Marginalia

[coalescent]

Favourable review of Mary Doria Russell's new novel, A Thread of Grace. "Russell's magnificent novel is a testament on behalf of persecuted people, which observes its pledge to testify in a spirit of sympathy and gratitude." *taps foot, impatiently waiting for his review copy*

'Bring on the digital Hugos' says James Patrick Kelly. This seems wrongheaded to me; if the traditional Hugo categories aren't adequately dealing with online content then change them so that they are, don't introduce unnecessary new categories. I'm not convinced, for example, that online fiction sites need a category all their own. That said, it is clear that something needs to be done; the current 'best website' is a stopgap.

Genetically modified Mozart: for the first contemporary Russian Opera at the Bolshoi in a quarter of a century, "They came up with the idea for a story of five cloned composers living in Soviet and post-Soviet time. "The subject of cloning is very close to me," says Sorokin. "I'm sure human beings should not be cloned. However, from an artistic point of view, the idea of cloning is rich with possibilities and implications, allowing us to travel in time and meet long-dead classics." This season, science-aware artists will write about cloning as a demonstration of their engagement with the modern world. Apparently.

Cool tube map, with station names replaced by the titles of films shot at those locations.

Jonathan Franzen on growing up with Peanuts. It must be time for another volume of the collected strips soon, I reckon.

I haven't bought a computer game for about a year, and I've barely played one--except at parties--for about as long. But this might just break my will. I'm not even a car fan, particularly, but the previous Gran Turismo installments were a defining gaming experience (in much the same way that I think Goldeneye was defining for a decent chunk of my friendslist). And the cars are so pretty.

Around LJ: Dan reviews Air, and I argue with him; and oursin has a couple of posts about the assumptions underling Swallows and Amazons (I love those books).

And finally: Lou Anders has a new blog, and a fun post on Arthur Fonzarelli as the archetypical shaman. No, really.

Comments

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Who are you reviewing A Thread of Grace for?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Vector.

Go on, say it. I know you want to. :p

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I do, I really do...

So why did Doubleday send it and why is Vector running it?

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

They sent it because Vector Reviews Editor asked for it. He'd better speak for himself as to the why (but he won't because he doesn't read LJ).

I can confirm that the review copy was packaged up last night and will be posted as soon as I get to a Post Office.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

The actual answer is, I don't care as long as it gets me a copy. ;-)

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Interesting review of Air; I don't feel able to respond directly right now, because the reviewer and I are reading it from such different assumptions I'm not sure I've identified them all. One is the definition of science fiction, but the another is that I don't think Ryman is at all as optimistic about the cultural impact of Air as either of you seem to, or for that matter that it's Khazakhstan incompetence and culture rather the Western versions of the same that make the transformation so difficult.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I don't think Ryman is at all as optimistic about the cultural impact of Air as either of you seem to, or for that matter that it's Khazakhstan incompetence and culture rather the Western versions of the same that make the transformation so difficult.

I think Air is ultimately optimistic because though it perhaps isn't something necessary, and isn't something that anyone asks for, in the end Air is a Good Thing. Yes, it causes problems, but it also solves them, and others as well.

But I agree that there's a fairly strong vein of cynicism about the competence of the West when it comes to involving itself, however good its intentions, in the affairs of less-developed countries.

[immortalradical.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure we are operating under different assumption, though we perhaps reach different conclusions. I'm equally unsure if my review was about my assumptions - I think it was about my conclusions. :) I agree entirely that it's clear throughout the novel that the West dictates to Mae's village and her nation: it dictates their fashion, it dictates their position in the world, in dictates the level of their access to that world. (At one point, Mr Oz says that Karzistan is just not powerful enough to argue.)

But Air is more powerful than the West. It is more than a technology - it is to all intents a purposes a singularity, past which nothing will be the same. It will recreate the world, and it will give power to Mae and her people, and to all individuals. All they have to do is grasp it (and it is here where Karzistani competence becomes more important than Western incompetence). This is why Air is optimistic - because it presents its technology as a kind of messiah.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

If you can derive conclusions without basing them on assumptions, you have performed a feat of logic unparalleled in Western philosophy.

[immortalradical.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you noticed my achievement - I appreciate praise when it's due. :P

My assumptions (about the West's role in Karzistan's trials) were simply not referred to in the review, which is, I would assume, why you surmised I did not share them.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I thought the Tube Map was of films that actually feature the station itself - but then they wouldn't have 'The Madness of King George' - most of those do have the tube itself though don't they? Some of my favourite films listed there.

What station was 'Quatermass and the Pit' set in?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting mix. Can't see Sliding Doors, though...

[brixtonbrood.livejournal.com]

The tube map is a nice idea, and probably quite popular with film nerds, but will drive tube nerds (myself included)up the wall, as it doesn't give the actual station name for many of the entries, and stretches popular locations over a few stations - Stockwell is not Brixton damn it!

