Chat About Anything

[Hákon]

I’m looking forwards to seeing the earlier panel you mention Kalin, but I read through the list, and there are a lot of interesting panels there.

[Kalin]

Do let us know what sounds interesting to you. I'm yet to start making my to-watch list. :)

[Lena]

For sustainable moms everywhere, baby clothes that grow with your baby! Two minutes: https://youtu.be/E87aCLSqMeM

[Lena]

So as an Announcement, the group is now public because GR changed some privacy settings and if the group is private a moderator can only email people on her friends list. I don’t know how long this has been going on. I just got a heads up today but I asked to join the moderate group so I will know about these changes sooner.

[Fiona]

Lena wrote: "So as an Announcement, the group is now public because GR changed some privacy settings and if the group is private a moderator can only email people on her friends list. I don’t know how long this..."

Thank you so much for the update - I really wish they'd give us a heads up about big changes like that!

[Mir]

Lena wrote: "So as an Announcement, the group is now public because GR changed some privacy settings and if the group is private a moderator can only email people on her friends list. I don’t know how long this..."

That's rude! I don't really mind about this group, but I've for sure been in ones in the past where people shared personal information or other things they didn't want everyone to see (like the year my friends and I had a NaNoWriMo Group! Oh no! Can everyone now read my bad prose?!).

[Lena]

Haha yes I would freak about that too.

[Beige]

Just to clarify, Goodreads made a recent change and mods can now send a 'broadcast' to all members, regardless of their privacy settings. I have tested it with a dummy account and the change they made is working, all members are now receiving group broadcasts.

But agreed, terrible communication all around. The update was hidden within this posting on the GR Help page...

https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...

[Lena]

That’s great but for how many months have I been sending broadcasts to a friendful only?

[Fiona]

Something I thought this group my be interested in - a wide-ranging interview of Kim Stanley Robinson at The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

[Lena]

For my cat people:

The next time you buy cat food from the store, take a look at the ingredients listed on the back. If you see “fish,” “white fish” or “ocean fish,” your pet might be eating shark meat.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...

[Lena]

Colorado Composts Its First Human Remains https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...

[Lena]

Sinking Cities Series: https://www.pbs.org/show/sinking-cities/

[Rossdavidh]

Lena wrote: "Colorado Composts Its First Human Remains https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-......"

...legally, setting aside any serial killers who may have done this first.

[Lena]

Living the Change: Inspiring Stories For a Sustainable Future
https://youtu.be/gq9sg397ee8
Currently Free on YouTube!

[Hákon]

Lena wrote: "Living the Change: Inspiring Stories For a Sustainable Future
https://youtu.be/gq9sg397ee8
Currently Free on YouTube!"

I’ve watched a lot of the Happen Films. They make interesting stuff.

[Mir]

Rossdavidh wrote: "Lena wrote: "Colorado Composts Its First Human Remains https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-......"

...legally, setting aside any serial killers who may have done this first.

I watched a movie about that, years ago.

[Lena]

The Terraformers - new potential Solarpunk book

[Fiona]

Lena wrote: "The Terraformers - new potential Solarpunk book"

That does look interesting!

[Dameon]

Happy autumnal solstice! Winter is coming as we enter the darkest half of the year. Many religious myths are based upon this dying and rising sun. You are probably already familiar with a popular myth that is misinterpreted and used as a form of mass thought control.

https://youtu.be/FN0pd_8yTLU

[Dameon]

* autumnal equinox

(I'm recovering from an injury)

Also, it's obviously opposite in the southern hemisphere.

[Fiona]

If anyone remembers our discussions from last year (ish? time is funny post-COVID), regarding light pollution and birds in NZ's south island, I am heading over to a dark sky reserve this weekend!

It is focussed around an observatory, but has a lot of cool data being generated on managing light. Their website is here for anyone interested: https://www.darkskyreserve.org.nz/

[Dameon]

+1 for being from NZ! Progressive politics: UBI, rights of nature, decriminalized sex work, reparations to indigenous peoples, etc.

A lot of people don't think about light pollution. Imagine if street lights had reflective top to protect the skies, and if city building lights turned off when not in use, etc. I hope to observe a truly dark night sky with a quality telescope.

Have fun!

[Lena]

Have a great time Fiona!

[Fiona]

Thanks team!

Some more for the list - international this time :)

https://www.darksky.org/our-work/cons...

[Lena]

The passive aggressive solar home: https://youtu.be/5uz40RvqsmE

[Rossdavidh]

Lena wrote: "The passive aggressive solar home: https://youtu.be/5uz40RvqsmE"

Awesome. The basis for a great horror short-story.

