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Friday, November 13, 2009
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Disney, 2009)
I had the tremendous pleasure Thursday night of seeing a preview of Disney's new cartoon feature (and I use those words lovingly and respectfully).
"THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG" is PHENOMENAL!
It is everything Disney animation afficionados hoped for! The visuals are gorgeous and spectacular, the music is tremendous, and the storytelling is compelling - beautifully interplaying comedic, scary and heart-tugging elements with deft skill.
All the animation is brilliant, but in particular Eric Goldberg has outdone himself with his animation for "Louis," the trumpet-playing alligator!
I also loved "Ray," the cajun firefly.
Those of us who love traditional animation MUST support this effort with great enthusiasm. Plan a party, ask your friends to join you, and buy LOTS of tickets.
I am hoping this will get the box office sales it deserves - and become a blockbuster. It's definitely got the Disney magic... and might just become an instant classic!
13 comments:
- Adam Knight said...
Awesome news! I'm so excited to see this movie and for the rebirth of hand drawn animation to come back. I hope it explodes at the box office.
- November 13, 2009 at 11:18 PM
- dwilson said...
Rob,thanks for your hope filled review. I'm still a little leery since it's being pitched as such a mega-masterpiece.
But I'll be more than willing to stand up in the theatre and applaud if Disney can woo my hesitant heart beyond it's marketing. My family of 5 will be there opening night.
Cheers to fantastic films!
- November 14, 2009 at 11:39 AM
- Yvonne Hennessy said...
I can't wait for its release. It's been too long since 2D got a look in. Hopefully this will be a rebirth of classical animation features.
- November 15, 2009 at 11:18 PM
- Patrik Spacek said...
I CANT wait to see it.. I live for Disney! and finally, thanks to John Lasseter, they are coming back to great traditional art.
- November 16, 2009 at 7:47 AM
- eda said...
- November 17, 2009 at 2:16 AM
- November 20, 2009 at 3:10 AM
- remona said...
this is seemed to like rebirth of hand drawing pic. again my most favorite 2D movie came with Disney, The princess and the frog.
- November 28, 2009 at 2:26 AM
The Princess and the Frog
Seriously it is very Awesome and Superb animated movie. It is best for kids and I also watched it with my little niece and trust me we enjoyed a lot. I recommend to all to download The Princess and the Frog movie for your little kids and I bet they will enjoy it.
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About Me
MARCH: Attractive personality. o.O sexy. Affectionate Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

subset: commoncrawl


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BERLIN >> The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia are meeting in Berlin on Sunday to resume diplomatic talks on a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The meeting between Pavlo Klimkin of Ukraine and Russia's Sergey Lavrov will also be attended by their German and French counterparts Frank-Walter-Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius.
Steinmeier said in a statement Sunday that the search for a political solution mustn't be neglected even as efforts are made to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in the rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk.
He says a "new political impulse is needed" or there will be a risk of further escalation.
Steinmeier says the focus will be on a timetable for a durable cease-fire and effective controls along Ukraine's border with Russia.


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So many people have moved to Mount Olive, N.C., in recent years that the local Catholic parish, St. Mary of the Angels, had to move from an 85-person church building to a new facility that accommodates 700 Catholics who attend four Sunday Masses.
However, the official parish registry would never tell you this church in rural North Carolina is bursting at the seams. Several of the area's new Catholics, many of them Latinos from south of the border, have not registered at St. Mary of the Angels.
"There are at least three times as many baptized Catholic, if not four times as many, than those who are affiliated with the parish in a formal registration," St. Mary's pastor, Father James F. Garneau, told Our Sunday Visitor.
"Registering is built around a middle-class model," Father Garneau added. "It's helpful, but it's not built around the homeless and the poor, who may not have the same address or phone number from month to month."
The situation at St. Mary of the Angels, located in the Diocese of Raleigh, is not unique. A recent study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University indicates there are 11.3 million Catholics in the United States who are not included in the Church's official estimate of the nation's Catholic population.
A good part of these "uncounted" Catholics are in the South and West, regions with high levels of migration. Catholics from the Northeast, and from Mexico and Latin America, have been moving into those regions over the past decade, and many of them have not registered with parishes, according to a CARA analysis of its 2013 National Survey of Catholic Parishes.
"Any place with high mobility, you're going to have a lot of under-counted Catholics," said Mark Gray, the director of Catholic Polls and a research associate at CARA.
Gray told OSV that most dioceses across the United States, in the annual Official Catholic Directory, underestimate the total number of Catholics in their regions. Individual parishes report their numbers of registered Catholics, but those figures do not include people who identify as Catholic but have not registered.
In CARA's recent survey, Gray said that pastors, on average, reported having 2,500 registered parishioners and another 400 unregistered individuals who regularly attend Sunday Mass. That does not account for unregistered Catholics who do not attend Mass and have fallen out of practicing the Faith.
"Many of the self-identified Catholics are on the periphery," Gray said. "They're not the most active. Some of them, you might call cultural Catholics. More people are saying, 'I'm Catholic,' but not registering with a parish, so you see this gap between the self-identified and involved Catholics."
On average, according to CARA, which also took Census data into account, the self-identified Catholic population in the United States is 51 percent larger than the Official Catholic Directory estimate. CARA identifies 12 states where the self-identified population is about twice as many as the official number (see sidebar). Forty-two percent of the nation's "uncounted" Catholics live in those 12 states, according to the CARA analysis.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami, told OSV that he was "keenly aware" of the situation with uncounted Catholics.
"In our area, the demographics indicate that we probably have 1.7 million Catholics living in the three counties that make up the Archdiocese of Miami, and we probably don't have 600,000 who are registered," he said.
"It's not surprising, given the transience in our area," Archbishop Wenski added. "We have a lot of people who moved here from someplace else, and a lot of them have moved here from other countries. Those moves can be unsettling in that those people take time before they settle on a parish community and then register with that parish."
In Oklahoma, Father William Novak, the vicar general for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, also noted that increasing numbers of Hispanics have migrated into the area. Father Novak, who is also pastor of a parish in Oklahoma City, said many of the area's new Catholics "jump around from church to church" and may never register in one parish.
"I'm always encouraging my people that attend Mass to register," Father Novak said. "I tell them, 'If you've been here three times, then this is your parish, and you need to register.'"
Hispanic Catholics also might be reluctant to register at parishes over fears that their information will be forwarded to immigration authorities. Pastors said that information is not sent to the government.
Being mindful of the "uncounted" Catholics is important because they represent a key target for the New Evangelization. Many of them may darken the parish door on Christmas or Easter, but drawing them into active parish life is a bigger challenge. Being mindful of their needs and culture — for example, recognizing parish registration is not required in other countries — are keys to solving the problem.
"Each one of these realities call for different responses," Father Garneau said. "For the Hispanic response, it's establishing sacramental and traditional practices in Spanish that creates a movement of people who are hungry for those traditions."
Archbishop Wenski said a recent archdiocesan synod studied the issue and looked around the country to determine the best practices to engaging self-identified Catholics who are on the periphery of parish life. One idea that emerged, the archbishop said, was to have foreign priests enroll in accent-reduction classes so their English is more understandable to American ears.
"We have an increasing number of foreign clergy here, and we have to help them acclimate so the people can understand what they are preaching," Archbishop Wenski said.
At St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, N.C., which co-sponsored the CARA study, the pastor, Msgr. John J. McSweeney, told OSV that lay parishioners are expected to welcome the unregistered to church.
"The key to it is to invite people, period," Msgr. McSweeney said. "You may know someone in your neighborhood who says they're Catholic. So why don't you invite them to your home? It's a simple philosophy, really."
Msgr. McSweeney added that a growing number of young people, including young adults and "millennials" who are increasingly less likely to identify with a religion, are choosing not to associate with the Catholic Church. "I think the Church of the future has to deal with the phenomenon that the institutional Church isn't appealing in many circumstances," he said.
Keeping a parish blog and Twitter feed, or setting up a Facebook page, are some ideas to reach out to unregistered Catholics who do not receive parish mailings or envelopes, said Gray, who added that the uncounted multitude is not a bad sign for the health of the Church in the United States.
