Eggs and Endorphins

Because technoshaman claimed that Let it Go was going to end up "like Band from Argo"...


Banned from Frozen
ttto "Boston Burglar" (trad) as learned from Leslie Fish's Banned from Argo

The snow is glowing brightly, not a footprint to be seen,
A land of isolation, and it looks like I'm the queen,
The wind is howling loudly, like the storm that swirls inside,
I couldn't ever keep it in, and heaven knows I tried,

So I will let it go and let it roar,
Yes I will let it go, I cannot hold back any more,
I care not what they're gonna think or what they're gonna say,
I'm never bothered by cold, anyway,

It's funny how some distance seems to make things feel so small,
And the fears that once controlled me, they can't get to me at all,
So now it's time for freedom, and to see what I can do,
I am beyond both right and wrong, the limits I'll break through,

So I will let it go, become the sky,
Yes I will let it go, and you will never see me cry,
It's here that I am gonna stand, and here that I will stay,
I'm never bothered by cold, anyway,

My power flurries through the air, and flows into the ground,
And my soul is spiralling in fractals all around,
Then suddenly one thought turns clear, just like an icy blast,
I'm never, ever going back, the past is in the past,

So I will let it go, rising like dawn,
Yes I will let it go, for good that perfect girl is gone,
Let the storm rage on, for here I stand in-the light of day,
I'm never bothered by cold, anyway,

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nineweaving is, understandably, upset that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is commissioning a set of scripts with updated language.

papersky responded, with a sonnet on how Shakespere outlives attempts at improving him. (True).

I take a more moderate view, however, seeing as how most companies murder shakespeare in order to perform his work in the first place:

All translators are liars, say'th the sage,
They change the words, and so some bits are lost
When change is made twixt tongues, then that's the cost,
For good or ill, translation makes a different page,

The stage, too, leaves things changed, or else destroyed,
As text is turned to something rich and strange,
Or if not needed, dropped, or rearranged,
And naught may make this journey unalloyed.

And yet, without these crimes, for us is moot
Nine tenths of all the work of wealth and worth,
We cannot learn all tongues that span the earth,
Unless we spend our days in that pursuit.

Change what you must, and work with no remorse,
It is no loss as long as one can find your source.

There's earlier version of this song earlier in my feed, but since made a few changes prior to singing this as an argument at the Business Meeting, after being recognized, as an argument at the World Science Fiction Society at the 73rd Worldcon, on the motion of the same name.

( The Five Percent SolutionCollapse )

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Ok, so, this was a weekend:

( Friday, we dancedCollapse )

( Saturday, we gamed, and then danced some moreCollapse )

( Sunday, we got classesCollapse )

( ...And I helped reconstruct the ragtime camel stepCollapse )

( And I got some useful feedbackCollapse )

Why traditional (lead/follow) Partner Dance is like a RPG

So, the thing about comparing partner dancing to RPGs is that a naive approach would be that the lead is the GM, and the follow is the player. This is, it turns out, exactly wrong.

The follow in partner dance is the GM, with a role that encompasses pretty much everything a GM does in an RPG except for scene-setting (which is handled by whoever chooses the music). The lead's role, by contrast, is pretty much exactly like that of a player in an RPG.

The follow's job is to maintain the physics model of the dance, to add styling, and to respond to what the lead does -- but not to make directional choices in the dance itself -- just like the GM's job is to maintain the physics mode of the game, to add flavor text, and to respond to what the players do, but not, generally to set narrative direction (except by picking the scenario, which as I mentioned, is much like picking the music in that it sets the scenes, but doesn't determine character choices). A good follow will maintain a consistent physics model (momentum, etc) commensurate with the style of the dance, except when they choose to creatively depart from it or when safety becomes a factor -- just like a good GM will keep the narrative and physical logic of the game world consistent unless they have a good reason to depart from them.

The lead's job is to make clear creative choices, and to communicate them clearly and directly--just like a player's job is to make clear narrative and strategic choices for their character. In both cases, the rule is "have a plan, but be prepared to improvise."

The reason it's possible (or even likely) that people will reverse these is the assumption that both the GM and the lead are "in charge". But, of course, neither the GM nor the lead are really in charge; what people do in a group or paired activity for pleasure is a matter of consensus, however roles are divided up.

( In which the post is wrapped, and we get home at a reasonable hourCollapse )

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A few months ago, someone ran a "Groundhog Day" scenario at a local con as a pickup game using Monsterhearts. drcpunk played in it.

Now, first, it seems clear to me that people had fun at this game. It was -not- a failure, by any means.

However, it also seems clear, both based on drcpunk's description of play, and in what I've heard elsewhere, that the game was not ideal -- both in that it violated the implicit contract of play of Monsterhearts, and that it didn't really fulfill the promise that one -could- have in a Monsterhearts/Groundhog Day scenario.

FWIW, my purpose isn't to trash the original game. It seems to have been fun! But I want to sketch out how I'd do something similar that would fit my aesthetic better.

( This is yet another very geeky RPG methods post. Be warned!Collapse )

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I'm well aware that this has been done before, but I wasn't satisfied with how, so having had an idea of doing a thing, I feel compelled to finish.

I'd be sorry, except I'm really not.

( Click here to read the thingCollapse )

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Another Dexcon come and gone. This time with less stupid sleep deprivation and more late mornings, due to not wanting to put my brain on the fritz.

I came down late Wednesday, somewhat against my original plans, as something came up at work I couldn't easily skip out on--but due to trains being fast, still made it to Morristown well before 9 (games start at 10), doing an Ingress mission on the way and catching up with drcpunk for dinner.

( A longish con report with included song followsCollapse )

When your friendship's on rails 
To be much more than pals,
That's amore.

When you cook up a dish,
Of an 'eel' of a fish,
that's a moray.

With a pattern that fades
Smoothly between two shades,
that's a moire,

With two letters that come
As a version of "mom"
That's 'M' or 'A'

( more con report!Collapse )

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I've never been a Trek fan, particularly, but that hasn't stopped me from picking up bits of it, given fannish immersion (and a Next Gen watching weekly gathering before we switched to B5).

But it occurs to me that there's a set of Star Trek races that are inherently a conversation about emotion.


VULCAN: I AM SUPERIOR BECAUSE I HAVE NO EMOTIONS. JUST LOGIC.
ROMULAN: NO, I AM SUPERIOR BECAUSE I EMBRACE MY EMOTIONS, AND THEY EMPOWER ME.
BETAZOID: UM. YOU ARE BOTH LYING TO YOURSELVES, BUT YOU'RE PROBABLY HAPPIER THAT WAY.
ANDROID: DO I HAVE EMOTIONS?
BETAZOID: I CAN'T SENSE ANY, BUT MAYBE THAT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ANDROID.
ANDROID: NOPE. I MUST NOT HAVE ANY. THAT MAKES ME SAD.
BETAZOID: UM....
ANDROID: YUP. NO EMOTIONS AT ALL; THE BETAZOID SAYS SO, AND MY ANDROID LOGIC INTERPRETS PERFECTLY.
BETAZOID: GRRR
ANDROID: ANYWAY, ANYONE HAVE EMOTIONS I CAN BORROW?
VULCAN: YOU CAN HAVE MINE. I DON'T NEED THEM.
ROMULAN: THAT IS ILLOGICAL!a

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So apparently there's a measure that's been submitted to amend or remove the "5% rule" for the Hugo awards. This is a good idea -- that rule was put in place to avoid the case where you have, say, three works that get 50%, 25%, and 20% of the ballots -- and then the next work has 4% or less of the ballots, thus not really in the running for competing with the more important works. But in fact, when a category is saturated enough, the field gets large enough and we no longer have central places where everyone is reading the same things, we end up with situations like Best Short Story -- where for most of the last 5 years we've had fewer than 5 things on the ballot (sometimes as few as 3) with even the successful nominees not getting much more than 5% (or mabye even that; the 5% rule has an exception that you still have to have 3 nominees even if you need to bend it to do so) of the ballot, and thus no significant difference between what made the cut and what didn't -- but a much thinner field than there really should be.

They call it "The 5%" solution.

The reason for the following one verse filk, therefore, should be obvious.

(Also, thank you, drcpunk for remembering to write down my brainstormed chorus couplet so it was still around when I finished the verse and got around to writing the chorus).

"The Five Percent Solution"
TTTO: "I Never Do Anything Twice/The Madam's Song", by Stephen Sondheim
By Joshua Kronengold

Before I was a neo,
I don't recall the date,
We made a rule for our premier award,
Even if it made the cut, a nomination met its fate,
If one in twenty didn't think it scored

At first it proved a good rule,
Avoided the long tails,
But later, when the field ballooned in size,
If our population fails,
To all read the same tales,
Where the ballot's concerned there's too much for the prize,

Then, yes, the genre was small,
Now, though, you can't read it all,
Then, tastes were more concentrated,
The best stories rated,
And found themselves slated

We must this rule amend,
At this point, it's hard to defend,
I think that it makes no sense,
To limit works by five percent.

