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Saturday, July 02, 2005
Grumble
Posted by Lis Riba at 1:00 AM
 Yes, I know what hour it is. So, here was my plan. My new Dell came with a lot of pre-installed crap that I didn't want. My plan for this weekend was to back up the entire machine (so that in case anything further goes wrong, I can restore it to its current state) and then reinstall Windows and install only the programs I want on the drive. And a four-day weekend should be plenty of time to get my machine back into working order (whether that involve restoring the laptop's original configuration or with this clean install) before I'm back to eight-hour workdays. From CostCo I bought Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 (with Backup MyPC Deluxe 6.0) and a 50-pack of TDK DVD+R discs. The full backup ran about 50 minutes, ending just after midnight. [I chose the option to optimize time rather than maximize compression.] Then the backup program began its verification. And I got scores of errors. File header not found on media [4872 1308] <path & filename> - has damaged or corrupt data on the media. or Compression information mismatch [4886 1316] And of course, verification completely pauses after announcing each error, asking if I'd like to proceed or not. No option to just accept all and I'll read the report afterwards... I finally cancelled the validation after I started seeing them in folders like C:\Windows\Installer and C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile. Since the whole point of this backup is being able to restore my system state if I do something I don't like, this is no good to me. What's really got me annoyed is that this is a brand new backup program running on a brand new computer writing to brand new DVDs -- so which one is causing the problem? If it's the drive, earlier this evening I did a straight file copy of My Documents and some other can't lose files onto CD. Could those be damaged, too? I'm also ticked because I wanted to get all this done (with the clean install and fresh loading of my programs) before we go out tomorrow at 11 so I can possibly do some writing. And now I'm about to start another two-hour backup process... Friday, July 01, 2005
Playing catchup
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:30 PM
In response to yesterday's Me(me|diated), Navrins asked an interesting question: Is [mentally composing blog entries] so different, really, from thinking about how you'll explain something to your SO/roommates/friends/family? I put the question to the rest of you who agreed with this meme: how similar or different are these experiences? I'll have to observe myself more closely when it happens, but my gut reaction is that for me When I'm talking with someone, it's an interactive experience. They can see if I gesture, hear my tone of voice, and interject if there's something they need to clarify. And likewise, I can monitor their reactions and adjust my delivery accordingly. Writing lacks those elements. Everything must be described in words (plus the occasional graphic). I can use font and spacing to a certain extent (though with more people reading through aggregators, I'm not sure how much of that translates) but lose the benefit of nonverbal cues. Furthermore, my composition is asynchronous with anybody else reading it. It takes a certain amount of energy/effort to anticipate the audience reaction -- whether I'm overexplaining the obvious or being too cryptic -- and adjusting my prose accordingly. How 'bout for you?
Books read update
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:35 PM
Well, we've reached the midpoint of 2005. I was thinking about making a half-year-in-review post on how my life is going, but I've got five or six other long essayish blogposts I want to pump out (not to mention all the spur-of-the-moment entries that pop into my head), plus trying to find time to continue with my fiction. [I've got it all in my head and on a zillion scraps of paper, but by the time I catch up on my reading (blogs & news & LJ) in the evenings, it just gets too late.] But what I can do is write about books. Since my old laptop died (and because my Smartsuite CD is damaged) I haven't been able to update my Books Read list in a while. I've been recording them all in my notebook, but my webpages are driven by a spreadsheet that I can't currently run.
So, 58. Not bad. [At this point in 2002, I had read 88 books; In 2003, 34; and 94 in 2004.] I've been a bit preoccupied with real-world dramas to have as much time for reading as I would've liked. Statistically, the numbers break down as follows:
I reread a lot of YA Fiction this year. At the beginning of the year I went through some rough times which put me in the mood for some easy comfort reading. And then, in anticipation of the new Harry Potter book, I've reread everything in that series as well. In my previous recaps (monthly or biannually), I've summed up with top three lists for fiction and non. Hard to do this time around. My tastes are getting better, and pretty much everything I've read I'd recommend. And singling out the few books for condemnation in a wrapup post like this just... feels rude and inappropriate for this kind of entry. "I recommend all the nonfiction on this list except <this> and <this> which were really awful." I started to write aggregate book reviews (including books I didn't finish and why) several times over the past six months, but more urgent matters always prevented me from finishing them. In the meantime, if you want my comments on any book on my reading lists, ask me.