"There is nothing really awful about this," Gray said. "There is nothing that the Church needs to fix. Nobody is doing anything wrong."
However, not registering in a parish in many instances is a barrier to having a child baptized or enrolled in sacramental preparation. It also makes it more difficult for pastors to gauge their parish's needs and effectively plan for them.
"When Catholics register, they've stepped up and taken part in stewardship," Msgr. McSweeney said. "They've put their names on the line and taken some ownership of their Church."
Brian Fraga writes from Massachusetts.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


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This collection of math problems is based on a weekly series of space and Earth science problems distributed to teachers during the 2013-2014 school year. The problems were intended for students looking for additional challenges in the math and... (View More) physical science curriculum and were created to be authentic glimpses of modern science and engineering issues, often involving actual research data. Includes information for teachers and answer key. (View Less)
This collection of 160 math problems covers the 20 science topic themes presented by the NASA/JPL Year of the Solar System (YOSS) website, covering the solar system, planets, the search for life, and robotics. Examples of topics included are: scale... (View More) of the solar system; asteroids; comets; moons and rings; volcanism in the solar system; ice in the solar system; water in the solar system; the Sun, transits and eclipses; astrobiology; magnetosphers and more. It is intended as a mathematics supplement for the science content presented at the YOSS website, and features grade-appropriate and Common Core State Standards-based math problems based on science content for grades 3-12. (View Less)
This article describes an approach designed to decrease math anxiety and teach students about the use of mathematical symbols simplifying radicals. A deck of cards is used in a demonstration, and a problem set using real life examples to master the... (View More) use of radicals is included. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications. (View Less)
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Materials Cost: Free


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Life Insurance
Life Insurance can be used to make a substantial gift to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Following are just a few of the ways you can use life insurance to make a meaningful gift to the Museum.
Name the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art beneficiary of an existing policy.
When you include the Ringling Museum as the sole beneficiary or a partial beneficiary of your policy, you maintain these assets in the policy during your lifetime in the event you need them. Once the policy matures, the assets within it will transfer to the Museum and be used for the specific purpose you designate. To accomplish this type of gift, simply provide the Ringling Museum with a copy of the beneficiary designation page included with the policy. Contact the policy administrator to obtain the appropriate forms.
Donate an obsolete policy.
You may no longer need a policy because its original purpose no longer exists. Generally, by assigning the Ringling Museum ownership, you will be eligible for an income tax charitable deduction.
Replace a charitable bequest in your will with an outright gift of life insurance.
This option allows you to make a substantial contribution now through the gift of the policy without reducing your family's inheritance. Your deductible gift of an existing policy may yield enough income tax savings to pay part or even all of the future policy premiums.
Use a life insurance policy to replace assets that have been gifted.
In most states and at the federal level, life insurance is not included in a decedent's estate for estate tax purposes if the decedent gives up all incidents of ownership. Depending on your financial situation, it may be in your best interest to remove those assets from your estate and replace their value with life insurance. If structured properly, you can make a gift to a charity and provide for your heirs at the same time. To learn more, ask your lawyer or financial advisor about using a charitable remainder trust to pay premiums on an irrevocable life insurance trust.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Lewiston's audio walking tour, featuring some of the most historical stories of the village, can now be found at the Barton Hill Hotel.
The tour wands had previously been at the Lewiston Museum and Welcome Center.
The hand-held wands are to be used with the walking tour map of Lewiston, which will provide visitors and residents more in-depth information about the rich history in Lewiston. History buffs will learn about Lewiston's role in the Underground Railroad, about famous (and infamous) personalities in Lewiston's past, and why Lewiston is where it is.
There are a total of 10 wands available.
Anyone interested in taking the enhanced walking tour of Lewiston can borrow the wands from the Barton Hill Hotel at 100 Center St.
Use of the wands is free; however, borrowers must leave a driver's license until the wand is returned. Donations are always gratefully accepted.


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My family had our Christmas party on Saturday. Usually, we have a $2 grab bag. We've been doing this for a long time, so we pretty much get the same types of grab bag gifts each year.
So this year, my wife had a better idea. We did away with the grab bag and asked our guests to bring canned goods which we would donate to the local food bank. My third son delivered the canned goods that were donated at the party (plus some more) yesterday.
My wife comes up with some really good ideas!
They say that behind every great man there is a great woman (and vice versa). I know that in my case, I would not be able to do very much at all were it not for the support of my wife and family. My wife makes it look like I know what's going on, when actually I am usually concentrating on Karate. She plans all the parties, trips and important family events. I just have to show up. She does all the work and I often get all the credit.
I am not a great man by any means. But my wife is a great woman... especially during the hectic holiday season. Between cooking, buying gifts, wrapping them, hosting parties, attending parties, working, and cooking some more, I don't know how she has any time at all. But then she is also helping me with my Karate (and law firm) Christmas cards and letters and again, doing everything that makes it look like I really know what's going on.
I want you to know that the great woman behind everything I have done (and am doing), is my wife and high school sweetheart, Nayna. Next month will be our 32nd anniversary and we were engaged when we were only 17 (I was teaching Karate back then too).
So for anyone who came to our family's Christmas party, the canned goods were her idea.
Charles C. Goodin
Christmas Grab Bag -- Canned Goods
My family had our Christmas party on Saturday. Usually, we have a $2 grab bag. We've been doing this for a long time, so we pretty much get the same types of grab bag gifts each year.
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Wednesday, December 23, 2009


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2011-09-21 / Library
At Yout Local Library
Copiague, 50 Deauville Blvd. 631-691-1111 •Advanced English as a Second Language at the Library by Western Suffolk BOCES on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. throughout the summer. Call 631-667-6000, ext. 303 to register.
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School named to Newsweek list
BRIDGEPORT – Bridgeport High School is ranked ninth in the nation by Newsweek magazine as one of the Top 25 Transformative High Schools.
Newsweek compiled the list by combining scores from its top 1,000 schools and the percentage of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches. In Bridgeport, 100 percent of students qualify for subsidized lunches.
With a continued 100 percent college-bound graduation rate, the school has also received its fourth consecutive Washington State Achievement Award.
The award, honoring the school's extended graduation rate, was given April 30 at a ceremony in Covington.
Overall, Bridgeport's graduation rate is about 93 percent.
Liberty Bell ranked by magazine
WINTHROP – Liberty Bell High School is ranked12th on the U.S. News & World Report's list of 2013's top Washington state high schools.
With 247 enrolled students, about 92 percent are proficient in reading, and 90 percent are proficient in writing. The school also boasts a 55 percent particpation rate in Advanced Placement classes.
The school was also given a silver award based on its College Readiness Index.
"Our community supports us through levies, volunteering and unwavering encouragement," said board member Mary Anne Quigley.
Liberty Bell, 24 Twin Lakes Road, is ranked 734th nationally.
Teens raise $3,000 to fight hunger
BREWSTER – About 30 area teens banded together to raise $3,000 and collect about 600 cans of food for the 30-Hour Famine.
"It went great," event organizer and Brewster High School student Alexander Avalos said.
As promised, Avalos, 17, has followed through on his dare to have his hair fashioned into a pink mohawk.
The 30-Hour Famine is a national event through World Vision, a Christian ministry that works to eradicate hunger in about 100 countries worldwide. Youth with Calvary Baptist Church in Brewster and the Omak Cornerstone Church participated.
Retirees give education grants
OKANOGAN – The Okanogan County School Retirees' Association has awarded 10 $100 grants to teachers and school volunteers for projects in county schools.
Winners, by district, and their projects include:
Brewster — Stacey Thoren, headsets.
Tonasket — Carol Lanigan, environmental field trip; Rose Corso, school garden items.
Omak — Gale Wilson, medical supplies for veterinary medical assistant class; Camille Sproule, iPad power chargers.
Oroville — Julie Schildgen, dictionaries; Michele Fancher, high interest novels.
Okanogan — Marilou Baker, Scrabble sets; Carol Payne, art docent supplies; Dan Brown, frames and bases for student art.
