For all my fellow citizens (notice how I didn't refer to you as my fellow taxpayers?) who are of right leaning political persuasions and who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, I have the following questions:
When Jesus healed the sick, did he check first for proof of insurance? To whom did He send His bill?
Sidereal
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
New Word: fixel
Fixel: noun. a fixture element. The fix for a problem the requires the least possible amount of work. Sometimes fixels do not actually solve the problem, but give the appearance of having solved the problem, at least for long enough time that the responsible party can flee the scene.
Many common fixels involve the liberal application of duct tape, or wood putty, or baby wipes, or all three simultaneously. IT personnel often use the word "workaround" as a synonym for fixel.
Sidereal
Many common fixels involve the liberal application of duct tape, or wood putty, or baby wipes, or all three simultaneously. IT personnel often use the word "workaround" as a synonym for fixel.
Sidereal
Saturday, August 22, 2009
A Failure of Truth in Advertising.
I have a hard time taking anyone with this license plate on their car seriously, as the residents of the state of New Hampshire failed to collectively off themselves at any time between 2001 and 2009.
Sidereal
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Further Conversations with Sidereal Jr.
In which an alternate explanation for the disappearance of the dinosaurs is posited.....
S. Jr.: Daddy, are the dinosaurs all gone from the Earth?
S.: Yes, they are.
S. Jr.: Are they dead?
S.: Yes, they died a long, long time ago.
S. Jr.: Why are they all dead?
S.: I don't know. Maybe they got sick?
S. Jr.: Or maybe they all went to the Sun!
He's at the forefront of both astronomy and paleology!
Sidereal
S. Jr.: Daddy, are the dinosaurs all gone from the Earth?
S.: Yes, they are.
S. Jr.: Are they dead?
S.: Yes, they died a long, long time ago.
S. Jr.: Why are they all dead?
S.: I don't know. Maybe they got sick?
S. Jr.: Or maybe they all went to the Sun!
He's at the forefront of both astronomy and paleology!
Sidereal
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Books I Read in June
Okay, so July was pretty much a loss as far as blogging goes. But at least I was active in ways that were financially rewarding. And I managed to do a lot of reading. But first I need to cover June's reading list, so here goes, along with the usual comments of varying degrees of snark:
Poison Sleep -- T.A. Pratt: 6/3/09 - 6/4/09
Good book. Bad dreams become real as living nightmares walk the streets. The Forces of Good must stand together to defeat Evil once and for all. No, wait a minute, that sounds like our world, from January 2001 to January 2009.... At least in our world the Forces of Good finally triumphed.
Dead Reign -- T.A. Pratt: 6/5/09 - 6/6/09
Death comes calling, literally. And what's worse, he wants Marla Mason to return his magic Swiss Army Knife of Doooooom! But without it she can't be the top dog sorceress anymore. Plot ensues.
Spell Games -- T.A. Pratt: 6/7/09 - 6/8/09
Marla's dead beat brother comes looking her up wanting to patch up their bad relationship. And the fact that she's now fabulously wealthy has nothing to do with it, no sirree. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the fungus god of the Pacific Northwest (ahh, that explains Starbucks.....) decides to invade Marla's city in search of magic mushroom spores.
Daemons are Forever -- Simon R. Green: 6/9/09 - 6/11/09
Number two in Green's series about Eddie Drood, magical secret agent whose family has been protecting us from Lovecraftian horrors for centuries, while also exploiting us lesser mortals. Despite the fact that all the entries in this series so far have been puns on the titles of James Bond novels, they have absolutely none of the feel of Bond, at least the movie version.
The Sharing Knife: Passage -- Lois McMaster Bujold: 6/12/09 - 6/15/09
I get the feeling that I read this book back in third grade, when we covered settling of the Midwest USA, only back then it didn't have a 60 year old guy shacking up with an underage girl.
If you liked the first two, you'll probably like this one.
