_string=kress&Submit=Search&search=1
[14:38] Jago Constantine: It's a great podcast, I only just discovered it. Really wonderful
[14:38] Simeon Beresford: always have problems with none human thinking how can humans right about it?
[14:38] Jago Constantine: I think it would be hard for an author to try to write a character that is either superintelligent or thinks in a radically different way
[14:38] Justine Rhapsody: ok thanks :)
[14:39] Shadowen Silvera: Jago: try the alien intelligence game sometime. it's fun.
[14:39] Jago Constantine: Of course, being an author you're omniscient anyway lol
[14:39] Justine Rhapsody: well it is, but she does a good job of describing it - they create all kinds of association thinking with images words etc all rolled in together.
[14:39] Shadowen Silvera: sometimes called higher power
[14:39] Eddi Haskell: like a 12 step program.
[14:40] Jago Constantine: thanks, shadowen
[14:40] Justine Rhapsody: alien intelligence game?
[14:40] Simeon Beresford: think most heros are super intelligent the author takes three days to pick an action the hero has 3 seconds for.
[14:40] Jago Constantine: true
[14:40] Jago Constantine: So I assume you're going on to read the third book, Justine?
[14:41] Shadowen Silvera: you assume the aspect of a higher power/alien intelligence and then have a friend ask meaninful questions.. like "why are we here" you then answer as if you are a higher intelligence: ie "Nobody knows but it is the journey that counts" my example is lame but you get that idea.. its a sort of stream of consciousness exercise
[14:41] Justine Rhapsody: Yes I am. Though now I have Paul McAuley's new Quiet War ordered so have to read that one first.
[14:41] Camilla Delvalle: sounds difficult
[14:41] Jago Constantine: I want to read that one too
[14:41] Jago Constantine: Quiet War
[14:42] Justine Rhapsody: Yes I love that kind of space opera with ideas.
[14:42] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Justine ... Ok, Arkady? Anything to report?
[14:42] Arkady Poliatevska: I will just obseve this time
[14:42] Arkady Poliatevska: if thats okay
[14:42] Jago Constantine: Sure :)
[14:43] Jago Constantine: Flawnt, I see you crouching down back there
[14:43] Jago Constantine: :P
[14:43] Flawnt Alchemi whistles.
[14:43] Kyo Rogozarski is Offline
[14:43] Flawnt Alchemi: ya, i havent read any SF. torturing myself with flaubert on my left and alison lurie on my right
[14:43] Jago Constantine: Heh no worries
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: are they avatars?
[14:43] Justine Rhapsody: lol
[14:43] Eddi Haskell: sounds hot
[14:43] Flawnt Alchemi wipes the sweat off his brow
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Ok, Camilla ... your turn!
[14:44] Camilla Delvalle: can you tell me of flaubert maybe? im interested in him because people says he writhes good
[14:44] Flawnt Alchemi: lol eddi. but they're dirty ;)
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: lol
[14:44] Flawnt Alchemi: he's a style guru
[14:44] Camilla Delvalle: shall i talk?
[14:44] Flawnt Alchemi nods camilla - later.
[14:44] Jago Constantine: If you have read some sci fi :)
[14:44] Camilla Delvalle: ok i can talk about haibane renmei
[14:44] Camilla Delvalle: although it is fantasy
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Nice :)
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Another anime I like :)
[14:45] Simeon Beresford: more manga?
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: it is a anime, japanese series
[14:45] Simeon Beresford: ah
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: so you like it?
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Yes, it's sweet
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: it is about a girl who is reborn as an angel
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: in a strange town
[14:45] Camilla Delvalle: and there are other angels but mostly humans
[14:46] Camilla Delvalle: she gets winds
[14:46] Camilla Delvalle: but her halo will not stick so they have to use metal wire to keep it in place
[14:46] Camilla Delvalle: but they are like disciminated
[14:46] Camilla Delvalle: because she can only wear used clothes
[14:46] Flawnt Alchemi gets wind, too.
[14:47] Camilla Delvalle: and they cant have money
[14:47] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:47] Camilla Delvalle: the angels are cool
[14:47] Camilla Delvalle: there is a leader who is called Reki
[14:47] Jago Constantine: Yes, the angels are called haibane in the show
[14:47] Flawnt Alchemi likes it.
[14:47] Jago Constantine: which I think is a japanese pronunciation of heaven
[14:47] Camilla Delvalle: and she smokes cigarrettes
[14:48] Camilla Delvalle: it is very calm series
[14:48] Camilla Delvalle: i like it because it is not hysterical or shrieky like many other
[14:48] Jago Constantine: I hate those shrieky hyperactive anime series :P
[14:48] Camilla Delvalle: it is a bit religious but not so that it disturbs
[14:48] Jago Constantine: Excel Saga for instance
[14:48] Camilla Delvalle: it is much about existential questions
[14:49] Camilla Delvalle: and friendship and such
[14:49] Jago Constantine: Yes, I think it's just a japanese author using angel symbolism mostly
[14:49] Jago Constantine: in the same way they might pick out ancient greek or aztec just because they think it's cool
[14:49] Camilla Delvalle: it not so much plotdrivet
[14:49] Camilla Delvalle: more character driven, with low tempo
[14:49] Camilla Delvalle: very nice
[14:49] Camilla Delvalle: questions?
