July 7th, 2025
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 10:12am on 07/07/2025 under
2004: Labour spares no effort to liberate Britons from human rights, UKIP's electoral successes surely do not reflect fundamental flaws in the British psyche, and London voters are heartbroken to discover the Livingstone who was just elected mayor isn’t the Livingstone who co-wrote the Fighting Fantasy books.

Poll #33332 Clarke Award Finalists 2004
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34


Which 2004 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
19 (55.9%)

Coalescent by Stephen Baxter
5 (14.7%)

Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
14 (41.2%)

Maul by Tricia Sullivan
4 (11.8%)

Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones
2 (5.9%)

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
14 (41.2%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.


Which 2004 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
Coalescent by Stephen Baxter
Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
Maul by Tricia Sullivan

Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
chickenfeet: (penguin)
posted by [personal profile] chickenfeet at 07:52am on 07/07/2025
lauradi7dw: fountain pen in hand with paper (writing)
Having one universal language (the one I'm a native speaker of, as it happens) would be a disaster culturally, but would require less homework.
BTS member Kim Namjoon posted a short video a few hours ago (while I was asleep, probably) saying that he had landed safely in LA. He started in English, flipped to Korean, flipped back to English to explain that he was cutting things short because he spilled water on the microphone. It sounded OK to me, but whatever.
Five hours after it was posted there were comments in many languages, but this one jumped out at me
"El jet lag es terrible." Yes, it is. He looked exhausted. I could read the next sentence that was full of not-English because I know a tiny bit of Spanish (basically the commenter told him to get some rest).
I don't know why he's in LA. I could probably find out, but if it's not an official appearance, it's none of my business, something many fans understand but there are others who just can't accept it. There was an incident the other day in Paris when a group of people stormed the hotel of another group member, resulting in a polite request from him to leave him alone and flame wars online between people who do such things and people who are furious that idols (like movie stars, I guess) are treated that way.

Yesterday near the end of service ringing at Old North the head of the historical department popped in to say that there was a senator from Wyoming coming up, and were we almost done? I told her we'd by out as scheduled at 1 PM. We barely had the bells down before he and his entourage showed up. I was disgruntled that such a person was invading my space, but we heard from the educator downstairs about how they deal with any tourist who has a security person/detail, so I have a small bit of indignation available that even someone like that, who voted for the terrible bill* should have to have security to do a simple thing like visit a cool historical site while on vacation.

* https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-statement-on-senate-passage-of-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/
fiachairecht: carmina mora with ravens (carmina)
Title: a path where no one knows
Fandom: Dead by Daylight
Characters/Relationships: Haddie Kaur/Taurie Cain
Rating/Warnings: M, canon-typical horror + gore + character death
Notes: For [community profile] femslashfete #044 'Cursed'
Summary: Taurie experiences her first Trial. Haddie ... helps.

( She can feel her heart, beating faster than it ever had outside the Bleed, adrenaline warm in her veins despite the lingering chill. | read at my fic journal )

Posted by Mike Glyer

By Paul Weimer: Silverlock may be the single most re-read novel-length work of SFF I’ve read, if you count it as a genre novel at all. For this re-read I read the newest ebook edition of the book from NESFA Press. … Continue reading

Posted by Mike Glyer

The unopposed Montréal in 2027 Worldcon bid having hit a rocky patch (“Op-Ed: The Worldcon is in Trouble” and “Op-Ed: Looking Forward to a Great Worldcon 2027 in Montréal”), it seemed a good idea to check on the status of … Continue reading
sovay: (Silver: against blue)
From an apparent radiant in Arcturus, which made it either a straggler of the Boötids or just passing through, just as [personal profile] spatch and I were getting up from our summer-hazed star-watching under the three-quarter moon, we saw a slow fireball of a meteor streak south and westward. All we had seen until then were the familiar blinks of planes and what we less happily took for satellites crawling steadily across the body of Ursa Major. We lay on the granite blocks that were installed six or seven years ago in commemoration of the eighteenth-century farm that became first a field of victory gardens and then the public park where I would spend my childhood sledding in winter and setting off model rockets in summer. The jeweled string of the Boston skyline has built itself considerably up since then. I used to dream of finding a meteorite in a field. It seemed statistically not impossible.
Music:: Of Monsters and Men, "Empire"

Posted by Mike Glyer

The Speculative Literature Foundation will be accepting applications for the 2025 Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds Grants from July 1 through July 31, 2025. Since 2014, the SLF has offered two diversity-centered grants intended to foster the creation of speculative … Continue reading
headstone: ((tgcf) ming yi - manhua)

Some interest was expressed in a writeup of the Rosmei titles I've acquired over the last year, so I wrote up some of my impressions of their books, as well as my experience ordering from each of the two main North American distributors. On my personal site: https://durandal.blog/blog/rosmei/

I don't have comments set up on my blog so feel free to ask questions or discuss under this post. Feel free to suggest any relevant tags, as well.

