Yesterday I finished The Death of Common Sense by Philip K. Howard.
Subtitled How Law is Suffocating America, it would be more accurate to say How Changes in Philosophy of Law is Suffocating America. Howard does a good job providing lots of examples how the law has become less useful, more restrictive and counter-productive. How goes through three areas where he sees this.
The first is the growth of statutory law over common law. Statutory law specifies not only the general principles or rules, but also lays out the specifics of exactly how the law is to be interpreted and implemented, sometimes in grotesque detail. This over-specification is intended to ensure the exact results intended by the lawmakers without any judgment or flexibility and produces laws that become ends in themselves.
Similarly, his second main topic details how process has overtaken progress. In particular, processes that are intended to ensure fairness and lack of bias instead create forums for endless discussion, since there is no alternative once someone asks to be heard.
His third main topic details the growth of what I will call active rights. Starting with the important civil rights laws of the 1960s, some of the same ideas were extended to cover the disabled, etc. moving from the removal of barriers for some to the active support of others. Howard does a nice job in this section of pointing out that real rights are actually defensive in nature - a shield against the law/government, while these new "rights" necessitate action by others in order to support others. As such, they are not actually rights but are instead demands.
An interesting book. I don't know if his proscriptions at the end of the book are the correct fixes, since they don't focus on the philosophical problems that led to the problems, but the problems themselves are nicely delineated. One quibble - the book could have used in line footnotes to better source it's data, rather than just using end notes.
Monday, September 07, 2009
A few minutes ago, I finished The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion by Loren D. Estleman.
I've previously read a lot of Estleman's Amos Walker mysteries, mainly when I was over-dosing on mystery novels in university. This is his first western that I have read, and I wasn't blown away. It's an OK read, a semi-comic take on the Old West, with lots of asides to the reader thrown in about it's semi-comic take.
The story is basic at heart. There is a son of wealth who decides to be a black sheep and gets into robbery, using a travelling band of actors as a cover. Along the way, they interact with a detective from Pinkerton's and a much more serious, and nastier, gang of outlaws. Mix in a few twists and turns, and you have an OK novel but not much more.
I've previously read a lot of Estleman's Amos Walker mysteries, mainly when I was over-dosing on mystery novels in university. This is his first western that I have read, and I wasn't blown away. It's an OK read, a semi-comic take on the Old West, with lots of asides to the reader thrown in about it's semi-comic take.
The story is basic at heart. There is a son of wealth who decides to be a black sheep and gets into robbery, using a travelling band of actors as a cover. Along the way, they interact with a detective from Pinkerton's and a much more serious, and nastier, gang of outlaws. Mix in a few twists and turns, and you have an OK novel but not much more.
Yesterday we saw Julie and Julia, the latest Nora Ephron chick flick.
It was better than I expected. Ephron's work has consistently headed downhill since her biggest success, When Harry Met Sally, but J&J misses some of the flaws that have come to characterize her movies - overly cute dialogue, characters with no real edge to them and extreme sappiness. This is probably due to the fact that she was constrained by this being based on two real stories.
The first is Julia Child's discovery of cooking as her passion while living in France, the second is Julie Powell's story of how she got her life back on track by starting a blog and dedicating herself to cooking all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking within one year.
For me, the most interesting take away from the movie was the contrast between the self-confident, outwardly focused Julia Child's and the whiny, self absorbed, very modern Julie Powell.
The ending is probably the weakest, as it meanders to an end after Julie completes her cooking on time and Julia gets her book published. But overall, it's an enjoyable movie, particularly if you are vulnerable to food porn binges.
It was better than I expected. Ephron's work has consistently headed downhill since her biggest success, When Harry Met Sally, but J&J misses some of the flaws that have come to characterize her movies - overly cute dialogue, characters with no real edge to them and extreme sappiness. This is probably due to the fact that she was constrained by this being based on two real stories.
The first is Julia Child's discovery of cooking as her passion while living in France, the second is Julie Powell's story of how she got her life back on track by starting a blog and dedicating herself to cooking all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking within one year.
For me, the most interesting take away from the movie was the contrast between the self-confident, outwardly focused Julia Child's and the whiny, self absorbed, very modern Julie Powell.
The ending is probably the weakest, as it meanders to an end after Julie completes her cooking on time and Julia gets her book published. But overall, it's an enjoyable movie, particularly if you are vulnerable to food porn binges.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The latest book I've finished is Drood by Dan Simmons.
Drood fits nicely in a fairly new sub-genre, the "secret history. Pioneered by writers like Tim Powers, secret histories take actual people and actual historical events and put their own plot into the space created by odd coincidences or unexplained events. In Drood, this secret history is built around Charles Dickens and his one time protege Wilkie Collins.
It also uses another neat trick -- the unreliable narrator. The book is told in the form of a memoir written by Collins, who does not hide that he is taking huge amounts of opiates, usually in the form of laudanum, resulting in holes in his memory and the possibility of hallucinations. Even by the end of the book, it is never 100% clear what is real and what is fantasy.
While the book is well written overall, I do have a few quibbles. First, there is too much exposition. I did learn a lot that I didn't know about Dickens, Collins and the time they lived, but at times the exposition is too blatant and pulls away from the story. Second, the use of actual historical characters feels uncomfortable. In particular, the Collins character becomes less and less attractive as the story goes on. By the end of the story, he takes actions that would seem libelous if Colins was still alive. I don't know if there is any historical evidence for that kind of character assassination. This is true to some extent with all "secret history" type books, but it seems very egregious in this case.
Drood fits nicely in a fairly new sub-genre, the "secret history. Pioneered by writers like Tim Powers, secret histories take actual people and actual historical events and put their own plot into the space created by odd coincidences or unexplained events. In Drood, this secret history is built around Charles Dickens and his one time protege Wilkie Collins.
It also uses another neat trick -- the unreliable narrator. The book is told in the form of a memoir written by Collins, who does not hide that he is taking huge amounts of opiates, usually in the form of laudanum, resulting in holes in his memory and the possibility of hallucinations. Even by the end of the book, it is never 100% clear what is real and what is fantasy.
While the book is well written overall, I do have a few quibbles. First, there is too much exposition. I did learn a lot that I didn't know about Dickens, Collins and the time they lived, but at times the exposition is too blatant and pulls away from the story. Second, the use of actual historical characters feels uncomfortable. In particular, the Collins character becomes less and less attractive as the story goes on. By the end of the story, he takes actions that would seem libelous if Colins was still alive. I don't know if there is any historical evidence for that kind of character assassination. This is true to some extent with all "secret history" type books, but it seems very egregious in this case.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Last night I attended the first public meeting of Make Oakland Better Now, a new organization focused on trying to improve Oakland, particularly in the three areas of public safety, infrastructure and city government accountability/transparency.
This is the first time I've attended a meeting for a political/grassroots organization like this, so it was pretty interesting. There was a decent sized crowd, probably around 100 people. Sadly, for such a diverse city, the meeting was not very diverse - almost exclusively older white people with a smattering of younger people.
The meeting organizers did a good job of laying out why they thought a new organization was needed and what they hoped to accomplish. I thought it was very good that they had realized that in order to be effective they need to focus on a small number of topics, and target things that can be measured and have impact.
I think they key will be in what comes next. The meeting broke up into three groups, each focusing on one of the improvement areas. I joined the group on transparency/accountability. There were some interesting points raised, but I think the person moderating this group needed to be more assertive in keeping the discussion on topic and coming up with concrete next steps. The "report out" from the other groups seemed more complete because of this. Our group ended up saying that we wanted to research the budget more and produce a version more people could understand, and do more with PR for the city. The first one isn't surprising since the moderator was a budget person and brought that up as the first thing, which influenced the direction of the whole discussion. The second is a nice, and important, idea, but is completely off topic for transparency/accountability of city government. Keeping it in totally undermines the focused approach of the organizers.
If I stay involved, I will try to influence this sub-group to re-focus on transparency and accountability, part of which includes understanding the budget.
This is the first time I've attended a meeting for a political/grassroots organization like this, so it was pretty interesting. There was a decent sized crowd, probably around 100 people. Sadly, for such a diverse city, the meeting was not very diverse - almost exclusively older white people with a smattering of younger people.
The meeting organizers did a good job of laying out why they thought a new organization was needed and what they hoped to accomplish. I thought it was very good that they had realized that in order to be effective they need to focus on a small number of topics, and target things that can be measured and have impact.
I think they key will be in what comes next. The meeting broke up into three groups, each focusing on one of the improvement areas. I joined the group on transparency/accountability. There were some interesting points raised, but I think the person moderating this group needed to be more assertive in keeping the discussion on topic and coming up with concrete next steps. The "report out" from the other groups seemed more complete because of this. Our group ended up saying that we wanted to research the budget more and produce a version more people could understand, and do more with PR for the city. The first one isn't surprising since the moderator was a budget person and brought that up as the first thing, which influenced the direction of the whole discussion. The second is a nice, and important, idea, but is completely off topic for transparency/accountability of city government. Keeping it in totally undermines the focused approach of the organizers.
If I stay involved, I will try to influence this sub-group to re-focus on transparency and accountability, part of which includes understanding the budget.
This morning I finished Likely to Die by Linda Fairstein.
I don't know if this is a typical book in this series about a NY assistant district attorney, but it is a very weak book.
It seems the author, a NY assistant district attorny, is too focused on capturing the realities of her life in the novel. For example, there are too many characters thrown at the reader, with little purpose for many of them. Presumably these all map to real people the author deals with, but putting them in the novel without giving them significance in the story is pointless. There are also significant digressions where one character tells another about various sex crimes they are prosecuting or need help investigating. The author points out in a post-script that these details are all taken from real cases, but who cares? She seems to ignore whether or not it helps the story she is trying to tell.
In addition, the protagonist is almost inert for most of the novel. Since the plot never gets to the point of an actual trial, something surprising in and of itself for a book with a trial lawyer as the main character, the protagonist spends most of the book alternating following the police around as they investigate and relaxing while the police are off investigating things.
The book also fails on basic writing tasks. For example, there is an issue raised about a possible relationship the protagonists date and the murder, the protagonist is shown being very concerned about it and then it is never cleared up by the end of book.
Overall, one of the weakest books I've read in a long time. Too bad - I was hoping for something interesting because there are few legal thrillers told from the prosecution point of view.
I don't know if this is a typical book in this series about a NY assistant district attorney, but it is a very weak book.
It seems the author, a NY assistant district attorny, is too focused on capturing the realities of her life in the novel. For example, there are too many characters thrown at the reader, with little purpose for many of them. Presumably these all map to real people the author deals with, but putting them in the novel without giving them significance in the story is pointless. There are also significant digressions where one character tells another about various sex crimes they are prosecuting or need help investigating. The author points out in a post-script that these details are all taken from real cases, but who cares? She seems to ignore whether or not it helps the story she is trying to tell.
In addition, the protagonist is almost inert for most of the novel. Since the plot never gets to the point of an actual trial, something surprising in and of itself for a book with a trial lawyer as the main character, the protagonist spends most of the book alternating following the police around as they investigate and relaxing while the police are off investigating things.
The book also fails on basic writing tasks. For example, there is an issue raised about a possible relationship the protagonists date and the murder, the protagonist is shown being very concerned about it and then it is never cleared up by the end of book.
Overall, one of the weakest books I've read in a long time. Too bad - I was hoping for something interesting because there are few legal thrillers told from the prosecution point of view.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Latest book finished - Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.
Elantris is Sanderson's first book, and it is an impressive debut with compelling characters and a setting that feels new.
The world he creates feels like it has a lot of back story, although this the rarest of fantasy beasts - a stand alone novel. There is enough to build on that I suspect there will be a sequel at some point, but the novel feels complete as it is.
It tells the story set ten years after the fall of the titular city, populated by members of the population that have been changed by a mysterious process to be powerful magical beings with the ability to manipulate the world around them. After the fall, these same creatures are turned into half dead creatures that have no abilities and can't heal and therefore deteriorate into madness over time. On top of that is the conflict between one expansive empire based on an aggressive religion and the surrounding kingdoms.
A lot of the plot elements feel new, rather than a standard re-tread of fantasy ideas. Sanderson weds that to a nice handling of characters, particularly his villains, who have more depth than is typical for the genre.
He has some other series novels now, and based on this book I will probably check them out at some point.
Elantris is Sanderson's first book, and it is an impressive debut with compelling characters and a setting that feels new.
The world he creates feels like it has a lot of back story, although this the rarest of fantasy beasts - a stand alone novel. There is enough to build on that I suspect there will be a sequel at some point, but the novel feels complete as it is.
It tells the story set ten years after the fall of the titular city, populated by members of the population that have been changed by a mysterious process to be powerful magical beings with the ability to manipulate the world around them. After the fall, these same creatures are turned into half dead creatures that have no abilities and can't heal and therefore deteriorate into madness over time. On top of that is the conflict between one expansive empire based on an aggressive religion and the surrounding kingdoms.
A lot of the plot elements feel new, rather than a standard re-tread of fantasy ideas. Sanderson weds that to a nice handling of characters, particularly his villains, who have more depth than is typical for the genre.
He has some other series novels now, and based on this book I will probably check them out at some point.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Last night I went to see The Honky Tonk Dreamers at McGrath's Pub in Alameda.
I mainly went to see Tony Marcus's guitar playing. He did play guitar on a few songs, but mainly played fiddle. I was also impressed by the rest of the band. Charlie Wallace was great on lap steel, pedal steel and guitar. Jerry Logan played excellent bass and sang a few songs, including one of my favourites, Across the Alley from the Alamo.
The surprise of the evening was Julay Brooks. I had seen her with some bluegrass bands, so I assumed she would just be the singer but she played a very nice swing rhythm guitar and took some good solos as well.