[Fiona]

Lena wrote: "The passive aggressive solar home: https://youtu.be/5uz40RvqsmE"

Fantastic :D

[Hákon]

Lena wrote: "The passive aggressive solar home: https://youtu.be/5uz40RvqsmE"

Hilarious. This might lead to the first case of houseicide in history. 🙂

[Mir]

Rossdavidh wrote: "Lena wrote: "The passive aggressive solar home: https://youtu.be/5uz40RvqsmE"

Awesome. The basis for a great horror short-story."

There's a solid story in Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures about passive-aggressive health-monitoring technology.

[Adam]

Before I forget it, and stolen straight off Lena's GR feed, would The Green Man short story collection be worth a read here?

[Lena]

Lol, no. I’ve read a few of the stories and so far they are Fae stories.

[Mir]

Yes, that's a great anthology but not solarpunk.

[Adam]

Ah fair enough. Still kind of wondering what solarpunk fantasy would be, or if it’s inherently an SF genre.

[Lena]

Try Wings of Renewal: A Solarpunk Dragon Anthology

[Fiona]

Yeah that had some great ones! I'd argue for Becky Chambers novellas being fantasy, despite the robots, but that's the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

[Nicole]

ah, thanks so much for the solarpunk dragon anthology! Very interesting! Since I am wondering whether my own writing should be labeled solarpunk fantasy, I will certainly go and have a look at that one!

[Nicole]

I sometimes wonder whether Starhawk's "The Fifth Sacred Thing" would come in here. The presence of magic would get it the fantasy-label from me (even though not from her, probably).
I keep confusing the utopian parts of that novel with those in Marge Piercy's "Woman of the Edge of Time". That would qualify as solarpunk, I guess, even though not fantasy.
Anyway, it had some stories and images that really stuck. In a good kind of way (I hated Piercy's dystopian part, though, and especially the suggestion she seemed to be making about steps towards transition. but never mind. just pick the cherries...)

[Lena]

I have put both of those books on the poll multiple times. Hopefully we can read them next year!

[Nicole]

Btw, does this group have a policy or preference regarding spoilers, or generally types of comment we make? At the moment I am commenting as if I were talking to a person who has just read the same story and will be exchanging opinions with me. Is that how it’s meant to be? Or should it be spoiler-free teasers, reviews and hints for people considering whether to read? Or both and much else besides…?

[Lena]

Don’t worry about spoilers when it comes to short stories. We generally should all be reading at pace. When it’s a book, use your best judgment about something surprising, but it’s not something I want anyone to worry about here.

[Lena]

Cover reveal for the newest Sarena Ulibarri book!
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Hákon]

The artwork is beautiful.

[Mir]

Yes, really pretty. I'll check out the artist's instagram.

[Lena]

There’s a Solarpunk game: https://thefuture.wtf/

[Hákon]

Lena wrote: "There’s a Solarpunk game: https://thefuture.wtf/"

That looks quite cool. 🙂

[Nicole]

Lena wrote: "There’s a Solarpunk game: https://thefuture.wtf/"

yeah, great. I've just heard them on a podcast.
Was even willing to give it a try, but it's quite a lot of money and the shipping here is uncertain... so maybe not. They don't have a DIY downloadable text version somewhere, where you have to print out your own cards?

[Nicole]

Hi, I'll be making some more time traveler comments as I eclectically read into some of what you've done before. If anyone feels that's too much, just let me know. But at least for some of the texts I hope people might remember what they were, and thus able to relate to comments anyway....

[Nicole]

real-life subcultures:

One of the things I like about solarpunk fiction is that in describing the world of the protagonists, it allows us a glimpse into the subcultures and ways of thinking that actually exist in the world right now, among the authors.
Or so I assume.
But then, also, I am not sure how literally I should take it. How close is the fiction to actual ideas of real people?
For instance, I loved "The Spider and the Stars" by D.K.Mok (in Solarpunk Summers) for many reasons. But was shocked when suddenly the teen characters get a starter kit for gene manipulation, and apparently anyone in that society can create new creatures at will. No single worry about possible effects on ecosystems.
Now, how many people in the real world actually think like that?
How many of them work in or near biotech?

[Rossdavidh]

It has been said, that all good science fiction is a thought experiment. So, as with thought experiments of any other kind, sometimes (usually?) what you discover via the experiment is "that is unlikely to work out well". But, it's still sometimes a valuable thought experiment.

I haven't found much in the way of solarpunk that proposes new ways of thinking that I have much enthusiasm for, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good idea to have the thought experiment. It's better than the dystopian "nothing will work out" that solarpunk is kind of a reaction to (I think), because it at least attempts to think through how we could make things better.

As for your last question, my general experience is that the longer one works with any technology, the fewer illusions one has about how it will change the world. We only hear form the few who are professional boosters, trying to get money for their ideas or otherwise in the business of trying to overpromise. But the actual people in biotech see things like the decades long slog for very limited results in gene therapy. Kind of like what people who have actually worked with AI think about it vs. those who have business incentives to say it is about to change everything.