AFKBRBChocolate

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 hour ago

My wife and I moved into our first house together on Halloween, 1995, so that night we drank a bottle of champagne, watched Young Frankenstein, and handed out candy. Every year since then we've done the same thing to celebrate our anniversary of living together, though sometime a different movie. This year, we couldn't find our DVD, so decided to stream it and found what you did. Apparently Disney bought it and for some reason decided not to make it available. Very frustrating.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 hours ago

For those wondering, this appears to be true. Most sites that say it all reference the same person, whose study doesn't seem very scientific, but I found this much more controlled study that did indeed replicate the conclusions.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

That's a good theory. It's long been held that the more population dense area of the country skew liberal because diverse people jammed together learn to understand and get along with each other. You could make an argument that growing up on an internet with unfettered voices expressing themselves would be similar.

But the underlying racism that seems to fuel modern conservatism seems to be growing in all areas. I'm in California, which is about as blue as it gets, but like 40 percent of people voted for Trump.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (7 children)

I've been saying here for ages that the perception of boomers being overwhelmingly right wing and younger generations being overwhelmingly left wing is far, far from accurate. You can look at the demographic data from the prior two elections and see that, yes, there were more conservative boomers than liberal, but it's not a big margin, and for younger generations it was flipped. Now it appears the younger folks are more conservative than liberal.

As a very liberal boomer, it's been frustrating to get so many truly hateful responses, even recently, based on nothing other than the year I was born. I kept feeling like that level of intolerance didn't bode well, and now I'm thinking that concern was validated.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I read quite a bit, though it's notched down a bit since my wife and adult son got me back into playing WoW in the evenings (we used to be away into it, then stepped away for some years). Like others have said, my book reading is 100% for pleasure, and I don't feel bad if I don't read, except that I feel reading is healthier downtime than WoW or TV.

A key for me is having some consistent times that I read. Most important for me is that I read in bed for about half an hour before going to sleep, and I find that that routine helps me go to sleep (I have trouble shutting my brain off). I take the dogs for a jog/walk on weekend mornings, and also consistently read for a while after I get back.

I read almost exclusively science fiction with a dash of fantasy. I'm an older guy, nearing retirement, and the only factor there is that our kids are grown and I can afford a gardener, so I have more free time than when I was younger.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Yes, Leckie writes SF. If you're interested, I would start with Ancillary Justice, her first novel. It's really good, and the first of a trilogy that's all excellent.

I think you saw a post by me long ago where I posted my short notes about the books I'd read in that time frame. If you'd like me to pass along those notes for any of the books we talk about, like Leckie or the more recent Gibson novels, I'd be happy to.

And thanks for the offer. I'm good now, but who knows. An interesting time of change for me coming up: I retire in January after 39+ years at the same company, and sometime after we're going to move from an area of southern California, where I've lived my whole life, to northern Washington State. Will be odd for sure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Oh, good call, I did read those books and liked them quite a bit. Martine's writing reminds me a bit of Ann Leckie, who I've read a lot of and like very much.

Hey, in know I'm just a guy on the internet who you talk about books with, but if you need to talk about more, I'm happy to listen. You might already have a good support network, which is great, but I know not everyone does.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (4 children)

I'm sorry to hear life is having challenges for you at the moment, I hope that resolves soon. A nice thing about a book is that you can put it down for days, weeks, months, whatever, and it's still waiting for you when you feel like coming back to it.

I've been reading more Gibson lately. I read the first two books of the Jackpot trilogy (the third hasn't come out yet) and the first in the Blue Ant trilogy. They've all been very good.

You take care and I hope things get better for you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

That seems high, though I guess if they're doing it in a state with high renewable energy, that's what they're using. It uses a crazy high amount of energy though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I wonder what fraction of Bitcoin mining energy comes from renewable sources. I bet it's teeny tiny.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

Farting as you relax and when you bring your knees up towards your chest (common when you sleep on your side) is pretty normal. It might also be a timing thing based on when you go to bed relative to when you've eaten.

