* ape wanders in for some tea and ginger snaps *
Good evening, all! Back working now that the holidays are over. Fun, wow. Weather has been kind of blah here. I'd almost take (almost, that is) a good, honest snowstorm over this kind of middling, not quite but sort of winter crap. Makes everything all slushy and mucky.
Glad you had a great birthday, Sara.
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Crazy old ape
Quote by gypsy
'If the aliens lay eggs, how does that affect architecture?': sci-fi writers on how they build their worlds
Interesting article in The Guardian on the world building topic.
And some great insight from the various sci-fi writers interviewed.
So this might be of interest and help those of us who are a bit uncertain (me, for example), of what world building can entail.
That's an impressive list of writers. I read Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice (never got around to the rest of the trilogy) and what an impressive universe she built for that. Transhumanism, space opera, military sf, and even a bit of cyberpunk. The main character is an AI downloaded into a human body. They used to be the brain of an entire ship but shit went down and they ended up with the body of one of their soldiers. Have not read any Reynolds yet, but have heard good things about him in sf circles. Also does transhuman space opera.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
Cool. Did not know he was also an artist. I remember seeing that one in shops. Very nice.
My earliest memory: Having kittens in the basement when I was 4. My uncle, who lived with us until he got married, had brought home a stray and she turned out to be pregnant. We kept one for ourselves and gave up the mother and the rest for adoption. Miss Purr, the one we kept, lived until I got my Master's, basically 20 years.
Crazy old ape
Wow, after basically turning their backs on the music industry in 1992, including deleting their back catalogue, The KLF (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, aka King Boy D and Rockman Rock) returned on New Year's Eve, posting several of their old videos to YouTube and releasing a greatest hits EP to streaming.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Survivor
There is snow on the ground and ice on the sidewalks. Victor was not happy about that. His feet are delicate.
The beagle we had when I was a teen quite enjoyed winter and snow. Would plow through deep snow, shoving his head into snow banks to sniff.
Crazy old ape
Quote by magnificent1rascal
Works from 1925, including “The Great Gatsby,” “Mrs. Dalloway” and others, just entered public domain. Learn more at [url=https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2021/?fbclid=IwAR0bzS9TTlUBYHc8pKfCNDABCoWvy4-1h3x3llQxp76Yvw1J1i35QMnUNGY][b]Public Domain Day 2021[/url].
Damn, so probably five more years for Werewolf of Paris. I am so wanting to do something for this challenge and so challenged to find something PD that engages me. Been toying with Phantom of the Opera lately, but I know that's because I've fallen madly in love with Nightwish's cover of the title song from Lloyd-Webber's musical and that may colour how I handle it.
Crazy old ape
Ah, champagne cookies. Can you toast the New Year with a champagne glass cookie? A bottle and couple glasses should go nicely with my lemon tea.
Hope people had a happy and safe celebration last night. We just ordered takeout from a favorite local eatery (Viet-Thai) and left it at that. Dozed off well before midnight, even.
So, welcome to 2021!
Hope people had a happy and safe celebration last night. We just ordered takeout from a favorite local eatery (Viet-Thai) and left it at that. Dozed off well before midnight, even.
So, welcome to 2021!
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
3. This is the last day of 2020.
4. In three weeks, the US of A will get a new President.
And it's a toss-up as to which one we are celebrating more.
Morning tea, please. Need lots of caffeine if I am going to make it to midnight (and I usually do not anymore).
Happy New Year!!!!!!
Crazy old ape
Quote by gillianleeza
It's going to be a rainy New Year's Eve here, the same weather we had for Christmas. No plans just a quiet night making a simple dinner and finding a movie to watch or a series to binge.
Not looking great here but all the local events are virtual anyhow so probably does not matter much. Our New Year's Eve tradition, watching the Air Farce (Canadian comedy troupe), came to an end with last year's show. The group started back in the seventies and the two remaining original members decided to call it a day (the other original members had all died prior to that). So not sure what we will do.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
His kindness has inspired me to add 'A Winter's Tale' to my sig line.
It is a terrific story, Bill. Really enjoyed it.
Rainy here, possibly turning to freezing rain, sleet, snow, and God knows what else. IOW, yucky, to use Sara's term.
