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| Thursday, November 19th, 2009 | | 5:11 pm |
Young Adult Fiction Reading Guide from Tor.com
So, I know a lot of my friends read YA, so I thought it would be helpful to folks if I posted links to Megan Crewe's YA reading guides from Tor.com, where she tries to guide you to the YA books you might like based on what sort of fantasy and science fiction you like. Based on the books she recommended that I've read it looks like she's got pretty good taste. I'd particularly second her recommendations of Feed, by MT Anderson (probably my favorite YA author), and the Attolia books ( The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia) by Megan Whelan Turner (tied with Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books for my favorite YA series). Anyways, here are her guides to Fantasy and Science Fiction. | | Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | | 2:17 pm |
Standoff
So, I've just been informed that Standoff one of my favorite, canceled-before-its-time shows is now available on Hulu in its entire run, which is fantastic since it isn't (yet) available on DVD. Standoff is sort of Moonlighting meets The Negotiator. The show follows the activities of a LA based FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit. In particular it focuses on the two lead negotiators, Matt Flannery (played by Ron Livingston) and Emily Lehman (Rosemarie DeWitt), who are partners, and who are also, as revealed when the show begins, sleeping together. Each episode revolves around the main plot of a hostage situation and the subplot of Matt and Emily's relationship. Of possible interest to Firefly fans, the always impressive Gina Torres also stars as Matt and Emily's boss. Anyway, the show was smart and tense and sexy, with exciting plots and great acting, and it completely baffles me that it got canceled midway through its first season. If you're looking for a show to watch, for free, I'd definitely recommend it. | | Friday, November 13th, 2009 | | 10:25 am |
Lev Grossman's The Magicians Gina G. describes The Magicians this way: "it's as if Audrey Niffenegger took the ideas of The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter and turned them into a modern American story for adults." And she's not wrong. And if that's not enough to get you to read it, I'm not sure what is. It's not a perfect book, the main character is a little emo for my tastes, for instance, and it does partake of as of much of the conventions of contemporary fiction as it does of fantasy fiction, which I can see not sitting well with some people. But overall, I was extremely impressed. (Edited to add) ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) charlie_ego, I'd be really interested to see what you think about it, if you get a chance to read it. | | Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | | 2:42 pm |
| | Saturday, November 7th, 2009 | | 5:15 pm |
Various Random Thoughts on a Saturday Afternoon
1) There were clementines in the store today! I love clementine season. The batch I got are a little sour, but I'm just happy they're in stores. 2) Speaking of fruit, did you know that pears are delicious? After over 2 years of being unable to eat apples or pears, this is quite the revelation. 3) NPR informs me that it is Joni Mitchell's 66th birthday today. In celebration I have put on Blue, Ladies of the Canyon and Hits. | | Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | | 9:30 pm |
Avatar
So, I like James Cameron movies and I'm really looking forward to Avatar. But even now I can see that anyone who studies Colonialism in Science Fiction is going to have a field day. | | Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | | 2:59 pm |
Heteroween
Ganked from my cousin Karsten's Facebook feed: Dan Savage's always unique perspective on Halloween.Though, I must say "Sexy Cadaver" does seem to be taking the "Sexy 'Noun'" thing too far. What was it Joel always said? "Necrophilia means never having to say... anything." | | Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 | | 8:34 am |
Bruce Lee plays Table Tennis
... Or as we call it in Mandarin "ping pang" Of course, being Bruce Lee, he does it with a pair of nunchucks. It's apparently some sort of Nokia ad in China, but it is also frickin' awesome | | Monday, October 19th, 2009 | | 1:54 pm |
A Game of Thrones
So, I saw this today on Tor.com, and I figured other people might be interested. HBO's adaptation of A Game of Thrones starts production next week, starring Sean Bean as Eddard Stark and Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark. Who knows how it'll turn out, but, hey SharpBoromir and Elizabeth Bennett, are a pretty good start. | | Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 | | 1:55 pm |
| | Thursday, October 8th, 2009 | | 4:00 pm |
Not that I've been watching TV
But I've been hearing good things about Glee all over the place. I thought the first episode was really disappointing, and I have heard some bad things about it from friends. Is anyone still watching it? Any reports? | | Sunday, October 4th, 2009 | | 12:05 pm |
Let's Ride Bikes!
