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November 7th, 2009
rolanni
 | 06:19 pm - And so it begins, again
I need me a Ghost Ship icon.
We have reports that Fledgling is landing in the UK and in Australia. We do have a couple more Found Souls to get back into the mail, but for most intents and purposes, all of the subscriber books have been mailed. Remember! In the US, they are traveling by Media Mail, which may take up to 21 days to reach its intended destination.
The snow has been melting steadily all day, though it's not all gone, yet. A warm, sunny day tomorrow should take care of the rest.
We have nailed down and passed on our itinerary for travel to Oasis 33 in May. We'll be staying over a couple days after the con to do what promotion we may, and also to be tourists on a very minor scale. We may have to have a bake sale in order to support this adventure. Stay tuned.
Most of today was spent right here at the dining room table. As soon as I finish this blog entry, I am going to rise from my chair and go into the kitchen to do the dishes. And that will be the sum of my labors for the day.
What did y'all do that was fun and exciting -- or, failing that, useful or profitable?
Progress on Ghost Ship
Her working theory that Val Con was six whiskers short of a kitten had been shaken by the fact that someone she knew to be solidly sensible -- in particular, their shared father, even now escorting her to her ship -- seemed to accept this plan as a pattern-card of conservative action.
Current Location: the dining room table
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/creative.gif) creative
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larpers
[unmortal_mind]
| 04:43 pm - Ozarks LARP Event Calendar (November / December)
The November & December Calendar for LARPs in the Ozarks region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma) has been posted.
Our usual caveats: -
- Game/Event missing for November or December? Leave a comment
- Games / Events (for your group) coming up in January 2010 or February 2010? Leave a comment.
- Blog or LJ Community that we should forward this announcement to? Leave a comment.
Blog Community @ ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ozarks_larp
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media_junkie
 | 01:12 pm - I Can Not Believe This
Could someone explain to me why I have bluebooks, lab reports etc. from rayinhawaii's ex-brother-in-law? Or rather had, since that was the easiest chuck it decision of the move so far. This is insane.
Back to work - sigh - MJ
Books: Sideways in Crime/All Those Moments/The Best Time Travel Stories of All Time
Movies: oh sure, like I have the time for that
Soundtrack: someone is screaming on Pandora...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/confused.gif) confused
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cathyr19355
 | 11:48 am - Around the Home and Town
For many months, my house has suffered from a strange leak onto the ceiling above the basement window. (This matters more than you might think--I have a full, finished basement that we use as a kind of recreation room.) It usually (but not always) materialized when we had a long, soaking rain, sometimes (but only sometimes) coming in badly enough to soak the ceiling tile and wet the windowsill below (which is already looking the worse for wear--sigh).
This morning, I had two guys my regular Handyman Guy ecommended come in to look at it. It appears that there's something called a "toilet vent pipe" that connects to this area and has a cracked gasket. There's also a crack in the area around my chimney also (something Handyman Guy had put in a temporary fix on in order to halt the leak in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) esrblog's office). They can fix both pretty cheaply next week. Yay!
In other news, my neighbor down the block now has his turkeys and Pilgrims in place for Thanksgiving.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/relieved.gif) relieved
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yunafonfabre
 | 10:50 am - Meme from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) contradictacat
Rules:
Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions
1. What is your favorite LARP that you've played in?
Masks. I had almost given up on the weekend-long format after some bad experiences, but this one convinced me. I got to play a Captain Ersatz of the Flash, probably my #3 favorite superhero (after the Question and Sailormars). The character's backstory was rich and detailed and I felt like I knew where I was at all times. Possibly most importantly, there wasn't that Cloud of Suspicion that usually covers LARPs ... everyone started out perfectly willing to talk to one another casually, making it easy to maintain suspension of disbelief.
