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Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
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(comment on this) Sunday, May 5th, 2013
katestine
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11:46a
Shopping is hard; let's do math!
Originally written 5/23/13
I'm interrupting the Venetian stories to complain about HOW HARD it is to find housewares. Spoiler alert: Jon and I went registry shopping on Sunday, which was a truly irritating experience overall. Particularly annoying is that we went to Bloomingdale's and couldn't find any sheets that had patterns. I like sheets that have patterns bc my current sheets don't have a pattern and so every spot where I didn't get a stain out in time is highlighted. Jon claims that most sheets don't have a pattern, bc you just cover it with the duvet, but what if you like to have messy sex? Or the natural outcome of messy sex, orclings? Augh.
This is leaving aside the whole question of, are they soft? While walking around Bloomingdale's, I found deliciously soft sheets. Jon says I can't have them, bc they cost eleventy thousand dollars each. I bet it's because he made me go to Bloomingdales, rather than Macys or Bed Bath & Beyond, where my last two sets of sheets came from. anyhoo, is there some trend to comfy beds or something? I thought LBro was crazy when he bought himself a $3k mattress (not exaggerating), but (a) then he bought an almost as expensive one for our sister and (b) OperaBoss just told me she spent $2k on hers, and I bet it wasn't made by American elves in a factory in Connecticut.
The sad part is, the sheets are one of the few parts of the registry where I have any say: setting up house with a son of Hestia, it's not like I'll be using anything else we buy.
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(5 comments | comment on this) Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
(comment on this) Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
catholicism
[ mads ]
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8:56p
Ave Maria
From my Facebook, and posted on my personal LJ also. I forgot to post it here too yesterday, which might have been useful if I had misspoken something that needed to be corrected urgently. Oh, well. Just sharing a reflection I had just before a rosary.
*****
Humility in prayer means many things, and one of them is the realization that your prayer will never be enough. What do I mean by this? I mean that as fallen creatures, as wounded images of God, our prayers, by themselves, will always be imperfect, always fall short of pleasing God.
Now does this mean that one should stop praying, or pray only with a sense of dread that God may reject you? Of course not! Sincere prayer is always good and one must always pray with confidence that God hears everything we tell Him, and that He always wants to give us what is best for us.
But how can this be if our prayer is always imperfect? Then one must remember to pray in union with the one whose prayer IS perfect and is ALWAYS pleasing to God, and that is the prayer of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. When we pray the Eucharist, we are directly taking part in Christ's perfect prayer.
But sometimes it is not easy to pray as Jesus prays. We cannot always attend Mass. We can be distracted at prayer. Concupiscence-- the tendency towards sin-- may even make us pray that OUR will be done and not God's, sometimes without us even realizing it.
And that is where the value of communal prayer comes in. Liturgy simply means praying in common with all who unite themselves with Jesus when they speak to the Father. Praying by yourself is good. Praying in a group is better. Praying in union with the Churches Triumphant, Suffering, and Militant? That is best of all.
One of the greatest tragedies that the world's history of the past few centuries has wrought is the development of a theology that puts the soul in perfect isolation before the face of God. It is a philosophy that does away with mediation and the merits of praying for or with others. It gives rise to two seemingly contradictory follies that really have the same root. The first is the sin of presumption-- the idea that since one has a direct link to God in prayer, one is privy to His thoughts and counsels, one is immune from sin and assured of Heaven. The second is the sin of despair-- the idea that since one's prayers can never be enough for God, He only sees one's sins and flaws, He can never hear us, sin is insurmountable, and Heaven is impossible. But it is not good for man to be alone.
For Jesus did not leave us orphans. First of all, he left us his Spirit, which is present wherever one or two are gathered in his name. Second, he gave us his angels, true servants from the beginning, with wills and intellects perfectly aligned to the Trinity's, always with us, always watching, always guiding. Finally, he gave to us his saints who, though human, have conquered their sinfulness through Christ, and are now perfectly united in Christ, always with him, always praying, always offering.
And....
The greatest of these, angels and saints, is the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. If Jesus' prayer is the most perfectly pleasing to God, then Mary's prayer is the most perfectly united to that of Jesus'. For she was there in the Incarnation, she was there in the Passion, she was there in the Resurrection. She is here with us now, transforming our prayer if we let her, making it like hers, and commending it to Jesus in that special loving voice of a mother that only a son can hear.
May is the month of Mary. I haven't had much opportunity to sing her praises as I might have wished. There was a lot going on. But know that through it all, I did not break, I did not cry, I did not lose my temper, I did not give in to temptation, and I solely credit it all to the Rosary, that peculiar and powerful devotion to Mary. If there is one thing to take away from all this I say, it is this: pray the Rosary. I cannot recommend it enough. It is a lifeline to Heaven. It is a chain the binds sin and the Devil. It is holding Mary's hand as a little child. It is a sword that proclaims the Gospel and a shield that defends virtue.