The band bills themselves as "Western Swing and Country Music". The set I saw was mostly Bob Wills songs, which isn't a bad thing, with a few country tunes thrown in. Overall, a very fun band to see live.
I mainly went to see Tony Marcus's guitar playing. He did play guitar on a few songs, but mainly played fiddle. I was also impressed by the rest of the band. Charlie Wallace was great on lap steel, pedal steel and guitar. Jerry Logan played excellent bass and sang a few songs, including one of my favourites, Across the Alley from the Alamo.
The surprise of the evening was Julay Brooks. I had seen her with some bluegrass bands, so I assumed she would just be the singer but she played a very nice swing rhythm guitar and took some good solos as well.
The band bills themselves as "Western Swing and Country Music". The set I saw was mostly Bob Wills songs, which isn't a bad thing, with a few country tunes thrown in. Overall, a very fun band to see live.
Friday, August 21, 2009
I just finished Perfecting Sound Forever by Greg Milner.
This is by far the best non-fiction book I've read in a long time. It covers the history of recording music, from Edison's first cylinders to the modern Pro Tools/MP3 era.
It's not an exhaustive history, but gives snapshots of important events and people along the way. Not only does it cover these, but it also goes into detail on how the different and conflicting viewpoints of the time were reflected in the recording technology, from Edison wanting to stick to analog, mechanical recording to capture the "true" sound to the use of electronic recording and then digital and the quest to capture the sound of a space plus the sound and then to create new sounds out of nothing.
The one thing that could have improved this excellent book would be an accompanying CD or web site with sound samples based on what is mentioned in the text.
Well written, well researched, overall excellent.
This is by far the best non-fiction book I've read in a long time. It covers the history of recording music, from Edison's first cylinders to the modern Pro Tools/MP3 era.
It's not an exhaustive history, but gives snapshots of important events and people along the way. Not only does it cover these, but it also goes into detail on how the different and conflicting viewpoints of the time were reflected in the recording technology, from Edison wanting to stick to analog, mechanical recording to capture the "true" sound to the use of electronic recording and then digital and the quest to capture the sound of a space plus the sound and then to create new sounds out of nothing.
The one thing that could have improved this excellent book would be an accompanying CD or web site with sound samples based on what is mentioned in the text.
Well written, well researched, overall excellent.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Last night I finished In War Times by Kathleen Anne Goonan.
In War Times is almost an alternate history book, but in this case the protagonist thinks about alternate histories, wants to create alternate histories and, in the end, interacts with alternate histories. It follows a soldier who loses his brother at Pearl Harbor, gets involved in the design of directors for anti-aircraft guns, and travels through UK and Europe during the WW2 and lives through the birth of bebop. Early on, he is given the plans to a device that is never clearly described, but could change the world through some foggily described relationship between DNA and consciousness.
The creation of that device, and it's nebulous effects, run through the rest of the book. It is a very literary and intellectual science fiction book, filled mostly with discussion and ruminations on the nature of things. The unspecified nature of the device, and it's effects, does undercut a lot of that discussion though.
The movements, but not the specific character, of the protagonist are based on Goonan's father, who kept a memoir of his life in the war and just after.
There is one other annoying point in the book - a major plot point hinges on the Kennedy assassination and Goonan does seem to subscribe to the liberal trope that if Kennedy had survived, the result would have been Utopia. In truth, history has made it clear that Kennedy was just another scheming, deceptive, over-medicated, philandering politician.
In War Times is almost an alternate history book, but in this case the protagonist thinks about alternate histories, wants to create alternate histories and, in the end, interacts with alternate histories. It follows a soldier who loses his brother at Pearl Harbor, gets involved in the design of directors for anti-aircraft guns, and travels through UK and Europe during the WW2 and lives through the birth of bebop. Early on, he is given the plans to a device that is never clearly described, but could change the world through some foggily described relationship between DNA and consciousness.
The creation of that device, and it's nebulous effects, run through the rest of the book. It is a very literary and intellectual science fiction book, filled mostly with discussion and ruminations on the nature of things. The unspecified nature of the device, and it's effects, does undercut a lot of that discussion though.
The movements, but not the specific character, of the protagonist are based on Goonan's father, who kept a memoir of his life in the war and just after.
There is one other annoying point in the book - a major plot point hinges on the Kennedy assassination and Goonan does seem to subscribe to the liberal trope that if Kennedy had survived, the result would have been Utopia. In truth, history has made it clear that Kennedy was just another scheming, deceptive, over-medicated, philandering politician.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
This morning we went to see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young Museum.
When we got there, I wondered about how successful the exhibit was - there was no line outside and none I could see inside. But they do a good job of controlling the lines, and there was one down stairs, and once we got inside it was quite crowded.
The exhibit is very good. The signage is excellent, making the audio tour almost, but not quite, superfluous. And the quality of the exhibits and the amount of important artifacts was very good.
One warning - even though it is a "Tut" exhibit, don't expect room after room of Tut artifacts. There are basically two Tut specific rooms, the rest of the exhibit covers the period leading up to Tut and give a nice background. Of the two Tut rooms, the first is more interesting, with many objects from the tomb. The second is supposed to represent the burial chamber and is anti-climactic. There are only a few artifacts there, and none of the sarcophagi or masks. Those no longer leave Egypt.
Overall, an excellent exhibit and definitely worth the price of admission.
When we got there, I wondered about how successful the exhibit was - there was no line outside and none I could see inside. But they do a good job of controlling the lines, and there was one down stairs, and once we got inside it was quite crowded.
The exhibit is very good. The signage is excellent, making the audio tour almost, but not quite, superfluous. And the quality of the exhibits and the amount of important artifacts was very good.
One warning - even though it is a "Tut" exhibit, don't expect room after room of Tut artifacts. There are basically two Tut specific rooms, the rest of the exhibit covers the period leading up to Tut and give a nice background. Of the two Tut rooms, the first is more interesting, with many objects from the tomb. The second is supposed to represent the burial chamber and is anti-climactic. There are only a few artifacts there, and none of the sarcophagi or masks. Those no longer leave Egypt.
Overall, an excellent exhibit and definitely worth the price of admission.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
I just finished Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher.
This was a disappointment. It's a great topic for a book, and there is some interesting material here, but it is put together in a sloppy, un-focused format and the good stuff is mixed in with a lot of drivel, sometimes leading to conflicting ideas.
For example, parts of the book espouse the idea that being able to direct your focus towards the future, particularly the anticipation of events, can be beneficial, while other parts of the book take a strong stance in favour of the new age "be in the now" kind of thinking.
The sourcing is also all over the map. At times the author seems to have spoken to direct sources for scientific data, other times she repeats stories taken from a newspaper or TV show, with seemingly no effort made to distinguish between the different reliability levels of these sources.
Hopefully there will be another book on the same subject. There appears to be enough interesting research to support that.
This was a disappointment. It's a great topic for a book, and there is some interesting material here, but it is put together in a sloppy, un-focused format and the good stuff is mixed in with a lot of drivel, sometimes leading to conflicting ideas.
For example, parts of the book espouse the idea that being able to direct your focus towards the future, particularly the anticipation of events, can be beneficial, while other parts of the book take a strong stance in favour of the new age "be in the now" kind of thinking.
The sourcing is also all over the map. At times the author seems to have spoken to direct sources for scientific data, other times she repeats stories taken from a newspaper or TV show, with seemingly no effort made to distinguish between the different reliability levels of these sources.
Hopefully there will be another book on the same subject. There appears to be enough interesting research to support that.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
More Heaven Than Hell
Last night we got to see Heaven and Hell, i.e the Dio version of Black Sabbath, at the Warfield in SF.
I pretty much lucked into finding out about this show. Guitar Center had a sale over the weekend and I had one guitar cable I've been whining about for years. So I decided to take advantage of the sale to replace it. On the way out, I always look at the flyers near the door and the one for Heaven and Hell caught my eye. Given that I haven't played my electric in over a year before this weekend, and I hadn't been to a Guitar Center in longer than that, it was very fortuitous.
The show was the next day, so I rushed home, expecting it to be sold out. Luckily for me, Heaven and Hell doesn't sell as well as Black Sabbath. This meant that not only were they playing a smaller venue, but that they still had good seats available.
The show itself was amazing, from the opening strains of E5150/Mob Rules to the ending of Neon Knights. For me the high points were Falling of the Edge of the World and Die Young, near the end of the set, but even the songs off their new album, The Devil You Know, and the slightly older songs from the under appreciated Dehumanizer were really good. They also had the obligatory solo sections for drum and guitar and some jamming and a sing along on Heaven and Hell.
It was the Mob Rules era lineup - Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice - and none of them have lost any of their chops. This is particularly amazing since Dio is 67, just 2 years younger than my mum. He was looking a little old running around, but he still has the pipes. Geezer was also looking, well, like a geezer but Tony Iommi is amazing - he doesn't look like he has changed in 20+ years.
Overall, I'm still amazed and thrilled that I got to see this band in a smaller venue. I don't do arena shows any more, so this might be the only chance I get to see them, and this is probably the closest I will every get to any of Black Sabbath. I will have to keep my eye on the Warfield to see who else comes through there.
The opening act was Coheed and Cambria. I'd heard their name somewhere before, but never heard any of their music. They did a good set, without a lot of stage banter. I assume this was because they were trying to fit as much as possible in their shorter set. Live rock shows aren't the best place to judge new music, due to the usually terrible sound mix and loudness, but they seemed to have some possibly interesting songs. The high point of their show for me was a nice cover of Iron Maiden's The Trooper. The only down side of their set was their lighting - they had a set of floor spotlights that were nicely set to point directly at the balcony, making it impossible to actually look at the band for a good portion of their set.
I pretty much lucked into finding out about this show. Guitar Center had a sale over the weekend and I had one guitar cable I've been whining about for years. So I decided to take advantage of the sale to replace it. On the way out, I always look at the flyers near the door and the one for Heaven and Hell caught my eye. Given that I haven't played my electric in over a year before this weekend, and I hadn't been to a Guitar Center in longer than that, it was very fortuitous.
The show was the next day, so I rushed home, expecting it to be sold out. Luckily for me, Heaven and Hell doesn't sell as well as Black Sabbath. This meant that not only were they playing a smaller venue, but that they still had good seats available.
The show itself was amazing, from the opening strains of E5150/Mob Rules to the ending of Neon Knights. For me the high points were Falling of the Edge of the World and Die Young, near the end of the set, but even the songs off their new album, The Devil You Know, and the slightly older songs from the under appreciated Dehumanizer were really good. They also had the obligatory solo sections for drum and guitar and some jamming and a sing along on Heaven and Hell.
It was the Mob Rules era lineup - Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice - and none of them have lost any of their chops. This is particularly amazing since Dio is 67, just 2 years younger than my mum. He was looking a little old running around, but he still has the pipes. Geezer was also looking, well, like a geezer but Tony Iommi is amazing - he doesn't look like he has changed in 20+ years.
Overall, I'm still amazed and thrilled that I got to see this band in a smaller venue. I don't do arena shows any more, so this might be the only chance I get to see them, and this is probably the closest I will every get to any of Black Sabbath. I will have to keep my eye on the Warfield to see who else comes through there.
The opening act was Coheed and Cambria. I'd heard their name somewhere before, but never heard any of their music. They did a good set, without a lot of stage banter. I assume this was because they were trying to fit as much as possible in their shorter set. Live rock shows aren't the best place to judge new music, due to the usually terrible sound mix and loudness, but they seemed to have some possibly interesting songs. The high point of their show for me was a nice cover of Iron Maiden's The Trooper. The only down side of their set was their lighting - they had a set of floor spotlights that were nicely set to point directly at the balcony, making it impossible to actually look at the band for a good portion of their set.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
I just finished Pleading Guilty by Scott Turow.
Pleading Guilty isn't a legal thriller like you might expect from Turow. It's actually a modern noirish mystery with a partner in a law firm substituting for the typical private investigator protagonist.
The protagonist is an ex-drunk, former cop who is been underperforming at his firm and is on his way down, if not out. He's asked to look for a missing partner who might have also stolen a lot of money.
This is a departure for Turow, and feels very different from his other novels. It still has the complex and flawed characters he is known for. It starts out slow but picks up momentum in the second half. Once you twig that it is noir, everything -- twists, turns and betrayals -- falls into place and the end is about what you would expect.
Pleading Guilty isn't a legal thriller like you might expect from Turow. It's actually a modern noirish mystery with a partner in a law firm substituting for the typical private investigator protagonist.
The protagonist is an ex-drunk, former cop who is been underperforming at his firm and is on his way down, if not out. He's asked to look for a missing partner who might have also stolen a lot of money.
This is a departure for Turow, and feels very different from his other novels. It still has the complex and flawed characters he is known for. It starts out slow but picks up momentum in the second half. Once you twig that it is noir, everything -- twists, turns and betrayals -- falls into place and the end is about what you would expect.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Yesterday I finished All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear.
All the Windwracked Stars is set at the end of the world, in a fantasy world derived from Norse myth. The beginning is set at the end of the world in it's equivalent of Valhalla, the rest of the book is set much later in Midgard, when that world is ending as well.
The main character is an ex-Valkyrie who ran away when her comrades were slain and has lived alone ever since. She gets drawn back into things when an old enemy pops up, and she tries to save the world one last time. In addition to these struggles, the novel also features some intense and somewhat violent sexual scenes, somethat that seems de rigueur in many modern fantasy novels written by women.
An interesting, and very dense novel. The use of a mythology that hews closer, in some ways, to it's origins is well done.
All the Windwracked Stars is set at the end of the world, in a fantasy world derived from Norse myth. The beginning is set at the end of the world in it's equivalent of Valhalla, the rest of the book is set much later in Midgard, when that world is ending as well.