Posted by Mike Glyer

(1) THE BEST MOVIES SINCE THE YEAR 2000. The New York Times polled people from the industry to compile its list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”. Gift link bypasses the paywall. Between streaming services and superhero … Continue reading
July 6th, 2025
lauradi7dw: Orange t-shirt, white mask (Orange)
posted by [personal profile] lauradi7dw at 09:40pm on 06/07/2025
I spent Tuesday-Thursday with Flo, B, and the babies.
I was with them about 11 hours a day, but spent the nights with a friend, who also lives alone in a house. She plans eventually to convert what is now her upholstery workshop into a downstairs bedroom when she becomes unable to use the stairs, so she's ahead of me in that regard.
Most of the time I was holding babies, but while the family was at a lactation specialist appointment, I went for a walk in a nice (public) woodland and was chomped on very much by mosquitos. When I got back home I couldn't find my anti-itch ointment. It must be in the house somewhere, but no luck so far. It's not like it's the only thing I've lost, but the timing was unfortunate. I smeared on some hand sanitizer instead, something I've been doing from time to time - it makes the alcohol stick on the bites.
summerofhorrorexchange: silhouette of killer (Default)
Hi folks! We have some pinch hit requests for our exchange Summer of Horror that include video games. Fandoms are listed below. Claiming and more info at the post here. Thank you!

PH 3 - Psychonauts (Video Games), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry, Mortal Kombat (Video Games 1992-2020)

PH 15 - Cult of the Lamb (Video Game), Mass Effect Trilogy
full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
Taken on 28 May 2024 at 21:00 US Eastern Daylight Time:

(Warning for flashing lights and shaky camera.)

Cut. )

(Not included: the sound of passing sirens.)

Taken on 9 June 2024 at 07:21 US Eastern Daylight Time:



Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:46 US Eastern Daylight Time:



Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:47 US Eastern Daylight Time:



Taken on 2 July 2025 at 19:43 US Eastern Daylight Time:



This gradually took shape across the parking lot from a local Asian fusion restaurant over 2024; between recovering from Hurricane Ian and the COVID quarantine, changing hands, and changing formats (from the mid-century Cantonese-American the original owners had served for forty years to a pan-Asian combination of sushi, ramen, and Chinese), they’d spent the previous couple years uneasily gaining their bearings.

The garden’s proximity to the street, along with the lack of any obvious receptacle for offerings, makes it clear that this is a more ornamental than devotional site. (A Web search indicates the presence of a local Buddhist temple, but the address is a private residence, and home worship services are for who they’re for, which does not include curiosity-gawking spiritual tourists.)

My guess is that the white-flowering shrubs are Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), aka Confederate Jasmine, Chinese Star Jessamine, and Trader’s Compass, native to warm regions in South and East Asia, and widely planted in the Southeastern U.S. The flowers’ heady indolic fragrance is prized in perfumery, but I’m afraid I haven’t the right sensory range to enjoy them.

Posted by Mike Glyer

By Paweł Ausir Dembowski: Here are the awards given at Bazyliszek – Polcon 2025, Poland’s national SFF convention. Janusz A. Zajdel Award for Best Novel The other finalists were: Janusz A. Zajdel Award for Best Short Story The other finalists … Continue reading
posted by [syndicated profile] file770_feed at 11:01pm on 06/07/2025

Posted by Mike Glyer

Site Selection administrator Kayla Allen today announced the results of the voting for the 2027 Westercon location. Santa Clara (BayCon 2027) was elected on the first ballot. 37 ballots cast1 No Preference36 ballots with preferenceNeeded to elect (majority of votes … Continue reading
polyamships_mod: a pattern of multi-colored hearts against a white background - red, green, blue, sky blue, black. (Default)
dinogrrl: nebula!A (Default)
posted by [personal profile] dinogrrl at 06:05pm on 06/07/2025
Hello wonderful people!

I've got a fantasy story that's set in early 18th-century Venice. I don't speak Italian, and definitely don't know the difference between the various regional dialects, so I'm looking for some help with a nickname in Venetian.

I have a priest who can use magic, who is not exactly a nice guy. Nobody likes to be around him, he's the kind of person you can just tell will erupt like a magic-spewing volcano the moment something doesn't go his way. My main character is ten when she first meets him and has a very visceral Do Not Like reaction to him, comparing him to a pack of rabid dogs. She is not told his name at the time, so in her mind she dubs him Father Mad Dog (creative, I know).

