tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56668252024-03-09T13:36:24.876-05:00The Megasometherium Clubmany people sing: "Deedee! deeDee!"
<br>or
<br>No reason why The Megatherium Club can't be the name for any nongroup.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-29546118856577948532007-10-29T17:00:00.000-04:002007-10-29T17:43:14.127-04:00Linebarger in ChinaI recently commented to Kate Elliot that Paul Linebarger (aka Cordwainer Smith) was a college classmate of L. Ron Hubbard. I decided to dig up my source for this tidbit, a review of a Hubbard biography, <i>Bare-Faced Messiah</i> by Russell Miller, that appeared in issue #2 of <a href="http://www.nyrsf.com/">NYRSF</a> back in 1988. Here's an excerpt from the review, written by <a href="http://www.ulmus.net/">Alan C. Elms</a>, about Hubbard's college years:<br /><br />"Hubbard had earlier engaged in modest embellishments of his personal history, but the exaggerations flowered luxuriantly during his second year at GWU. Only then did he begin to claim those years of independent travel and mystical studies in the Orient -- claims based in reality upon two brief tourist excursions with his parents to several cities in Japan and China, plus a year's residence in Guam when his father was stationed at the U.S. naval base there. No explanation is given for Hubbard's sudden explosion of autobiographical creativity at this time; one might assume he was merely trying to offset his poor academic performance. But another factor was involved, not mentioned by Miller and probably unknown to him.<br /><br />"The editor of the literary supplement during Hubbard's final semester at GWU was Paul Linebarger, two years younger but a year ahead of him in school. Another member of the literary supplement's staff has told me that Hubbard and Linebarger soon became intensely competitive toward each other. Linebarger made good grades, wrote as fluently as Hubbard, and was equally ambitious. Linebarger held a major advantage in their bragging sessions: he really <i>had</i> traveled extensively by himself, not only in China but in Russia; he really <i>had</i> studied the classics of Oriental wisdom and sat at the feet of Chinese sages, including the great Sun Yat-sen. Linebarger had also conducted a passionate romance in Peking with an exiled White Russian woman several years his senior, had narrowly survived a suicide pact with her, and had participated directly in high-level secret negotiations between the U.S. and Chinese governments -- all before he was 18. Further, Linebarger was not above adding a bit of embroidery to these genuine experiences, to make them even more colorful. Is it any wonder that Ron Hubbard might thereupon dramatically expand the scope and drama of his own exaggerations, simply in order to stay competitive? And is it any wonder that when such exaggerations appeared to gain acceptance, Hubbard would try more of the same in the future?"<br /><br />Doesn't a biography of Linebarger sound like something you'd want to read?Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-85532731602799984352007-07-14T23:10:00.000-04:002007-07-14T23:18:19.905-04:00More sculpture; videos.Following up on Ted's robot post:<br /><br />Terri posted <a href="http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/endicott_redux/2007/07/kinetic-sculptu.html">this great</a> video of <a href="http://www.strandbeest.com/">Theo Jansen</a>'s sculptures over at the Endicott Studio blog.<br /><br />In the comments, seeming like spam, there was a link to a Youtube piece, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY">The Wind</a>"—which is completely different but lots of fun. Marcel Marceau, anyone? (and that's good? how odd).<br /><br />Joining the two, Mr. Hurricane and the robot (and of course more), <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhPemapM18">this video</a> from <a href="http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl/">Gwenda</a>.Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-87364524990193257212007-07-13T03:25:00.000-04:002007-07-13T03:55:07.451-04:00toys for cyborgsAfter Readercon I visited the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/main.html">MIT Museum</a>, and for me the coolest exhibit by far was the collection of Arthur Ganson's kinetic sculptures. Photos can't do them justice, and even videos don't capture the experience of seeing them in person, but these will give you an idea: here's <a href="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/458/">Machine with Wishbone</a>, and here's <a href="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/461/">Child Watching Ball</a>.