SHEJIDAN CHAT III TRANSCRIPT
5/10/2003 12:15:48 PM

Note: For some reason, when I logged the chat, the subject of actions (in purple text) are not listed.  Only an asterisk is shown, so you have no idea who actually did the action.  Sorry about that.  I'm not sure why that happened.  Oh, and thanks to Sabina for providing the first section of the chat from before I logged in.  Once again, Sabina saves the day.    



[18:05]   Hawklady is now Available ()
[18:05]   TacticoStormwind is now Available ()
[18:05]   hautdesert is now Available ()
[18:05]   Shoka is now Available ()
[18:05]   sabina is now Available ()
[16:52]<TacticoStormwind> I'm going to join the Civil Air Patrol as soon as I get in contact with them
[16:52]<Shoka> Good luck tac. If the sucess rate is as low as it is for fighter pilots in UK the ods against getting in are huge.
[16:53]<TacticoStormwind> Makes me want it even more
[16:53]<Hawklady> Where do you live Haut?
[16:53]<hautdesert> In St. Louis.
[16:55]<Shoka> Hey its a great ambition to aspire to Tac. Just that in UK at least less than 1 in 1000 actully get to fly jets
[16:55]<Hawklady> Is that southern US - I'm not too good on geograhy I'm afraid
[16:55]<hautdesert> I gather it's pretty competetive here, too.
[16:56]<hautdesert> It's in the middle--sort of on the border of north and south. Most st. louisans consider themselves midwesterners, some folks in the north think we're southern, but no southerner would make that mistake.
[16:57]<TacticoStormwind> Heh I live in Alabama, so I know I'm in the South
[16:57]<TacticoStormwind> And sorry I never answered you back with any comments Hawk I minimized WinJabber and forgot about it, lol
[16:57]<TacticoStormwind> Talk about a one track mind
[16:58]<Hawklady> Ok - Its probably a little like living in the north of England when you have a southern English accent, like me
[16:59]<Hawklady> Only one track, Tac - looks like both lanes to me :-)
[16:59]<hautdesert> I had someone in Ireland ask me, "Is it near Conecticut, or San Francisco?" So your geography isn't as bad as it could be.
[16:59]<hautdesert> It's sort of like that. If you leave the city, the state (especially the southern part) can be pretty southern. We're enough on the border to have feet in both sides, I guess.
[17:00]<hautdesert> But everyone thinks we belong somewhere else.
[17:00]<TacticoStormwind> Heh
[17:00]<hautdesert> Yeah, Tac, alabama is pretty southern!
[17:01]<Shoka> Where are the res do you think?
[18:05]   %% sabina has joined
[18:05]<hautdesert> It's early yet. They may not have logged on. My client said CK was online, but he hasn't responded to my hail.
[18:05]<hautdesert> Hi, Sabina! speak of the devil!
[18:05]<Hawklady> Hi Sabina
[18:05]<Shoka> Keyboard cant spell again. Where are the rest?
[18:06]<hautdesert> probably still firing up their computers.
[18:06]<sabina> 'Allo
[18:06]   EupathicImpulse is now Available ()
[18:06]   %% EupathicImpulse has joined
[18:06]<Shoka> Ahh Hi Sabina
[18:06]<EupathicImpulse> Greetings
[18:06]<TacticoStormwind> Oh do you guys wanna know something friggin awesome that I did at Six Flags?!?!?!?! If not I'm probably going to tell you anyway, lol ;-)
[18:06]<hautdesert> Yo! Eu!
[18:06]<Hawklady> Shoka and I have been chatting for quite a while - we were wondering if we'd got the right room.
[18:07]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, it is I, Impulse +)
[18:07]<Shoka> Looks like those who know what they are doing have started to arrive. Must be the right room after all.
[18:07]<Hawklady> Hi EI
[18:07]<EupathicImpulse> I managed to get it working with Tkabber. Instructions are a little different from the WinJab ones.
[18:07]<TacticoStormwind> I went into this place where you could play Virtual reality games. You put the helmet on and it's like you were in that world. You had to move around to actually look around and stuff. Omg those first person shooter games were so awesome. Ok I'm done
[18:08]<EupathicImpulse> Though it is a little unstable and I get silly errors from time to time.