You might look into why you fart so much if it's excessive. For instance, I have an odd food intolerance called fructose malabsorption - excess fructose doesn't get digested, so it just ferments in my intestines. If I eat a lot of it, I'll get massively painful diarrhea, but usually I just get some gas.

The same thing happens with people who are lactose intolerant: they can usually have some amount of lactose and they just get gassy, so some people don't even realize they have it.

Other things can also cause unusual amounts of gas.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I used to think Elon was just an idiot for buying Twitter and running it into the ground, but now I wonder if he was completely successful in buying a giant megaphone and making sure it only broadcast his pro-Trump propaganda. What does he care if it's not making as much money?

 

Pretty amazing considering the 2023 fiasco.

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submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Noticed this little girl on my shirt

 

This is an interesting list. It's missing some of the true great classics, like Frankenstein, and it has a number of unusual, less well known titles, but there's a lot to like on it. There's certainly a lot for people to disagree about, but it may well have your less often cited favorites, too. What do you think?

 

"I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un," she wrote in the book set to be released Tuesday. "I'm sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I'd been a children's pastor, after all)."

But Noem's spokesperson seemed to confirm to Politico and other news outlets that the story is not accurate and that the book will be corrected to remove it.

She sounds like the perfect Trump VP candidate: she just says whatever she thinks people will eat up and doesn't worry about whether it's true or not.

 

Below are books I've read over the last year, with notes about on what I thought of them. I started this list just to remind me what the books were about and if I thought they were worth reading. As the year went on, my notes became a little more substantial. The list was for me, but I thought I'd share in case it's useful to anyone. I recognize that it's very subjective.

Project Hail Mary, Weir Don't want to describe it even a little because spoilers would spoil; it's a book you should read without knowing anything. It's really good.

Fall, Stephenson Billionaire scanned into a digital world, and the people around him in the real world. Interesting and thought-provoking.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Gaiman Little boy stumbles upon old magic and an old evil. Really good.

The Ultimate Earth, Williamson Children on the moon are the latest in a long series of clones watching over the facility there, generations after the earth has all but forgotten them. A historian visits them.

The first four Discworld books, Pratchett Silly fun - disc-shaped world that sits atop four elephants that stand on a giant turtle riding through space. Each book is in the world, but separate stories with mostly separate characters. Lots of magic, lots of humor.

Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge, Resnick Long after humans are extinct, a group of alien archeologists uncover the origins and stories of mankind through the stories told by artifacts found in Olduvai gorge. Very unusual.

A Memory Called Empire, Martine Galactic empire space opera. Ambassador from a large space station to the central planet of the empire has an old copy of her predecessor implanted in her head - a technology user for generations by the station people but not known to the empire. She wants to solve the mystery of her predecessor's death. Character-driven discs opera.

A Desolation Called Peace, Martine Sequel to prior. Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass help the empire confront an alien that. Good.

The first six Murderbot Diaries books, Wells Security unit - sort of a cyborg combination of a robot and cloned human tissue - has hacked the part that forces it to comply. It mostly wants to watch soap operas, but finds itself rescuing humans. Surprisingly funny and heartwarming. Mostly novellas, so quick reads.

The Kingston Cycle trilogy, Polk Edwardian setting where magic is real but people are put in institutions for it if discovered. Each book from the vantage point of a different person, the first a psychologist who uses his powers to help his patients and seeks to discover why a witch was murdered. First is best, but all are good.

Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword & Ancillary Mercy (imperial radch trilogy), Leckie From the perspective of a warship AI dealing with a galactic empire. Feels like it could have been an inspiration for murderbot. Good.

Annihilation, Vandermeer A biologist is a member of a team trying to figure out what's happening in an area where investigative teams generally don't return from. Strangely paced, like a Lovecraft story. Wouldn't recommend to everyone. Very weird.

Gideon the Ninth, Muir Girl raised by necromancers sent to protect the head of her world as they try to unlock the secrets of an old world. Surprised by how much I liked it.

The Spare Man, Kowal The Thin Man in space - murder mystery on a space-going cruise ship. Not very deep, but enjoyable.