Ragamuffin -- Tobias Buckell: 6/19/09 - 6/22/09
More good space Jamaicans only this time they are versus fewer evil space Aztecs, but have some eeevil space Chinese to be versus against. It is a follow-up to Crystal Rain, and has some of the same characters, but they show up only about halfway through the book. Ragamuffin really expands Buckell's future history, and it has a pretty unique feel to it. Recommended.
Sideways in Crime -- ed. Lou Anders: 6/25/09 - 7/6/09
An anthology of mostly good alternate history crime stories. In some cases the term "crime story" is pretty loosely defined, but that's okay. I heard somewhere that the publishers went ahead with this book only after shooting down the companion book: Sideways in Dentistry.
So, seven books in June. Not bad. Of the seven, the first four were read on my Kindle. The first three of those were purchased directly as a result of reading the first book in the series as a free e-book. Ragamuffin was also bought because I enjoyed the first book for free. Sadly in the case of Ragamuffin, books 1 and 3 can be had in e-book form, but not book 2. But four sales made directly as a result of free e-books, in June alone. I hope all your marketing people are taking notes.....
Sidereal
Poison Sleep -- T.A. Pratt: 6/3/09 - 6/4/09
Good book. Bad dreams become real as living nightmares walk the streets. The Forces of Good must stand together to defeat Evil once and for all. No, wait a minute, that sounds like our world, from January 2001 to January 2009.... At least in our world the Forces of Good finally triumphed.
Dead Reign -- T.A. Pratt: 6/5/09 - 6/6/09
Death comes calling, literally. And what's worse, he wants Marla Mason to return his magic Swiss Army Knife of Doooooom! But without it she can't be the top dog sorceress anymore. Plot ensues.
Spell Games -- T.A. Pratt: 6/7/09 - 6/8/09
Marla's dead beat brother comes looking her up wanting to patch up their bad relationship. And the fact that she's now fabulously wealthy has nothing to do with it, no sirree. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the fungus god of the Pacific Northwest (ahh, that explains Starbucks.....) decides to invade Marla's city in search of magic mushroom spores.
Daemons are Forever -- Simon R. Green: 6/9/09 - 6/11/09
Number two in Green's series about Eddie Drood, magical secret agent whose family has been protecting us from Lovecraftian horrors for centuries, while also exploiting us lesser mortals. Despite the fact that all the entries in this series so far have been puns on the titles of James Bond novels, they have absolutely none of the feel of Bond, at least the movie version.
The Sharing Knife: Passage -- Lois McMaster Bujold: 6/12/09 - 6/15/09
I get the feeling that I read this book back in third grade, when we covered settling of the Midwest USA, only back then it didn't have a 60 year old guy shacking up with an underage girl.
If you liked the first two, you'll probably like this one.
Ragamuffin -- Tobias Buckell: 6/19/09 - 6/22/09
More good space Jamaicans only this time they are versus fewer evil space Aztecs, but have some eeevil space Chinese to be versus against. It is a follow-up to Crystal Rain, and has some of the same characters, but they show up only about halfway through the book. Ragamuffin really expands Buckell's future history, and it has a pretty unique feel to it. Recommended.
Sideways in Crime -- ed. Lou Anders: 6/25/09 - 7/6/09
An anthology of mostly good alternate history crime stories. In some cases the term "crime story" is pretty loosely defined, but that's okay. I heard somewhere that the publishers went ahead with this book only after shooting down the companion book: Sideways in Dentistry.
So, seven books in June. Not bad. Of the seven, the first four were read on my Kindle. The first three of those were purchased directly as a result of reading the first book in the series as a free e-book. Ragamuffin was also bought because I enjoyed the first book for free. Sadly in the case of Ragamuffin, books 1 and 3 can be had in e-book form, but not book 2. But four sales made directly as a result of free e-books, in June alone. I hope all your marketing people are taking notes.....
Sidereal
Friday, July 10, 2009
Why the Republican Party Sucks: Part 3 of an Inifinite Part Series
Just wondering......
