(no subject)
The Interest Meme
Comment on this post and I will choose seven interests from your profile and ask you to explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
bustix2000 picked the following interests, which I have conveniently placed under a
1. Cyclones Not the atmospheric effects. Rather, the transforming motorcycle/power armour units from the Genesis Climber Mospaeda/Macross Southern Cross TV series. Why are they badass? Just look at the awesome!
2. Deadhouse Gates Book two of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, which is quite possibly one of the best written Fantasy series I've had the pleasure of devouring. This and Memories of Ice are easily two of my favourite works of fiction to have been written by an author who was alive in my time. Seriously. If you're into gritty High Fantasy, go for it. It's got all the stuff you love from High Fantasy like floating castles, dragons, elves (although they're not called Elves), the whole kit and caboodle. Plus, there's the fact that are written in a way that is actually believable, given the seriously in-depth background that the author gives to the series.
3. Malazan The name of the Empire in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. A place of ruthless assassins, hideously powerful wizards, gods stalking the streets in the guise of mortals and soul-crushing bureaucracy, the Malazan Empire is everything that is awesome and realistically wrong with Fantasy Empires rolled into one gigantic mess. Go read these books!
4. Opera I like Operas. Italian and German Operas tend to be my favourite - Leoncvallo, Mascagni, Wagner, Handel and so on - but so long as it sounds good and has a good plot to it, I'm down. Opera manages to combine the best qualities of drama and music and, as I enjoy listening to music that tells a story more than any other sort, it really draws me in. Plus there tends to be a lot of passion, which is what you need in life.
5. Scotch Not the King of Liquors, as you would expect me to say. Not at all. The King of Liquors is a title that would have to go to a particular brand of Scotch, a bottling so rare and wonderful that no other could match it. No other liquor in the world has as much depth of flavour, as comforting a feel, like being with an old friend or someone whose love is evident and returned. Which brand am I speaking of? Well, it depends on who you are. Every whisky drinker will drink a different whisky to the exclusion of all others, and what they drink says a lot about who they are. For Emily, the undisputed King of Scotches is Laphroiag, with it's peaty, smoky nose, medium body and sweet, lingering taste. For Mark, it's Glenfiddich, with it's heathery scents and mild, inoffensive palate. Others prefer Dalwhinnie with it's light, sweet, almost candied flavour and orange-scented nose. For me, though, there is only one whisky, one Scotch, one Liquor that claims - with total legitimacy - the title of King of Liquors. That whisky is Talisker. Fiery, powerful, rough and difficult to get to know. It smells of peat and oak fires, it tastes of cracked black peppercorns and oak boards and burns like the fires of a dwarven forge in your throat. It will throw you through the wall if you don't treat it with respect, it will crush you beneath it's boot if you anger it, but if you treat it well, if you respect it and revere it, take it for only what it is and never ask it to do something it cannot, it will never, ever let you down. It's not a mixing whisky, it's not a whisky you drink on ice or with water. It's nothing fancy, nothing that needs a special glass or specific food pairings. It needs nothing more than a container and a drinker. It needs only the barest necessities, like a man needs only love and respect, to be truly fulfilled. It is simple and stalwart. And that is all anything need be.
6. Swordsmanship Sword fighting is visceral, it's fun, it's exercise. But it's also got a philosophy to it. Watch a sword fight between two people who know what they're doing: There's no wasted movements on either of their behalf. The attacker does not feint needlessly, he does not probe for an opening, does not test his opponent without trying to win entirely with the test. The defender does not parry with wide motions, he does not twirl about as he dodges a blow, he does nothing which would take energy from him so that - when he returns to the offensive - he will not falter when at a critical moment. Both fighters know their limits, both will go to them to win. Neither will go beyond their limits save in the most desperate of moments. That is the lesson in sword fighting. That is why I take pride in my swordsmanship. It's not to say that I'm a great swordsman, but I try.
7. Steven Erikson The finest Canadian author of the last decade and a half. Hands down. This is the man who writes the Malazan series. Go and buy his books. Now. Seriously.
