Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in DelosD's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Saturday, July 5th, 2008
2:15 am	Today's Quote 07/04/08 "I will not be punched, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!" -- Patrick McGoohan as "The Prisoner" (Comment on this)
1:54 am	June 2008 Books Astropolis: Earth Ascendant by Sean Williams - Another solid future space tale by Williams. Let's hope he's learned how to write a proper ending by now. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton - The Anita Blake book before this showed signs of diminished sex and more attention to story. This one does show a bit more sign of advancing the various plots, but not yet enough. Can Hamilton get her mojo back? Grantville Gazette IV by Eric Flint - The 1632 Universe is just a lot of fun to read vignette stories about, and I bet it fun to write them too. Just good, fun, enjoyable storytelling all round. Night Child by Jes Battis - Another new author cranking our urban fantasy with a dash of romance. Not great, not bad, let's see if it develops. One For The Money by Janet Evanovich - The first book on the Stephanie Plum series. Not SF or Fantasy, just a series of novels about the adventures of a former lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter, and her somewhat befuddling attempts to learn the business. Cute enough to warrant looking at the second book. Recommended by a friend who's slightly cuter than the series heroine. Spectre: a Zoe Martinique investigation by Phaedra Wilson - Urban fantasy / horror and second in a series. Wilson's hitting her stride with this, it's both a big improvement over the first book and a real attention getter. I look forward to more of these. Daemons Are Forever by Simon R. Green - The sequel to "The Man With The Golden Torc". Green writes reliably frothy fantasy, and this is no exception. Sort of like popcorn for the mind. Valor's Trial by Tanya Huff - Latest in Huff's Confederation series. Solid SF adventure, even if her heroine has a slightly less than believable tendency to be there for every major event in the galaxy. Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich - Second in the Stephanie Plum series. This one provides a good number of laugh out loud moments. I'll go for the next, too. Stealing Light by Gary Gibson - Someone stop Gibson before he writes again! This book may have been the worst waste of time I've indulged in in ages. Not because it was bad, no, it was reasonably well written, set up some intrigueing premises, and kept the story moving along. The problem was the ending, or lack thereof. After the end, nothing was changed, nothing had been altered, and absolutely NOTHING that any of the characters did within the story has any meaning whatsoever. Just WHAT was the point? Holy Smoke by Katie MacAlister - Latest in the Aisling Grey, Guardian series. If Simon Green writes popcorn, then MacAlister's stuff is best thought of as cotton candy. Fluffy, attractive, light and frothy, and ultimately without any real substance. Identity Theft and Other Stories by Robert J. Sawyer - Solid but not particularly inspired short story collection from a solid and reliably competent SF author. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Yanni - A Love For Life (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
7:43 pm	Today's Quote 07/01/08 "Anyone who can, as Popular Science's Theodore Gray apparently did, fabricate a custom bullet-shaped router bit and use it to create a high-heat-resistant graphite mold suitable for casting ammo out of 99.9 percent pure silver has attained a level of near superhuman geekery that the rest of us can only mutely admire." -- Cecil Adams, "The Straight Dope", 25 Jan 2008 Current Mood: busy Current Music: The Cars - I'm Not The One (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 30th, 2008
11:44 pm	Today's Quote 06/30/08 Oddly appropriate, after my post on duty and sacrifice the other day. I ran across this today. From an article on the American Thinker website, titled McCain, My Man, 30 June 2008, by Kyle-Anne Shiver. "Even though the [North Vietnamese] bombing was President Nixon's decision, John McCain's own father, Admiral Jack McCain, CINCPAC, was the man who actually issued the orders that resumed America's bombing of the city in which his son was held captive. Such a burden for a father to bear, I simply cannot imagine." (Emphasis in original.) For those of you that do not understand this, or are horrified by the very thought, please read this quote from John McCain himself, discussing the impact of the bombing on the American prisoners in North Vietnam. "We knew at the time that unless something very forceful was done that we were never going to get out of there. We were fully aware that the only way we were ever going to get out was for our government to turn the screws on Vietnam. So we were very happy. We were cheering and hollering." -- (John McCain, an American Odyssey; p. 106) I think this pretty well says all that needs to be said. Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: Wavestar - Voyager (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
