dewline | Reading

I can't tell if this is synchronicity or my hyperfocus just raging out of control, but this video popped up on my youtube feed while on the flight to San Francisco, and I watched it, and now I'm rewatching the entire series and looking at it in the context of current events.

I'm speaking of course of the late 90s-early 2000s sci fi series LEXX.

And if you are wondering if it has aged well: I'd answer that the parts of it which have not aged well were probably written to be deliberately offensive in the first place, as a counter to what one showrunner referred to as the "preachiness" of 90s-era Star Trek. But my response to this is to fall back on the joke, "You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today. Because people would watch it and go, "Hey, this is Blazing Saddles."

Also: while parts of it can be said to have not aged particularly well, there are other parts of it which come off as fairly progressive by today's standards. (For example, I kind of like how the character Zev, after having grown up in an Intergalactic Patriarchy which has denied her agency and bodily autonomy for her entire life, is ready to dismantle that patriarchy 8:00am day one once she escapes. And there are so many metaphors for late-stage capitalism. So many. And I'm still trying to decide if Kai could be interpreted as being Ace-coded or not. I mean, the only other canon Ace character I can think of from that point in my life is...what, Tarma from Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar book series?)

For those unfamiliar with the show, the vibe falls somewhere between "Warhammer 40k and Heavy Metal meet Barbarella" and maybe "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia In Outer Space."

[A title card which reads The Gang Steals A Planet-Killing Superweapon From The God Emperor, meant to evoke the title cards from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.]

So I've been working on this all week, and I can't tell you how much fun it is to just work on a fricking fansite like it's 2000 again, and 9/11 hasn't happened yet. This thing is growing faster than a swarm full of Mantrid drones, and I hope to have the character blurbs and some essays up shortly.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250810.html

What's that strange light down the road?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250810.html

kareila

One day last May, apropos of nothing in particular, our DM happened to mention to me in chat that at some point he had prepared a one-shot storyline based on the movie Hackers. My response to that was: "Ok well now I know what I want for my birthday."

So today it came to pass that our intrepid group of adventurers teamed up with a band of rogues who bore more than a passing resemblance to the heroes of that movie, and mayhem ensued. It was great!

On top of that, the baker in our party made a birthday cake that looked like the head of Wally the Red Sox mascot. She's fantastically talented and I was blown away. Unbeknownst to me, Robby had bought a small pack of those plastic ball caps that they use for ice cream in order to use one as a cake topper, but they also happened to be the perfect size to fit on the head of my crocheted steel defender, so now he has yet another hat (I also have made him at various points over the past year-plus a sun hat, a pirate hat and a Santa hat).

It's all very silly and I can't stop smiling.

Current Mood: happy

conuly

(Some of which I may have asked before, in which case, forgive me.)

1. People often do say that the English subjunctive is in decline. However, literally nobody I've ever heard say this has provided any sort of evidence. Is there any data on this other than "yeah, feels that way to me"?

1a. I've also heard that the subjunctive, or at least some forms of the subjunctive, is more common in USA English than UK English, from somewhat more authoritative sources but with roughly the same amount of evidence.

2. I got into it with somebody on the subject of "flammable/inflammable". I am aware that there are signs that warn about inflammable materials, and also signs warning about flammable materials. Is it actually the case that anybody has ever been confused and thought they were being warned that something could not catch on fire? Or is that just an urban legend / just-so story to explain why the two words mean the same thing and can be found on the same sorts of signs?

3. Not a language question! I've recently found one of the Myth Adventures books in my house. Gosh, I haven't re-read these in 20 years. Worth a re-read, or oh god no, save it for the recycle bin?

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( Read more... )

frandroid

L’état du jeu - La peur: Se lier d’amitié avec celle qui nous empêche de foncer

Un épisode simple mais efficace qui discute de la façon dont nous devrions faire face aux défis qui nous causent beaucoup d'anxiété.

ysabetwordsmith

This article mentions seeing no grass spiders in a place that typically has them.

