Fantasist's Scroll

I’d like to give this book a good review.

No, really, I would. When I picked it up, I had high hopes for a deeply moving spiritual experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it. Oh, it was a good reminder that I need to be more connected to the source of my spiritual strength, which is God. But, mostly, it was watered-down New Age mubo-jumbo.

It started out okay, though it wasn’t what I expected. It was, essentially, a work of fiction meant to impart nine “insights” of a spiritual nature. I hadn’t expected a story at all, but I plowed ahead anyway. Even though it was written at about the same level as USA Today. Then, they started to tell me that I needed to be a vegetarian. Uh-oh… I disagree with that for a number of reasons, which I won’t go into here. Suffice it to say that was my first warning that this wasn’t my kind of book. But, I reminded myself of all the Hindu and Buddhist vegetarians and kept reading.
Then, they started seeing auras. Oh, they called it “energy fields”, but it was nothing more than auras. That’s not bad in and of itself, but it added a bit of hokey-ness to the whole thing that was hard to get past later.
And, from there on out, everyone was a characature of a stereotype found in pop-psychology or New Age literature. Not that it’s all that bad, but it didn’t endear the book’s author to me. And, ultimately, it all got in the way of my reading. It’s never a good sign when the medium obstructs the message.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. I did gain a deeper appreciation for better books! And, it made me think about what “coincidenes” really mean. Are they just interesting accidents? Or, are they messages from a higher source? So, I vowed to pay closer attention to chance encounters and such.
Also, it made me think more about how we interact with each other. How most of us are not conscious of the way we talk to and treat others. I know that I have not always been very conscious of how I deal with others. So, I promised myself that I would pay more attention to my interactions with other people.

So, while I can’t honestly reccomend this book to anyone else, it wasn’t a total loss. Oh, and normally, I’d post this on a Sunday, since it was a book about spirituality, but I’m announcing a new site feature tomorrow. And, the next two Sundays as well. Stay tuned!

They’re bringing him back for his 40th anniversary!

No, really, a new Dr. Who series is going to be done for the BBC. For those of you who are big geeks like me, you already know who Dr. Who is. For those of you who don’t… Well, it’s about time you were educated.
Though it’s hard for me to believe that the Good Doctor has been around for fourty years, he apparently has. And, he’s still popular enough that BBC1 will be airing a new series based on the classic series. The series was about an immortal, time-travelling, space travelling alien who was out to protect the universe from any and all baddies. At his disposal to aid in this duty were the TARDIS and his sonic screwdriver, among other toys. And, of course, his ever-faithful humanoid companions. (Not all of them were actually humans from Earth.) Oh, the memories this brings back!
You can read more about this at the Official BBC Dr. Who Website.

The most ancient of trees.

Okay, so they’re “new” trees, but of a variety that’s been around since the Jurassic. And, soon, you’ll be able to own one. Yep, that’s right. According to this article on BBC News, in 2005 trees that were cultivated from these most ancient of trees will go on sale. According to their growers, they’re slow growing and love the shade, so they’re perfect for patios. Or, dinosaur paddocks.
Okay, this just struck me as funny. I mean I hear all this talk about the extinction of species and here are these trees that we thought died out over 175 million years ago going strong. Makes you wonder a bit, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s Mankind that’s the temporary thing and the plants and bugs that are just waiting for us to die off again. Anyway, it just tickles my funny bone when I think about the “latest thing” being ancient trees. Fun stuff.

I just finished reading The Scar by China Mieville this weekend.

It was quite as satisfying as his last book, Perdido Street Station. Quite different in character, though. In fact, The Scar, despite its name, was a bit more upbeat than Perdido Street Station. One odd thing, though… The cover mentioned a character from Perdido Street Station, namely Issac Grimnebulin, but he never shows up in the book at all, except as on off-hand reference. But, that aside, it was quite good. And, now, with spoilers in place, here’s a run down of the plot.
The Scar opens with one Bellis Coldwine, a linguist, waiting for her ship to dock. She’s a linguist in the sense of being a polyglot as well as someone who studies languages. In fact, she uses a kind of trance and magic to learn languages much more quickly than a normal person would. This, actually, was one of many interesting concepts thrown out.
Very quickly, though, our heroine is thrown into turmoil as her ship is hijacked by pirates and she, and her fellow crewmates, are press-ganged into a floating, pirate city called Armada. Then, the plot takes a definate turn. It gets ever more fantastic from here on. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
Our heroine is not very pleased at being assimilated into this free-booter’s city, especially since her only other option is death. There is no going home for her. And, in part as rebellion against that death sentence, she gets involved in a plot. A plot, she thinks, that is meant to save her city, the New Crobuzon of Perdido Street Station, from terrible water demons, the near-mythical grindylow. Along the way, her linguistic talents are used to summon up a mythical sea-beast which is meant to pull Armada through the sea. Of course, things don’t work out like anyone plans.

It’s a rolling, rollicking fun-filled adventure with pirates on the high-seas! Okay, not really. It’s dark, morose and about illusions shattered by soulless agents of the government in their merciless quest for a little more power and money. Very gritty. Very realistic. Very good.

Well, I’ve never bought one, but…

According to this article on YahooNews, but from Reuters, e-books are basically dead. Not quite dead, but almost. Seems that they never sold as well as they were hyped and the competing formats damaged their overall reputation. Still, there is still a small market for e-books. I know, for instance, that there’s a market for e-book gaming suppliments, adventures and the like. But, overall, that’s a pretty small slice of the pie, so I can see how publishers would be less than willing to layout the expense.
In any case, it’s an interesting article. Just make sure to read between the lines. E-books aren’t really dead, just way, way ahead of their time.

Three new additions to our conlang resources!

One of the places that I got my interest in conlangs is from the Dragon Magazine. In honor of that source of inspiration, I have uploaded word lists and basic grammar of three conlangs from the Dragon. All three are originally by Sean K. Reynolds. They’re pretty basic languages, but they do add flavor to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign! Actually, they could be used in any fantasy role-playing game, but the Dragon is mainly focused on Dungeons and Dragons.

In any case, Dwarven, Elven and Draconic are all uploaded, so enjoy them!

No, not a car that files.

A car that runs on compressed air. Now that is an innovation! It sounds too good to be true, but, according to this article on Wired News, the compressed air car actually exists. At the moment there are some issues with regulation and drive length, but, c’mon, this is the ultimate green car. I mean, what’s the down-side to this? Air might leak out? And, we could even use solar power to run the air-compressor to “re-fuel”. I love this car. Now, if they can just get a model that runs further than 5 miles on a tank of air and get the US government to approve it….
Ah, well, a guy can dream!

A new, experiemental model may duplicate animal eyes.

At least, that’s the goal. A scientist has recently created a system that he believes will let him “see” like an octopus. Or, a lion. Or, an eagle. Or, really, just about any other animal one cares to name. What’s more, according to the article on Wired News, he hopes to simulate what it might look like if an eagle saw things through an octopus eye. And other combonations that aren’t possible in nature. It’s certainly an interesting look at one way science is trying to understand how animals percieve the world. And, of course, how we do, too.