On Reports and Discovery
Sep. 25th, 2017 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dewlineI was going to explore my reactions to Star Trek: Discovery(AKA "DSC") in greater depth, and you may expect that later in this entry. For the moment, a surprising bit of news from closer to home arrived this morning: Rick Mercer's announcement that the Mercer Report will be closing up shop at the end of what will be its fifteenth season CBC Television.
Allow me to share his announcement via his own recording...
I admit that I see this as another sign of something akin to a Canadian Apocalypse. Some of you who've been watching this weblog for a while will be making informed deductions and/or guesses as to what some of the other signs are.
I'm not happy. But it's Rick's choice to make. Not mine. Not CBC's.
Okay, on to DSC.
What we ended up getting on Sunday night, after delays thanks to CBS' contractual obligations to the NFL impacting on BellMedia's obligations to CBS, was the first two episodes of DSC. Aired back to back, with "The Vulcan Hello" followed immediately by "Battle at the Binary Stars". Together they form what you might call either a prologue or a full Act One of the first season's larger story.
Without giving away too much, it's a good setup for whatever else we're about to get this year.
I'm still getting over my bout of design history dissonance considering this is supposed to be happening about a year after the events of "The Cage" and ten years before "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The uniforms, the user interface designs, the starship architecture...all seem a bit out of place with those two episodes of the original series. We're being promised explanations and evolution over time, to be sure. How fast the production team delivers is up to them. Our reactions to that speed - or the lack of it - are up to us.
Just about everything else: the scripts, the performances of the live actors, the visual effects work...all meet my hopes.
That visual dissonance remains. For now, anyway.
One bit of advice to CBS and its production partners: please show the episode titles in the episode itself.
Allow me to share his announcement via his own recording...
I admit that I see this as another sign of something akin to a Canadian Apocalypse. Some of you who've been watching this weblog for a while will be making informed deductions and/or guesses as to what some of the other signs are.
I'm not happy. But it's Rick's choice to make. Not mine. Not CBC's.
Okay, on to DSC.
What we ended up getting on Sunday night, after delays thanks to CBS' contractual obligations to the NFL impacting on BellMedia's obligations to CBS, was the first two episodes of DSC. Aired back to back, with "The Vulcan Hello" followed immediately by "Battle at the Binary Stars". Together they form what you might call either a prologue or a full Act One of the first season's larger story.
Without giving away too much, it's a good setup for whatever else we're about to get this year.
I'm still getting over my bout of design history dissonance considering this is supposed to be happening about a year after the events of "The Cage" and ten years before "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The uniforms, the user interface designs, the starship architecture...all seem a bit out of place with those two episodes of the original series. We're being promised explanations and evolution over time, to be sure. How fast the production team delivers is up to them. Our reactions to that speed - or the lack of it - are up to us.
Just about everything else: the scripts, the performances of the live actors, the visual effects work...all meet my hopes.
That visual dissonance remains. For now, anyway.
One bit of advice to CBS and its production partners: please show the episode titles in the episode itself.
Две новости дня
Sep. 26th, 2017 12:06 amsurovmagС моими маленькими комментариями
«Коммерсант» спрогнозировал отставку глав 10 российских регионов
Среди регионов, которые ждут кадровые перестановки, источники «Коммерсанта» назвали Ивановскую, Самарскую, Нижегородскую, Мурманскую, Новосибирскую, Омскую области, Ненецкий автономный округ, Красноярский и Алтайский края и, возможно, «один-два субъекта на Северном Кавказе».
Я: Опять обманут,ничего не дадут, на нашу нищету желающих нет (а которые местные желают, те верхам не подходят), разве что на поставки гречки сесть, а если какого ссыльного опять пришлют, толку никакого всё равно
В центре Праги запретят открывать алкоголь
Новая инициатива столичных властей введет новое ограничение для любителей выпить
В скором времени мэрия Праги рассмотрит предложение о запрете нахождения в центре города с открытой бутылкой (или другой тарой) алкоголя. Точные места, где будет запрещено находиться с открытой бутылкой, пока не известны, но вероятнее всего речь идет об историческом центре города.
Соответствующий документ также будет предоставлен районным властям.
