Hmmm!!!
I am a little sad at the moment - the show I was in "Old Time Music Hall" has finished so the rush of a live audience every Friday and Saturday has vanished from my life... It was a fun show to do and although it is not all my 'Cup of Tea' I did enjoy doing it - I did not thing that I would...
Oh well off to other adventures I guess - I am producing the next production at the Theatre "The Witches" adapted by David Wood from Roald Dahl's book of the same name - a very nice little play with some lovely parts and a good deal of Puppetry work... So I am busy designing some kind of puppets and how we will adapt the set and them to work with what we have etc. We start to build the set this week as we have got the stage model off the set designer. It is a big job but fun all the same, and at least something I can get to do while I am not working...
I only work 3 days a week at the moment with a few extra days here and there, at least my sig other is working 5 days and we are not on the bread line - but a few more days would put my mind at ease!
So that is really all for the moment - no rants I'll that to you Jeff!!
Oh we are off to the City tomorrow Anjel has a meeting up there so as I am not working I am going along as the token other half! hehehe Caio!
Sunday, 9 September 2007
Monday, 3 September 2007
Meme
I have been TAG to go this meme by Anjel...
1. Total number of books I own....
Crickey you want me to count all of them... umm let me see novels close to 300, text books close to 80... so we'll say conservatively 360 total books...
2.Last Book I bought...
On the infamous Connie, Anjel and myself book run I got William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's "The Difference Engine" (Steam Punk - should be good) and I also got Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"
3. Last book I read...
Robert Heinlein's "Farnhams Freehold", my first Heinlein's and I thought it was really good... that is why I bought "Time Enough for Love"...
4.Book you intend to read next...
Well I am part way through "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham so I intend to finish that then read "Metal Swarm" by Kevin J Anderson the next in the series of the 'Saga of the Seven Suns'
5. Five books that mean a lot to me...
"The Colour of Magic" Terry Pratchett - it was the introduction into the world of comic fantasy.. brilliant, my copy is falling to pieces I have read it so many times... (by the way I am horrified by the changing of the spelling of colour in some of the US releases... that is why I search for a copy that had the right spelling from amazon... hey we put up with US spelling on our versions of US books... you should do the same - grumble!)
DragonLance Series - OK so these are not the best books ever written but they got me into fantasy and that has lead me to great things like...
My Illustrated copy of "The Hobbit " - JRR Tolkien... the link isn't the version I have although I wish I did!!! The Hobbit was given to me by my Dad and I have always love to flick through the pictures and relive the story again - I don't like to read it as I do not what to wreak it...
"Magician" Raymond E Feist - and all the Riftwar sequels after that - brilliant read great story and I loved all the characters - not so hot on the later books I think he should have moved away from the world and done other things but it is a cash cow sooo... First probably 9 are the best!
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" Stephen King - in fact any of Stephen's short stories - I love them all, I love to sit down and read a whole story in am hour - when I have just that amount of time to spare... and he is one of the best at writing stories that you can relate to... he brought me into the world of Horror fiction...
Well that is five but I must say there are a whole lot more that I could talk about... I will have to post some other thought on books at a later date...
Hey Jeff - your turn now...
1. Total number of books I own....
Crickey you want me to count all of them... umm let me see novels close to 300, text books close to 80... so we'll say conservatively 360 total books...
2.Last Book I bought...
On the infamous Connie, Anjel and myself book run I got William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's "The Difference Engine" (Steam Punk - should be good) and I also got Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"
3. Last book I read...
Robert Heinlein's "Farnhams Freehold", my first Heinlein's and I thought it was really good... that is why I bought "Time Enough for Love"...
4.Book you intend to read next...
Well I am part way through "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham so I intend to finish that then read "Metal Swarm" by Kevin J Anderson the next in the series of the 'Saga of the Seven Suns'
5. Five books that mean a lot to me...
"The Colour of Magic" Terry Pratchett - it was the introduction into the world of comic fantasy.. brilliant, my copy is falling to pieces I have read it so many times... (by the way I am horrified by the changing of the spelling of colour in some of the US releases... that is why I search for a copy that had the right spelling from amazon... hey we put up with US spelling on our versions of US books... you should do the same - grumble!)
DragonLance Series - OK so these are not the best books ever written but they got me into fantasy and that has lead me to great things like...
My Illustrated copy of "The Hobbit " - JRR Tolkien... the link isn't the version I have although I wish I did!!! The Hobbit was given to me by my Dad and I have always love to flick through the pictures and relive the story again - I don't like to read it as I do not what to wreak it...
"Magician" Raymond E Feist - and all the Riftwar sequels after that - brilliant read great story and I loved all the characters - not so hot on the later books I think he should have moved away from the world and done other things but it is a cash cow sooo... First probably 9 are the best!