[18:08]<hautdesert> I was wondering about that. It acn be kind of confusing at first--I'm glad tkabber worked!
[18:08]<Hawklady> Sounds like it was good fun anyway Tac
[18:08]<TacticoStormwind> Yes, it was great
[18:08]<Hawklady> Have you played paintball at all - my sone used to love it.
[18:08]<TacticoStormwind> I probably spent a good 2 and a half hours in there
[18:08]<hautdesert> yeah, i had to try a couple of clients, myself, until I found one that worked. Winjab seems pretty stable. mostly.
[18:09]<TacticoStormwind> No, I've been wanting to Paintball badly though
[18:09]<EupathicImpulse> I avoid pain. Paintball sounds painful.
[18:09]<Hawklady> Do you have to be 18 to play it though?
[18:09]<TacticoStormwind> MIRC, is a good alternative to WinJabber
[18:09]<TacticoStormwind> Not in America...
[18:09]<sabina> I like IRC
[18:09]<EupathicImpulse> I prefer IRC too.
[18:10]<Shoka> I'm as usual running a linux client. Gaim with te jabber add-on seems ok
[18:10]<EupathicImpulse> How do you get /me commands here?
[18:10]   * TacticoStormwind runs
[18:10]<Hawklady> I am using winjabber - it closed the link on me earlier, but seems to be OK now
[18:10]   * EupathicImpulse I see.
[18:10]<EupathicImpulse> I like Tkabber because it's Tcl/tk and can therefore run anywhere.
[18:10]   * TacticoStormwind has changed the subject to: Tactico= Your king
[18:10]<TacticoStormwind> Haha, forgot you coulddo that
[18:11]<TacticoStormwind> could do*
[18:11]<EupathicImpulse> :)
[18:11]<EupathicImpulse> ;)
[18:11]<EupathicImpulse> :atevi
[18:11]<EupathicImpulse> Nope.
[18:11]<EupathicImpulse> I wonder if that could be set up. Hmm.
[18:12]<Hawklady> I can't do smileys either :-(
[18:12]<sabina> I don't think smileys are possible
[18:12]<EupathicImpulse> Tkabber does graphical smileys, but I suppose we haven't added the Shejidan smileys.
[18:12]<TacticoStormwind> Well I've got to go to get ready to go to my friends house
[18:12]<Hawklady> At least they don't show as such on my browser
[18:12]<EupathicImpulse> I am seeing your smileys as pictures.
[18:12]<TacticoStormwind> I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer
[18:12]<EupathicImpulse> Quite similar to the EZboard ones.
[18:12]<Hawklady> Are you going somewhere nice?
[18:13]   * TacticoStormwind has changed the subject to: Tactico loves you all!!!!!!!!!
[18:13]<TacticoStormwind> See you guys later!
[18:13]<EupathicImpulse> So I was wondering if people had added them or it was just the authors of Tkabber.
[18:13]<Shoka> Ta Ta Tac. Luck with the pilot ambition.
[18:13]<EupathicImpulse> See you.
[18:13]<TacticoStormwind> Heh thanks
[18:13]<Hawklady> Bye Tac!
[18:13]<sabina> Just Tkabber
[18:13]   %% TacticoStormwind has left
[18:13]<EupathicImpulse> Oh! A tkabber barf!
[18:13]<hautdesert> it myst by tkabber, I don't have them
[18:13]<EupathicImpulse> I'm going to count them.
[18:14]<hautdesert> I don't know what me commands are--there's something you can do, though, to do actinos that I always forget
[18:14]<EupathicImpulse> It took me a while to upgrade my Tcl/tk to get it working.
[18:14]   * hautdesert tests the action
[18:14]<EupathicImpulse> It's just regular /me.
[18:14]   * hautdesert discovers Eu is correct.
[18:14]<EupathicImpulse> I think there is some IRC compatibility.
[18:15]<hautdesert> yes, if the server has the right software on it. It can also communicate with AIM and MSN--if the stars are all lined up correctly.
[18:15]<sabina> IRC is possible, but difficult at best
[18:15]<EupathicImpulse> If I spoke Tcl/tk I'd fix these barfings.
[18:15]   * EupathicImpulse has forgotten his Tcl/tk. Did it in high school for a summer job.