Я: Чехи борятся с алкоголем, КУДА КАТИТСЯ МИР? Вся ента альтернатива для германии полная фигня по сравнению с этим...
«Коммерсант» спрогнозировал отставку глав 10 российских регионов
Среди регионов, которые ждут кадровые перестановки, источники «Коммерсанта» назвали Ивановскую, Самарскую, Нижегородскую, Мурманскую, Новосибирскую, Омскую области, Ненецкий автономный округ, Красноярский и Алтайский края и, возможно, «один-два субъекта на Северном Кавказе».
Я: Опять обманут,
В центре Праги запретят открывать алкоголь
Новая инициатива столичных властей введет новое ограничение для любителей выпить
В скором времени мэрия Праги рассмотрит предложение о запрете нахождения в центре города с открытой бутылкой (или другой тарой) алкоголя. Точные места, где будет запрещено находиться с открытой бутылкой, пока не известны, но вероятнее всего речь идет об историческом центре города.
Соответствующий документ также будет предоставлен районным властям.
Я: Чехи борятся с алкоголем, КУДА КАТИТСЯ МИР? Вся ента альтернатива для германии полная фигня по сравнению с этим...
Quilty things
Sep. 25th, 2017 02:47 pmflickI finished a new quilt last week. It was quite fiddly to make:
I'm still not sure about the innermost bit of the central star, but ah well.
At weekend, I went on a workshop organized by Quilt Club, on making wholecloth quilts (the ones that are just a single piece of fabric, with all the design in the quilting), although we aimed smaller and went for cushion covers. I'd never done any hand quilting before, and most of the day was taken up with learning about the design elements, thinking of a design, drawing it out on paper, and transferring it to the fabric.
That's my excuse, anyway:
I'm still undecided about whether I'm actually going to finish it or if I'd rather just take out the bit I've done and do it on the machine!
I'm still not sure about the innermost bit of the central star, but ah well.
At weekend, I went on a workshop organized by Quilt Club, on making wholecloth quilts (the ones that are just a single piece of fabric, with all the design in the quilting), although we aimed smaller and went for cushion covers. I'd never done any hand quilting before, and most of the day was taken up with learning about the design elements, thinking of a design, drawing it out on paper, and transferring it to the fabric.
That's my excuse, anyway:
I'm still undecided about whether I'm actually going to finish it or if I'd rather just take out the bit I've done and do it on the machine!
fiber monday
Sep. 24th, 2017 10:13 pmthistleingrey* A different kind of fiber: I've become a volunteer book-mender again. Reason's teacher says that she's never had one in nearly twenty years of teaching. Happy to serve (I offered it) as long as we keep a reasonable cadence....
(I've stitched a simple pamphlet-style binding with linen twine in place of one book's pair of staples, then put a layer of book-tape over it because first-graders aren't much better than preschoolers about picking at bits that stick out. Twine is fiber!)
* I've skated into that ridiculous chunk of pi shawls wherein every round is nearly 600 stitches and the chart segment accounts for half the stitch count of the whole damned shawl. At least I'm past several individually unpleasant rounds; the current patch has an easy-to-follow repeat. Though that makes it boring (a simple 26-st repeat completed 20 times per round, in a set of four rounds, itself repeated six times), at least I'm unlikely to mess it up. It'll change again.
* My mother's cardigan won't be finished by my target date, largely because it has so much k,p,k,p as to create a field of somnolence around its making. I've informed Reason that I will show it to my mother unfinished on the target date, then complete it by winter solstice. Reason remains concerned that my mother won't want it and I'll undo it, but I'd just lengthen the sleeves and keep it in that case....
(I've stitched a simple pamphlet-style binding with linen twine in place of one book's pair of staples, then put a layer of book-tape over it because first-graders aren't much better than preschoolers about picking at bits that stick out. Twine is fiber!)
* I've skated into that ridiculous chunk of pi shawls wherein every round is nearly 600 stitches and the chart segment accounts for half the stitch count of the whole damned shawl. At least I'm past several individually unpleasant rounds; the current patch has an easy-to-follow repeat. Though that makes it boring (a simple 26-st repeat completed 20 times per round, in a set of four rounds, itself repeated six times), at least I'm unlikely to mess it up. It'll change again.