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Gwen Knighton Raftery wrote me a poem!

Josh Kronengold
In three-quarter time
Breathlessly rhyme
A drum, a hand
A harp, a man
Throw them at the light
Throw them at the light
Throw them three times
At the light
And you will find him laughing
And you will find the ladies laughing
And you will find them each with the other
Throw them at the light.

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A Sonnet to Serenity

First quatrain and last couplet by Joshua Kronengold, second quatrain and following couplet by batyatoon, first couplet (5-6) and editing by thnidu.

Deny me answer to my heart's behest,
Deprive me of my property and lot,
Remove my person, force me by duress,
To where the land shan't bear me, I care not.
For I am unencumbered by oppression,
Nor canst thou wrest the sky from my possession.

Though I be exiled to the endless dark,
And though they tell the world I'll not return;
Though thou may'st fan the flame or set the spark
That seas may boil and that the land may burn;
My will's my own, and so the skies shall be --
And neither wilt thou ever take from me.

Now nowhere can I be, since Peace I found,
But mine is that which lies above the ground.

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Reposting this here, since I'd somehow only put it into facebook, where it is -trivial- for it to get lost (whoops).

I should come up with a title for this at some point.
(to the tune of Santa Monica Pier, of course). And maybe a second verse (or two).

I've got half a dozen apples in my pocket, rolling round and getting bruised,
I should cut them up into pieces, and soak them up before they're stewed,
The nutmeg smells a little bit like home, like mulled cider on New Year's Eve,
I've got a cup of oatmeal measured out, and the flour is sieved.

I am a baker here, setting up all my kitchen gear,
Greased up pans and cooking shears, planning food like a brigadeer,
Oh, there's a baking pan, covered up in a spray of pam,
I have dreamed of sweets like these, all of my life.

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Anyone want to playtest this?

Dreidel-to-go (name is a work in progress).

This is a push your luck game played with dreidels.

Setup: For each round, either ante up 5 gelt per player (if playing as a gambling game) or seed the pot with 5 gelt per player. The game is played in turns, with the youngest player going first (or choose a start player randomly).

On your turn:
1. Spin the dreidel exactly three times. If you spin a Gimmel, double your winnings (or gain a single gelt in your winnings if you have none) (not including gelt that have been put aside). If you spin Hey, add a gelt to your winnings. If you spin Nun, nothing happens. Finally, if you spin Shin, put one of your winnings aside (if there are no winnings to put aside, take a gelt and immediately put it aside); if you have three gelt put aside, then your turn immediately ends and your winnings are forfeited (as are gelt that have been put aside) and returned to the pot. If you roll gimmel or hey and the pot is empty, you can put into your winnings gelt from your "put aside" pile.

2. You can choose: either take another turn (go back to 1, but do -not- take your winnings), or take your winnings (but -not- any gelt that have been put aside with Shin; those are returned to the pot).

Play until the pot runs out; players can then play another game/round. (a game may be defined as a certain number of rounds, in which case players who do not play subsequent rounds forfeit the game).

(inspired by nancylebov)

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drcpunk and I will be at Chessiecon. I'm running music, so I'm not sure how much attention I'll have to spare, but still, it should be fun.

Also, we could use lifts. We're arriving at the train station (Baltimore Penn, natch) at 10:37pm on Thanksgiving, and the light rail isn't running by then. We can take a cab, but a lift would be better, if available.

And going back, we're on a lovely 4AM (almost) train, Which is a minor, if soluble problem, as there's no light rail that late and Penn Station closes for an hour between 2AM and 3AM [for cleaning]. We can finesse this if we need to; there's a walkable Korean restaurant that's open until 4AM that we used last year for this purpose; however, if anyone has a better plan, I'd love to hear it [one where we get to sleep? Even better!)]

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The music schedule for Chessiecon is pretty solid at this point. I'm taking some risks, but I think it will be fun, and that the con will be awesome.

Some hilights:

Tom Smith. Because.

Batya. In, and out of the Funny Things (with Merav).

-Five- sometime members of Clam Chowder, doing their thing in, and out of the music room. Including Don Stallone, who hasn't been seen for...quite some time.

Familiar. Who I've never heard in person(that I know of), but sound -damned- good.

Glen Raphael, Gary Ehrlich and Roberta Rogow (because I do actually want filk on the menu).

The Usual stuff (filk circles, including a moderated 2pm Friday one; the Halelujah Chorus, caroling, Moggy, Ellen James, Sarah Pinkster, and, of course, an insturmental jam).

More lobby performance than you can shake a stick at. Because it's always good to have a choice about where to go.

There -may- end up being too much music. (is there such a thing?) There won't be too little.

If you don't have anything else you're doing on Thanksgiving Weekend this year, it's worth doing.

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I went to Dexcon this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I tried 3+1/2 new games (at least), 2+1/2 at least I really liked (I enjoyed Automobile and would play it again, but economic games are hardly novel to me at this point).

Scoundrels of Skullport: I like Lords of Waterdeep, though it's hardly a serious worker placement game (due to the high variance on the Intrigue and Quest cards, there's a lot of randomness there). But Scoundrels makes it a much better game, IMO -- the new buildings generally give more to everyone, so everyone can do a bit more (which makes extra actions slightly less critical, and also makes the expensive plot quests from the original game more worthwhile overall). It also dilutes the obligatory mandatory quests with more "help everyone" Intrigue cards--and provides more ways to play Intrigue cards than the very limited Waterdeep. (it also provides more ways for people to dig themselves into a very deep hole, but then that's the nature of in-game decisions). The addition of 40 point quests makes quest and resource depth a lot more interesting, overall, and I liked the game a fair bit running on a "wealth" model rather than a "scarcity" one (for various reasons, I ended up spending most of the game with far more Thieves and Warriors than I could use, which was a refreshing change).

Thebes came out in 2007, but was new to me. It uses a lovely time track mechanic (plus a great theme; love the archeology); the same one used in Village, but the game itself is very different, as you run around Europe learning about the old world, lecturing, and picking up extras like shovels, research assistants, and cars, then head for the old world and decide how much time you want to waste spend digging up dirt (and the occasional artifact). Then head back to Europe for more lecturing (if you're lucky), and if you found the good stuff and people are still interested, putting on shows of what you've found. The classic approach seems to be to max out your knowledge, then put in time on a few good digs so you get lots of artifacts, but I managed to more than squeak out a win by doing a lot of lecuring (lectures use trianular numbers, so 6 lectures got me 21 points), developing a really good shovel, and randomly digging for a week or three each at every single site to see what appeared when I pulled 3 or four tiles.

Bora Bora I actually learned back in Feburary, but I liked it then, and just ordered it; it's a worker placement+action economy game (more or less) with some interesting action mechanics, as you can take multiple men and women into your village, but only one type of male action and one type of female action can be used (in addition to your workers) in any given turn.

Also, there's Trajan. Trajan isn't worker placement, exactly -- it's an action economy game where the central mechanic is mancala, as you make moves on your personal mancala circle that determine determine what action you take, move the global time track forward (so a big pit can let you control the pace of the game -- or force you to end the turn when you'd rather let it continue for a while), as well as letting you qualify for bonus tiles.

Finally, there's Andromeda, which I tried out after Lisa's game last Saturday in June). I'd seen this a few times, but never tried it; it's good! It's a meld-making game where you build up material on various planets and use it to try to take stations near those planets by earning a certain number of pulls via a lotery system -- all your pieces pulled get to occupy one of the three stations near the planet, while all opponent's pieces pulled result in them being sent back to earth (so no station for you, but less competition next time). It was really fun, and choosing to save special cards for endgame vs spending them, and making early points vs using melds to develop, all felt like real choices.

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Adam Stewart is running a fictional tournament in his Facebook, where the current round is Indy vs Bond. For understandable reasons, Indy's been getting the worst of it.

Which I think is utterly wrong, but I could hardly sway opinion by just stating it. So instead, I wrote the way I think this would go down.

---

Despite Bond being a badass heartless combatant, and Indy being a two-fisted archeologist who is -not- a trained assassin, I have to go with Indy here at a walk. It comes down to what kind of story it is. Sure, yeah, Indy would be out of his depth in Bond's world of high stakes gadgets and assassination, but Indy would never be -in- that story.

Instead, it makes much more sense that Bond and Indy have clashed over an artifact which Indy wants for its historical importance, while Bond has been ordered to retrieve it for the British government to use in the Cold War. Naturally, Bond at first gets the upper hand.

"Bond, don't do this," Indy says, hanging precariously off the edge of a cliff. "That belongs in a museum."

"And so it will be," 007 replies, "or at least a copy will be. This is an immense power source, and would be deadly in the wrong hands. You've been a great help; I'm sorry it has to end this way, but I can't have you telling tales." Bond stomps down and breaks the branch Indy is holding on to.

"No, you idiot, you don't understand!" Indy says, but then he's gone.