2. Why do you like Bester so much?
DEAR GOD THAT MAN IS SEXY. I know I don't normally go for guys, but ... he has that whole soft-dominant thing down to such a fucking science. I mean, wow. Just, wow. (Hey, YOU ASKED!)
3. If you had a million dollars of PURELY discretionary money, how would you spend it?
Debts. House. Electrolysis. Better computer system. Huge freaking party. Savings. In that order. Quite frankly I think a million dollars might well be enough to support me for the rest of my life.
4. Where would you most like to live, if you couldn't live here?
No question in my mind -- Salem. If I was able to drive safely and housing prices were more reasonable I might seriously consider moving there anyway ... but never anywhere farther than that. Barring occasional short vacations I seriously plan never to get more than a hundred miles from Boston again in my entire life.
5. What's one book you've always meant to read and felt bad about not reading?
The Qu'ran. I even own a rather nice translation, but I just can't force myself to sit down and do it.
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rolanni
 | 09:41 am - Saturday before work
Thanks to everyone for the anniversary congratulations. Onward, to thirty!
For those interested in alternative publishing schemes, especially the variations on the Storyteller's Bowl, an article in PBS' MediaShift, featuring attempts by Stephen King, John Scalzi, Tim Pratt, and Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
Looks like a pretty day out. I think I'll do some writing.
Current Location: the dining room table
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/awake.gif) well-rested
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kinzel
 | 09:29 am - Always expect a train ...
I know, I haven't been carrying my weight on the "always expect a train" thread of late -- and that's a shame because I think
trains and railroads need more respect. Not only do i use them to get around, but a lot of commerce up our way depend on them... and
too many people walk the track like they are sidewalks, which they are not, by golly.
meanwhile, this rather sad note about what some pathetic creatures have done to a railroad museum --
http://www.courant.com/community/windham/hc-train-museum-vandal-1105-update,0,6765498.story
A reminder -- we will be traveling by train to Oasis next May -- hope to see some of you at the con...
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sulisathena
 | 06:07 am
Last night we went to Quaregnon to sign papers on the flat. Yeah! We get the key's at 16 hundred next Friday and can move in on Saturday.
They still have to fix the light fixtures, as in replace them since the last tenant took everything down to the wires. It was seriously bizzare, but apparently that is par the course here.
After that we met up with Tom and Mary, a couple of BITS System people that we will live a block over and down from, for a beer and dinner.
The beer was a Saison, it was handcrafted at the St. Fauillies brewery. 6.5 % alcohol content, light amber. barely a taste of hops, smelled of apricots. Was delcious.
For dinner we left the Cophenhaagen and went to Le Bucher.
The menu was on a framed slate and in French, of course, so eatting was at our own parrel.
John chose le beuf and a potato, as did Tom and Mary.
I chose steak tartar and fritis. The waitress was kind enough to tell me that it was raw steak. It was delcious.
After dinner we walked around the small fair that was set up in the grand plaz.
A Mother's folly
( Read more... )
The Return of the Cat
( Read more... )
Some observences
( Read more... )
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November 6th, 2009
londo
 | 06:41 pm
For those who missed it and wished they didn't, J. Michael "I Created Babylon 5 And Technically Other Things Too" Straczynski's lecture at MIT from earlier this year is now online.
http://www.babylonpodcast.com/2009/09/13/jms-mit-lecture-back-online/
Tangentially related, since all three of them worked on the show at various points - I've heard a rumor there exists a video of the Ellison/Gaiman/David lecture in 2001. laura47, do you know anything about this? I'd love a copy.
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aurachad
 | 06:21 pm - What's Wrong?
What's wrong you ask? What's wrong?
I don't know where to start.
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londo
| 03:02 pm
Worth reading if you're into this sort of thing:
Why do we have an IMG element?
On February 25, 1993, Marc Andreessen wrote</a>:
I’d like to propose a new, optional HTML tag:
IMG
Required argument is SRC="url".
This names a bitmap or pixmap file for the browser to attempt to pull over the network and interpret as an image, to be embedded in the text at the point of the tag’s occurrence.