Pray the Rosary. Pray the Rosary. Pray the Rosary.
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(1 comment | comment on this) Saturday, May 4th, 2013
katestine
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2:19p
Don't Know Much about history
It's a good thing Julian was super-excited and super-organized for our trip, bc I did a rubbish job of prepping. ( Books I sorta almost readCollapse ) but I'm glad I did, because otherwise I'd've had absolutely no idea who San Marco was.
We started Friday in the campanile, getting an aerial view of the city. Then we took a quick walk around the basilica itself. I wish I'd known more about the Fourth Crusade before we went, bc otherwise the reliquary is just a creepy room full of bones. I'd also have known to wonder if the art we saw in the Treasury was Venetian or Byzantine; probably the latter, I guess. Both Julian and I were much more impressed with the gilt work we saw than by the paintings in the Academia. About a particularly exquisite crystal Virgin Mary, Julian commented, "It blows my mind that by the fourth century, they could make that, but they didn't know how to draw a nose." I think it was Roger Crowley who talks about how the basilica was a combination of propaganda and treasure house, displaying all the loot stolen from fellow Christians. ur doin' Christianity wrong.
Next was the "Secret Itinerary" tour of the Doge's Palace, mostly a ploy to avoid the line into the site, but also filled with amusing factoids about the Council of Ten and Casanova. I'm surprised Julian and I didn't spend more time talking about the Republic's philosophical impact on the Founding Fathers. Instead, we discussed what kind of play party we'd throw and whether the strapado stand would be a good place for a suspension *facepalm* Also, I'm beginning to suspect I like first millenium Islamic architecture, although I like the Venetians' interp better than, say, the Alhambra, so when I am queen, my palace will probably bear a distinct resemblance to the Doge's Palace.
Julian had to work, so he missed Museo Correr, which is one of the coolest museums I've ever visited. ( a private collection from a unique timeCollapse ) It'd be a great place to take a clever tween.
We had Friday night dinner in Il Ghetto at L'Anice Stellato. ( deliciousCollapse )
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(3 comments | comment on this) Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
dinosaurcomics
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5:01a
the winner gets a free sub and then has to write a story about it. is this ACTUALLY a real contest?
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2426 | | archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - cute - search - about |  | | | ← previous | May 22nd, 2013 | next | May 22nd, 2013: Check out this awesome email I got from Ash, you guys:
dear ryan
a while back i was in the process of purchasing your one amazing human shirt when i noticed that the nutritional information said 80kg on it, because i'm guessing that's the average weight of an adult human thing?
"that is pretty worrying!" said i, "for i am an adult human thing and i weigh exactly half that!"
this provoked a trip to the doctors, and a blood test revealed that i've not only got an underactive thyroid gland but also diabetes :o now both these conditions are getting treated asap before i turn into one (1) spooky skeleton!
dinosaur comics might have literally saved my life! or you know at least greatly improved the quality of it/my chances of not dying
i guess that means i owe you one,
ash
This is awesome, and I'm glad I could help! Also I'm amazed that Dinosaur Comics merchandise could literally save your life. Good work, funny t-shirt! One year ago today: today's comic has filename comic2-2222.png, a repeated-two filenaming pleasure that i am unlikely to enjoy again, unless i live for another... 76 years?? maaaaaaan – Ryan
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(22 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
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grrm
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11:24a
Headed for Conquest
I hear that everything's up to date in Kansas City, so I'll be headed that way tomorrow to see for myself.
ConQuest beckons; KC's annual regional convention, one of the best. Should be a good time. Patrick Rothfuss is GOH, John Picacio will be there, along with Brad Denton, Caroline Spector, and all of my old KC friends and partners in crime. I'll be doing a reading, doing a panel, eating too much barbeque, drinking too much bheer.
And even before the con, we'll have the road trip. I will be hitting the road with my Aussie friends, and driving right through the heart of Tornado Alley, which should be an... ah... adventure. If you're in Oklahoma or Kansas and think you see me passing by, you may be right. The Big Well beckons... along with Dorothy's House, Pancake Boulevard, the Cosmodrome, and the Elevator of Terror (you can't make this stuff up).
current mood:  busy
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(8 comments | comment on this) Friday, May 3rd, 2013
katestine
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8:52a
An Italian Reduction
There are 2 problems with Venetian art. At Galleria Dell'Academia, you see it's that their heyday was before the art world had figured out how to portray the human form. I don't remember why I decided some years ago that I wanted to see all the Titians: it's part of why I went to Madrid, to go to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, and it was a factor in wanting to go to Venice. I feel like I saw better ones at the Prado. Galleria Dell'Academia is laid out more or less chronologically, starting with medieval art heavily influenced by the Byzantines and continuing through the late sixteenth century. They have the big names - Tintoretto, Veronese, Carpaccio, Bellini - and they also show some of the lesser contemporaries. Seeing the latter, it's hard to understand how they kept producing, let alone selling, their work.
