(Via Bill in Exile [NSFW]; Overnight to London [NSFW]; Mr. S Leather [NSFW]; Roids and Rants [NSFW])
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Skimpy Sunday
(Via Bill in Exile [NSFW]; Overnight to London [NSFW]; Mr. S Leather [NSFW]; Roids and Rants [NSFW])
Friday, June 14, 2013
Best Bears
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The Sweet Pangs Of Love
Reader, I have a confession. I've been in love for nearly a year now! His name is James Grime! He's British. He's nerdy. He's lanky. He's ginger. His cheeky grin and bright blue eyes make me weak in the knees. Every time I see him, I grin and sigh because he's so dreamy.
Hold your congratulations and jealousy-tantrums, though: Sadly, this is a wholly one-sided affair, doomed to eternal unrequitance. My beloved doesn't even know I exist! He lives in another country, and I actually have no idea if he is gay. But, still! He's a doctor! A doctor of mathematics who juggles and is dedicated to outreach and public education! *swoon*
Hold your congratulations and jealousy-tantrums, though: Sadly, this is a wholly one-sided affair, doomed to eternal unrequitance. My beloved doesn't even know I exist! He lives in another country, and I actually have no idea if he is gay. But, still! He's a doctor! A doctor of mathematics who juggles and is dedicated to outreach and public education! *swoon*
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Skimpy Sunday
(Via Bill in Exile [NSFW]; Overnight to London [NSFW]; Mr. S Leather [NSFW]; Roids and Rants [NSFW])
Monday, June 03, 2013
Bourgeois Art Gallery
Yantra Painting
The yantras and mandalas of Buddhism and Hinduism are visual meditations, but I've never seen one like this, that is quasi-representative instead of geometrical.
Ganymede and the Eagle by Bertel Thorvaldsen
Usually, Ganymede is being abducted in representations, but this is a much more innocent, even sweet, scene. It also cleverly alludes to his future role as cupbearer to the gods.
Casita al Mar by Emilio Sanchez
Perfect symmetry is appealing. And this is perfect, empty symmetry. Except it's not quite perfect. The way the sun hits the porch creates shadows that don't mirror one another. That subtle imperfection makes it a much more interesting painting than it otherwise would be.
Sunset on Mount Diablo (Marin Sunset) by William Keither
The vivid scarlet of a sunset is a strange thing. In a way, it's an ominous color, the color of blood, but in actuality it is very relaxing.
Water Buffalo
I have a fascination with jade. It's a remarkable material from a physical standpoint, strong and resilient, as well as beautiful. It carves and polishes so well. Just look at that happy little water buffalo.
The Accident by Willem Geets
Titles can be funny things. I honestly thought the town was all gathered and agawp at that young man's stripping! But, no, he's being a hero and rescuing someone else. Strange, though, that we don't see the accident. Or the accident victim. I think Willem might have just wanted to show a stripping, strapping young man, really.
Pair of Skyscraper Bookcases by Paul Theodore Frankl
Oh to have bookcases like that! (The eternal lament of the bibliophile.)
Sun on Prospect Street (Gloucester, Mass.) by Edward Hopper
I'm not sure what it says about me that I don't typically react to Hopper the way most seem to. They see alienation, cynicism, the hollowness of modern life. I see beauty. Stark beauty, melancholy beauty, but beauty, and even hope.
The yantras and mandalas of Buddhism and Hinduism are visual meditations, but I've never seen one like this, that is quasi-representative instead of geometrical.
Ganymede and the Eagle by Bertel Thorvaldsen
Usually, Ganymede is being abducted in representations, but this is a much more innocent, even sweet, scene. It also cleverly alludes to his future role as cupbearer to the gods.
Casita al Mar by Emilio Sanchez
Perfect symmetry is appealing. And this is perfect, empty symmetry. Except it's not quite perfect. The way the sun hits the porch creates shadows that don't mirror one another. That subtle imperfection makes it a much more interesting painting than it otherwise would be.
Sunset on Mount Diablo (Marin Sunset) by William Keither
The vivid scarlet of a sunset is a strange thing. In a way, it's an ominous color, the color of blood, but in actuality it is very relaxing.
Water Buffalo
I have a fascination with jade. It's a remarkable material from a physical standpoint, strong and resilient, as well as beautiful. It carves and polishes so well. Just look at that happy little water buffalo.