Grocery-growing workshop planned
OMAK — The Washington State University Colville Reservation Extension and Okanogan County Master Gardeners will host a free "grow your own groceries" workshop 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, May 21.
The workshop will be at the Omak Temporary Assistance for Needy Families building, 603 Benton St.
It will cover topics including methods to preserve vegetables and how to plant and grow vegetables.
A second workshop will be from 1-4 p.m., Thursday, May 30 at the Nespelem Community Center, 4000 Lower Columbia River Road.
Tea Party offers family movie night
OKANOGAN – A family movie night, with two films about private property rights and personal liberty, is planned for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at the Okanogan Grange Hall, 305 Tyee St.
The Okanogan Valley Tea Party event features "Agenda 21: How Will It Affect You?" and "Taking Liberty – How Private Property is being Abolished in America."
The first gives an overview of the United Nations' Agenda 21 and the second focuses on "takings" of lands out of the realm of public use.
—The Chronicle
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Monday, March 28, 2011
Spoiler Thread for AI War
114 comments:
Just downloaded the book. It is a shame it is after 2AM and I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow or I would spend time reading it right now.
- March 28, 2011 at 2:27 AM
Hmm. Footprints in the sand. As good as walking through a wall, almost.
Concerning Adrian Hiles and any other PKF turned. I have to wonder if Denice or combat computer cracking was involved? I can believe Trent could turn *some* PKF Elite. But this specific PKF Elite, without being detected? That strikes me as challenging, even for him. I wonder if we'll find out more about how he did it. I wonder how long Trent had to talk with Vance while they fell to earth together. That must have been one hell of a conversation, and we only got bits and pieces.
32% of the way through the mobi edition, the word "be" is missing from a sentence. I'll track it down precisely later. I noticed a few other very minor mistakes on the way through.
- March 28, 2011 at 7:22 AM
- Sean Fagan said...
One question that just occurred to me is... What has Trent figured out about Storyteller? As unusual experiences go, it's gotta stick out even for him.
I liked the ending more than the ending for tLR.
- March 28, 2011 at 8:24 AM
- Dan Moran said...
Trent, Ralf, Denice have a longer conversation about this in Live Fast And Never Die. Ralf has turned into one of those conspiracy buffs ... except he's almost always right. He's figured out that time travelers were present the day Carl was conceived. Between the three of them they have a pretty good idea of the truth.
- March 28, 2011 at 9:06 AM
- Dan Moran said...
You do find out how Hile was turned. No telepathy involved.
- March 28, 2011 at 9:08 AM
Shorter than I would have liked, but a satisfying read.
I quite enjoyed the Trent humor during the last bit with Vance/Melissa. Especially the bit when Melissa realizes his plans for the Unity. Well done.
- March 28, 2011 at 9:20 AM
re: Hile, I am glad no telepathy was involved. That whole situation strikes me as borderline unethical for Trent to participate in even assuming Hile was willing to sacrifice himself; if Hile was in fact pressured or coerced, it would strike me as significantly out of character. But I still want to know how it happened.
Another interesting point is that Hile seemed to be sticking to nonlethal techniques. I read his actions as delaying Vance at the cost of his life, not trying to kill Vance. Which is, well, impressive -- in a way, more impressive than Trent's catch-me-if-you-can, because Trent is at least intending to run as fast as he can and live as long as he can. For Hile, it's all up in that moment.
Re: Storyteller.. I'm ambivalent about that aspect of the Continuing Time. For me the stories flow best when sticking close to Trent. Throwing in aliens and time travelers is good seasoning but too much is problematical.
That said, I am curious to see what Ralf has figured out, and HOW he figured it out, and what gets done about it.
- March 28, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Slauderd: I especially liked Melissa's "Oh, no" an instant before Trent the Geek answered Vance's question...
- March 28, 2011 at 9:33 AM
- Dann Cutter said...
Ah... its like that first beer after a long hot day. Course, I can never drink just one.
Mel's turning felt a bit 'quick' for one devoted to duty. It's a military thing - hard to walk away from, regardless of the discontent.
Hey Dan, did you ever find if you had any hardcopies left of Last Dancer in the remaining boxes in the storage unit. (RE: Final 8 circa email 4/5/09)
- March 28, 2011 at 12:31 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Dann, I did dig up that box. Send me your address again.
- March 28, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Dan, is that a box of leftover quietvision hcs? I'd like one of tLD too, if there are enough left?
- March 28, 2011 at 12:39 PM
- King Krak, All-Seeing, All-Knowing said...
First Trent-ism spotted:
"...In the long run," Trent said to Captain Bittan, "there's only two reasons to ever do anything: to enjoy yourself, and to help other people enjoy themselves."
Btw, there are going to be a lot of people looking to read The Last Dancer soon.
- March 28, 2011 at 12:41 PM
- Dan Moran said...
BTW ... Melissa turning vs Melissa trying to kill Trent? I wrote both scenes. And went back and forth on them a dozen times. I still don't know I picked the right one, except that I went with the one that made me happy. That's treacherous territory, when you like your characters too much.
Wrote a sex scene with them too -- 20 years ago. Took it out a decade ago. It's weird saying "I don't know" about my own work ... but I don't know if they slept with each other. And don't care, either -- it's not anywhere near the core of what's happening there.
- March 28, 2011 at 12:42 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Last Dancer will be up soon. (An omnibus edition of the CT stories will be up, too -- a day or two.)
- March 28, 2011 at 12:42 PM
- Dan Moran said...
TLD hardcovers -- I owe copies to 3 or 4 people to this day. I don't think there are any extras -- there's one box sitting in the crawlspace behind my pantry that I need to dig out and have needed to dig out forever...
- March 28, 2011 at 12:44 PM
- Dana said...
So I wonder, if Unity has chosen to commit suicide, with Lt Daniels on board, has Daniels also decided to die, or is going to be able to escape?
- March 28, 2011 at 12:57 PM
Hmm. I'm not sure that suicide is where the Unity is headed. Make the UN think it was suicide, maybe.
- March 28, 2011 at 1:01 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Part of the reason (a small part, admittedly - mostly it's been overwork & drama) ... this book took so long to see the light of day was I kept trying to respect decisions I'd made a very long time ago. This book isn't plotted any differently than it was back whenever, in big strokes ... but the motivations, the understanding of what's happening to whom and why ... Ken was a Johnny Reb. Michelle Altaloma was involved with the brother of the guy who took the hostages. Trent and Melissa slept together....
A year or two back I bit the bullet and scrapped everything I didn't like -- and was immediately further away from finishing than I'd been. But I got rid of about 5 scenes I'd grown to hate, rewrote a new throughline for most of the characters (except Vance -- he didn't change) ... and was instantly happier.
I hope my 18 year old self isn't mad at me. This isn't the Trent he set out to write. But I've collaborated with that boy as best I can, and the things he thought and believed are not, on the whole, the things I think and believe today.
This was a longer comment than I meant to write.
- March 28, 2011 at 1:15 PM
- Dan Moran said...
The changes to the next two sections were/are much larger. The relationship between Trent and Denice has changed a *lot.* I didn't like Denice much almost the moment I got done writing her, in "Last Dancer" ... I like her a great deal in this book. She grew up.
- March 28, 2011 at 1:17 PM
re: the quickness of Melissa's turning... while I agree it could have been explained further (and perhaps we'll get some of that in the other parts), I think it does make sense. She had just a little while ago killed someone and had a moment of bonding with Trent-as-someone-else about it, and was then forced to make a snap judgement to stay or to run.
I can buy that her snap judgement at that moment would go in favor of Trent. I am more skeptical that Trent would expect it to happen. I can see him hoping for it, but not letting his own survival hinge on it. And I wonder if Melissa is going to have trouble reconciling her instinctive decision once she has time to think about it.
- March 28, 2011 at 1:26 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Trent didn't let her kill him in the version where she tried to. Though that would have been a great, Douglas Adams screw you to the world, if I'd been inclined to go there. "And then Trent *did* die. Mohammed Vance went on to crush everyone who had ever opposed him, and took up bonsai gardening late in life while ruling the entire solar system with an iron fist. The End."
