Phil's Rambling Rants
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 25 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Phil Parker" journal:[<< Previous 25 entries]
|
02:45 pm
[Link] |
Passing the signal on
Because Matthew Shepard Can't, & I Can - THAT'S why.
There's so much wrong with the world, and so little of me right now to throw at any of it. The chasm between the America of my childhood, the America I belong in (for all that it probably never existed except in my mind) and the one on the news today is so vast I can't really face it. I can't say gay marriage is the most important issue out there. I should be talking about global warming, or health care, or corporatism, or the anti-animal movement. Or I should be ignoring politics and trying to get a job. Maybe posting this shouldn't be at the top of my list, but it is the right thing to do, so here it is.
Tags: activism, meme
|
|
09:58 pm
[Link] |
Book review: Dragon Bones
I've really lost the thread of writing reviews of the books I read; I'm so many books behind that I wouldn't remember much about most of them if I did try to go back and fill in. But I really should say something about the last one I finished, so rather than trying to make myself write a long piece, I will just say a few words. So:
Today's mini-review is Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs.
This is a complete story, not just the beginning of a longer work. There is a sequel, so maybe it's the start of a series, but not in a bad way.
Sue WINOLJ has been plugging Patricia Briggs for some time, and I finally got around to picking one of her books up at OVFF. Hey, it has a dragon on the cover, that pretty much guarantees I'll enjoy it, right? Definitely so in this case. A fairly standard fantasy setting, very well handled, with a couple of nicely original bits and characters drawn well enough that they sucked me right in, and kicked me in the guts with a couple of plot twists that completely surprised me and put me through quite the emotional roller coaster. It's not often that I finish a book with that much of a "wow, what a ride!" feeling. I'm not the kind of reader who stops in the middle of the book and tries to guess what will come next, so it's not really that hard to surprise me with a plot. But not this much.
There are some things about the hero and the villain that I realized I didn't really appreciate after I had time to think about them -- traits that I don't like to see linked to good and evil, since I don't believe they are good and evil. This gave just the tiniest bit of tarnish to an otherwise really great read, fast-paced, tight, exciting, and satisfying.
9 out of 10.
Tags: book review, fantasy, patricia briggs
|
|
02:03 pm
[Link] |
Home from OVFF
I'm home in one piece from OVFF and the house didn't burn down while I was gone.
OVFF gave me a lot of laughter, hugs, and reconnection with existence. I'm not going to go into much detail about either my life or the con in this brief post; I'll just sum up that if I could spend more time with you folks I'd be in much better shape. Thanks to everyone who was nice to me and everyone who made the con great in general.
I will try to post more about both halves of that later. I've been isolating myself too much. But right now, I'm wasting daylight; we're actually back early enough that I can get in a short walk in the woods.
Tags: cons, friends, self
|
|
03:58 pm
[Link] |
OVFF
OVFF is next week. This will be good for pathetic, depressed me. It would be even better for pathetic, depressed me to have some reassurance that I won't be sitting around alone, in the form of some actual advance plans, especially for Thursday. If you'd like to do dinner on Thursday, please let me know. Actually, if you'd like to dinner any day, let me know, but I'm most worried about Thursday.
I'm thinking of signing up for a theme filk slot to sing songs from the ElfQuest album A Wolfrider's Reflections. Does anybody else remember and still love these songs?
If anyone would be interested in including me in specific musical plans, I'd be thrilled.
I also will have EFRC calendars available. If you mention ahead of time that you'd like one, I can be sure I have one for you.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
12:03 am
[Link] |
Walking in the rain
I went to Kickapoo this afternoon. It was cold and gray and drizzling; it was glorious. A hundred yards south of the bridge at the main entrance, I stood on a sandbar and looked at a scene that felt so much like I was up in Minnesota that I almost expected to see a moose. Then the thunder went boom overhead, the drizzle became a downpour, and I got drenched. (I'd left my wallet in the car against this chance, so no harm done.) It was grand.