Then I realized that I haven't seen any this year either. Usually we have one every couple of feet here, so many it's hard not to step on the webs. They're barely visible most of the time, unless covered in dust or rain or dew. I may simply not have noticed them. But with the ongoing insect apocalypse, it is concerning. I have have seen other spiders spinning webs, though.

What are your spider populations like?

Current Mood: busy

labingi posting in

books

This is the first self-published book I have ever read a good chunk of without realizing it was self-published. The book is as well written as a number of recent traditionally published books; it’s well edited, proofread, designed, nice cover art. It looks professional. Indie publishing can do it!

But in retrospect, it had to be self-published because it’s a Silmarillion fan fic with the names changed, and a traditional publisher wouldn’t take it for fear of being sued. (Not really spoilery: this is clear quite early.) Its premise (I’ll just render this in Tolkien terms) is one of the exiled Noldor returns to the Undying Lands after dying (?) in Middle-earth. That’s a fantastic premise for a fic! With some alterations, it’s a great premise for an original story. That’s why I bought it! I don’t think it fully exploits this premise, though. It’s a goldmine for psychological and philosophical development, and it has fairly little of either, in my opinion.

It does have a great original addition in the idea of a male and female elf who are well-matched “professional/vocational” rivals to such a degree they can be almost interchanged with each other. That concept may be the story’s strongest, and again, I felt it wasn’t fully exploited.

But some of my discontents are discontents with the source material (The Silmarillion): 1) the style is, for my taste, too expository—too much “telling,” not enough “showing”; 2) I just don’t get the concept of the Undying Lands on any deep level, because my cosmology is very different from Tolkien’s. Goddard is, I think, trying to follow Tolkien here, and part of my difficulty suspending disbelief may come from my just not getting it. I give her marks, on the whole, for showing respect for Tolkien’s work and not altering his Elves in any bizarre ways.

One the whole, I find the book conceptually fascinating but not developed deeply enough to fully engage me.

Spoilery review at my DW.

lovelyangel

Frutamania
Beaverton Night Market • Beaverton, Oregon
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Nikon Z8 • NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S
f/2 @ 85mm • 1/1000s • ISO 1600

In 2023 the Beaverton Night Market was held twice – once in July, and once in August. I’m not sure there was a night market in 2024. Instead, there was a full weekend of the Legendary Makers Market.

This year, the Legendary Makers Market was held on the same weekend as the Oregon Country Fair, so I wasn’t able to go. And, this year, the Beaverton Night Market was only one night.

( Some Photos Below This Cut )

james_davis_nicoll

The winners are:

Best Novel: The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed, Solaris
Best YA Novel: Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao, Tundra Books
Best Novelette/Novella: The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed, Tordotcom
Best Short Story: “Blood and Desert Dreams“, Y.M. Pang, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 408
Best Graphic Novel: Star Trek Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio, IDW Publishing
Best Poem/Song “Cthulhu on the Shores of Osaka“, Y.M. Pang, Invitation: A One-shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction
Best Related Work: Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Two
Stephen Kotowych, editor, Ansible Press
Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration: Augur Magazine, Issue 7.1, cover art, Martine Nguyen
Best Fan Writing and Publication: SF&F Book Reviews, Robert Runté, Ottawa Review of Books
Best Fan Related Work: murmurstations, Sonia Urlando, Augur Society, podcast

ysabetwordsmith

How To Make Your City Stronger With 4 Hours and a Shovel

Last month, members of Livable Lynchburg, a Strong Towns Local Conversation group, joined a walk audit alongside city staff, regional planners, and transit officials. At the corner of 12th and Polk, they noticed two stretches of sidewalk that were so overgrown they were nearly impassable.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

flemmings

So the next Austen to read was obviously Emma, which for fifty years was neck and neck with P&P for favourite Austen. Ah well. Not suck fairy exactly but I really cannot be having with Mr. Woodhouse. Ten pages of him was quite enough. And Emma herself is turning into one of those women in straitened emotional circumstances, so no, not Emma for now.