"Now that that's settled, time to see why this is so important." *The artifact eats him*

Indy pulls himself up from the cliffside where he is fortitously still clinging. "I kept trying to tell him, but he woudln't listen. The artifact was still alive! But I think I can decode a key to keeping it safe for at least a little while if I can just remember ancient Sumerian."

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Every once in a while, Dani Colman's long post about why she doesn't like the reason other people like Frozen comes around. And I keep linking to a long post explaining why she's wrong.

That said, that long post is kinda flawed. For starters, it's really long--and as such, it can be almost as much a slog as the original post.

So I wrote my own.

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I wrote this for Alarums and Excursions a few months ago but it seems appropriate to post it tonight.

The good player asks, "what are the rules and customs at this table?" To them, you must explain how the game works, both that which is written down and the rules of gaming etiquette and give them all the responsibilities they can handle and your game supports.

The simple player asks "what do I do next?" To them, you must explain only that which is necessary to plan their next move and begin roleplaying in earnest—If you confuse them with too many options, they might cease playing and/or think the rules are the game, rather than the platform for the game.

The wicked player asks,"what can I get away with?" By framing the game as a source of loopholes to abuse they subvert the purpose of the game and attempt to hurt everyone else's play in favor of their own fun, and you should teach them their error—or even exile them from the table—as soon as possible.

As for the player too shy to ask questions, you must treat them gently, but try to draw them into the game, asking them "what are you doing now?" and "what would you like to do next?" In so doing, you can allow them to develop into a productive player whether or not they give up their shell..

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I wrote a comment in nancylebov's journal which was pretty substantial, so I'm adjusting it here as a quasi-review. ( Spoilers be here, be warned!Collapse )

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Where to find me at Lunacon (unless it changes), next weekend:

Saturday:
10 AM: Lost in Fanslation (Moderator) (Discussion of where/why/why not/pitfalls, etc of watching anime (and if I have anything to say about it, reading manga) in fan translations).

11 AM: History Repeats: Revisiting Old Skool Games (Tabletop RPG focused--older systems worth playing, older worlds worth revisiting using newer systems)

1 PM: Adapted Songs Circle (this category is so open it hurts, but it'll be pretty easy to follow, at least)

3 PM: If I Ran the Hugos (No smofs here, no sir :)

Should be an interesting day.

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As you know, Bob, this year's NEFilk (the NorthEast Floating Filk Convention) will be Contata 7 on June 20-22, 2014. And as you may not know, we have just opened submissions for the songbook!

No particular theme is required. Songs may be submitted in any common text format, or as graphics in PDF format (particularly handy if you wish to submit sheet music for an original song).

Got a song you want to submit? Email it to batyatoon+contata2014(at)gmail(dot)com, ideally with "Contata 2014 Songbook" somewhere in the subject header. Questions may be sent to the same address or may be asked here as comments.

Please signal-boost this wherever it seems appropriate.

I've been playing D&D Next recently, and every once in a while am struct by the issue of mental vs physical.

The problem, when you get down to it, is the mental dump stat.

Basically? Everyone dumps something mental. Worse, you're penalized for -not- dumping mental stats.

The core problem is that you don't get that much from mental stats, compared to physical.

I mean, all stats in Next are effective defenses, which does help. But the physical stats all provide secondary benefits, (and thus weaknesses if you dump them), while the mental stats never do, so each build point you spend on a mental stat that isn't part of one of your core abilities is something you could spend on a physical stat that would help you more, if not in the way you want your character to act.

Strength is the least bad -- but strength protects you from grappling, and affects your carrying capacity. Of course, it also determines melee to-hit and damage (and thus whether monsters run past you whenever they want), but that's less of an issue given Dex melee weapons.

Con is the uber-stat. No experienced player ever dumps Con unless they're willing to take on extreme risk, since your Con has a massive effect on your hit points, and thus survivability. At least they've acknowleged it by having no skills based on Con. (but I believe that concentration checks are still Con-based if you have to make them)

And Dex is rather superb, as it determines Inititative (which can win or lose combats almost by itself), Armor Class (the defense of defenses), ranged to-hit/damage, and melee to-hit/damage for light melee weapons.

But of the mental stats, only Int has a secondary benefit beyond defenses and skills: bonus languages. Charisma is great if you want to talk to people, and Wis is great if you want perception and to understand people--but every skill is useful, so that's not really that much help.

The biggest problem there isn't, of course, casters; casters are reasonably balanced with big power sources, assuming you're spending lots of points on mental stats and not so many on physical ones (although casters -do- have a strong incentive to push piles of points into physicals rather than the mental ones they're not gaining casting from). But physical types are -really- penalized if they want to be smart, or perceptive, or charismatic, since they're giving up stuff extremely useful for their core competency for what amounts to fringe benefits. And casters end up being one-not mental characters, either smart -or- perceptive, -or- charismatic (or at best two out of three), since if you invest in all three you end up not having enough Dex and Con to survive.

Thinking about it, I think they either need to make the mental stats more valuable (have Charisma provide a bonus to aiding your comerades, and/or a bonus to whatever "helper" cohorts you pick up whether they be familiars, mounts, or 3rd edition-style followers; have Wisdom provide some kind of reaction or something--although the current approach of having Wisdom provide hidden benefits of surprise avoidance, defending against the worst attacks, etc isn't awful, and maybe improving the Int benefits to be any kind of non-skill proficiency, for instance), or make mental stats cheaper (going to a (1/2,1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1, 2, 2 curve to buy up from the starting stat of 8, perhaps, rather than the current curve of 1,1,1,1,1,2,3), saving casters 3 points, but also making it much cheaper to not dumb mental stats relative to physical ones.

The former possiblity is more complex, but means having a simpler, single stat curve. The latter is simpler, but does mean that mental-focused characters would be a little more well rounded than they are now.

But the current curve shapes the game in ways that I, at least, am not fond of. 3rd edition had similar problems, but at least had hidden benefits (the Leadership feat, particularly) to taking off-stat bonsues. 4th edition at least had different classes favor different stats, so if you wanted to make a high-Wisdom fighter-type you could play an Avenger, etc, plus ways to move your basic attack around for -some- variety. But Next is very thin here, so and it would be nice to not have the system shape the characters so consistently and directly; I'd rather make "do I make my Fighter a better talker? Or more perceptive or smarter?" More of a choice, and not just for counter-optimizers.

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Made berry tiramisu (for the office bake-off) and green tea tiramisu (because I could + a contribution for a pot luck next week). [is a berry tiramisu a berrimisu?]

I've found that there are simple and tasty things I basically only end up cooking when I'm making something more complicated--which end up thereby only being available as by-products.

So in this case, in addition to the two tiramisus, I have a berry compote (used for dipping ladyfingers in, naturally), a pretty tasty green tea (not that I don't ordinarily make tea, but it's still quite tasty), and some modified sabonnne (i.e. the leftover tiramisu filling, a sabonne/whipped cream/mascapone cheese mix) in the fridge. The berry compote, at least, is trivial to make and delicious, and I should really make it sometimes even when I don't have a reason to use it as an ingredient.

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It's been a while since I posted. Just haven't gotten around to it for a while, not that I post often.

Contata is still very happening. Should be a lot of fun, and I look forward to seeing/hearing all our guests.

We've watched a bunch of stuff recently, in our never-ending quest to keep up with pop culture (not to mention the quest to find video content that's fun to exercise to). Falling behind on pop culture makes finding new stuff easier, certainly. Stuff we've watched includes, but isn't limited to the entire first season of Sailor Moon [cheasy, but fun; ironically we watched most of this -after- I played Sailor Moon in a LARP], first three seasons of Phineas and Ferb [WOW], first three seasons of My Little Pony, and the first season and a half of Jackie Chan Adventures [fun; one of the better examples of an active child protag].

I've kept the disc-based Netflix sub up, too, which might explain why we've watched almost the entirety of the first season of Veronica Mars (wow!) and a bunch of movies. The disc this week consisted of the Cat People (orig) and The Curse of the Cat People.

The former I knew the plot of, having seen references to it many times over the years. Newlywed wife avoids physical contact, fearing that she'll turn into a cat, plot escallates, ends tragically. It's very good, and I love a lot of the details, but no real surprises.

The latter, though...first, I'd not heard of it as something separate from "the sequel to The Cat People". Or maybe I just elided, but I don't remember reading it. Second...one of the worst titles ever [if with a fun history]. Third...not really a horror movie, or not mostly a horror movie; this is a -much- better film (IMO) than The Cat People, and has nothing to do with anyone turning into a cat or anything else, nor any curses; instead it has to do with imagination, parental relationships, projection, and ghost of the past. I suppose it's useful to have seen the Cat People before seeing this film in that it helps understand and explain the otherwise -very- troubling behavior from the 7-year old protagonist's father (who is also a protagonist of The Cat People), but I don't think this film even appeals to the same audience.