The main character is an ex-Valkyrie who ran away when her comrades were slain and has lived alone ever since. She gets drawn back into things when an old enemy pops up, and she tries to save the world one last time. In addition to these struggles, the novel also features some intense and somewhat violent sexual scenes, somethat that seems de rigueur in many modern fantasy novels written by women.
An interesting, and very dense novel. The use of a mythology that hews closer, in some ways, to it's origins is well done.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Yesterday, I finished WWW: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer.
Wake is the first of a planned trilogy, obviously dealing with the rise of an emergent AI on the world wide web. The book follows four separate plots. The first is of an awakening AI. The second is of a blind girl who gets an experimental implant to try and give her sight. The third is of the Chinese government trying to contain an outbreak of virulent flu, and repressing internet connections to contain publicity. The fourth is of a hybrid chimp/bonobo that not only can talk using sign language but starts to show actual artistic ability.
By the end of the book, the first and second plots have intertwined, as the nascent WWW AI starts to communicate with the blind girl through her implant. The third plot does not cross with the others, except for the isolating of China's web causing the AI to bifurcate and then re-unite early on in the book, possibly spurring it's development. The fourth plot does not cross with the others in this novel, presumably it will in the rest of the series.
Overall, it's not one of my favourites of Sawyer's works so far. There is a lot of obvious exposition in this novel, with characters delivering huge speeches on neuropsychology, Zipf plots, etc. Sawyer does a good job of making the exposition compelling and timely, in terms of the plot, but it eventually drags everything down. I didn't like his last book, Rollback, very much either but I'm still interested enough to continue reading his books in general.
Wake is the first of a planned trilogy, obviously dealing with the rise of an emergent AI on the world wide web. The book follows four separate plots. The first is of an awakening AI. The second is of a blind girl who gets an experimental implant to try and give her sight. The third is of the Chinese government trying to contain an outbreak of virulent flu, and repressing internet connections to contain publicity. The fourth is of a hybrid chimp/bonobo that not only can talk using sign language but starts to show actual artistic ability.
By the end of the book, the first and second plots have intertwined, as the nascent WWW AI starts to communicate with the blind girl through her implant. The third plot does not cross with the others, except for the isolating of China's web causing the AI to bifurcate and then re-unite early on in the book, possibly spurring it's development. The fourth plot does not cross with the others in this novel, presumably it will in the rest of the series.
Overall, it's not one of my favourites of Sawyer's works so far. There is a lot of obvious exposition in this novel, with characters delivering huge speeches on neuropsychology, Zipf plots, etc. Sawyer does a good job of making the exposition compelling and timely, in terms of the plot, but it eventually drags everything down. I didn't like his last book, Rollback, very much either but I'm still interested enough to continue reading his books in general.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
After getting back from our trip, I finished Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow.
This is the sequel to Towing Jehovah, which I wrote about here. The corpse of God has been recovered from his Arctic resting place and put on display in an amusement park, and visited by the sick like Lourdes.
The protagonist is a very sick man, with very bad luck, who decides to sue God in the World Court at the Hague. From this point on, the book basically becomes a detailed examination of the "Problem of Evil" as the protagonist wrestles with his opponent in the lawsuit. All of the theodicies (defenses of God against the "Problem of Evil") are examined. As such, it is quite interesting, but the rest of the story and the characters feel a little tacked on, like in most one issue books.
Not one of my favourites by Morrow.
This is the sequel to Towing Jehovah, which I wrote about here. The corpse of God has been recovered from his Arctic resting place and put on display in an amusement park, and visited by the sick like Lourdes.
The protagonist is a very sick man, with very bad luck, who decides to sue God in the World Court at the Hague. From this point on, the book basically becomes a detailed examination of the "Problem of Evil" as the protagonist wrestles with his opponent in the lawsuit. All of the theodicies (defenses of God against the "Problem of Evil") are examined. As such, it is quite interesting, but the rest of the story and the characters feel a little tacked on, like in most one issue books.
Not one of my favourites by Morrow.
Friday, July 17, 2009
I just finished The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon.
In some ways this is a gimmick novel - the gimmick being that the protagonist is autistic and the book is told in first person from his perspective. But it's a very well done gimmick, so readers won't mind. Moon does a very good job of creating a compelling character and plot, even though she is telling it through the viewpoint of someone who things very differently from most people.
I don't think anyone really knows if her descriptions about what it is like to think like an autistic person are true, but it feels true, and that is all that matters in a novel. Once we get used to the protagonist, we can follow him, and care about him, as he goes through various trials and adventures.
The plot deals with how outsiders deal with autistic people, and how autistic people themselves feel when an opportunity to cure them of autism comes up.
If I had one quibble with this excellent book, it is that the protagonist, Lou, is set up as a little too perfect - nice guy, genius, excellent fencer, capable of fighting off attackers, leader of his group of autistic people, etc. He does grow through the course of the novel, but a more rounder protagonist would have been nice.
In some ways this is a gimmick novel - the gimmick being that the protagonist is autistic and the book is told in first person from his perspective. But it's a very well done gimmick, so readers won't mind. Moon does a very good job of creating a compelling character and plot, even though she is telling it through the viewpoint of someone who things very differently from most people.
I don't think anyone really knows if her descriptions about what it is like to think like an autistic person are true, but it feels true, and that is all that matters in a novel. Once we get used to the protagonist, we can follow him, and care about him, as he goes through various trials and adventures.
The plot deals with how outsiders deal with autistic people, and how autistic people themselves feel when an opportunity to cure them of autism comes up.
If I had one quibble with this excellent book, it is that the protagonist, Lou, is set up as a little too perfect - nice guy, genius, excellent fencer, capable of fighting off attackers, leader of his group of autistic people, etc. He does grow through the course of the novel, but a more rounder protagonist would have been nice.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Last night we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Another good job on the movie adaptation's for Harry Potter. Other than the first two films, of which the less said, the better, the movies have all been quite good. I still think the third one, which fixed the problems with the earlier ones and set the template for the rest of the series, is the best.
This movie had two advantages over the previous one (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). First, the book is shorter. That allows for fitting in all the important elements without feeling too rushed. As it is the movie does have a very quick pace, and will probably be difficult to follow for non-fans, and the titular character gets much shorter shrift than in the book. Second, the book is better. Phoenix is the weakest of the seven books, with too much angst from Harry and other story problems. Half-Blood Prince is a stronger story and gets to start tying up and paying off some of the story arcs that have been building from the previous five books.
Another good job on the movie adaptation's for Harry Potter. Other than the first two films, of which the less said, the better, the movies have all been quite good. I still think the third one, which fixed the problems with the earlier ones and set the template for the rest of the series, is the best.
This movie had two advantages over the previous one (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). First, the book is shorter. That allows for fitting in all the important elements without feeling too rushed. As it is the movie does have a very quick pace, and will probably be difficult to follow for non-fans, and the titular character gets much shorter shrift than in the book. Second, the book is better. Phoenix is the weakest of the seven books, with too much angst from Harry and other story problems. Half-Blood Prince is a stronger story and gets to start tying up and paying off some of the story arcs that have been building from the previous five books.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Last night we saw The Seldom Scene at Yoshi's SF, with opening act The Tuttles.
The Seldom Scene are a more progressive bluegrass band then I typically listen to, and the version we saw last night only has one original member, but they put on a great show. It was particularly good to get to see Dudley Connell on guitar.
The Tuttles also did a great job as the opening act. The band is made up of Bay Area bluegrass teacher extraordinaire Jack Tuttle, his daughter Molly, sons Michael and Sullivan, and guest A.J. Lee. Molly and A.J. sound great singing together and all the Tuttle kids picked up a storm.
Although the bands were great, like my previous visit to Yoshi's SF, it left me cold as a venue. It looks nice, but the sound in the room comes across as sterile. Combine that with the obvious fact that the sound people are more used to dealing with jazz than bluegrass and didn't have a great sound mix, and it takes some away from even the best performers.
The Seldom Scene are a more progressive bluegrass band then I typically listen to, and the version we saw last night only has one original member, but they put on a great show. It was particularly good to get to see Dudley Connell on guitar.
The Tuttles also did a great job as the opening act. The band is made up of Bay Area bluegrass teacher extraordinaire Jack Tuttle, his daughter Molly, sons Michael and Sullivan, and guest A.J. Lee. Molly and A.J. sound great singing together and all the Tuttle kids picked up a storm.
Although the bands were great, like my previous visit to Yoshi's SF, it left me cold as a venue. It looks nice, but the sound in the room comes across as sterile. Combine that with the obvious fact that the sound people are more used to dealing with jazz than bluegrass and didn't have a great sound mix, and it takes some away from even the best performers.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Last night I finished The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick, his follow up to the The Iron Dragon's Daughter, which I wrote about here.
The new book is set in the same post-Industrial Revolution fantasy world as the old one, but are otherwise unrelated. The new book is also a better book - both better written and more enjoyable. The action and events are a lot easier to follow in this book, which makes it easier to appreciate the story and the characters instead of puzzling about what just happened. And although the story involves war, death, etc., it is a lot lighter in tone than the previous book.
Like the previous book, this one involves a lone child that gets involved with a damaged cybernetic dragon war machines. In this case, it is one that has crashed and takes over his village. This eventually leads him on the road to Babel, a variant of the fabled biblical city that did not fall and has instead continued to grow. On the way there he gets involved with various shady characters, gets in scrapes and barely survives. As expected in a fairy tale, eventually he comes out on top, whether he wants to or not.
Recommended much more than the previous books by Swanwick.
The new book is set in the same post-Industrial Revolution fantasy world as the old one, but are otherwise unrelated. The new book is also a better book - both better written and more enjoyable. The action and events are a lot easier to follow in this book, which makes it easier to appreciate the story and the characters instead of puzzling about what just happened. And although the story involves war, death, etc., it is a lot lighter in tone than the previous book.
Like the previous book, this one involves a lone child that gets involved with a damaged cybernetic dragon war machines. In this case, it is one that has crashed and takes over his village. This eventually leads him on the road to Babel, a variant of the fabled biblical city that did not fall and has instead continued to grow. On the way there he gets involved with various shady characters, gets in scrapes and barely survives. As expected in a fairy tale, eventually he comes out on top, whether he wants to or not.
Recommended much more than the previous books by Swanwick.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Last night, I finished Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan.
Market Forces seems as if it was written as bid for a movie - picture Death Race 2000 meets Wall Street. The world seems to be divided into three parts - the UK/US, which are ruled by an economic elite that settles their differences in formal duels involving their cars while the poor live in squalid "zoned areas"; socialist Europe, not described much except in Utopian terms; the rest of the world, where the evil financiers manipulate and exploit continual small wars. The action scenes, either duels on the road, fights in the "zoned areas" or brutal acts of revenge are described in loving detail, even though it is nearly impossible to picture the car scenes in any kind of real world.
The protagonist is almost a caricature of something Mickey Spillane would create - he starts out hard, and gets harder as the novel goes along, ending with (SPOILER ALERT) killing his super-hard mentor in a car duel.
At the same time, the author seems to intend the book as some kind of condemnation of capitalism, taking it to what he obviously considers is a reasonable extrapolation of where the current system might lead. It would be flattering to call his extrapolation childish, and in any other book it might be clear that this is parody or deliberate exaggeration, but this book does not seem to have any kind of humour attached to it, and he gives a bibliography at the end of "books consulted", including Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore and Joseph Stiglitz, that makes it clear that he isn't kidding.
But at the same time, I do have to admit that the book does work as an extreme hard-boiled thriller. The over-the-top action and ever-wrought relationships do pull the reader along.
Market Forces seems as if it was written as bid for a movie - picture Death Race 2000 meets Wall Street. The world seems to be divided into three parts - the UK/US, which are ruled by an economic elite that settles their differences in formal duels involving their cars while the poor live in squalid "zoned areas"; socialist Europe, not described much except in Utopian terms; the rest of the world, where the evil financiers manipulate and exploit continual small wars. The action scenes, either duels on the road, fights in the "zoned areas" or brutal acts of revenge are described in loving detail, even though it is nearly impossible to picture the car scenes in any kind of real world.
The protagonist is almost a caricature of something Mickey Spillane would create - he starts out hard, and gets harder as the novel goes along, ending with (SPOILER ALERT) killing his super-hard mentor in a car duel.
At the same time, the author seems to intend the book as some kind of condemnation of capitalism, taking it to what he obviously considers is a reasonable extrapolation of where the current system might lead. It would be flattering to call his extrapolation childish, and in any other book it might be clear that this is parody or deliberate exaggeration, but this book does not seem to have any kind of humour attached to it, and he gives a bibliography at the end of "books consulted", including Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore and Joseph Stiglitz, that makes it clear that he isn't kidding.
But at the same time, I do have to admit that the book does work as an extreme hard-boiled thriller. The over-the-top action and ever-wrought relationships do pull the reader along.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Yesterday, I finished The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross, the third book in his Merchant Princes series.
First, a quick re-cap: in this series, there are people who can switch themselves between alternate worlds. There are a few known worlds: our world; a world where things have not progressed beyond the medieval era; a world where technology has progressed, but in a different manner, and gov't is more totalitarian than ours. The group of "world walkers" featured are part of one family in the medieval world and they exploit their talents like mafia, in order to smuggle drugs and other high value goods. The story involves one journalist who stumbles into these people, finds out she is one of them, and gets involved in all three worlds.
At the end of the second book, the protagonist had discovered the third world and started a base there, but was still having difficulties with her mafia like family from the second world. This book is mainly a long continuation of those difficulties. It is mainly occupied with tiresome political discussions of how she can survive within her family.
I started off by not liking the first book very much, then liking the second one more. With this third book, I'm back in the "not liking it" camp again. The story is bogged down with not very interesting political discussions, and the protagonist is mostly reduced to a bystander, as things happen around, and to, her.