Comment on this post and I will choose seven interests from your profile and ask you to explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
bustix2000 picked the following interests, which I have conveniently placed under a
1. Cyclones Not the atmospheric effects. Rather, the transforming motorcycle/power armour units from the Genesis Climber Mospaeda/Macross Southern Cross TV series. Why are they badass? Just look at the awesome!
2. Deadhouse Gates Book two of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, which is quite possibly one of the best written Fantasy series I've had the pleasure of devouring. This and Memories of Ice are easily two of my favourite works of fiction to have been written by an author who was alive in my time. Seriously. If you're into gritty High Fantasy, go for it. It's got all the stuff you love from High Fantasy like floating castles, dragons, elves (although they're not called Elves), the whole kit and caboodle. Plus, there's the fact that are written in a way that is actually believable, given the seriously in-depth background that the author gives to the series.
3. Malazan The name of the Empire in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. A place of ruthless assassins, hideously powerful wizards, gods stalking the streets in the guise of mortals and soul-crushing bureaucracy, the Malazan Empire is everything that is awesome and realistically wrong with Fantasy Empires rolled into one gigantic mess. Go read these books!
4. Opera I like Operas. Italian and German Operas tend to be my favourite - Leoncvallo, Mascagni, Wagner, Handel and so on - but so long as it sounds good and has a good plot to it, I'm down. Opera manages to combine the best qualities of drama and music and, as I enjoy listening to music that tells a story more than any other sort, it really draws me in. Plus there tends to be a lot of passion, which is what you need in life.
5. Scotch Not the King of Liquors, as you would expect me to say. Not at all. The King of Liquors is a title that would have to go to a particular brand of Scotch, a bottling so rare and wonderful that no other could match it. No other liquor in the world has as much depth of flavour, as comforting a feel, like being with an old friend or someone whose love is evident and returned. Which brand am I speaking of? Well, it depends on who you are. Every whisky drinker will drink a different whisky to the exclusion of all others, and what they drink says a lot about who they are. For Emily, the undisputed King of Scotches is Laphroiag, with it's peaty, smoky nose, medium body and sweet, lingering taste. For Mark, it's Glenfiddich, with it's heathery scents and mild, inoffensive palate. Others prefer Dalwhinnie with it's light, sweet, almost candied flavour and orange-scented nose. For me, though, there is only one whisky, one Scotch, one Liquor that claims - with total legitimacy - the title of King of Liquors. That whisky is Talisker. Fiery, powerful, rough and difficult to get to know. It smells of peat and oak fires, it tastes of cracked black peppercorns and oak boards and burns like the fires of a dwarven forge in your throat. It will throw you through the wall if you don't treat it with respect, it will crush you beneath it's boot if you anger it, but if you treat it well, if you respect it and revere it, take it for only what it is and never ask it to do something it cannot, it will never, ever let you down. It's not a mixing whisky, it's not a whisky you drink on ice or with water. It's nothing fancy, nothing that needs a special glass or specific food pairings. It needs nothing more than a container and a drinker. It needs only the barest necessities, like a man needs only love and respect, to be truly fulfilled. It is simple and stalwart. And that is all anything need be.
6. Swordsmanship Sword fighting is visceral, it's fun, it's exercise. But it's also got a philosophy to it. Watch a sword fight between two people who know what they're doing: There's no wasted movements on either of their behalf. The attacker does not feint needlessly, he does not probe for an opening, does not test his opponent without trying to win entirely with the test. The defender does not parry with wide motions, he does not twirl about as he dodges a blow, he does nothing which would take energy from him so that - when he returns to the offensive - he will not falter when at a critical moment. Both fighters know their limits, both will go to them to win. Neither will go beyond their limits save in the most desperate of moments. That is the lesson in sword fighting. That is why I take pride in my swordsmanship. It's not to say that I'm a great swordsman, but I try.
7. Steven Erikson The finest Canadian author of the last decade and a half. Hands down. This is the man who writes the Malazan series. Go and buy his books. Now. Seriously.