JR Dawson launch party!
Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrissaMy friend J.R. Dawson is launching their second book, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, and I get to be part of the festivities! We'll be at Moon Palace Books at 6:00 p.m. on July 29, having a lovely conversation about this book and the previous book and other stories and life in general, and you can come join in the fun!
Wednesday reading
Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:46 pmredbirdBoston's Orange Line, by Andrew Elder and Jeremy C. Fox. This is a collection of black-and-white photos, going back to the start of the old elevated orange line, with captions. This was for the "explore Boston history" square on the BPL summer reading bingo. If I'd noticed the "images of rail" series title, I wouldn't have borrowed this book. The captions are just about enough to confirm that there's more than enough to be said on the subject to make a book, but this isn't. This has a disjointed discussion of the lengthy "realigmnent" of the orange line to its current route, and a couple of paragraphs on the decision not to run an 8-lane interstate through the middle of Boston and Cambridge, and no suggestion that anything similar had happened elsewhere. Ah, well.
There are suggestions on the library website for some of the squares (including "with a green cover"), but not this one. Searching the catalog for "Boston histpry" got me this, along with, among other things, a book about the Big Dig, a book about the Great Molasses Flood (which is at least mentioned in this, with a picture of damage to the orange line), and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
There are suggestions on the library website for some of the squares (including "with a green cover"), but not this one. Searching the catalog for "Boston histpry" got me this, along with, among other things, a book about the Big Dig, a book about the Great Molasses Flood (which is at least mentioned in this, with a picture of damage to the orange line), and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Happy Birthday to Me!
Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:48 pmosprey_archerToday is my birthday! Happy birthday to me!
Yesterday I took chocolate white chip cookies to Dulcimer Gathering and everyone played me Happy Birthday. Today, I caught up on my correspondence while sipping my free hot chocolate at Starbucks, then spent the rest of the day happily puttering: a little cross stitch, a little dulcimer, a little reading with tea and the last of the aforementioned chocolate white chip cookies.
Next up: dinner with the family, and then I will be taking them on a tour of the Hummingbird Cottage! This is the first time that my brother and sister-in-law have seen the place with actual furniture, so I also spent some of my puttering time tidying so that everyone will believe that I live in an oasis of peace and cleanliness.
The herbs and the cherry tomatoes are growing well. There are little green tomatoes on the tomato vines now! Also, one of the tomatoes is next to a climbing vine of some variety, which has latched onto the tomato cage and as far as I can see tied itself there. Most impressed with the plant’s knot-making abilities.
Yesterday I took chocolate white chip cookies to Dulcimer Gathering and everyone played me Happy Birthday. Today, I caught up on my correspondence while sipping my free hot chocolate at Starbucks, then spent the rest of the day happily puttering: a little cross stitch, a little dulcimer, a little reading with tea and the last of the aforementioned chocolate white chip cookies.
Next up: dinner with the family, and then I will be taking them on a tour of the Hummingbird Cottage! This is the first time that my brother and sister-in-law have seen the place with actual furniture, so I also spent some of my puttering time tidying so that everyone will believe that I live in an oasis of peace and cleanliness.
The herbs and the cherry tomatoes are growing well. There are little green tomatoes on the tomato vines now! Also, one of the tomatoes is next to a climbing vine of some variety, which has latched onto the tomato cage and as far as I can see tied itself there. Most impressed with the plant’s knot-making abilities.
The Way Up is Death, by Dan Hanks
Jul. 2nd, 2025 01:39 pmrachelmanija
In a prologue that's very Terry Pratchett-esque without actually being funny, an enormous floating tower appears in England, becomes a 12-hour wonder, and is then forgotten as people have short attention spans. Then thirteen random people suddenly vanish from their lives and appear at the base of the tower, facing the command ASCEND.
I normally love stories about people dealing with inexplicable alien architecture. This was the most boring and unimaginative version of that idea I've ever read. Each level is a death trap based on something in one of their minds - a video game, The Poseidon Adventure, an old home - but less interesting than that sounds. The action was repetitive, the characters were paper-thin, and one, an already-dated influencer, was actively painful to read:
Time to give her the Alpha Male rizzzzzzz, baby!
The ending was, unsurprisingly, also a cliche.
( Read more... )
Stories I've liked, 2nd quarter 2025
Jul. 2nd, 2025 03:15 pmmrissaAs Safe As Fear, Beth Cato (Daikajuzine)
In the Shells of Broken Things, A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld)
The Name Ziya, Wen-yi Lee (Reactor)
Barbershops of the Floating City, Angela Liu (Uncanny)
Everyone Keeps Saying Probably, Premee Mohamed (Psychopomp)
Lies From a Roadside Vagabond, Aaron Perry (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For, Cameron Reed (Reactor)
Laser Eyes Ain't Everything, Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots)
Unbeaten, Grace Seybold (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War, Caroline Yoachim (Uncanny)
[ 200 icons of Murderbot — Episodes 1 to 8 ]
Jul. 2nd, 2025 09:07 pmlylith_st posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom_icons
Bundle of Holding: The Dark Eye MEGA (from 2023)
Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:46 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The June 2023 Dark Eye Megabundle featuring the English-language edition from Ulisses Spiele of the leading German tabletop roleplaying game of heroic fantasy, The Dark Eye.