Working on a story but I'm kind of running in place. Believe it or not, I'm hung up on a simple one paragraph description of a character.
More tea is needed, perhaps.
Crazy old ape
Quote by DenimAngel
It was hard to pick a favorite but I'm go with Star Trek Voyager... Some espiodes werent great but it was fun to watch the characters develop over time.
I've watched tons of Star Trek series and the movies..
I never got into Voyager. Watched a bit of the first season and it just did not click with me. I should give it another whirl now that Netflix has it. I did like Captain Janeway (I liked Kate Mulgrew in general, really).
Crazy old ape
Depends on the story.
For modern stories, I tend to use my own creation, Eversham. Guess building your own city is something I picked up from being a fantasy writer as well as various sources, like comics (Gotham and Metropolis) and H. P. Lovecraft's horror. Eversham is a mashup of the three cities I have lived and I visualize being Southwest of here, probably replacing Chatham-Kent on the map. Lets me steal various memories and fit them together better than if I took a real place and started messing around. That's assuming stories that fit this region. I can also draw on my travels if I want to set a story someplace foreign.
For fantasy, of course, I have a fantasy world in progress with a collection of notes. I have already cooked up several locations in that world that I can use.
For modern stories, I tend to use my own creation, Eversham. Guess building your own city is something I picked up from being a fantasy writer as well as various sources, like comics (Gotham and Metropolis) and H. P. Lovecraft's horror. Eversham is a mashup of the three cities I have lived and I visualize being Southwest of here, probably replacing Chatham-Kent on the map. Lets me steal various memories and fit them together better than if I took a real place and started messing around. That's assuming stories that fit this region. I can also draw on my travels if I want to set a story someplace foreign.
For fantasy, of course, I have a fantasy world in progress with a collection of notes. I have already cooked up several locations in that world that I can use.
Crazy old ape
No yuck here. Been sunny for a good chunk of the day, if a bit cold (Hey, it's Southern Ontario in December. There's a reason my family would normally being in a resort or on a cruise right now.)
Quiet afternoon. Got some reading in, including Rump's latest (two thumbs up). No writing today. Seem to be a bit stalled after some real progress yesterday.
Afternoon tea and some of those butterscotch mallow bars.
Quiet afternoon. Got some reading in, including Rump's latest (two thumbs up). No writing today. Seem to be a bit stalled after some real progress yesterday.
Afternoon tea and some of those butterscotch mallow bars.
Crazy old ape
Quote by gillianleeza
I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Mine was very quiet. This was the first time we had no one over. It was a little strange. Our two oldest sons and their partners had various exposures to Covid so they were all quarantining. The youngest is still in Germany with his girlfriend.
I'm feeling better physically but still can't muster up much energy to do or care about much. It's not a great feeling, but I am trying and have started on a new medication regiment.
Here's to hoping the new year brings better times.
Cheers!
We had a quiet one, too. Christmas dinner was homecooked kung pao chicken (which is fine with me since I have grown less fond of turkey in the past decade or so).
Glad you're getting better and hope that continues.
Seconded about the New Year.
Kettle is on. Anyone for tea or hot chocolate?
Crazy old ape
Quote by DenimAngel
Scamp Adventure is chattering in my head but doesn't want to get on the screen.
Oh, that is the worst kind of writer's block. You have an idea in your head that you just know will work but you just can't get on to the screen/page in way that works.
And blackberry cookies sounds just perfect right now. * scarfs a couple *
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Good topic, Mendalla. They got me to thinking about Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' the flat planet resting on the backs of four elephanbts standing on a giant turtle hurtling through space. Within that framework, he developed different lands, technologies, cultures, races, and species. Some of them are at least sorta human others less so: trolls, dwarfs, igors, along with vampires and werewolves who swing both ways, so to speak. among others. Obviously, I'm a big fan.
Strangely, I have never read much Pratchett, even though my late buddy Mike was a huge fan and I did read and love Good Omens, which Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman (of whom I am a big fan). Of course, world-building is one of Gaiman's fortes as anyone who has read American Gods (he wrote the novels and is an executive producer on the TV show) or the Sandman comic series knows. Gaiman is, IMHO, required reading for anyone planning to write fantasy in the 21st century. His works are so far beyond the "medieval people on a quest" stories that have been the stereotype since Lord of the Rings came out and go into some amazing worlds. Even his nominally children's-YA novel Coraline (it's one of those kid's novels that adults can enjoy, too) has some incredible world-building going on.