We had lunch at a wine store cum sandwich shop called Cantinone Gia Schiavi. We ordered a prosciutto sandwich and an assortment of sandwich slices including pistachio-cheese, octopus, something else, and salmon-ricotta. I thought Julian was absurd when he ordered each of us a 1 euro glass of wine -- and then we ordered a third to share at the end with our espressos. I blame the fact that we spent our meal staring at cheaper-than-home wines.
It was a wonderful prelude to Ca' Rezzonico, a beautiful old house where the city of Venice displays art rescued from abandoned churches and noble homes. We saw a lot of Tintoretto and Tiepolo. They've recruited the latter's country home where he ended his days, too crotchety to adapt to the newfangled artistic techniques. It's disconcerting the first time you see mold covering the face of the beautiful woman in the picture. The other problem with Venetian art is that sea air is the worst combination possible for preservation. The mold seems to particularly attack the white of people's faces. Julian noticed during the day that I very much prefer portraits to landscapes, so it's not surprising how much this distressed me. There's representative furniture as well, which in a number of cases has been patched with cloth tape. By the time I saw a picture that had been patched in this way, I was numbed to the disrepair.
The highlight of the collection is the picture gallery on the top floor, comprising the collection of a restorer and critic who donated his collection to the city in 1830. His pictures are all properly restored. They are also better selected than those in Galleria Dell'Academia, although admittedly there's a lot more 18th century paintings. Even though we both had "museum head", I slowly walked us through everything there, appreciating the well-represented features.
We stopped by a bar near our hotel for a pepperoni pizza. Although we shared a glass of wine while we waited for it to cook, when we got home, Julian insisted on opening the full-size, 7 euro bottle of prosecco in the mini-bar. It certainly enlived getting dressed for the opera.
I'd never seen or heard Rigoletto before -- and I've certainly never been in a private palazzo before. Musica a Palazzo performs reduced-orchestra, no-supernumerary-or-chorus productions of Italian operas in Palazzo Barbarigo-Minotto, using the house as a backdrop without sets, moving the audience from room to room. The first room is where Tiepolo's "Triumph of Virtue and Nobility over Perfidy" originally hung; the copy in its place lacks mold, but the sagging silk wallpaper suggests there's a lot of maintenance left undone. The performers were good and I liked some of the music: Julian spent the rest of the trip humming Donna e Nobile.
I was a little tired, but Julian suggested we go for a drink. Little did I know that devious man had planned the absolute perfect moment. My first sight of Piazza San Marco was twilight, with a sheen of light rain. Vendors and children flung lit tops into the air, so that it looked like a mass of Tinkerbells were inviting us. The orchestras are so cheesy and overdone and I'm so embarrassed how enchanted I was. Julian is a genius.
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(comment on this) Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
katestine
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8:34a
The Catholic and the Circumscribed
The problem with business class is that it's too comfortable: I never figured out how to work my seat (although I had a foot rest so it was okay) and then they handed Samsung Galaxies to everyone, so I watched Cloud Atlas until too late and couldn't fall asleep. Both Julian and I have a thing for cute little sets, but my favorite thing about the amenity set was the perfect-for-my-travel-makeup jet age bag. So cute.
This was our first time flying together, let alone going to Europe: we discovered that we have a fundamental difference in how we visit cities. I like hop-on, hop-off buses bc they efficiently show you a lot of things you probably want to see if you've never been somewhere before. Julian had laid out a marvelous itinerary I appreciated much more after I stole the guidebook from him and started reading about what we were seeing.
Even in its commonplace buildings, Barcelona is comfortable with unusual or particularly design-oriented architecture that in America would look overthought. We spent our morning walking around La Rambla to Santa Maria del Pi and the Gothic cathedral. I wish I had the background in architecture to tell you why these churches are different from Notre Dame, which is probably the most notable gothic church I've seen; I can't remember much about the architecture of the dozen churches I saw last time I was in Italy. Rick Steve says Barcelona's cathedral barely cracks top 20 in Europe and I can't disagree, although we needed to see Catalan gothic to set up the rest of the day.
We stopped at Xaloc for second breakfast. It was a sandwich shop & bar, nothing fancy, and we ordered coffee and sandwiches, nothing fancy, but of course the ham was jamon iberico and the cheese was manchego and the proportions were just right for a delicious, nay perfect snack.
Suitably fortified, we continued on to the museum of the city, looking for some background before we headed into the royal palace. Instead we got a side view into Roman life. Barcelona was settled by veterans, who built a very typical colonial town. The museum is over an archeological dig that includes a Roman laundry, garum factory, winery, and baths, all of which are well-illustrated and explained. A later church was also buried on the site.
Lunch was at Tapeo anem de tapes. All morning, the sites were busy, but not crowded and on the way, we found out why: all the tourists were in a four block line to get into the Picasso museum. I'm so glad I saw his work in Hakone instead. At Tapeo anem de tapes, we tried the tapas I don't get in NYC, like sautéed asparagus with pork, fried rabbit ribs, and pigs feet.