Bundle of Holding: The Dark Eye MEGA (from 2023)
WTF Wednesday - US Funding cuts to South Africa
Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:27 pmbrickhousewenchI read this a while back, but I forgot to post it here. The NY Times wrote about how DOGE cuts will affect not just South Africa, but how those funding cuts will affect much much more than people might expect.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/health/south-africa-medical-research-trump.html
South Africa has for decades been a medical research powerhouse, yet its stature has been little known to people outside the field. South Africa’s scientists have been responsible for key breakthroughs against major global killers, including heart disease, H.I.V. and respiratory viruses such as Covid-19. They have worked closely with American researchers and have been awarded more research funding from the United States than any other country has received.
But a swift series of executive orders and budget cuts from the Trump administration have, in a matter of months, demolished this research ecosystem.
There are grim ramifications for human health worldwide, and also for pharmaceutical companies, including American giants such as Pfizer, Merck, Abbott and Gilead Sciences, which rely heavily on South Africa’s research complex when they develop and test new drugs, vaccines and treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies have relied on the country for clinical trials for decades. Some are now rethinking their relationship with South Africa, according to people familiar with the discussions.
And as just another layer of WTF racism, the US found a way to still keep experimenting on Black people, just not in our own country but overseas. *head desk*
“The implications of this are huge,” said Dr. Ntobeko Ntusi, chief executive of the South African Medical Research Council. “One of the biggest success stories to come out of South Africa in the last three decades, largely aided through the generosity of American people, has been the development of this high-caliber cadre of scientists who’ve led scholarship that has been seminal not just for South Africa but for the whole world.”
The first-ever heart transplant was performed in Cape Town in 1967. The CT scanner was invented in South Africa. So were many now-common surgical techniques. Vaccines and drugs that are widely used in the United States — including treatments for high blood pressure and the immunization for R.S.V. — came out of South African research.
And also, goddamn us for throwing all these highly trained doctors and scientists out of work.
South Africa’s research might is a legacy of its harsh history. Apartheid-era governments neglected the health of millions of Black people but invested in educational institutions and medical innovation for the white population. In the decades since the country transitioned to a multiracial democracy, those educational institutions have been open to everyone. But efforts to extend basic health care have been slow, which means the country still has a high rate of disease. That, in turn, makes for a grimly efficient place to conduct research.
Because the South African rand is a weaker currency — running about 20 to a U.S. dollar — running studies in South Africa costs a fraction of what it does in the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/health/south-africa-medical-research-trump.html
South Africa has for decades been a medical research powerhouse, yet its stature has been little known to people outside the field. South Africa’s scientists have been responsible for key breakthroughs against major global killers, including heart disease, H.I.V. and respiratory viruses such as Covid-19. They have worked closely with American researchers and have been awarded more research funding from the United States than any other country has received.
But a swift series of executive orders and budget cuts from the Trump administration have, in a matter of months, demolished this research ecosystem.
There are grim ramifications for human health worldwide, and also for pharmaceutical companies, including American giants such as Pfizer, Merck, Abbott and Gilead Sciences, which rely heavily on South Africa’s research complex when they develop and test new drugs, vaccines and treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies have relied on the country for clinical trials for decades. Some are now rethinking their relationship with South Africa, according to people familiar with the discussions.
And as just another layer of WTF racism, the US found a way to still keep experimenting on Black people, just not in our own country but overseas. *head desk*
“The implications of this are huge,” said Dr. Ntobeko Ntusi, chief executive of the South African Medical Research Council. “One of the biggest success stories to come out of South Africa in the last three decades, largely aided through the generosity of American people, has been the development of this high-caliber cadre of scientists who’ve led scholarship that has been seminal not just for South Africa but for the whole world.”
The first-ever heart transplant was performed in Cape Town in 1967. The CT scanner was invented in South Africa. So were many now-common surgical techniques. Vaccines and drugs that are widely used in the United States — including treatments for high blood pressure and the immunization for R.S.V. — came out of South African research.
And also, goddamn us for throwing all these highly trained doctors and scientists out of work.
South Africa’s research might is a legacy of its harsh history. Apartheid-era governments neglected the health of millions of Black people but invested in educational institutions and medical innovation for the white population. In the decades since the country transitioned to a multiracial democracy, those educational institutions have been open to everyone. But efforts to extend basic health care have been slow, which means the country still has a high rate of disease. That, in turn, makes for a grimly efficient place to conduct research.
Because the South African rand is a weaker currency — running about 20 to a U.S. dollar — running studies in South Africa costs a fraction of what it does in the United States.
Your regular Wednesday service has been deferred
Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:56 pmoursinFor hedjog is going floppp.
Travel troubles today: being unable to see where the hell the alleged railway station near hotel was, and taking a taxi instead; railway out of order this evening, Ubers were summoned to take participants to hotel.
