Random Round Up
It is that time of year again when I lose my husband for a month. It is the first year I could possibly think about doing nanowrimo but I decided I really don't want to start anything new so I am being a supportive wife by giving him his laptop back to write on.
That aside, I have much stuff happening.
Work-wise I am writing a chapater for a book on trust on social networks (OMG!! I got asked to write a chapter in a book!!). This is basically going to be the social networking part of my thesis squooshed together and supporting my agenda for the recognition of communities as distinct sub-groups within social networks which act differently to non-community groups. For far this has meant my staring blindly at my thesis and trying to work out where to start.
I am also putting together a grant proposal which would basically fund further research into everything I was blathering about in my thesis. The good news is that we found out that the person I am doing the proposal with is eligable as a "new" lecturer (technically) so we can apply from a slightly less contested pot of money. Still a bit of a crap shoot but nothing ventured etc.
Having said that I need help thinking up some nice legit, non-controvercial groups who might be interested in community based media description/tagging. Apparently it will look good on our application if we can show many uses beyond "potentially copyright-infringing (gay) porn". So if anyone knows any 'in' people at any of the big, legit electronic/media libraries or anything else similar please let me know. Any suggestions/contacts appriciated.
I have been reading a supprising amount recently given how little dead-tree pro fiction I used to read.
I did not think much of Jasper Fforde's latest. The whole book just made me think two things:
1. My issues, let me show them to you
2. I sat down and thought about how this all works and now I am going to explain it to you
This is a shame since I early enjoyed the early Thursday Next books (the author's distictly odd attitude to fanfic not withstanding). I am hoping that in the next book(s) there will be a nice payoff that this book was set up for which will make it all better.
I have also developed a theory about book 4 in a series being indicative of whether the author should keep going or should have stuck to a trilogy since book 4 seems to be where things start going hairy if the author is just over egging the pudding.
Am continuing to enjoy the works of Tanya Huff (aided by the fact that I have infected both my family and friends and we are all buying different serieses and swapping them). The Smoke series are still by far my favourate I think because of the humour as much as anything else pets Tony/Lee.
In general I have found her early books are not as good as her later ones (which is actually the opposite for many authors where I prefer their earlier novels) but it is really interesting/funny to see some of the themes that are developed in later works in their early stages. I found the space marines fun and am looking forward to where that is going. I am enjoying the Quarters books which in many ways remind me of the Valdimar books but without the OMG!Emo! and with better realised characters. And yes I wuv Vanyal in his bishi-esque angst (and dude - why is that not an anime because it would just work so well. It has everything: pretty, angst and death!) but the Bards are just so much less... humm, tragic-y (so far anyway).
I am waiting for amazon to provide me with more Huff, some slash-with-serial-numbers-filed-off and book 1 of Nightrunner and my parents with book 4 of Temeraire (which I can then borrow). Plus the new Lord John book is out so I am planning to get my grubby hands in that (Lord John/Highlander crossover, someone... please!).
Having said that the one book that came into my posession recently was My Dearest Holmes (It is nice to see they have shifted the prices - for a while someone was wanting £150, I think a decimal might have got lost). Given it is two very short stories I am not sure it is worth the £15 but it is definately worth the fiver (whoever gets there first).
It would be unfair to say that this is the closest I have seen to professionally published slash fic... mainly because it is professionally published slash fic and not done for the funny. It was published in 1988 (which makes it even more impressive) and follows Holmes and Watson (although more Watson) through two cases, the later being the Reichenbach falls incident. The books are in many respects totally tame (there isn't any on-page sex and it is possible to read Watson's feelings as unrequited if you squint a bit) because it is written in a way that feels to me very much right for the style and characters.
As with Lord John and the Private Matter, it is the setting that I really enjoyed with this book, while fitting in with the Holmes canon (and explaining away at least one of Watson's marriages and the John/James thing with his name), incorperating the social obsticles of the period. The earlier story, set in 1885, brings in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill and the threat of Section 11. In the second story, set later during Holmes' final dance with Moriarty, we have Watson having taken advice in the earlier story to safeguard his (and by extension Holmes') reputation. A very oblique reference is made to the Wilde case and Lord Alfred Douglas even has a passing cameo (he is identified to Watson at a 'club').
Anyway, a definate recommendation is you can get hold of a copy.
I am just about getting over the fact that my lungs apparently wish to take flight and depart my body. Despite this we went to see the fireworks at kludge's work last weekend with jhava. The fireworks were rather good and started out on a very sci-fi theme before becoming more last night at the proms. As well as the normal wizz-bang-Ooooooh fireworks there were a number of more ground based, light up ones which did battle with other fireworks. Thus we saw Martian war machines lay waste to houses, and X-wing and a Tie-Fighter (?) battle it and and Flash Gordon lauch his assult on his little hover bike. It was rather cool and beeing a geeky type I was most amused.
The next day was my Geek-Daughter's baptism. Didn't pay very much attention during the service (partly because I had just got My Dearest Holmes and I wanted to know if they were going to get it together) but was quite bemused by Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Helped out at the post-baby dunking party by manning the bar. I am not sure if this was so I would infect as many people as possible or as few. It also had the advantage that I didn't have to talk to a whole bunch of religious people I didn't know (and I got two bottles of wine as a thank you so total win all around). Went back to Geek-Daughter's afterwards and introduced her to Star Wars (it was on TV at the time) and let her sit on me which was probably a bad plan given my cold but it kept her quiet so other people could make me tea/food and play with my geek-son who was feeling a bit neglected it being his sister's day.