The Accident by Willem Geets
Titles can be funny things. I honestly thought the town was all gathered and agawp at that young man's stripping! But, no, he's being a hero and rescuing someone else. Strange, though, that we don't see the accident. Or the accident victim. I think Willem might have just wanted to show a stripping, strapping young man, really.
Pair of Skyscraper Bookcases by Paul Theodore Frankl
Oh to have bookcases like that! (The eternal lament of the bibliophile.)
Sun on Prospect Street (Gloucester, Mass.) by Edward Hopper
I'm not sure what it says about me that I don't typically react to Hopper the way most seem to. They see alienation, cynicism, the hollowness of modern life. I see beauty. Stark beauty, melancholy beauty, but beauty, and even hope.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Revenge Of The Rant
It's been a good long while since I had a nice Star Wars rant, but I just watched Revenge of the Sith again, and I'm SO MAD at George Lucas, you guys! He's totally incompetent!
We're supposed to be sad and shocked by the extermination of the Jedi Order. Except he has given us not ONE reason why we should see this as a loss to the galaxy at large! They're incompetents, hypocrites, and ineffectual to boot! Master Yoda gets his ass kicked by the Emperor, and Obi-Wan doesn't finish the job offing Vader! The Jedi executed by Order 66 didn't sense a thing in the Force! One defeat, and Obi-Wan and Yoda go hide instead of keeping on fighting! Their whole prophecy of "The One Who Will Bring Balance to the Force" is totally misinterpreted, from what it means to who actually is The Chosen One. (Oh, Yoda graciously drops that the prophecy may have been "misread" HALFWAY INTO THE LAST MOVIE.) And, you know, Palpatine wasn't entirely lying when he said the Jedi were plotting to overthrow the Senate, because they were (in the interests of "stability" and "temporarily). Mace Windu, also, totally went un-Jedi when he threatened extrajudicial killing of Palpatine because he was too dangerous alive. This is actually one thing I think was intentional, as a callback to Anakin killing Dooku. But that still leaves us with a Jedi Master we're supposed to be rooting for teetering on the edge of the Dark Side!
And this makes you realize that, actually, if you think back to the original trilogy, Obi-Wan and Yoda are WRONG ABOUT THE WHOLE THING! They want Luke not to go off and save Han and Leia, not to try to redeem his father but instead kill him, and insist there is nothing left of Anakin, only Vader. And in each and every case, THEY'RE WRONG! Why am I supposed to be upset that this order is dismantled again? Really, the whole point of the movie seems to be to destroy a beloved puppet-guru and make him a stupid-ass CGI frog with grammar issues.
Now, if one were willing to give Lucas credit, one could say that he actually does want us to see that the old Jedi Order was a failed institution, and that Luke following his heart and going against Obi-Wan and Yoda to find success shows that his Order will be a better one. And then one could credit him with having that idea in 19dicketydoo and following thru with it as a subtext in 19/20whatever. One could, but I won't, because George Lucas has given us not one scintilla of a reason to give him that credit. This is the man who maintains that the Star Wars saga is the story of Anakin and always was. Anakin, a petulant moron whose "specialness" is never once shown, but instead repeatedly told. This is also the man who thought Jar-Jar Binks was a great idea.
Also, the sheer incompetence of the script, not just dialogue ("Hold me. Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo, when there was only our love!") or plot-wise, but simple CHRONOLOGICAL CONTINUITY is astounding. Characters know information in one scene that is only provided in following scenes! For instance, Yoda calls Palpatine "the emperor" BEFORE PALPATINE DECLARES THE DISSOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE! Padme runs off to Mustafar over the objections of her security detail because the fighting is over BEFORE ANAKIN IS ORDERED BY PALPATINE TO DEACTIVATE THE DRONE ARMIES!!!! GLARCHEN;OHN;IUAHNJ
There's so much more stupidity, too. Yoda just declares that Luke should be "with his family," which means Owen and Beru Lars. You know, the stepbrother and his wife that Anakin met exactly ONCE and wasn't particularly friendly towards that time, either. And he just assumes they'll be willing to take a baby it! They do, but how on earth (or Tatooine) do you just presume something like that? Not to mention that sending a baby you're trying to hide to the father you're trying to hide him from's home planet with the name intact is stupid to begin with.