[18:16]<Shoka> does his come out as a smiley =-O
[18:16]   * hautdesert is impressed. a few cgi programs in perl is the most she's ever done.
[12:12 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Ah, perl. I had to use it for a text mining project this last semester.
[12:12 PM]<EupathicImpulse> A good thing about Tkabber is that the barfings don't really terminate use.
[12:13 PM]<hautdesert> yeah, i'm told it's great for working with text. I used it to make an automated Fog Indexer. I was very proud of myself.
[12:13 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I think one of the selling points of tcl/tk is that it is robust.
[12:14 PM]<hautdesert> I also used it for the Foreigner quote of the day.
[12:14 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I used it to render a bunch of movie reviews into various minable forms, each a different experiment in text classification. Trying to figure out what words are reliable predictors of a bad review.
[12:14 PM]<EupathicImpulse> haut: used what?
[12:15 PM]<Shoka> For the terminally confused TCL/TC is a programming language, as is Perl
[12:15 PM]<Hawklady> All these technical abbrviations are fascinating - I've only done a very basic computer training so have no idea what most of that means
[12:15 PM]<hautdesert> perl
[12:15 PM]<Hawklady> Hi Ansi!
[12:15 PM]<Ansikalden> Hi!
[12:15 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Tkabber barf! That's three in ten minutes!
[12:15 PM]<hautdesert> hi, ansi!
[12:15 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Hi!
[12:15 PM]<sabina> Hello Ansi
[12:15 PM]<Shoka> Hi Ansi
[12:15 PM]<Ansikalden> I figured the time wrong...
[12:16 PM]<EupathicImpulse> There's a module for perl that turns it into proper Latin.
[12:15 PM]TacticoStormwind has set the topic to: Tactico loves you all!!!!!!!!!
[12:15 PM]CKTC has joined
[12:15 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It's brilliant.
[12:15 PM]<Hawklady> Hi CK!
[12:16 PM]<hautdesert> hi CK!
[12:16 PM]<CKTC> Hello!
[12:16 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Ah, CK-aiji.
[12:16 PM]<Shoka> Wahoo Welcome Aiji-Ma
[12:16 PM]<CKTC> Sorry, folks. I'm getting lunch. BRB in about 2 minutes okay?
[12:16 PM]<CKTC> Thanks!
[12:16 PM]<EupathicImpulse> De rien, as they say in French.
[12:16 PM]<hautdesert> Lunch! Like eating is more important than us!!!
[12:16 PM]<EupathicImpulse> He *is* the aiji.
[12:16 PM]<Hawklady> So?
[12:16 PM]<EupathicImpulse> [b]is[/b]
[12:16 PM]<Shoka> More like Tea this side of the Atlantic
[12:17 PM]<Ansikalden> CK needs his food.
[12:17 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I just had breakfast, and it's lunch time now.
[12:17 PM]<hautdesert> does it take html ? <i>is</i>
[12:17 PM]<hautdesert> Nope, no html
[12:17 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I had instant oatmeal. Quaker peaches and creme.
[12:18 PM]<Hawklady> We just had lunch, and its tea-time now!
[12:18 PM]<EupathicImpulse> What's the IRC bold command?
[12:18 PM]<hautdesert> It's lunch time here, but I haven't eaten anything.
[12:18 PM]<sabina> Almost supper
[12:18 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I suspect it might work.
[12:18 PM]<Ansikalden> Just ate dinner.
[12:18 PM]<Shoka> No no no its Tea time :-D
[12:18 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Wow, those smileys really do look like EZboard smileys.
[12:18 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Wonder if they stole them.
[12:19 PM]<hautdesert> it's control b
[12:19 PM]<hautdesert> but it doesn't work
[12:19 PM]<EupathicImpulse> No, won't work here either.
[12:19 PM]<hautdesert> Just looked it up on google
[12:19 PM]<Shoka> Hey EI does that show as a smiley to you then
[12:19 PM]<Hawklady> All I see is the keyed in characters :-(
[12:19 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, it does.
[12:19 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Someone programmed in smileys in Tkabber.
[12:19 PM]<EupathicImpulse> They are suspiciously similar to the EZboard ones.
[12:20 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Oh, brb...hopefully.