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-54851686755590220962007-06-15T18:49:00.000-04:002007-06-15T19:12:59.606-04:00"Appalling" doesn't cover itIt takes a lot to penetrate my outrage fatigue these days, but here's a news item that did it: remember the four Blackwater contractors killed in Fallujah in 2004? Now <a href="http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/53460">Blackwater is suing their families for $10 million</a>. Apparently they figure this is the best way to to stop the families from seeking information about the circumstances surrounding the contractors' deaths. <br /><br />There's a <a href="http://blackwatervictims.com/">defense fund</a> that accepts PayPal. Send a donation.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1173367894463704022007-03-08T10:24:00.000-05:002007-03-08T10:33:30.053-05:00Feudalism in Modern TimesFor everyone who thought feudalism was dead, I give you the <a href="http://www.sark.info">Island of Sark</a>. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sark8mar08,0,5443261.story?track=ntothtml">The LA Times has an article on the political controversy.</a>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129261691148239743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1172139220335529982007-02-22T04:58:00.000-05:002007-03-29T15:15:28.676-04:00The folding alone took 40 hours<a href="http://discovermagazine.com/photos/the-extreme-sport-of-origami/dragon1000.jpg/">Here's</a> an origami dragon made from a single sheet of square paper, two meters on a side. Look at those scales. According to <a href="http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-06/features/origami/?page=1">this article</a>, it would take 40 hours just to fold the thing, assuming you knew how; imagine the effort required to design something like that.<br /><br />In the final minute of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbR5XRxKe8c">this video</a>, you can see a little bit of the creator, Satoshi Kamiya, folding the dragon. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49b1bWb4C04">This one</a> provides a pretty good overview of him folding a phoenix. (It looks like the phoenix takes a mere ten hours to fold.)Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1170314419613221202007-01-31T23:45:00.001-05:002007-02-01T02:33:34.753-05:00Artform no. 1I saw <a href="http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/images/HoArt3.jpg">this sculpture</a> on a magazine cover recently, and was in awe. Information about the artist and how he came to make it despite having no background in sculpture is <a href="http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Ho.htm">here</a>. If I had <a href="http://www.digg.com/hardware/Amazing_robot_sculpture">$39,000</a> in my art budget, I'd definitely buy one.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1167241695578962142006-12-27T12:35:00.000-05:002006-12-27T12:48:15.590-05:00Laugh a minute newsBeen watching the so-far brilliant <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362192/">State of Play</a> which makes this story seem all the more on-the-spot:<br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/122706.html">The GOP's $3 Billion Propaganda Organ</a><br /><br />"Washington Times articles are routinely cited by C-SPAN, for instance, without explanations to viewers that the newspaper is financed by an ultra-right religious cult leader, a convicted tax fraud and a publicly identified money-launderer. Most American listeners just think they're getting straightforward news....<br /><br />"Moon has key defenders, too, in the U.S. Congress, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 2004, Moon was given space in the Senate’s Dirksen building for a coronation of himself as “savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent.” [See <a href="http://www.hillnews.com/news/062204/moon.aspx">The Hill, June 22, 2004</a>]"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/122706.html"> More</a><br /></blockquote>Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1146159333656073392006-04-27T13:15:00.000-04:002006-04-27T13:35:33.770-04:00Little, Big: The Absolute EditionFor those who haven't heard about it, there is currently a plan to reprint John Crowley's <i>Little, Big</i> in an illustrated, limited edition. It's a subscription program: if enough people subscribe, the edition will be published. <br /><br />The original deadline for subscribing was this spring, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the novel's first publication, but it's recently been extended to March 2007. Check out <a href="http://www.littlebig25.com/">the website</a> for more details.<br /><br />(And also check out John Crowley's new <a href="http://crowleycrow.livejournal.com/">blog</a>.)Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1141055118508777372006-02-27T10:42:00.000-05:002006-02-27T10:45:19.380-05:00Octavia ButlerI was just a reader. I couldn’t tell you where, when, or which of Octavia Butler’s books I read first. It was some time in the mid-1980s. I read <i>Wild Seed, Dawn, Xenogenesis, Adulthood Rites.