First, a quick re-cap: in this series, there are people who can switch themselves between alternate worlds. There are a few known worlds: our world; a world where things have not progressed beyond the medieval era; a world where technology has progressed, but in a different manner, and gov't is more totalitarian than ours. The group of "world walkers" featured are part of one family in the medieval world and they exploit their talents like mafia, in order to smuggle drugs and other high value goods. The story involves one journalist who stumbles into these people, finds out she is one of them, and gets involved in all three worlds.
At the end of the second book, the protagonist had discovered the third world and started a base there, but was still having difficulties with her mafia like family from the second world. This book is mainly a long continuation of those difficulties. It is mainly occupied with tiresome political discussions of how she can survive within her family.
I started off by not liking the first book very much, then liking the second one more. With this third book, I'm back in the "not liking it" camp again. The story is bogged down with not very interesting political discussions, and the protagonist is mostly reduced to a bystander, as things happen around, and to, her.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Yesterday I finished The Last Colony by John Scalzi, the third book in Old Man's War universe.
This book uses two of the main characters of the previous two books in the series - John Perry from Old Man's War and Jane Sagan from The Ghost Brigades. They've settled down and are helping run a colony when they are asked to volunteer to help start another new colony. That colony turns out to be involved in some schemes of the human government against a new alliance of alien races.
There's nothing surprising here - just some well written, old-fashioned military/political science fiction.
I wrote about the previous two books here and here.
This book uses two of the main characters of the previous two books in the series - John Perry from Old Man's War and Jane Sagan from The Ghost Brigades. They've settled down and are helping run a colony when they are asked to volunteer to help start another new colony. That colony turns out to be involved in some schemes of the human government against a new alliance of alien races.
There's nothing surprising here - just some well written, old-fashioned military/political science fiction.
I wrote about the previous two books here and here.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Yesterday I finished The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick.
Similar to The Stations of the Tide, Iron Dragon's Daughter throws the reader into the deep end of the pool, introducing a complex and multi-faceted world with little explanation or background. In this case, it's a clever combination of fantasy and technology. The background seems to be built around what might happen in a world where magic exists, and the industrial revolution also happens. The result is a fairly grim world where elves rule, dwarves and others serve and the disadvantage exist at the sufferance of those in power.
The protagonist starts out a virtual slave in a factory, longing for some other kind of life, which is eventually supplied by a damaged dragon - in this world a sentient war machine. The relationship between them is more built on mutual explotation than anything else, and is typical of the relationships in this book. The book is fairly grim, with characters scheming against each other, abusing and exploiting those around them whenever possible.
Very interesting, but also frustrating. The lack of exposition on the world make everything that happens feel somewhat arbitrary, and undermine the arc of the character's development and the story.
Similar to The Stations of the Tide, Iron Dragon's Daughter throws the reader into the deep end of the pool, introducing a complex and multi-faceted world with little explanation or background. In this case, it's a clever combination of fantasy and technology. The background seems to be built around what might happen in a world where magic exists, and the industrial revolution also happens. The result is a fairly grim world where elves rule, dwarves and others serve and the disadvantage exist at the sufferance of those in power.
The protagonist starts out a virtual slave in a factory, longing for some other kind of life, which is eventually supplied by a damaged dragon - in this world a sentient war machine. The relationship between them is more built on mutual explotation than anything else, and is typical of the relationships in this book. The book is fairly grim, with characters scheming against each other, abusing and exploiting those around them whenever possible.
Very interesting, but also frustrating. The lack of exposition on the world make everything that happens feel somewhat arbitrary, and undermine the arc of the character's development and the story.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
I just finished Odyssey by Jack McDevitt.
Odyssey is set in one of McDevitt's common worlds, where humanity seems to be almost alone in the universe, with no other advanced civilizations around and most of the threats come from the natural world or mysterious things, like the "Omega Clouds", but it is very different from most of his other novels. There is a lot more use of the politics of this world, which seem oddly similar to our own, with the future equivalent of NASA facing being shut down or under-funded. Meanwhile, some ships have started to see strange objects along their routes and no one is sure what they are.
By the end of the novel, there is more revealed, but McDevitt doesn't insist on wrapping everything up neatly in his novels and this is no exception.
The first half of the novel, which focuses more on the political struggles, is below average for McDevitt, but the second half comes on strong and gets a lot better, continuing McDevitt's streak as one of the more interesting modern SF writers.
Odyssey is set in one of McDevitt's common worlds, where humanity seems to be almost alone in the universe, with no other advanced civilizations around and most of the threats come from the natural world or mysterious things, like the "Omega Clouds", but it is very different from most of his other novels. There is a lot more use of the politics of this world, which seem oddly similar to our own, with the future equivalent of NASA facing being shut down or under-funded. Meanwhile, some ships have started to see strange objects along their routes and no one is sure what they are.
By the end of the novel, there is more revealed, but McDevitt doesn't insist on wrapping everything up neatly in his novels and this is no exception.
The first half of the novel, which focuses more on the political struggles, is below average for McDevitt, but the second half comes on strong and gets a lot better, continuing McDevitt's streak as one of the more interesting modern SF writers.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
On Sunday, I finished The Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind, the fifth in his Sword of Truth series.
The Soul of the Fire is better than the last book in the series. Maybe it's not surprising at this point, but the most interesting characters were the new ones he introduces just for this book. The main series characters are off screen for good portions of this book.
The plot involves some evil spirits accidentally loosed at the end of the last book. As a side effect, these spirits drain magic from this world, so the characters have to get by without their immense magical powers for a while.
The book also does very little to advance the larger level plot of the struggle against the Imperial Order that has been hanging around since part way through book two.
The Soul of the Fire is better than the last book in the series. Maybe it's not surprising at this point, but the most interesting characters were the new ones he introduces just for this book. The main series characters are off screen for good portions of this book.
The plot involves some evil spirits accidentally loosed at the end of the last book. As a side effect, these spirits drain magic from this world, so the characters have to get by without their immense magical powers for a while.
The book also does very little to advance the larger level plot of the struggle against the Imperial Order that has been hanging around since part way through book two.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
I just finished Ivory by Mike Resnick.
I don't know if there is a term for this type of story, but I have seen other examples, like the movie The Red Violin. Basically, it tells a larger story about the last of the Maasai tracking down the tusks of a legendary large elephant through smaller stories of the people who owned them, or stole them, or tried to acquire them. In this case, the stories range from Mount Kilimanjaro in the 19th century to 7 milleniums in the future, and from Earth across the galaxy.
The main character is the researcher who helps the Maasai. The author tries to make that part of the story interesting by holding back why the Maasai wants the ivory, as well as adding some minor growth in the protagonist, but it's really just an excuse for the mini-stories. The researcher is portrayed as a great puzzle solver, but his work seems entirely to consist of asking his super-computer "Have you found and new data on the tusks yet?".
But that minor quibble aside, it's quite an enjoyable book.
I don't know if there is a term for this type of story, but I have seen other examples, like the movie The Red Violin. Basically, it tells a larger story about the last of the Maasai tracking down the tusks of a legendary large elephant through smaller stories of the people who owned them, or stole them, or tried to acquire them. In this case, the stories range from Mount Kilimanjaro in the 19th century to 7 milleniums in the future, and from Earth across the galaxy.
The main character is the researcher who helps the Maasai. The author tries to make that part of the story interesting by holding back why the Maasai wants the ivory, as well as adding some minor growth in the protagonist, but it's really just an excuse for the mini-stories. The researcher is portrayed as a great puzzle solver, but his work seems entirely to consist of asking his super-computer "Have you found and new data on the tusks yet?".
But that minor quibble aside, it's quite an enjoyable book.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
I just finished Dragons From the Sea by Judson Roberts, the second book in his Strongbow series of YA historical novels with horrible covers (see my review of the first book here).
The second book continues directly after the first, with the protagonist on the run and seeking revenge after his family is killed. In this book, he joins up with a ship's crew that is heading off to war against the Franks. The YA cliches do continue, but this book is darker than a lot of YA. The protagonist fights in a few realistically depicted battles, as well as killing a few people when forced, from his point of view.
Everything I said in previous review still holds - good story, great historical focus, some YA cliches and a protagonist with a somewhat a-historical modern outlook. The weakest part of the book is the ending, which comes fairly abruptly and leaves the entire story and characters development hanging. It feels like it is actually one book that had to be broken up for market reasons. The best part is the intense, well written, battle scenes.
The second book continues directly after the first, with the protagonist on the run and seeking revenge after his family is killed. In this book, he joins up with a ship's crew that is heading off to war against the Franks. The YA cliches do continue, but this book is darker than a lot of YA. The protagonist fights in a few realistically depicted battles, as well as killing a few people when forced, from his point of view.
Everything I said in previous review still holds - good story, great historical focus, some YA cliches and a protagonist with a somewhat a-historical modern outlook. The weakest part of the book is the ending, which comes fairly abruptly and leaves the entire story and characters development hanging. It feels like it is actually one book that had to be broken up for market reasons. The best part is the intense, well written, battle scenes.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
On the weekend, we saw UP, the new Disney/Pixar animated film.
UP continues Pixar's string of winners. It's not as good as Ratatouille, The Incredibles or even WALL-E but definitely better than Cars.
While I will continue to look forward to Pixar's movies, I think they need to be careful about one thing - over use of nostalgia. UP almost drips with nostalgia, as did the much worse Cars, and it has also been strong element in a number of their other films, including Toy Story and The Incredibles. In UP, I hope it has reached its zenith and Pixar can move on to forward looking, rather than backward looking, stories.
UP continues Pixar's string of winners. It's not as good as Ratatouille, The Incredibles or even WALL-E but definitely better than Cars.
While I will continue to look forward to Pixar's movies, I think they need to be careful about one thing - over use of nostalgia. UP almost drips with nostalgia, as did the much worse Cars, and it has also been strong element in a number of their other films, including Toy Story and The Incredibles. In UP, I hope it has reached its zenith and Pixar can move on to forward looking, rather than backward looking, stories.
I spent all of last week at the California Bluegrass Association's yearly music camp and Father's Day Festival up in Grass Valley.
Volunteering at the camp was fun, as usual. I was an assistant to Kathy Barwick's level 3 guitar class, focusing on cross-picking and playing up the neck. Kathy is a very good teacher and the class was very informative. I've decided that I need to move away from focusing on technique to going back to focusing on ear training, so it will be a while before I can make use it, but once I come back to it, I think her approach will be very useful for me to get away from just playing in the first five frets.
The rest of the camp seemed to go very well - no major problems that I know of, and I think everyone had a great time.
The festival was also great. In fact, I think it was the best one for me personally. There were a lot of good, hard driving bluegrass acts on the main stage (Danny Paisley and Southern Grass, Junior Sisk and Rambler's Choice, The Bluegrass Brothers), as well as some great sets by California bands, including 49 Special, Blue and Lonesome and Mountain Laurel. One of the highlights for me were the two sets by the Tuttles, a family band put together by Bay Area bluegrass teacher Jack Tuttle.
I also did a fair amount of picking this year, mostly with people I already knew, but I was a lot happier this year with my playing.
I wrote about this last year here.
Volunteering at the camp was fun, as usual. I was an assistant to Kathy Barwick's level 3 guitar class, focusing on cross-picking and playing up the neck. Kathy is a very good teacher and the class was very informative. I've decided that I need to move away from focusing on technique to going back to focusing on ear training, so it will be a while before I can make use it, but once I come back to it, I think her approach will be very useful for me to get away from just playing in the first five frets.
The rest of the camp seemed to go very well - no major problems that I know of, and I think everyone had a great time.
The festival was also great. In fact, I think it was the best one for me personally. There were a lot of good, hard driving bluegrass acts on the main stage (Danny Paisley and Southern Grass, Junior Sisk and Rambler's Choice, The Bluegrass Brothers), as well as some great sets by California bands, including 49 Special, Blue and Lonesome and Mountain Laurel. One of the highlights for me were the two sets by the Tuttles, a family band put together by Bay Area bluegrass teacher Jack Tuttle.
I also did a fair amount of picking this year, mostly with people I already knew, but I was a lot happier this year with my playing.
I wrote about this last year here.
I finished The Caryatids by Bruce Sterling over the weekend.
The Caryatids is set in an environmental dystopia where global warming has damaged the Earth badly enough to de-stabilize most of the world's nation states. The titular characters are a group of highly dysfunctional clones that become central to global events. The four surviving ones (of a set of seven) all hate each other, and their "mother", and refuse to interact, meet or even talk about each other.
The story was interesting, even though most of the characters are fairly unpleasant, and emotionally over-wrought to the point of annoyance. Sterling's thoughts on the environmental dangers of global warming seem over-blown, given current projections, and his political and economic ideas seem crank-ish, and that's probably being generous.
The Caryatids is set in an environmental dystopia where global warming has damaged the Earth badly enough to de-stabilize most of the world's nation states. The titular characters are a group of highly dysfunctional clones that become central to global events. The four surviving ones (of a set of seven) all hate each other, and their "mother", and refuse to interact, meet or even talk about each other.
The story was interesting, even though most of the characters are fairly unpleasant, and emotionally over-wrought to the point of annoyance. Sterling's thoughts on the environmental dangers of global warming seem over-blown, given current projections, and his political and economic ideas seem crank-ish, and that's probably being generous.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Yesterday I finished Black Gangster by Donald Goines.
Goines is one of the more famous early African American authors writing about street life. Black Gangster is a very pulpy story about the rise and inevitable fall of young man trying to take over the gangs in Detroit, through organization, shake-downs and murder.