- March 28, 2011 at 1:36 PM
- Dan Moran said...
First review.
- March 28, 2011 at 2:38 PM
- Dana said...
So, essentially, Trent does finally get to steal a cool spaceship. Perhaps he can lose his regret about the Flandry.
- March 28, 2011 at 4:13 PM
- Kurt said...
Ok, a Doctor Who shout-out just upped your coolness factor, which I thought had maxed out years ago.
- March 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM
And I'm reading it on a handheld.....
- March 28, 2011 at 5:00 PM
- Jay said...
Echoing Anonymous' comment...
I read TBB on a handheld that can surf the web, check email, holds all of my passwords and bank account information (but can't actually generate or process transactions yet) and holds more data then the Macintosh SE that I owned when I first read The Long Run.
- March 28, 2011 at 8:51 PM
- Jay said...
I have to say, forget walking through a wall or vanishing off of a remote island.
Having Trent tell Vance "Killing is wrong" within arm's reach is one of the most impressive things I've seen him do yet.
Re: Adrian Hilés and others; is this the sowing of the seeds of the Peaceforcer Rebellion?
- March 28, 2011 at 8:55 PM
- Dan Moran said...
What a smart man.
- March 28, 2011 at 10:15 PM
- Gary said...
Today is the big 40 for me. Started the book last night and finished just after midnight. That counts as a birthday present to me. Good memories as way back when I was younger I would stay up to all hours of the night reading great books like this. Not something I get to manage often these days with between kids & work.
Thanks Dan.
The first thought in regards to Hile that ran through my head was that Trent co-opted him using the battle computer software and Monitor's close proximity of expansive hardware to do the number crunching. But Hile did not show any surprise as one would expect if his body sudden'y wasn't doing what it was supposed to and the thought was quickly discarded. My next deeper thought was that Summers did more than anyone thought before it was his time to go. Hmmm?
Vance is going to need to take up bonsai and rock gardening anyway to deal with the rage he is going to be bottling up after this incident.
- March 29, 2011 at 5:10 AM
- James Millar said...
It was a strange experience for me, reading a book that I had been reading excerpts from for years. I had quotes from this book in my UNIX .sig file in the late 90's.
Damm it's good to be back in the action... Thank you Dan.
- March 29, 2011 at 6:59 AM
- Mike G. said...
Read it and enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to the next parts.
Like other posters, I read it on handhelds :) In my case, a Blackberry and an iPad.
I bought Melissa's change of heart. But I'm really curious about how Hile got turned, although I suspect that Trent-as-Black-Beast could probably manipulate anyone's psyche into pretzels, maybe better than Denise could.
- March 29, 2011 at 7:00 AM
- Mike G. said...
Curse you, Blogger (the site, not Dan :) ). Now I have to leave another comment, just to get follow-ups emailed. Grrr.....
- March 29, 2011 at 7:01 AM
- Brad said...
I couldn't have picked a better week to sprain my ankle and be home from work. Just finished the book. I'll write more when the adrenal high fades. I wonder if Melissa and Denice will ever meet. That would be an interesting conversation.
"They never *call* the next day."
- March 29, 2011 at 11:23 AM
- Dan Moran said...
They do meet. And talk about angels.
- March 29, 2011 at 11:41 AM
- Dana said...
At risk of the invoking the ghost of Chuck Norris jokes, I should note that Vance could probably simply intimidate Bonsai trees into shaping themselves into the proper form.
- March 29, 2011 at 12:40 PM
I'm only half-way through the book, and I already agree with the speculativefiction.org reviewer: It was indeed worth the wait.
- March 29, 2011 at 12:46 PM
- Dave Aitel said...
Has anyone else pointed out the distinct lack of AIs warring? :>
(I assume the AIs in question here are Ring and Trent, but I'd always thought it was a larger movement of AIs...perhaps an AI controlling the Unification itself? It's not like voter fraud is difficult these days! :>)
- March 29, 2011 at 12:59 PM
- Dan Moran said...
AIs warring doesn't really kick in until Trent's on Earth. Doesn't get intense until end of book, at the risk of saying too much.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:03 PM
Did you miss the following minor facts?
1) Trent is now a replicant AI
2) Monitor is an AI now at war with the PKF
3) Ring is a replicant AI (the Eldest, in fact) and appears to want Trent dead.
4) Ralf is a replicant AI presumably on Trent's side (and possibly now calling himself something else)
I'd say Monitor's defection starts a shooting war, and I have to wonder if Monitor is still Monitor or if Monitor is running Trent 3.0 since the Black Beast is toast.
And if anyone was wondering, the specfic reviewer is me.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:07 PM
Dave, sorry, on second read I note that you did call out Trent and Ring. I agree we're still in the setup phase for most of this book, but we do have at least four AIs on the field.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:10 PM
- Mike G. said...
Matthew, it's not clear to me that Trent ever "replicated" out of the Black Beast. Unless physical Trent has done that with the backup copies, say from that nice little orbital data hub he took over with his cool code phrase :)
I'm assuming Data Watch WILL melt down all the hardware from the Halfway hub now that they know Trent's been back there *again*.
'Selle Altaloma better make herself scarce. I can't believe the PKF didn't recognize her before, and a post-Trent investigation would certainly get her.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:14 PM
I think Trent is as replicant as he wants to be. Regardless of how replicant he is *right now*, the fundamental change has already been made.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:28 PM
Didn't mean to be anonymous before with the handheld comment. Got to say it's been a long time since I've been so enthused about an immediate read.
I really enjoyed that DKM's choices required challenging reconciliation with his alliance to his younger self. Goes hand in hand with the maturation of Trent (and Denice, looking forward to that). Seems like it was meant to be this way, despite the wait.
Does the author's having run the gauntlet on these choices mean the next section(s) will find a blazed trail?
Thanks again Fatsam. Hope this process and book release feels like the success it is.
- March 29, 2011 at 1:54 PM
- Dave Aitel said...
FYI: https://lists.immunityinc.com/pipermail/dailydave/20110329/000117.html
- March 29, 2011 at 2:16 PM
I also bought Melissa's turning, she had spent a fair amount of time thinking about Trent and dwelling on Vance's hold on her that, in a way, she was priming herself for Trent's offer to run. Killing that man would have put things into a sharper focus as well.
A conversation between you, and 18 yr-old you regarding AI War? There's a conversation I'd happily listen in on.
Thanks again for the book, well written and a great read and I'm looking forward to the next episode.
- March 29, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Oh, and one more thing, when you describe Trent meeting Michelle Altaloma and comparing genie designs, do you mean to say that the Johnny Reb engineers who designed the True Breeds could out-do Suzanne Montignet? I thought she was the Michaelangelo of genetic engineering (for some reason I was going to say Picasso, but that wouldn't have been appropriate for obvious reasons).
- March 29, 2011 at 4:59 PM
So happy tuesday morning to get AI War that I ended up late for work. Definately worth it though.
About Adrian Hiles turning . . . When Vance was chasing after Trent towards the end of the book he was going over how he had known Adrian since they were at the PKF Academy and that he had introduced him to his now dead wife. Vance could not recall what the cause of her death was shortly after the TriCentennial but I have a feeling Trent knows.
- March 29, 2011 at 5:40 PM
- Dan Moran said...
"On the shoulders of giants." Yes, I mean that reb desiners, 10 years later, did a better job than Suzanne Montignet. This is fairly normal in technology -- certainly in my field. The first person to write something insanely cool is normally unusually bright. Other people come along and copy it and build libraries and write utilities and build an ecosystem that permits the merely competent to do a better job than the genius did a decade earlier.
- March 29, 2011 at 7:38 PM
That makes sense. I guess I'm just a bit prejudiced against anything that seems to take away some of Trent's unique-ness and bad-assery. At least he still has the Tytan NN-II.
- March 29, 2011 at 8:04 PM
That should be badass-ery rather than bad-assery. It's amazing the difference a correctly placed hyphen makes.