</i> I may have gotten them from the library. Books were hard to get and when I read a book by an author I liked I wanted to read all of their books. For years I had a list of the ones I was missing. I had no idea she was black. I really liked the sound of her name. I was young and the books were sometimes a struggle. I liked that, too. <br /><br />When <i>Parable of the Sower</i> came out I was in heaven. Later on I worked at a bookshop and got to stock and handsell all those little Warner paperback reprints. <i>Parable of the Talents</i> came out, and a collection of her stories, <i>Bloodchild, </i> most of which I hadn’t read, and I was pretty happy. <br /><br />By some counts Butner wrote a lot, by some a little. I’m glad she wrote. There are some books back there I still haven’t read, so I’m glad for that. I still haven’t read <i>Fledgling.</i> Don’t know if I will. Uninformed as I am, the one thing about it that I like about it is that in the one time I met her, she was happy to be writing a vampire book because it had gotten her past some block in her writing. I met at Clarion West in Seattle, and I told her I loved her books. Then I tried not to be goofy and to respect her privacy. She was quiet and smart and funny. She was a great writer.Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1139871733121103462006-02-13T18:01:00.000-05:002006-02-13T18:02:13.136-05:00oi!<table align="center" cellpadding="20"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center"> <span style="font-size:180%;"><b>The Misfits</b></span><br />This is where you belong in the annals of punk history! </td> </tr> <tr> <td><br />You're pretty cool but sometimes the problem is, is that you know it. 9<br />times out of ten, you are the life of any party you go to, just be<br />careful not to put your logo on everything you can. What you lack in<br />substance, you more than make up for with style and flare. You are<br />definately one of a kind, but don't let it go to your head... oh yeah,<br />I probably wouldn't want to mess with you or tell you this to your<br />face. </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/users/286/762/2877631378195630327/mt1102584443.jpg" /> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="20"> <tbody><tr> <td> <span id="comparisonarea">My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people <i>your age and gender</i>:<blockquote><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4"><tbody><tr><td valign="middle"><table bgcolor="black" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#b2cfff" height="20" width="77"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td><td bgcolor="white" width="73"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td valign="middle">You scored higher than <b>51%</b> on <b>wild apathy</b></td></tr><tr><td valign="middle"><table bgcolor="black" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#b2cfff" height="20" width="65"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td><td bgcolor="white" width="85"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td valign="middle">You scored higher than <b>43%</b> on <b>pissed off</b></td></tr><tr><td valign="middle"><table bgcolor="black" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#b2cfff" height="20" width="129"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td><td bgcolor="white" width="21"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td valign="middle">You scored higher than <b>86%</b> on <b>comically evil</b></td></tr><tr><td valign="middle"><table bgcolor="black" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#b2cfff" height="20" width="23"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td><td bgcolor="white" width="127"><a href="http://www.okcupid.com"><img src="http://is1.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" alt="free online dating" border="0" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td valign="middle">You scored higher than <b>15%</b> on <b>socially aware</b></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></span> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table cellpadding="20"><tbody><tr><td>Link: <a href="http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14360617125303321792">The What classic punk band are you Test</a> written by <a href="http://www.okcupid.com/profile?tuid=2877631378195630327">DrLebowski</a> on <a href="http://www.okcupid.com">OkCupid Free Online Dating</a>, home of the <a href="http://www.okcupid.com/oktest3">32-Type Dating Test</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1134322126691175722005-12-11T12:25:00.000-05:002005-12-11T12:31:38.176-05:00Good readingBritish playwrite Harold Pinter's <a href="http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html">Nobel Prize Speech</a> is a wonderful thing. From how he writes to the state of the world.Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1133800220165001332005-12-05T11:24:00.000-05:002005-12-05T11:30:20.176-05:00Rain Taxi Ebay AuctionA charity auction benefitting the wonderful, nonprofit review magazine, <a href="http://www.raintaxi.com">Rain Taxi</a>, is going on at Ebay from December 5-12. The auction features books and more from authors such as Stephen Dixon, Kelly Link, and Paul Auster.<br /><br /><a href="ttp://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?sofocus=bs&satitle=&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC5&fbd=1&%3Bsspagename=h%3Ah%3Aadvsearch%3AUS&fscl=1&nojspr=y&sorefinesearch=1&from=R14&nojspr=y&fscl=1&pfid=0&fswc=1&few=&saprclo=&saprchi=&fss=1&saslop=1&sasl=raintaxi&fls=4%26floc%3D1&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D0&salic=1&saatc=1&fspt=1&sadis=200&fpos=&fsct=4555&sacur=0&sacqyop=ge&sacqy=&dfs=20051104&dfts=-1&dfe=-1&dfte=-1&sabdlo=&sabdhi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&fcl=3&frpp=50">Here's a link to the auction</a>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129261691148239743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1133639469397069972005-12-03T23:25:00.000-05:002005-12-04T03:25:46.150-05:00Let's Try This AgainSince my <a href="http://withboots.blogspot.com/2005/11/technology-magic-and-consciousness.html">previous post</a> seems to have been widely <a href="http://www.emcit.com/wordpress/?p=1734">misinterpreted</a>, I figured I'd try to restate my argument more clearly. <br /><br />First of all, I'm <b><i>NOT</i></b> trying to offer a definition of science fiction or a definition of fantasy. To explain what I am trying to do, let me offer an example, one which I hope will work better than the "magical radio" example of my previous post.<br /><br />Imagine a story in which teleportation is available in the form of teleport booths, where anyone can walk up, dial up a destination, and go. Now imagine a story in which teleportation is available only in the presence of a certain individual, who exerts his/her will to make it happen. <br /><br />To me, based on these admittedly scant descriptions, the first story feels more like science fiction, while the second feels more like fantasy. If you don't perceive this difference between the two stories, or if you do perceive this difference but couldn't care less about it (both of which I consider perfectly legitimate reactions), then I advise you to stop reading this post right now, lest it piss you off. <br /><br />For those who are still with me, the rest of this post (along with my previous post) is my attempt to articulate what I think underlies my perception of a difference between the two stories.<br /><br />So, why does one story feel like SF while the other feels like fantasy? It's not a matter of what can or can't happen according to known physical laws; we can stipulate that teleportation is impossible in either form depicted, and still perceive a difference. Is it the year in which the story is set? I'd say no, because this difference persists even if both stories are set in the present day. Does it depend on how detailed an explanation is offered? Again I'd say no, because this difference persists even if no further explanation is offered in either story. <br /><br />I submit that we perceive a difference in the stories because in the former, the phenomenon of teleportation appears to be an application of impersonal physical laws, while the in latter, the phenomenon of teleportation relies on the conscious intention of an individual practitioner. For the sake of brevity if nothing else, we can refer to the first as a technological form of teleportation and the second as a magical form of teleportation. <br /><br />Let me talk for a minute about technology and magic as thus distinguished. Does we live in a universe that permits only technology and excludes magic? <a href="http://vanderworld.blogspot.com/2005/12/fantasy-science-fiction-magic-science.html">Jeff VanderMeer</a> seems certain that we do, and I tend to agree, but that assertion is not actually a requirement for the argument I'm trying to make. <br /><br />I think it's fair to say that in the past, more people believed that the universe permitted magic than believe it today. Many factors contributed to this shift in opinion, and one of them was industrialization. Certain phenomena turned out to be reliably repeatable, and as it happened, these were ones that did not rely on the conscious intention of a practitioner. The synthesis of, say, nitric acid turned out to be easily repeatable. By contrast, the transmutation of base metal into gold, which was often said to rely on spiritual purity as much as laboratory technique, was not easily repeatable. It's likely that people were never able to do it at all, but even if they were, the spiritual requirement meant that they weren't able to repeat it reliably. <br /><br />I think the spread of mass production contributed to a decrease in the belief that conscious intention could play a role in physical phenomena. Are we better off because of it? I don't know. Maybe we'd be better off if more people believed in magic, and/or if the universe actually supported magic. Technology certainly has its downsides, but love it or hate it, technology plays a bigger role in the modern view of the universe than it did in the past, and magic plays a smaller one.