It's enjoyable in the pulp sense, but not something to read if you expect to learn much about the realities of the street. This novel feels more like a reflection of the movie version of gang life, through a more authentic lense since Goines himself lived his life in this context.
Goines is one of the more famous early African American authors writing about street life. Black Gangster is a very pulpy story about the rise and inevitable fall of young man trying to take over the gangs in Detroit, through organization, shake-downs and murder.
It's enjoyable in the pulp sense, but not something to read if you expect to learn much about the realities of the street. This novel feels more like a reflection of the movie version of gang life, through a more authentic lense since Goines himself lived his life in this context.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I just finished Greymantle by John Morressy.
This is an early '80s era fantasy, similar to a lot of things I read when I was a kid. It's the second book in a trilogy, though it's a prequel to the first one, so maybe I should say it's the first book in the trilogy.
In any case, it's an OK read. Shorter than most modern fantasy books, which is a good thing, but with characters that are almost cardboard. The plot involves a baby with a destiny, saved by the good guys by swapping it with a dead one just before the bad guys try to kill it. He turns out to be the best fighter ever, as well as a darn nice guy, etc, etc, before returning to discover the bad guys and kill them all.
There are some twists and turns, as it turns out the bad guy is actually being manipulated by a group of other bad guys. And some of the plot is handled oddly. Characters are introduced, built up and then killed off screen with very little fanfare. The final confrontation between the hero and the guy who tried to kill him as a baby is very quick, and then things move on to the behind the scenes bad guys.
Maybe it would make more sense if I'd read the other first book in the trilogy, but I doubt I ever will.
Amazon Link: Greymantle
This is an early '80s era fantasy, similar to a lot of things I read when I was a kid. It's the second book in a trilogy, though it's a prequel to the first one, so maybe I should say it's the first book in the trilogy.
In any case, it's an OK read. Shorter than most modern fantasy books, which is a good thing, but with characters that are almost cardboard. The plot involves a baby with a destiny, saved by the good guys by swapping it with a dead one just before the bad guys try to kill it. He turns out to be the best fighter ever, as well as a darn nice guy, etc, etc, before returning to discover the bad guys and kill them all.
There are some twists and turns, as it turns out the bad guy is actually being manipulated by a group of other bad guys. And some of the plot is handled oddly. Characters are introduced, built up and then killed off screen with very little fanfare. The final confrontation between the hero and the guy who tried to kill him as a baby is very quick, and then things move on to the behind the scenes bad guys.
Maybe it would make more sense if I'd read the other first book in the trilogy, but I doubt I ever will.
Amazon Link: Greymantle
Monday, June 08, 2009
Today I finished Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Anne Goonan.
A post-apocalyptic book without the military as the featured bad guy - yay!
Actually, it's kind of post-post-apocalyptic, which is clever. It seems civilization got into trouble after broadcast medium (radio, TV) is eliminated due to some kind of extraterrestrial radiation. (I know that sounds stupid, but it's not really a heavy feature of the book, so it's best to just ignore it.) Afterwords, the world turns heavily to nanotechnology, which produces some seemingly Utopian cities and then leads to "Information Wars" and nanotech plagues.
The book is confusing (and possibly confused) in places - for example, is Norleans a good place or a bad place? Are the plagues actually helpful or not? - but there are lots of interesting images and ideas once the heroine travels from her countryside community (based on the Shaker ideals) to one of the nanotech infested cities. She turns out to be kind of a chosen one/sacrifice, (of course) but doesn't quite want to go along with others plans for her as she unravels the mystery of why the city is the way it is.
Interesting book, and maybe some of my questions will be answered in the sequels.
A post-apocalyptic book without the military as the featured bad guy - yay!
Actually, it's kind of post-post-apocalyptic, which is clever. It seems civilization got into trouble after broadcast medium (radio, TV) is eliminated due to some kind of extraterrestrial radiation. (I know that sounds stupid, but it's not really a heavy feature of the book, so it's best to just ignore it.) Afterwords, the world turns heavily to nanotechnology, which produces some seemingly Utopian cities and then leads to "Information Wars" and nanotech plagues.
The book is confusing (and possibly confused) in places - for example, is Norleans a good place or a bad place? Are the plagues actually helpful or not? - but there are lots of interesting images and ideas once the heroine travels from her countryside community (based on the Shaker ideals) to one of the nanotech infested cities. She turns out to be kind of a chosen one/sacrifice, (of course) but doesn't quite want to go along with others plans for her as she unravels the mystery of why the city is the way it is.
Interesting book, and maybe some of my questions will be answered in the sequels.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Last night, we saw the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek.
Based on the trailers, I didn't know if I would enjoy this version, but I did. It continues in the trend that the more action oriented Star Trek movies are the better ones. This new re-boot of the series is almost all action, with just enough pauses to introduce new versions of the old characters.
There are tons of plot holes and stupid moments, but the quick pace of the movie, along with some decent jokes and acting, propels the movie along fast enough to gloss over the problems. And not everything was stupid. For example, the fact that the movie internally addresses the fact that it is a re-boot, was amusing and well done.
The real challenge will be if they can pull it off again - if this movie does well enough to lead to a twelfth film.
Based on the trailers, I didn't know if I would enjoy this version, but I did. It continues in the trend that the more action oriented Star Trek movies are the better ones. This new re-boot of the series is almost all action, with just enough pauses to introduce new versions of the old characters.
There are tons of plot holes and stupid moments, but the quick pace of the movie, along with some decent jokes and acting, propels the movie along fast enough to gloss over the problems. And not everything was stupid. For example, the fact that the movie internally addresses the fact that it is a re-boot, was amusing and well done.
The real challenge will be if they can pull it off again - if this movie does well enough to lead to a twelfth film.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Last night, I finished The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks.
To read my general thoughts on Iain Banks, you can see the synopsys at the top of my review of his last book, Dead Air, here. This new book is again in a similar vein, more like The Crow Road than his stranger books. In this case, even more so than Dead Air, since both The Crow Road and The Steep Approach to Garbadale have a lot to do with family mysteries and conflicting romantic relationships. The newer book is structured very differently, with interlacing flashbacks and points of view instead of a consistent narrator.
Garbadale is a good book, if not quite up to the standards of The Crow Road. His characters never fail to be compelling and interesting, and the reader strongly feels their emotional struggles and dilemmas. The opening is weakened a little by the multiple, switching narrators and point of view, but once the main shape of the story is visible, it is quite engrossing. There is a minor revelation at the end that I had mostly figured out.
The one negative about the book were the anti-Bush/America diatribes near the end. Putting aside whether or not one agrees with their content, they felt out of place in the story and seemed to be their just so the author could vent his spleen. In the future, I'd recommend that he gets a blog for that purpose, and doesn't burden his characters, stories and readers with them.
To read my general thoughts on Iain Banks, you can see the synopsys at the top of my review of his last book, Dead Air, here. This new book is again in a similar vein, more like The Crow Road than his stranger books. In this case, even more so than Dead Air, since both The Crow Road and The Steep Approach to Garbadale have a lot to do with family mysteries and conflicting romantic relationships. The newer book is structured very differently, with interlacing flashbacks and points of view instead of a consistent narrator.
Garbadale is a good book, if not quite up to the standards of The Crow Road. His characters never fail to be compelling and interesting, and the reader strongly feels their emotional struggles and dilemmas. The opening is weakened a little by the multiple, switching narrators and point of view, but once the main shape of the story is visible, it is quite engrossing. There is a minor revelation at the end that I had mostly figured out.
The one negative about the book were the anti-Bush/America diatribes near the end. Putting aside whether or not one agrees with their content, they felt out of place in the story and seemed to be their just so the author could vent his spleen. In the future, I'd recommend that he gets a blog for that purpose, and doesn't burden his characters, stories and readers with them.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
I spent most of Saturday and a good part of Sunday at the Maker Faire in San Mateo.
This is my third Maker Faire (I missed the first one). Seemed to be a slightly smaller crowd this year, though still well attended and very crowded feeling at times. This year had fewer of the huge metal sculptures that seemed to everywhere last year, more sponsors and people selling things and fewer logistical problems than in the past. For example, all the speeches I saw were pretty much on time and free of issues with laptops, presentation software, video or audio that were prevelent at the previous two. Most of the major things seemed to be the same - the Crucible was there, the huge mousetrap, the dangerous rides, the incredibly expensive food. No sign of Robot Wars this year (or whatever they called it) but they did give a lot of space to Playing At Learning's displays on the First Lego League and First Tech Challenge. The music seemed to be a little de-emphasised this year, with a smaller stage and less shaded seating but still some good acts (like Culann's Hounds). This year also had less emphasis on steampunk, though there was a strong steampunk contingent, both costumers and makers, there representing.
Adam Savage's speech, although very different from last years, was a highlight again. Some of the other interesting speeches I saw were on DIY electronics prototyping, needs for better robotic manufacturing, a history of Silicon Valley before Hewlett-Packard.
Overall, very fun, but also getting very expensive and the crowds are still an issue for me.
(some photos here).
I wrote about the last two Maker Faires here and here.
This is my third Maker Faire (I missed the first one). Seemed to be a slightly smaller crowd this year, though still well attended and very crowded feeling at times. This year had fewer of the huge metal sculptures that seemed to everywhere last year, more sponsors and people selling things and fewer logistical problems than in the past. For example, all the speeches I saw were pretty much on time and free of issues with laptops, presentation software, video or audio that were prevelent at the previous two. Most of the major things seemed to be the same - the Crucible was there, the huge mousetrap, the dangerous rides, the incredibly expensive food. No sign of Robot Wars this year (or whatever they called it) but they did give a lot of space to Playing At Learning's displays on the First Lego League and First Tech Challenge. The music seemed to be a little de-emphasised this year, with a smaller stage and less shaded seating but still some good acts (like Culann's Hounds). This year also had less emphasis on steampunk, though there was a strong steampunk contingent, both costumers and makers, there representing.
Adam Savage's speech, although very different from last years, was a highlight again. Some of the other interesting speeches I saw were on DIY electronics prototyping, needs for better robotic manufacturing, a history of Silicon Valley before Hewlett-Packard.
Overall, very fun, but also getting very expensive and the crowds are still an issue for me.
(some photos here).
I wrote about the last two Maker Faires here and here.
Yesterday, I finished First Contract by Greg Costikyan.
Costikyan is best known as a game designer, including the wacky post-apocalyptic Paranoia. First Contract has a similar feel, in terms of wacky action, at time. It's the comedic story of the CEO of a high-tech company and what happens to him, his company, and the human economy after first contact between humans and a galactic federation.
The novel starts off weak, with some poorly developed characters and worse dialogue, but picks up after the CEO loses everything. When he gets caught up in a new business scheme, the book picks up pace and the comedic tone comes through stronger. The economics also strike me as a little unlikely, but they are necessary to set up the rest of the amusing story, so I guess it's OK.
Fun, but minor.
Costikyan is best known as a game designer, including the wacky post-apocalyptic Paranoia. First Contract has a similar feel, in terms of wacky action, at time. It's the comedic story of the CEO of a high-tech company and what happens to him, his company, and the human economy after first contact between humans and a galactic federation.
The novel starts off weak, with some poorly developed characters and worse dialogue, but picks up after the CEO loses everything. When he gets caught up in a new business scheme, the book picks up pace and the comedic tone comes through stronger. The economics also strike me as a little unlikely, but they are necessary to set up the rest of the amusing story, so I guess it's OK.
Fun, but minor.
Friday, May 29, 2009
A few days ago, I finished William Blake: An introduction by Raymond Lister.
I got re-interested in Blake from seeing an exhibition at the Tate Britain in London. It was a recreation of a exhibition Blake had given in his brother's home. The exhibition was intriguing, even though most of the exhibition items are either missing or so dark as to be hard to pick out details. I'm not sure if they darkness was due to the effects of time, or part of Blake's intention.
This book is an OK introduction, walking through the events of Blake's life and discussing most of his major works. The mix of biography and analysis, and the small size of the book, results in a shallow analysis of both. Given that Blake is so different from any other artist of the time (or probably since), I would have like more about how Blake came up with his unique mythology, or more analysis with more prints, preferably in colour.
William Blake;: An introduction to the man and to his work
I got re-interested in Blake from seeing an exhibition at the Tate Britain in London. It was a recreation of a exhibition Blake had given in his brother's home. The exhibition was intriguing, even though most of the exhibition items are either missing or so dark as to be hard to pick out details. I'm not sure if they darkness was due to the effects of time, or part of Blake's intention.
This book is an OK introduction, walking through the events of Blake's life and discussing most of his major works. The mix of biography and analysis, and the small size of the book, results in a shallow analysis of both. Given that Blake is so different from any other artist of the time (or probably since), I would have like more about how Blake came up with his unique mythology, or more analysis with more prints, preferably in colour.
William Blake;: An introduction to the man and to his work
Monday, May 25, 2009
I spent a ton of time this weekend at Baycon, the local science fiction convention.
I've posted before about Baycon. I'm not involved in the local fan scene, so I don't really know any of the people, so most of my con experience is about the panels. There were no real stand out panels I saw this year but I think I've refined my "panel triage" skills, since I enjoyed the panels I did attend more this year.
Here are some of my thoughts on the important items to consider in "panel triage".
Panel Topic
Panelists
I've posted before about Baycon. I'm not involved in the local fan scene, so I don't really know any of the people, so most of my con experience is about the panels. There were no real stand out panels I saw this year but I think I've refined my "panel triage" skills, since I enjoyed the panels I did attend more this year.
Here are some of my thoughts on the important items to consider in "panel triage".
Panel Topic
- Aside from being interested in the topic, is the topic something that will be able to be talked about for an hour, usually by non-experts? If it's not, expect a panel that will digress and wander a lot.
