Inertial Tumblings

Seth Ehfrecka

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:12:05 +0000

“South Africa didn’t actually do too badly in the report – when compared to other countries, at least. But the state of women’s employment in high tech fields is shocking. Although 45% of students enrolled in science and engineering courses are female, only 16% of those working in related jobs are not men.”

"How hard is it to be a female human being in the media? Anne Hathaway is a pretty good measure. She..."

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:50:57 +0000

“

How hard is it to be a female human being in the media? Anne Hathaway is a pretty good measure. She learned everything she could about sex trafficking and prostitution to play Fantine, and knew only too well that modern-day Fantines were probably living within blocks of the Academy Awards. As she said in her acceptance speech, ‘Here’s hoping that someday in the not too distant future the misfortunes of Fantine will only be found in stories and never in real life.’

Did that get coverage? No. Instead, the huge and expensive media beast speculated on her nipples. In a way, that makes Anne’s point. No wonder there are still Fantines, so many in the media think like pimps, traffickers and johns.

”

-
Gloria Steinem (via alittlecoconuttart)

porpentine: im good at music GLORIOUS

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:49:52 +0000

porpentine:

im good at music

GLORIOUS

Another morning well wasted.

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:40:10 +0000

Another morning well wasted.

Weird giant arthropod silt-strider type thing I’ve been...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:45:38 +0000

Weird giant arthropod silt-strider type thing I’ve been slowly working on. Began life as a tiny doodle on a scrap of paper in the first week of university. Later I traced it onto the computer, gave it a bit of shading, then left it for ages. Came back to it the other day and let rip with the brush. Quite pleased with the result. Next step: detail.

Twine Resources & Things

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 08:27:48 +0000

Twine Resources & Things

Listen to People Without Mouths by datassette.

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:05:01 +0000

Listen to People Without Mouths by datassette.

"It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and..."

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:07:55 +0000

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

Oh. Wow.

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:30:38 +0000

Oh. Wow.

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:48:01 +0000

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

I rewatched The Fellowship of the Ring last night, leaving myself in a state of total emotional wreckage. I felt like I didn’t know what to do with my life. I realised that I am going to take this beautiful film with me all the way to my grave.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/12/16/live-free-play-hard-the-weeks-finest-free-indie-games-8/

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:15:56 +0000

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/12/16/live-free-play-hard-the-weeks-finest-free-indie-games-8/:

Will I ever get around to playing all these?

Agon

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:42:22 +0000

Agon:

I must try this sometime, for I am a stinking hipster. Also because the title is a pun.

To speak for the "..."

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:55:12 +0000

To speak for the "...":

Another before bed. Lovely stuff.

Nightmare Mode - If gamers are the educated elite, then...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 23:56:33 +0000

Nightmare Mode - If gamers are the educated elite, then...:

This article is lengthy, but very much worth reading. I suspect I’ll be digging into quite a few more Nightmare Mode articles over the holidays, because one may as well procrastinate cleverly.

Black Mirror: The National Anthem

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Last night the first of three episodes of Charlie Brooker’s new show aired on Channel 4, and if you missed it, you can watch ‘The National Anthem’ over on 4OD. The whole thing is about 35 minutes long, but it was so heavily intruded upon by advertisement breaks that it really lasted not much less than 50, which was annoying. Kinda makes you dislike watching things on the telly. Regardless, it was excellent to watch.

Black Mirror is pitched as a kind of modern-era Twilight Zone; contemporary worries and woes explored through speculative fiction. ‘What if?’ questions frame important societal debates, sci-fi settings are used to say unsettling things, and strange stories stray into territory all too close to the viewer’s own fears for comfort. And it’s all so well-laced with deliciously cruel humour, one has to worry why one’s laughing. Writing in the Guardian, Brooker declares:

That’s what we’re aiming for with Black Mirror: each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they’re all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time if we’re clumsy. And if there’s one thing we know about mankind, it’s this: we’re usually clumsy.

It’s a noble mission. It’s the kind of thing I’d like to see more of.

The next episode, enigmatically named ‘Fifteen Million Merits’, airs next Sunday at 9 on Channel 4. I can’t wait.

Photo

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:05:57 +0100

Jhereg

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:18:02 +0100

You know, it’s actually very good. Which goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover! I mean really. Only morons do that. Yes.

Moving swiftly on…

(I’d intended to write a bit of a spiel about what I thought of the book in more detail than just ‘I liked it’, but I’m a little tired at the moment. I’ve moved onto the next story, Yendi, now, anyway.)

Gunpoint: First Screenshots, by Tom Francis

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:22:00 +0100

Gunpoint: First Screenshots, by Tom Francis:

Now here’s a game I’m anticipating.

Douglas Hofstadter - Person Paper on Purity in Language

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:05:08 +0100

Douglas Hofstadter - Person Paper on Purity in Language

The Book of Jhereg

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:11:31 +0100

Making it’s way into my lap is a paperback with a 15:23cm width:height ratio, so that it flops. A ‘floppyback’, then. It’s called ‘The Book of Jhereg’, and comprises ‘The First Three Adventures of Vlad Taltos’. I don’t know who Vlad Taltos is, but a quote from the front cover tells me I should “Watch Steven Brust” (the author), because “He surprises you.” Looking at the blurb, I am sad to say that I do not spy a very compelling novel/compilation of stories. The blurb isn’t very well written, for one thing – but that’s not damning proof of a bad book. What’s more worrying is its reference to ‘jheregs’, which, it would seem, are just dragons, renamed.

I’m not a big fan of this habit the fantasy-writing community has of attempting to avoid clichés by simply renaming them with made-up words. It’s hollow. If you really think the whole Tolkienic medieval thing is not what you want to write, then bloody well get off the boat, and do your own thing. Holing up in a private cabin on said boat and calling your orcs ‘Uruks’ and your dragons ‘Drakkins’ will not achieve anything.

Still, I could be wrong. It could be a great read. It could even be oozing originality and taste. But the quotes on the back of the book don’t exactly scream ‘masterful, mind-blowing, out-of-this-world fiction’ at me. “Steven Brust” says Newsday, “isn’t afraid to stretch the boundaries of contemporary commercial fantasy.” Could you fit another pigeonholing-word in there, even if you tried? All the other quotes end in exclamation marks, but still don’t fill me with enthusiasm. “Hard to put down… fun to read!” says OtherRealms, coming across like the book report of an eight-year-old on half-term break. “Imagine James Bond in a world of magic… exciting!” says VOYA, completely failing to ignite a single spark of excitement.

In other words, this is not a read I’m looking forward to. Flipping through the pages reveals that each chapter begins with a pithy, unsourced ‘quote’, written in italics, like, for example, “Inspiration requires preparation”. The first page of the book has a scene-setting poem called “The Cycle”, and shortly after that there’s a ‘Pronunciation Guide’ for all the bullshit names the author’s made up.

My language has become, well, overripe, and it might be time to put down this criticism business, for just now. I will be back, Book of Jhereg, and it will, potentially, be bloody and brutal.

(This mash of cruel first impressions will probably all turn out to be wrong.)