Piranesi, Clark Man Who lives in a world that is entirely a castle with endless halls and rooms, populated by just one other person, trying to understand his world. Interesting.

All Clear, Willis Sequel to Blackout - historians from Oxford in 2060 use time travel to see events surrounding WWII in person, but something is wrong. Not as light as some of her books, but very good.

Blind Lake, Wilson Reporters visiting a facility that uses incomprehensible AI-written systems to view life on a planet 50 light years away get caught in a lockdown that separates the people of the facility from the rest of the world. Very interesting.

Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher Fantasy - princess is sent to a convent, and eventually sets out to kill a powerful man who deserves it. Very enjoyable, and manages to be fun while also being dark.

Harrow the Ninth Sequel to Gideon the Ninth. First half is very confusing. Not an easy book to read, but well crafted and interesting.

WWW: Wake, Sawyer Blind teenage girl gets a computerized implant to restore her sight and ends up connected to a budding consciousness in webspace. Neat idea and an easy read but some parts felt unrealistic or cheesy.

The Graveyard Book, Gaiman Boy is raised in a graveyard by ghosts, protected by something else. Maybe written for teens, but wonderful regardless.

The Three Body Problem, Liu Strange things are happening in the scientific community in China. Interesting premise and an unusual book, but some things felt very unrealistic.

Saturn’s Children, Stross Humans built conscious robots to explore and develop the solar system, but they long outlast the now-extinct human race. Intrigue as one such robot gets in over her head.

The Anomaly, Le Tellier A plane from Paris to New York takes off in March and lands after severe turbulence. Then the same plane, with the same people, lands again in June. Thought provoking with well drawn characters.

The Daughter of Dr. Moreau, Moreno-Garcia Same/similar setting as The Island of, but focused on the daughter of the doctor as he conducts his experiments and his patron grows dissatisfied. Enjoyable.

Leviathan Wakes, Corey First book of The Expanse series. A war starting between people of earth, people who settled Mars, and people who settled the asteroid belt and stations. A missing person, and something strange happening. Really good.

Caliban’s War, Corey Second Expanse book. A protomolecule-based monster/soldier kills a bunch of other soldiers and everyone thinks some other government is responsible. Also very good.

Halting State, Stross A bank robbery inside an online game gets the attention of the cops - and a lot of other people. Written in 2007, set in 2017. Very interesting, even just for its take on technology.

Glasshouse, Stross In a distant future with ubiquitous wormhole technology, a man recovers from self-chosen radical memory deletion and joins a 30+ year experiment, but things aren't what they seem.

System Collapse, Wells 7th of the Murderbot Diaries. Starting basically where the 6th book ends, what to do with the colonists on the alien-infected planet, and what a rival company is trying to do.

2024

The Cloud Roads, Wells Fantasy about a loaner who can shape shift into a sort of dragon and doesn't know that he is. Enjoyable.

Passage, Willis A psychologist studying people who have had near death experiences joins a research project where they're induced, trying to figure out what they're for, what they mean. Good, but like a lot of Connie Willis books, there are too many people missing each other and too many misunderstandings. Still, very touching.

Gods of Risk, Corey Book 2.7 of The Expanse (novella). Bobby's nephew gets caught up in making drugs. Very short. Good.

Sundiver, Brin Written in 1980, the first of the Uplift series. Set in a time when humans have found there are many other intelligent, space-fairing beings in the galaxy, but nearly all were “uplifted" by another race. Everyone debates whether humans were uplifted and then abandoned by some unknown race, or are a very rare case of natural evolution. All this is the backdrop, or the fabric, of a story about the discovery of life in the sun.

Transition State, Leckie Set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch trilogy, with a couple minor characters from that as minor characters here. A guy is found abandoned on a ship as a baby, raised by adoptive parents, but is always strange (including urges to dissect people that he never acts on). Who he actually is might shake the empire, including the treaty that keeps aliens from destroying humans. Really good.

The Serpent Sea, Wells Second book of the Raksura series. The tribe (blanking on the word used internally) relocate to their ancestry home, a special giant tree, but it's dying because its seed was stolen. They go looking for it and get into trouble. Good.