[12:20 PM]<hautdesert> There's a sort of stock of basic smileys
[12:21 PM]Ansikalden has left
[12:21 PM]<Shoka> I can do O:-) :-D :-! :-X :'( :-[ :-* :-$ :-( =-O :-) 8-)' :-/ :-P ;-) >:o
[12:21 PM]<CKTC> Hey, food is very important!
[12:21 PM]<CKTC> :D
[12:21 PM]<CKTC> Weird. These emoticons are funny looking.
[12:22 PM]<Hawklady> Yes, that's why we ate first!
[12:22 PM]<CKTC> Heh. I said I was sorry!
[12:22 PM]<Shoka> Is anybody using Winjabber seeing the smileys
[12:22 PM]<CKTC> *Munches on sandwich.*
[12:22 PM]<CKTC> I do.
[12:22 PM]<hautdesert> I don't have emoticons--just text smileys
[12:22 PM]<CKTC> I'm using Exodus actually.
[12:22 PM]<hautdesert> CK, are you using windjab?
[12:22 PM]<hautdesert> Ah, the mystery solved.
[12:23 PM]<CKTC> Yeah. I had to re-download since my computer crashed sometime after the last chat.
[12:23 PM]<CKTC> Exodus works very well. It's easy to use, so far.
[12:23 PM]<Hawklady> Perhaps I should try that for the next chat
[12:23 PM]<CKTC> Is anyone trapped at the boards? Seems we always have someone not able to get into the chat.
[12:24 PM]<CKTC> I'm glad you folks could make it on such short notice, btw.
[12:24 PM]<sabina> Exodus didn't like me
[12:24 PM]<CKTC> It didn't? D'oh!
[12:24 PM]<hautdesert> ^Btesting
[12:24 PM]<hautdesert> didn't work
[12:24 PM]<CKTC> Huh?
[12:24 PM]<Shoka> No Susan. Was she expected ?
[12:25 PM]<CKTC> No Cory either.
[12:25 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Back.
[12:25 PM]<CKTC> Hullo, EI :)
[12:25 PM]<Hawklady> Or Col
[12:25 PM]<hautdesert> Trying to get bolded text. I'm surprised Susan isn't here, maybe she'll show up.
[12:25 PM]<Hawklady> Or Spense
[12:25 PM]<hautdesert> They might be along in awhile.
[12:25 PM]Ansikalden has joined
[12:25 PM]<CKTC> Hmm. I think I'll go post a thread for the Lost.
[12:25 PM]<hautdesert> having trouble, ansi?
[12:26 PM]<Ansikalden> A glitch...
[12:26 PM]<EupathicImpulse> So I took up a recommendation in the Better Than Sex forum and started reading Kristine Smith's idomeni trilogy.
[12:26 PM]<hautdesert> is it any good?
[12:26 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It's quite good for an author's first attempt.
[12:26 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It's a little confusing at times, because she does the Julian May hindsight thing without Julian May's skill.
[12:26 PM]<Ansikalden> I think so too, EI.
[12:27 PM]<sabina> One of my profs said that the word "glitch" is borrowed from German, but I have no idea from which word
[12:27 PM]<Shoka> By the end of a trilogy, you can hardly call ita first attempt
[12:27 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I only read the first book.
[12:27 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I'm just starting the second.
[12:27 PM]<hautdesert> second books of trilogys are usually better.
[12:27 PM]<hautdesert> trilogies
[12:27 PM]<hautdesert> trilobites
[12:28 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Trying to reconstruct the main character's history is kind of a puzzle, because she only lets it out in bits and piece...a tad awkwardly.
[12:28 PM]<Shoka> Hey no Mule either
[12:28 PM]<Hawklady> Or Shlinas
[12:28 PM]<hautdesert> It's better tahn a huge infodump, but hard to manage gracefully.
[12:28 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It is better than an infodump. I'd like to know more of the history of the Families, though.
[12:28 PM]<CKTC> Some folks might not know it's today. It was pretty short notice, the chat announcement.
[12:29 PM]<CKTC> Never read anything by that author or by Julian May.
[12:29 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I strongly strongly strongly recommend Julian May.
[12:29 PM]<Shoka> Trilobites come in three pieces Head - Thorax - Abdomen:-D
[12:29 PM]<Hawklady> Nor me, Ck
[12:29 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Though Kristine Smith is more Foreigner-ish.