When interests collide
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:05 PM
Earlier today I realized that the press opening for Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare & Company (I also plan to attend the lecture earlier that evening on Early Music in the Elizabethan Playhouse and staying for a performance of The Tamer Tamed the following day) is on the same night as the Harry Potter release! Eep! [For the record, after some brief soulsearching, I've chosen
Well, I feel dumb
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:50 AM
I thought this was just going to be a regular old 3-day weekend. I just checked the calendar and realized we get both Monday and Tuesday off (I suppose so we can stay up late for the fireworks) -- a four day weekend. And I've made absolutely no plans. Any suggestions? Seriously. I have no ideas what to do beyond my usual weekend glued to the computer reading and trying to write (blog essays and fiction). But I feel like I should do something So, please share something cheap to do in the Boston area? If I like your suggestions enough maybe I'll come up with some kind of reward... Thursday, June 30, 2005
Fawkes 'n' shocks
Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 PM
So, Hollywood is making a big-budget movie out of V for Vendetta (which I've only read the once, a long time ago, and will have to dig thru my comic boxes to find and reread, because I barely remember any of it...) Just in time for Independence Day, the studio released the first teaser poster. In case you can't read it, the poster's tagline reads: People should not be afraid of their governments. And I find myself wondering how that message will go over in the current political climate... Any thoughts? [Thanks to AICN for the pointer.]
The lighter side(?) of bibliophilia
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:45 PM
Excerpted rom the Associated Press:
The woman actually knocked the thief off his bike with the book bag. The perp escaped, but neither the woman nor dog were injured by the experience. [Article found courtesy of Joe Decker]
Mo Marlowe
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:15 PM
Don't know how I missed these last week when I was looking up new and forthcoming Marlowe books, but today I noticed several more: Fiction and Drama: Once I figure out how to set up Lotus Smartsuite, I've got to update my Marlowe in Modern Fiction list with a few new entries: From the pen of playwright Charles Marowitz comes Murdering Marlowe. I'm not sure when it was first performed (anybody out there know?), but the script is newly published. I've read other works by Marowitz in my college meta-Shakespeare class, and he has an interesting take on the classics. This sounds like a somewhat more traditional Elizabethan biography put to stage, but with Marowitz, you can't be complacent. Meawhile, Authorhouse (a self-publishing outfit, so buyer beware!) is listing two different novels (in three different editions) both subtitled "The Pilgrimage of Christopher Marlowe":
Anyone care to take a stab at why the shared subtitles? Coincidence or prodding by the publisher or something else entirely? Nonfiction Gary L. Blackwood, author of the YA Shakespeare Stealer series (some of which I've read), will be coming out with Debatable deaths in October. According to the publisher, it looks at several mysterious demises, Marlowe's among them. Sounds a bit sensational, but I'm curious as to his take. [Other notables in the book include: Tutkankhamen, the English Princes in the Tower, Mozart, Meriwether Lewis, and Amelia Earhart.] Last, and very probably least, is this intriguing title edited by Alex Jack: Hamlet - by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare Notice those names? There are actually two separate paperback editions in print: one with Marlowe on the cover (the Corpus Christi portrait) and one with Shakespeare on the cover (the Chandos). I'll confess to some curiousity, but not enough to spend my money nor to encourage libraries to shelve it where people might be misled. Oh look, they have a website: ShakespeareAndMarlowe.com. NonMarlowe: One other series caught my eye. Apparently Philip Gooden has been writing a series of Shakespearean murder mysteries: Sleep of death, Death of kings, The pale companion, Alms for oblivion, Mask of night, and An Honorable murder. I have a library hold on the newest Nicholas Bracewell mystery and I've enjoyed all of Simon Hawke's Shakespeare & Smythe series (I wish he'd write more). Has anybody read these who can share an opinion?
Me(me|diated)
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:40 PM
Didn't have time to post my thoughts then, but I did want to make this comment about yesterday's meme:
My last trip to the library, I picked up Mediated: how the media shapes your world and the way you live in it by Thomas de Zengotita, and this meme seems to be exactly what he's writing about. He seems to be making the argument that everything we do is influenced by media portrayals. Kirkus Reviews provides a better synopsis: It's nearly impossible to think of even highly personal events such as birth or marriage without being influenced by images concocted by others, including movie producers, self-help authors, counselors, workshop presenters, memoirists, philosophers, and the like. [...] He uses the death of Princess Diana as an example of mediated reality, meaning that those who paid attention "were truly grieving and they were performing. Immersed in a world continuously represented from every angle, they understood Di's death as an opportunity to play a significant role in it, to represent themselves at levels of prominence usually reserved for the celebrated. But they already knew how to be representational." The book begins with a creepy account of how he found out about JFK's assassination: in a class for Method actors, who initially thought the announcement was just an exercise. He points out the ubiquity of "where were you when <event> happened" narratives, suggesting that they only sprung up after television (I don't know: how many people alive in 1941 but not physically at Pearl Harbor talk about how they heard the news?) and are almost narcissistic ways of shifting the subject from the event to the speaker. Anyway, the whole notion of 'mentally composing blog entries for later' rather than living in the moment seems the perfect encapsulation of what he's talking about. Mind you, I've only skimmed through the book and don't expect to finish it. Not that there's anything wrong with the book, but it's just not grabbing me right now and life is too short to waste on books I'm not enjoying (unless I'm really close to the end, in which case I may perservere out of sheer stubbornness).