That aside, I have much stuff happening.
Work-wise I am writing a chapater for a book on trust on social networks (OMG!! I got asked to write a chapter in a book!!). This is basically going to be the social networking part of my thesis squooshed together and supporting my agenda for the recognition of communities as distinct sub-groups within social networks which act differently to non-community groups. For far this has meant my staring blindly at my thesis and trying to work out where to start.
I am also putting together a grant proposal which would basically fund further research into everything I was blathering about in my thesis. The good news is that we found out that the person I am doing the proposal with is eligable as a "new" lecturer (technically) so we can apply from a slightly less contested pot of money. Still a bit of a crap shoot but nothing ventured etc.
Having said that I need help thinking up some nice legit, non-controvercial groups who might be interested in community based media description/tagging. Apparently it will look good on our application if we can show many uses beyond "potentially copyright-infringing (gay) porn". So if anyone knows any 'in' people at any of the big, legit electronic/media libraries or anything else similar please let me know. Any suggestions/contacts appriciated.
I have been reading a supprising amount recently given how little dead-tree pro fiction I used to read.
I did not think much of Jasper Fforde's latest. The whole book just made me think two things:
1. My issues, let me show them to you
2. I sat down and thought about how this all works and now I am going to explain it to you
This is a shame since I early enjoyed the early Thursday Next books (the author's distictly odd attitude to fanfic not withstanding). I am hoping that in the next book(s) there will be a nice payoff that this book was set up for which will make it all better.
I have also developed a theory about book 4 in a series being indicative of whether the author should keep going or should have stuck to a trilogy since book 4 seems to be where things start going hairy if the author is just over egging the pudding.
Am continuing to enjoy the works of Tanya Huff (aided by the fact that I have infected both my family and friends and we are all buying different serieses and swapping them). The Smoke series are still by far my favourate I think because of the humour as much as anything else pets Tony/Lee.
In general I have found her early books are not as good as her later ones (which is actually the opposite for many authors where I prefer their earlier novels) but it is really interesting/funny to see some of the themes that are developed in later works in their early stages. I found the space marines fun and am looking forward to where that is going. I am enjoying the Quarters books which in many ways remind me of the Valdimar books but without the OMG!Emo! and with better realised characters. And yes I wuv Vanyal in his bishi-esque angst (and dude - why is that not an anime because it would just work so well. It has everything: pretty, angst and death!) but the Bards are just so much less... humm, tragic-y (so far anyway).
I am waiting for amazon to provide me with more Huff, some slash-with-serial-numbers-filed-off and book 1 of Nightrunner and my parents with book 4 of Temeraire (which I can then borrow). Plus the new Lord John book is out so I am planning to get my grubby hands in that (Lord John/Highlander crossover, someone... please!).
Having said that the one book that came into my posession recently was My Dearest Holmes (It is nice to see they have shifted the prices - for a while someone was wanting £150, I think a decimal might have got lost). Given it is two very short stories I am not sure it is worth the £15 but it is definately worth the fiver (whoever gets there first).
It would be unfair to say that this is the closest I have seen to professionally published slash fic... mainly because it is professionally published slash fic and not done for the funny. It was published in 1988 (which makes it even more impressive) and follows Holmes and Watson (although more Watson) through two cases, the later being the Reichenbach falls incident. The books are in many respects totally tame (there isn't any on-page sex and it is possible to read Watson's feelings as unrequited if you squint a bit) because it is written in a way that feels to me very much right for the style and characters.
As with Lord John and the Private Matter, it is the setting that I really enjoyed with this book, while fitting in with the Holmes canon (and explaining away at least one of Watson's marriages and the John/James thing with his name), incorperating the social obsticles of the period. The earlier story, set in 1885, brings in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill and the threat of Section 11. In the second story, set later during Holmes' final dance with Moriarty, we have Watson having taken advice in the earlier story to safeguard his (and by extension Holmes') reputation. A very oblique reference is made to the Wilde case and Lord Alfred Douglas even has a passing cameo (he is identified to Watson at a 'club').
Anyway, a definate recommendation is you can get hold of a copy.
I am just about getting over the fact that my lungs apparently wish to take flight and depart my body. Despite this we went to see the fireworks at kludge's work last weekend with jhava. The fireworks were rather good and started out on a very sci-fi theme before becoming more last night at the proms. As well as the normal wizz-bang-Ooooooh fireworks there were a number of more ground based, light up ones which did battle with other fireworks. Thus we saw Martian war machines lay waste to houses, and X-wing and a Tie-Fighter (?) battle it and and Flash Gordon lauch his assult on his little hover bike. It was rather cool and beeing a geeky type I was most amused.
The next day was my Geek-Daughter's baptism. Didn't pay very much attention during the service (partly because I had just got My Dearest Holmes and I wanted to know if they were going to get it together) but was quite bemused by Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Helped out at the post-baby dunking party by manning the bar. I am not sure if this was so I would infect as many people as possible or as few. It also had the advantage that I didn't have to talk to a whole bunch of religious people I didn't know (and I got two bottles of wine as a thank you so total win all around). Went back to Geek-Daughter's afterwards and introduced her to Star Wars (it was on TV at the time) and let her sit on me which was probably a bad plan given my cold but it kept her quiet so other people could make me tea/food and play with my geek-son who was feeling a bit neglected it being his sister's day.