![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
talktoolooseHere is a journal entry of miscellania:
1.
I've been wanting to write about one of my favourite parts of living in Toronto -- the fact that it is a spectacular urban forest. Go up in the CN Tower on a summer day next time you're here (cash in your retirement savings to afford the elevator ticket) and look around at the sea of green. Because there is still a huge amount of low-rise residential housing, much of it actually houses in the downtown, there are trees and gardens gallore. If I ever get up and volunteer in some aspect of community building, I will join the forces that are fighting to keep this green legacy intact for future generations. Given Toronto's historic habit of giving in to rich developers at every turn (compare our blighted waterfront to Chicago's), I think there are challenges ahead in the conservation effort.
This morning, around the corner from my house, I braked suddenly and turned my bike around. I had just passed an SUV whose rear half was crushed. The rear and rear-side windows were shattered and leafy debris covered the whole vehicle. Twenty metres away was a huge oak tree, now missing one of its three enormous main branches. A neighbour told me that it happened Tuesday. The family had just parked and was still in the car when the limb came down. Amazingly, no one was hurt.
Given the obvious symbolism of the SUV, I can't help but think of the accident as a warning from the forest: "I won't go without a fight."
2.
Excitement throughout the land! The new Finder TPB, Dream Sequence, was released yesterday and it is phenomenal as usual. My favourite image so far is the monstrous extension of the cubicle farm. The website previews the first chapter of the TPB.
3
My dad and I just read an early Greg Bear novel, Blood Music. I've put a brief e-mail exchange behind the cut in case you've read the novel and are interested in my views.
Dad:
I loved the book until toward the end. It was still gripping but I began to have difficulty grasping his philosophy and the story. I should read that part again but I'm not disciplined enough.
TTL:
There is a fundamental problem with SF books wherein the world is completely transformed and all human beings move to a higher plane of existence suddenly. Without central, conflicted human characters displaying quotidian problems, it is hard to relate to a story emotionally. The transformation of the scientist (I've forgotten his name) and his journey through his own body, interacting with the different orders of noocytes was thrilling. But by the time everything moved towards a journey to a nirvana that more or less resembled a virtual-reality game, I felt disconnected. In contrast, the ending of Darwin's Radio, wherein the changes in the world are just beginning and the central family are fugitives had the satisfying human zing that this book lost.
Furthermore, there were two main speculative science threads in the book -- the creation of an intelligent group virus and the concept of a mutable physics fundamentally affected by observation. Both are fascinating but they competed for attention in the book.
I loved the way the world changed almost overnight and found that credible; the generational turnover of a cellular society must be tremendous, especially given the high fluidity of its communication.
I found the book intriguing and a good read. Bear got better, though.
1.
I've been wanting to write about one of my favourite parts of living in Toronto -- the fact that it is a spectacular urban forest. Go up in the CN Tower on a summer day next time you're here (cash in your retirement savings to afford the elevator ticket) and look around at the sea of green. Because there is still a huge amount of low-rise residential housing, much of it actually houses in the downtown, there are trees and gardens gallore. If I ever get up and volunteer in some aspect of community building, I will join the forces that are fighting to keep this green legacy intact for future generations. Given Toronto's historic habit of giving in to rich developers at every turn (compare our blighted waterfront to Chicago's), I think there are challenges ahead in the conservation effort.
This morning, around the corner from my house, I braked suddenly and turned my bike around. I had just passed an SUV whose rear half was crushed. The rear and rear-side windows were shattered and leafy debris covered the whole vehicle. Twenty metres away was a huge oak tree, now missing one of its three enormous main branches. A neighbour told me that it happened Tuesday. The family had just parked and was still in the car when the limb came down. Amazingly, no one was hurt.
Given the obvious symbolism of the SUV, I can't help but think of the accident as a warning from the forest: "I won't go without a fight."
2.
Excitement throughout the land! The new Finder TPB, Dream Sequence, was released yesterday and it is phenomenal as usual. My favourite image so far is the monstrous extension of the cubicle farm. The website previews the first chapter of the TPB.
3
My dad and I just read an early Greg Bear novel, Blood Music. I've put a brief e-mail exchange behind the cut in case you've read the novel and are interested in my views.
Dad:
I loved the book until toward the end. It was still gripping but I began to have difficulty grasping his philosophy and the story. I should read that part again but I'm not disciplined enough.
TTL:
There is a fundamental problem with SF books wherein the world is completely transformed and all human beings move to a higher plane of existence suddenly. Without central, conflicted human characters displaying quotidian problems, it is hard to relate to a story emotionally. The transformation of the scientist (I've forgotten his name) and his journey through his own body, interacting with the different orders of noocytes was thrilling. But by the time everything moved towards a journey to a nirvana that more or less resembled a virtual-reality game, I felt disconnected. In contrast, the ending of Darwin's Radio, wherein the changes in the world are just beginning and the central family are fugitives had the satisfying human zing that this book lost.
Furthermore, there were two main speculative science threads in the book -- the creation of an intelligent group virus and the concept of a mutable physics fundamentally affected by observation. Both are fascinating but they competed for attention in the book.
I loved the way the world changed almost overnight and found that credible; the generational turnover of a cellular society must be tremendous, especially given the high fluidity of its communication.
I found the book intriguing and a good read. Bear got better, though.