* My mother's cardigan won't be finished by my target date, largely because it has so much k,p,k,p as to create a field of somnolence around its making. I've informed Reason that I will show it to my mother unfinished on the target date, then complete it by winter solstice. Reason remains concerned that my mother won't want it and I'll undo it, but I'd just lengthen the sleeves and keep it in that case....
Books read August 23, 2017 - September 24, 2017
Sep. 24th, 2017 10:55 pmfairestcatI've been doing less book bingeing and more reading of fic over the last month, which is probably, ultimately a happy balance for me.
Liberty and Other Stories (Prosperity, #2-4, 6) - Alexis Hall - ★ ★ ★ ★
A diverse series of stories expanding on the Prosperity universe, both before and after the events of Prosperity. ( read more )
The New Born Year - Kris Ripper ★ ★
I love this series, and I really liked getting to know Ally better, but I found this a difficult and unpleasant read. ( read more )
Full of Briars (October Daye, #9.3) - Seanan McGuire ★ ★ ★
I'm several books behind in this series, and figured this was a good way to dip back in. Because Quentin. Who is awesome. ( read more )
Gun To My Head - Dira Lewis ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reread. First read April 5, 2017. Second read April 6, 2017. Third read now, by which you might infer that I really fucking love this book. ( read more )
The Mystic Marriage (Alpennia, #2) - Heather Rose Jones ★ ★ ★ ★
I continue to adore this series. This second installment continues to follow Barbara and Margerit's lives, while expanding the focus to two characters who played a supporting role in the first book. ( read more )
The Element of Fire (Ile-Rien, #1) - Martha Wells ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reread. I think I first read this sometime in 2010.
This is a secondary-world fantasy set in the approximate equivalent of 17th Century France only with both sorcery and Fae creatures.( read more )
Point of Dreams (Astreiant, #2) - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett ★ ★ ★ ★
In some ways the murders are the least interesting part of this book. They matter, and they drive the plot, but it's the thematic stuff going on around and in cause of the murders that I found most interesting.
This is a book about relationships, and the ways they are seen and controlled by society and societal pressures. ( read more )
Seven Summer Nights - Harper Fox ★ ★ ★ ★
This was not the book I expected it to be, but I quite enjoyed the book it turned out to be.
This is, as the cover copy stated, a just-post-WWII historical romance between an archaeologist and a vicar, both of whom came back from the war changed. It's about two men trying to fit back into roles and ways of life they no longer fit. ( read more )
Bound to Be a Groom (Regency Reimagined, #1) - Megan Mulry ★
DNF.
It's queer, kinky, poly, historical erotica. I'm pretty much THE target audience for this book. And I gave up at 13% read. ( read more )
Death by Silver (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #1) - Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold ★ ★ ★ ★
This was a rougher read than I expected from the ad copy. Good, but at times decidedly difficult.
This is a queer, steampunk murder mystery, but that's not really what it's about.
What it actually is is a book about institutionally-sanctioned bullying and abuse and the different ways in which adult survivors of childhood trauma cope with their past. ( read more )
Liberty and Other Stories (Prosperity, #2-4, 6) - Alexis Hall - ★ ★ ★ ★
A diverse series of stories expanding on the Prosperity universe, both before and after the events of Prosperity. ( read more )
The New Born Year - Kris Ripper ★ ★
I love this series, and I really liked getting to know Ally better, but I found this a difficult and unpleasant read. ( read more )
Full of Briars (October Daye, #9.3) - Seanan McGuire ★ ★ ★
I'm several books behind in this series, and figured this was a good way to dip back in. Because Quentin. Who is awesome. ( read more )
Gun To My Head - Dira Lewis ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reread. First read April 5, 2017. Second read April 6, 2017. Third read now, by which you might infer that I really fucking love this book. ( read more )
The Mystic Marriage (Alpennia, #2) - Heather Rose Jones ★ ★ ★ ★
I continue to adore this series. This second installment continues to follow Barbara and Margerit's lives, while expanding the focus to two characters who played a supporting role in the first book. ( read more )
The Element of Fire (Ile-Rien, #1) - Martha Wells ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reread. I think I first read this sometime in 2010.