My thoughts ran wild with profound insights into the human condition, mostly forgotten by now. Nature, even the little scraps we haven't managed to ruin yet, is wonderful and nurtures the soul. All the misery we've managed to surround ourselves with we create with our society. Of course we come to this pass because all our evolution has shaped us to survive in a brutal world. We're not wise enough to realize that we suddenly have enough wealth that we don't have to live as though we're always on the ragged edge of starvation.
It's easy to imagine a better world. It's not even that far fetched to believe that better world could be even though the people in it were still flawed. But when I try to figure out how to get from here to that better world, that's where I despair.
Tags: nature, philosophy
|
|
05:04 pm
[Link] |
Fox!
There's plenty wrong with the world today. There's plenty wrong with my life. But I've had affirmation that, for all its faults, the world is a good place. I just walked around the block, and down in the woods, I saw a fox. He ran out onto the road from the south, then saw me and darted back.
I haven't actually seen a fox in my area for at least a couple of years, and there is no critter I could rationally ever hope to see here that makes me happier. He's welcome to move a couple of hundred yards east and have all the mice he can find in my yard.
Tags: nature
|
|
10:03 pm
[Link] |
Wolves! also, foxes and stuff
My current friends know about my passion for tigers, but what you may not know is that I was passionately interested in wolves years before I ever got to be close to a tiger. I became a wolf sponsor at Wolf Park in 1987. But as Wolf Park grew from a tiny shoestring operation into an internationally known facility with hundreds of visitors per day, I was less and less able to connect. I'd almost stopped visiting, and then I started volunteering at EFRC and it was very hard to find time to get over there. I let my sponsorship lapse when I was unemployed, since I couldn't afford it and I wasn't taking advantage of it anyway.
But this weekend, I wasn't going to EFRC. Because I'm uncomfortable with strangers, I've pigeonholed myself as someone who doesn't deal with visitors, in my own mind and in the minds of the EFRC folks. This weekend there were major events scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday, which meant that they would fit feeding cats in way early in the morning, and the rest of the day would be mostly people-herding. So Rebecca told me that I should not plan on coming in, and I didn't get an email that said differently.
Combine this extreme rarity in my life, an open Sunday, with the fact that I've been re-reading ElfQuest online, and it makes sense that I ended up driving to Indiana today after all, but in a slightly different direction and not getting up so early. I went to see the wolves, plus bonus coyotes and foxes.
Wolves are soul-wrenchingly beautiful. My house is full of images of wolves, but seeing them with my own eyes and hearing them sing with my own ears is still magical. Against the pain of seeing them is the pain of not being able to touch them. Wolf Park is also home to 3 foxes. Foxes don't command the awe that a large predator must, but they make up for it with "aww", and they are very beautiful in their own right.
Tags: nature, self, wolves
|
|
08:39 pm
[Link] |
See Max this Saturday
For anyone in the C-U area who might be interested, Max will be at the Pet Fair at Prairieland Feeds this Saturday (and possibly Sunday -- the fair is both days, but I am not positive Max will be there). I won't be there myself, because the reason they're bringing Max is that he is calm and cooperative about going to these things, but he doesn't like me and if I were there he would probably get stressed out.
Tags: c-u, cats, efrc
|
|
10:25 pm
[Link] |
Book review: Rosemary and Rue
Today's book review is Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire.
Damn but I've been waiting a long time to write that sentence. In the interest of full disclosure, I should make it clear (in case anyone who doesn't actually know me reads this) that I've known Seanan for years through filk (though sadly, only casually, because San Francisco is too darn far away and I only see her once in an average year), and that I've been a rather besotted fanboy of her blogging for years. She writes poetry, she writes songs, she writes fan fiction for non-existent TV shows, and she writes dangerously amusing chronicles of her own daily life. She also writes novels, and she is just beginning her career as a professional writer; this is her first published novel, and I really want it to succeed. I can't pretend to be unbiased.
This is the first book in a series. It is a complete episode, no horrible cliffhanger, but it's clear that there's more to come.