An example is:
<IMG SRC="file://foobar.com/foo/bar/blargh.xbm">
(There is no closing tag; this is just a standalone tag.)
This tag can be embedded in an anchor like anything else; when that happens, it becomes an icon that’s sensitive to activation just like a regular text anchor.
Browsers should be afforded flexibility as to which image formats they support. Xbm and Xpm are good ones to support, for example. If a browser cannot interpret a given format, it can do whatever it wants instead (X Mosaic will pop up a default bitmap as a placeholder).
This is required functionality for X Mosaic; we have this working, and we’ll at least be using it internally. I’m certainly open to suggestions as to how this should be handled within HTML; if you have a better idea than what I’m presenting now, please let me know. I know this is hazy wrt image format, but I don’t see an alternative than to just say “let the browser do what it can” and wait for the perfect solution to come along (MIME, someday, maybe).
The article continues for some time, and is a neat little peek into how these things work(ed).
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anthro_geek
 | 02:14 pm - Free Forum for/about Part-Time Faculty this Saturday November 7th
Hey all! Hopefully everyone has seen this info already, but if not...
This Saturday November 7th there is a free forum on part-time faculty being held at Busboys and Poets in DC (1025 5th Street, NW WDC) from 9 am to 12 noon.
It is open to anyone interested in the issues regarding part-time faculty at colleges anywhere.
Details at http://www.seiu500cal.org/
Please send this info along to anyone who may be interested in this topic. If you don't get a chance to sign up, just show up!
Thanks!
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tacnukesoul
 | 01:30 pm - [Indirect Posting] Throttle Back there, highspeed...
I can't see lj from work, but just in case people have gone all nutjob
over the Ft Hood shooting, here are some hard facts to remember:
http://www.frumforum.com/the-shootings-at-fort-hood
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rolanni
 | 12:45 pm - As if today wasn't already chock full of excitement...
...there's more!
SRM Publisher, Ltd has today made available on its website Dragon's Bones by James A. Hetley (our own jhetley).
Those of you familiar with Jim's work will not want to miss this novelette set in Stonefort, Maine. Those who have seen Jim's novels in bookstores (and also available through the SRM website here and here), but haven't wanted to commit to a longer work without knowing a little something about about the author's work -- this is your chance to take a taste -- and a toothsome mouthful it is.
Current Location: sshhh...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/excited.gif) excited
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larpers
[unmortal_mind]
| 12:10 pm - New England LARP Event Calendar (November / December)
The November & December Calendar for LARPs in New England has been posted.
Our usual caveats: -
- Game/Event missing for November or December? Leave a comment
- Games / Events (for your group) coming up in January 2010 or February 2010? Leave a comment.
- Blog or LJ Community that we should forward this announcement to? Leave a comment.
Blog Community @ ne_larp
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interconlarp
[unmortal_mind]
| 10:13 am - Room-share at Intercon J?
I posted a similar question last year.
I'll post the question and make the offer again this year.
1) The con rate for the rooms at the hotel is based on an occupancy of 2.
2) I typically attend Intercon as a coterie of 1.
3) Tentative travel plans are from Thursday - Sunday or Thursday - Monday
So, I'm wondering if anyone wants to do a room-share (ie. split the cost of a room (or suite) at the Radisson).
crossposted to ne_larp
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eddyfate
 | 09:59 am - [Head To Keyboard] 5 things to avoid if you want your submission considered
I've been kicking around the idea of doing an irregular column of writing advice called "Head To Keyboard" (or HTK for short), basically talking about things that annoy me about being a writer or an editor. I wasn't sure if it would be part of the blogcast or part of this blog, but more and more my blog is about writing anyhow, so I decided to start doing it here.