Another interesting film I saw (this one available on Netflix Streaming) is The Libertine. I mostly expected this to be titilation with a humerous plot -- which is all basically there, but what I didn't expect was how much the movie exposes and attacks the maiden/whore dichotomy, with a protagonist first scandalized not by what her deceased husband had been doing behind her back, but that he never did anything as interesting with her, and with lines like (quoting loosely and from memory) "Why is it that men only call me a whore when refuse them or stop doing something?" It is very much a product of its time, with the most troubling scene what looks to me like a rape that is treated more as rough play by the participants (afterwards), but certainly an interesting movie that addresses issues still very relevant today.

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So, as people who know me in multiple places might have figured out, my real online handle is "mneme". I'll use mnemex or mnemesys or whatnot when I can't get my root handle, but I do have a clear preference.

Until recently, my getting my preferred handle on livejournal was blocked by a user who created a single post and then vanished. But that account having been purged, I'm able to have my preferred handle here!

So, drcpunk and I have been learning to blues dance recently. It's a lot of fun -- an improvisational lead/follow form with an emphasis on weight-shift-by-weight-shift lead and follow, tremendous enabled and allowed creativity, and a really active NYC scene.

Which means, it's time for...

Ten Things I learned (to do and not to do) from learning to dance the blues [where something's in brackets, it's actually -about- the blues]:

1. Don't do anything extra--unless you want to. [don't assume a basic step; in blues, every weight-shift is lead--anything the follow does on top of them is their choice, not assumed]
   
2. Don't just wave your arms around. Whatever you do, throw your whole body into it. [lead/move from the core]
   
3. Don't anticipate. What goes in motion stays in motion until stopped, and stays stopped until started again--unless it -chooses- otherwise [particularly the follow].
   
4. You pick what you want to follow--but then, follow it. [for leaders, pick the line in the music you want to dance to, and if you don't like where it leads you, switch; for follows, you -can- choose to ignore the lead and do your own thing, but know you're doing it.]
   
5. Every relationship is equal, even when it doesn't seem like it all the time. [The follow is an -equal- partner, and is just as responsible to add to and contribute to the dance. I dance -so- much better with a good, and equal partner]
   
6. Every action can--and often, should--be met by an equal and nearly opposite reaction. [blues connection, in particular, involves the follow always matching a push by a push, a tug by a tug. And I think this is good style for a lot of dance, actually, as it means there's always something to lead; if I'm completely relaxed, that's not important, but if I'm moving/tensing my arm and my partner's still relaxed, I lead and nothing happens]
   
7. You shouldn't just follow a script--you have to express yourself too, or it's not really a conversation.
   
8. Pay attention to your space. How you position yourself matters--you want to vary it, but you also want to choose at any given point what you want, where you are.
   
9. In fact, pay attention to what you do. Time, tension, and positioning are all things you choose--and they all matter. You want to be choosing them actively, not passively. Do what you want, when you want--not just "any time."
   
10. But in the end, live in the moment, and let it flow; don't overthink things!
    

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Nominations end at midnight tonight!

My nominations:

Best Song:

Sedna
Just beyond
One small boat
Solar flare
Dragon for sale

Best Classic Song:

A Gown too Blue
Storm Dancer
Following in Valentina's Footsteps
Mommy, Can I have a Spaceship
Second-Hand Songs

Best Performer:

Heather Dale
Lady Mondegreen
Sassafrass
Toyboat
Sunny Larsen

Best Writer/Composer:

Ada Palmer
Andrew Ross
Betsy Tinny
Batya Wittenberg
Bob Kanefsky [Bob's only got one! And no other wins!]


Best Fairytale Song:

Little Beard Blue (yeah, I nominated myself. I couldn't help it--most of the brainstorm list wasn't what I consider fairy tale songs, and I was running out of nominees I could think of).
My Fairytale
Po Boys
"There's Always a Bigger Fish"
Miller's Daughter

Best Alien Song:
Queen of Air and Darkness (yes, this -seems- to be a fairy song. But it's actually about aliens just pretending to be fairies!)
Fly Little Bird (as revealed in Discount Armageddon, the Jhorlac (coocoos) are aliens from another dimension).
Alien Salad Abduction
Little Fuzzy Animals
Alien Jellyfish Song

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I'm planning on submitting something like the following to the LoneStarCon 3 (the quickly upcoming Worldcon) Business Meeting, as an attempt to create a Hugo that would be a better place for outstanding filk albums and shows, masquerade presentations, fannish videos and amateur movies, etc than where they currently end up being nominated -- Best Related Work or as doomed contenders for Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form.

So, a few questions:

1. Any suggestions for wording changes?

2. Anyone (who is a Supporting or Attending Member of LoneStarCon 3) interested in co-sponsoring?

3. When I raised the idea earlier this year on the SMOFS lists, one of the cogent requests I didn't have time to look into was for a list of works that would have been valid and worthy contenders for such an award over the last 5 (ish) years. I could probably compose such a list specifically for filk, but given that a filk category failed in the not-too-distant-to-be-remembered past, it's worth having a better populated list if one can.

---

Short Title: Best Dramatic Presentation (Fan)

Moved, to amend section 3.3 of the WSFS Constitution as follows:

Section 3.3.8: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:

Any television program or other production, with a complete running time of 90 minutes or less, in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects that has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year, and does not qualify for Best Dramatic Presentation, Fan."

Section 3.3.7: Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:

Any theatrical feature or other production, with a complete running time of more than 90 minutes, in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects that has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year, and does not qualify for Best Dramatic Presentation, Fan.

Add a new section to 3.3 as follows:

Section 3.3.X: Best Dramatic Presentation, Fan: Any single work or collection of dramatic science fiction, fantasy, or related  subjects, in any medium (including audio or musical collections), which is either non-commercial or made by fans primarily for other fans, and that has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year.

Provided that unless this amendment is re-ratified by the 2018 Business Meeting, Section 3.3.X and the changes to 3.3.8 and 3.3.9 shall be repealed, and
Provided that the question of re-ratification shall be automatically placed on the agenda of the 2018 Business Meeting with any constitutional amendments awaiting ratification.

Submitted by: Joshua Kronengold, Lisa Padol

Comments: Filk, and more recently, other geeky music, is a a core part of fandom deserving recognition, but has until now been unable to support a Hugo due to only a few standout albums being produced each year.  In addition, the adoption of the Best Fancast category has highlighted a significant gap in the Hugos -- we now recognize fan audio-visual efforts (which are easier and easier to produce and make available to a wide audience) that appear in a series -- but we have no way to recognize (except for nominating them to non-fan categories) fan dramatic presentations that are, instead, a single work -- such as masquerade presentations, filk albums, free online videos, fannish theatrical productions, and particularly dramatic bits of the Hugo Award ceremony itself.

Creating this award would also encourage the creators of such things to distribute recordings of their efforts, where possible -- which can only serve to benefit all of fandom.

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There will be a housefilk this Sunday at the home of Ray Arnold

The Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1395187284031352

Bring your voices, instruments, and ears (but remember, this is filk, and everyone gets to play!).

Remember, local filk customs dictate that anyone can jam along; if you -want- to perform solo without additions from the audience, it's best that you tell people this up front. Also, our housefilks are usually recorded; again, if you don't want to be recorded, that can be arranged for with prior notice.

1-6pm, Sunday, July 28, 2013

Winterfell House
316 West 138th Street,
New York NY 10030

The site is accessible from either the C/B or 2/3 subway lines. Some (small) amount
of free parking nearby. It is also a brownstone, although the filk itself will be on a low floor.

There will be a short concom/NYMFO meeting afterwards for those who are interested.

So, there's been a spate of small batch ice cream brands springing up. On the one hand, these are awesome -- relatively small companies, often making unusual flavors, support the little guy--plus the ice cream is a cut above even the previous top of the heap supermarket ice creams.

On the other hand, they've pushed the price of ice cream way up -- often to $5 and $7 a pint (!). And the biggest advantage they give is making unusual flavors.

So...it occurred to me that it -might-, just might, be time to get my own ice cream maker. A bit of research (actually, I think Amazon may have suggested it when I was looking for an insertion blender, but anyways) indicated that another device I own that hasn't gotten much use recently--our Kitchenaid stand mixer, had a bowl available that would make a perfectly good ice cream maker -- without having to buy another motor (a big pull for both the insertion blender, replacing our previous hand blender but having a massive lot of attachments, particularly a wisk and food processor).

My first attempt, yesterday, was...not so good. I somehow decided to try a relatively healthy recipe, but it involved custard--I've never made custard before--plus I made a bunch of dubious choices along the way (doubling the recipe--without having double all the ingredients, so I made some replacements and it didn't turn into full soft serve in the mixer...the result is a perfectly serviceable chocolate habinero sorbet (definitely dairy); edible, naturally, but aside from the fun flavor combination, not as good as ice cream that hasn't got too-large crystals.

So naturally, I decided to try again (with a different flavor) today -- apple cinnamon.

I made a few changes to my process:

1. I turned the freezer up to 4.5 (out of 5) from 3. The freezer would typically burn ice cream at 5, so I think 5 would be too much, but even at 24 hours, I thought the bowl could use a bit more cold.