There is a fine, fast, violent adventure plot here. There are characters that grab my heart. There's some delightful whimsy and snark. There's some meaningful insight into mortality. But what's really important about this book is the setting and world-building. I've never been to the mundane San Francisco, but McGuire guides me through her fantasy-enhanced version so that it feels wonderfully real. There's a remarkable profusion of faerie lineages, legends, and histories briefly hinted at in ways that make me sure that she really understands how all these pieces go together. Although there are plenty of elements that could be found in books of folk tales or in other contemporary novels, there is a special flavor to this world that is truly compelling. I think the biggest weakness of this book is that, having finished it, I feel that I've just scratched the surface of this world, and I want to explore it in full detail and get answers to lots of questions I wasn't asking at all until I'd finished the book and started thinking about a review.
9 out of 10.
I'm too tired to concentrate on a plot summary; I need to go to bed. Maybe I will actually add one tomorrow.
Tags: book review, fantasy, seanan mcguire
|
|
08:02 pm
[Link] |
A perfect moment
I went to the beach this afternoon, my favorite spot at Sportsmen's Lake. The river is very low, exposing as much of the nice sand as ever. I took a beach towel and just lay on the sand for a while, and then I walked around. A couple of hundred yards away was a scene out of a coffee table book. The river itself was very nice, and no works of man intruded on the view. About five deer were playing at the edge of the water. A heron was in the water near them. They were far enough away that neither deer nor heron noticed me at all. I didn't bring a camera, so I have to settle for writing about it.
Tags: kickapoo, nature
|
|
07:54 pm
[Link] |
An actual post
Yeah, it's been a long time since I've posted anything except for EFRC updates. Yeah, it's because I'm depressed.
I went out to walk at Homer Lake. I haven't been there in a few weeks. At the start of my walk, parking at the north boat ramp, there was excessive mowing in the meadow area as the trail went south, which was upsetting, but it became horrifying as moved toward the pine grove and found that they'd torn out a whole lot of woody growth, down to the bare dirt with bits of wood scattered over it. Some of what they killed was just honeysuckle thickets, but they also took out a fair number of pine trees in the pine grove. They left a thin screen of honeysuckles to hide the scar from the path, but the trail of destruction went on for hundreds of yards.
I walked a long way, down around Collins Pond and then finishing the loop around the whole lake. It's dry enough that there's too little water flowing out the spillway to be hypnotizing. It was a good walk, without further destruction, but I didn't see much to pull me out of my own reverie. The birds were definitely taking the afternoon off.
Tags: homer lake, nature, walks
|
|
12:45 pm
[Link] |
Dream stories
I woke up this morning in one of those dreams where I wish I could have stayed asleep and seen how it turned out, because it seemed like a really great story was developing. Unfortunately, I can't really remember much; considering that I usually can't remember why I walked across the room, it would be odd if I remembered my dreams well. The key is not so much the actual narrative thread, since even as poor as my dream memory is, I know they are chaotic; if I remembered the whole thing I would see its reality shifting and jumping. What I really wish I could hold onto was the understanding that I feel, as I'm experiencing the dream, that I understand the dream world and how what I'm seeing fits into a bigger world that makes sense.
Mostly for my own amusement, I'm going to try to record what bits I can remember of this dream and why it was cool, in the hope that I might get enough to actually write a story later. If I can manage to capture the non-human psychology that I woke up feeling I knew, I might really have something.
( dream bits )
Tags: self
|
|
12:11 am
[Link] |
Book review: Better Off Undead
Today's book review is Better Off Undead, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Daniel M. Hoyt.
I picked this up on an odd whim at a recent con. Later, I didn't actually remember what had made me so sure that I should get it, but I read a couple of stories. Then I read a couple of novels, and eventually got back to it. Generally good stories; nothing I hated, and no writing bad enough to put me off. I don't like true horror; if it actually grosses me out or scares me, I don't want to read it. But I like stories about people who aren't human. This book manages to have ghosts, zombies, and even a mummy that are engaging, as well as the vampires that I was probably expecting more of when I bought the book. But I don't think any of these stories are going to stay with me very long.