[14:49] Flawnt Alchemi: arent "angels" outside of the japanese....spiritual world? (not that i have any clue)
[14:50] Jago Constantine: Well they'd have a conception of them from western sources
[14:50] Simeon Beresford: yes
[14:50] Flawnt Alchemi: it is a rather interesting choice then i suppose.
[14:51] Flawnt Alchemi wonders what the equivalent would be for a western writer.
[14:51] Camilla Delvalle: the creator said that it was inspired by religions, but he would not say which
[14:51] Jago Constantine: It's kind of whimsical in the manner of hayao miyazaki in some places
[14:51] Camilla Delvalle: yes
[14:51] Jago Constantine: although not too surreal
[14:52] Camilla Delvalle: it is not entirey logical
[14:52] Simeon Beresford: japanese do thinngs to to western culture that are as wrong as some of the things we do to eastern cultures not much resembance.
[14:52] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:52] Jago Constantine: it's probably as realistic as our conception of zen for example
[14:52] Jago Constantine: a popular conception
[14:52] Flawnt Alchemi nods. good example.
[14:52] Simeon Beresford: you have to put away the part of you that says " thats just wrrong".
[14:52] Jago Constantine: or hinduism
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Ok, Simon ... you had a sci fi author speak during the week didn't you?
[14:53] Eddi Haskell: yeah ever have a big mac in tokyo? you can gag
[14:53] Flawnt Alchemi wonders if modern sci fi is more culturally transgressive or not
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Camilla :)
[14:53] Jago Constantine: transgressive in what sense?
[14:54] Flawnt Alchemi will teleport to second tokyo later to gag on a mac
[14:54] Simeon Beresford: there was one at one virtualy speaking I think
[14:54] Simeon Beresford: ours is tomorrow
[14:54] Jago Constantine: Ok, I thought I got a notice from bookstacks during the week :P
[14:54] Simeon Beresford: we cross promote
[14:54] Flawnt Alchemi: jago: in the sense of using symbols etc from other cultures
[14:54] Jago Constantine: Ok, it was the Tobias Buckell podcast
[14:55] Jago Constantine: my mistake
[14:55] Simeon Beresford: yes at one oclock tomorrow
[14:55] Simeon Beresford: we will be recording in world
[14:55] Jago Constantine: well, I think authors today, flawnt, have access to better information about other cultures through the internet
[14:55] Flawnt Alchemi: ... and turning it into something new and really interesting.
[14:55] Simeon Beresford: and there will be a q&a after with the audience
[14:55] Flawnt Alchemi: i am wondering how real that information is...
[14:56] Arkady Poliatevska: thank you all I must go
[14:56] Jago Constantine: and I expect there's a lot of incentive to be the first to exploit a different culture for a story
[14:56] Simeon Beresford: nods
[14:56] Flawnt Alchemi nods.
[14:56] Simeon Beresford: bye arkady
[14:56] Nolligan Nino: bye
[14:56] Flawnt Alchemi waves
[14:56] Jago Constantine: Let's see - there's Ian McDonald's River of Gods
[14:56] Justine Rhapsody: bye
[14:57] Justine Rhapsody: Oh I loved that book River of Gods.
[14:57] Jago Constantine: a major one from recent years set in India
[14:57] Simeon Beresford: coulld I plug our meet to set up some reading groups tommorrow at two as weel
[14:57] Jago Constantine: absolutely fantastic book
[14:57] Flawnt Alchemi: i am just astounded how culturally provincial most sci fi still seems to be...
[14:57] Flawnt Alchemi: thanks will check that out.
[14:57] Jago Constantine: sure simeon
[14:57] Flawnt Alchemi nods - sure simeon
[14:57] Flawnt Alchemi: thanks jago, again!
[14:57] Simeon Beresford: will expect to see every one at both :^)
[14:58] Flawnt Alchemi: bye all
[14:58] Eddi Haskell: bye!
[14:58] Nolligan Nino: bye
[14:58] Jago Constantine: Thanks for coming everyone
[14:58] Simeon Beresford: see you next week
[14:59] Justine Rhapsody: I need to go too
[14:59] Jago Constantine: Back here again next week same time!
[14:59] Simeon Beresford: when I will have finished a book to report on :^)
[14:59] Jago Constantine: And don't forget the off the shelf podcast here tomorrow
[14:59] Jago Constantine: If you'd like to check that out :)
[14:59] Eddi Haskell: happy labour day to you americans
[14:59] Justine Rhapsody: Bye everyone
[15:00] Eddi Haskell: bye!
[15:00] Simeon Beresford: that sounds so socialist
[15:00] Jago Constantine: bye!

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!