So I finally learned to ride a bike over the summer. Despite really enjoying it, I've mainly stayed on nature trails and a tiny amount of mountain biking because I am scared to death of cars when riding my bike. Anyway, friends of mine ride in the New York MS bike ride every year, and I thought it would be nice to join them and see what road biking was like. So, hoping I wasn't gathering too much hubris, I signed up for the 30 mile ride. Now some of you (named Jen) may think that that was a really wussy distance, but in any case, it's the longest I've ever gone. And it was fantastic! I loved it so much. Even though the gearing on my bike wouldn't actually shift on hills, it was still a blast, and now I really want to do it again! I'm thinking there must be easy rides in Austin, and the Bay Area, and I think next year I'm going to sign up to do the 66 mile ride. Anyone interested in joining me? | | Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | | 9:51 am |
50 Neat Billboards
There was a poem I read in high school that went something like: I think that I shall never see A billboard as lovely as a tree Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all. Which the internet tells me was written by Ogden Nash. So with apologies to Mr. Nash, you should check out this site with pictures of 50 really cool and clever billboards. Plus, the site is by a Singaporean, so that's a bonus. But while Mr. Nash may be proved wrong in this instance, always remember: "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker" | | Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | | 10:21 pm |
| | Saturday, September 19th, 2009 | | 9:11 pm |
Reread: Nation by Terry Pratchett You know that feeling you get when you've just finished a book that really managed to get inside you? That tingling feeling in your soul that it ended perfectly and yet you wish it hadn't ended at all? Yeah. Click here to donate to the Alzheimer's Research Trust. | | Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 | | 2:26 pm |
Capsule review: The City and The City by China Mieville
If Jorge Luis Borges decided to write a police procedural, it would look a lot like China Mieville's The City and the City. If you think you'd like that, then you should definitely check it out. | | Friday, September 4th, 2009 | | 8:52 pm |
| | Sunday, August 30th, 2009 | | 8:17 pm |
Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of America
So I'd been putting off reading Liberation by Brian Francis Slattery, for some time now. A friend of mine got me a galley copy, and it had been sitting on my shelf for over a year, unread. While, I'd liked Spaceman Blues, Slattery's first book, I didn't love it (Sorry, Brian!) and so while I kept meaning to read Liberation it kept getting bumped back in the queue by other things. This, as it turns out, is a huge shame, because Liberation is one of the best things I've read all year.
Liberation is set in the America of the Very Near Future, where the dollar has collapsed, and with it, the American government. Slattery does an excellent job of expounding on the repercussions of the crash and exploring this brave new world, without getting bogged down in either pedantry or travelogue. The book is fast paced, a delight to read, and more than a little less "science fiction" given the events of the past year and our "Great Recession"
But the best thing about Liberation is that it sings. Slattery is a musician and this shows up throughout the book. There's a musical metaphor on almost every page, and more than that the prose itselfis lyrical, running with an easy rhythm as if Brian Slattery was some sort of bluegrass prophet of the apocalypse.
Which, perhaps he is. | | Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 | | 2:40 pm |
Cheap to a good home
So before I put these on Craigslist I thought I'd check to see if anyone on my friends list is interested, since I'd always rather see something go to a friend. I have a 1 TB external Hard drive (Firewire and USB 2 compliant) and a non-intel Mac G5 tower (2 ghz, 250 GB, and either 2 or 4 gigs of RAM) for anyone who might want it. The hard drive is probably worth $70-$90 on the open market, and the G5 is probably worth $200. I'll take the best offer on the hard drive, and am likely going to donate the computer to a charity if no one wants it. | | Friday, August 7th, 2009 | | 10:57 am |
Movies
You know what would make me happy? If somehow Julie and Julia made more money than G.I. Joe |
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