Several years ago I tried to parse "Father Mad Dog" into Italian/Venetian, and I don't know where I came to the conclusion that it'd be "Don Can' Pazzo" but that's what I've been using. I guess somewhere along the line I was under the impression that cane would get shortened to can when used like this. Is any of this correct? Or do I need another phrase entirely?
posted by [syndicated profile] file770_feed at 09:18pm on 06/07/2025

Posted by Mike Glyer

By John Hertz: I’ve been leading Classics of Science Fiction discussions at SF cons for a few decades. At Denvention Ill the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, in 2008, we took up some books from 1958. At the combined Westercon … Continue reading
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] kaberett at 10:20pm on 06/07/2025 under

Reading. Burch + Penman, McMillan-Webster, Wells, Davies + Jones, Hwang Carrant, Keynes + Aidley )

... all of which adds up to more pain-related reading than I felt like I'd managed this week, huh, I thought I had tripped and fallen entirely into Murderbot and EatYourBooks indexing but apparently not!

Writing. A response to the EHRC consultation, which was... several thousand words. A very, very brief response to the Pathways to Work green paper consultation ("I am too disabled to manage doing this properly. These charities are speaking for me. Please fucking listen to them.")

Watching. The first half of Fantasia, with the toddler, with my hand held through all the scary bits to reassure me, apart from the bit that was SO scary that we had to get up and distract ourselves until it was over. Which had absolutely not been flagged as one of the scary bits, and which was the deep-sea-origins-of-life section.

(I had not watched the film since primary school, I don't think? And between then and now I have played a bunch of orchestral music, for most of that time on the violin but latterly as a French horn. It turns out that when I'm not distracted by playing a completely different part, I have incredibly intense sense-memories of several of the pizzicato sections early on...)

Another Murderbot episode. (I continue Indignant.)

Another Farscape episode, this one Taking the Stone (S02E03), which I think was firmly back to early season one levels of incoherence.

Tragically we have not managed The Old Guard 2, because I have had too much migraine and there have been SO many things Happening, but... maybe this week???

Cooking. Several new things! Four from East, leaving me at 41/120 recipes still to make (two of which are "probably won't happen" for reasons of "grapefruit" and "matcha"); of those this week's meal plan includes two (aubergine larb with sticky rice; Vietnamese coconut pancakes). I appreciated the reminder that fried new potatoes are tasty, and A is notably into the chargrilled summer vegetable salad, though I was not a fan of the faff and think I prefer smitten kitchen's charred corn succotash.

Approximately zero faff was salt lassi, and A is now aware that this Special Treat is available; low faff was a cherry clafoutis with fruit from the plot, which I overcooked a bit but, hey, I do in fact like caramelised crunchy bits.

Eating. FIRST BATCH OF DESSERT GOOSEBERRIES ARE RIPE. A tiny handful of Sugar Magnolia sugarsnap peas. Misc jostaberries. RASPBERRIES. And also supermarket strawberries, because we have hit the stage of the summer where they're down to £5 per kilo :)

Growing. I have been doing small bits of harvest and failing to get support structures in for the beans and tomatoes. The outdoor tomatoes have tomatoes on. The squash are coming along; I put more squash seeds in, on the grounds that they're super late but might still do anything; I have not managed to kill all of the chillis; the pepper has flowers.

Harvested lots of dried peas for sowing next year. Am attempting to develop Plans that might actually let me have a full bed of broad beans and a full bed of peas in the interests of getting Reasonable Quantities of them. If the council doesn't tell me I'm not allowed the abandoned plot next door--

I could get so much done if I could coax myself out there for even an hour a day but the agoraphobia is saying No, annoyingly. Gonna try to get A to chase me out more this week.

oursin: Frontispiece from C17th household manual (Accomplisht Lady)
posted by [personal profile] oursin at 07:32pm on 06/07/2025 under ,

No bread made for reasons.

Friday night supper: I was intending having penne with bottled sliced artichoke hearts, except did not appear to have these in store cupboard: did a sauce of blender-whizzed Peppadew Roasted Red Peppers in brine instead.

Saturday breakfast rolls: basic buttermilk, 50:50% strong white/white spelt flour, turned out nicely.

Today's lunch: diced leg of lamb casseroled in white wine with thyme with sweet potato topping, served with buttered spinach and what really were quite tiddly juvenile baby leeks vinaigrette in a dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar, and wholegrain mustard.

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