- March 30, 2011 at 12:21 AM
We've known for many years that Melissa would one day go on to write, or at least be extensively quoted in, The Exodus Bible. Now it appears that she'll be writing from the standpoint of a friend, rather than the loyal opposition.
Hmmm. I can't find the quote just now, but there was something from the Exodus Bible about Trent disappearing, rather than dying. I wonder if that event is when he abandons his body and goes fully Inside. For all we know, he could become The Source.
- March 30, 2011 at 1:23 AM
- Dave Aitel said...
I really liked "Shell"'s re-appearance. Fact is, girl hackers are rare. In our normal world, I can count them on one hand and not run out of fingers, and the rule of thumb is that they all come from government. Shell is no exception.
In any case, she's an interesting character, and if she's sitting deep inside Halfway there's no doubt she's done something interesting as well. It will be good to see what!
- March 30, 2011 at 4:50 AM
- Dan Moran said...
"I wonder how long Trent had to talk with Vance while they fell to earth together. That must have been one hell of a conversation, and we only got bits and pieces."
Very likely, down the road, I'll publish a couple of them. They wouldn't have worked in the book -- I worried they talked too much as was, a long conversation just before the end of the book -- but I think it worked OK. (Don't misunderstand, I don't *have conversations sitting around -- just fragments I saved for later.)
- March 30, 2011 at 6:33 AM
- Rob said...
Dan --
You've finally made Vance irredeemable. At the close of TLD when he tells Mirabeau there are worse things than losing to Trent, and winning with Eddore is one of them, I thought there was a good chance Vance would rise to the occasion, realize the corruption of the government he served, and redeem himself by putting himself in opposition to Eddore and trying to make some kind of penance for the ways he enabled Eddore's rise.
In TBB, well. What he does to Melissa -- what he tries to do to Melissa -- seems to make it clear that whatever Vance's agenda is, redemption isn't part of it.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's definitely realistic -- how many times in real life have we all seen people turn away from a shot at redemption? -- but I'm not sure if what I want in reading material is a mirror of so many people I know IRL.
With luck Vance will get another shot at redemption. The next one will be harder -- as they tend to be, as we grow older -- but maybe he'll actually take it.
- March 30, 2011 at 7:14 AM
- Dan Moran said...
I don't think Vance is going to be *redeemed,* exactly. But there's a lot of space left within the margins of that.
- March 30, 2011 at 10:13 AM
- Brad said...
As far as girl hackers are concerned, well, I suspect there are more out there than you think.
"...the Trinity that hacked the IRS Dbase? I thought you were a guy!"
"Most guys do."
As far as redeeming Vance goes:
He's in many ways a good man, which is what makes him such an effective villain.
Put yourself in his shoes:
The Unification is a good thing. It keeps the peace. The peace isn't perfect, but there's no genocide, (telepaths excepted) no rogue nanotechnologist has turned the world into a grey goo, no strategic nuclear war. You don't have any of the ideologues running completely rampant like Mao, Stalin or Hitler.
But it does have enemies. There's a whole bunch of dangerously mercenary hypercapitalists in the Belt who have a lot of rocks to throw at you. With the technology available in your time, a small group of people can do a huge amount of damage. The Unity is your big stick. You have to protect it. Even if it means a small sacrifice to the greater good. Even if that's a big sacrifice to you as a person. Because you've done it. Because the sacrifices of your fallen comrades will be for nothing if you don't do everything you can.
- March 30, 2011 at 10:50 AM
- Jay said...
Two observations on my second read-through:
1) Did anyone else notice that Trent has a kid in the world now? Or should we assume that 21st-century Mormons have no objection to abortion?
2) Why did Laval, the PKF who stopped Trent and Melissa on the running track, have a pumped laser? Maybe things are even less stable in the PKF than Melissa realized...
If I had to guess how Trent turned Adrian Hilé -- someone who is probably as devoted to the U.N. as Vance was, at least once upon a time -- he probably convinced Hilé and the others that the U.N., and the PFK in particular, have lost their way and that there's a better way for the world to be run than the way it has been for the past 60-odd years.
- March 30, 2011 at 2:12 PM
- Joe said...
Finished reading it on my iPhone, which was nearly unsatisfying. There's something about the smaller screen and having to load pages that makes it harder to jump into the story and be absorbed by it as I have been in the past with traditional paperbacks.
There's something different about Dan's voice when writing Trent. I'll have to go back and re-read TLD, but I recall not liking the non Trent scenes/episodes/passages as much.
I bought Melissa's flip easily though. This wasn't something that was instant, it seemed to be a gradual thing, and she needed that 'shakabuku' moment where things were able to change. Vance holds onto people, the 'greater good' line Trent uses, (See, I can't get back into the book to find the exact quote since it's on my damn phone...) and she can finally see a way out
I like it. I waited, and now I'm satisfied. And I'm hoping not to have to wait *quite* as long for book 2, but I know I will.
As an aside, Dan, how are you storing these story ideas and fragments, so we can reconstruct them from your hard drive like Douglas Adams...
- March 30, 2011 at 4:37 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Vance is a good and honourable man.
Vance is also a pragmatic man.
There are two quotes in the book that are related to that: the AI's definition of "honorable," and the description of the state of Occupied America.
In Vance's case, Dan's done a great job of showing how good and honourable can lead to evil.
- March 30, 2011 at 5:00 PM
- Adam Getchell said...
March 8, 2080 is a Friday. Enjoying it so far, but will have to look at my info theory notes.
- March 30, 2011 at 8:48 PM
- bourgon said...
Dan, thanks for this. I've been reading and whooping and loving this book. My wife's been looking at me everytime I erupt into giggles or Keanu-like "whoa"s.
And then it ended. *frown*
How long until we get books 2/3? Ballpark is all I'm asking, here. A year? 5? 18? From reading the posts (sorry, was actively avoiding the fragments since I didn't want to run from part-I-already-read to part-I-already-read), the book's been written, but maybe not finished.
Many thanks.
- March 30, 2011 at 8:57 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Book 2 -- god, can't believe I'm saying this -- *may* be out this calendar year, 2011. I'm not even going to take a wild guess at book 3.
Trent doesn't have a kid, btw. He cured one of the Mormon girls of her virginity, he didn't get her pregnant.
- March 31, 2011 at 1:41 AM
- Dana said...
Further proof that Trent is a humanitarian. There he is, hiding out on Mars, with a huge price on his head, and he still takes the time to cure women of pesky things like that.
- March 31, 2011 at 4:24 AM
1) Yes, I noticed. I wonder if having ~50% of Trent's genemap will give the kid trouble in the future.
Hile: That sort of argument would work for pretty much anyone, though -- that is, it's a low-probably conversion argument that doesn't play to Hile's personality at all. I can buy say 1% of PKF being reachable with that generic argument. But I presume such people would also have trouble with security screenings and such.
In Hile's case there needs to be something more potent and personal. Hile is in a position of trust close to a paranoid obsessive hypercompetent Elite (Vance) who is *specifically* paranoid about Trent getting to his people and who has *already* set one of his people out as a trap for Trent. Has he been a sleeper agent for years? Has Trent been running psych profiles through the Black Beast to manipulate people into turning?
Melissa is understandable as a snap decision in a crisis situation. Hiles is not; he was part of the plan. So, how was he turned and why wasn't it detected?
I look forward to the answers.
- March 31, 2011 at 11:23 AM
- Dave Aitel said...
I guess the other point of view is that sex with a human must be pretty weird for an AI. It's essentially inter-species. It makes much more sense with for Trent to be hooking up with an Elite cyborg who can at least think at his speed occasionally.
Possibly even talking to a normal human would be intensely boring for someone like Trent?
- March 31, 2011 at 1:16 PM
- Jay said...
I could have sworn that the waiter who told Trent that she got married off said something about being in a family way, but I was incorrect. :)
Still, that would be an interesting bit to pop up somewhere down the line.
I'm curious what Trent and Denice's child would be like, with his DNA having an extremely high correlation to hers; It was mentioned that Denice and David were probably much more powerful than Carl and Jany due to powerful recessives...
- March 31, 2011 at 1:48 PM
- Dan Moran said...
