asimplechord

Because we had a - well... not an argument, really, but we couldn't actually agree and had to table the discussion to move on to other questions - a debate about the difference between science fiction and speculative fiction last night while discussing Oryx & Crake. Two people who are most emphatically not sci-fi fans insisted that the book belongs in that genre.

To me, Oryx & Crake is speculative fiction. Sci-fi is... a subset of speculative fiction, maybe? No, that's not right... maybe it's a sibling? Related, but not the same thing.

When I think about my own personal definition, sci-fi usually has something that's not in sync with science and the physical world as we know it. Crazy space, time, or physics, weird powers, something wildly different than our current world. Whereas speculative fiction takes our world and extrapolates, posits a What if?

Thoughts? How do you define sci-fi? Speculative fiction?

Finally home from a long day at work, which was followed by seeing Tony Lucca at Fitzgerald's. (I've seen him a handful of times, and yet I had none of his music in my library. How?)

The download of the new Bush album is in my inbox, and a copy of the new Eve Dallas novel was waiting on my doorstep.

I really should close iTunes, put the book down, and go to bed. I have work (so much work, oh gods) to do tomorrow.

We all know how good I am at doing what I should do, as opposed to what I want to do, right?

1. Hello, internet! My laptop's fan is running over time. I'm somewhat concerned that this means the end is nigh. I've only checked LJ sporadically lately, over my phone, and I'm terrible about commenting since I hate to do extensive typing on the tiny touch-screen, but if I've missed something important, please let me know!

2. For thespatz, some BRMC. My internet connection is really slow - it took over an hour to get these three uploaded - but here are BRMC, Take Them On, On Your Own, and Live In London. I'll try to get Baby 81 and Beat The Devil's Tattoo up soon, also.

3. Um. I had all sorts of stuff to say about HP & the Deathly Hallows, but it feels too belated to post about it now. On the surface I was entertained. McGonagall! Neville! But there's so much that just ended up being ignored or glossed over, and in the end we got one "it's okay if you're sorted into Slytherin, son" instead of addressing the marginalization of an entire House. Which, OK, JKR did in the books, so the movie was limited in how it could tell the story. But still. \o/ /o\

4. Work. Spent a full day there yesterday, despite it being a Saturday. At least this way I can use one less vacation day for the Lolla?

5. Empires. Please let them actually play a show during Lollapalooza. SVV said they were trying to set something up when I asked, but who knows if it'll actually happen.

6. LUDO & STAMPS & TOMMY AND THE HIGH PILOTS & WITHOUT A FACE TOMORROW.

7. Sign-ups for we_pimpin's next fic exchange are open! Go check it out!

8. I just read KA Mitchell's No Souvenirs. Recs for m/m (e)books?

+ The grant is submitted, so at this point there is absolutely nothing that can be added to my work to-do list. This is a good thing.

+ We brewed (I say that, but really A brewed today, a wheat IPA, while I cleaned), and smoked a brisket (beef: not my thing, but it's his, so whatever), and instead of being social, we're going to hang out at our house tonight. Friends are having a party, but one of the people involved pissed me off: last week he told me that my ink "looks nice in comparison to most prison tatts". Uh. Yeah. My response: you are drunk, so I'm going to point you toward your wife (who was also annoyed, b/c he was the designated driver for the evening) instead of shoving my beer and my fist in your face. I just. Yeah. Lots of people comment on my ink, people I know and strangers alike, and mostly it doesn't bother me; I'm patient about explaining what it means if they ask. But for an acquaintance to deliver what he probably meant as a joke in his drunk mind but came off as insult? When he's been semi-insulting to me about them in the past? No. I'm done. He can fuck right off.

+ Mmm, banana bread with pecans.

+ Tropic of Chaos by Christian Parenti. Interesting topic, but a book published by someone who writes for The Nation? I expect to be copy-edited well enough that the South American nation's name is appropriately spelled. Colombia, not Columbia.

+ NCAA lacrosse finals on my TV. MD/VA. Totally making me want to write more about Brad/Nate in the college AU. Y/Y/MFY?

+ Rafa/Nole tomorrow. Breakfast at Wimbledon? We might even have some strawberries to mix with cream.

+ Fireworks Monday at Tinsley Park. We'll probably hang out at the Flying Saucer beforehand, if anyone wants to meet for beers and then walk over by the Allen Parkway.