Yr hedjog was Living Bit of History in opening roundtable.
And in later sessions, there was a certain amount of That There Dr oursin going on in the questions/comments....
Some good conversation - even if hearing aids not too helpful in crowded rooms - but have noped out from evening meal, feeling too tired, will go for light meal here and early night (I hope).
Adventures of Superman #453
Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:10 pmiamrman posting in scans_dailyWords and art: Jerry Ordway
Superman: Exile.
Oxygen deprivation is making Superman hallucinate ghosts of his past.
( Read more... )
Squid Game Season 3
Jul. 2nd, 2025 05:33 pmprofiterole_readsNetflix's k-drama Squid Game Season 3 was great. S2 & S3 go together as a whole game, so it's nice that they were released only 6 months apart.
( Spoiler )
( Spoiler )
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Dollars
Jul. 2nd, 2025 11:25 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
smbc_comics_feed
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
The waiter then politely reminds the customer that all possible information is contained in the price.
Today's News:
Murderbot TV adaptation good!
Jul. 2nd, 2025 07:19 amlois_mcmaster_bujold_feedSo...
I signed up for Apple TV the other day expressly so I and my weekly media-watching buddies could take a break from our usual Asian fare to see their production of Martha Well's Murderbot. (Heaven knows I don't need yet another streaming service, but...) We binge-watched the first 8 half-hour episodes last night.
I am astonished and delighted (and envious) with how well the show has managed so far to stick to the original story -- they are still in the first volume, All Systems Red. So great to see something that isn't part of the endless stream of media retreads and remakes we are plagued with. Casting is pretty great as well -- one could identify nearly all of the characters in their first appearance, before they even opened their mouths.
And they totally get the humor of the story. Granted the tales are action-heavy, but though the Tor book covers are wonderful pieces of art, nothing about them even hints that any humor will be found beyond them.
Given the dry commentary on corporate shenanigans in the stories, I was meta-amused by the fact that Apple streaming won't play on my Chromecast; happily my son the IT support found the way around (going directly from my laptop.)
It looks like the first season of these half-hour episodes will cover All Systems Red; let's hope it is successful enough to go on to another volume and season.
Recommended.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on July, 02
I signed up for Apple TV the other day expressly so I and my weekly media-watching buddies could take a break from our usual Asian fare to see their production of Martha Well's Murderbot. (Heaven knows I don't need yet another streaming service, but...) We binge-watched the first 8 half-hour episodes last night.
I am astonished and delighted (and envious) with how well the show has managed so far to stick to the original story -- they are still in the first volume, All Systems Red. So great to see something that isn't part of the endless stream of media retreads and remakes we are plagued with. Casting is pretty great as well -- one could identify nearly all of the characters in their first appearance, before they even opened their mouths.
And they totally get the humor of the story. Granted the tales are action-heavy, but though the Tor book covers are wonderful pieces of art, nothing about them even hints that any humor will be found beyond them.
Given the dry commentary on corporate shenanigans in the stories, I was meta-amused by the fact that Apple streaming won't play on my Chromecast; happily my son the IT support found the way around (going directly from my laptop.)
It looks like the first season of these half-hour episodes will cover All Systems Red; let's hope it is successful enough to go on to another volume and season.
Recommended.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on July, 02
Snake
Jul. 2nd, 2025 07:17 amranunculusThis week there was an enormous rattlesnake IN THE GARDEN. For TWO days. Chena alerted us to the snake by barking at the garden. Sadly we didn't quite understand, so it wasn't until Donald rustled around getting ready to sit down in a chair and I heard it rattle that we realized what was up. This is an old snake. They live up to 30 years so I'm pretty sure this snake has been around for years. It isn't aggressive despite the rattle we heard, it just wants to be left alone and will warn you away. Still, it has no business in the garden. I saw it the next day, under my Dahlia table, quietly hanging out. It was partially coiled up, perhaps because I'd just sprayed water down there? Later that day Chena woke up from a snooze in the driveway to bark at the woodshed. M and I could see the snake moving through some wood in front of the shed, apparently heading away from the garden and house. I'm really relieved that the dog will have NOTHING to do with the snake, and will alert us to it. As a result of this I'm in massive cleanup mode. No more snake habitat at the shop, or near the woodshed. It is going to be a long process. We have a big pickup load ready to go to the dump today.
In other news, I rode Firefly last night, bareback, in a halter with reins and she was really good. Better than with the bridle. She really hates the bit and is much better behaved with the halter.
Sent Donald off on the buss yesterday. Won't see him much for a while. We do have a lovely weekend in Santa Cruz planned for the end of July and I will need to go to SF for another load of stuff from the garage soon.
In other news, I rode Firefly last night, bareback, in a halter with reins and she was really good. Better than with the bridle. She really hates the bit and is much better behaved with the halter.
Sent Donald off on the buss yesterday. Won't see him much for a while. We do have a lovely weekend in Santa Cruz planned for the end of July and I will need to go to SF for another load of stuff from the garage soon.