2. I used a recipe that didn't involve custard (and isn't even a little bit healthy -- but the point was to make amazing ice cream, not healthy ice cream. Healthy is for portion control). Specifically, this recipe:

http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/07/08/vanilla-bean-ice-cream-two-ways-and-ice-cream-basics/ (quick summary: melt 3/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt into a cup of cream, add some flavoring if desired, then add another cup of cream, a cup of whole milk and fridge the result until cool. Then turn into ice cream with an ice cream machine or process of choice).

3. I made about half as much ice cream (eg, I didn't touch the quantities in the recipe at all; I'm guessing I ran out of cold last time as -one- of the several mistakes I made).

The result? Some of the best ice cream I've ever had -- and I've been to Jeni's, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and Baitcon. I'll have to see what it's like once it's been in the fridge for a day, but as fresh soft serve it's out of this world.

Changes I made to the above recipe:

1. Obviously, I replaced the vanilla with cinnamon. Instead of adding vanilla bean and extract, I added two teaspoons of cinnamon powder and dropped a cinnamon stick in the heated cream.

2. Looking for advice for creamy ice cream online, I saw one to put a bit of alcohol to prevent it from fully freezing -- so in went 2/3 of a tablespoon of Pyat rum after chilling the batter.

3. The apples. I chopped four Granny Smith apples, with peel, (food processed about an apple's worth and just sliced the rest), then popped the result into the microwave for a minute and fridged it before I started the batter. After the batter had decidedly turned into ice cream (in fact, at this point most of it was apparently clinging to the dasher, I added apple bits and apple mash (what the finely chopped apples had turned into after their visit to the inside of the microwave) until the bowl was nearly full, and let the kitchenaid mix the result (spinning at speed 2, now) for another minute or three.

I'm pretty much having to write to restrain myself from sampling more of the soft serve in the freezer (fortunately, there -is- some stuck to the dasher still, but drcpunk has been making some headway there as well, so I don't have much time).

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I just said I probably wouldn't do a Conterpoint report. Which would be shame, as my Conterpoint was Packed With Things. So this is a small (probably) con report. I will miss things! I will skip things!

( Also, it"s not actually that short.Collapse )

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Had a short dialogue with gundo on the nature of fandom, coming out of my musing on running a con (did I mention? No, I didn't--yet--but I'm running a con, and it will be -fabulous-) and occasionally having to -un-delegate, which I figured was worthy of wider distribution. "mneme" is, naturally, yours truly.

mneme: I have very mixed feelings towards the hotel/guest liaison positions, as having someone focused on making the hotel/guests happy = good, but having another step in the game of telephone between the rest of the concom and these ever-important externalities = bad

gundo: at a larger con, I believe those are necessary, but the size of the NE cons...

mneme: Indeed. A larger con also has a larger pool to troll for someone with the combination of knowledge and proactiveness you really need for a good liaison. But they also have (potentially, anyway) a lot more guests, and not a presumption that most of the concom already know some or all the guests.

gundo: Well, and at the larger cons the guests aren't part of the larger family, whereas here they are

mneme: Indeed. Well, sometimes they aren't--but filk overall is a much smaller community, and, yes, we pull guests from that community rather than across a (however artificial) "pro" barrier. (something that sf fandom in general also resists, but..it gets complicated).

gundo: Very complicated

mneme: Yes. In general, fandom favors GOHs who are part of the fannish community, if on the pro side. But there are exceptions--and someone who is fan/pro and treated as such in one area is still going to be a superstar in another where they're less well known.

gundo: Well, there are a lot of us who are in the filk community who are pro in some way

mneme: Indeed. The filk community -also- has a pro/fan barrier, although it's even thinner than in literary fandom for a number of reasons. But with the exception of segmented GOH items like the GAFilk "Super Secret Guest", we don't even -think- to pull from outside the community (if often Pro-side people known and known to be within the community ). This is, I think, because Filk defines itself as "within the filk community" -- whereas sf defines itself primarily as "within the dialogue of science fiction" and the literary fandom/convention-going communities is within and appreciative of (as well as in dialogue with) the larger community.

gundo: Right...there's that definition of filk as community, vs filk as style or content

mneme: *nod* It's very telling. And I think a lot of that -is- dialogue. Something is part of a folk tradition if and only if it is in dialogue with other things within that tradition -- just as a work is genre sf only if it is in dialogue with the body of sf works (and when a sf work gets written that is -not- in dialogue with the sf genre, this is often painfully obvious).

gundo: As long as there is ongoing dialogue, then yes, it works

mneme: Indeed. A one-sided "dialogue" can go south, very quickly, particularly when it's perceived differently from both sides.

mneme: Ah, true. And yeah, the whole dysfunctional fannish community thing can be...bad. Some of that is that different people can have really different idea of what a community, well, means.

gundo: Yeah, that's true as well

mneme: Particularly when you're looking at communities built out of geography vs ones based on association and common interests. I mean, one of the reasons that Merav and I are pretty good choices for leadership in the NYC filk community is that we're both in close dialogue the the more global filk community, rather than mostly/primarily in the local area. But that also means we'll have some closer relationships with people across the country than ones with some of those in the local filk community.

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So, I've long been a fan of Jenna Moran's (formerly Rebecca Borgstrom) fiction and freeform rpg, Nobilis. So naturally, I contributed to her (currently running) kickstarter, Chuubo's Magical Wish Granting Engine. Which is as awesome as a plot-oriented RPG about a boy who makes (often ill advised) wishes can be, and if you're interested in it, you should support it, but that's not what I came here to write about.

No -- instead, one of the backer rewards for Chuubos is an expansion for Nobilis, 3rd edition, on Treasure, called "The Book of Treasure". Treasure is one of the new stats in Nobilis 3rd -- it represents your ability to connect to people -- and to connect to -stuff-; both to have a favorite aunt who is important and helpful in your story, and to have a really nice car, or a magic sword that can cut anything, or a pet cat who follows you everywhere.

So, there are a lot of awesome things about this book. It both expands on every element of Treasure (so far; I'm only 22 pages into a 49 page book), and gives design notes for -why- various things are the way they are in the game -- for instance, it explains that the reason making anchors (connected people and things) is a level 0 miracle is because the designer -wants- people making connections, even if they're not heavily invested in the idea of Treasure.

But the thing that inspired me to post tonight is where it talks about abilities -- particularly Treasure -- that follow an absolute. Being as strong as you need to be. A sword that can cut -anything-. Omni-corrupting artifacts, or hats that shield you from corruption.

In other words, powers that start forum arguments rather than ending them--as people argue whether the Hulk being stronger than anyone beats only Thor being strong enough to lift Molnjir.

What Jenna points out, quite successfully, is that arguments like that -- powers like that -- particularly when they work -- are not arguments about rules. They're metaphors -- and moral arguments that center around the metaphor, not about any particular rule.

The Hulk isn't just "the strongest guy around". He's the superhero that represents the limitless strength of righteous rage. The One Ring isn't just infinitely corrupting (although it is) -- it represents that principle that power itself corrupts without providence and faith in Eru [that is, god]. Superman isn't just as strong as he needs to be (although he is); his is the strength of the pure heart taht acts from unsullied motives.

As such, when two "unlimited" powers clash, what determines what wins (ideally) -- what -should- determine what wins--isn't a number like how many tons the Hulk can lift or who has a bigger stat. Instead, it's the right solution to the moral question posed by their metaphors in the situation. Clark Kent should lose to the limitless power of conquest represented by Apocalypse when his heart is divided and his moral fevor weak -- but win if he's resolved his dilemma and acts from pure motives. The Hulk should defeat many other limitless powers, even that of war, but may prove powerless, in the right situation, against someone representing the power of calm.

This is why, Jenna explains, the rank of a Treasure miracle doesn't determine which one wins; instead, the rank determines the scope of the miracle--how many different things you can do with Treasure--but in a contest between absolutes, what should win is the thing that's won the battle of metaphors.

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La Vie en Szechuan, 14 East 33rd Street, New York, NY, 10016

There have been a succession of mediocre resturants in the spot across the street from the Complete Strategist. However, a few months ago, I noticed that the new place appeared to be an authentic Szechuan place--and a fairly popular one, at that. So naturally, being who we are, drcpunk and I resolved to visit La Vie at the next opportunity.

We didn't, of course, do so as soon as we could have, mostly because we'd also wanted to to hit Hot Kitchen (which is also quite good, if more in the Grand Sichuan mode than La Vie is) in person rather than just takeout. But tonight, as it happened, it was on our route home, so off we went.

It was great. Not cheap--but not awful, either (we ordered 3 cold dishes and a tea smoked duck (for $18) and it came to $56 with tip.

First, the menu. It's full of appetizing pictures of authentic food--and from what I saw on our plates and those of the (mostly Chinese) diners around us, totally accurate. This place is certainly paying attention to presentation, but our food, at least, was also delicious.

So, food we got:

The tea smoked duck: Came with three soft buns, and tasted the way tea smoked duck should taste.