"I'm curious what Trent and Denice's child would be like"
- March 31, 2011 at 1:53 PM
- bourgon said...
Oh MY.
- March 31, 2011 at 3:32 PM
- Jay said...
Oh, HELL no. You can't drop a hint like that and walk away. Foul! I say! FOUL!
- March 31, 2011 at 8:06 PM
- Jay said...
"I can't find the quote just now, but there was something from the Exodus Bible about Trent disappearing, rather than dying."
There's a section in The Last Dancer, after Trent talks with the Name Storyteller (in the body of Neil Corona) where it is said that Trent "died, and rose again, and then vanished from the Continuing Time".
- March 31, 2011 at 8:13 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Well, Trent & Denice's child either grows up an insane telepath who steals a FTL ship, or does something really important.
- March 31, 2011 at 10:29 PM
- Jesse Wendel said...
I think I've told Dan this privately. But now that the book is out...
About a year ago, there was a two to three minute interval that lasted about an hour; I thought I was having a heart attack. Turns out I wasn't.
Either instantly after I figured out it wasn't the big one, or while still thinking I was about to die, my first non-heart-attack related thought was, "Shit. I'm never going to read AI Wars!" And I cursed in an (even for me) exceptionally filthy way.
This is a true story.
Once I realized both it wasn't a heart attack and that I was going to live out the day, I went back to waiting.
It has been worth the wait. *is happy*
Speaking of living...
Given Trent planned on living through his showdown with Vance, Melissa's laser was touching his HEAD. Even fadeaway wasn't going to put her down before she killed him. He couldn't count on her coming to his side. I buy all of the rest of the getaway; I haven't yet figured out how he takes out Melissa in that moment (unless it involves Monitor, or over-riding Melissa's hardware in some way.) But with her laser to his head, that seems like quite a gamble to me. On the other hand, not being an AI, I haven't gamed out the odds quite as deeply as Trent did. *laughs*
Finally, I still haven't figured out how Trent left the island.
Within the capabilities of even current-day tech would be: mini-sub -- like the Navy SEALS use -- which could sink down to a real sub. The min-sub comes to 50-60 feet from shore while 2 SEALS swim to 3-4 feet out in the water (so there are no footprints) and extends a board/ramp out to Trent supported by these two SEAL-equivalents (downsiders) -- the board itself can be BRACED from the water so it is supported; it just needs to have the Seals hold the back, Trent on the front, and the weight on the pivot point which is in the water. Trent then jumps up (gene), gets on the board with all the weight going down into the water leaving no mark, scrambles across into mystery, and is out into the water where he drops into 3-4 feet of water at the end of the board/device. Breaking down the device as they go, within 60 seconds they are far enough out to go under (with rebreathers) leaving not even a ripple behind -- it's an island; there are waves. (Vance takes 2-3 minutes to get out; he sees nothing.) Once under they swim out and down, then use the mini-sub to join up with a real sub, lock inside her, and run away...
- April 1, 2011 at 3:49 AM
- Dan Moran said...
Daniel November is Denice's grandson.
- April 1, 2011 at 4:06 AM
- SF said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- April 2, 2011 at 4:55 AM
Jesse: Trent had plans, and he hoped to live, but he didn't have a fool-proof plan: he knows he might very well die during that confrontation. My guess is he didn't have a way to stop Melissa in the situation that actually arose, other than converting her.
- April 2, 2011 at 4:57 AM
- KillJoy said...
Great read, I've been following Trent closely since TLD. One thing to point out tho, in Chapter 2 as Trent is spooling the contents of the Hosea 8:7 archive into the 5 x 600TB infochips which is slightly less than 3 petabytes not quadrabytes, just FYI from a storage geek. I'm spreading the word to all my SF buddies, DKM is in the hunt again!
Can't wait for the next installment!
- April 2, 2011 at 1:45 PM
- quarkwright said...
The Long Run has been my favorite novel for a very long time. I'm gonna have to think long and hard to decide if this topped it or not. Only thing I didn't like was that it ended. :(
I noted a couple of places I thought might need corrections - you probably already have them noted, but I will dig them up and post on FSand tomorrow.
I was curious how Trent got his upgrades into F.X. Chandler's old house. Being it was abandoned for years, and so close to Unity/Halfway... how did he manage to get the work done without being noticed, and without any workers letting anything slip? He stopped and spoke to F.X. before the Yovia switch; if that was when he arranged it, he had even less time to emplace everything, and security in the area would have been even tighter...
I am also picturing the assasin from the Temple of Toons returning to Earth and becoming one of the first to preach the gospel of Trent...
Thank you, Dan, for the gift of this story.
- April 2, 2011 at 10:45 PM
- Dan Moran said...
You're welcome. As to "the first to preach the gospel of Trent" ... this is the opening paragraph of "Crystal WInd" ...
As has been his habit for fourteen years now, the Preacher spends forty days and forty nights out on the Glass, in this summer of 2094, waiting for the light of God to call him home, waiting for the columns of ruby laser to descend from the burning sky and claim him.
- April 2, 2011 at 11:08 PM
- J.D. Ray said...
IIRC, after heat death claims the universe, heroes from across the CT, including Trent, come together on The Ark of Aesop to create a pocket universe where humanity can continue to thrive (The Collapse of All Levels). In that pocket universe, we have stories like "The Sheriff of Shokes," etc. So, is that where Trent goes after disappearing from the CT?
Also, IIRC, The Source is not Trent, though I can't remember just who it is right now. Do I have it correctly that Named Storyteller is Georges Mordreaux, the Enemy of Entropy? Or at least one iteration of him?
OK, it's late, and it took most of my processor cycles to pull this out of deep storage.
One last bit about Vance: I'm still rooting for him to come through.
- April 2, 2011 at 11:38 PM
- Jay said...
Do I have it correctly that Named Storyteller is Georges Mordreaux, the Enemy of Entropy? Or at least one iteration of him?
I don't know about that, but the beginning of Emerald Eyes makes it very clear that he's a descendant of Carl Castanaveras.
I thought that DKM said at one point that other than some naming similarities, there was no connection between the events in TAB and the events in these books.
- April 4, 2011 at 5:34 AM
- Sean Fagan said...
No, Storyteller isn't Georges. (See The Last Dancer, when Storyteller has his conversation with Trent: Storyteller -- all of the Great Gods with the possible exception of the God of Players -- are worried that Trent might be another Envoy.)
It's splattered across The Armageddon Blues, The Last Dancer, and The Gray Maelstrom, but there are some hints about the Envoy. (And an even bigger one in the unpublished sequel to tAB. I do wonder if Dan knows where the Envoy came from...)
- April 4, 2011 at 6:48 PM
- Jesse Wendel said...
Dan said in this thread: a) Daniel November is Denise's Grandson, b) as of the time of "The Big Boost" Trent has no children, and c) Dan strongly implied that Denise and Trent are going to have a child together, which child will become the parent of Daniel November (that's an assumption, but a logical one for story purposes.)
What we also know from TLD: Denise had a dream/vision set 30 years later – which would be in 2107 -- Daniel is 8 years old, is in Public Labor in Chino California, and is being watched over by Robert Dazai "Tommy Ho" Yo.
Questions raised:
From 2080 (end of The Big Boost) -- with Denise NOT pregnant -- to 27 years later and her Grandchild being eight years old, seems fairly close. Let's check…
We know Trent is now on the earth (although possibly lost under the ocean -- *grins*) Let's say by the end of 2081 Daniel's mother (or father; but let's go with mother) is born. Thus Daniel must be born in 2099, with his mother pregnant in 2098. That makes the mother 17 at the age of Daniel's conception, which is quite possible and not especially even remarkable as long as she escapes the MPC. Being the daughter of Trent and Denise, that shouldn't be an issue.
Next, how is it that in 2107 Daniel's Parents (and Denise, for that matter) are absent from the picture, or if not absent, are either in Public Labor or believe the best place for Daniel at age 8 is in Public Labor with Robert? What the frack happened? Answer: We don't know.
We know what happened to Trent -- he vanished. See The Exodus Bible and the avatar of Chai'ell November, the Name Storyteller for what few details we have on this.