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" Stephen King - in fact any of Stephen's short stories - I love them all, I love to sit down and read a whole story in am hour - when I have just that amount of time to spare... and he is one of the best at writing stories that you can relate to... he brought me into the world of Horror fiction...
Well that is five but I must say there are a whole lot more that I could talk about... I will have to post some other thought on books at a later date...
Hey Jeff - your turn now...
Sunday, 2 September 2007
Books
OK I have read a few books in the last couple of months and I have not really mentioned them here. So I shall fix that problem - oh and I don't propose to do an in depth review of them just give you my general thoughts on the readability of the books and my over all feelings etc on the stories themselves.
Raw Shark Text - by Steven Hall.
Conceptual fish... feeding on our memories and other thoughts and ideas... A great concept and a really brilliant read - well for the first 3/4 or so. I got dragged into the world very easily and I really enjoyed the concept behind this novel and the ideas that it brought up. The ending turned into a cliche and a Jaws tribute. Maybe that was intentional and it just goes to prove that in the end we all turn out to be a cliche of modern culture... or is all art just a derivative of other forms of art...
Aside from the ending which, didn't spoil the read just seemed to be a little rushed and maybe not as well thought out as the rest of the book, it was an engaging and thought provoking read. I really wish someone else would read it so that I could talk about it with them... maybe I can convince someone soon.
7/10
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
First try at John's published work, well aside from a chapter or two found on the net. I held this book up to some really high standards. Having been a fairly long time reader of his blogs I heard a lot about his work, mainly from fans and blog fiends, so I kind of expected something really good. And I got what I wanted - this book I could not put down! Not only was it so readable but the world he created and the characters where believable and interesting, it reminded me of many Sci-Fi worlds but was not the same as one of them. A great blend of Sci-Fi and general fiction (speculative fiction is the term for this fiction I don't understand why we need to place people into genres but there you go Scalzi writes speculative fiction!) Anyway aside from my rejection of genres and terms this book is a must for all fans of Sci-Fi (and Spec-Fi) I really recommend this read both as an introduction to John and to this particular take on Sci-Fi.
9/10
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
OK yes this is Stephen King's Son, so what! I bought it not because of that, well OK maybe a little because of that, but also due to the great reviews it had. Horror novels can be so hit and miss with me, some of the greatest horror authors (at least those spoken about the most) don't really do it for me. But Joe did, it was just a great read and I really attached myself to the characters and the situations that they went through in order to survive the ordeal or a ghost in a suit. Maybe I just connected with the main character - a rock legend just like myself ! (lol) Other people I have spoken to about this book have told me it scared the bejezzus out of them - not so with me, I mean I liked the book and the way the characters where slowly driven to more and more desperate acts, and yes I was a little shocked by the events, but not scared like I have been by books (or even movies and games).
So what did I think? I thought this was so good that I would buy it as a present for all my friends and make them read it - although some of them might get a little too scared if the others I have spoken to are anything to go by! Brilliant and a great read!
9/10
Neromancer - William Gibson
Some people might be wondering how I could if I enjoy Sci-Fi so much have not read William Gibson until now... well I live in Australia remember that - and we do not get that many good books at good prices like our North American and European Cousins. So I have had to be frugal in my book buying - but with a friend who recently went to the US of A I got her to grab me some books and William Gibson was one of them. OK now that I have gotten over the blurb about book availability in Australia (and I didn't even mention the price differences like that it costs me as much to get a 2nd hand book as it does a brand new one in the US!! and new books cost more then twice as much as in the US).
Ummm now I should mention the book... The first thing that hit me was the writing style, it was short shape images, almost like I was watching a movie that had pieces missing, it didn't take away from the story line infact I think it sped everything up and got the point quicker. Also I loved the way the technology was just taken for granted - a lot of Sci-Fi writers over explain the new wonderful technology but Gibson just tell us what it is - no explanation as to how it works because the characters are all ready intimate with the technology - it would be like a person now explaining how a light switch worked before turning it on. We already know so why would characters in a book do it to each other with things that they already know.
This story was really good - I loved the way that all these new technologies, which I take for granted as I have played Cyberpunk and Shadowrun, where introduced and if I read this before I knew about all the other things it would have shaken my world up! The characters where very well writing and very engaging and the story had enough twists and turns that I keep interested into the very end. I have the sequel Mona Lisa Overdrive and I intend to read that in a little while I might even re-read this one before I go on just to get back into the world again. Great read a must for all.
9.5/10
Well I guess that is enough for the time being! I have read a few more books then this in the last few months but I just wanted to mention ones that really hit it off with me and ones that are topical to me at the moment. More to come later!
Raw Shark Text - by Steven Hall.