Abaddon’s Gate, Corey Book 3 of The Expanse series. Rocinante crew gets hired to take a documentary crew to the ring made by the Venus protomolecule. All the other governments are sending ships too. Julie's sister Clarissa plots revenge for her father.

Hominids, Sawyer In an alternate universe, a neanderthal quantum physicist doing an experiment ends up marooned in our universe. A weird little bit of religion in the middle, but pretty interesting overall and fun to read about the speculative modern neanderthal society.

The Time Ships, Baxter Authorized sequel to “The Time Machine," by H.G. Wells. It's strange, in a way, because I of course read Wells’ work in the modern era, though it was written in 1914. Part of the charm was reading his notions of time and his commentary on class divides from this time a hundred years later, when the author has no knowledge of what happened in the intervening century. Baxter’s sequel is written from this modern era, but from the perspective of the same protagonist. Many of the advances in the sciences are captured, but it feels oddly artificial to have them observed by our early 1900s hero. Still, it's a very ambitious book, with a very broad scope, and much more commentary on the nature of man. Well worth reading.

Beggars in Spain, Kress People gene modified to no longer require sleep basically become a separate race of people. Lots of commentary on socialism, community, charity, racism, individuality, and more. Very thought provoking.

Humans, Sawyer Sequel to Hominids. A love story and a commentary on our world as seen through the eyes of a different version. Also more on the neanderthal version of it. As an ex Catholic, having a main character be matter of factly Catholic feels weird. Enjoyable sequel though.

Blindsight, Watts Strange first contact story with an enigmatic alien and a spectrum of technology-modified humans. A lot of it is an exploration of what it means to have consciousness or intelligence, and of how we're affected by language and communication. Not sure I'd call it enjoyable, but very interesting. Not a fluff piece by any means.

Startide Rising, Brin Sequel to Sundiver, set a couple hundred years later. A ship crewed by humans and dolphins has found something that could have major ramifications for the galactic races, so they're all fighting each other to get the earthlings. Very good, has aged well. Side note: I'm certain I read it when it came out in paperback, but I didn't remember it at all.

The Churn, Corey Book 3.5 of the Expanse series, a novella. Back story of Amos in Baltimore. It would have been a very different experience reading if I hadn't seen the series version - it couldn't disguise a main character because you actually see them. Semi-avoiding spoilers.

Leech, Ennes A doctor, one of many that share a group mind due to a parasite, finds its predecessor killed by a different type of parasite. Very strange, pretty dark. Thought provoking.

The Siren Depths, Wells Third book of the Raksura series. Moon’s birth court wants him back, against his will, and there's a danger facing everyone. Just as good as the prior books.

Starter Villain, Scalzi Down on his luck young man inherits his uncle's villain business. Quick, fun read. Funny!

The Host, Meyer Alien possession told from the POV of the compassionate alien. It turns out that I'm a little bit of a book snob because, as I opened the book on my Kindle and saw the blurb about it being by the author of the Twilight series (sparkly vampires), I almost abandoned it. I decided to at least start it and… I didn't hate it. The SF aspects of the story are actually pretty interesting and thought provoking. Given my understanding that Meyer is basically a romance novelist, I was surprised that the part I connected with the least well was the romance part - it's described as way overly physical (this body loves that person or could never love that other person).

Provenance, Leckie In the Imperial Radch series. Daughter in a scheming family tries a scheme of her own and gets mixed up in issues that span worlds and races. Interesting. Feels like a side story, which I guess it is.

Nona the Ninth, Muir Third of the Locked Tomb series, following Harrow the Ninth. I loved the first book, didn't love the second (challenging, interesting, not sure it was enjoyable), and liked this one better. Ending needed to be reread a couple times - confusing - but overall an interesting book.

Perdido Street Station, Meiville Elements of SF and fantasy. Set in a Victorian world (future earth, or maybe an alternate one) populated by humans and many races of aliens, some more alien than others, a scientist is hired by a bird person to give him back fight after his wings were removed as a punishment by his people. While working the problem, the scientist releases something truly horrible. It's a really evocative world and story, well imagined and well told. It brings up a lot of sadness, horror, and pity for its characters that didn't really stop, so not exactly a fun read. Long, but good.