This is a secondary-world fantasy set in the approximate equivalent of 17th Century France only with both sorcery and Fae creatures.( read more )
Point of Dreams (Astreiant, #2) - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett ★ ★ ★ ★
In some ways the murders are the least interesting part of this book. They matter, and they drive the plot, but it's the thematic stuff going on around and in cause of the murders that I found most interesting.
This is a book about relationships, and the ways they are seen and controlled by society and societal pressures. ( read more )
Seven Summer Nights - Harper Fox ★ ★ ★ ★
This was not the book I expected it to be, but I quite enjoyed the book it turned out to be.
This is, as the cover copy stated, a just-post-WWII historical romance between an archaeologist and a vicar, both of whom came back from the war changed. It's about two men trying to fit back into roles and ways of life they no longer fit. ( read more )
Bound to Be a Groom (Regency Reimagined, #1) - Megan Mulry ★
DNF.
It's queer, kinky, poly, historical erotica. I'm pretty much THE target audience for this book. And I gave up at 13% read. ( read more )
Death by Silver (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #1) - Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold ★ ★ ★ ★
This was a rougher read than I expected from the ad copy. Good, but at times decidedly difficult.
This is a queer, steampunk murder mystery, but that's not really what it's about.
What it actually is is a book about institutionally-sanctioned bullying and abuse and the different ways in which adult survivors of childhood trauma cope with their past. ( read more )
Bracing for Discovery
Sep. 24th, 2017 12:25 pmdewline"Hotumn" continues in Ottawa-Gatineau. Sweat from scalp to soles is normal-abnormal right now. Sleep continues to be a luxury item by virtue of being a medical necessity.
The Invictus Games are underway in Toronto, as are the German elections, the continuing weather/climate turmoil in the Caribbean Islands, the post-quake trauma in several regions of Mexico...and on it goes. This world continues to be a busy place, defying anyone's ability to fully understand it at any one moment. I can still live with that.
The Big Event for me as a science fiction fan tonight is Star Trek: Discovery's opening episode, "The Vulcan Hello". I can't say that I'm pleased with the idea of the series being available by subscription-streaming over the Net everywhere else on the planet, but at least Canada's managed to avoid that for now via Space Channel.
Also, I'm still getting used to this being the first Trek branch-series filmed on soundstages outside the USA. In Toronto, of all places. Just over four hours away from me by passenger train. This wasn't a thing I'd ever really expected to happen. Sure, I'd imagined branch series created for every language in which Trek is watched these days in the places where those languages were most presently in use. Which was probably less than practical, even nowadays.
Not sure yet about the design aesthetics of the series, but we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to those maps they've been talking about in Lorca's ready room...
The Invictus Games are underway in Toronto, as are the German elections, the continuing weather/climate turmoil in the Caribbean Islands, the post-quake trauma in several regions of Mexico...and on it goes. This world continues to be a busy place, defying anyone's ability to fully understand it at any one moment. I can still live with that.
The Big Event for me as a science fiction fan tonight is Star Trek: Discovery's opening episode, "The Vulcan Hello". I can't say that I'm pleased with the idea of the series being available by subscription-streaming over the Net everywhere else on the planet, but at least Canada's managed to avoid that for now via Space Channel.
Also, I'm still getting used to this being the first Trek branch-series filmed on soundstages outside the USA. In Toronto, of all places. Just over four hours away from me by passenger train. This wasn't a thing I'd ever really expected to happen. Sure, I'd imagined branch series created for every language in which Trek is watched these days in the places where those languages were most presently in use. Which was probably less than practical, even nowadays.
Not sure yet about the design aesthetics of the series, but we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to those maps they've been talking about in Lorca's ready room...
CLOTHESPINS
Sep. 23rd, 2017 03:05 pmklgaffneyBeing semi-domesticated has its moments of conflict. There are certain things I learned to do as a kid doing chores, and they involved certain tools. One of these things is hanging clothes on a line. Given the popularity of clothespins for cutesy farmhouse crafty stuff these days, I figured I should be able to get some functional ones, but NOPE.