This is really getting nitpicky but my dudgeon is up, Padme's ship makes absolutely no sense dimensionally. It has several rooms and corridors, but if you actually look at it from the outside, THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN FIT THEM IN THERE!!!! Add in that ships seem to not have hyperdrives providing faster-than-light travel, but apparently straight-up wormholes that allow instantaneous travel from Coruscant to Mustafar.
Oh, and, there's this, too: When that blue guy who is Palpatine's assistant calls Bail Organa, OBI-WAN AND YODA ARE SITTING RIGHT THERE!!!! Yet Blue Guy fails to register that two WANTED JEDI are flying straight for Coruscant on a Senator's ship!!!!
So, NEWSFLASH: the "best" of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is utter and complete Hutt shit. Damnit, Disney, the new movies better be a lot flippin' better than this!
We're supposed to be sad and shocked by the extermination of the Jedi Order. Except he has given us not ONE reason why we should see this as a loss to the galaxy at large! They're incompetents, hypocrites, and ineffectual to boot! Master Yoda gets his ass kicked by the Emperor, and Obi-Wan doesn't finish the job offing Vader! The Jedi executed by Order 66 didn't sense a thing in the Force! One defeat, and Obi-Wan and Yoda go hide instead of keeping on fighting! Their whole prophecy of "The One Who Will Bring Balance to the Force" is totally misinterpreted, from what it means to who actually is The Chosen One. (Oh, Yoda graciously drops that the prophecy may have been "misread" HALFWAY INTO THE LAST MOVIE.) And, you know, Palpatine wasn't entirely lying when he said the Jedi were plotting to overthrow the Senate, because they were (in the interests of "stability" and "temporarily). Mace Windu, also, totally went un-Jedi when he threatened extrajudicial killing of Palpatine because he was too dangerous alive. This is actually one thing I think was intentional, as a callback to Anakin killing Dooku. But that still leaves us with a Jedi Master we're supposed to be rooting for teetering on the edge of the Dark Side!
And this makes you realize that, actually, if you think back to the original trilogy, Obi-Wan and Yoda are WRONG ABOUT THE WHOLE THING! They want Luke not to go off and save Han and Leia, not to try to redeem his father but instead kill him, and insist there is nothing left of Anakin, only Vader. And in each and every case, THEY'RE WRONG! Why am I supposed to be upset that this order is dismantled again? Really, the whole point of the movie seems to be to destroy a beloved puppet-guru and make him a stupid-ass CGI frog with grammar issues.
Now, if one were willing to give Lucas credit, one could say that he actually does want us to see that the old Jedi Order was a failed institution, and that Luke following his heart and going against Obi-Wan and Yoda to find success shows that his Order will be a better one. And then one could credit him with having that idea in 19dicketydoo and following thru with it as a subtext in 19/20whatever. One could, but I won't, because George Lucas has given us not one scintilla of a reason to give him that credit. This is the man who maintains that the Star Wars saga is the story of Anakin and always was. Anakin, a petulant moron whose "specialness" is never once shown, but instead repeatedly told. This is also the man who thought Jar-Jar Binks was a great idea.
Also, the sheer incompetence of the script, not just dialogue ("Hold me. Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo, when there was only our love!") or plot-wise, but simple CHRONOLOGICAL CONTINUITY is astounding. Characters know information in one scene that is only provided in following scenes! For instance, Yoda calls Palpatine "the emperor" BEFORE PALPATINE DECLARES THE DISSOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE! Padme runs off to Mustafar over the objections of her security detail because the fighting is over BEFORE ANAKIN IS ORDERED BY PALPATINE TO DEACTIVATE THE DRONE ARMIES!!!! GLARCHEN;OHN;IUAHNJ
There's so much more stupidity, too. Yoda just declares that Luke should be "with his family," which means Owen and Beru Lars. You know, the stepbrother and his wife that Anakin met exactly ONCE and wasn't particularly friendly towards that time, either. And he just assumes they'll be willing to take a baby it! They do, but how on earth (or Tatooine) do you just presume something like that? Not to mention that sending a baby you're trying to hide to the father you're trying to hide him from's home planet with the name intact is stupid to begin with.
