The Years of Rice and Salt

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Kim Stanley Robertson

I've been thinking about books for Summer Girl, books I can lend her. Since my library is almost entirely science fiction, and she only likes the more level-headed ones (no men with wings allowed), I've been wondering what to lend her... and it's only recently that I thought how perfect the works of Kim Stanley Robertson are. KSR has to be one of my all-time favourite authors. His characters are easy to identify with, have depth and meaning, and are central to his books in a way which the trashier end of the market would do well to emulate. His science is always level-headed and believable. In fact, I would recommend most of his works, but most especially I have to go for the Mars trilogy, which is utterly brilliant right until the end (the final book in the trilogy still has my favourite last line of any novel); Icehenge, which is short and elegaic (sp?) and beautifully unresolved at the end; and this one, The Years of Rice and Salt.

Briefly, now: this is an alternative history, based on the premise that the Black Death killed off 95% of Europe's population instead of about 30% (is that right?). In this history, Islam and China grow to fill the void, and Europe is relegated to an Islamic backwater of bickering Taifa states (love that word - don't know what it means, think it's a type of rock, but love it anyway). The backbone of the book is a group of characters who are a sort of cosmic family, a jati, who are reincarnated over and over again and always somehow find one another, without really knowing why or who they are. It's a brilliantly told fable. There are a few rare occasions where KSR gets out his broad brush and starts lecturing, but these are truly rare, and for the most part the stories are well told, the characterisation is splendid, and each episode is touching in its own way.

Highly recommended.

Concerning American politics and the current worldwide financial woes (2)

Seriously, I've never lived anywhere which HAD a Main Street! High Streets, yes, lots and lots of those. Even Inner Ting Tong. But never, ever a Main Street. So shut up about Main Street, where the heck is it anyway? I demand photographic proof it exists.

Concerning American politics and the current worldwide financial woes

If I hear the words 'Wall Street' and 'Main Street' in the same sentence one more time I shall scream.

Hanging about at the interface - conceptships.org

It's my humble opinion that there is a strong overlap between science fiction and design - especially between sf graphical work and vehicle design. This is maybe because vehicle design is one of the most purely graphical design fields, or maybe because our vehicle purchases - especially our cars - have become so heavily loaded with meaning, or maybe because our vehicles (again, especially cars) come with that idea of 'props for living in the future' built in to them... or maybe it's simply because there's a big graphic design community and only so much inspiration going around... anyway, with all that in mind, here's a website devoted to science fiction representations of vehicles. It calls itself 'Concept Ships'.Go look at it, because someday they will be your ride. Or at least your ride will be trying to look like one of 'em.

Prague

View out across Charles Bridge

No doubt I will get in massive trouble with Summer Girl for including none of her favourites from the four hundred or so photos we took in the week we were in Prague, but here's a sample, more or less chosen at random.

Hey, what's that?

http://www.heywhatsthat.com/

Right now this is a very flaky beta, but it's still a great application. What it does is, takes a location you specify (click on Google maps, or lat and long, or whatever) and works out what you can see from there. However, I think they've missed a serious trick here. Focus seems to be on creating a system which will calculate and display the views from mountaintops - but what this reminds me of most are the coastline sketches you find in pilot books for yachtsmen (and women, no sexism intended). These sort of sketches are really seriously useful if you're down at sea level looking out at unfamiliar coastline... sadly, though, when I tried to get the view from just off Holy Island (the Lindisfarne one), it - well, it struggled. Sea level kinda blows its little mind right now, I guess.

Watch Skyscrapers having a tug of war, and other shininess

Just doing a bit of housekeeping here, posting a few links I sent to myself ages ago but felt too sh1t to sit down and post (been going through a bit of a rough patch lately).

First up is a video from National Geographic, about designing small homes that feel big. Interesting. Inevitably, it's about a house in Tokyo; there are some nice ideas about out perception of space in there, though.

 

Next up: watch skyscrapers duke it out in a tug of war! Virtually, obviously. One of a series of really cool-looking procedural animations by the obviously nom-de-plume'd Brandom Morse.

ABMU the next

ARGH! I just wrote a pretty epic Boring Medical Update which X has lost. Dagnammit. %$&%*$! %*$&%*^^^^^!
I seethe.
So, the short version now, as I am thoroughly pissed off. A lot has happened since October. The anal fissure that seemed to be on the mend persisted, and persisted, and persisted, until EASTER. At that time my colitis was so bad I spent the Easter weekend in bed (at my girlfriend's parents - great impression, huh). So, a change of medication was called for, and I've been on methotrexate, which makes me feel nauseous two days every week, and requires some considerable time off work for getting the necessary blood tests done (every week) and going to get The Jab. Even better, the anal fissure RETURNED after about a month. Even better than that, the skin around what the hospital staff rather charmingly persist in referring to as my 'tail end' has become very swollen and sore. Since there is no sign of an abscess or fistulae, my current theory is that this might be to do with the methotrexate, which can apparently be detected in patients' rectal mucosa (whatever the heck that is), and is also a skin irritant. So I'm thinking, either due to the fissure or my own deliberate attempts to keep my botty relaxed (trying to keep good blood circulation), there might be a small amount of discharge which is getting onto the bumskin and making it go bananas.
The main alternative theory is that it's an infection of some sort, which would suggest infliximab treatment can't start until it's fixed.
Tomorrow I go into hospital for my first infusion of Infliximab, which may or may not work, but sounds rather scary anyway. Right now, though, I feel like I've hit a bit of a low point. Frankly, the bottom soreness eclipses both the anal fissure and the colitis (which is actually Crohn's Disease, according to the latest colonoscopy). I don't know how I will manage when I go back to work on Tuesday, because I just feel so low and feeble. To top it off, I've been back from holidays for a couple of days, the weather is miserable, and half my windows are obscured by scaffolding, making the flat a very dingy and dispiriting place, especially for someone whose sore bottom really means they should just stay at home.
All in all, pretty miserable.