Sundry and Divers Ramblings

[rj_anderson]

Read The Hallowed Hunt last night, couldn't put it down, loved it. At first I was disappointed that Bujold wouldn't be writing any more Vorkosiverse stories and resented that she'd got caught up with this new series (which was ironic, seeing as I normally much prefer fantasy to SF), and I didn't really enjoy The Curse of Chalion that much when it first came out. But I really enjoyed Paladin of Souls and I think this one has to be my favorite of the series yet. Also, a story in which a healthy pregnant woman has an (apparently) easy natural birth with no complications may be a Bujold first, although I had to wonder a little about who was feeding the baby why Hallana gallivanted all over the countryside, and why Hallana wasn't engorged like whoah. Either she had some magic long-distance pumping thing going, or a wet nurse on one end and a whole lot of absorbent padding on the other...

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Since I have pretty much given up on this season's Canadian Idol in despair, as there is not one single contestant in the Top Ten (now eight, I guess) that I care about enough to back, let alone vote for, I decided last night to give Rock Star: INXS a chance. *shudders* Never again. Sure, most of the contestants are poised and professional on stage (more than can be said for the Idol franchise), and the live band is definitely a nice touch. But the skank factor is just way too much for me. And Brooke Burke and especially Dave Navarro make me want to run weeping into the arms of Ben Mulroney, which is a very frightening thing indeed.

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Aw, the Tenth Doctor is so cute in his spiffy new outfit. Stop pouting and get over it, Billie (who looks oddly pastede on yay in these pics, especially the last one).

Is it Christmas yet?

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Massive congratulations to james_bow, who has just landed a publishing contract with Canadian publisher The Dundurn Group for his YA novel Rosemary and Time. Way to go, James!

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And finally... Surely it is not possible for any human body to contain this prodigious volume of snot. I've been blowing my nose every two minutes all morning and it just. never. ends. Where does it all come from?

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ETA another silly meme result:

11 2/3", Oak, Veela You scored 63 wisdom, 22 bravery, 15 emotional, and 11 martyrdom!

Oak signifies wisdom, endurance, protection, and authority. The veela hair as a wand core means that you are slightly unpredictable but very powerful.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on wisdom You scored higher than 0% on bravery You scored higher than 0% on emotional You scored higher than 0% on martyrdom

Link: The Harry Potter Wand Test written by sputnik845 on Ok Cupid

Comments

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

There's a snot factory in your nose, didn't you know? Sometimes all the workers have to work over time and the unions don't like that very much, which should mean the overtime and therefore the oddly massive quantities of snot should stop soon.

Or you can hope...

Also, completely unrelated to snot, those pictures are seriously making me want to watch Dr Who. Do you know if there is any way to watch this in the US without downloading the episodes?

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

No. :(

Since my poor computer doesn't particularly like downloading and then letting me watch these giant files, I think I'll be waiting for a new one before I catch up on the New Who. I'm pretty well addictied, though -- it's only the computer that keep me from going "omg must dl now!!!"

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Your icon still makes me giggle.

And also reminds me that the other day I had "Sister of Mercy (http://www.lyricsdepot.com/thompson-twins/sister-of-mercy.html)", which I have not heard in about twelve years, running through my head for no reason I can think of whatsoever.

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

I guess I just need to figure out how to download. So far I've had no luck with it, either I've got the wrong players and they won't play back properly or something. I have cable now, so I could theoretically, but in practice it just never works out that well...

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

I just used Windows Media Player. DL torrents and off we go (well, theoretically... it's more of, "and off we struggle slowly into making the player work without too much crashing or fuss").

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Maybe I should retry, but really, why couldn't they just make my life simple and air it down here? I mean even if it's like at two am on the Sci-Fi channel, I could set my recorder! That's technology I can figure out...

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Windows Media Player stinketh. I much more highly recommend the free DivX player, which works beautifully even on my old Windows 98-based system, and gives me smooth video even when Windows Media chokes (which is usually, in my experience). The only thing I've noticed (and this is probably because my system is Teh Primitive) is that sometimes the sound and picture get out of sync or I get a slight crackle in the soundtrack, but hitting the space key to pause for a couple of seconds and then hitting it again to resume always fixes the problem.

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know it sucks, but I'm lazy.