Conceptual fish... feeding on our memories and other thoughts and ideas... A great concept and a really brilliant read - well for the first 3/4 or so. I got dragged into the world very easily and I really enjoyed the concept behind this novel and the ideas that it brought up. The ending turned into a cliche and a Jaws tribute. Maybe that was intentional and it just goes to prove that in the end we all turn out to be a cliche of modern culture... or is all art just a derivative of other forms of art...
Aside from the ending which, didn't spoil the read just seemed to be a little rushed and maybe not as well thought out as the rest of the book, it was an engaging and thought provoking read. I really wish someone else would read it so that I could talk about it with them... maybe I can convince someone soon.
7/10
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
First try at John's published work, well aside from a chapter or two found on the net. I held this book up to some really high standards. Having been a fairly long time reader of his blogs I heard a lot about his work, mainly from fans and blog fiends, so I kind of expected something really good. And I got what I wanted - this book I could not put down! Not only was it so readable but the world he created and the characters where believable and interesting, it reminded me of many Sci-Fi worlds but was not the same as one of them. A great blend of Sci-Fi and general fiction (speculative fiction is the term for this fiction I don't understand why we need to place people into genres but there you go Scalzi writes speculative fiction!) Anyway aside from my rejection of genres and terms this book is a must for all fans of Sci-Fi (and Spec-Fi) I really recommend this read both as an introduction to John and to this particular take on Sci-Fi.
9/10
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
OK yes this is Stephen King's Son, so what! I bought it not because of that, well OK maybe a little because of that, but also due to the great reviews it had. Horror novels can be so hit and miss with me, some of the greatest horror authors (at least those spoken about the most) don't really do it for me. But Joe did, it was just a great read and I really attached myself to the characters and the situations that they went through in order to survive the ordeal or a ghost in a suit. Maybe I just connected with the main character - a rock legend just like myself ! (lol) Other people I have spoken to about this book have told me it scared the bejezzus out of them - not so with me, I mean I liked the book and the way the characters where slowly driven to more and more desperate acts, and yes I was a little shocked by the events, but not scared like I have been by books (or even movies and games).
So what did I think? I thought this was so good that I would buy it as a present for all my friends and make them read it - although some of them might get a little too scared if the others I have spoken to are anything to go by! Brilliant and a great read!
9/10
Neromancer - William Gibson
Some people might be wondering how I could if I enjoy Sci-Fi so much have not read William Gibson until now... well I live in Australia remember that - and we do not get that many good books at good prices like our North American and European Cousins. So I have had to be frugal in my book buying - but with a friend who recently went to the US of A I got her to grab me some books and William Gibson was one of them. OK now that I have gotten over the blurb about book availability in Australia (and I didn't even mention the price differences like that it costs me as much to get a 2nd hand book as it does a brand new one in the US!! and new books cost more then twice as much as in the US).
Ummm now I should mention the book... The first thing that hit me was the writing style, it was short shape images, almost like I was watching a movie that had pieces missing, it didn't take away from the story line infact I think it sped everything up and got the point quicker. Also I loved the way the technology was just taken for granted - a lot of Sci-Fi writers over explain the new wonderful technology but Gibson just tell us what it is - no explanation as to how it works because the characters are all ready intimate with the technology - it would be like a person now explaining how a light switch worked before turning it on. We already know so why would characters in a book do it to each other with things that they already know.
This story was really good - I loved the way that all these new technologies, which I take for granted as I have played Cyberpunk and Shadowrun, where introduced and if I read this before I knew about all the other things it would have shaken my world up! The characters where very well writing and very engaging and the story had enough twists and turns that I keep interested into the very end. I have the sequel Mona Lisa Overdrive and I intend to read that in a little while I might even re-read this one before I go on just to get back into the world again. Great read a must for all.
9.5/10
Well I guess that is enough for the time being! I have read a few more books then this in the last few months but I just wanted to mention ones that really hit it off with me and ones that are topical to me at the moment. More to come later!
Friday, 31 August 2007
News News News
Well it has been a while since I dipped my net into the murky waters of Australian News sites... but I have found a few gems.
First up - imagine a time when a device the size of an iPod nano can hold 30,000 movies! Well it seems that scientists are looking at ways to manipulate atoms... makes sense it would be great to make storage devices smaller - although they need to remember that the device you view it on needs to be larger then say a needle point!!!
Second... OK so I am not a big fan of them BUT I still reserve the rights of individuals to wear whatever they like. This article is regarding a BAN of saggy baggy pants, in some cities in the US. Ummm isn't this the land of the free?? what about the Bill of Rights?? Ummm anyway moving on. I think that things like this are a social issue not one that should be legislated. I think that if we paid no attention to them then like most teenage fads and fashion fads they will eventually die out - but alas this kind of action will just make more people aware of the injustice. Just because I don't like the fashion doesn't mean that people should not be allowed to express them selves.
