found_drama

Just back from Maine where we helped my maternal grandparents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Grandpa didn’t want the pageantry of a full-on cake, so we talked him down to cupcakes:

(The cupcakes in lieu of cake.)

It’s been a little hard for me to come to grips with it. I was certainly eager to help them celebrate 50 years (!!!) but my Grandpa has been pretty sick these past couple of months. I’d been trying to “head in the sand” it a little bit but my mother in her wisdom assigned me the project of coming up with a slideshow for the event. Burned down to DVD, I managed to fit 218 photos into about 20 minutes without it being too tedious or boring. More so, I then took it upon myself to get the scans over into a little book (thank you, iPhoto) that folks could inscribe their well wishes.

(Their best man from the wedding makes the toast for the 50th.)

A bit trying, emotionally but we all got through it. Even if I did almost lose it when my Grandpa stood up to announce that he was leaving. “I’m getting to old for this sort of partying.” The man has an awe-inspiring presence. Such a charm and charisma – - it’s no wonder he’s managed to keep my Grammie around for 50 years.

That said, the highlight of the weekend came when the photographer snapped a picture of my Grandpa and the best man. Grandpa was explaining the connection to the photographer. “This is John Gallagher. He was the best man at my wedding.” Then he pauses a moment, eyebrow raised. “Actually, no. I was better.”

Via dystopianethic, the 10 Word Meme: Write ten words beginning with that letter, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why. F_D has “V”:

1. Vermont. Firstly because it’s my home. Secondly because it’s home to outstanding outdoor activities in all seasons. The Green Mountain State.
2. Veneer. Encountered in so many contexts now. A way to make something look nice. Whether you’re making something good look great or else something that looks like a piece of shit less so. Typically the latter.
3. Vixen. When I was a little kid I first encountered this word in the title sequence of Disney’s animated version of Robin Hood. At the time it didn’t make much sense. Robin Hood was a fox. Maid Marion was clearly a female fox. Their copy editors no doubt fucked this up. It wasn’t until several years later that I put it all together after encountering the word in another, much more metaphorical context.
4. Vanquish. Though analogous, it’s not to be confused with “victory” (see below). Think “winning” but in a fantasy role playing scenario.
5. V-2. The Nazi rocket-powered bombs. The proto-ballistic missle. Arguably the sperm that fertilized the Cold War love child.
6. Videodrome. Cronenberg’s films haunt me in ways that are difficult to describe. “Long live the new flesh.”
7. Vasectomy. Every man should get one as a 40th birthday present to himself.
8. V-neck sweater. An essential article of clothing for every female but I have yet to see a man who can pull this off without looking totally silly. Unless there’s an argyle print hugely spreading across the abdomen. That’s acceptable.
9. Vox populi. It’s like democracy without the checks and balances.
10. Victory. Because no one likes to lose and everyone loves: “VICTORY FOR THE FORCES OF DEMOCRATIC FREEDOM!”

currently playing: fleep… “Black Magic”

It was 20 years ago in the [tag]Ukraine[/tag] that the [tag]nuclear power[/tag] facility in [tag]Chernobyl[/tag] had its catastrophic meltdown. Let’s hope we eventually recover.

• BBC on two decades of Chernobyl
• B^2 on its lingering effects

currently playing: The Orb “S.A.L.T.”

[tag]Apple Mail[/tag] got you down?  Hitting command+Q to quit and it hangs out there waiting for you to [tag]Force Quit[/tag]?  Chances are it’s busy caching.  Don’t hold it against Mail, it thinks it’s doing you a favor.  Just go into the Activity Viewer (command+0) and stop every instance of activity.  It’ll behave a bit better thereafter.

Been a while but…

The “Your Son Is An Underachiever” Method
(Match all: Last Played is in the last 7 days, Play Count is less than 15, Genre does not contain Mix; Limit to 10 songs selected by most often played)

1. Adamski “One Of The People (Forcemassmotion mix)”
2. Air “New Star In The Sky”
3. Billy Idol “Eyes Without A Face”
4. Billy Idol “Catch My Fall”
5. Blu Mar Ten “Untitled # 1″
6. Boards Of Canada “Kid for Today”
7. Midwest Product “Pigeons”
8. OutKast “Knowing”
9. P.I.G. “The Only Good One’s A Dead One”
10. Starecase “The Other Side of the Line”

The Lying Scumbag Method
(Match all: Last Played is not in the last 7 days, Play Count is greater than 10; Limit to 10 songs selected by least recently played)