[12:29 PM]<CKTC> I'll keep May in mind, though I don't have time to read much lately.
[12:30 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I have to read or I'll go insane +)
[12:30 PM]<CKTC> So maybe I'm insane. Ack!
[12:30 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Ack!
[12:30 PM]<hautdesert> i can't read much right now, too busy sppitting stuff out.
[12:30 PM]<CKTC> Spitting?
[12:30 PM]<hautdesert> but i have to have someting to read, or I loose it, too
[12:30 PM]<CKTC> Spitting?!?
[12:30 PM]<hautdesert> I'm determined to finsihs this draft by the end of june.
[12:31 PM]<EupathicImpulse> You may have noticed that I just reread the Faded Sun books...while I was under a horrible time crunch.
[12:31 PM]<EupathicImpulse> ck: fine, churning
[12:31 PM]<CKTC> Churning what? Am I missing something?
[12:31 PM]<Shoka> Thomas Covenant was Julin May ? The golden torq
[12:31 PM]<hautdesert> ah, churning is much better. I was trying to be more polite than "barfing"
[12:31 PM]<CKTC> Oh my.
[12:31 PM]<CKTC> Are you sick, haut?
[12:31 PM]<hautdesert> Isendeni Statino.
[12:31 PM]<hautdesert> no, I'm not sick.
[12:31 PM]<CKTC> Oh, writing! Why didn'tcha say so?
[12:32 PM]<CKTC> Heh!
[12:32 PM]<CKTC> I have to finish reading that someday.
[12:32 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Thomas Covenant is by Stephen R Donaldson.
[12:32 PM]<hautdesert> Nah, wait until I have this draft. It's changed a lot.
[12:32 PM]<hautdesert> gack! Thonmas Covenant!
[12:32 PM]<CKTC> I think I read something by Donaldson once, long ago. I wasn't too thrilled with it.
[12:32 PM]<CKTC> Oh, okay, haut.
[12:32 PM]<Shoka> Ah yess sorry Blaming May for Donalsons sins is hardy fair
[12:32 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I read both trilogies. They are rather depressing.
[12:33 PM]<EupathicImpulse> The Gap is extremely depressing. I went to the end of it, though I could hardly stand it any more.
[12:33 PM]<hautdesert> depressing is an understatement. So would be saying TC is an unsympathetic character.
[12:33 PM]<EupathicImpulse> He wasn't supposed to be sympathetic, though.
[12:33 PM]<Shoka> Failed to finish the few I started. Not on my recommended list.
[12:33 PM]<hautdesert> true, but he was just enough over the edge I couldn't stand to be in the same place with him.
[12:33 PM]<Ansikalden> The Donaldson succeeded
[12:33 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I did find the second book of the second series to be the best, though. I really felt for him, for the fist time.
[12:34 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Covenant is an anti-hero. You're supposed to hate him.
[12:34 PM]<hautdesert> Really!? I didn't make it that far. Just the first three.
[12:34 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, I think the second trilogy is much better than the first.
[12:34 PM]<EupathicImpulse> The whole "sunbane" thing was very clever.
[12:35 PM]<Ansikalden> But TC was much the same
[12:35 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, he was the same character...an (anti)Christ figure.
[12:35 PM]<hautdesert> an anti hero is difficult--the reader has to find some reason to stay with the character, even though s/he's not sympathetic. A hard balancing act. the scales tipped too far, for me. I know lots of perfectly intelligent folks whose taste I respect who really like those books,though.
[12:35 PM]<EupathicImpulse> But viewing him through the eyes of the doctor was more interesting. And the whole Waynhim/elohim was also very good too.
[12:36 PM]<hautdesert> viewing him through the eyes of the doctor--that would be much better. tc makes a difficult viewpoint character.
[12:36 PM]<EupathicImpulse> May is completely different. She wrote three interconnected series (each one has the other two in hindsight, very clever) based on Catholic philosophical themes.
[12:36 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Teilhardian stuff.
[12:37 PM]<CKTC> Julian May is a woman?
[12:37 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes.
[12:37 PM]<CKTC> Oh.
[12:37 PM]<EupathicImpulse> She wrote the last trilogy 15 years after the first quadrology. However, the first quadrology refers to fine details of the last trilogy, and it is *perfectly* consistent.