I am still toying with the societal and tech level of my world. I don't really want the usual quasi-medieval fantasy and I seem to be leaning more and more into Renaissance with a classical touch. For instance, the character in the story I started today plays a harpsichord (I use the Franco-Spanish name clavecin just for flavour), which is late Medieval to Renaissance in origin.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
It's main claim to fame is possibly being the only Stories Space story with 'goldfish' among its tags.
Now I feel challenged, Rump.
I am working on something but not sure what, yet. it is one of those stories I come up with all too often where I have a scene in my head, write it, but then am not sure where the plot goes from there. So I've written the bit I had, now I'm meditating on the plot. It is set in my fantasy world so will definitely be in that genre or an adjacent one like Supernatural.
A bit grey here. Most people outside of retail are off today since Boxing Day was a Saturday. We are in a province-wide lockdown so that's quieted things down anyway. New Year's Eve is going to be virtual, I guess. Fireworks with only TV cameras watching and things like that.
Kettle is on.
Crazy old ape
Quote by gffphann
The Next Generation. Not every episode was great, but I have watched most of them more than once. The first encounter with the Borg in the Q Who? episode was when the show (to me) started to find the right formula.
Yep, that sounds about right. Took about two seasons to find its stride, but seasons 3-5 were simply some of the best s-f on television ever. 6-7 slacked off a bit but still better than 1-2 or season 3 of the original.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
BTW: Congrats to Inspirations and to its founding father, Scott (Mandala) for getting it started and keeping it going onto its 100th page..
* bows *
I had a lot of help. Thanks to all the regulars and the occasional visitors, too. Especially to the now-warm and toasty Sara and her cookies.
No writing happening here. Ideas dancing around my head but lacking the inclination to put them down on bits and bytes for some reason. We shall see. I was hoping to get one out while I'm on my holiday vacation since we didn't go away this year.
Getting late so a green tea and couple cookies would be in order.
Crazy old ape
Another favorite of mine is West Side Story. With music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, it is musically one of the finest shows I have ever seen or heard.
Here's the actor who played Tony in a recent production appearing on NPR's Live From Here with one of his big numbers
Here's the actor who played Tony in a recent production appearing on NPR's Live From Here with one of his big numbers
Crazy old ape
I learned this morning that we lost Broadway star Rebecca Luker at the too-young age of 59. Her Broadway debut was in one of my all-time favorite shows, Andrew Lloyd-Webber's magnificent The Phantom of the Opera, where she understudied Sarah Brightman for the role of Christine before taking it on herself after Sarah left the Broadway production.
Here she is with her Phantom, Steve Barton, in the title song.
Here she is with her Phantom, Steve Barton, in the title song.
Crazy old ape
Picked up extra Christmas goodies to supplement Sara's seasonal cookies.
Kettle is on for tea and hot chocolate.
Looking like it will be a bit dubious weather-wise here. Grey and rainy, then turning to snow. We'll have a white Christmas, it seems, but not crazy about how we're getting there. Oh well, yesterday was lovely so we went for a walk along the river. Latest in the year I have been down there. They don't maintain the paths, parking, or facilities in the riverside parks after Thanksgiving (Canadian) so it's usually snowbound by now.
Kettle is on for tea and hot chocolate.
Looking like it will be a bit dubious weather-wise here. Grey and rainy, then turning to snow. We'll have a white Christmas, it seems, but not crazy about how we're getting there. Oh well, yesterday was lovely so we went for a walk along the river. Latest in the year I have been down there. They don't maintain the paths, parking, or facilities in the riverside parks after Thanksgiving (Canadian) so it's usually snowbound by now.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
I I believe that they are still the only rock band to ever have been permitted to play inside the Abbey.
What, the Abbey doesn't have a "praise band"?
Now, if I ever got to a concert in the Abbey, I'd want to hear an organ recital. They have a beautiful organ there.