Cold dishes ("Appetizers"--hot appetizers are "signature appetisers"):

Sliced beef in chili paste: Lovely and spicy; definitely provided most of the heat in the meal, and very tasty. Unannounced, but welcome by us were some chinese eggplants hidden in the mix.

Chicken in sczechuan pepper sauce: this was served in a spicy and sour green sauce, and tasted very different (but also really good) sauce than the beef in chili paste.

Spring Bamboo shoots in sessame oil: This, like the duck, wasn't spicy, but it had its own tang from the vegitables in the sauce (scallions, maybe garlic) and we had the chili paste confusing our senses. Also really tasty--we love well made bamboo shoot dishes.

Have to go back--the menu is huge, and really varied. Would love to go back with more people so we can get more of a range.

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I'm apparently on a fair amount of programming at Lunacon (despite the program not, you know, being up even on the day the con starts; yay organization and new software and non-redundant medum-sized groups).

Stuff I'm on :

150 The Life of a Filker Brundage I Filk Sat 10:00 AM Duration: 01:00

I'm dropping this. 10AM is TOO DAMN EARLY, plus I'm on too much on Saturday as-is.

Food Songs Filk Circle Brundage I Filk Sat 12:00 PM Duration: 01:00

This could be fun! But I'm definately going to need more people showing up, as Amy and I can only trade food songs back and forth for so long.

53 What are "Euro" Games and How Do I Get Involved? Elijah Budd Gaming Sat 1:00 PM Duration: 01:00

This sounds like it will be a blast. Between Perianne, Kevin, and YT, we should have stuff covered and a good vibe; I don't know Tim Rogriguez by name, but with "games" in his email address he should have something to add.

80 Online Fandom Migration Birch Fan Interest Sat 4:00 PM Duration: 01:00

This should be fun; a bunch of us have been on since antideluvian times. That said, we could really use, given the panel description:
More people (on the panel or in the audience) with a wider experience (Deviantart, maybe? Or deeper Google+ experience than I have?).
And we -really- could use someone from the fanfic side of the force, as the panel description talks about that but we don't currently have any panelists who are fanfic writers (I've written some fanfic -filks-, but that's not the same as being part of the online fanfic community). Anyone?

159 Travel Songs Circle Brundage I Filk Sat 7:00 PM Duration: 01:00

Just me and Amy again -- help? There are a lot of great travel songs, though.

163 Ghost Songs Circle Brundage I Filk Sat 10:30 PM Duration: 01:00

Lisa and I are moderating this, and we -can- just sing ghost songs for an hour if we have to. Hopefully, we won't have to. :)

73 EReading Device Petting Zoo Maple Fan Interest Sun 1:00 PM Duration: 01:00

I'm curious as to how this will go. I have a (rooted) color Nook, and can talk about calibre, conversions, and, of course, buying stuff online; it sounds like we have a good variety, but I -might- be motivated to pick up a larger tablet before the con just for funsizes (this would be really silly, but stranger things have been known to happen). We'll see how much this is a talking thing vs a "let peopel try stuff out" thing.

So, who's making Lunacon? And...anyone up to helping out for the online communities panel (talk to Kate Nepveu if you are willing to be -included- on the panel, as she's moderating it).

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Tzolk'in: Wow. Took over 3 hours, but really fun game (supposedly, in two previous games the game only took 2 hours; probably down further with more experience, but definitely schedule at least 3 hours for a first game.

( And, a relatively casual playthrough/review of the game followsCollapse )

And so that I justify the terrible title, I'll note that while I'm skipping all the fun things happening this weekend (ok, most of them -- not doing Flea, not doing Wicked, not going to Boskone (no room at the inn, or I might have talked Lisa into heading up to Boston again), not doing a Regency tea dance on Sunday, etc), we're heading up to Dreamation on next Friday (and I've been upping my Soul Calibur V game to not embarass myself there then; after months not playing the game), and I expect I'll be busy playing D&D and board games and Soul and maybe even some indie RPGS.

And then the weekend after, two Larps I had a part in writing will be run by a team headed by crash_mccormick, so we've been handling player queries and filling drops and finishing some stuff on both games (mostly Jamais Vue, which we're doing more work on; Electric Labyrinth, also known as "The game Josh was lead writer on rather than just brainstorming, mechanicing, editing, and doing rewrite jobs with"; also known as "The Girl Genius Game" had a full production run and a minor rewrite done for Anonycon, where it didn't run, so we're just reusing that kit for the Intercon run). Jamais Vue has had more runs -- but that only means we know more of the problems with the (otherwise excellent) game and therefore get to try to fix some of the issues. However, drcpunk and I won't be involved in the runtime of this (however much we are involved in casting and handling emails and writing and mechanics-redesigning and production). Because instead, we will be going to Consonance, where Merav Hoffman will be Interfilk Guest (and we've been gracefully allowed to help her out on some songs during her concert; I'll be lending some harp; Lisa will be lending her voice and comic timing).

Which means, in addition to my semi-seriously training for a semi-serious fighting game tournament, I'm also working on a larp and a half, and rehearsing for a concert that's more serious (guest slot, not program participant slot) than the other concerts we've been part of.

And yet...it's -still- been a far less stressful last few weeks than last year, when we were trying to -write-/produce two first run LARPs to be run on the same weekend, and I was trying to train for the Soul Calibur tournament. (Electric Labyrinth and A Vue to a Kill).

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I posted some ideas for fixing what I see as the one big flaw in the Gumshoe system here: http://labcats.livejournal.com/61895.html

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Originally posted http://otherdeb.dreamwidth.org/366572.html

There will be a housefilk at the home of Deb Wunder, 2451 East 26 Street, Brooklyn, NY, on Sunday, February 10th, 2013, from 1 pm to approximately 5 pm. The housefilk will be followed by a short concom meeting for Contata 2014.

This is NOT a kosher home, so the host requests that those who wish kosher munchies please bring them. She will provide fresh veggies, and such munchies as are usual, although donations of food/munchies are always welcome.

There are two cats on the premises, and one roommate, who some of you already know. Extra folding chairs are welcome, as there are not huge amounts of chairs in the house yet.

If you need further info on where she is located, or how to get there, please email otherdeb@gmail.com (or leave a comment in the page listed above, where comments are screened).

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So, drcpunk gave me some documents while I was doing stuff on my computer this evening -- naturally, since we're still in the early 2000s, she did so by sticking stuff on a micro-sd card rather than sending it over the Internet.

Also, naturally, I put the tiny card (in a larger plastic case) on my desk, to be perused at a later time. Stuff happened.

Cut to when we were about to go to bed (yeah, that should have happened already, shouldn't it? Whoops). I went looking for the card. No card. Now, my memory was never what it was, but I was -sure- I'd put it on my desk, because really, despite absent mindedness, well, where would I put it?

Note that this is what my "desk" looks like at the moment (yes, I have a real desk, but I never use it):



But, I couldn't find it. Couldn't find it on the floor, either, which was the most obvious place (after all, the thing is tiny). Not under the computer. Not under -anything-, in fact. I looked -everywhere-, including lots of inobvious places. Nada.

Eventually, it occured to me that it could have fallen into the tissue box. Looked. Nope. But that gave me an idea.

Know where it was? (answer behind the cut).

( Really? Really?Collapse )

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From sartorias.

What I am reading: Surface Detail, by Ian Banks. I’m mixed on this book. On the one hand, as usual, Banks’ creativity and depiction of technology and technological possiblity just sucks me in, with a a microscopic armored tattoo, a philisophical technological war in virtual reality (with some interesting lines placed in terms of where characters break morally), an ancient but highly advanced habitat, etc. On the other hand, despite the fluidity of gender and sexuality in the Culture books, there are definitely problematic issues to the novel, both in the amount of rape (not that much so far, but really, I didn’t need rape both in the slavery story -and- in hell. It would be just fine to drop it from one; or even both!) and how sexuality is handled.

The last book I read was Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold. A lovely and delightful romantic farce, this novel achieves the “looking at the Vorkosigan Crazy from the outside” feel that Bujold was clearly going at for her previous novel (Cryoburn) but unlike the previous novel, this one is very much a success, with an engaging secondary character, great Ivan moments, and lots of well crafted comedic moments. I read it twice.

Next? I’m not sure; I might read the first of Catherynne Valente’s Prester John novels; I’ve been holding on to those for a while and really should give them a whirl.

So, what are you reading? What did you read last? What do you plan to read next?

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This could probably use some more work, as I wrote it straight and didn't bother editing it aside from one line rewrite. But I've found that if I do that, I never go back to things -- so here you are.

(update: and, just to normalize the lines a bit, I've done a quick rewrite...and another rewrite).

The Bad Snail

-- for batshua
Copyright 2012, Joshua Kronengold

I'm a very bad snail.
I like land more than water.
Sand bothers my skin.
My slime's more like sweat.
I have too many limbs.
I'm developing language
And outgrowing my shell.

Maybe it's the salt water.
Or the color of my skin?
It's enough to make you sweat.
Why does anything need limbs?
I wish I knew more language.
So I could describe my shell
And how to be a snail?