- is the panel intended to be a panel + audience or a more free form discussion? Both can work, depending on your taste.In the first case, the moderator becomes key. In the second, the quality of the audience is paramount.
Panelists
- are they experts (or at least knowledgeable on the topic)? A rough rule - if more than one panelist opens by saying "I'm not sure why I'm on this panel", check out a different panel.
- how are their presentation/humour skills? For example, there are a few presenters at Baycon that are consistently amusing, no matter what the topic (Seanan McGuire comes to mind).
- are there any blowhards on the panel? These can derail almost any panel, even with a good moderator.
- how strong/experienced is the moderator? This is particularly important relative to the next category
- if the panel is intended to be more of a "panel + audience", are there members of the audience who don't understand this and try to have a back and forth conversation with the panelists, even if they aren't talking to this attendee directly?
- are there attendees who don't seem to understand that the panel isn't about them, and that there may be more than one person who has questions or comments? This can also be a problem with some panelists (see "blowhard" comment above).
I just finished The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy. A post-apocalyptic story set in and around San Francisco.
I'm not sure why this is, but it seems the military is the villain of choice in any post-apocalyptic story, whether they caused the disaster (see Stephen King's The Stand), or whether they try and take over and impose their ideas of order and discipline afterwords (see CBS's Jericho, or many others. The one semi-original piece of this book is that the apocalyptic disaster is actually accidentally caused by peace activists, instead of the military industrial complex.
In this novel, the contrast is even larger because the protagonists are artists and free spirits who live in San Francisco in a very Utopian anarchic society. Who knew that all we needed for a comfortable life we could devote to art was for 99+% of the population to die off? In addition to that silliness, there is an uncomfortable anti-American vibe throughout the book. For example, the evil military leader espouses the values of "America" and is mocked by other characters and one characters opines that they always thought the old American flag was "ugly".
I'm not sure why this is, but it seems the military is the villain of choice in any post-apocalyptic story, whether they caused the disaster (see Stephen King's The Stand), or whether they try and take over and impose their ideas of order and discipline afterwords (see CBS's Jericho, or many others. The one semi-original piece of this book is that the apocalyptic disaster is actually accidentally caused by peace activists, instead of the military industrial complex.
In this novel, the contrast is even larger because the protagonists are artists and free spirits who live in San Francisco in a very Utopian anarchic society. Who knew that all we needed for a comfortable life we could devote to art was for 99+% of the population to die off? In addition to that silliness, there is an uncomfortable anti-American vibe throughout the book. For example, the evil military leader espouses the values of "America" and is mocked by other characters and one characters opines that they always thought the old American flag was "ugly".
Friday, May 22, 2009
Yesterday, I finished Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb.
This is the third book of a trilogy, and I wrote about the second book here. The general things I said in that post are still true, i.e. Hobb is one of the best writers in fantasy today, partly because she writes complete books instead of books that are really just part of one larger book, and trilogies instead of endless series. Also, this trilogy, while quite good, is not quite as good as her other ones. Another interesting feature of Hobb's work is that it is not very derivative. She creates unique worlds, unique magic and then populates them with realistic characters.
Renegade's Magic is a good closing of this trilogy, resolving the open issues from the first two books and resolving the over-arching problem of the conflict between two cultures.
Hobb is a master of creating impossible, or tragic, situations for her characters and then having them struggle their way through them. In this book, that takes the form of the protagonist being trapped in his own body as part of him that was split off in the first book controls it. The only problem is that this plays into one of Hobb's few weaknesses, that her characters can be too indecisive and passive, like Hamlet, endlessly debating their options and suffering along the way. This book felt a little too passive for large portions of it.
This is the third book of a trilogy, and I wrote about the second book here. The general things I said in that post are still true, i.e. Hobb is one of the best writers in fantasy today, partly because she writes complete books instead of books that are really just part of one larger book, and trilogies instead of endless series. Also, this trilogy, while quite good, is not quite as good as her other ones. Another interesting feature of Hobb's work is that it is not very derivative. She creates unique worlds, unique magic and then populates them with realistic characters.
Renegade's Magic is a good closing of this trilogy, resolving the open issues from the first two books and resolving the over-arching problem of the conflict between two cultures.
Hobb is a master of creating impossible, or tragic, situations for her characters and then having them struggle their way through them. In this book, that takes the form of the protagonist being trapped in his own body as part of him that was split off in the first book controls it. The only problem is that this plays into one of Hobb's few weaknesses, that her characters can be too indecisive and passive, like Hamlet, endlessly debating their options and suffering along the way. This book felt a little too passive for large portions of it.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I just finished The Victorian Underworld by Donald Thomas.
Thomas synthesizes a lot of first hand researchs from sources like Henry Mayhew into a very interesting account of the seedy parts of the Victorian world, from crime and poverty among the costermongers (street vendors), to the ever present prostitution and sophisticated forgers and pornographers.
He gives a lot of good anecodtes, most drawn directly from sources like Mayhew. I'll have to track down one of Mayhew's works to see how much Thomas adds to it, or if the source is better.
Thomas synthesizes a lot of first hand researchs from sources like Henry Mayhew into a very interesting account of the seedy parts of the Victorian world, from crime and poverty among the costermongers (street vendors), to the ever present prostitution and sophisticated forgers and pornographers.
He gives a lot of good anecodtes, most drawn directly from sources like Mayhew. I'll have to track down one of Mayhew's works to see how much Thomas adds to it, or if the source is better.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Yesterday I finished Gaudeamus by John Barnes.
An odd little book. Basically, a bunch of tales told to the protagonist by a friend, tales involving magical physics devices, aliens and telepathy. Are they true or false? Even the protagonist doesn't know. And to add to the weirdness, the protagonist is the author himself. I'm not sure why that is - maybe Barnes is trying to create a feel like some of the early pulps or Burroughs books, where the story is purported to be true and dictated to the author.
The story itself is just OK - nothing special, but somewhat amusing. The characters who tells the story might be a little offensive to some people, in the words he uses and the ways he refers to people, and the author himself takes some swipes at science fiction fans along the way for some reason. Other than that, not much to say about this book. It falls in the middle of books by Barnes I've read, between ones I've liked and ones I've hated.
An odd little book. Basically, a bunch of tales told to the protagonist by a friend, tales involving magical physics devices, aliens and telepathy. Are they true or false? Even the protagonist doesn't know. And to add to the weirdness, the protagonist is the author himself. I'm not sure why that is - maybe Barnes is trying to create a feel like some of the early pulps or Burroughs books, where the story is purported to be true and dictated to the author.
The story itself is just OK - nothing special, but somewhat amusing. The characters who tells the story might be a little offensive to some people, in the words he uses and the ways he refers to people, and the author himself takes some swipes at science fiction fans along the way for some reason. Other than that, not much to say about this book. It falls in the middle of books by Barnes I've read, between ones I've liked and ones I've hated.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Last night, we felt like going to see some theater. We ended up seeing Bright Young People, put on by the youth conservatory of the SF American Conservatory Theater.
It's a tribute to the words and music of Noel Coward, stitching together a bunch of scenes and musical numbers that he wrote. It was surprising to realize that thought I had heard of Coward, I had not heard a single one of these songs before, or seen or read any of these plays. His take on the playful aristocracy doesn't seem to have caught hold in current pop culture.
The singing and acting by the young performers was quite good. A few rough spots here and there, but overall well done, particularly for people who are mainly juniors in high school.
It's a tribute to the words and music of Noel Coward, stitching together a bunch of scenes and musical numbers that he wrote. It was surprising to realize that thought I had heard of Coward, I had not heard a single one of these songs before, or seen or read any of these plays. His take on the playful aristocracy doesn't seem to have caught hold in current pop culture.
The singing and acting by the young performers was quite good. A few rough spots here and there, but overall well done, particularly for people who are mainly juniors in high school.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I've finished two books since I returned from vacation.
The first is Juggler of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner, sequel to their earlier Fleet of Worlds. Like the previous book, this one's greatest weakness is it's relationship to Niven's other Known Space stories. In fact, this one has that weakness worse. Time and again, just when the book gets interesting in it's own right, it digresses to show a new character viewpoint on a previous story, or to add some twist or new knowledge. The result is a mish-mash that doesn't stand well on its own, and undermines the earlier stories.
The second was Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. I had read this one before, many years ago, since I am a huge Steven Brust fan, but didn't like it that much. I picked it up again because I was on a thirteen hour plane ride and had finished the book I was reading. Stacey was reading this one, so I started re-reading it anytime she was sleeping, and I enjoyed it much more this time.
It's told in epistolary form, mainly of letters between the four main characters, James Cobham, his step-sister Kitty and their cousins Richard Cobham and Susan Voight. The novel is set in the mid 19th century, after the Chartist movement has failed. James was involved in that movement, and in various violent acts, and his past has come back to haunt him. We find this out slowly, as well as further complications, as more and more letters develop the back story and characters.
The novel makes good use of it's epistolary nature, having some letters reveal different details or mis-representations that various characters have told in previous letters, but it does make it a longer read than is strictly necessary for the plot. Fans of Brust and Bull should know what they are getting into before they read the novel, to avoid disappointment. (Possible spoiler alert) Although there are earlier hints that seem to lean in this direction, there are none of the fantasy elements that occur in their other works.
The first is Juggler of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner, sequel to their earlier Fleet of Worlds. Like the previous book, this one's greatest weakness is it's relationship to Niven's other Known Space stories. In fact, this one has that weakness worse. Time and again, just when the book gets interesting in it's own right, it digresses to show a new character viewpoint on a previous story, or to add some twist or new knowledge. The result is a mish-mash that doesn't stand well on its own, and undermines the earlier stories.
The second was Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. I had read this one before, many years ago, since I am a huge Steven Brust fan, but didn't like it that much. I picked it up again because I was on a thirteen hour plane ride and had finished the book I was reading. Stacey was reading this one, so I started re-reading it anytime she was sleeping, and I enjoyed it much more this time.
It's told in epistolary form, mainly of letters between the four main characters, James Cobham, his step-sister Kitty and their cousins Richard Cobham and Susan Voight. The novel is set in the mid 19th century, after the Chartist movement has failed. James was involved in that movement, and in various violent acts, and his past has come back to haunt him. We find this out slowly, as well as further complications, as more and more letters develop the back story and characters.
The novel makes good use of it's epistolary nature, having some letters reveal different details or mis-representations that various characters have told in previous letters, but it does make it a longer read than is strictly necessary for the plot. Fans of Brust and Bull should know what they are getting into before they read the novel, to avoid disappointment. (Possible spoiler alert) Although there are earlier hints that seem to lean in this direction, there are none of the fantasy elements that occur in their other works.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Vacation 2009 - day 15
May 5, 2009 - Orleans/Paris
Up for a hotel breakfast, went out to scout which stores opened when for Stacey. Since this was our last day in France, she wanted to see if she could find some good clothes or good food.
Back to the hotel to check out and then to the train station. Stacey shopped for a while in the mall next to the train station and then for a while at Cop Copine, Stacey's favourite brand, and one that is hard to find in the US. Afterwards, we caught the train to Paris.
We found our hotel, the Hotel Bervic. It's right in the center of Paris, very conveniently located near the Gare du Nord train station, which seemed like a very bad neighbourhood. Very scummy and dirty, with bars on all windows, etc. Reminded me of the San Francisco Tenderloin. The hotel room wasn't particularly clean, and had no towels. We had to ask repeatedly to get them, and to go up and down the four flights repeatedly of stairs (no lift/elevator) to get them. I'm not sure you could pay me enough to stay there again.
We tried to get into a nice restaurant Stacey knew about, but they were full up. We ended up eating at a place called Brasserie Lipp. It looked good from the outside, but the food we got was pretty terrible - mediocre fish and overdone veal in cream of mushroom soup!
Then back to the hotel, to get ready for the plane out the next morning.
(pictures from Paris)
Up for a hotel breakfast, went out to scout which stores opened when for Stacey. Since this was our last day in France, she wanted to see if she could find some good clothes or good food.
Back to the hotel to check out and then to the train station. Stacey shopped for a while in the mall next to the train station and then for a while at Cop Copine, Stacey's favourite brand, and one that is hard to find in the US. Afterwards, we caught the train to Paris.
We found our hotel, the Hotel Bervic. It's right in the center of Paris, very conveniently located near the Gare du Nord train station, which seemed like a very bad neighbourhood. Very scummy and dirty, with bars on all windows, etc. Reminded me of the San Francisco Tenderloin. The hotel room wasn't particularly clean, and had no towels. We had to ask repeatedly to get them, and to go up and down the four flights repeatedly of stairs (no lift/elevator) to get them. I'm not sure you could pay me enough to stay there again.
We tried to get into a nice restaurant Stacey knew about, but they were full up. We ended up eating at a place called Brasserie Lipp. It looked good from the outside, but the food we got was pretty terrible - mediocre fish and overdone veal in cream of mushroom soup!
Then back to the hotel, to get ready for the plane out the next morning.
(pictures from Paris)
Vacation 2009 - day 14
May 4, 2009 - Orleans
Up for 7:30am breakfast, talked to hotel staff about touring around. They thought it would be difficult without a car, but it turned out to be impossible to find an automatic transmission to rent. She suggested talking to the local TI. We walked over to the city center and found the TI, and based on their advice, hoped on a 40 min train ride to Blois. From the Blois TI, we bought tickets on a bus tour that included a number of chateaus.
The bus driver was very nice, spoke English, and because we were the only two people who showed up for this particular time of the tour, we got a lot of extra attention and information. The first stop was Chambord, built by Francis I to show off after he re-took Milan but not completed till the reign of Louis XIV. It has a funny history - it spent more time abandoned than being lived in. But it is a very impressive building nonetheless.
The second stop was Cheverny, a family house lived in until 1985. Very fancy, surrounded by a park, but not on the same scale as Chambord.