1. Finally finished Steven Saylor's Empire. Historical fiction, interesting read, tons of details about life in imperial Rome, but parts felt like they dragged, and 100 pages probably could've been cut without harming the story. It follows one family from Augustus to Hadrian, and highlights the blessings and perils of being noticed by Caesar.

This morning, as I was reading the last bit of it, I was struck by the Saylor's description of the way Christians were treated by the legal system:

These people are not to be sought out. If brought before you and found guilty, they must be punished.[...] Anonymous accusations must play no role in any prosecution; such practices are a discarded relic of a previous time. The official policy regarding the Christians, in a nutshell, may be summed up thusly: 'Ask not, tell not.' (emphasis mine)

I have no idea if that was official policy. At the time (Trajan was the emperor in that chapter) Christians were certainly growing but still not the dominant religious sect.

But I enjoy Saylor's point: DADT has been around a long long time, just applied to different aspects of life.


2. Last night's working rehearsal of Peter Pan at the Alley was awesome. I'd only ever seen dress rehearsals of high school and college plays. This was literally the first run-through on the set in costume while the director adjusted the lights and sound and they figured out how to navigate the set - it's pretty elaborate - and made sure that none of the blocking made any seats unviewable. The cast and crew got through one scene in the hour we watched. Apparently it normally takes about sixty hours to get through the play the first time they do a working rehearsal? I am really excited - I've only ever seen the musical version, never the actual *play* before.


3. BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG. Word is you were entertaining, and quite different from Tony Vincent in the way you play St. Jimmy. (Obviously.)I wish I could see you this week. *sigh*

This entry was originally posted at http://favoritemistake.dreamwidth.org/5324.html.

Lollapalooza was AMAZING. Chicago was 10 degrees cooler than Houston, with half the humidity, so it was an absolute pleasure to spend three days outside.

Day 1. BoB (who put him on a stage at 11:15 on the first day?). Jukebox The Ghost. Neon Trees. Foxy Shazam. My Dear Disco. American Bang. The Constellations (this is the band I hadn't seen before that I enjoyed most; hit me up if you want some of their music). Jimmy Cliff. Cymbals Eat Guitars. Semi Precious Weapons (Dear Justin Tranter, you are awesome, but you are smoking crack if you think Lady Gaga is "rock and roll"; also, I was standing back in the shade, and didn't realize at first that the woman stage diving was Lady Gaga). The Strokes. I didn't go to the Lady Gaga set - it was set against The Strokes, and I prefer the Strokes' music; it was interesting to read reviews saying how amazing the spectacle was, b/c the people I know who *did* see her - who had seen her at Toyota Center a couple of weeks ago - said it was too slow for a festival show, and boring in the middle with her trying to tell a story and do her costume changes, but it picked up in the end when she did Poker Face and Bad Romance and Alejandro. People watching (Little Monsters) was outstanding.

Day 2. Blues Traveler, Against Me, Gogol Bordello, AFI, Social Distortion, Slightly Stoopid, Green Day. BEST COVER OF THE WEEKEND: Social Distortion's Ring of Fire. Green Day's set was pretty elaborate, with the skyline screens that held projections of everything from actual buildings' windows to starlight to words and phrases. Their entire set was slick, really, from years of crowd management. IDK, I think I'd've appreciated another full song rather than 10-minute versions of Hitchin' A Ride AND King For A Day complete with covers of a handful of other songs. LOL, the dude they pulled up from the crowd to sing Longview totally laid one on Billie Joe; he also did an outstanding job on the song. And the little girl who came up to bless him on East Jesus Nowhere clearly had a WTF expression on her face, like she was wondering why her mom handed her up on to the stage to this random dude. It's weird for me, now, to hear 21 Guns w/o Whatsername.

Day 3. Company of Thieves. Blitzen Trapper. The Ike Reilly Assassination. Frightened Rabbit (eh, too reminiscent of Gaslight Anthem and Lucero). Band of Heathens. Hockey. Wolfmother (best I've heard them, soundwise). Erykah Badu. Cypress Hill. Soundgarden. Soundgarden was pretty good. I am spoiled, and have heard Chris Cornell perform Soundgarden songs at small venues, and in comparison the sound at the park was not optimal, IMO. In fact, during Black Hole Sun, the guitar was so overpowering and dissonant that my ears hurt. I don't know if it was deliberate, lowering the vocals to make it less of the Chris Cornell show and more a team effort, or what. But the bass was as punishing as expected. I enjoyed that the stage set up was pretty simple, even the projection on the screens for the crowd was black and white.