I had never heard of Sagrada Familia before seeing it in National Geographic's Places of a Lifetime list last week, but it is the most inspiring church I've ever seen. Julian's itinerary - and the excellent tour guide - set up Gaudi's neo-Gothic masterpiece perfectly. Our tour started at the so-called Passion facade, which is supposed to be based on what they can piece together of Gaudi's destroyed-during-the-Civil-War plans. The primitivism of Josep Maria Subirach's sculptures brings home the raw emotion of the event. I didn't care as much for the Nativity facade, a Where's Waldo of biblical figures and natural elements. I find the gammatria of the whole building a little tiresome, honestly.
The inside of the church is best described as a pale stone forest that will, when they finish (currently projected for 2026, almost 150 years after they started), be gaudily decorated with colored light from the enormous stained glass windows. Even as an unbeliever, I felt connected to the story.
We stopped at the "block of discord", a series of family homes built by modern architects including Gaudi. It was, in fact, very weird, but we were very tired, so we headed back to the b&b to recharge.
We tried to go to Tickets, a young descendent of El Bulli, but couldn't get seats. Instead we headed to Cal Pep, recommended by my sister, and got there in time for the first seating, instead of waiting in a queue at the counter, watching others eat. It was an experience, best described as Catalan omakase. We ate whatever the raspy-voiced chef put in front of us, under the baleful glare of big teethed fish in a refrigerator case. This included tomato bruschetta, clams in olive oil and garlic, fried little fish, tuna tartare, octopus & chickpeas, and soft fried artichokes; we special ordered the sausage of pork and duck foie with white beans. They opened a bottle of white for me and a bottle of red for Julian, which they left next to us and kept pouring. At the end, they estimated we'd drunk 15 euros worth. Total. We spent the meal giggling and laughing and Julian found an adorable British-style cab to take us home.
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(comment on this) Monday, May 20th, 2013
topmodel
[ andystarr ]
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8:29p
Jessie Rabideau in ModCloth Look Book
I was on Modcloth today and I thought one of the girls in their current look book Summer in Focus looked like Jessie from Cycle 19. I read their behind the scenes blog and yup, its Jessie. The blog features a behind the scenes video with her in it. Apparently, there are going to be more shoots featuring her (and the other models in the shoot) over the summer. She's really cute and I think she has really improved from her time on the show.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
topmodel
[ galactic ]
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1:16p
Ten years!
ANTM first aired ten years ago to this day.
I remember being so excited for each new episode. Now I'm just over it.
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(20 comments | comment on this) Saturday, May 18th, 2013
rgoing
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4:40p
Father Rutler Says . . .
FROM THE PASTOR
May 19, 2013
by Fr. George W. Rutler
There is some sense to calling Pentecost the birthday of the Church, but it can be somewhat glib. You might say that the Church was born when Christ was born, or when water and blood, Baptism and Eucharist, flowed from Christ’s side on the Cross. You might even say that the Church was born with Adam and Eve and came to maturity when Jesus, the new Adam, and his mother Mary, the new Eve, greeted each other in the unrecorded instant before the break of Easter dawn. What we can say with precision is that on Pentecost the bond of love between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son filled the Church. When Christ prayed the night before he died, he spoke of that unifier which is the Holy Spirit: “I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them” (John 17:26).
The Year of Faith proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI is to put to work the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given in Confirmation: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They give life to the Seven Holy Virtues and defeat the Seven Deadly Sins. He who has never been tempted by those sins would be an oyster or a rock rather than a human. Perhaps the most underestimated sin is sloth. It is not simple laziness: sloth is spiritual apathy that dampens ardor for serving God in our short lifespan. An example of this is an individual who recently complained about Pope Francis canonizing the 813 martyrs of Otranto, since it might be taken as an affront to Islam. We cannot pretend that they were martyred by wild Methodists brandishing water pistols, but the real problem is that slothful souls cannot understand why anyone would give one’s life for Christ. Rather, Pope Francis said, “As we venerate the martyrs of Otranto, let us ask God to sustain those many Christians who, in these times and in many parts of the world, right now, still suffer violence, and that he give them the courage and fidelity to respond to evil with good.”
In our corner of the Church, which is New York, sloth is more subtle than heresy or blasphemy or wrath. Notwithstanding all the good things in our archdiocese, it is significantly below many other areas of our nation in attendance at Holy Mass and in priestly vocations. This is not what one would expect of a people filled with the Holy Spirit. With the beauty of worship in our parish, and the springtime of vocations exemplified by two of our young men being ordained this month, we too may risk becoming smug, a condition as ugly as it sounds, forgetting that there is much more to do. “Come Holy Spirit. Enlighten the hearts of your faithful people.”