[12:37 PM]<Shoka> Sounds better, Ill remove the subconcious association with Donaldson, and try again
[12:38 PM]<EupathicImpulse> She too has a sort of anti-hero, but much better painted.
[12:39 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I want to get my hands on Robert Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax trilogy. New.
[12:39 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Robert Sawyer: one dose male midlife crisis, another dose typically self-conscious Canadiana, another dose oh-so-clever driving idea.
[12:40 PM]<Ansikalden> I've been thinking about them but not yet bought them.
[12:40 PM]<hautdesert> he was at midsouthcon
[12:40 PM]<EupathicImpulse> So I heard.
[12:40 PM]<hautdesert> very pleasant, i was intrigued to read his books.
[12:40 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I also want to read Atwood's Oryx and Crake. Why doesn't she just admit it? She's a SF writer!
[12:40 PM]<hautdesert> Oh, no, that would be terrible!
[12:40 PM]<hautdesert> to be an sf writer!
[12:41 PM]<CKTC> Those crazy sf writers...
[12:41 PM]<Shoka> And kiss her market goodbye?
[12:41 PM]<hautdesert> why would anyone in their right minds admit to that sort of trivial, escapist writing.
[12:41 PM]<hautdesert> excactly, shoka
[12:41 PM]<Ansikalden> It's highest praise
[12:41 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Oryx and Crake, by the interviews with her I've seen on the radio, is extremely Foreignerish.
[12:41 PM]<hautdesert> thousand of people read SF as long as its not called sf. call it sf, and those same people wouldn't touch it with a ten ft pole.
[12:41 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I mean, there's a human character surrounded by humanoid-but-emotionally-changed creatures.
[12:41 PM]<CKTC> Sounds interesting.
[12:42 PM]<hautdesert> atwood's a good writer, too.
[12:42 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Granted, they were once human and modified by GM, but still.
[12:42 PM]<EupathicImpulse> But it fits right into a very large genre of SF dystopias.
[12:42 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Like, of course, the Handmaid's Tale...
[12:43 PM]<CKTC> *Realizes how woefully unread he is.*
[12:43 PM]<Shoka> Most of the "horror" I've looked at is Fantasy maskerading as something else for marketing reasons.
[12:43 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes.
[12:44 PM]<EupathicImpulse> So I made the mistake of going to see Bulletproof Monk.
[12:44 PM]<hautdesert> Was it good?
[12:44 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It was like a bunch of still pictures of stereotypes.
[12:44 PM]<CKTC> D'oh! Why?
[12:44 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Just one after the other.
[12:44 PM]<CKTC> I love HK action movies, and I didn't see Bulletproof Monk. The trailer looked horrible.
[12:44 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It is truly horrible.
[12:44 PM]<hautdesert> I found some stuff atwood wrote about Oryx and Crake--her reason it's not SF--get this--Like The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. It contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians. As with The Handmaid's Tale, it invents nothing we haven't already invented or started to invent. Every novel begins with a what if, and then sets forth its axioms. The what if of Oryx and Crake is simply, What if we continue down the road we're already on? How slippery is the slope? What are our saving graces? Who's got the will to stop us?
[12:44 PM]<hautdesert> http://www.randomhouse.com/features/atwood/essay.html is where it's at.
[12:45 PM]<hautdesert> She's working with a bad definition, seems to me.
[12:45 PM]<EupathicImpulse> She is. Just for marketing reasons.
[12:45 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Doris Lessing wasn't afraid of SF.
[12:45 PM]<hautdesert> It's literature, you see. The same way 1984 and Brave New World aren't SF.
[12:45 PM]<Shoka> Nah she's working with a saleable definition...
[12:45 PM]* thinks unread is better than undead
[12:45 PM]<hautdesert> I've heard she should have been, though.
[12:45 PM]<CKTC> LOL, Ansi.
[12:46 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Did you know that two of her SF novels were made into operas by Philip Glass. And I looked for recordings of them, but they aren't published.
[12:46 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, she got flak at the time for her Canopus in Argos books.
[12:46 PM]<hautdesert> Well, she's right if she's afraid she'll lose readership if she calls it SF. She's wrong that SF is "martians and intergalactic space travel."
[12:46 PM]<CKTC> Philip Glass isn't exactly a household name.