After two years of handling the White Wolf slush pile, as well as several more years submitting my work to various publishers, I keep running into five things that people keep doing that doesn't help them one bit in getting published. This isn't secret knowledge, arcane information or even sage advice, but people keep screwing it up over and over and over again, so I thought it's stuff probably worth repeating.
Five Things To Avoid
1. Ignoring submission guidelines. The company you want to write for has them there for a reason. Not only does not following the guidelines automatically irritate the slush pile reader (which won't incline him to regard your submission with any particular sympathy), but there may also be legal aspects that need to be followed before your submission can be considered. Even if you get bored and stop reading this blog now, take this piece of advice with you: follow the damned submission guidelines.
2. Talking shit on the Internet. More and more editors will do a Google search on your name to find out more about you. If they find your forum posts and tweets and blogs about how stupid the editor's company is and what horrible products they produce, you'll get a form rejection. Further, editors do talk to each other, and word gets around. You don't have to be in love with everything that a company produces, but posting it for public view on the Internet won't help your long-term prospects.
3. Having special needs. Love it or hate it, Microsoft Word is the standard -- I have run into few companies that don't assume it as the default format (though RTF is a close second), and never met a company that won't accept it at all. If you want to make money as a writer, get Microsoft Word. If you simply can't, get some software that can convert your documents to Microsoft Word and read Word comments and markup (OpenOffice 3 is good, usable on all three main OS formats, and is free). If you absolutely insist on submitting your magnum opus in Microsoft Works or WordPerfect, I hope you enjoy being rejected unread.
4. Using generic submissions. Take a few minutes before you submit and read up on the company you're submitting to. Get the editor's name right. Specify what product you're submitting for. Make sure the company you're submitting to is even accepting submissions for your kind of manuscript. If you don't care enough about the publisher to get a few details right, odds are they won't care enough to publish you.
5. Plagiarizing your material. Seriously, don't do this. Again, one Google search will find you out. If you need to quote, quote and give credit. But that shit didn't fly in high school, and it won't fly now. And as more and more people read your work, eventually someone's going to notice something odd and out you.
I'm not kidding when I say that simply not doing these five things will get you much further in the slush pile.
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rolanni
 | 08:46 am - Well, that was a surprise
Five inches, more or less, of sticky, heavy snow on the overnight at our house. It's very pretty, with the trees all flocked in white, though I fear for some of the branches, especially in the trees that haven't lost their leaves yet.
Steve cleared my car for me (see heavy snow), and off I went to town on roads that were intermittently icy and slushy, just the sort of conditions in which the late, unlamented Nissan would squirrel. Nary a wibble from the new car, not one. Little green Subaru for the win!
Not much use deploying the rolling cart today, so I stripped down to the purple purse and the lunch box, which worked out fine until I got to my office and realized that I had neglected to bring shoes. Sigh.
Giant Freaking Robot has some nice things to say about the Liaden Universe® in general.
Last night after physical therapy -- which is going well, by the way. Yesterday was my second session after the initial evaluation. I admit I thought Hard Thoughts about Matt on Tuesday, the day after my first session; but I forgave him on Wednesday. Today, I'm not completely happy with him, but -- more mobility, less pain. Whatever he's doing, it's working.
So, after physical therapy, came home and retired to ice my knee in the comfy chair, where I was shortly joined by Mozart and Hexapuma. I got a start, via yellow pad and pen, on Ghost Ship -- sketching in the first scene. It feels good in terms of direction and dialog. Of course, I still have to put in all that pesky stage stuff, but that'll come when I'm at the keyboard.
Today is the 29th anniversary of Steve and I Doing the Legal, and! the sun has just come out.
The two are not, I think, related.
Current Location: sshhh...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/okay.gif) okay
Current Music: ought to put some music on, actually...
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londo
| 12:58 am
Is Dreamhost just friggin' awesome? Because as-is, it looks like it gives me virtually everything for $9-11 bucks a month. Which is pretty cool.
Or is web hosting just ridiculously cheap nowadays?
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