I wish I could scratch my skin,
Or at least wipe off the sweat.
I suppose that's a use for limbs...
And complaining one for language.
Maybe I should leave my shell?
Though that's bad for a snail.
Like a fish out of water.

Though I make water -- sweat.
I could stretch out my limbs.
Yet, to use stronger language,
I don't want to lose my shell!
I could be a better snail--
And snails live near water.
Don't want to dry out my skin.

Still, there's pain in my limbs.
I will make up bad language.
And struggle in my shell.
Could I not be a snail?
Except that makes my eyes water.
And tingles up my skin.
It scares me. I sweat.

Why can't a snail use language?
I could come out of my shell,
An articulate snail,
With stories about water,
And no itch on my skin,
Only just a little sweat,
Though they'd all hate my limbs.

Which push out my shell,
I am just an awful snail.
But I want to leave the water,
Feel the air on my skin,
The thought of it makes me sweat,
Puts a shiver through my limbs,
Fills me with hopeful language!

I will always be a snail.
Even though I like fresh water.
But not water on my skin.
Except, of course, for sweat.
I can walk--stretch out my limbs,
And sing out joyful language.
For I've broken my shell.

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I'm not particularly closed about being a life-long Democrat.

That said -- having come this morning from voting a party-line Democratic ticket...my politics are a lot more complex than "I vote for the Democrats, no matter what." If anything, it's more "the weaknesses of the Democratic party are ones I care about somewhat less than my utter repugnance for some of the goals of the Republican party, and I'm not interested in voting for candidates with no chance when I believe there's a difference." So in light of that, a bit about what I actually think.

1. I don't want to be hurt, and support governmental things that protect me. I like laws against theft and murder and fraud, and police and fire departments, and a plausible and effective army, because one of the things the government does is protect people from accidents and other pepople (one of the primary things, in fact). I extend "me" to anything sentient, within limits of authority (whether or not it's human). I don't extend "me" to anything non-sentient (whether or not it's human -- and whether or not it -could- become sentient at some later date).

2. I think that overall, people deserve to be left alone and allowed to do what they want (assuming it doesn't voilate #1)--and that government isn't fundamentally a good tool for shaping/reshaping society, but -is- a good tool for enforcing agreements among people. So I think the government has a role in helping enforce contracts (including marraige contracts) but I don't think the government should be defining what people and how many should be involved in a contract (including a marraige contract) -- much less deciding what people say, what sexual acts they engage in or what (if anything) they pay for them, what substances they injest or inject into their bodies, or anything else as long as it doesn't directly impact on someone else (sin taxes on tobacco = bad -- for more than one reason; laws saying that non-smokers can practically avoid smoke while going about their business = good, within limits; laws about 32 oz soda = crazy).

3. I'm pretty well convinced that geopolitics is complex. So while I don't like the idea of killing people, much less torturing them (and on a -practical- level will accept that torture doesn't work), I won't accept a flat-out "war is bad" policy. This stuff is complex, and while I'll certainly take into account "this person's foreign affairs are nuts" vs "this person's foreign affairs seem to be reasonable" into account, there's only so much weight I'm willing to give her as it's effectiveness, not just principles, that matter here.

4. As a secondary function, I think that government can be effective and is useful at providing "collective good" services -- and that, in fact, it is our responsibility, where possible without interfering in society adversely (which I think it is) for us to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves -- and provide a safety net for to make sure that people do not unecessarily and unreasonably come to harm. This includes social services like medicare and food stamps, unemployment services/funds, publically provided education and the post office (which is, in fact, in the black, but that's another topic), providing a source of education, etc--and that often, the government is going to be more efficient at these topics than private industry (although it's good to have a give and take, as private industry will usually be less efficient but more inovative).

5. I think that in order to fund its primary and secondary functions, it's reasonable for the government to tax people. That said, I think that taxation should take a greater percentage from those most able to bear the cost (that is, I support progressive taxation and disdain regressive taxation). This also means that I hate and would love to abolish/make progressive all currently regressive taxes -- including sales tax, sin taxes (see above), and social security taxes -- all of which hit lower income people for a greater percentage of their income than they hit higher income people. I do understand that progressive taxes can have negative effects (both on the system as a whole and in causing people to officially "move" somewhere else) but think that they also have positive effects (partially countering the way that concentrations of wealth can be significant inefficiencies and sources of harm), that most negative effects can be avoided by not going overboard (no Carter-era 75% marginal tax rates) and that while migration is a serious problem (given that in general, high mobility is a good), that this isn't as much of a problem as it could be and that it's possible that something radical (I could even consider taxing land or property, rather than income) would work as a solution here.

6. I think that people should be able to make money by engaging in creative work that doesn't produce physical goods (hell, I do that, though it's programming, not trying to make money from my writing or whatnot). But that, contrary to where far too much global thought has considered intelectual property a source of wealth, I consider it a qualified evil -- a granted monopoly that actively hurts everyone except the grantee far more than it helps the grantee (or encourages the grantee to make stuff) most of the time. This is my starting point--I don't necessarily call for the repeal of all intellectual property (although it's one option, and I'm pretty confident, given that people like getting new stuff, that there would continue to be large markets for creative stuff and that, at least after the shakedown, authors and painters and musicians would not, in fact, starve--they'd be freeer to create based on whatever influences went past their (our) eyes and people would figure out a way to pay them to make cool stuff), but our current system is insanely out of hand.

7. For the most part, my life is not enriched by spending large amounts of time talking/writing about politics. So I don't.

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I posted this on dreamwidth, but it's not reposting for some reason. So just noting, I may remove this if the dreamwidth one finally makes it across (then again, I may not if it's gotten significant comments. I reserve the right to contradict myself).



I've always been pretty leary of MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online games, for those of you who have been spending the last decade or so sleeping under a rock, and have only just now emerged for a spot of decannual [mental note: find out what the actual word for "of ten years" is] sunlight).

I mean, first, it seems like they're typically a bit of content wrapped around a crazy reward model.

( And...here I go a little long. How"d that happen?Collapse )

I've always been pretty leary of MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online games, for those of you who have been spending the last decade or so sleeping under a rock, and have only just now emerged for a spot of decannual [mental note: find out what the actual word for "of ten years" is--ah. decennial. Thanks, thnidu] sunlight).

I mean, first, it seems like they're typically a bit of content wrapped around a crazy reward model.

( And...here I go a little long. How"d that happen?Collapse )

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I posted this in the Facebook Filk group, but since Facebook is inherently transient, and it was long and the result of a fair amount of thought, I'm reposting it here with some edits. Comment or mock me as you will.

drcpunk and I have been attending BMs three years running, partially with the aim of eventually getting a workable Music or Filk Hugo into the mix (in addition to caring about a few other issues--hell, this year I did a good bit to make sure blogs remained eligible for a Hugo).

So, I've kinda thought about the subject a bit.

First, the question of why: Filk is a core part of Fandom. Much more than gaming. As such, it would be really useful to have a Hugo category where filk was regularly nominated to help continue to bind us to the rest of fandom -- reminding them that we exist, and frankly, reminding filkers that we're part of fandom (even those filkers who prefer to only to filk cons and don't do non-filk conventions). The Pegasus is an effective award -- but it's a community award, and simply doesn't work the way the Hugos do nor get the press the Hugos do. So overall, if a Hugo category could be created that suited filk, I think it would be a good thing.

Second: The question of how. It's not that hard to get something done in the Business meeting. You need a case -- and you need people to show up, but any attending member of a Worldcon can show up to the BM, and while it does require some knowledge of Robert's Rules to introduce motions, etc, it requires nothing but the ability to raise your hand or stand up (or equivalent) to vote. That said, there's no point in passing an award category that can't get critical mass -- a Filk Hugo was -passed- at some point (or so I've been told) and the problem was that there was no consensus at all among nominators; everything got 3 votes or 3% of the vote or whatnot (whereas the Hugos require 5% for something to appear on the ballot). So it's not simply a matter of whether we can get a Hugo that's more appropriate than Best Related (which I think, along with the BDP categories, is fairly mediocre as a platform) but which one is best.

Third, then, is the question of what. I'm sure there are others, but I've got four theoretically plausible Hugo categories that could be interesting here:

1. Best Filk Production. For the best compilation, recording, or song in fan-created music produced in the last year. This is more or less what was passed and failed years ago, I believe, but it's possible that with the Internet and the rise of more big stars in our space, that it's far more possible for a consensus to be reached. The big advantage here is that having a Hugo -titled- "Filk" rather than one where filk was frequently nominated would do a good job towards helping bind our community together.

2. Best Music. For the best piece or compilation of SF-related music produced in the last year. This has some advantages in that it isn't expressly limited to filk, but included it--the question remains as to whether filk could compete with Coulton or the musical scores of movies, but it would be interesting to see.

3. Best Filk Artist. This has some of the same advantages of best Filk Production, but is intended to parallel the Best Editor category and partially get around the "nobody can get a consensus" issue for FBP. It also, of course, takes advantage of/falls into the same problem as Best Editor (and Best Artist) -- in that while it's theoretically for work in the last year, everyone knows that the voters/nominators will often ignore this proviso at lest some of the time. Which means it's likely to be a viable category (in a fashion), but not an ideal one. But still.