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Good one! I'm going to blog about this map myself. What station was sliding doors?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

A quick google suggets Aldwych.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Google! Must remember that - it could come in handy :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Aldwych is an abandoned station; it's where most filming of tube stations happens, since it's not used for actual services. I think the video to 'Firestarter' was filmed there; probably millions of things have been. Anyway, it means that even if it was filmed there, it probably wasn't set there!

That said, Full Metal Jacket is on the Isle of Dogs, which is where it was filmed, but not where it's set.

Quatermass was set at Hobbs End, which doesn't exist. Ditto Walford. Grange Hill does exist.

What there is on the map is pretty shoddy: 'About A Boy', for example, is attatched to Russell Square; the film makes it quite clear that Hugh Grant lives a stone's throw from Smithfield market, which is not near Russell Square, but is quite near to Barbican or Farringdon. Love Is The Devil is supposed to be Soho, but it's attatched to bloody Cannon Street, about a million miles from Soho. London Bridge for Tower Bridge for Agent Cody Banks, Morden for Croydon for Let Him Have It, etc. Virtually all of them are wrong somehow.

-- tom

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I think the video to 'Firestarter' was filmed there; probably millions of things have been.

Tomb Raider 3 was set there. I'm surprised the film crews get any work done given the number of killer dogs and uzi-wielding henchmen down there.

I like the way all the ones on the arse end of the Bakerloo line are described as "South East London". Particularly since Nil By Mouth is actually explicitly set in Elephant And Castle. I think. All Or Nothing certainly is.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah yes, that 'arse end of the Bakerloo line' bit. I didn't notice this at first, but the Bakerloo doesn't have an arse end - it ends at Elephant & Castle!

Clearly, this map has fallen through from a parallel universe - one where the '70s plan to extend the Bakerloo along the railway, via new stations at Walworth and Camberwell Green, to Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye, actually got carried out. This also explains why Full Metal Jacket was filed in Greenwich rather than on the Isle of Dogs, and several other anomalies in the map. I'm going to be paying much more attention next time i go to Sainsbury's ...

And before anyone asks, no, this isn't an old map - it has the Jubilee line extension on it.

-- tom

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

Firestarter was filmed in the unfinished (at the time) tunnels of the Jubliee Line extension. The tube bit of Sliding Doors was at the Waterloo and City line platform at Waterloo.

GT4

[talvalin.livejournal.com]

http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/gt4/review-gt4.htm

It's not exactly favourable...

Re: GT4

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Aw, damn. I was hoping they'd included some decent crash damage this time (the excuse last time around was license agreements: car manufacturers wouldn't let their models be included if they were just going to get trashed). Also odd that there's no mention of an arcade mode. Every other version had one, so why drop it this time around?

On the other hand, some of his assertions (not necessarily the GT4-specific ones) I just disagree with. I want a game that's fun over a game that'll suck away my life for the next six months, too. Mind you, I always found the tinkering with different models of cars quite fun. :)

Re: GT4

[talvalin.livejournal.com]

I've never found GT to be any good. I prefer more arcadey-type racers like Burnout 3 and PGR (PGR2 was good, but I disliked the increased realism. One had to follow proper lines around tracks in order to win at Gold/Platinum level!), though that same reviewer pointed out that Burnout 3 suffers from a cripplingly short draw distance, which means that hitting oncoming cars at high speed is a frequent occurence.

I'm thinking that Outrun 2 is the game for me.

Re: GT4

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

One had to follow proper lines around tracks in order to win at Gold/Platinum level!

This is clearly a feature, not a bug. :p

(And is one of the things I really liked about GT. Despite what that review says, I have never found that cutting corners saves time--the racing line actually is the fastest line, and I like that. On the other hand, as mentioned, bouncing off other cars works because the physics is, um, innovative...)

Re: GT4

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that Outrun 2 is the game for me.

Nothing surpasses Diddy Kong Racing. Really, it was perfect. Certainly put Nintendo's Mario racers to shame.

Cool Tube Map!

[applez.livejournal.com]

Reminds me a bit of 'Neverwhere' ... and the idea of where to go (or not go) on the tube for Zombies, lovers, thieves, etc. :-)

Digital Hugos...

[applez.livejournal.com]

Umm...just a point, it could be a very valid sort of award category to create if the very format of a story changes radically for the new medium ... what was that thing, '54' or something by Geoff Ryman-somebody?

The one with all the partial tales interwoven with eachother on a Tube ride?

Moreover, if such a category were to spur on new types of experiments in the very form and thought of literature with the new technology, why not? Even if over half the experiments are failures, wouldn't it be worth it?

Re: Digital Hugos...

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

just a point, it could be a very valid sort of award category to create if the very format of a story changes radically for the new medium ... what was that thing, '54' or something by Geoff Ryman-somebody?

No, I disagree. 253 is still fiction (and has in any case been published as a book).

Mind you, it wasn't eligible for the Hugos because (a) it's not sf and (b) it's not a novel. But that's beside the point. :)

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

With the categories thing, surely it depends whether those websites are doing something genuinely different from what the more traditional media are doing. A fanzine website can sometimes be not that different from a paper fanzine. On the other hand, sometimes it's light years apart. Whether you count them in the same category depends on how similar you think what they're doing is.