Jlawrence’s Comments (group member since Mar 08, 2010)

Jlawrence’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

OK, instead of wastefully starting a new thread each time, I'm just going to update this thread each month from now on. Details on Nov 24 meetup in the first post!

Sorry you missed it, too, Bob! It was good - it was just four of us (and I was late because of work - curses), and we talked about whether the romance in Alif the Unseen worked, if G. Wilson Wilson's "surrogate" in the novel, the convert, was truly her, jinni cyberpunk, the Arab Spring, the many versions of the film Blade Runner (and the voiceover and Rutger Hauer improvising), translations, what else we were reading (and playing), and a bunch of other good stuff I'm likely forgetting.

I'll have a thread for the November meeting up in a bit.

Extra side bonus points for playing the PC adventure game. Not on gog.com yet, though, so it might be hard to run on modern systems even if you find it. I've always wanted to try it.

All these people would be great, but an extra vote for Catherynne Valente!

Jenny, no worries! I remember that can cause problems from when I was posting podcasts a while back (I think using feedburner + squarespace resolved it for me?).

Tamahome, I think it's lost to the double-death of a website & hard drive, which is probably for the best, but I'll look.

Here's also a link to the theme song & its future variation (you can download 'em for free by entering 0.00 as the price...)

Ah, doing this podcast was a really fun trip down memory lane. Thanks again, Jenny, for having us!

For anyone who hadn't seen that collaborative Sword & Laser-inspired song/video I mention and is curious, here 'tis.

Next meetup is Monday, June 17 at Mission Comics and Art at 6pm.

RSVP Here!

(edited for June meetup)

Yes, thanks for coming, y'all made it awesome - hope to see you next month!

Love all the Firefly love on this thread.

Michal wrote: "Burning through season 2 of Orphan Black. It's...incredible, some of the best TV I've seen in years."

Yes, I'm really enjoying this too - a third through season 2 currently. Not that I've seen all the other new shows that are out as competition, but I join the InterWebs in general incredulity that Tatiana Maslany hasn't at least received a Emmy *nomination* for her work in that.

Snowpiercer seemed a little too ragtag-rebels-vs-gritty-dystopia-future familiar at first, but with its turns (I recommend avoiding any reviews of it if you haven't seen it, many hold majors spoilers) it did some amazing things and I ended up loving it.

Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem was incredible too, in a completely different dystopian way - kind of a cocktail remix of the wacked-out dark future and themes of his Brazil, but with a heavy existential bent instead of Brazil's dreaming-everyman-vs-bureaucracy. Very bizarre, but if you're going to drink an esoteric existential cocktail, why not one flavored with Gilliam brilliance?

And Randall Munroe's What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions has been making me very happy.

Sean wrote: "Joanna wrote: "What's his most accessible work?"

The Cyberiad is one of the best sci-fi comedies ever written."

Agreed, The Cyberiad is accessible, imaginative and funny. I remember The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy, another collection of linked short stories, being pretty approachable, too. Some of the situations Tichy gets into might be conceptually twisted - but it's all handled with a light, humorous touch.

Solaris is more serious - solid, spooky speculative fiction. Imaginary Magnitude - a book of introductions to (non-existant) books of the future - is also interesting, if not quite as good as those others.

But yes, I like the Lem. If we'd read any of the above instead of opaque and post-modern-tricksy Memoirs Found in a Bathtub as an official S&L pick, we would very likely not have lem as a verb (and what would the S&L set's dragon be named then!).

The second SF meetup went smashingly, with forum member Fresno Bob leading the group, and Monday, Sept 29 is confirmed for our 3rd meetup at Borderlands Books!

Supreme Sword Veronica will be in attendance, as well as me - please join us from 6pm - 8pm!

We'll discuss the September pick, Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, and chat about anything else Sword & Laser-y.

As before, Borderlands will have a stack of whatever the October pick will be, and you'll be able to grab a copy at a 10% discount!

You can RSVP here:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

If you want to fill up your calendar with more future dates, we've set up meetups at Borderlands for the last Monday of the month for the rest of year:

- Oct 27
- Nov 24

December will have no meetup, due to holiday busyness, but we will likely resume the last Monday of the month schedule in January.

Hope to see you at the next meetup!

Yes, I'm bummed Veronica and I both have unexpected conflicts, but forum member Fresno Bob will be leading the discussion in our abscence, so please still come by to meet each other, chat and pick up the next month's pick if you need it!

I'm glad you got it added and sorted out! :)

I've edited my initial post to let people know they can add events themselves (but I'm still glad to add them as well).

Ah, I wasn't sure if it was a mod-only thing, if you can add the event yourself, please go ahead!

When your local group agrees upon a place and time for a meetup, you can add it as an S&L event, so people can RSVP and be sent a reminder, etc. Or you can message me the details and I'll add the event for you!

(Initially I thought only mods could make events, but you all have the POWAH. But I'm happy to add them for you, too.)

(update) ALSO, whenever you've settled on a upcoming time-place in your thread, let me know, and I'll sticky the thread.

Our first San Francisco meetup was great fun, and Monday, Aug 25 is confirmed for our 2nd meetup at Borderlands Books!

Supreme Sword Veronica will be in attendance, as well as me - please join us from 6pm - 8pm!

We'll discuss the August pick, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and chat about anything else Sword & Laser-y. Borderlands will also have a stack of whatever the September pick will be, and you'll be able to grab a copy at a 10% discount!

You can RSVP here:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

We've set up meetups at Borderlands for the last Monday of the month for the rest of year. If you want to mark your calendars:

- Sept 29
- Oct 27
- Nov 24

Dec 29 is a possibility, but we may skip Dec since people's holiday schedules will likely be full. I'll have an update on that later.

Hope to see you at the next meetup!

We had great fun chatting about Dawn, other books we've been reading, current sword and laser-y tv shows and many other things. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

Here's a pic:


Pretty sure the next San Francisco date will be Monday, Aug 25, but I'm waiting on final confirmation from Borderlands before creating a new post and event.

Moved to the author promo section.

About to start the July S&L pick, and also starting The Golem and the Jinni.

What about you?

Ruth wrote: "Oh, that sounds so cool! SO wishing I lived near enough for that, but England is a teeny bit far away. Will we get reports on how it went? Maybe Veronica could grab little audio bites from folks fo..."

Yes, we do want to do a short report about each meetup on the following podcast, so we will likely try recording some sound bites just like you suggest!

Tamahome wrote: Can you have the next one in Jersey?

I know Tom & Veronica would like the SF meetups to inspire people to organize their own S&L meetups in other towns, so if anyone does that, message me the details and I'll add the other S&L meetups as goodreads events, too!