High quality audio recordings of Fr. Rutler's Sunday homilies, which often elaborate upon the themes discussed in these emailed columns, are available on the COS website at:
http://www.oursaviournyc.org/multimedia/audio
There is no charge to access the audio recordings.
If you enjoy reading these newsletters, please express your support with a Donation, of any amount, to the Church of Our Saviour.
The Church of Our Saviour uses ParishPay to process online donations.
Our website is www.OurSaviourNYC.org.
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(comment on this)
fishstickmarie
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11:57a
A to Z of me
Snatched from  kradical
A - Age: 38 (at least for another 3 weeks)
B - Bed size: king
C - Chore you hate: dishes
D – Domestic Animals names: Xander and Angel Princess (cats)
E - Essential start to your day item(s): Caffeine is preferred but I can get by without it.
F - Favorite color: pink, blue, purple
G - Gold or Silver: Silver.
H - Height: 5'7"
I - Instruments you play(ed): piano
J - Job title: Mom, homemaker, copy editor, model, and personal assistant for my husband and his freelance work. Translation: nothing that actually pays any sort of cash money.
K - Kisses or hugs: Probably hugs.
L - Living arrangements: Right now in my parents rambling 4 bedroom colonial with my husband, two daughters and two cats but will moving in July up to Amherst into- most likely- a condo or townhouse.
M - Mood: Right now, sort of numb
N - Nicknames: don't really have any
O - Overnight hospital stays other than birth: One for a mangled ankle, two on the psych ward. And two for giving birth. (not sure if the birth in the question refers to my own birth or the births of my kids)
P - Pet Peeves: Noisy chewing and the expression "everything happens for a reason."
Q - Quote from a movie: "And the same thing goes for Christmas!"-Head
R - Right or left handed: Left
S - Siblings: one older sister
T - Time you wake up: 7:30 on weekdays, around 9 or 10 on weekends.
U - Underwear: anything but thongs
V - Vegetable you dislike: beets, most varieties of mushrooms
W - Ways you run late: too many to count. I suck at time management.
X - X-rays you've had: dental and ankle ones
Y - Yummy food you make: various egg dishes, pumpkin risotto, tomato sauce, french toast, breaded chicken cutlets, roast potatoes, beef stew, pasta ceci, chocolate cake, crab cakes, various soups.
Z - Zoo favorite: otters and sea lions
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(comment on this)
olegvolk
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2:41a
Steel target sweepstakes
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there. My friend Brad at Challenge Targets is giving away one of his neatest targets, a stake clanger. As the picture below shows, it’s very simple and robust. Takes about a minute to assemble, and only a few seconds to install at the range.
When hit, it wavers for a while, providing visual feedback along with the loud clang. Great for extended range rifle practice. Here’s how it looks when in use:
Enter to win.
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(comment on this) Friday, May 17th, 2013
copyright1983
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4:57p
LJ Idol Exhibit B, Week 1 (Intersection: "Chillin' Like a Villain")
"The Gift of Life" (Applause and cheers ring out, as a small, bespectacled man steps out to the pulpit.)
Thank you all! You're too kind.
I wanted to tell you a story about a young man. His name is Jerome, and he comes from the mean streets of Chicago. We're talking the areas where you don't drive after sunset. Even the cops look at this place and say, "You know what, you guys do your own thing. We'll be over here."Jerome's home was broken, his father long gone, his mother working three jobs to support four kids. Any kind of trouble you can imagine a teenager being in, he was in it. Drugs, gangs, girls, you name it. His teacher at school could see that he was brilliant--he always did well on the standardized tests--but he never seemed to pay attention in class, if he even showed up at all. Had nobody taken the time to reach out to him--had nobody made the effort to say, "How can we help? What do you want to do with your life?"--who knows where he'd be today. Probably still on the streets, if he wasn't in the penitentiary or the grave. But our ministry--Hoode Ministries--found him. His guidance counselor at school recommended him to us, and we reached him. We gave him the Gospel, and you know what it did? It changed his life.He left the streets behind, he repented of his sins, he started working for the school. He got himself into college. And you know where he's going? Harvard. Like I said, he was always smart, but now he was applying himself. He told me yesterday that he was about to finish his engineering degree, and he already had a job lined up. He's going to get his family--and himself--out of the slums and onto easy street. They'll no longer have to worry about where their next meal is coming from; they get to enjoy life, the way God intended. And we got them there. But for every success story, there are so many kids just like Jerome who end up lost. We can't reach everyone--not without your help. I know, in these tough times, it's difficult for a lot of you to give. But think of how blessed we are, to even be in a position to consider giving. The people we're trying to reach don't even have the option to give--they're too busy trying to survive. You can help. All it takes is filling out our form online, or calling Hoode Ministries at 1-800-55-HOODE. Or, for those of you who are lucky enough to be with us today at the Forrester Hotel, you can fill out the forms at the table in the back. Now, please welcome back to the stage, the merry men and women of the Rob Hoode Gospel Choir! (Cheers and applause as the opening strains of "I Give Myself Away" ring out.) Author's note: We start Exhibit B with an intersection: my partner this week is the talented, hilarious  roina_arwen. Her entry can be found here.