The Watchmen, Moore Graphic novel about masked heroes being popular, then outlawed, then being systematically eliminated. Gritty, odd. It deals a lot with what constitutes the greater good and what compromises are reasonable.

How to live safely in a science fictional universe, Yu A time machine repair technician, hiding from life, tries to find his father who disappeared ten years prior, after almost inventing time travel. Amusing, short, quick read.

The City & The City, Mieville A murder victim is found in a European city that shares geography with another city. The cities aren't separated by physical borders, they overlay and are separated by more of a psychic border, and crossing from one to the other that way, breaching, is a serious crime. The detective investigating the murder uncovers things that could shake the fabric of both cities, and he has to work with a detective in the sister city to solve the crime. Very unusual and imaginative premise. Very compelling story.

The Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut It's Vonnegut, so it's hard to know where to start. The richest man in the world tries to avoid a life that's predicted for him. It doesn't go the way he envisioned either way. Lots of commentary on morality, friendship, religion, love. Not flattering commentary on any of those things.

Neptune's Brood, Stross Set in the same universe as Saturn’s Children. A banker/historian chasing down old debts finds much more than she bargained for and gets many factions out for her blood, including her mother. Lots of good speculation on a galactic society without FTL travel, composed of people who are fabricated, not Born.

The Scar, Meiville Following Perdido Street Station, but not in the city and with different characters. A translator fleeing the city gets pulled into a series of unfolding conflicts while she tries to find a way home, or at least to save it. Lots of layers, and commentary on trust and manipulation.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Chambers A clerk running away from family on Mars signs onto a ship that builds wormholes, and gets a new family in the process. After recently reading books by Meiville, Vonnegut, and others, this was a more hopeful, loving story. The explanation for why all the aliens look like various earth species felt kind of thin, but it's a good story with strong relationships.

Children of Time, Tchaikovsky A project to uplift monkeys on a terraformed world, at the peak of human civilization, is sabotaged by people who don't think humans should play god. There follows a human civil war that nearly destroys civilization. A couple thousand years later, an ark ship of human remnants leaving an uninhabitable earth is heading towards that terraformed planet. This is a great book, with lots to say on intelligence, the nature of people, and both the fragility and heartiness of life.

 

I recently finished Perdido Street Station, and one minor thing that bothered me is how many of the other races were either a humanoid version of earth life (cactus person, bird person) or a literal combination of a human and something (head of a bug, body of a person). That just seems so fantastically unlikely that I wonder if any of the other books in that setting explain it. Like, is it a future earth and the races are results of generic modification in some prior era?

I liked the book pretty well, through it's not exactly uplifting. Thought provoking though.

 

Pretty damning training against the inquiry by someone who participated in trying to dig up dirt on the Bidens.

 

That was one of the more interesting SOTU addresses I've seen. Personally, I think he said most of the things that needed to be said, and he said them reasonably well. I'm sure he's going to get some flack for attacking Trump directly (though not by name), but I was frankly glad to see it. Doing otherwise makes it seem like it's just your typical election/political disagreements, but we're past that now.

 

We took a trip through decades of the genre and came up with a list of the most important and best hard science fiction movies of all time. They are the essence and the foundations of the book of sci-fi rules that's still being written as we, the audience, become much more self-aware of our relationship with technology, the future, and whatever those two will bring.

 

I've just finished reading the last of the books, and I'm pretty excited to see what they do with the series.

 

I've read the first two books and enjoyed them both. I enjoyed the TV series. But I see there are nine novels and eight novellas in the series, and I know the book series goes on longer than the TV series. I'm curious: is the quality fairly consistent or, like a lot of longer book series, does it degrade over time?

Edit: Thanks everyone! Sounds like the vast majority of folks enjoyed all of the books - enough that I'll probably read them all. I have other books on my reading list, so I might take breaks and read some of those in between.

I really appreciate all the responses. Thank you all. Upvotes all around!

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