10:43 pm	Today's Quote 06/26/08 "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy And, myths can be much more pervasive and harder to disprove than the lie. Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Silence (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
6:32 pm	Ultimate NERF War What does *your* office do when that sound of that idiot at the next desk, clicking his pen over and over again, finally passes the point of ruptured sanity? Don't get mad, don't even get even - get NERF! http://view.break.com/521743 - Watch more free videos Current Mood: ROFL Current Music: Platinum Weird - Lonely Eyes (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
3:08 am	Today's Quote 06/21/08 "Christians can be divided into two kinds, the kind who think you should get Jesus and the kind who think Jesus is going to get you." -- P.J. O'Rourke I do so love P.J. O'Rourke. :) Current Mood: amused Current Music: Silence (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
3:03 pm	Whither Sacrifice? A friend (the always delightful and energetic netmouse) announced on her LJ she is trying to organize a movie trip out to see Roman Holiday at the Michigan on Tuesday. Now, Roman Holiday happens to be one of my all time favorites, a wonderfully bitter-sweet romance that truly sticks in the memory. But it seems to me that, in a strange way, it's becoming dated. Dated in a way that simply old clothes, old cars, and old settings don't explain. It seems to me that it's becoming *culturally* dated. What do I mean by that? In classic movies of the mid-twentieth century, there was an occasionally recurring theme. The theme was "sacrifice of personal happiness to duty". This is very clear in Roman Holiday, and in other movies of the era like Casablanca. The hero (or heroine) must give us happiness (usually true love) in favor of the obligations they've assumed, or inherited. The movie generally ends with this "noble sacrifice". However, it occurred to me that I don't see such a concept in the movies much any more. Sure, there are still noble sacrifices, but they are generally sacrificing one's life for others (and usually only by a secondary character), or if the main character does sacrifice something important to them, the movie usually finds some way to either give it back to them. So, two questions to all of you. Do you see this too? Do you think movies have changed in this way - or am I totally off base? And, if you agree that this has been a change, why do you suppose it has happened? Do we look at the concept of "duty" so differently from our grandparents that it just doesn't resonate to us anymore? Do we consider it somehow passe? I have a suspicion myself that we, as a culture, simply don't *respect* a personal sacrifice for duty the way we once did, and that we simply have the newer meme that you *can* have it all, that you can always find a way to achieve personal happiness while doing all of the things you feel you need to do. EDIT: Corrected bad markup in HTML. Current Mood: awake Current Music: Live - Heaven (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
11:03 pm	Today's Quote 06/13/08 "The reformer is always right about what is wrong. He is generally wrong about what is right." - G.K. Chesterton, ILN 10-28-22 It is easy to find the things you believe passionately are thoroughly wrong. It is much more difficult to accept those things that are not completely right, but have through experience proved to be the most acceptable compromise. In an imperfect world, to attempt perfection only results in frustration and destruction. Current Music: Fleetwood Mac - I'm So Afraid (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 8th, 2008
10:07 pm	Today's Quote 06/08/08 "Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events." -- Sir Winston Churchill Worth being reminded of, and worth remembering, on BOTH ends of the political spectrum. Current Mood: tired Current Music: Journey - Wheel In The Sky (1 Comment |Comment on this)
4:05 am	Reacting to Sheep! No - not THAT! This is a cute little method of measuring your reaction times. Only takes a minute or two. I tried it, and I seem to have a reaction time of somewhere between 0.25 and 0.30 seconds. The site ranks me as a medium reaction time, but I have trouble imagining how someone else could be *much* faster. Go ahead and give it a shot, then let me know what kind of score you got. Tranq the Sheep Current Mood: curious Current Music: Barry Manilow - Bridge Over Troubled Water (yes, really!) (16 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