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(25 comments | comment on this) Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
(4 comments | comment on this) Saturday, April 27th, 2013
(comment on this) Friday, May 17th, 2013
(20 comments | comment on this)
olegvolk
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6:50a
Take the Star Road
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there. 
Peter Grant’s new book Take the Star Road is now available at Amazon. I read it when it was being edited and re-read it again when making the cover design. I recommend it, especially if you like the style of early Heinlein. The book is far more about people and culture than it is about future technologies, which is how it should be. 1984 would have been less interesting if Orwell described the specification and maintenance details of the telly screen in greater detail. Much of the plot came from the author’s extensive adventures in rough and scary parts of the world.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
(50 comments | comment on this)
purplebob
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12:13a
At home
The surgery went perfectly and they sent me home last night.
I'm recovering pretty well. I feel weird for much of the time, and sometimes there's pain, but with painkillers I can trade that off for feeling even weirder. I can even get up and walk around when I'm feeling particularly motivated.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
(1 comment | comment on this) Thursday, May 16th, 2013
(comment on this) Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
grrm
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12:36p
More Wild Cards Goodness
Here's a fanfare for all of you Wild Cards fans out there.
There's a brand new, never-before-published Wild Cards story just up on Tor.Com.
This one was penned by Cherie Priest. It's called "The Button Man and the Murder Tree."
The 'cover art' by the amazing John Picacio.
This one is a sort of 'origin story' for Cherie's Button Man character, last seen in FORT FREAK.
You can read it here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/05/the-button-man-and-the-murder-tree
More Wild Cards coming on Tor.com... and of course on the shelves of your local bookshop.
current mood:  cheerful
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(2 comments | comment on this)
grrm
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11:42a
The Great Gatsby
Went to see the new Baz Luhrmann version of THE GREAT GATSBY last night.
The film is doing good business, but getting decidedly mixed reviews from the critics. Some love it, some are cool, a few are tearing it to pieces. And the sides don't necessarily line up with those who liked or didn't like the source material, the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Count me with those who loved it. I think this is a great film. AND a great and faithful adaptation of the novel, which is not necessarily the same thing. I've never seen the two oldest versions of GATSBY, but the Luhrmann films stands head and shoulders above the beautiful but curiously empty Robert Redford/ Mia Farrow version.
Visually, this GATSBY is just amazing, something even its harshest critics have been forced to allow. (Though some of them do not like that). I don't think it would be correct to say that it brings 1920s New York to life, since I doubt that 1920s NYC was ever so saturated with color, life, sound. This is a dreamscape, everything bigger, brighter, noisier, drenched in life and color... but that's perfectly appropriate here, since the entire narrative is couched as Nick Carraway looking back on a formative time in his life, and dreams are always more intense than reality. Golden ages are never as golden as we remember them.
I'm a word guy first and foremost, though, and it is the words that sing for me here. There are a lot of Fitzgerald's own words in this GATSBY, in the dialogue, in the voiceovers, in the frame, and that's more than okay with me. There's never been a more lyrical writer than F. Scott and that lyricism is captured here.
The performances were also terrific. Carrie Mulligan's Daisy made me understand Gatsby's obsessions in a way that the Mia Farrow's Daisy never did; I would be have been obsessed as well. I will confess, I had my doubts about Leonardo diCaprio going on. The central flaw with the Robert Redford GATSBY is Redford himself. A fine actor, certainly, but far too handsome, graceful, self-assured, and in command of every scene to be convincing as Jay Gatsby. Robert Redford is one of the golden people, and Jay Gatsby is desperately TRYING to be one of the golden people, to aspire to everything that comes naturally to Redford, and that distinction is crucial... and ultimately as one of the things that sank the Redford film. I was afraid the Luhrmann version would suffer the same way. I've liked Leonardo diCaprio ever since I first saw him in THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (a guilty favorite) as The Kid, but in that, in TITANIC, and in all his major roles, he's comes across as cocky, brash, self-assured, handsome, with a swagger to him that suggests that he knows who he is and is unafflicted by doubts or fears... all of which is the antithesis of Gatsby.
He wasn't here. This is a new, mature Leonardo, as I have never seen himself before, and he does a great turn here. The Kid and Jack and all of those vanish, and there's only Gatsby... trying so hard, dreaming so fiercely.
I loved it.
And at the end, it broke my heart, the way the novel always does ever time I reread it, the way it did the first time I read it, back in the early 70s.
Now I will admit, I am prejudiced. This is one of my favorite books. This is a book that has vast personal meaning to me, one that has affected me deeply. The romantic in me identifies strongly with Jay Gatsby (and sometimes with Nick Carraway). I know what it is to chase after that green light. So I will not pretend to be disinterested.