I need to do a lot of stuff to my machine, though, anyway. Back-ups and clean outs and whatnot...

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

You could wait until the DVD's are out, I guess...?

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

Have I mentioned patience is not my strong point? Particularly when there are very lovely men to be watched?

Ah well...

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

Has Bujold gone on record as saying she's not writing anymore Vorkosigan books? Not that I--as a reader with litte right to demand much of anything from an author--mind, since she's really done about all she can with Miles (IMO), and I do love her new fantasy series. I really loved The Hallow Hunt and thought that Hallana was a fabulous character--and I wondered the same thing myself.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Has Bujold gone on record as saying she's not writing anymore Vorkosigan books?

Well, not categorically, but it seems pretty unlikely based on her latest report (http://www.dendarii.com/news/05Mar.html).

But I agree with you that there isn't much more she can do with Miles. I am definitely one of the throng clamouring for a That Idiot Ivan book, though.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

I firmly believe that That Idiot Ivan isn't nearly as stupid as everyone thinks he is.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I entirely agree, which is why I would love to see him get his own book.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Read The Hallowed Hunt last night, couldn't put it down, loved it.

The hallowed king -- human soul into human soul -- is one of the creepiest things that Bujold has ever brought up. It's a wonderful book, but GAH! some of the ramifications of how that universe is built.

Also, OMGWTFPOLARBEAR!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that definitely is a creepy idea, and very effective in the context of the narrative.

OMGWTFPOLARBEAR!

BWAH! I can't believe I didn't think of that right off the bat.

Speaking of polar bears, I wish that Bujold hadn't named the bear "Fafa" when she already had a character called "Fara": I got tripped up by that more than once in the course of reading the book.

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

I also was fascinated with the Hallowed Hunt, but I'm having trouble determining Bujold's world view. Would you like to take a stab sometime for my edification? :-)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Well, she's obviously gone to some trouble to construct her imaginary Quintarian theology, and I find it interesting and enjoyable on that level -- but I'm not sure any reliable conclusions can be drawn about Bujold's own beliefs about God and religion on the basis of the Chalion books.

Sometimes she says things about the gods in her stories which really do resonate with my own experience and understanding of the true God, but more often I find her fantasy gods to be too small and fallible, as it were, for all that she tries to make them seem vast and fathomless. Not to mention that the idea of holiness, except in a vague sense of the numinous, is almost entirely absent from her system. Sin, in the sense of moral evil, is a non-issue except as it affects the lives of other human beings in this world; the gods don't really seem to care that much about it, or at least it doesn't stop them from taking up a soul. So we have mercy, but no real basis for judging right and wrong -- and yet the characters do, by and large, regard moral behaviour as important and regard certain kinds of conduct as significantly good or evil. Which is a kind of cheating, I think, because Bujold's inadvertently proposing a standard of righteousness which exists over and above what the gods themselves decree or are willing to judge/punish. And where that comes from, nobody knows.

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the idea of holiness, except in a vague sense of the numinous, is almost entirely absent from her system.

Ah, yes, I think this is a good point. Her concept of holiness is closer to the concept in Greek mythology, but her gods exhibit some more Christian characteristics. The blend is what is throwing me.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

They're kind of like Greek gods with sensitivity training.

[rose-in-shadow.livejournal.com]

That just conjured up a picture of the Greek pantheon in requisite togas, helmets, and sandels sitting sulkily in a circle with a Nurse Ratchet-like figure talking about "sensitivity".

Hehe.

[jamesbow.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for the kind words about Rosemary and Time. I hope you like it, when it comes out!

[ravensnape.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh! I can ask you! Just read Paladin of Souls and want to know if The Curse of Chalion comes before it? I normally don't need to read slowly to follow the beginning of a book, yet with Paladin, I found myself missing key bits of info needed to follow the background of the novel. Does Chalion explain the political/religious/social structure of the story? Can I jump right to Hallowed Hunt now or go back? Of course, I'd rather be reading Knife or the next section of your new HPB/Snape fic...

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Yes, Curse of Chalion is the first book, and introduces us to a whole lot of things. So you might want to go back and read that one first...

And thank you. :)

[ravensnape.livejournal.com]

Story of my life...I'm always one book behind. *sigh*

Thanks RJ