The third stop was back at Blois, where there is a royal chateau but we didn't have time to see the chateau. Instead, we had supper at the train station restaurant (based on the local tour driver's recommendation) and then caught the train back to Orleans.
After we got back, we wanted to just get a nice dessert. We went to a nice looking restaurant and were able to get seats, but it turned out that they don't just serve dessert - not sure if it was just that restaurant or all French restaurants. In either case, it was pretty annoying. We walked around for the rest of the evening just checking out the architecture in Orleans. At one point, someone driving by yelled something at us and something hit my jacket. Probably just stupid kids, but not a great end to the day.
(pictures from Orleans)
Up for 7:30am breakfast, talked to hotel staff about touring around. They thought it would be difficult without a car, but it turned out to be impossible to find an automatic transmission to rent. She suggested talking to the local TI. We walked over to the city center and found the TI, and based on their advice, hoped on a 40 min train ride to Blois. From the Blois TI, we bought tickets on a bus tour that included a number of chateaus.
The bus driver was very nice, spoke English, and because we were the only two people who showed up for this particular time of the tour, we got a lot of extra attention and information. The first stop was Chambord, built by Francis I to show off after he re-took Milan but not completed till the reign of Louis XIV. It has a funny history - it spent more time abandoned than being lived in. But it is a very impressive building nonetheless.
The second stop was Cheverny, a family house lived in until 1985. Very fancy, surrounded by a park, but not on the same scale as Chambord.
The third stop was back at Blois, where there is a royal chateau but we didn't have time to see the chateau. Instead, we had supper at the train station restaurant (based on the local tour driver's recommendation) and then caught the train back to Orleans.
After we got back, we wanted to just get a nice dessert. We went to a nice looking restaurant and were able to get seats, but it turned out that they don't just serve dessert - not sure if it was just that restaurant or all French restaurants. In either case, it was pretty annoying. We walked around for the rest of the evening just checking out the architecture in Orleans. At one point, someone driving by yelled something at us and something hit my jacket. Probably just stupid kids, but not a great end to the day.
(pictures from Orleans)
Vacation 2009 - day 13
May 3, 2009 - Paris/Orleans
Up to catch Eurostar to Paris. Pretty boring train ride. Got into Paris, checked our luggage so we could wander around for a few hours before our train to Orleans.
Made our way to the Paris Laduree, but it took a long time on the Metro due to some people being on the train line at one point. Had to get off the Metro and walk to the Bastille area to catch another train. Stacey picked up some more macarons and jam at Laduree. Saw the outside of the Louvre on the walk back to train. Caught the train to Orleans and walked to our hotel, which is right on the Loire river. We then walked to the old part of the city to find food.
Since it was Sunday, mostly everything was closed. We ended up eating at an Indian place that looked good, but turned out to be pretty awful. Stacey's dishes were too creamy and my rogan ghost took so long to arrive that Stacey had already finished all her dishes, and then it turned out to be the worst lamb dish I've ever had. We ended the day by walking back to the hotel along the Loire.
(pictures of Paris and Orleans)
Up to catch Eurostar to Paris. Pretty boring train ride. Got into Paris, checked our luggage so we could wander around for a few hours before our train to Orleans.
Made our way to the Paris Laduree, but it took a long time on the Metro due to some people being on the train line at one point. Had to get off the Metro and walk to the Bastille area to catch another train. Stacey picked up some more macarons and jam at Laduree. Saw the outside of the Louvre on the walk back to train. Caught the train to Orleans and walked to our hotel, which is right on the Loire river. We then walked to the old part of the city to find food.
Since it was Sunday, mostly everything was closed. We ended up eating at an Indian place that looked good, but turned out to be pretty awful. Stacey's dishes were too creamy and my rogan ghost took so long to arrive that Stacey had already finished all her dishes, and then it turned out to be the worst lamb dish I've ever had. We ended the day by walking back to the hotel along the Loire.
(pictures of Paris and Orleans)
Vacation 2009 - day 12
May 2, 2009 - Cotswolds/London
Up for 8:30am breakfast. Met another couple staying at the B&B, a new couple that live in north London. He was a self-employed mortgage broker, she was a math teacher. Then went on a farm tour - beef and lamb farm, with crops just to feed them. Discussed some of the "City" money that owns some of the houses up here and only visit on weekends. Then drove back down to Oxford, found car rental place OK (with only a few wrong turns).
Walked around Oxford a little, but it wasn't very impressive, and had the worst lunch yet - panini sandwich for Stacey and a Cornish pasty for me. Caught train back to London, checked into hostel (clean, but dingy and had to sleep in seperate rooms).
Then we went to check out the exhibits at the British Library. Saw Shakespeare folios, the Lindisfarne Gospels, a Guttenberg Bible, original manuscripts from Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, etc. The original Beowulf manuscript was out - being restored or researched.
Then off to Harrod's - very claustophobic place, like a low ceilinged mall with a LOT of people. Stacey found the Laduree there and bought some mini-macarons. Then went to Soho to find some food. Couldn't find the place we were looking for, ended up eating at an upscale Indian restaurant - pretty good food. Then back to the hostel.
Up for 8:30am breakfast. Met another couple staying at the B&B, a new couple that live in north London. He was a self-employed mortgage broker, she was a math teacher. Then went on a farm tour - beef and lamb farm, with crops just to feed them. Discussed some of the "City" money that owns some of the houses up here and only visit on weekends. Then drove back down to Oxford, found car rental place OK (with only a few wrong turns).
Walked around Oxford a little, but it wasn't very impressive, and had the worst lunch yet - panini sandwich for Stacey and a Cornish pasty for me. Caught train back to London, checked into hostel (clean, but dingy and had to sleep in seperate rooms).
Then we went to check out the exhibits at the British Library. Saw Shakespeare folios, the Lindisfarne Gospels, a Guttenberg Bible, original manuscripts from Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, etc. The original Beowulf manuscript was out - being restored or researched.
Then off to Harrod's - very claustophobic place, like a low ceilinged mall with a LOT of people. Stacey found the Laduree there and bought some mini-macarons. Then went to Soho to find some food. Couldn't find the place we were looking for, ended up eating at an upscale Indian restaurant - pretty good food. Then back to the hostel.
Vacation 2009 - day 11
May 1, 2009 - Cotswolds
up at 8am, nice breakfast at the B&B, off to Chipping Campden. Walked around checking out the nice village, larger than Stow and nicer than Moreton. Found an Arts and Crafts movement related museum, saw the manor house estate (which is actually rent-able), saw the church and stopped at a local famous silversmith workshop that had been around since the Arts and Crafts movement. Drove down to Lower Slaughter, parked on a country lane and walked though the village and then on a right of way path to Upper Slaughter. Very picturesque.
For dinner, we went to the New Inn, down the street from the Bell Inn and very different - much more homey, filled with locals (including three dogs) and basic pub food. I had a cottage pie with chips and Stacey had a half chicken with salad and new potatoes. Pretty good food.
(pictures from Cotswolds)
up at 8am, nice breakfast at the B&B, off to Chipping Campden. Walked around checking out the nice village, larger than Stow and nicer than Moreton. Found an Arts and Crafts movement related museum, saw the manor house estate (which is actually rent-able), saw the church and stopped at a local famous silversmith workshop that had been around since the Arts and Crafts movement. Drove down to Lower Slaughter, parked on a country lane and walked though the village and then on a right of way path to Upper Slaughter. Very picturesque.
For dinner, we went to the New Inn, down the street from the Bell Inn and very different - much more homey, filled with locals (including three dogs) and basic pub food. I had a cottage pie with chips and Stacey had a half chicken with salad and new potatoes. Pretty good food.
(pictures from Cotswolds)
Vacation 2009 - day 10
April 30, 2009 - Cotswolds
up at 7am, breakfast at hotel, checked out and walked to Paddington station. Caught the Oxford train with no problems. Got into Oxford and picked up the rental car, a nice little Peugeot with auto transmission. It was starting to spit rain a little.
Made our way into the Cotswolds, with a few wrong turns on getting on the right freeways out of Oxford. Got to Stow-On-The-Wold and it was drizzling. Ate sandwiches in car, visited the TI office, walked around the town, stopping at various shops and down some side paths. Cute little town, but the rain is a damper.
Headed up to Moreton-In-Marsh. Stopped there to have tea, scones and bread pudding and walked around some. Less obviously touristy than Stow. Then off to the Manor Farm B&B in Weston-Sub-Edge. Turns out to be a very nice B&B, probably the nicest place we have stayed on this trip. Ate dinner at the Bell Inn in a neighbouring village - very expensive, not great food.
(pictures from Cotswolds)
up at 7am, breakfast at hotel, checked out and walked to Paddington station. Caught the Oxford train with no problems. Got into Oxford and picked up the rental car, a nice little Peugeot with auto transmission. It was starting to spit rain a little.
Made our way into the Cotswolds, with a few wrong turns on getting on the right freeways out of Oxford. Got to Stow-On-The-Wold and it was drizzling. Ate sandwiches in car, visited the TI office, walked around the town, stopping at various shops and down some side paths. Cute little town, but the rain is a damper.
Headed up to Moreton-In-Marsh. Stopped there to have tea, scones and bread pudding and walked around some. Less obviously touristy than Stow. Then off to the Manor Farm B&B in Weston-Sub-Edge. Turns out to be a very nice B&B, probably the nicest place we have stayed on this trip. Ate dinner at the Bell Inn in a neighbouring village - very expensive, not great food.
(pictures from Cotswolds)
Vacation 2009 - day 9
April 29, 2009 - London
Up around 8:15am, grabbed breakfast and headed off to Westminster Abbey again. This time we got in. The Abbey was stunning - the scope of the people whose burial locations we saw was amazing, from Edward the Confessor (who built the original Abbey), to Elizabeth I and her rival Mary, Queen of Scots, to scientists like Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Maxwell and Dirac, to authors like Dickens, Browning and Tennyson. All in a grand cathedral, with sections built in different times. The best section was the cathedral built by Henry VII, with its beautiful vaulted ceilings. We did the audio tour, which is worth the time.
Then we walked over Westminster Bridge, enjoying the views back of Parliament and Big Ben. We walked along the south bank of the Thames, past the London Eye, to the Tate Modern. Built in an old power station, it is an imposing building. Inside is a world class modern art collection, but I have to admit that I don't care for most modern art. After a few hours there, we headed over to Baker Street. Their tube station even has a Sherlock Holmes theme - with wallpaper and a statue. We went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street, even though that address wouldn't have existed back then. The museum was an old lodging building where they have created a facsimile of what 221B might have looked like. Slightly cheesy but a must see for real Sherlock Holmes fans.
From there, we went to the old Tate, called the Tate Britain. It was near closing, but we got to see the Blake exhibition, a re-creation of a solo exhibition he did in 1809, the pre-Raphaelites and the Turner section. I liked these more than most of what we saw at the National Gallery.
Then we had suppoer at the Opera Room of the Chandos Pub just off Trafalgar Square (nice, relatively cheap, pub food), used the internet cafe again for a while, walked up Charing Cross to find a bookstore, bought a road atlas and an Iain Banks book (hard to find in the US) at a Foyle's, then caught the tube out to White City just to see a different part of the city. We walked around there, from White City back to Shepherd's Green, past Westfield Mall, and then back to the hotel.
(pictures from London)
Up around 8:15am, grabbed breakfast and headed off to Westminster Abbey again. This time we got in. The Abbey was stunning - the scope of the people whose burial locations we saw was amazing, from Edward the Confessor (who built the original Abbey), to Elizabeth I and her rival Mary, Queen of Scots, to scientists like Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Maxwell and Dirac, to authors like Dickens, Browning and Tennyson. All in a grand cathedral, with sections built in different times. The best section was the cathedral built by Henry VII, with its beautiful vaulted ceilings. We did the audio tour, which is worth the time.
Then we walked over Westminster Bridge, enjoying the views back of Parliament and Big Ben. We walked along the south bank of the Thames, past the London Eye, to the Tate Modern. Built in an old power station, it is an imposing building. Inside is a world class modern art collection, but I have to admit that I don't care for most modern art. After a few hours there, we headed over to Baker Street. Their tube station even has a Sherlock Holmes theme - with wallpaper and a statue. We went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street, even though that address wouldn't have existed back then. The museum was an old lodging building where they have created a facsimile of what 221B might have looked like. Slightly cheesy but a must see for real Sherlock Holmes fans.
From there, we went to the old Tate, called the Tate Britain. It was near closing, but we got to see the Blake exhibition, a re-creation of a solo exhibition he did in 1809, the pre-Raphaelites and the Turner section. I liked these more than most of what we saw at the National Gallery.
Then we had suppoer at the Opera Room of the Chandos Pub just off Trafalgar Square (nice, relatively cheap, pub food), used the internet cafe again for a while, walked up Charing Cross to find a bookstore, bought a road atlas and an Iain Banks book (hard to find in the US) at a Foyle's, then caught the tube out to White City just to see a different part of the city. We walked around there, from White City back to Shepherd's Green, past Westfield Mall, and then back to the hotel.
(pictures from London)
Vacation 2009 - day 8
April 28, 2009 - London
Slept in a little, crappy breakfast at the hotel, off to see Westminster Abbey. Weather was nice, so we decided to stroll through Kensington Gardens a little first. Got to Westminster Abbey, turned out to be closed this morning for some reason. Saw Big Ben and the the Houses of Parliament as we walked by.
Walked up to Trafalgar Square, past the Horse Guards and 10 Downing Street. Trafalgar Square and its Nelson statue were cool. We went into the National Gallery and made our way through everything except the pre-16th century works. We saw works by Rembrandt, Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Turner, Raphael and others. Very impressive collection. We had lunch in the cafeteria underneath St. Martin's in the Fields. Decent food and good prices.