But I love the book, I love the story, and I loved this movie. Go see it.
"... And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning — So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
current mood:  melancholy
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(8 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
jsl32
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7:42p
things i feel strongly about
-- all women deserve 40-50 days after the birth of a child to be cared for and not have any crazy demands placed on them for teh sexin's or housework or going in to the job. for farmers, i get that it's a special case, but still, at least 2-4 weeks where she doesn't have to do much more than hold a hose or dump a (very small) feed bucket!
-- i think the only time anyone should even think of considering arguing that a woman doesn't need some help with the kid is with the first one, for the first few months after the 40 days recovery time. maybe. at best. they should just pitch in instead.
there are some more i was thinking of, but those are two i can cram in before tending to my sweet baby DYNOMITE.
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(comment on this) Monday, May 13th, 2013
olegvolk
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11:24p
Using offset red dot sight
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there. 
Let’s say you are using a 1-6x scope set to 6x when you suddenly need to make a precise shot much closer. One way to do that is to turn the rifle 45* (or some lesser angle if you have an appropriate mount) and use a red dot or backup iron sights.
Just like this. Also works if the main optic gets damaged.
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grrm
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12:32p
The ROGUES Are Coming
Gardner Dozois and I have just delivered the completed manuscript (well, e-manuscript, it being 2013 and all) for our latest big cross-genre anthologies, ROGUES, to our editor at Bantam Spectra.
Once again, we've got a really kickass lineup of contributors, and some terrific stories.
The table of contents:
George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”
Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”
Connie Willis “Now Showing”
Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”
This one was an enormous amount of fun. We're got something for everyone in ROGUES -- SF, mystery, historical fiction, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, comedy, tragedy, crime stories, mainstream. And rogues, cads, scalawags, con men, thieves, and scoundrels of all descriptions. If you love Harry Flashman and Cugel the Clever, as I do, this is the book for you.
If there's any bloody justice, some of these stories will contend for awards.
(And it's one more monkey off my back, hurrah, hurrah)
current mood: accomplished
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rgoing
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1:19a
Hail, All Hail, and Farewell
One of the rather annoying things about being married to a long-time teacher is that wherever we go in the Amsterdam area we bump into her former students or their families, mostly people I don't know at all, and they're constantly hugging her and telling her what everyone's been up to while I wait patiently in the background waiting to check out the cornflakes or whatever. It happened a few days ago at a restaurant, some girl going off to college, and a few days earlier after Mass, some high school kid. She's been at it so long that some of those early four year olds are now out of grad school. I get a little tired of hearing what a great teacher she is, how she influenced their lives, the best ever, all that stuff. I mean, it's ALL THE TIME. Even when she's not around, I'll get introduced to somebody, enjoy watching their face light up in recognition and then POW, the inevitable, "You must be Mrs. Going's husband!"
My grandfather, James Edward Going, was the third member of his family to enter St. Mary's Institute, back around 1898 or 1899. When he grew up and had kids of his own, he made my grandmother promise that if anything happened to him, she would keep the kids in St. Mary's. And then he died at 41. She kept the promise, even though it meant living in slum-level housing and working her buns off.
When Dad moved his family back to Amsterdam in 1960, one of the first stops he made was to sign us all up at SMI. First we had to get all dressed up and go to the convent on Grove Street to meet with Sr. Isadore and get her approval. Dad made sure we all stood up when Sister entered the sitting room. We passed.
Mom started teaching there not long after, and in a couple of stints put in about seven years on the faculty. And then our four kids went there as well, and now our granddaughter. Mary's been teaching the little ones for some 22 years. In the early years she took Louisa to school with her. I think Louisa graduated from pre-K four times.
And now, in just a few short weeks, when Laura graduates from Kindergarten, my family's 114 year connection to St. Mary's Institute will be severed, probably permanently.
Mary and I spent Friday night and all day Saturday clearing out her personal belongings, as directed. I got the two closets. In the one by the door I found, buried beneath a pile of books, two tiny photos of Louisa when she was about two or three. The walk-in closet in the back was a nightmare. I just pulled the stuff out layer by later, box by box, bag by bag, until I finally reached the shelf on the farthest wall.
The last thing I found there was an apron, made by the home room mothers of the pre-K class of 1992. All the kids had signed their names, except for Louisa who had help from the helpers (she was only two at the time). We had a hard time with that one.
Louisa surprised her mother on Saturday by arriving from Boston just in time to help with the last load and take one last look around the classroom. Mary and I have been through this sort of thing before, several times, but it's never easy. It usually ends with one of us echoing Captain Kirk's ultimate line in The City on the Edge of Forever.
It would have been nice if someone at least had said thank you for your 22 years of service, for your thousand acts of kindness, for all the extra hours put in helping with fundraisers and clipping coupons, for the sacrifices you made financially and career-wise for the greater glory of God, for all the time, talent and treasure you put in for your parish and your school.