Three... OK burning rubbish is that a good idea? If a place is over filled with rubbish and raw sewerage why not burn it all away? Does that sound like good environmental practice to you? Well no! but if you where to super heat the rubbish and destroy the harmful contaminates and then employ the poor people of the community to run the furnace and harness the heat from the burning for things such as heating water then you have a sound way to rid a place of rubbish and make something useful for the local area. Check it out - the thing that amazes me is that it was harder for him to make a low tech furnace. That is something we need to think about as we enter this ever changing world... what do we do with all the jobless if everything is done by machine and is automatic... something for a longer entry me thinks.
Four... You think your head is worth a lot... how about encasing it in diamonds and calling it art! $100 million for a skull - hey I could get you one from the local boneyard for less... of course you'll have to arrange the diamonds...
Five... Good news regarding horror books from Australia - it seems that the trend of decent horror novels are growing in Australia with independent Publisher Tasmanic releasing a range of new authors and books. More about the upcoming range and the collaboration with British Horror write Paul Kane here. I admit that my taste in books lies firmly in the range of Fantasy and Science Fiction although I do love to wander in the world of Horror Fiction and really loved Joe Hill's novel - even if it didn't scare me as much as some people. I have Joe Hill's new short story book on my wish list at Amazon and I really do think that he will develop into a author that I can read again and again. Now a horror Sci-Fi that would be something... Hmmmm
Well five is all I have time for so have a looksee and let me know what you all think about them or send me links for things that might interest me or people who read this blog.
Cheers!
First up - imagine a time when a device the size of an iPod nano can hold 30,000 movies! Well it seems that scientists are looking at ways to manipulate atoms... makes sense it would be great to make storage devices smaller - although they need to remember that the device you view it on needs to be larger then say a needle point!!!
Second... OK so I am not a big fan of them BUT I still reserve the rights of individuals to wear whatever they like. This article is regarding a BAN of saggy baggy pants, in some cities in the US. Ummm isn't this the land of the free?? what about the Bill of Rights?? Ummm anyway moving on. I think that things like this are a social issue not one that should be legislated. I think that if we paid no attention to them then like most teenage fads and fashion fads they will eventually die out - but alas this kind of action will just make more people aware of the injustice. Just because I don't like the fashion doesn't mean that people should not be allowed to express them selves.
Three... OK burning rubbish is that a good idea? If a place is over filled with rubbish and raw sewerage why not burn it all away? Does that sound like good environmental practice to you? Well no! but if you where to super heat the rubbish and destroy the harmful contaminates and then employ the poor people of the community to run the furnace and harness the heat from the burning for things such as heating water then you have a sound way to rid a place of rubbish and make something useful for the local area. Check it out - the thing that amazes me is that it was harder for him to make a low tech furnace. That is something we need to think about as we enter this ever changing world... what do we do with all the jobless if everything is done by machine and is automatic... something for a longer entry me thinks.
Four... You think your head is worth a lot... how about encasing it in diamonds and calling it art! $100 million for a skull - hey I could get you one from the local boneyard for less... of course you'll have to arrange the diamonds...
Five... Good news regarding horror books from Australia - it seems that the trend of decent horror novels are growing in Australia with independent Publisher Tasmanic releasing a range of new authors and books. More about the upcoming range and the collaboration with British Horror write Paul Kane here. I admit that my taste in books lies firmly in the range of Fantasy and Science Fiction although I do love to wander in the world of Horror Fiction and really loved Joe Hill's novel - even if it didn't scare me as much as some people. I have Joe Hill's new short story book on my wish list at Amazon and I really do think that he will develop into a author that I can read again and again. Now a horror Sci-Fi that would be something... Hmmmm
Well five is all I have time for so have a looksee and let me know what you all think about them or send me links for things that might interest me or people who read this blog.
Cheers!
Thursday, 30 August 2007
The Church of Ank!
The Church of Ank!
Ank Ank Ank!!!
Worship the Zebra God!
Meditate on the Holy mystery of Ank!
Deny the Crocodile god of blasphemy!
Ank, Ank, Ank!!!
Join with us now as we watch the Zebra God in physical form defy the evil Crocodile god...
Worship the one true form of Hope - and go for the eye!
See above for the Video of our God in action. (youtube didn't seem to want to paste into this entry - obviously the Evil Crocodile god is against me - save me oh holy Zebra of Holiness!!)
Thanks to Connie for that one!
Ank Ank Ank!!!
Worship the Zebra God!
Meditate on the Holy mystery of Ank!
Deny the Crocodile god of blasphemy!
Ank, Ank, Ank!!!
Join with us now as we watch the Zebra God in physical form defy the evil Crocodile god...
Worship the one true form of Hope - and go for the eye!
See above for the Video of our God in action. (youtube didn't seem to want to paste into this entry - obviously the Evil Crocodile god is against me - save me oh holy Zebra of Holiness!!)
Thanks to Connie for that one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)