Then it was off to the Tower of London. Outside, they had set up a small catapult demo. Inside, we followed a guided tour by one of the Yeomen Warders - very informative and funny. He talked through the details of the Bloody Tower, White Tower, Traitor's Gate, etc. including a chance to go inside the chapel where those killed after being prisoners at the tower are buried, including Anne Boleyn. After the tour, we went in to see the crown jewels (very impressive and fancy) and then the White Tower, which currently houses a great Henry VIII exhibit, including a number of suits of armour actually worn by Henry.
Then we walked down the Thames a little, ate dinner (sandwiches from a Tesco), saw Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire. Afterwards, we spent a few hours at an internet cafe near Trafalgar Square, walked down Charing Cross road (with tons of book stores) and then back to the hotel.
(pictures of London)
Slept in a little, crappy breakfast at the hotel, off to see Westminster Abbey. Weather was nice, so we decided to stroll through Kensington Gardens a little first. Got to Westminster Abbey, turned out to be closed this morning for some reason. Saw Big Ben and the the Houses of Parliament as we walked by.
Walked up to Trafalgar Square, past the Horse Guards and 10 Downing Street. Trafalgar Square and its Nelson statue were cool. We went into the National Gallery and made our way through everything except the pre-16th century works. We saw works by Rembrandt, Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Turner, Raphael and others. Very impressive collection. We had lunch in the cafeteria underneath St. Martin's in the Fields. Decent food and good prices.
Then it was off to the Tower of London. Outside, they had set up a small catapult demo. Inside, we followed a guided tour by one of the Yeomen Warders - very informative and funny. He talked through the details of the Bloody Tower, White Tower, Traitor's Gate, etc. including a chance to go inside the chapel where those killed after being prisoners at the tower are buried, including Anne Boleyn. After the tour, we went in to see the crown jewels (very impressive and fancy) and then the White Tower, which currently houses a great Henry VIII exhibit, including a number of suits of armour actually worn by Henry.
Then we walked down the Thames a little, ate dinner (sandwiches from a Tesco), saw Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire. Afterwards, we spent a few hours at an internet cafe near Trafalgar Square, walked down Charing Cross road (with tons of book stores) and then back to the hotel.
(pictures of London)
Vacation 2009 - day 7
April 27, 2009 - London
Up early, caught taxi to Waverly station and train to London. UK train stations seem much more understandable than ones in Italy or Hungary, and not just for language reasons. They just seem to be laid out better, with clearer signs.
The train ride was ~5 hours, through some very nice Scottish and English scenery. Got into King's Cross station around noon, picked up our tickets for the upcoming train to Oxford, bought 3 day tube tickets and then caught the tube to Bayswater and found the hotel. The weather was the worst so far this trip - medium rainy with high winds at times, bad enough to reverse both our umbrellas and to break one rib on mine. Our hotel room wasn't clean yet, so we dropped of our luggage and headed out to find lunch. Ate lunch at Cafe Diana, nearby Kensington Gardens. Not terrible, but got great or cheap food.
After that, we caught the tube to Tottenham Road and walked over to the British Museum. The museum was amazing - great Egyption, Greek, Assyrian objects, easily accessible, including the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. In a weird coincidence, we ran into Stacey's cousin Jennifer there. She was on last day in London before heading for Paris.
After the museum, we stopped at a good comic store and I picked up a few collections that are hard to find in the US. Then we went to Leicester Square and picked up some discount theater tickets. We walked over to Covent Gardens, ate at a noodle place, and found the theater. The musical was at the Novello Theater, built in 1905, originally named the Waldorf but best known as the Strand. Very neat historical building. The musical was Spring Awakening, a relatively new musical based on a then controversial 19th century play. It was fun, very rock and roll, about some young kids exploring boundaries, etc. The first half was mostly funny, energetic and some what sexy. The second half was a total downer - pregnancy, suicide, abortion, reform school and death, but overall it was still enjoyable.
(pictures from London)
Up early, caught taxi to Waverly station and train to London. UK train stations seem much more understandable than ones in Italy or Hungary, and not just for language reasons. They just seem to be laid out better, with clearer signs.
The train ride was ~5 hours, through some very nice Scottish and English scenery. Got into King's Cross station around noon, picked up our tickets for the upcoming train to Oxford, bought 3 day tube tickets and then caught the tube to Bayswater and found the hotel. The weather was the worst so far this trip - medium rainy with high winds at times, bad enough to reverse both our umbrellas and to break one rib on mine. Our hotel room wasn't clean yet, so we dropped of our luggage and headed out to find lunch. Ate lunch at Cafe Diana, nearby Kensington Gardens. Not terrible, but got great or cheap food.
After that, we caught the tube to Tottenham Road and walked over to the British Museum. The museum was amazing - great Egyption, Greek, Assyrian objects, easily accessible, including the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. In a weird coincidence, we ran into Stacey's cousin Jennifer there. She was on last day in London before heading for Paris.
After the museum, we stopped at a good comic store and I picked up a few collections that are hard to find in the US. Then we went to Leicester Square and picked up some discount theater tickets. We walked over to Covent Gardens, ate at a noodle place, and found the theater. The musical was at the Novello Theater, built in 1905, originally named the Waldorf but best known as the Strand. Very neat historical building. The musical was Spring Awakening, a relatively new musical based on a then controversial 19th century play. It was fun, very rock and roll, about some young kids exploring boundaries, etc. The first half was mostly funny, energetic and some what sexy. The second half was a total downer - pregnancy, suicide, abortion, reform school and death, but overall it was still enjoyable.
(pictures from London)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Vacation 2009 - day 6
April 26, 2009 - Edinburgh
Up around 8:30am again, breakfast at the hotel. Headed off to do the remainder of the Royal Mile, down to Holyrood Palace. A little more upscale touristy than the uphill portion, with less shops and those that were there a little nicer. We intended to hike up Arthur's Seat, but I think we took a wrong turn and just hiked up the Salisbury Crags instead. Still a nice hike with great views of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. It was a partially cloudy day, with intermittent heavy winds and some what cold, but clearer so we could see further than we could from the castle.
After the hike, we had lunch at Always Sunday again and then walked back up to the room to get laundry. Found a laundry about 15 min walk from the hotel down Leith Walk and left clothes to get cleaned. After picking up the laundry, we headed down to south of Old Town to look around again and stumbled on The Meadows, a large green space that, unlike lots of the other ones we saw, is actually open to the public. We ended up eating at the Outsider again. We were going to check out a club called the GRV with some metal bands playing, but it was hard to find and it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
Up around 8:30am again, breakfast at the hotel. Headed off to do the remainder of the Royal Mile, down to Holyrood Palace. A little more upscale touristy than the uphill portion, with less shops and those that were there a little nicer. We intended to hike up Arthur's Seat, but I think we took a wrong turn and just hiked up the Salisbury Crags instead. Still a nice hike with great views of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. It was a partially cloudy day, with intermittent heavy winds and some what cold, but clearer so we could see further than we could from the castle.
After the hike, we had lunch at Always Sunday again and then walked back up to the room to get laundry. Found a laundry about 15 min walk from the hotel down Leith Walk and left clothes to get cleaned. After picking up the laundry, we headed down to south of Old Town to look around again and stumbled on The Meadows, a large green space that, unlike lots of the other ones we saw, is actually open to the public. We ended up eating at the Outsider again. We were going to check out a club called the GRV with some metal bands playing, but it was hard to find and it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
Vacation 2009 - day 5
April 25, 2009 - Edinburgh
Up at 8:30am, had breakfast at hotel, off to see Old Town.
Stopped at Waverly train station to print tickets to London, saw the Sir Walter Scott Monument and the St. Giles Cathedral. Walked up the Royal Mile, saw a Writer's Museum, located in an interesting original Old Town house with a wicked spiral staircase, with displays on Stevensos, Scott and Burns. Then up to the castle.
Took a short guided tour (worth the time), saw the crown jewels and the Stone of Scone, Mary Stewart's birthing chamber (where she gave birth to James VI/I), the prison space, the great hall and the war museum.
Had lunch at Always Sunday and dinner at the Elephant House. After dinner, we stopped by a place called Forest - an alternative artists co-op where you can bring your own booze (but have to pay an alcohol tax) and self book the stage. It had a cafe, a hall for bands, darkroom, instruction for some art topics and a small art store with gallery. Very interesting crowd in the cafe.
After that, we went to a pub called Sandy Bell's to hear some more trad music. The bar was very crowded, very noisy and the music started late. The music was good but it was too loud to really enjoy it.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
Up at 8:30am, had breakfast at hotel, off to see Old Town.
Stopped at Waverly train station to print tickets to London, saw the Sir Walter Scott Monument and the St. Giles Cathedral. Walked up the Royal Mile, saw a Writer's Museum, located in an interesting original Old Town house with a wicked spiral staircase, with displays on Stevensos, Scott and Burns. Then up to the castle.
Took a short guided tour (worth the time), saw the crown jewels and the Stone of Scone, Mary Stewart's birthing chamber (where she gave birth to James VI/I), the prison space, the great hall and the war museum.
Had lunch at Always Sunday and dinner at the Elephant House. After dinner, we stopped by a place called Forest - an alternative artists co-op where you can bring your own booze (but have to pay an alcohol tax) and self book the stage. It had a cafe, a hall for bands, darkroom, instruction for some art topics and a small art store with gallery. Very interesting crowd in the cafe.
After that, we went to a pub called Sandy Bell's to hear some more trad music. The bar was very crowded, very noisy and the music started late. The music was good but it was too loud to really enjoy it.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
Vacation 2009 - day 4
April 24, 2009 - Edinburgh
Up at 4am to get ready and catch a plane to Edinburgh. Dublin airport was crazy - very crowded at 5am and difficult to tell where to go. We got checked in and on the plane fine, in spite of Ryanair's repeated warnings about baggage allowances. No problems on short flight to Edinburgh.
Got to new hotel by taxi. Very helpful taxi driver who gave us some good tips, including a place to hear some live music - Sandy Bell's Pub. The hotel is in a posh location but under renovation. We couldn't check in till after 2pm, so we had them store our luggage while we walked around.
We walked to New Town by a round about route, going a little further north than we needed to. Seems like a nice neighbourhood, and we also saw the Georgian House and some nice views from below of Edinburgh Castle.
There seems like a lot of construction in Edinburgh, much more so than Dublin, as well as a lot of green spaces, most of which without public access. This is the first time I've seen an expansive park with a sign saying "for keyholders only".
After checking in, the new hotel (Royal Terrace) was disappointing. Posh location, but the view is spoiled by scaffolding and everything costs $$$ - no free wifi, laundry is multiple pounds per individual item. The wallpaper was torn and shabby looking, the room is smaller than the one we had in Dublin and the shower doesn't drain properly. This "four star" property doesn't hold up very well when compared to the Harding in Dublin.
After checking in and taking a break, we walked over the hill next to the hotel, Calton Hill, with some great views of the Firth of Forth. For dinner, we walked through parts of Old Town to check out two places - Elephant House (where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot of the early Harry Potter novels) and the Outsider ( a modern fusion restaurant). We chose the Outsider and it was quite good, more expensive than a lot of the local restaurants but still cheaper than most of what we had in Dublin.
After that we walked over to the Grassmarket area to join up with a literary pub tour at a bar called the Beehive. The tour was given by two actors who take oppossing sides about whether the writing life in Edinburgh was sordid and sinful or glorious and pure. It moved from location to location and highlighted some of Edinburgh's famous writers, like Robbie Burns and Sir Walter Scott, and many other I hadn't heard of. It moved through the Old Town and ended in the New Town. Quite good and highly recommended.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
Up at 4am to get ready and catch a plane to Edinburgh. Dublin airport was crazy - very crowded at 5am and difficult to tell where to go. We got checked in and on the plane fine, in spite of Ryanair's repeated warnings about baggage allowances. No problems on short flight to Edinburgh.
Got to new hotel by taxi. Very helpful taxi driver who gave us some good tips, including a place to hear some live music - Sandy Bell's Pub. The hotel is in a posh location but under renovation. We couldn't check in till after 2pm, so we had them store our luggage while we walked around.
We walked to New Town by a round about route, going a little further north than we needed to. Seems like a nice neighbourhood, and we also saw the Georgian House and some nice views from below of Edinburgh Castle.
There seems like a lot of construction in Edinburgh, much more so than Dublin, as well as a lot of green spaces, most of which without public access. This is the first time I've seen an expansive park with a sign saying "for keyholders only".
After checking in, the new hotel (Royal Terrace) was disappointing. Posh location, but the view is spoiled by scaffolding and everything costs $$$ - no free wifi, laundry is multiple pounds per individual item. The wallpaper was torn and shabby looking, the room is smaller than the one we had in Dublin and the shower doesn't drain properly. This "four star" property doesn't hold up very well when compared to the Harding in Dublin.
After checking in and taking a break, we walked over the hill next to the hotel, Calton Hill, with some great views of the Firth of Forth. For dinner, we walked through parts of Old Town to check out two places - Elephant House (where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot of the early Harry Potter novels) and the Outsider ( a modern fusion restaurant). We chose the Outsider and it was quite good, more expensive than a lot of the local restaurants but still cheaper than most of what we had in Dublin.
After that we walked over to the Grassmarket area to join up with a literary pub tour at a bar called the Beehive. The tour was given by two actors who take oppossing sides about whether the writing life in Edinburgh was sordid and sinful or glorious and pure. It moved from location to location and highlighted some of Edinburgh's famous writers, like Robbie Burns and Sir Walter Scott, and many other I hadn't heard of. It moved through the Old Town and ended in the New Town. Quite good and highly recommended.
(pictures from Edinburgh)
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