7 out of 10.
Tags: anthology, book review, fantasy
|
|
11:11 pm
[Link] |
Book review: Dragon Champion
Today's book review is Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight.
This is labeled as "Book One of the Age of Fire". There are three other books in the series that I know of. It starts at the beginning and comes to a reasonable ending place.
I think this book is the definitive proof that I am a hopeless sucker for dragons. I believe I would have found this book terrible if the characters had been presented as humans and the stuff they did modified only the minimum necessary to call them that. But label the protagonist a dragon, with some suitable description to back it up, and I find that I tolerate world building that seems unpolished, a plot that seems like a series of episodes that don't really mesh, and a whole lot of pain and nastiness done to characters I'd just begun to appreciate much more than I really should. I did enjoy reading it, but it's not as tight a package as the Vampire Earth books.
6 out of 10.
( plot summary )
Tags: book review, e e knight, fantasy
|
|
04:53 pm
[Link] |
Book review: The Enchantment Emporium
Today's book review is The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff.
This book takes place in a brand new world and tells a complete story. There is a lot of sex in this book. Most of it is off screen and we don't spend a whole lot of time on the details, but this is definitely not appropriate for the children of prudish parents.
I come out of this book slightly bemused. It was certainly a good book, the sort of book where I was genuinely disappointed that it was over because I don't want to leave the world. Its characters spend enough time doing realistically stupid human things to be very believable, but manage a lot of the time to be so much more sensible than my culture about their interpersonal relationships that it makes me ache. There was snarky humor, there was action with real tension, there was mystery. But it didn't feel like a Tanya Huff book. Usually, Huff gives us a world that is fairly easy to understand; most of the fun is in watching the characters and the plot. But much of this story is about trying to make sense of what's really going on. It's clear that there are very clear rules; the characters know what's going on. But very little of it is ever actually laid out for the reader; we have to puzzle it out for ourselves. It's entertaining and frustrating at the same time. I almost never re-read books -- I have far more books I want to read than I can get to as it is -- but I have a feeling that I should read this one again just to see how much I missed the first time.
9 out of 10.
Argh. A plot summary will take much more time than I have right now, so I will have to try to get to it later.
Tags: book review, fantasy, tanya huff
|
|
01:56 am
[Link] |
S J Tucker house concert
In an effort to prove that I really am crazy, when I heard that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) s00j was doing a house concert at Casa Middleton in Waukegan today (Sunday, July 5, that is -- it's still "today" until I go to bed), at 2 PM, I decided that I would go, even though I had already bought my membership and made my hotel reservations for the aforementioned InConJunction. I actually succeeded in my plan of getting up in time to be on the road at 11 AM EDT, which would have actually gotten me to the venue on time, except that I was so stupidly full of myself for knowing where I was going that I didn't actually consult the map. I failed to recognize the area as I came to it, and roads that I was looking for by name were labeled only by route number, so I drove on by and spent at least an extra 20 minutes on my trip. So I missed the first couple of songs.
I'm not going to try to recap the concert in detail. I just want to say that, while I'd gotten enough of an impression of s00j at DucKon that I actually did this trip, I was completely blown away. She was much more than I was expecting. Amazing voice, great guitar accompaniment, wonderful stage presence and showmanship, and some songs that just reached right down into my soul. I'm still riding in the afterglow of multiple musical orgasms. Plus, I'm also aching from laughter. I hope tollers won't take this the wrong way, but I only knew "Alligator in the House" from her. When she does it, it's a fun little song, but with s00j's schtick, it's oh my god I think I'm going to die funny. The Jewish mother alligator just has to be experienced to be believed. However, that hilarity paled to insignificance compared to a number she did in the circle after the concert, "Don't Lick My Toes", in which the singer belabors in excruciating detail how that particular kink just does not work for her. There was a line in there about how it felt like being flossed with warm liver. I laughed very nearly as long and hard as I at DucKon for the Howl for Mayor McCheese.