Five Positions of Feminine Subjugation?
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:23 PM
I haven't the talent, tools or time to make a fanvid, but as I was driving home, the radio was playing Aerosmith's "Dude looks like a lady" and all I could think was how much I'd love to see a video to the song made up of clips from Stage Beauty. Anybody know if it's been done? If not, any takers?
Food safety question
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:00 AM
How do you tell when/whether Miami-lox spread has gone bad? [For those unfamiliar with the term, it's cream cheese heavily mixed with lox and chives, as sold by Kupel's Bakery in Brookline.] It's got such a strong flavor (and greenish flecks) that the usual measures of spoilage don't seem to work for me. The reason I'm asking is we bought some on Sunday, but it spent some time in a warm car before we got it under refrigeration again. I'm fairly sure it's fine for now, but I have similar doubts every time I buy this flavor. How long will it keep? And how can I tell when it's time to go? Any advice from other aficionados of the flavor? Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Brothers, as were Cain and Abel
Posted by Lis Riba at 11:44 PM
While I know Eric Alterman has many times the readership of my humble little blog, when I saw this letter I just had to repost it for those of you who might've missed it (emphasis in the middle paragraph mine:
This was written in response to previous correspondence by Siva Vaidhyanathan in response to Jack Balkin on Scalia's dissent in the Ten Commandments case. [Siva's comments and the letter quoted above have been reproduced in Siva's blog; I'm sharing these links because I've had problems with impermanence of Alterman's permalinks in the past.] And, I suppose now is as good a time as ever to remind folks of the SHORT history of the term Judeo-Christian.
Title seen in the bookstore
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:45 PM
The experts' guide to 100 things everyone should know how to do Tons of little short chapters on basic tasks like making a bed, caring for a houseplant, changing diapers, washing hands (written by a CDC doctor), and so on. Might be of interest for those of you who participated in the recent Heinlein meme (which I skipped) of measuring your experiences and capabilities against the famous Lazarus Long quote: A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Unfortunately, the book we went to the bookstore for -- Elizabeth Bear's Scardown -- still hasn't arrived at any of the places we've checked. BTW, she's also composed a most delightful Green Eggs and Hamlet available here. [PS: I need a better way of listing interesting books; maybe even a separate blog solely for such, although I haven't had much luck with multiple blogs before. Those of you like these book notes, any suggestions or preferences?]
Potter Parties
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:35 PM
Nearing the two-week mark before the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. If you're still looking for a local bookstore holding a opening-night sale, folks have created PotterParties.com as a central listing site. You can search for nearby events by state or zip code (and they include international locations). Listings include what time the book goes on sale and for how much plus other useful details, such as reservation requirements, whether audiobooks will be available, internet access at the site, and so on. It's not complete: I've already noticed the absense of several stores that I know are holding events, and dropped them a line. If you know of a favorite local independent bookseller, may want to point them to this site as well.
Meme making the rounds
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:25 PM
"If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog."
Heh
Posted by Lis Riba at 2:10 PM
Just found through Bookslut: Things You Can Learn About the Plot of the Next Harry Potter Book Just by Looking at the Cover Art. It's by McSweeney's, so you know it's gotta be funny.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
For want of a nail
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:40 PM
Went to the library over lunch, since I finished Savage pastimes last night and needed something to read (Words on fire just didn't engage me). Browsing through the new book rack, I discovered What the dormouse said-- : how the sixties counterculture shaped the personal computer industry. Looked promising, so I flipped to the index.