[12:46 PM]<hautdesert> Really? I never heard that.
[12:46 PM]<Ansikalden> Like Lessing, started with the SF and read her other books too.
[12:46 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Other operas of his are available.
[12:46 PM]<hautdesert> He's pretty close, CK.
[12:46 PM]<CKTC> Not where I live. :)
[12:46 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Akhnaten, for instance.
[12:46 PM]<hautdesert> Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten
[12:47 PM]<hautdesert> Go rent Koyanisqaatsi, if you can find it, CK.
[12:47 PM]<EupathicImpulse> But, alas, not The Making of the Representative For Planet 8.
[12:47 PM]<CKTC> I've not seen that one, but I did see Baraka.
[12:47 PM]<hautdesert> 1000 airplanes on the roof?
[12:47 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Nor the Marriages Between Zones 3, 4, and 5.
[12:47 PM]<CKTC> I don't know who did the usic for that though.
[12:47 PM]<CKTC> music.
[12:47 PM]<CKTC> Ack!
[12:47 PM]<CKTC> Typo.
[12:48 PM]<hautdesert> I've got Einstein on the Beach and Aknaten, but not S.
[12:48 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Of the Canopus in Argos series, the Sirian Experiments were the best.
[12:48 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I've heard bits of Akhnaten and the other two.
[12:48 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I have the Civil Wars on hold at the library.
[12:48 PM]<CKTC> I've wanted to see Koyaanisqaatsi for a while, but never got around to it. Baraka was cool.
[12:48 PM]<hautdesert> I like Aknated a lot. Einstein takes a bit more work
[12:48 PM]<hautdesert> It's hailing!
[12:48 PM]<CKTC> Saw that on the large screen in College.
[12:49 PM]<CKTC> It was thunderstorming all night here. For a while, I thought I wouldn't be able to use the computer today.
[12:49 PM]<EupathicImpulse> You know, do you ever fantasize about showing human operas to an atevi audience?
[12:49 PM]<hautdesert> We had tornadoes to the north this morning, now it's hailing here and hautgirl and Mr. Haut are out "just going to the bank." But they must have decided tostp somewhere else, they've been gone awhile.
[12:49 PM]<hautdesert> Oh, good lord, yes!
[12:49 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I do all the time, you know.
[12:49 PM]<Ansikalden> Actually no :p
[12:49 PM]<hautdesert> And I still think about Foreigner as an opera, after CF's thread
[12:49 PM]<hautdesert> Or shakespeare, for that matter.
[12:50 PM]<EupathicImpulse> I'd actually like to show Les Mis.
[12:50 PM]<EupathicImpulse> In the Shejidan Machimi Theatre.
[12:50 PM]<Shoka> Its been fine and dry all day here, but somebody said hail, and it promptly clouded over.
[12:50 PM]<hautdesert> Eveyr time I hear Boris Godunof's coronatino scene, I think of atevi. All that bass.
[12:50 PM]<CKTC> I think Shakespeare would go over well. And iambic pentameter is most felicitous.
[12:50 PM]<EupathicImpulse> What if I said "Ave"? Would it Roman over?
[12:50 PM]<hautdesert> Heh.
[12:50 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Hahaha, Latin joke.
[12:50 PM]<hautdesert> very funny.
[12:50 PM]<EupathicImpulse> HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
[12:51 PM]<CKTC> ?
[12:51 PM]<Shoka> whirr click thunk even Shoka gets that one , i slowly:-)
[12:51 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Ave = "hail!" in Latin.
[12:51 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Like Ave Maria.
[12:52 PM]<EupathicImpulse> (Hail Mary)
[12:52 PM]<CKTC> Oh!
[12:52 PM]<CKTC> Shoulda paid more attention in religion class when I was a kid, I guess.
[12:52 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Ave atque vale. Hail and farewell.
[12:52 PM]<Shoka> Whyever CK?
[12:52 PM]<CKTC> So that I'd get that joke?
[12:52 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Your life is a waste!
[12:52 PM]<EupathicImpulse> You must go back and rearrange it so that you can get that joke!
[12:53 PM]<Shoka> About the only good reason I can think of for paying attention .
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> What have I been thinking all this time! Woe is me!
[12:53 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Your whole life has been building up to this moment...