How many of those Republicans in Congress who are opposed to allowing their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) a "government option" for health care have voluntarily given up the "government option" health care plan that their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) are providing for members of Congress. One would think that if the "government option" is so bad then the Republicans in Congress would not avail themselves of it, insure themselves privately, and save their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) the expense of insuring them.
Imagine the tax cut that could be passed along to ordinary Americans if the millionaire lawyers who take up so much space in Congress just paid for their own health care!
Just wondering.....
Sidereal
How many of those Republicans in Congress who are opposed to allowing their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) a "government option" for health care have voluntarily given up the "government option" health care plan that their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) are providing for members of Congress. One would think that if the "government option" is so bad then the Republicans in Congress would not avail themselves of it, insure themselves privately, and save their employers (i.e. ordinary Americans) the expense of insuring them.
Imagine the tax cut that could be passed along to ordinary Americans if the millionaire lawyers who take up so much space in Congress just paid for their own health care!
Just wondering.....
Sidereal
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Review: Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, published in 2008 by Night Shade Books.
Summary:
A pirate themed anthology of original science fiction and fantasy stories. Story titles follow, along with my opinion of each one:
- Boojum, by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette: good
- Castor on Troubled Waters, by Rhys Hughes: bad
- I Begyn as I Mean To Go On, by Kage Baker: OK
- Avast, Abaft!, by Howard Waldrop: bad
- Elegy to Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves, by Kelly Barnhill: good, but insufficiently piratical
- Skillet and Saber, by Justin Howe: OK
- The Nymph's Child, by Carrie Vaughn: OK, but insufficiently piratical
- 68d 07m 15sN, 31d 36m 44sW by Conrad Williams: bad
- Ironface, by Michael Moorcock: bad
- Pirate Solutions, by Katherine Sparrow: bad and insufficiently piratical
- We Sleep on a Thousand Waves Beneath the Stars, by Brendan Connell: OK
- Voyage of the Iguana, by Steve Aylett: bad
- Pirates of the Suara Sea, by David Freer and Eric Flint: good
- A Cold Day in Hell, by Paul Batteiger: excellent
- The Adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth, by Rachel Swirsky: bad
- Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake, by Naomi Novik: good
- The Whale Below, by Jayme Lynn Blaschke: excellent
- Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Skarskoe, by Garth Nix: excellent
It's a tough call -- IMHO there are a lot of turkeys herein, stories that just aren't about pirates at all, or are about ex-pirates, or the children of ex-pirates, neither of whom are having piratical adventures. And some stories that are about pirates, but which are just plain bad. On the other hand, some of the stories are very good.
The first one, Boojum, tells the story of a living pirate vessel which sails a future solar system in which Lovecraft's Mi-Go patrol interplanetary space. Elegy.... is a wonderfully written story, but it felt a bit out of place, given my expectations of swashbuckling adventure stories. The Nymph's Child was a bit the same way, but not quite as well done. Pirates of the Suara Sea, and The Whale Below both succeed by merging a more traditional sort of pirate tale with science fictional trappings. A Cold Day in Hell features a naval officer on a hunt for a reknown pirate who terrorizes the American coast during the golden days of piracy -- only in this alternate version of our world, an ice age has begun to settle in on the world, and ships can only sail the seas rigged with skates for racing across the ice. Araminta is a secondary world fantasy wherein the titular heroine uses magic and her superior wits to survive at sea. The star of the anthology has to be the very last tale, Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Skarskoe, which appears to feature characters that the author, Garth Nix, has written about before. Here Sir Hereward and Mr. Fitz masquerade as pirates, join a pirate crew, and manipulate the pirates into assisting them on their quest. I'm definitely interesting in looking up some of Nix's other work now, to see what I've been missing.
The Roundup:
There are enough good stories here for me to recommend looking this book up in the library. I wouldn't buy it, unless you are a pirate fanatic, or just really, really like anthologies.
Sidereal
What other people have to say about Fast Ships. Black Sails:
Richard Larson at Strange Horizons
Brad Moon at Wired
Fabio Fernandes at The Fix
Charles A. Tan at Bibliophile Stalker
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