[And this wasn't just a deficiency in the index; I checked Amazon's Search feature and those words aren't anywhere in the text.] Hello? Not only was Lotus a major force in shaping the personal computer industry, but the company name derives from Transendental Meditation. If that's not an outgrowth of sixties counterculture, I'm not sure what is. And this isn't just a former employee's Quoting from Wikipedia:
This seems like such a glaring omission that it puts the entire book in doubt as far as I'm concerned. [If it wants to bill itself as how the sixties shaped Silicon Valley, that's another story, but still not what the title claims.] Postscript: Some other books I've recently heard about for consideration on future library trips:
Of course, I just realized that this list and the library trip may have been unnecessary because today is the release date for Scardown (sequel to Hammered), which I know I must read. And then I wonder why I never have any time for writing... Fortunately, one of the books I did manage to check out from the library was The Little guide to your well-read life: how to get more books in your life and more life from your books and hopefully that will help. Monday, June 27, 2005
In defense of fanfiction
Posted by Lis Riba at 7:15 PM
Professional authors opining against fanfic are making the rounds again. So many other people are rebutting their arguments so well, I'm not sure how much more I can add. For now I just wish to address just a couple issues within the debate: Small children are encouraged to exercise their imaginations, and do so frequently within other universes. I remember countless childhood games with Star Wars action figures, or chasing other kids around in a reenactment of Robin Hood (based on the Disney animated). We weren't retelling the stories in the movies, but making up our own adventures with the characters. I think few people have a problem with this. In college, I enjoyed roleplaying games, in both original and existing universes. I can recall games of Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel superheroes... More formalized and literate than what we did on the playground, but similar. What's the difference between these and fanfiction? Why are these acceptable and yet fanfic isn't? Is it because we're adults now and should somehow know better? Something inherent to the nature of writing as opposed to play? Or maybe it's not the writing itself but the sharing. It's okay if you do it as long as you don't show anyone. Having experienced all three, fanfic seems like a direct linear outgrowth from such childhood play. If culture wants to crack down on fanfic, then I can't see anything more counterproductive than how we handle matters now: we're giving kids free rein throughout their childhood, training their imaginations to find stories in other universes and then after it's become ingrained habit, try to shut them down (shut them up). Not terribly helpful. From a creative point-of-view, fanfic is often denigrated as easier or (worse) lazier. This argument can be summed up in two (related) phrases: world-building and character creation. But those tasks are neither unique to writers of original fiction (fanfic writers do those too), nor universal to it (not all non-fanfic writers have to). Furthermore, while these may be difficult, writers who do bypass them (writing in a pre-existing setting) are then faced with a comparable amount of equally important work. The best explanation of these aspects is to look at historical fiction. I have read well over fifty works of fiction set in Elizabethan England. That doesn't involve world-building -- at least, not in the sense that writers of original works dismiss fanfiction. But such settings require an incredible amount of research that authors of original universes aren't subject to. And the slightest mistake, particularly when writing for a knowlegable audience, can completely blow readers' suspension of disbelief. Neil Gaiman once wrote about being thrown out of a story because somebody gave directions in historic London as being "a few blocks" away. [I've had similar problems.] That's a tough standard to meet. It's one authors don't have to deal with so much in their own invented universes. And it's just as much an issue in fanfiction as historical fiction. Characterization poses a similar challenge. Until publication, original characters are malleable to the author's needs. Having trouble writing a character's accent? Well, let's just change their background to something more manageable. You can't do that with a preexisting character like Hagrid or Scotty, who have very distinct voices. Furthermore, reusing an existing character does not eliminate the author's creativity. I have read 25 fictional portrayals of Christopher Marlowe, and they differ quite dramatically. Basic facts of life remain the same, but given differing interpretations. And I've seen similar results from fanfic that has fleshed out minor preexisting characters. But again, it can be a difficult process to avoid contradicting canon. My points regarding the writing process can be summed up as:
And, back to my earlier point, given that research and worldbuilding are separate skills, both challenging, how much training are we giving new writers in each within the schools? There are many other excellent arguments that are being made regarding fanfic's legitimate role, including historic looks at folkloric tradition. I wish I had time to provide links to them all. But I particularly wish to draw attention to A.J. Hall's observation:
She goes on, and is well-worth reading. But I really like the distinction she is making and think it's a useful addition to the discourse.
Blog-Grrr, the saga continues...
Posted by Lis Riba at 6:00 PM
Well, finally, nearly 96 hours after bloggers started reporting the problem, status.blogger.com has posted an announcement about the <div style="clear:both"> change. The launch of Blogger Images required a bit of new code that is causing some users annoying layout problems. Before launch, the templates passed our tests but because of the open nature of Blogger templates, we weren't sure which kinds of template modifications were going to be affected. We're hammering out the solution now and we'll update our help site with some workarounds today. No information about the workaround that other users have come up with nor any other options users can take while waiting for their fix, but it's a start. Pity it came so late. Again, why not an announcement ahead of time that "We're launching new code to support Blogger Images. This shouldn't affect most Blogger tempates, but if you notice any differences, please let us know in this manner..." With luck, they won't run into any problems, but even then it wouldn't hurt to be proactive and informative. Given that bloggers noticed the problem Thursday night and this wasn't posted until midday Monday, it seems like they took a long weekend after rolling it out. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. Sunday, June 26, 2005
Tune in tomorrow (Monday) at Ten!
Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 PM
Monday morning 10am is when the U.S. Supreme Court will issue their final rulings for the year, and they've got some doozies left to reveal. Including two cases involving the Ten Commandments and Grokster and something else regarding FCC regulation of cable internet services, and aw heck Bashman has a list of all six cases being decided tomorrow. I'll be at work, so won't be posting, but SCOTUSblog will be liveblogging the Court's rulings. Given those high-stakes cases, they should be worth reading. TOP |
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