2:43 am	Go light your ear! Wherein Cecil Adams and The Straight Dope (Official slogan: FIGHTING IGNORANCE SINCE 1973 (IT'S TAKING LONGER THAN WE THOUGHT)) take on one of the most burning questions of our age - do ear candles really do anything? How do "ear candles" work? The short answer? They work by separating you from your hard earned money. But not from your equally hard earned wax. Current Mood: cynical Current Music: Ricardo Arjona - Acompáñame A Estar Solo (4 Comments |Comment on this)
1:18 am	Today's Quote 06/06/08 "Sometimes it's not the light in a person that you fall in love with, but the dark. Sometimes it's not the optimist you need, but another pessimist to walk beside you and know, absolutely know, that the sound in the dark is a monster, and it really is as bad as you think." -- from the Laurell K. Hamilton novel Blood Noir Current Mood: cranky Current Music: Gin Blossoms - Until I Fall Away (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
11:40 pm	May 2008 Books Pretty good month for books this last month, and some interesting ones. Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8) by Karen Traviss - One of the great things about this particular Star Wars series is that it continues the story set out in Episodes IV, V, and VI well into the future. Something like 40 years have passed since the end of the movies, and these books chronicle all of it. Major characters are introduced, other die, and the story actually *changes*! If you can deal with media tie-ins, then I recommend this series. Viewpoints Critical by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. - Short story collection by Modesitt, including one "Recluce" story. Not bad, but really only for confirmed Modesitt fans. Alex Unlimited: True Chemistry by Dan Jolley - The series continues to perk along at the typical YA level. Some revelations, some forward momentum, and our heroine seems to be growing up a bit. Good for what it is. The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold - Third book in this fantasy series, Bujold continues her tradition of strong and memorable characters in interesting settings. Recommended. Free Fall by Laura Anne Gilman - Fifth book in the Retrievers series, an urban fantasy. Prior to this series Gilman had done only short stories, media tie-in novels, and children's book. And the lack of experience showed a bit. But in this book she's really hitting her stride as a story plotter and author, and despite the somewhat slow start in the earlier books, I can really recommend this now. Cruel Zinc Melodies by Glen Cook - The latest is Cook's seemingly unending "Garrett, P.I." fantasy series. And who wants it to end? Lightweight, sometimes silly, and occasinally poignant, it's just lots of fun. A Kiss Before The Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski - Sniegoski has been around a while, and is a common colaborator with Christopher Golden, the noted horror author. This is his (I believe) third solo novel, and he does a workmanlike job. Urban fantasy, with the main character being an angel who self-exiled himself from Heaven, and is doing his best to suppress his angelic nature. Interesting and original. Armed & Magical by Lisa Shearin - Second in the "Raine Benares" series, and second published book by Shearin. Fantasy adventure, with a good dollop of politics and romance. Not bad. The Tau Ceti Agenda by Travis S. Taylor - Taylor often collaborates with John Ringo, and from the hero of the Tau Ceti series (of which this is the second book) you can see why. The indomitable, unstoppable U.S. Marine conquers the universe! Fairly fun, but you have to have a low suspension of disbelief rating. Blindsight by Peter Watts - I'm told this novel was nominated for a Hugo last year. I can't imagine why. It's disjointed, non-engaging, and hard to read. There are bits of an interest story here, but it never quite gels. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible by Troy Denning - Concluding novel in this particular story arc in the future Star Wars series. Adventure, doubt, death, politics, surprises, tragedy, and old friends back again. How can you go wrong? The Darkest Kiss by Keri Arthur - Latest book in the "Riley Jensen, Guardian" series. It's fantasy, romance, and thriller. Or at least is says it is, but it doesn't quite ever make it. Not recommended. Star Trek: The Next Generation - Forgiveness by David Brin - Graphic novel written by Brin for the Wildstorm run of Star Trek comics. Past meets present and tells the story of the (aborted) invention of the transporter on Earth. Not a bad story, but not worth the money - there's just not enough there. The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman - Another graphic novel, this one a contemporary dark fantasy (does he write any other kind?) by Gaiman. More of a mood piece than a real story, and strangely reminiscent of the work he did with Alice Cooper, "The Last Tempation". Only must shorter, and without a real point. Amazingly for a Gaiman story, I really can't recommend it. Current Mood: tired Current Music: Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up (4 Comments |Comment on this)