But it was not to be. There will be no farewell parties, no honors bestowed, just drop your key in the lock box when you're done, and of course orders to the faculty not to ask any questions or ever mention it.
Still, the influence a teacher has on her students never stops, and I just know that for the rest of our lives people who are total strangers to me will keep running up to her and giving her big hugs and chattering away about how she is just the BEST TEACHER I EVER HAD and there will be tears and laughter and I'll be standing in the background over and over and over being terribly, terribly annoyed.
And so very, very proud.
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(comment on this) Sunday, May 12th, 2013
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rgoing
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6:06p
Father Rutler Says . . .
FROM THE PASTOR
May 12, 2013
by Fr. George W. Rutler
Following Pentecost, the Apostles discussed whether someone had to become a Jew to be a Christian. It seems an odd problem for us today, but everything was new then, and even the term “Christian” was not used until a significant number of believers had been baptized in Antioch, a city in Turkey near the modern city of Antakya. Christ (the name is a Greek form of “Messiah”) sent his followers out to convert “all nations,” and he promised that the Holy Spirit would show them what to do.
After the Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles at Pentecost, the prime question of Judaic observance was debated. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem and consulted with the other Apostles. This was a hint of how the Church was to resolve matters in great Councils. Given the stolid temperament and vivid personalities of the Apostles, the term “debated” might be an understatement. But they remembered that the Risen Lord had promised that his “Paraclete” would guide them. Only rarely does ancient Greek use that term, as when the orator Demosthenes used it for a sort of legal advocate, and not necessarily an ethical one at that. But Christ makes it mean the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. How the Apostles were helped by this divine Helper is not said, but they sent their decision to the scattered Christians, beginning with the words “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.”
To claim private guidance from the Holy Spirit that departs from what has inspired the collective agreement of the successors of the Apostles, would be to confuse personal opinion with divine truth. But the Holy Spirit does help us in the ways of truth every day. Sometimes he even works through children: “. . . and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). The birth of a child may convert a parent to more intense faith, or a child's First Communion may inspire a young father to return to Confession. The Holy Spirit works through encounters that are often unnoticed. Yogi Berra, not to be underestimated as a philosopher, said, “Some things are just too coincidental to be a coincidence.”
Our Lord requires of us only “meekness” to be helped by the Holy Spirit. The spiritually “meek” are not milquetoasts, or spineless wimps. The Greek praus for “meek” means controlled strength, a suppleness like that of an athlete. Without praus, a surfer would stand stiff and soon fall off the surfboard, and a boxer would be knocked out with the first punch without agile footwork. God calls the arrogant, who will not bend their opinions to his truth, a “stiff-necked people” (Exodus 32:9). Arrogance, as the opposite of meekness, is spiritual arthritis. Get rid of that moral stiffness, and then “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).
High quality audio recordings of Fr. Rutler's Sunday homilies, which often elaborate upon the themes discussed in these emailed columns, are available on the COS website at:
http://www.oursaviournyc.org/multimedia/audio
There is no charge to access the audio recordings.
If you enjoy reading these newsletters, please express your support with a Donation, of any amount, to the Church of Our Saviour.
The Church of Our Saviour uses ParishPay to process online donations.
Our website is www.OurSaviourNYC.org.
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grrm
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2:11p
GOT Takes BAFTA
Hot damn.
GAME OF THRONES has just won the Radio Times BAFTA Award:
http://bafta-television.tumblr.com/post/50282069146/bafta-television-radio-times-audience-award-winner
The BAFTAs, for those unfamiliar with them, are the British Emmys. Despite the fact that we shoot in Belfast, Northern Ireland (and Morocco, Iceland, Croatia, and Malta) and that half of our cast is British (most of the rest being Irish, with here and there a Dane, a Norwegian, a German, and even a token American), we are considered to be an American show, I guess because HBO is an American company, and therefore ineligible for the BAFTAs.
However, this one category, the Radio Times award, is for the best international show, and unlike the other BAFTAs, it is chosen by popular vote.
Which I guess just proves that a lot of Brits are watching, even if we are an "American" show.
Congrats to all!!
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grrm
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1:35p
Aces Take Russia
The first three volumes of the Wild Cards series were published in Russia back in 2005-2006. . . but that was as far as the series went, no doubt to the frustration of our Russian readers.
But after a long hiatus, the aces and jokers are returning once more to Russia, I am delighted to report. The first three volumes have already been reissued, with nifty new eye-catching covers featuring the artwork of D. Borozdina. And our Russian publisher is about to release volume four, ACES ABROAD.
That's another Borozdina cover, this one featuring Fortunato. Who has never looked more kickass.
Even if you don't speak Russian, this one's worth getting for the cover alone.
Russian editions of volumes five, six, and seven are scheduled to follow. After that, well, it all depends on sales... but then, what doesn't?
current mood: pleased
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(comment on this) Saturday, May 11th, 2013
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