July 31st, 2007 admin
I wasted a fair amount of my youth reading science fiction. I had a voracious appetite for fiction of all sorts, but my science fiction was my soft spot. Once I hit high school and real life started catching up, that habit tapered off. I still have the occasional relapse, but nothing like the golden days of my youth, when I would eagerly await my trips to the library and each issue of Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (my primary drug of choice).
Given that background, I got excited when I saw that Fantasy & Science Fiction had forty copies of their September issue that they were going to give away to bloggers in exchange for a mention/review.
I requested a comp. copy for review, but unfortunately, their stock ran out well before me.
I think having this sort of outreach/marketing program is a good thing; there isn’t really a loser in the equation. So, in the interest of promoting the program and the magazine, I went out and purchased a copy for myself.
Over the next few days (as I finish reading each story), I will post a mini-review.
I would like to point out that I would be very willing to review anything (well, books, music, movies, software, etc) that someone would want me to review. If you are interested, just drop me an email.
I enjoyed the first story in the collection; a piece by Alexander Jablokov entitled “Wrong Number.” The story is a modern urban fantasy piece, with a subdued sense of the fantastic. No flashy magic here; just a dash of the fairy tale aesthetic.
I must confess, I have a weakness for this (sub)genre. This piece gave me (what will probably be) my favorite quote from this issue:
That was Marlene: a smart babe in a rubber dress with a genuine talent for mechanized warfare.
Stephanie, a friend of Marlene, struggles with a curse placed on her by a guy she gave an incorrect phone number to several years in the past. Marlene brings her to a particular auto body shop whose proprietor has a knack for fixing things. Most of the action takes place in the body shop among the likeable employees. I felt that the ending was a little unclear; I had to read it a few times to follow the plot. Overall, I enjoyed the story; a quick little read with fun characters.
Posted in Fiction, Review, September2007 | Comments Off
July 31st, 2007 admin
I was a Database Administrator in another life. As such, I love crunchy data. I understand that, at this point, I don’t really receive many visitors or listeners, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to know.
To give myself another source of crunchy data, I’ve signed up for Podtrac. As part of the signup process, they want you to add a listener survey to your site, and pimp it a little in the podcast. So, at the left, you will find a listener survey button. Give it a click; it shouldn’t take more than five minutes to fill it out.
Thanks,
Dave
Posted in Podcast | No Comments »
July 28th, 2007 admin
Just saw the new Transformers movie. I thought it was pretty cool; video effects and sound made it worth seeing in the theater. In the age of so many franchises ‘modernized’ (read: eviscerated), it was treated rather well*. Sure Bumblebee should have been a Beetle, but ehh; I’m not too worried about it.
For those who complained that this movie was juvenile, that should have been obvious from the outset for two reasons:
- Directed by Michael Bay
- Starring giant freakin’ robots.
Complaining that the Transformers movie was too juvenile is like complaining that Black Hawk Down was too violent.
In conclusion: if you haven’t seen this yet, I would recommend it as a pretty solid summer ‘blockbuster’.
* I was never an Transformers superfan - had a couple of toys when I was younger, and enjoyed the cartoon. I wouldn’t be capable of spotting many continuity gaffes between this movie and previous incarnations.
Posted in Movies | No Comments »
July 28th, 2007 admin
Here be the shownotes for this episode:
Artist: Beth Quist
Song: Warrior
Album: Silver
Artist: Liquid Zen
Song: Spirit
Album: Elements at Loop 10
Artist: Sibelian
Song: Sibelian
Album: Soul Rush
Artist: Psychokinetics
Song: Badlands
Album: Seven League Boots
Good stuff. Thanks for listening.
Candied Brain Radio: Episode 3 [20:06m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Posted in Music, Podcast | No Comments »
July 25th, 2007 admin
I heard this on NPR the other day; I have to say, it was priceless to hear it announced by one of those perfect radio voices:
A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country’s borders.
Brilliant!
Being a rather poor blogger, this slipped my mind until I saw it on Boing Boing today.
I’ll work on that.
Posted in Wierdness | No Comments »