<br /><br />Now, what about fiction that depicts these two types of phenomena? Do I think fiction depicting technology is superior to fiction depicting magic? No. Do I think that a sharp boundary can be drawn between the two? No.<br /><br />I think we perceive a difference between fiction with a technological worldview and fiction with a magical worldview, not just because of the history of SF/F as subgenres, but also because of the history of our relationship with technology and magic themselves. <br /><br />I have no problem if writers want to mix technological and magical worldviews in their work, or if they want to keep them separate. I think good artistic effects can be achieved with either approach; bad ones, too. But let me suggest that awareness of the difference between these two worldviews can be useful, because it can help us as readers to understand our reactions to a work, and as writers to make deliberate choices in our writing.<br /><br />If this post seems nonsensical to you, I apologize for wasting your time. However, if you feel compelled to respond to this post, I hope that you will try to respond to the argument I am trying to make, and not to other arguments that this may remind you of.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1133257555411865932005-11-30T23:56:00.000-05:002005-12-04T02:56:34.156-05:00Technology, magic, and consciousness<b>[UPDATED: SEE <a href="http://withboots.blogspot.com/2005/12/lets-try-this-again.html">THIS POST</a> FOR WHAT MAY BE A CLEARER VERSION OF THIS ARGUMENT.]</b><br /><br />I thought about posting on this topic many months ago, but got distracted; what prompted me to post about it now is that my web surfing brought me to <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/truepenny/396280.html">this post</a> on Sarah Monette's journal, about the difference between science fiction and fantasy. Her views on the subject align very closely with mine, but I figured I'd offer some additional thoughts.<br /><br />I'll start by restating some comments I made a while back on Jed Hartman's journal <a href="http://www.kith.org/journals/jed/2005/08/12/3054.html">here</a>: for me, a useful way to understand the difference between SF and fantasy is to consider the difference between science and magic. This isn't a question of conforming to current scientific understanding; we can imagine an alternate set of physical laws without calling them magic. I submit that what distinguishes magic from science -- even imaginary science -- is the role of consciousness. Magic has a subjective component -- the intention, desire, or willpower of the practitioner -- that is explicitly excluded from scientific experimentation.<br /><br />One consequence of this is that a scientific result can be replicated by a mechanism, and that mechanism can be mass-produced; thus we all own products containing electric motors, lasers, etc., even though such things were once objects of wonder found only in laboratories. This is generally not true of magic; no one expects that a great magician's ability to turn a pumpkin into a carriage will, decades later, result in cheap shape-shifting gadgets. The pumpkin-into-carriage spell is dependent on the practitioner's conscious intention, and that's something that can't be automated or mass-produced. <br /><br />(In my Locus interview I expressed this idea by saying that magic is esoteric while technology is egalitarian, because only select individuals are able to call down lightning, but electricity works for everyone. This got me into a disagreement with Nisi Shawl. Nisi pointed out that I was thinking of a fairly narrow tradition of hermetic magic, and that there are also traditions of folk magic and communal magic that are available to anyone. She's right. I do think that magic is commonly depicted as being unavailable to people lacking certain innate gifts, but that's certainly not intrinsic to all magical systems.)