This is really getting nitpicky but my dudgeon is up, Padme's ship makes absolutely no sense dimensionally. It has several rooms and corridors, but if you actually look at it from the outside, THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN FIT THEM IN THERE!!!! Add in that ships seem to not have hyperdrives providing faster-than-light travel, but apparently straight-up wormholes that allow instantaneous travel from Coruscant to Mustafar.
Oh, and, there's this, too: When that blue guy who is Palpatine's assistant calls Bail Organa, OBI-WAN AND YODA ARE SITTING RIGHT THERE!!!! Yet Blue Guy fails to register that two WANTED JEDI are flying straight for Coruscant on a Senator's ship!!!!
So, NEWSFLASH: the "best" of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is utter and complete Hutt shit. Damnit, Disney, the new movies better be a lot flippin' better than this!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Bourgeois Art Gallery
As I noticed that Google Art has added several collections since the last edition of Bourgeois Art Gallery, I decided to browse the galleries and add to my "collection."
End of the Year by Higashiyama Kaii
This is the "soft darkness" of winter that I love so much. Makes me want to curl up by the fire and drink hot chocolate.
Oirase Ravine (Autumn) by Okuda Genso
It's hard not to look at this picture. It is on fire! But in it I see a melding of Eastern and Western landscape painting, with less of the abstraction and austerity of traditional Japanese landscape that sometimes leaves me cold.
Pervasive Verdure by Higashiyama Kaii
From the fire to mist. Just yesterday, during my dog-walk, I had the experience this painting suggests: when you're walking on a cool, gray spring day, and the green is almost overwhelming.
Himeji Castle by Okumura Togyu
There's just something about the white that appeals. It's a painting of negative space.
Last Evening of the Year by Oscar Bluemner
This is the exact opposite of Kaii's "End of the Year." Instead of softness and coziness, there's something sinister and apocalyptic about this winter scene. That red sky isominous. This isn't the last evening of the year, it is the last evening period. Very disturbing.
Old Canal Port by Oscar Bluemner
I just like the bold blocks of color.
The Star by Kitano Tsunetomi
What struck me about this is the title, because the star I saw at first wasn't the literal starlight of a summer's evening, but a movie star. Painted in 1939, I see a screen idol glowing the way silver nitrate film glows. This is Jean Harlow, not Sirius, to me.
Incense Container in the Form of a Puppy
Awwwwwwwwww.
Dogs by Hashimoto Kansetsu
While the incense container is a cuddly puppy, this is a nobler beast. Look at his dignity, his regalness. This is a dog of breeding and refinement.
Lidded Jewelery Box
I love boxes. Something about containing, setting aside, hiding away something special that connects to me. I especially enjoy boxes like this, a treasure box that is itself a treasure.
Tea Set
I'm not one much for tea, but I am one much for Deco. The geometry of it pleases me. And the brightness of silver seems to be the ideal medium for it.
End of the Year by Higashiyama Kaii
This is the "soft darkness" of winter that I love so much. Makes me want to curl up by the fire and drink hot chocolate.
Oirase Ravine (Autumn) by Okuda Genso
It's hard not to look at this picture. It is on fire! But in it I see a melding of Eastern and Western landscape painting, with less of the abstraction and austerity of traditional Japanese landscape that sometimes leaves me cold.
Pervasive Verdure by Higashiyama Kaii
From the fire to mist. Just yesterday, during my dog-walk, I had the experience this painting suggests: when you're walking on a cool, gray spring day, and the green is almost overwhelming.
Himeji Castle by Okumura Togyu
There's just something about the white that appeals. It's a painting of negative space.
Last Evening of the Year by Oscar Bluemner
This is the exact opposite of Kaii's "End of the Year." Instead of softness and coziness, there's something sinister and apocalyptic about this winter scene. That red sky isominous. This isn't the last evening of the year, it is the last evening period. Very disturbing.
Old Canal Port by Oscar Bluemner
I just like the bold blocks of color.
The Star by Kitano Tsunetomi
What struck me about this is the title, because the star I saw at first wasn't the literal starlight of a summer's evening, but a movie star. Painted in 1939, I see a screen idol glowing the way silver nitrate film glows. This is Jean Harlow, not Sirius, to me.
Incense Container in the Form of a Puppy
Awwwwwwwwww.
