The Stanford Daily: A Dance with Dragons

The review, as promised:
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/07/28/review-a-dance-with-dragons/

As you can tell, I thought it was wonderful. I've been a fan of Martin's since A Storm of Swords, which was a long time ago. (In other words, being not quite the most objective reviewer, but I expect that critics rarely ever are. That's what makes them interesting to read, half the time.)

Never Praise a Toaster

The toaster broke down yesterday. In spite of my father's halfhearted attempts to resuscitate it, it is dead. My parents will be buying a new toaster this weekend.

This event was greeted by my father with a mixture of glee and indignation. The former was because they've been waiting for it to give out since 1983, so that they could get a new one. The latter was because he had remarked, just the other day, upon the durability of the toaster -- and then it broke down. He then solemnly vowed never to praise the new one, so that it won't get any ideas.

io9: Death by Fan in South Korea

As someone with an Asian mother, I'm no stranger to odd superstitions and health advice, especially quoted from "reputable" Chinese newspapers. This one's pretty good:

http://io9.com/5818197/in-south-korea-falling-asleep-in-front-of-a-fan-is-the-kiss-of-death

Reminds me a bit of my mum's "X causes cancer" line, where X is whatever I happen to be eating at the moment.

Toothpick Miniature of the San Francisco Bay

I found this, and it's breathtaking. I'm not sure I'd have the patience to build something like this, honestly, but I can certainly gawk at someone else's creation:


Scott Weaver's Rolling through the Bay from Learning Studio on Vimeo.

Wall Street Journal: How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance

I was directed to this article by a number of people, but I think Nicole sent it first (no, it's not adult content -- it's The Wall Street Journal, after all):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304911104576443871615544338.html

I really appreciate the effort some authors expend to get the details right. Historical fiction has a lot in common with science fiction, where the technology ought to be theoretically plausible, and fantasy, where the imagined world ought to be internally consistent and realistic within its constraints -- which is why we have people like Asimov writing science fiction, people like Tolkien writing fantasy, and a bevy of actual historians writing historical fiction. It's hard to do these genres well if you don't have the background.

I have made my own period costumes, and sporadically partake in historical reenactment (and yes, I do own a corset). I do my research; Stanford's libraries are excellent for this purpose. And as I sometimes mention on this blog, I'm a history major -- but I'm still, compared to film industry costumers, an amateur. Inaccuracies in books, films, etc. bother me quite a bit, because I always find myself thinking, if I, as a hobbyist with limited resources, can get it right (or at least moreso than this film), why can't a professional crew? (Some of my friends apparently enjoy watching bad quasi-medieval action flicks with me just to watch me go off about all the things the studio got wrong. Not sure what that says about me -- or them, for that matter.)

Anyhow. A pet peeve of mine.

BBC: Ten Strange Ways Tudors Died

Not so much royal Tudors, but Englishmen and women who lived (and died) during the Tudor dynasty:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13762313

Lifespans were significantly shorter back then (the most common culprit being disease, and probably childbirth) but these are some more interesting, historically accurate ways to go. For a fair number of them, I would say they brought it upon themselves. Can you imagine what their families might have had inscribed on their tombstones?

Overheard in the Office #2

"Are you pregnant?!"

That is all.

Time: A Dance with Dragons!

The long-awaited A Dance with Dragons is out today!

Lev Grossman reviews it for Time, here:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2081774,00.html

I'm really glad to see that it lives up to all the hype. I know a lot of people (myself included) were a bit disappointed with A Feast for Crows, but I think a lot of the problems with it were simply due to its not being a single complete volume unto itself. It and Dance are really two very intertwined halves of the same volume. So this book should make it all better.

I can't wait to start reading it after work! (My own review thereof, for The Stanford Daily, is forthcoming.)

BBC: Parakeets Intimidate Garden Birds

Much like many other non-native species introduced into a very different habitat, parakeets appear to cause problems (thankfully, non-lethal ones) in the local ecosystem:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13524396

We used to get a lime green bird or two in our backyard every year (we might still, but I unfortunately don't have extended periods of time to spend gazing out the kitchen window anymore). My sister and I were always very excited to see them -- to see any colorful bird, really, considering we usually get sparrows and pigeons. Bluejays and cardinals were great, too, but the green ones were really something. As children, we never surmised that they might have been former house pets, though even then, we knew they had to come from elsewhere. We'd kept parakeets before, but they were budgerigars -- blue and white ones -- and looked significantly different.

This sort of story is increasingly common, what with increased human encroachment on previously virgin lands, and especially in this case, human tastes in animal companions. It's striking to me how much humanity influences its surroundings on a tiny, daily level. Reminds me of this BBC article I posted half a year ago.

Adverbs, and the Killing Thereof

A humorous take on the not-so-funny problems with the way writing is taught in American grade schools:

http://www.therejectionist.com/2011/02/dear-superior-person_25.html

I remember, vaguely (it was a decade ago), the extremes to which grade school instructors went in instilling "show, don't tell" into the repertoires of their unsuspecting charges. It is, as with most rules, best applied in moderation. Fancy verbs and superfluous adverbs are annoying and frilly, and often make the text that much less readable. Beginner mistakes, to be sure, but ones that are utterly preventable -- and indeed, wouldn't crop up in the first place, if it weren't for these notions about grade school writing.

Mark Twain said it best: "If you see an adverb, kill it!"

Unintentional Humor at the Chinese Supermarket, Part III

It's been a while since I posted some of these, and I've accumulated quite a few new photographs, so here's some supermarket Chinglish (and other strange Asian things) for your amusement:

Umm... sounds gross. Like mud pies -- something little kids threw together that their parents would pretend to eat while tossing the thing in the trash.

Crab lumps? And "special" meat. Sounds like public school cafeteria "mystery meat." That, or meat injected with hallucinogens. Maybe that's why it's $9.99.

Is the bow supposed to somehow make the fan more appealing to shoppers?

Amusing on a number of levels. Persian pickles grown in Mexico. Also, Persian pickles are actually a term for the teardrop shapes one finds in paisley patterns.

And that is one huge apple. It's half the size of my sister's head! (Brett, this one's for you!)

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

Just found this very funny blog post series (thanks to Neil Gaiman's blog):

http://jen-campbell.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20things%20customers%20say

I'm both amused and appalled. I'll be checking back. :)