Which does not tell us where are Denise or either of Daniel's parents when the founder of the House of November is playing basketball in Chino and rooting for the Lakers (presumably.) Question unsolved.
- April 5, 2011 at 1:52 AM
- Dan Moran said...
Damn straight he's rooting for the Lakers. Who've, by the time of his birth, appeared in 80 NBA Finals, winning 40 of them. While the Boston Celtics are still stuck at 17 ....
I merely extrapolate here, based on past results.
- April 5, 2011 at 11:18 AM
- Amy said...
We also know (from obscure CT miscellany) that Daniel November's parents are Linda Jamieson and James Ripper.
Curiouser and curiouser...
- April 5, 2011 at 1:04 PM
Awesome, just awesome. Been waiting a long time and it was very satisfying :)
I did notice a couple of possible inconsistencies. Early on it mentions the cracker on the Unity that splits water and feeds the hydrogen to the torches. Later on the Unity is being loaded with stasis bubbles of metallic hydrogen fuel. Why both?
Also, when Vance is chasing Trent through Chandler's old house, he sees Trent's residual heat floating in the center of the corridor. But when he removes his glove, he's in vacuum. With no atmosphere, the IR from Trent's passing would have hit the walls and been absorbed.
- April 5, 2011 at 5:56 PM
- Jesse Wendel said...
Amy said:
We also know (from obscure CT miscellany) that Daniel November's parents are Linda Jamieson and James Ripper.
Given Denise (and Trent) are Daniel November's grandparents, the likely scenario is Denise gives birth to a son, James, by Trent.
James Ripper is son of Douglas Ripper and Denise -- either through adoption or more likely, through James being born while Denise and Douglas Ripper are married. (We can presume in the age of gene-typing, Douglas knows he is not James' bio-Dad.)
This below makes sense from the facts. *shrugs* Which isn't to say it's correct. Heh. There is a * where I (or Amy) doesn't have a fact to back things up for sure, i.e: good speculation as told above.
Trent*-Denise-[Douglas Ripper*]
Linda Jamieson-James Ripper
Daniel November
Anyone else have any other suggestions/rebuttals/ideas?
- April 5, 2011 at 11:10 PM
- Jesse Wendel said...
Those lines in the three-gen chart should have gone from Denise to James to Daniel.
Stupid Blogger.
- April 5, 2011 at 11:12 PM
- Dana said...
I was interested to see Vance's comment on Islam/the history of Pre-Unification violence.
Between that conversation, and Mormons on Mars, it was good to see that there are still more faiths out there than just Buddism and the church of Eris. I never quite bought the prominence of the Erisian faith rising in such a short time.
- April 6, 2011 at 6:47 AM
- Dan Moran said...
Ross -- the systems are redundant. Ship burns a *lot* of hydrogen when boosting; the cracker is more for day to day ops, though it can also be fed to the torches.
The IR is an error. Not sure how to fix it either.
- April 6, 2011 at 9:15 AM
- Mike G. said...
On the IR: maybe he can see the heat difference on the decks/walls/overhead/doors where Trent touched?
Or maybe even just disturbed surface dust, on the assumption that dust would eventually clump to surfaces in a vacuum (and not vacuum weld solid). I have no idea whether it would actually DO that or not, of course...
- April 6, 2011 at 9:22 AM
- Sean Fagan said...
Dana, there are also a lot of Catholics. In fact, Melissa is quite a devout Catholic, which undoubtedly factored in to her reasons to defect, rather than go on a prolonged mission to kill thousands, if not millions, of innocents.
- April 6, 2011 at 3:52 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Belinda Singer was Jewish, though I'm unclear if I ever made that explicit.
One of the things I've always disliked about SF is that "religions die out" thing. Not while people stay people, they won't. (Not saying that's a good or bad thing, but it would be false to fact to ignore it.)
- April 6, 2011 at 4:01 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Well, you instead have a multi-universe church which is pretty effective with conversion... 8-)
- April 6, 2011 at 4:43 PM
- Dana said...
Doh! I don't know how I managed to forget that Melissa is Catholic.
On another topic, it occurs to me that in addition to Hile, Trent has also ideologically "infected" Colbert.
He hasn't turned him, exactly, but I suspect that the promise to not kill anyone makes Colbert at the very least considered unreliable by Vance and PKF leadership.
The thing is this: Trent doesn't actually have to turn very many PKF in order to forment a rebellion. He just has to prod Vance into taking harsh measures to root out supposed "disloyalty." The harsh measures, in and of themselves, can prompt the very mutiny that they are ostenibly trying to prevent.
- April 7, 2011 at 7:28 AM
- marcus eubanks said...
Ahh. I have been waiting for this book for what, fifteen years? I'm almost afraid to read it - sort of like when you save yourself a Raymond Chandler novel or a Dashiell Hammett story just in case you need one at some point . . . You *have* saved yourself a couple, haven't you?
I'm still not caught up to the end of the bits & pieces that Mr. Moran has released over the years, but I will be before too long, and yes, I'm going to read the whole damned thing.
On the plus side, between family with kids, work full-time and school part-time, it may take me a few weeks to make it through the entire story, which in truth will be okay.
I can't wait to come back to this thread when I've finished the book, so's to see what you all have had to say.
- April 7, 2011 at 4:21 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Second review I'm aware of.
- April 7, 2011 at 9:14 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Well, I'd posted a brief comment in <firstname.lastname@example.com>
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not quite as mad-cap as _The Long Run_, but I
thought it had a better ending... when I finished reading it, I was grinning
and giggling with joy for a while.
and then another one in <email@example.com>
Hey, kudos to Dan there: picking a new ending is *hard*. I think Charlie
Stross wrote about that, once.
Hopefully the formatting worked well there.
- April 7, 2011 at 10:21 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Second try... first one may have been killed by authentication issues.
Is this the first main-CT-continuity book that hasn't had a narration by Storyteller?
- April 15, 2011 at 1:48 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Believe so.
He doesn't show up in the rest of it, either, except being referred to in a discussion between Trent, Denice, and Ralf. He's back again in Crystal Wind, but I thought his presence (he *used* to have some dialog in it) was distracting from Trent's story, which gets more urgent as it goes along.
The Lay of the Rose starts with the Snafu equations quote: "Badness Comes in Waves." It seemed best to keep him off screen and just let the trauma hit.
- April 15, 2011 at 2:07 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Hrm, it is a bit of a loss, because I had presumed that the Tales of the Continuing Time were Storyteller's, um, Story.
So... are we ever going to actually see what the Time Wars are? And why the Zaradin all left the timeline?
- April 15, 2011 at 2:59 PM
- Dan Moran said...
I'm not sure Storyteller has any first-person dialog in TLR, come to think of it. He does in EE and Last Dancer, certainly.
I'm going to finish Trent's story -- through Crystal Wind. I'm going to finish Lord November. I'm going to write (it barely exists) "The Always Rising of the Night." I'm going to write *something* about Camber, though the possibility of 8 novels is pretty fucking remote at this point.
Could I finish this story -- everything, through Collapse of the Levels, in the next 20 years? Almost certainly not, based on past results. The money to do it isn't there so far ... though epub may change that. Let's hope.
- April 15, 2011 at 3:19 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
Oh, I was confused -- the Name Historian has a bit at the end of tLR; I thought it was Storyteller.
- April 15, 2011 at 3:28 PM
- J.D. Ray said...
I always thought that was just a typo or something, because (IIRC) at the beginning of EE, or maybe it's in one of the shorts on Kithrup, he's referred to as Named Storyteller.
Noting what Dan said above about the success of ePub, I suggest we all renew our efforts to market the CT stories on FS&. It's in our best interests as consumers, it seems.
- April 15, 2011 at 4:11 PM
- Dan Moran said...
Or Amazon... sold 2nd copy of freeway there other day. CT stories should be up next week, just waiting on covers. Certainly Amazon reviews will be helpful. (The books link to fsand ... apparently Amazon is ok with that.)
- April 15, 2011 at 4:20 PM
- Sean Fagan said...