Dogs by Hashimoto Kansetsu
While the incense container is a cuddly puppy, this is a nobler beast. Look at his dignity, his regalness. This is a dog of breeding and refinement.
Lidded Jewelery Box
I love boxes. Something about containing, setting aside, hiding away something special that connects to me. I especially enjoy boxes like this, a treasure box that is itself a treasure.
Tea Set
I'm not one much for tea, but I am one much for Deco. The geometry of it pleases me. And the brightness of silver seems to be the ideal medium for it.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Thursday, May 02, 2013
God, I'm Good!
First, I aced yesterday's science quiz, and now I've aced a religion one! I've got all my bases covered.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Bourgeois Book Club
The Afrika Reich
by Guy Saville
Sometimes it seems there are only two plots in the alternate history genre: the South winning the Civil War, and the Nazis winning WWII. Afrika Reich is one of the latter ilk. It would be easy, then, to dismiss it as just another tired example of a hoary premise. But if one is willing to hold off the dismissal, or is just down for the concept no matter how many times it is trotted out, one will be in for a wild, thrilling ride.
Defeat at Dunkirk. American isolationism. "Peace for empire." A Nazi-occupied Africa ruled by slavery, genocide, and brutality. This is 1952 and German Afrika is about to explode.
When a group of mercenaries, led by a man seeking vengeance and another seeking redemption, are dispatched to German Kongo to kill the mad governor-general, nothing is what it seems, and nothing goes according to plan, leaving them alone and adrift in a continent full of enemies. In the remnants of Portuguese Angola, the heart of an African woman burns hot for revenge against the Nazis who killed her family and threaten her country, people, and very race. And in the backdrop, the uncaring politics of empire demands its blood-price for power, no matter who must suffer.
Tense escapes, action-movie fireworks, plot twists, double-crosses, and villains with near horror-slasher-monster-level resilience collide in a runaway train (literally!) and a Grand Guignol ending that is breathtaking in its utter annihilation.
I'm not generally one for thrillers, but Afrika Reich grabbed me and clung on no matter my protests, most prominent of which was a skeptical brow-raising at a book where the Nazis are the villains. It's so very easy to make the bad guys Nazis. It's practically short-hand in Hollywood: want a bad guy? Put a swastika on him! It's certainly become a cheap rhetorical device, where Godwin's Law is embarrassingly frequent and the very definition of Nazism is cheapened into "I don't like/agree with that person, therefore they must be as bad as Hitler!" or "Obama is a Communist Nazi!" It's almost a cop-out. But... the Nazis were evil. And as brutal and macabre as Saville makes them, little seems like an implausible extrapolation of what they might have done if they hadn't been defeated in the 1940s. And that thought is very, very chilling.
This is not a "pleasant" read. It is, however, a gripping one, a disturbing one, and a powerful one. I look forward to the planned sequel.
The Hermetic Millennia
by Jon C. Wright
Sequel to the problematic, yet compelling, Count To A Trillion.
As Menelaus awaits the return of his wife, on a relativistic voyage out of the galaxy, he is forced into suspended animation, awakening only occasionally to counter the designs of his former crewmates and archrivals who are striving to create a pliant, useful human race as slaves to an invading alien armada.
In the thousands of years since Menelaus began his slumber, several iterations of humanity, such as the hedonistic Nymphs to the Nietzschean Hormgaunts, each molded in the specific vision of one Hermetic, have risen and fallen. Only the handful who choose to accompany Menelaus through the ages in suspended animation survive. But now the Tomb in which Menelaus and his companions sleep away Time has been opened, and the alien armada draws nigh. Menelaus must unite the now-captive sleepers through the fog of ages and ancient enmity to decide the fate of all humanity once and for all.
I enjoyed this sequel much more than its predecessor. Who knew women could be actual characters! It also has interesting aspects of 1001 Nights, too, as the history of the various human races is recounting by the tales of the sleepers themselves. Looking forward to the finale of the trilogy.
Gideon's Angel
by Clifford Beal
I'm not noting Gideon's Angel because it is a great book. It's a perfectly fine, entertaining read, adequately crafted, with a very nice, fast clip to it, but it's not extraordinary in terms of execution or character or even plot. But that it is a book combining the English Civil War, The Three Musketeers, conversos, Freemasonry, medieval demonology, gypsy women, and several radical Protestant sects is worthy of note, I feel.