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> And it crashed and burned!
[12:53 PM]<EupathicImpulse> ...and you squandered it! You squandered it!
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> The horror....
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> LOL
[12:53 PM]<hautdesert> hang your head in shame, ck
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> *Hangs head in shame.*
[12:53 PM]<EupathicImpulse> And all for just a little bit of extra attention in class.
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> *Smacks forehead for good measure.*
[12:53 PM]<CKTC> Bad CK....
[12:54 PM]<Shoka> Nah give em two fingers CK, it was a lame pun at best
[12:54 PM]<hautdesert> redundant, shoka.
[12:54 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Lame puns are the best puns.
[12:54 PM]<EupathicImpulse> The lamer the better.
[12:54 PM]<CKTC> Gives the world a rude pair of bunny ears.
[12:54 PM]<Hawklady> Poor CK - don't let them all have a go at you
[12:54 PM]<CKTC> LOL, thanks Hawklady. It's nice to know somebody cares!
[12:54 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Awww. Poor CK.
[12:55 PM]<Hawklady> Of course we do
[12:55 PM]<CKTC> Heh. Fishin' for sympathy always works!
[12:55 PM]<hautdesert> our man'chi is to you, aiji-ma!
[12:55 PM]<Shoka> Deeply Aiji-ma
[12:55 PM]<CKTC> :D
[12:55 PM]* bows
[12:55 PM]* bows.
[12:55 PM]<CKTC> Woohoo!
[12:55 PM]<Shoka> Shoka bows
[12:55 PM]* bows even lower than EI and ansi, and falls over
[12:55 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Despite the fact that I am a Lylmik.
[12:55 PM]<CKTC> Hey, how do you do the actions again? I keep forgetting.
[12:55 PM]<Hawklady> Hawklady would curtsey, but the zimmer won't allow it!
[12:55 PM]<EupathicImpulse> And therefore don't have enough substance to bow.
[12:56 PM]<Ansikalden> Slash me
[12:56 PM]<EupathicImpulse> You use /me.
[12:56 PM]* bows.
[12:56 PM]<Shoka> Eee where is Susan
[12:56 PM]<CKTC> Woohoo!
[12:56 PM]* wonders the same thing. Where is Susan-ji?
[12:56 PM]<hautdesert> I just emailed her. She usually visits her mother SAturday afternoons, but she has email there.
[12:56 PM]<Shoka> /me
[12:56 PM]<CKTC> Ah, okay.
[12:56 PM]<Shoka> Now what
[12:57 PM]<CKTC> Now we sit and eat green pizza for a while.
[12:57 PM]<hautdesert> Mmm...green pizza. I'm hungry.
[12:57 PM]<Ansikalden> A small slice then
[12:57 PM]* passes the pizza around.
[12:57 PM]<Hawklady> Oh good
[12:57 PM]<hautdesert> I still want to make green pizza for real, but I don't hink my family would eat it.
[12:57 PM]TacticoStormwind has joined
[12:57 PM]<CKTC> I'd eat it!
[12:57 PM]<TacticoStormwind> I'm back
[12:57 PM]<CKTC> Hey, Tac!
[12:57 PM]<hautdesert> Hi, TAc!
[12:57 PM]<TacticoStormwind> Plans changed so I have a lil more extra time to talk to you guys
[12:58 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Hmm. Tkabber is barfing in the same location in the code.
[12:58 PM]<hautdesert> I think Saag, canned from the store, would make a good "spicy and sour" green sauce.
[12:58 PM]<EupathicImpulse> It's basically the same barf. I bet if I tried I can fix it, but likely someone has already done so.
[12:58 PM]<TacticoStormwind> Heheh and looks like the subject is still the same
[12:58 PM]<CKTC> Cool. I saw you were on earlier, but I wasn't at my computer.
[12:58 PM]<EupathicImpulse> How about just pesto?
[12:58 PM]<hautdesert> It looks like it barfs whenever someoen joins.
[12:58 PM]<CKTC> We're talking about green pizza at the moment.
[12:58 PM]<CKTC> I bet it's tasty.
[12:58 PM]<hautdesert> Pesto would be green, but not sour and spicy, as described in Invader.
[12:58 PM]<EupathicImpulse> Yes, it does. There were a couple of other barfities.