Random thought: I would like to explore the differences in philosophy and aesthetics between the Seattle grunge scene of the 90s with the California punk scene of the 80s and 90s, which led to dudes like Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Ness having sleeves and scattered ink everywhere, where as the dudes in Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Nirvana/Foo Fighters have little or no visible ink, in comparison.

When we weren't at Grant Park, we were either at Kuma's Corner or The Map Room, which is right around the corner from our friends' house. Mmm, beer.

During our travels, I finished reading Hella Nation, Evan Wright's other book. It's a collection of essays expanded from articles he wrote for various other publications, I believe. There is a great deal of self-description in them, far more even than Generation Kill. To me, he comes off as a self-centered misogynistic pig (YMMV). But now I understand the Jasmin reference in Stay Frosty, LOL.



Dear Gmail: STOP FUCKING WITH THE LAYOUT. NO LOVE, ME

1. A ton of photos from the other night's Broadway Impact fundraiser appeared in the FYAI tumblr overnight, filling my googlereader inbox, making me happy. :D But I have to ask... why was Christina Sajous wearing what looks like a wedding gown? No, really: the pearls, the beading, the bodice's fit. What's up with that?

2. It is really hard to focus on science when I want to be writing out the porn that's on repeat in my head. Just sayin'.

3. Appropriate timing: I just read the exchange between Abizaid and Mattis to which Ricks refers here in No True Glory.

4. BRB, laughing at the little coincidences in life. I read one of the tabs I have open, a combat_jack GKbattle fic for the "fog of war" prompt, last night before going to bed, and then I checked my googlefeed first thing this morning and found an op-ed piece by Andrew Exum in the NYT, Getting Lost In Afghanistan's Fog Of War. Fandom and news media converge once again. (Exum is inevitably tied to Fick in my brain, even though he has absolutely nothing to do with Generation Kill. It's just one of those leaps that, once made, my brain cannot un-make.)

5. DNW to go spend a few hours in the cold room. *sigh* But I suppose Mick Jagger has the right of it.

6. why_me_why_not just posted some skating!RPS threesome fic. If I told you I was drunk. Johnny/Stephane/AdamR. You should check it out, if you're into the skating thing.

/o\ I have been spending money in lab like there's no tomorrow. Why is cell biology so fucking expensive? Beyond the regular lab supplies, we needed six new commercial antibodies (ugh, if they don't work for our purposes I am going to be so sad) plus started the process to make our own polyclonal antibodies.

\o/ Ticketmaster tells me that the Glambert tickets have been printed.

\o/ RATT tonight. I probably wouldn't have bought tickets, but since I got them free, I'm going to go have a drink and enjoy the 80s and 90s hairband rock.

/o\ We need to check the pantry and stock up again, just in case the tropical depression becomes Bonnie and heads our way. Doubtful - we'll probably just get a ton of rain - but I'd rather be prepared. We've got first aid stuff, water, filled propane tanks, batteries, flashlights, candles, baby wipes, etc., but I want to be sure we've got enough dry food and cat food & litter to last an extra week.

O.o The UT Med School has a twitter specifically for emergency situations, we are told (no less than three times) in today's "we are monitoring the depression, be aware!" email.

O.o <- caused by the book I'm reading right now, but I think I'm going to finish it before I babble

\o/ /o\ Continental Airlines is tempting me. And I really should not be tempted. We just bought our tickets to Chicago for Lolla (:DDDD Green Day and Social Distortion and The Strokes and The National and SOUNDGARDEN), so I really shouldn't have a yen for more travel. AND YET I DO.

+ Hastings earned a contract for a book about his adventures in Afghanistan? The cynic in me wonders if this was the reason for the controversial article, to generate noise and interest. (I haven't read his memoir of Iraq. Anyone have an opinion on it?)

+ The Snowflake turned over 100k miles on my commute to work yesterday. \o/?

+ I have no idea what was in the pocket of these pants when I washed them, but I put my phone in one, and when I took it out, there was something sticky on its screen. And when I put my hands into any of the pockets - front or back - they come out sticky, with something that feels like drying glue on them. D:

+ I'm not sure if it's an editing error or a type-setting error, but there have been several instances of letter inversion in my copy of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 (do NOT get me started on the use of the word "adventure" to describe the invasion and its aftermath, just don't), with the most recently observed being:

Cook[...] had several extensive conservations with Sarhan, beginning on the first day of 2008.

Um, really? Do you mean conversations?