Absolutely the only thing wrong with the concert was that it was too short. But any more wonderful would probably have burned my brain out entirely, so maybe it's for the best. Even though some people who had said they would be there weren't there, we had a good song circle after the concert. I got to sing some of my moldy old crap filk classics that I don't believe s00j had heard before, starting with Chris Weber's "Beware of the Sentient Chili" in response to her song about the salad of doom. I also got more hugs at the concert/party than I had at the con, and I got to snuggle exapno too.
EDIT: corrected the title of "Don't Lick My Toes" -- I plead lack of sleep when I originally posted.
Tags: filk, friends, music, travel
|
01:31 am
[Link] |
InConJunction
3 weeks ago, still riding the high from DucKon, I pulled the trigger on InConJunction. I went all by myself this time. I had a pretty good time, but it was nowhere near what DucKon had been.
( some recollections )
The InConJunction folks did a good job. It is not the con's fault that there were fewer of my friends there than I might have hoped, and it certainly isn't their fault that I was shorter than even my usual on emotional energy to connect with new people most of the time. There was a period in InConJunction's history when the con was actively hostile to filkers, but I certainly didn't have any complaints this year.
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, food, friends
|
|
01:00 am
[Link] |
Book review: Storm from the Shadows
Today's book review is Storm from the Shadows by David Weber.
This is the latest in the Honor Harrington universe, a fairly direct sequel to The Shadow of Saganami, but it would probably be fairly understandable to anyone generally familiar with the universe. It ends in a sadistic multiple cliffhanger (that is, rather than bringing the multiple plot lines together for a conclusion, Weber winds each one up to a dramatically tense moment, and we hit the last page).
This book should serve as a real test of whether you're an addict or not. The overall story arc has clearly jumped the shark. The scope of the main villain's plot is mostly revealed, and it strains credibility badly. Further, the effectiveness of the villain's Machiavellian maneuvering completely shatters believability. Many, many people who have risen to positions of real authority end up doing just what the villain's script says, in a way that makes it clear that it's only happening because it's what the author's script said. The good guys, who are supposed to be smart, start putting the pieces together more because the story says it's time than because it's clear that they should understand now. There are far too many new technological twists for such a well established universe, they seem too pat, and we the readers are just led around by the nose as the author tells us just how the different bits of tech will interact in battles, and the actual details feel like they're being massaged to fit where the story is supposed to go, instead of driving the story there. And then there's the point where the book stops, which as I mentioned in my opening paragraph is about as completely the polar opposite of an ending as anyone could ever manage to write.
However, the metaphysical literary opiates that infuse the series are still present; despite all the above complaints (and the fact that I was warned about the ending before I picked it up), I couldn't keep myself from starting it, I couldn't keep myself from reading it, and only my crummy memory and inability to stay focused on anything will keep me from exploding from frustration as I wait to see how the mess shakes out.
6 out of 10. If you're not already addicted, it's almost certainly too weak to hook you. But if you are already addicted, you know you have to read it anyway. And the next couple, too.
( plot summary )
Tags: book review, david weber, sf
|
|
06:15 am
[Link] |
How Far Back Does Music Go?
From the GT list, a fascinating article about a 35000 year old flute and other signs of culture from the Ach Valley.
Tags: cool links, science
|
|
06:32 pm
[Link] |
Book review: The Shadow of Saganami
Today's book review is The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber.
This book takes place in the "Honorverse", the world of Honor Harrington, but Lady Harrington only has a cameo appearance. The story itself stands alone fairly well, and the universe would probably make sense without already being familiar.
This book has so much wrong with it that I'd have plenty of meat for a very detailed pan. It's 745 pages, which is certainly a couple hundred too many. A lot of what happens is political, and it's convoluted and contrived. A lot of it is military, and those parts include many passages of excruciating description, explicitly listing details. A number of details at many levels seem to be a bit off. Mostly, the first several chapters just dragged to the point where I remembered that when this book had first come in, I'd set it aside unread, and I was thinking that I should have stuck with my decision at the time.