But almost as bad is my next Thick Volume reread, Terra Nostra. I know I'd reread it once before, only a few years after my first read. But when I tried it a few years ago the nightmare feel stopped me in the first chapter. The thing really is an unpleasant drug dream but this time I'm determined to get further in: and this time I have google handy to track down those obscure throw-aways, which helps. Also the net to inform me just how A/U the thing really is. Mind, the net has its oddities too, like a discussion of Pound's Cino which seems to think it's about a dead girl's funeral procession. Don't know where they got that from but maybe I totally misunderstood the poem.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, August 10, to midnight on Monday, August 11 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33478 Daily check-in poll

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 18

How are you doing?

I am OK
12 (70.6%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
5 (29.4%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
7 (38.9%)

One other person
9 (50.0%)

More than one other person
2 (11.1%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

minoanmiss

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: astonished

mellowtigger

Today, after work, I played a demo for game on Steam. It's called Tiny Bookshop. Surprisingly, it has a native Linux version, so I didn't even have to turn on Proton for it to run on my computer. It plays well with keyboard/mouse, but it looks like it would do great on the Steam Deck too.

Instead of a little free library (paging threemeninaboat), you manage a tiny for-profit bookstore. Your store is on a trailer behind your car. Each day, you read the newspaper to buy new inventory or items. The events you read about in the newspaper might convince you to visit a different location in town the next day to sell more books. The items you buy can boost or reduce sales of different genres of books, and you decorate both inside and outside your tiny bookshop. There's a journal that automatically records important details for you, which helps you keep track of things like which city locations sell which book genres more frequently.

Visitors to your tiny bookshop sometimes ask for your help to find a book. They describe what they're looking for. You click on each book on your shelf (genres are color-coded, so you don't have to click every book in the store) to find if something matches. If you find a great match and recommend it to them, you can even get a big boost for all sales that day. If not, they'll come back another day, and you can try to stock something overnight that might work better for them.

The free demo version of the game lets you play only 2 game days, then it ends. But that's plenty of time to see some of the mechanics in use in the game. I think the whole thing is nice. I found it enjoyable and... quaint? It's nice to play games that are entirely non-combat. It's 10% off from regular price on Steam right now, thanks to the Wholesome Games sales now through August 14th.

kathleen_dailey

Geek Girl Authority recaps Resident Alien series finale.

That was a very satisfying ending. Everybody's storyline was credibly wrapped up, but with enough open-ended threads here and there that fic writers may be inspired to tell some continuing stories. The Youngbloods' "Get Together" at the end was surprisingly, and appropriately, moving. I'm already missing this quirky, funny, hopeful, life-affirming show.

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/al-jazeera-correspondent-anas-al-sharif-killed-gaza-city-israel-1.7605557?cmp=rss

People stand amid debris following an airstrike.

Israel's military said it targeted and killed a Hamas cell leader posing as an Al Jazeera journalist in an airstrike on Gaza City on Sunday, a claim condemned by the Qatari broadcaster.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/al-jazeera-correspondent-anas-al-sharif-killed-gaza-city-israel-1.7605557?cmp=rss

ysabetwordsmith

Stunning “wonder reptile” discovery rewrites the origins of feathers

An international team of researchers has published a breakthrough study in the journal Nature showing that early reptiles from the Triassic period had unique structures growing from its skin that formed an alternative to feathers.

The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like skull, tree-climbing adaptations, and pigment structures linked to feathers deepen the mystery of reptile evolution.

Current Mood: busy

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/man-rescued-quesnel-sar-august-2025-1.7605332?cmp=rss

A rock smeared with dirt reading 'HELP' beside a small shelter made of sticks and mud and an RCMP helicopter in the background

A 39-year-old man has been found in the B.C. wilderness after he was missing for more than a week. He was located near a shelter he had created out of mud and sticks, with the word "HELP" scrawled on a nearby rock.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/man-rescued-quesnel-sar-august-2025-1.7605332?cmp=rss

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I put out water for the birds. They had drained the small metal birdbath.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, house yard, and patio plants.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens. I didn't have energy or daylight to pick up the hose, though; I had to turn it off and just leave it out. :/ I'll try to reel it up tomorrow. It's exhausting to maneuver.

I am done for the night.