1. Ween “Candi”
2. Tricky “Strugglin’”
3. Swayzak “Doobie”
4. Sublime “New Song”
5. Stereolab “Caleidoscopic Gase”
6. Stereolab “Puncture In The Radak Pernutation”
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers “The Righteous & The Wicked”
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Breaking The Girl”
9. Polaroid “So Damn Beautiful (Amethyst mix)”
10. Nine Inch Nails “Help Me I Am In Hell”

The Re-Cappa Method
(Genre does not contain Mix; Limit to 10 songs selected by most recently played)

1. Underworld “Banstyle/Sappy’s Curry”
2. DMX Krew “Touch Me”
3. Apparition “Mindbender”
4. Tool “Sober”
5. Secret Knowledge “Sugar Daddy (Tripping On The Moon Remix)”
6. Underworld “Born Slippy (Nuxx)”
7. Underworld “Pearl’s Girl”
8. The Future Sound of London “Papau New Guinea (12″ original)”
9. Jimmy Van M @ Sanctuary “Sanctuary”
10. Lush “Thoughtforms”

currently playing: Naked Funk Feat. Valerie Etienne “Midnight Calling”

Via B^2: “…how books make (or don’t) money…”

At the meetings, people shake their heads and sigh, but you are an obnoxious editor who loves your book. You bother people enough until your publisher gives you a full page 4/c (four color — aka full color) ad in Romantic Times BookClub Magazine, and puts four other small books in the ad, so the price gets split. You bug more people, and you get 4/c bound galleys and a mailing to a couple of independent bookstores and a bookmark for the author to hand out.

The publisher tells you to get some in house reads, because she isn’t sure this is a wise use of resources — without blurbs, you’re going to have a hard time. Plus, you’re on your second cover — the art department just can’t get it right. You spent $4,500 hiring an artist. Now the art director is working on the cover himself, using stock art. You still have to pay for stock art — it costs $1,400.

Basically the same blurb that B^2 grabbed out. But fuck it, that’s the one that grabbed me. It’s a long read but worth it for the industry knowledge. (I don’t “work” books, remember – - just fantasize about making ends meet with the pen.)

It makes me want to do my own cover art.

currently playing: Underworld “Banstyle/Sappy’s Curry”

Last night I finished re-reading [tag]Nancy Kress[/tag]‘ novel [tag]Beggars in Spain[/tag]. I’d read it once before when I was quite a bit younger. (High school, maybe?) An interesting [tag]sci-fi[/tag] read, it toys with a near-future scenario where genetic modifications are relatively commonplace and an arguably separate race of [tag]Sleepless[/tag] are created as a consequence of our genetics experiments. Combine Sleeplessness with the revelation that their bodies are essentially immortal and take it from there.

The novel plays a lot with themes of what it means to be free – - creatively, intellectually, politically, economically… It explores these spaces from a distinctly (and admittedly) American (where “American” is “United States”) perspective, playing with juxtapositions of the American Revolution and the American Civil War thoughout the text.

There’s also a curious subtext that follows the protagonist, Leisha Camden, that can be a bit hard to pin down. There’s a struggle between personal philosophies that are very Randian/Objectivist and more secularly humanist ethics that seem common to the genre. As implied from the title, this struggle revolves around the question of the what responsibility the strong have to the weak? What is the balance and currency in the economy of trade? The subject is approached from many angles throughout the novel and fortunately its done artfully to keep it from being too pedantic.

That said, the only major criticisms I have are two. First, although the novel admits several times to being Amerocentric, it seems to cut the rest of the world out too readily. Second, while you don’t necessarily need to be a scholar of Abraham Lincoln (or American history) to fully appreciate it, the novel’s balance between touching on that subject matter and really exploring those connections is sometimes tenuous (and maybe a little forced).

Onward to Beggars & Choosers!

currently playing: Frontside “Dammerung”

Via [tag]Creative Commons[/tag]: The [tag]Wombat[/tag] Speaks: Mia Wombat speaks about all things CC in a [tag]Second Life[/tag] event. What snagged me was the image in their article:

This scene is exactly how I always pictured Hiro’s final [tag]Metaverse[/tag] scene in [tag]Snow Crash[/tag].

currently playing: David “Delta/Beta”

Picked my way through the Breadloaf Wilderness today to climb Mt. Roosevelt with Adam and Sue. Parts of it seemed like an arboreal post-apocalyptic landscape. Other parts were just very much Vermont wilderness. Very enjoyable 6.8 mile round trip. Some highlights:

Great hike. What made it challenging wasn’t the distance or the elevation but the fact that the trail is slightly less-than-kempt – - by design. A little overcast but totally worth it. More pictures in the Flickr stream.

currently playing: Front Line Assembly “Justify My Love” >> Jeff Bennett “Involvation”