Ilium
and Olympos
by Dan Simmons
Sing, O Muse, of the future, with its posthumans playing at Greek gods on Mars, of their resurrected servants studying a Trojan War, of the indolent human remnants of Earth, and the semi-organic artificial lifeforms of Jupiter's moons! Sing, O Muse, of the wrath of god-killing Achilles, and the space adventures of wily Odysseus! Sing of Proust and Shakespeare! Sing of wormholes and quantum teleportation!
This is actually a reread of the duology, which I first read when it came out and had had sitting on the shelf since. What I remember enjoying then (a pleasingly intricate plot; skillful doling out of background; elaborate worldbuilding; strong characterization), I enjoyed again. And what I remember finding problematic then, I probably found even more so now.
Right off the bat, something I don't recall noticing first read through: the dedication to Harold Bloom in Olympos, which explains a few things. In my experience, dedicated Bloom-ites tend to be overeducated, overread curmudgeons with conservative politics. And, yep, I think Simmons qualifies. The various literary allusions, analysis, and quotations are fine. But, though generally the science is plausible, Simmons takes one huge detour in English major Crazytown: artistic genius creates literal universes. "Singularities of genius" bring into being their own artistic creations. Yeah.
But while that's loopy, it's not really offensive. There are much more problematic things afoot. For instance, some viciously anti-Muslim stuff straight out of post-9/11 (which, of course, is when they were written, but still). Simmons is clear that he is Not Having It with this "free love" and "single motherhood" balderdash. There shall be monogamy, damnit! Older men and younger women are the best pairings! Pearls shall be clutched otherwise! Humans shouldn't live idle lives of partying and having consequence-free sex; they should be bold and manly and live like ancient Greeks, for honor and excellence and your father's name! And while I'd be lying if I said there weren't competent, strong female characters, I just can't help shake the notion that there is a little bit of misogyny and anti-feminism lurking about, a pinch of "Women and their wiles are not to be trusted!" and a whole hell of a lot of Male Gaze. There's definitely a bit of homophobia going on, too.
The ending is a bit... anticlimactic? It's a very nice ending, but a lot kinda comes out of nowhere, mostly coming from characters we never got into the heads of at all, making it one big mystery. There are huge problems, and then the problems just go away. Odd.
Still and all, these two books are fun reads. Perfect for the sci-fi nerd who also drones on about madeleines.
by Guy SavilleSometimes it seems there are only two plots in the alternate history genre: the South winning the Civil War, and the Nazis winning WWII. Afrika Reich is one of the latter ilk. It would be easy, then, to dismiss it as just another tired example of a hoary premise. But if one is willing to hold off the dismissal, or is just down for the concept no matter how many times it is trotted out, one will be in for a wild, thrilling ride.
Defeat at Dunkirk. American isolationism. "Peace for empire." A Nazi-occupied Africa ruled by slavery, genocide, and brutality. This is 1952 and German Afrika is about to explode.
When a group of mercenaries, led by a man seeking vengeance and another seeking redemption, are dispatched to German Kongo to kill the mad governor-general, nothing is what it seems, and nothing goes according to plan, leaving them alone and adrift in a continent full of enemies. In the remnants of Portuguese Angola, the heart of an African woman burns hot for revenge against the Nazis who killed her family and threaten her country, people, and very race. And in the backdrop, the uncaring politics of empire demands its blood-price for power, no matter who must suffer.
Tense escapes, action-movie fireworks, plot twists, double-crosses, and villains with near horror-slasher-monster-level resilience collide in a runaway train (literally!) and a Grand Guignol ending that is breathtaking in its utter annihilation.
I'm not generally one for thrillers, but Afrika Reich grabbed me and clung on no matter my protests, most prominent of which was a skeptical brow-raising at a book where the Nazis are the villains. It's so very easy to make the bad guys Nazis. It's practically short-hand in Hollywood: want a bad guy? Put a swastika on him! It's certainly become a cheap rhetorical device, where Godwin's Law is embarrassingly frequent and the very definition of Nazism is cheapened into "I don't like/agree with that person, therefore they must be as bad as Hitler!" or "Obama is a Communist Nazi!" It's almost a cop-out. But... the Nazis were evil. And as brutal and macabre as Saville makes them, little seems like an implausible extrapolation of what they might have done if they hadn't been defeated in the 1940s. And that thought is very, very chilling.