4. Best Dramatic Production (Fan-created). This would parallel the existing BDPs, but be intended for fan-created pieces of music, shows, youtube videos, and so on and so forth (maybe even including compilations) within the last callendar year -- because just like, as Silverberg (quoted by Scalzi at the hugos) said that fan-writing is the foundation of fandom, fan-productions are -also- at the foundation of fandom; we're not just about passively taking in what receive; instead it's at least as important to make our -own- creations. In some ways, it would also act as Best Fancast (shortform) without the limitations placed on Best Fancast (I had hopes to remove some of the arbitrary limits on Best Fancast to make it usable here, but got focused on trying to save the blog). Between filk albums, youtube memes (including stuff like Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury), I think one can make a good case for there being demand for this, and it would allow for a much greater chance of recognition for deserving works than mixing them into the BDP and Best Related categories.

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It occured to me that the harp pic I've been using for years (and nearly everywhere) as an is getting a bit stale. As, you know, not only has Calliope not been my primary harp for over 3 years...but as of Conterpoint, I no longer even own that harp (as due to my donating it to Interfilk, it has moved on to the custiodianship of bercilakslady). So it's time for a new icon -- which means, among other things, setting up a new Looney Pyramid stack on top of the new harp -- meet Clio, btw, my new, carbon-fiber harp (I also have Terpsichore, a green harpsicle, who I should also post pictures of at some point).


There are also Looney Pyramids on top of Clio, though they're harder to see in this pic (see iceharp1 and iceharp2 for the versions with less harp and more pyramid), but this time (despite dropping the pieces several times while making the pics protip: do not play your harp while things are precariously standing on top of it; they -will- fall; but it is far easier to do this
trick with a free standing harp!) I didn't lose any pyramids in the process.

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So, over on the wizards site they posted a bit on their D&Dnext playtest where players objected to rogues who are trained in perception being worse at spotting traps than clerics who aren't trained in perception.

Mulling over the problem of "how does one make the rogue not (always) have a worse chance to spot traps than the cleric", I'm struck with a curious notion -- a D&Dlike game (or D&D, even) doesn't need the primary stat->attack power equasion any more -- and it is, in fact a sacred cow.

The thing is, even if the cleric were trained in perception, logic indicates that a cleric (who is, after all, a priest, and not a trapfinder) shouldn't be necessarily better than a rogue (eg an "expert trapfinder").

The core of the problem, I'm convinced, lies in the tradition of a "primary stat" -- and that the bigger your primary stat is, the more often you should hit, the more damage you should do, and if you're a spellcaster, the harder it is to resist your spells and more more you should get.

The thing is, early versions of D&D struggled to make your stats relevant -- in AD&D, bonus spells and extra to-hit/damage was pretty much all you got out of your primary stat, and you didn't get that much of it unless you were lucky enough to roll an 18 and follow that up with a high percentile roll (if you were human). But successive versions of D&D have already made your stats hugely important -- giving them individual uses, introducing skills that are rooted in your stat, and tieing defenses into your statistics.

In fact, Next(5e, likely) is one of the most stat centered of all, even not counting to hit/damage/spells. Aside from trained/untrained (and probably feats), you get no other bonuses to your skills aside from your stat [in fact, there are no skill rolls; there are just ability rolls with -bonuses- if you have appropriate skills; a Commoner trained in the Folklore skill will get +3 to an Intelligence check to dredge up a bit of folklore, and +3 to a Charisma check to charm a passing NPC with some folklore]. And the system does try to make skills useful in combat, with simple rules for adjucating stunts. Plus, most importantly, for the first time, every stat can be used in a saving throw. Strength saves you from being pushed around; Dex saves you from things you can dodge; Con saves you from disease, poison, and pain; Int saves you from attempts to overwhelm your mind, Wisdom saves you from things that try to fool your mind, and Charisma saves you from magical compulsions that destroy your sense of self [although the save benefits of Charisma are sadly non-existent in the playtest rules in practice, alas]

More, skills are highly variable relative to class (for the first time in an official D&D game). You pick your class, and you pick your background -- the background determines your skills, while your class determines your primary combat abilities. Pick wizard/scholar, and you're a typical wizard, memorizing lore from everywhere. Pick wizard/Soldier, and you're a wizard trained with the army, trained at intimidation, survival, and perception -- but will likely suffer in these because you still need to keep your Int up.

Fundamentally, the fact that a character has made first (or 5th, or 10th) level in a class should be sufficient to assume they have good attacks and damage. You don't need that association to make people care about their stats -- and having it makes it harder to go against type without providing a good game-reason.

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The floor-standing AC which sat in our bedroom started working Too Well recently (managing to pull a quart of water out of the air every two to three hours, and then not working until the tank was emptied--thus waking us up several times a night). So we needed to replace it. Our library AC had also gone south (ok, it got cracked when the firemen ripped it out of the wall during the fire last summer, and then it was damaged enough when I removed it so it wouldn't be a hole for the Hurricane to get in with that we threw it out right after), so I picked up a pair of them, actually, but that's not important, plus I haven't bothered to put the library AC in yet.

When I bought the ACs, they mentioned that I'd need a brace, as the city now requires it for all buildings larger than 6 stories. Our building is only 3 stories, so I pointed out that I actually didn't need one legally -- but as I'm not fond of ACs falling out of my window, I'd be happy to try the City Approved solution. Once I settled on an AC model, the salesman mentioned that as it was fairly narrow, I wouldn't need the big huge brace, but only the smaller one.

Now, the ACs, due to vacation and mild weather, sat for a week or so before I tried to put them in. But when I did, I was a bit frustrated. First, the braces had a lot of instructions -- not a huge deal, but annoying to follow, with lots of tiny adjustments that needed to be made.

Then, as I found that when I'd used a combination of instructions and know-how to put the brace together enough to figure out how I'd have to adjust it, it turned out that while the AC might be narrow enough to not need the extra large braces, our apartment walls are -far- too wide to accomodate such a tiny brace -- there was no way the tongue would be able to stay inside the apartment (as it's supposed to) while the outside bit was braced against the wall. Just no way.

I could, of course, have gone back to the store, and returned my too-small braces for larger ones. But I was impatient with the process, fairly confident of my skills (I -have- put in a lot of ACs over the years, with nary anything close to an accident) and anyway, as our apartment building is very small, I'm not -actually- required to use the City Approved Brace. (although having an AC fall out of my window would not be ideal)

So, having exhamined the AC and determined that it doesn't have an internal brace of any sort, I went looking for something that would serve as a spacer so the AC could rest flat (well, inclined in the usual "I want it to drain" way) and be very likely to not fall out of the window at any time -- not when I put it in, not when it was in there or during a storm, and not when I took it out during the fall. It was a bit of trouble, actually, to find something appropriate -- I did bring a bunch of wooden blooks I had as a kid when we moved in, but they've all found good homes, so there are none free to hold up an AC any more. And I tried a box, having used one to hold up my monitor at work for the last year or so, but the one I tried was just way too wide. Finally, my eye settled on the so unsuited for its sold purpose brace -- made of metal, durable, rectangular, and apparently about the right size to lie flat as a metal brick between the AC and the stonework of the window.

It fit perfectly.

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drcpunk has been running a Kerberos Club game since some time last year, using Fate. The game world is sort of a superhero Victorian setup, so in the game are a speedster Sherlock Holmes, Abraham Lincoln as a two fisted hero, a shape-shifting nobleman, my telekinetic but socially powerless noble ward, and Kristen's clockwork fairy, Sophronia. Sophronia is a clockwork fairy, made intelligent and well (and six inches tall) by her creator's art -- who, frustrated that he couldn't make a device of brass and silver fly, made a deal with the Fey that he would enter fairy and serve them, while his creation would be endowed with fairy powers and, thus, flight. Sophronia, not unreasonably, is rather upset about this deal and thus has the aspect "Take me as I am" -- which for some strange reason, inspired this song (back in early January -- I wanted to spring it on the Sophronia's player (And Heather) so hadn't gotten around to posting it...until now.

Sophronia's Song
ttto Heather Dale's "As I Am"

I suppose I might seem different from the girls of gentle birth,
When my head rests at their ankles, it is hard to reckon worth.
(And) my anger makes me fearsome, when they're gentle as a lamb,
But I only ask you take me, take me as I am.

I didn't ask for magic, I didn't ask to fly,
I didn't ask for clockwork, though without it what am I?
I only ask for friendship, to rest upon your hand,
And I only ask you take me, take me as I am.

I offer you a look inside the clockwork of my heart,
The gears that turn and interlock, the magic that's a part,
Of everything I think and feel, I need your help to see,
What part within is fairy, and what part is just me.

I do not need a partner, I already have a cat,
I do not want a sacrifice, there's been enough of that.
I make my own illusions, I want no other shams,
I only want a person, who'll take me as I am.

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