But somewhere, maybe a third of the way in, Weber's magic kicked in, and I became deeply engrossed in spite of all the flaws. I complained a lot more than in the early Honor books, but I definitely had that feeling of addiction.
If you've never tried Weber, this isn't the best book to start with. (Go find a copy of On Basilisk Station.) If space navy battles aren't your thing, don't bother. But if you're hooked on Honor Harrington and haven't been able to get your fix, this does have the same feel. 7 out of 10.
( plot summary )
Tags: book review, david weber, sf
|
|
01:03 am
[Link] |
InConJunction
I had a really badly needed good time at DucKon; makes me realize that I really need to get to more cons, because it's my best chance to actually be with people. So I've just bought my reg and made my hotel reservation for InConJunction.
Hopefully I'll see other folks there. Let me know if you'll be there.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
09:07 pm
[Link] |
DucKon
I'm going to attempt to remember the weekend in order. This will probably be long, not too coherent, and less interesting than the other 37 conreps that you've already found on your friends page.
( click here if you dare )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
07:29 pm
[Link] |
Thank you DucKon
I will try to manage a real con report, but I can't spend hours on it right now, so just in case I never get back to it, I want to thank everyone who helped me have possibly my best convention ever, and without doubt a really good time at a time when I needed it as badly as I ever have.
Thank you, DucKon committee, for pulling together all the wonderful stuff together. Thank you, janmagic, jerusha, and everyone else who brought in so many performers and made sure we had such a great place to play. Thank you, all the concert and circle performers who gave me more musical orgasms than I can hope to count. Thank you, all the people who made me laugh so long and hard my chest hurts today, especially Adam (anyone who was there Saturday night should). Thank you, all the lovely ladies who let me snuggle them, especially barbarakitten_t and exapno for accepting possibly too much attention. Thank you, all the people who took the time to talk to me, especially filkart and ithiriel, and congrats to you two! Thank you to everyone who offered hugs, compliments, encouragement, or just had fun while I was around.
I hope that I helped a lot of other people enjoy the weekend too. I refuse to feel guilty for hogging all the fun. I really needed it. But I don't want to feel guilty about not feeling guilty.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
11:16 pm
[Link] |
Book review: In the Courts of the Crimson Kings
First, a confession. I have not posted any book reviews in quite some time. Partly I have been reading fewer novels, but mostly I have just let books awaiting review become part of the general pile of things that I'm not doing. In the hope of partially redeeming myself, I am at least going to review the book I just finished today: In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling.
This is a loose sequel to The Sky People -- same universe, but different main characters. Reading The Sky People first is not necessary. (This book does include spoilers for the earlier one, though, so reading in order is somewhat indicated.) It is a complete story in one book.
This is a rip-roaring B-movie adventure story, set in an updated-for-a-new-generation classic Mars of deserts and canals. There's a lot of really nice bits of detail in the world building, moments that just make me go "that's so COOL!" The characters are a little bit larger than life, and a little bit depth-challenged, but sympathetic enough to be engaging, and the hopeless romantic locked up inside me got all mushy over the love story. The plot is a little weak; things are just a little too predictable. And there are a couple of nits I could pick, since they poked into my suspension of disbelief a bit. But some of the images he gives us of what really advanced biotech could be like really activate my sense of wonder.
8 out of 10.
( plot summary )
( nits )
Tags: book review, s m stirling, sf
|
|
01:00 am
[Link] |
Meditation on the imperfect world
This is something I wrote this afternoon at Kickapoo with an old-fashioned pen and paper. I'm making myself sit down and post it because I'm keeping far too much stuff in my head.
I do not mean to threaten or disparage anyone else's beliefs with this. I don't know that I believe it all myself, for all that I wrote it in definite terms. This is spiritual, but not in agreement with fundamental doctrine of any religion I know. If you're tetchy about your religion, please just don't read on, because while I'd welcome an honest discussion, I'm in no mood for a fight.
( heresy within )
Tags: philosophy
|
[<< Previous 25 entries] |