This is not a "pleasant" read. It is, however, a gripping one, a disturbing one, and a powerful one. I look forward to the planned sequel.
The Hermetic Millennia
by Jon C. WrightSequel to the problematic, yet compelling, Count To A Trillion.
As Menelaus awaits the return of his wife, on a relativistic voyage out of the galaxy, he is forced into suspended animation, awakening only occasionally to counter the designs of his former crewmates and archrivals who are striving to create a pliant, useful human race as slaves to an invading alien armada.
In the thousands of years since Menelaus began his slumber, several iterations of humanity, such as the hedonistic Nymphs to the Nietzschean Hormgaunts, each molded in the specific vision of one Hermetic, have risen and fallen. Only the handful who choose to accompany Menelaus through the ages in suspended animation survive. But now the Tomb in which Menelaus and his companions sleep away Time has been opened, and the alien armada draws nigh. Menelaus must unite the now-captive sleepers through the fog of ages and ancient enmity to decide the fate of all humanity once and for all.
I enjoyed this sequel much more than its predecessor. Who knew women could be actual characters! It also has interesting aspects of 1001 Nights, too, as the history of the various human races is recounting by the tales of the sleepers themselves. Looking forward to the finale of the trilogy.
Gideon's Angel
by Clifford BealI'm not noting Gideon's Angel because it is a great book. It's a perfectly fine, entertaining read, adequately crafted, with a very nice, fast clip to it, but it's not extraordinary in terms of execution or character or even plot. But that it is a book combining the English Civil War, The Three Musketeers, conversos, Freemasonry, medieval demonology, gypsy women, and several radical Protestant sects is worthy of note, I feel.
Ilium
and Olympos by Dan SimmonsSing, O Muse, of the future, with its posthumans playing at Greek gods on Mars, of their resurrected servants studying a Trojan War, of the indolent human remnants of Earth, and the semi-organic artificial lifeforms of Jupiter's moons! Sing, O Muse, of the wrath of god-killing Achilles, and the space adventures of wily Odysseus! Sing of Proust and Shakespeare! Sing of wormholes and quantum teleportation!
This is actually a reread of the duology, which I first read when it came out and had had sitting on the shelf since. What I remember enjoying then (a pleasingly intricate plot; skillful doling out of background; elaborate worldbuilding; strong characterization), I enjoyed again. And what I remember finding problematic then, I probably found even more so now.
Right off the bat, something I don't recall noticing first read through: the dedication to Harold Bloom in Olympos, which explains a few things. In my experience, dedicated Bloom-ites tend to be overeducated, overread curmudgeons with conservative politics. And, yep, I think Simmons qualifies. The various literary allusions, analysis, and quotations are fine. But, though generally the science is plausible, Simmons takes one huge detour in English major Crazytown: artistic genius creates literal universes. "Singularities of genius" bring into being their own artistic creations. Yeah.
But while that's loopy, it's not really offensive. There are much more problematic things afoot. For instance, some viciously anti-Muslim stuff straight out of post-9/11 (which, of course, is when they were written, but still). Simmons is clear that he is Not Having It with this "free love" and "single motherhood" balderdash. There shall be monogamy, damnit! Older men and younger women are the best pairings! Pearls shall be clutched otherwise! Humans shouldn't live idle lives of partying and having consequence-free sex; they should be bold and manly and live like ancient Greeks, for honor and excellence and your father's name! And while I'd be lying if I said there weren't competent, strong female characters, I just can't help shake the notion that there is a little bit of misogyny and anti-feminism lurking about, a pinch of "Women and their wiles are not to be trusted!" and a whole hell of a lot of Male Gaze. There's definitely a bit of homophobia going on, too.
The ending is a bit... anticlimactic? It's a very nice ending, but a lot kinda comes out of nowhere, mostly coming from characters we never got into the heads of at all, making it one big mystery. There are huge problems, and then the problems just go away. Odd.
Still and all, these two books are fun reads. Perfect for the sci-fi nerd who also drones on about madeleines.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Fog and Foxes
German nature photography ist wunderbar! My favorite is the very fairy tale-like The Frog and The Fox.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Monday, April 08, 2013
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Friday, April 05, 2013
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
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