<br /><br />So why would some phenomena depend on a practitioner's will or desire? Because, in fantasy, the universe distinguishes between persons and mechanisms. The universe recognizes intention; it can be understood as being, in some loose sense, a person itself. And in the same way that we respond differently to real mail and junk mail, the universe responds differently to an action performed by an individual and an action performed by a mechanism. In fantasy, successfully interacting with the universe requires acknowledging that you're dealing with a person and not a rule-bound system.<br /><br />This doesn't mean that a fantasy universe is necessarily ruled by a capricious god or gods; being a person doesn't mean being arbitrary or inconsistent. But one consequence is that, in a fantasy universe, certain things are not susceptible to mass production. For example, you could say that, in order for your magical radio to function, you need to appease a certain deity, and so you say a prayer each time you make a radio, and your radios always work. That's consistent with dealing with a person. But if you've got a machine that is stamping out functional radios by the thousands, it's no longer reasonable to say that it's appeasing a deity every time. Instead, it makes more sense to say you're dealing with impersonal laws of nature; your radio is an example of applied science, not applied magic.<br /><br />Which brings us to the importance of the Industrial Revolution. Sarah Monette says, "It's an oversimplification to say that sf deals with the consequences of the Industrial Revolution while fantasy denies the Industrial Revolution ever took place. But it's an oversimplification with a grain of truth at its heart." I agree. The shift away from a god-centered worldview and toward a scientific worldview had been underway for some time already, but I imagine it could seem like an abstract discussion for most people. Once the Industrial Revolution began, though, everyone could see tangible, practical consequences of the universe's impersonal nature. <br /><br />Before mass production, technology usually involved the personal touch. Every artifact was the product of an individual's care and attention; every tool was born of a conscious act. If a device worked well, it was usually because someone had been concentrating really hard when they made it. After mass production, that was no longer the case. The personal touch vanished from many aspects of daily life.<br /><br />This perspective helps illustrate why, even though fantasy doesn't have to be pre-industrial, fantasy works so well with a pre-industrial setting. Before industrialization, it was easier to believe that we lived in a universe that recognized persons. And even though fantasy doesn't have to be nostalgic, it's easy to romanticize the days when an individual's labor mattered, and you couldn't be replaced by a machine.<br /><br />Similarly, this perspective illustrates why, even though science fiction doesn't have to be about technological advancement, it is so often concerned with the notion of progress. Once conscious intention was removed from the creation of devices, inventions could spread so rapidly that you could see society change within a single lifetime. And even though SF doesn't have to be cautionary, it's easy to worry about the dehumanization that can result when conscious intention is removed from too many aspects of life.<br /><br />I don't claim that this distinction between magic and science is the ultimate explanation of the difference between SF and fantasy. There are countless examples of SF/F for which this doesn't apply at all, and anyone looking for gray areas can find plenty in any discussion that mentions consciousness. But I do find it a fruitful way to think about these two subgenres, so I figured I'd write a post about it.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1132784640768110602005-11-23T17:14:00.000-05:002005-11-23T17:24:00.780-05:00FridayIs Black Friday -- a good day for your local shops. Or maybe it's No Shopping Day (boycott everyone! build a snow fort!). Or maybe it's the day to go see <i>Walk the Line.</i> Go see!<br /><br />But -- unless there are strong recommendations out there? -- maybe it's not the day to see the latest version of <i>Pride & Prejudice</i> says Detroit's <a href="http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8537">Metro Times</a>:<br /><br />"The film, let me be the first to tell you, is to be <i>abhorred.