The spring ones I saw looked like suspiciously flimsy crap and I refused to buy them. That was okay because I initially learned to hang clothes with the wooden round ones (that doubled as dolls for me sometimes with tissue paper dresses). I was initially pretty excited when I pulled them up on amazon. Except I noticed the ones they're making now are rough raw soft wood with a slit up the middle that can't possibly accommodate a clothesline and clothing. The annoyed comments from people that wanted to use them for their original intended purpose confirmed that. I need to be able to hang up my jeans, yo.
So I went on eBay and found someone selling real clothespins that wasn't asking for an arm and a leg in exchange. That's right, I went and ordered myself some damn functional old school round clothespins. The slit is wider and the bottoms flare out in a curve. Those are the real working clothespins that will hold your stuff on the line even if the wind blows.
MY CLOTHESPINS HAVE ARRIVED. I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY ABOUT THIS. ABOUT CLOTHESPINS. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT. REAL CLOTHESPINS. LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER'S. AND MY MOM'S BEFORE MY MOM MOVED TO A FANCY COMMUNITY THINGY THAT'S TOO GOOD FOR CLOTHESLINES (TBF THEY ALSO LIVE ON THE SIDE OF A RAVINE NOW SO A CLOTHESLINE WOULD PROBABLY BE A LIABILITY)
I'm going to go hang up whatever of my Victorian gear and 50's swing dresses that didn't get ruined at MiL's. BYE.
The spring ones I saw looked like suspiciously flimsy crap and I refused to buy them. That was okay because I initially learned to hang clothes with the wooden round ones (that doubled as dolls for me sometimes with tissue paper dresses). I was initially pretty excited when I pulled them up on amazon. Except I noticed the ones they're making now are rough raw soft wood with a slit up the middle that can't possibly accommodate a clothesline and clothing. The annoyed comments from people that wanted to use them for their original intended purpose confirmed that. I need to be able to hang up my jeans, yo.
So I went on eBay and found someone selling real clothespins that wasn't asking for an arm and a leg in exchange. That's right, I went and ordered myself some damn functional old school round clothespins. The slit is wider and the bottoms flare out in a curve. Those are the real working clothespins that will hold your stuff on the line even if the wind blows.
MY CLOTHESPINS HAVE ARRIVED. I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY ABOUT THIS. ABOUT CLOTHESPINS. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT. REAL CLOTHESPINS. LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER'S. AND MY MOM'S BEFORE MY MOM MOVED TO A FANCY COMMUNITY THINGY THAT'S TOO GOOD FOR CLOTHESLINES (TBF THEY ALSO LIVE ON THE SIDE OF A RAVINE NOW SO A CLOTHESLINE WOULD PROBABLY BE A LIABILITY)
I'm going to go hang up whatever of my Victorian gear and 50's swing dresses that didn't get ruined at MiL's. BYE.
Озеленение
Sep. 23rd, 2017 10:19 pmsurovmagСначала хотел написать что-то типа "вот поэтому москвичей и не любят", а потом подумал, что москвичи тут тоже нипричём, им от этого освоения средств тоже проку никакого...
Два Новосибирска
Sep. 23rd, 2017 09:28 pmsurovmagОригинал взят у rlyatas в Два Новосибирска
rlyatas в Два НовосибирскаУгадайте, какое явление может одновременно спровоцировать прорыв теплотрассы, закрытие парковки в центре, показ фильма “Матильда” и митинг за Северную Корею? И это еще не считая кучи всяких мелочей.
Правильный ответ - проведение митинга за выдвижение Навального в президенты РФ. Получилось, как минимум, событие месяца.
И собственно всего две мысли.
Первая - Навальный за последние пару лет необычайно прокачался и выглядит как современный и симпатичный политик. Вторая - как же бездарно и бессмысленно смотрятся на его фоне существующие политики и чиновники.
Сначала о Навальном. ( Читать дальше )
Видео-версия.
Правильный ответ - проведение митинга за выдвижение Навального в президенты РФ. Получилось, как минимум, событие месяца.
И собственно всего две мысли.
Первая - Навальный за последние пару лет необычайно прокачался и выглядит как современный и симпатичный политик. Вторая - как же бездарно и бессмысленно смотрятся на его фоне существующие политики и чиновники.
Сначала о Навальном. ( Читать дальше )
Видео-версия.