7:36 pm	Endings Let's talk about endings for a bit, shall we? The kind that happen not with a bang, but with a whimper. The type that don't expire at once, but wear away over the course of a thousand little individual deaths. When does the end actually happen? Do we notice it at all, or do we just keep going through the same motions we always have through sheer inertia and habit? To put it in context, let's say there is something that you've known for a long time. You've both been friends, you've both been close, you both have history. But you have noticed more and more that you just aren't going out of your way to see that friend very often. That you aren't looking forward to spending time the way that you once did. You both don't seem to talk to each other like you once did. And one day, as you're sitting there with your thoughts drifting, you realize that you don't have any real *interest* in seeing the other person anymore. What do you do? How do you react? Do you continue to go through the motions? Do you actually still call and make plans with them? Do you instead react only when they initiate something, but continue to go along with their plans? Do you just stop taking their calls, start ignoring their message, leaving them to wonder what happened? Do you sit them down for "that talk"? If so, what do you say? "Sorry, you bore me?" Not hardly. "I feel like we've grown apart..." Hey, you weren't *married*! What DO you say? What do you DO? So I ask that of all of you. I'm not really looking for suggestions, there's not a situation I'm looking to handle right this moment. But I've had this happen in my life, and I've NEVER been happy with the way I've handled it. What do YOU do? What do you suggest? I'd like to know. I hope you'll comment. Current Mood: thankful Current Music: Sky Cries Mary - Slow Down Time (10 Comments |Comment on this)
3:10 am	Today's Quote 05/31/08 "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." -- Tacitus I have generally agreed with Tacitus, except that I'm not sure he didn't get the order wrong. I have a strong suspicion that as the number of laws grows, the opportunities for, and incidences of, corruption grow. Every law creates a new need for someone to get around it... Current Mood: mellow Current Music: David Arkenstone - Caravan of Light (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
7:07 pm	Anagram Amusement I'm very amused not only by the anagrams produced from variation of my name, but of their somewhat strange and predictive consistancy... Steve Gutterman to Meet gravest nut. Steven Gutterman to Avengement trust. Steve Howard Gutterman to Warm roughest vendetta. Steven Howard Gutterman to Now venerated smart thug. Go. Try it. You will be amused. http://www.sternestmeanings.com/ Ganked from sheryl67 Current Mood: amused Current Music: Silence of the Work (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 26th, 2008
12:02 am	Bacon! It's BACON!! And I thought the cell phone taser was bad... Bacon Scented Bacon Print Tuxedo And while you're there, check out the Capt'n Danger Stunt Monkey Baby Chute. A parachute and harness chair for your baby. "...toss the baby up in the air and he'll gently float back into your waiting arms." Unless, of course, you commit the classic blunder of twisting the lines of the parachute when you toss it into the air. (As the website says, "Baby go boom!") Am I the only one thinking "Don't cross the streams!" C'mon folks, I expect to see some really *bad* puns in the comments. Don't disappoint me. Current Mood: amused Current Music: Heather Nova - Storm (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
9:44 pm	Today's Quote 05/21/08 "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do." -- Andrew Carnegie It took me a long time to realize the essential truth of that statement; I always assumed that each person should know themselves better than anyone else, so if their description of their own motives didn't seem to match their actions, it must have been some exceptional situation that defied the normal rules. But 30 years or so of "exeptional situations" caused me to reassess. It seems instead that people either don't know themselves, or they do but don't wish other people to know them. So now I follow Mr. Carnegie's advice, for behavior will tell what really motivates a person. Current Mood: awake Current Music: David Arkenstone - Ride Into Midnight (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
7:38 pm	Today's Quote 05/11/08 "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat (1 Comment |Comment on this)