</i>"Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1132437463581040022005-11-19T16:52:00.000-05:002005-11-19T16:59:16.606-05:00boys and girls and boys and girlsJe Suis Un Geek<br /><br /><b>1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams </b><br /><b>2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell</b> <br />3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley <br />4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip Dick <br /><b>5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson</b> <br /><b>6. Dune -- Frank Herbert</b><br /><b>7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov</b> <br /><b>8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov</b> <br /><b>9. The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett</b><br />10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland <br />11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson <br /><b>12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons</b> <br />13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson <br /><b>14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks</b><br /><b>15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein </b> <br /><b>16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick</b> <br /><b>17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman</b> <br />18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson <br />19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson<br /><b>20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham</b> <br /><br />Borrowed from Books for Geeks by Girls By Christopher Rowe<br /><br /><b>Wild Seed by Octavia Butler</b><br />Synners by Pat Cadigan<br />Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh<br /><b>Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley</b><br />Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold<br />Rats & Gargoyles by Mary Gentle<br />Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Ann Goonan<br /><b>Slow River by Nicola Griffith</b><br /><b>Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson</b><br />Life by Gwyneth Jones<br /><b>A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin</b><br /><b>Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link</b><br /><b>Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey</b><br /><b>China Mountain Zhiang by Maureen McHugh</b><br />Golden Vanity by Rachel Pollack<br /><b>Natural History by Justina Robson</b><br /><b>Harry Potter and the Alchemist’s Stone by JK Rowling</b><br /><b>The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell</b><br /><b>Frankenstein by Mary Shelley</b><br /><b>The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge</b>Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1127231329794007202005-09-20T11:41:00.000-04:002005-09-20T11:48:49.803-04:00Address for booksColleen Mondor is working with a group in Baton Rouge who are helping children sheltered with their families at Southern University. They've put together a couple of wish lists of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=cm_wl_reg-item/002-0095199-4562441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&id=1WJR3VK0TYQ1J">books</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go/002-0095199-4562441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&sort=&id=2YEA8IYIUVWRE&layout=&items-per-page=">games</a> that the folks at Parkview Baptist Church will happily deliver to the SU kids and other area shelter kids. <br /><br />Any teen or younger titles would be appreciated. Also, feel free to buy off the lists, and send the links on to everyone you know.<br /><br />Mailing Address:<br /><br />Josh Causey<br />Parkview Baptist Church<br />11795 Jefferson Highway<br />Baton Rouge, LA 70816Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1125101547002740052005-08-26T20:06:00.000-04:002005-08-26T20:12:27.010-04:00Confessional artworkThis is one of the best community art projects I've ever heard of:<br /><br /><a href="http://postsecret.blogspot.com/">postsecret.blogspot.com</a>.<br /><br />(Found via <a href="http://www.bluejack.com/overclocked/blog.qsml">BlueJack's blog</a>.)Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1123356331006268882005-08-06T15:12:00.000-04:002005-08-06T15:25:31.013-04:00follow-up: plagiarism lawsuitBack in January, I <a href="http://withboots.blogspot.com/2005/01/another-plagiarism-lawsuit.html">posted</a> about Sophia Stewart's lawsuit against the Wachowski brothers, in which she claimed they had stolen the idea for <i>The Matrix</i> from her. A community college newspaper incorrectly reported that she had won her suit, and the story spread like wildfire.<br /><br />For an update of the lawsuit's current status, and some thoughts on why the story of her lawsuit's success was so appealing, see <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-mothermatrix31jul31,1,6817238.story?coll=la-headlines-magazine">this recent article</a> in the LA Times.<br /><br />(Via <a href="http://locusmag.blogspot.com/2005/08/harry-etc.html">Mark Kelly's blog</a>.)Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1117788977409183372005-06-03T04:37:00.000-04:002005-06-03T04:56:17.416-04:00The Neurology of InfatuationThere's an interesting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/health/psychology/31love.html">New York Times article</a> about a study in which researchers did functional MRI scans of college students who were newly in love. An excerpt: <br /><br /><i>[Romantic love] is closer in its neural profile to drives like hunger, thirst or drug craving, the researchers assert, than to emotional states like excitement or affection. As a relationship deepens, the brain scans suggest, the neural activity associated with romantic love alters slightly, and in some cases primes areas deep in the primitive brain that are involved in long-term attachment.</i><br /><br />Apparently the area of the brain known as the caudate nucleus is of central importance:<br /><br /><i>This passion-related region was on the opposite side of the brain from another area that registers physical attractiveness, the researchers found, and appeared to be involved in longing, desire and the unexplainable tug that people feel toward one person, among many attractive alternative partners.<br /><br />This distinction, between finding someone attractive and desiring him or her, between liking and wanting, "is all happening in an area of the mammalian brain that takes care of most basic functions, like eating, drinking, eye movements, all at an unconscious level, and I don't think anyone expected this part of the brain to be so specialized," Dr. Brown said.</i><br /><br />Regarding the credibility of this study, Dr. Hans Breiter, director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Collaboration at Massachusetts General Hospital, said, "I distrust about 95 percent of the M.R.I. literature and I would give this study an 'A'; it really moves the ball in terms of understanding infatuation love."<br /><br />Read the whole thing before the link expires.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1116947807505661992005-05-24T11:16:00.000-04:002005-05-24T11:16:47.556-04:00when chimps attack<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301819.html">TThe Tale of Moe, in today's WaPo</a>:
<br />
<br /><blockquote>In 1967, LaDonna Davis's boyfriend went on a trip to Tanzania and came back with quite a surprise: a chimpanzee. It was a baby still, an orphan that St. James Davis said he had rescued from the poachers who killed its mother, and it was just adorable -- 'a large teddy bear,' LaDonna's mother declared. They named him Moe.
<br />
<br />St. James, a stock-car racer, became so bonded to Moe that he would carry the little fellow in a sling around his chest as he worked at his auto body shop in West Covina, Calif. When St. James and LaDonna married a couple of years later, Moe was 'a combination of flower-thrower and best man,' LaDonna recalls, sitting across from her mother this sunny spring day.
<br />
<br />'Tell her about . . . ' interrupts her mother, Terry DeVere.
<br />
<br />'Oh . . . well . . .' says Davis, with well-practiced delicacy: 'Moe . . . peed on a woman.' All the excitement of the reception, maybe too much punch. DeVere and her daughter glow with the memories of the beautiful day and of the beautiful years that followed.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1115365731843791802005-05-06T03:47:00.000-04:002005-05-06T13:12:55.146-04:00Sand AnimationCheck this out:<br /><br /><a href="http://media.ebaumsworld.com/sandsicaf.wmv">http://media.ebaumsworld.com/sandsicaf.wmv</a><br /><br />Edit: Note that this is 19 megabyte file.Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1114976694843008732005-05-01T15:36:00.000-04:002005-05-01T15:48:07.106-04:00The World Warms Up"Disappearing islands, thawing permafrost, melting polar ice. How the earth is changing."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050425fa_fact3">The World Warms Up</a> is the first of Elizabeth Kolbert's must-read three-part series on the reality of climate change from <i>The New Yorker.</i> This part is from the Arctic as well as various conferences, Greenland, and Iceland. Melting permafrost, retreating glaciers. The <i>only</i> country to equivocate on whether this is a real phenomena is the US. <br />Plus: Kolbert <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/content//?050425on_onlineonly01">talks</a> with Amy Davidson about global warming.Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666825.post-1114824460501094102005-04-29T21:16:00.000-04:002005-04-29T21:27:40.503-04:00Authors seek anthologizement while we are dancingWhile all <a href="http://sfwa.org/awards/2005/NebFinal2004.html">these</a> authors gather in Chicago for the gladitorial cage matches to see whose work will be selected for an exciting anthology, here, we are <a href="http://www.triban-union.com/index_news-US.php">dancing</a>. Tinariwen's CD, Amassakoul, will get you out your chair and moving. Reading their website it looks like the group have a pretty strange history that merits some further research. Track 1 goes straight onto the next mix tape.Gavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556165180102687686noreply@blogger.com3