There a quote, "the god Named Storyteller," in Emerald Eyes, according to Google. It's easy for me to check the website, and the only time it's "the Named Storyteller" is when someone from the lists -- not Dan -- says so. A mistake, in other words. (And, hey, there I am on July 25th, 1998, correcting someone.)
- April 15, 2011 at 5:05 PM
- Ben said...
On a reread... what exactly is the insanely exciting project that Yovia and Sub-Chief Wilson are/will be working on at Mars? The Source?
- April 20, 2011 at 8:07 AM
- Dan Moran said...
It's related, though not as specifically as you might think.
- April 21, 2011 at 12:23 AM
- Sean Fagan said...
I'd assume that Trent was planning for the AI war he knows is coming, and specifically wanting to have something ready to deal with Ring, should it emerge victorious (as, I presume, both Ring and Trent expect it to).
- April 21, 2011 at 1:29 PM
"Adrian's wife had died not
long after the TriCentennial, Vance couldn't recall what the cause
My guess would be she died of shame at what her husband had been involved in, what she had been involved in, but that she took her murderer with her.
There isn't much that would make a man like Adrian Hile turn against his friend Mohammad Vance and the PKF.
- May 3, 2011 at 5:46 AM
- counsgreen said...
Will we get a book about Daniel Novemeber and about Lady Blue?
- May 15, 2011 at 12:06 AM
- Dan Moran said...
Ola, yes. Daniel November, probably not.
- May 15, 2011 at 9:52 AM
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- May 23, 2011 at 11:02 PM
A few things...
Vance says he saw Andrew Strawberry play in the pocket. Wasn't Rev Andy one of "the most feared linebackers"?
Regarding Adrian Hile, maybe I'm being arrogant in my reading between the lines, but I thought it was pretty clear that his defection had something to do with his wife's death.
Something else that occurred to me...though this is a REALLY long shot...but DKM has put allusions into his writings before... The name "Hile" reminded me of the character Hile Troy from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. If you make the connection to him...to "Troy"...to trojan horse...and then to betrayal/defection?
Regarding Trent dying and then living and disappearing, I seem to recall that Vance kills Trent. Am I misremembering? I always assumed that's what the "dying" was referring to, and that the living again and disappearance is one of the bases for The Exodus Bible.
- May 24, 2011 at 2:01 PM
How did I miss this getting published??? (Oh yeah, work.)
So, essentially, Trent does finally get to steal a cool spaceship. Perhaps he can lose his regret about the Flandry.
Called it! April 16, 2008 2:47 PM. Google it. Clearly, I am young, hip, cool, and in control.
Now, a couple of points to address:
In the description of the Unity in chapter twelve, Trent notes that there were one hundred thirteen decks near the torches, while bulkheads were every seventy-five meters down the length of the ship.
But it is also made quite clear that the ship is designed so that relative down is oriented (correctly) against the direction of thrust, i.e., towards the torches.
I am still trying to visualize the Unity, but this part of the description gives me hives. If bulkheads run the length of the ship from stem to stern... aren't they the surfaces that will be perpendicular to "up" and "down"?
I mean, this may well be right, but it runs contrary to wet navy terminology, where decks were perpendicular to the gravity vector and bulkheads were parallel. It may well be that in a foulup between downsider designers and Halfer construction teams, the names were switched. But even downsiders aren't stupid enough to mount chairs on a surface that will be a wall, not a floor, when thrust begins... which means that chairs are mounted on bulkheads.
Am I getting this right? Or is my image of the Unity ninety degrees off?
Second big question: The Unity is thrusting sunward. Now, this could have two possible meanings:
1) The Unity is thrusting against Earth's orbital motion relative to Sol, such that it will lose orbital energy and drop into a closer orbit. This would imply Mercury as a destination, since Venus is not worth visiting... or else, Monitor feels like sundiving as a way of destroying a lot of unwanted materiel that the SpaceFarers might be tempted to use.
2) The Unity might literally be thrusting with its vector aimed at Sol. That would put it into an orbit with more energy, not less, as it would accelerate as it passed closer than Earth... which would imply a destination outside Earth's orbit, but on the other side of the System.
Which is it?
Double checking -- "I wear a Stetson now" is an Eleventh Doctor reference, yes? The key being the next line: "Stetsons are cool." It could just as well have been a fez, but I have a harder time seeing Trent wear a fez by choice.
Turning Hile by hacking and turning Hile by persuasion are not mutually exclusive in my view. Trent could have used his knowledge of the Elite's codebase to make it possible to communicate with Elite -- find the turnables and turn them right under Vance's nose.
And finally: THANK YOU. Seven dollars seems a pittance compared to the relief you have given by finally restarting a story I discovered by chance eight years ago... then despaired of ever learning the end of.
- September 12, 2011 at 8:56 PM


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text:
Another beautiful day in the Apple awaits, so this missive will be brief by my standards, but since I had the chance to witness last night's affair in person, a few thoughts seemed in order.
First, I don't blame Charlie Wang for wanting a new building, since I can see the flaws of Nassau Coliseum from an owner POV. Thirty-odd luxury suites tacked on to the top of the upper level as an afterthought is no way to maximize a team's income, and that's the situation in play here. The building's certainly showing its age as well, and I regret not taking a picture of my seat in the 100 level, because the look of the fabric suggested that it hadn't been replaced since they built the place in 1972.
That noted, anyone that's read my stuff in the past knows that I'm pretty unsympathetic to owners crying poor, and that in general terms, rich guys should build their own playpens. That doesn't mean that Wang is solely to blame for not having a new building, since getting anything done in New York is expensive and time-consuming, but given the property tax burden your average Nassau county person faces, I just can't see a stand alone facility for the Isles in my lifetime. The option of the Barclay's Center is probably the one that will happen if Wang can work out a lease deal with Bruce Ratner, limited capacity and all.
The hidden shame of it is that since Nassau Coliseum is fairly small and doesn't have a couple of rings of luxury boxes and club areas between the lower and upper levels, sitting in the relative cheap seats at the 300 level is a decent experience for the fans. If you sit in the middle of the upper level, you're roughly 30 rows above ice level. That's not the way things are in the modern era's facilities, and for the few die-hards left in the Islander fan base, any new building will mean a poorer experience for many of them in terms of actually watching the game. Those people aren't who new buildings cater to, of course, and progress will do as it will, but it seems worth pointing out.
As for the game itself, the Jets finally played a NHL-standard third period. The Islanders aren't the most explosive team going, but allowing six shots when you're protecting a lead on the road is always acceptable work, and doing so with half of your six regular defenceman shelved is quality stuff. The team still has entirely too many moments of utter panic in their own end, and to be blunt, Winnipeg was damned lucky not to be trailing after the second. Still, though, it was a good win to bank under the circumstances.
Ondrej Pavelec's getting the praise this mornig for his shutout, and rightly so, but the player that really impressed me last night was Evander Kane. I normally prefer to sit higher up than the 8th row, but being in that location last night did give me a good vantage point to appreciate the raw power and speed that Kane has in his arsenal. His goal was a prime example of that physical talent, but there were a couple of occasions where the Jets were scuffling to escape their own zone, and Kane's ability to simply take the puck up the wall and accelerate his way out of trouble was notable.
At any rate, the road trip has been kind so far, and given the quality of opposition that awaits this weekend, there might be another win available. I suspect that going in, the idea of the team finishing over .500 on the journey would have been seen as a bonus, so two more points in any fashion will render the trip a success, presuming that the team doesn't lose another body or six along the way.
I'll be back Monday-ish with exciting tales recounting events from the delightful city of Newark, New Jersey. Oh, and MSG as well 😉


text:
Los Angeles County probation officials said Tuesday plans to ramp up department operations in light of the influx of prisoners reassigned from state parole to the agency's jurisdiction are moving in the right direction.
Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers told the Board of Supervisors that despite hiring challenges and added training required, the department was moving forward with plans to increase staffing in a division designed specifically for AB 109 probationers — low-level inmates released to county probation rather than state parole as a result of an order to decrease prison overcrowding.
These probationers are typically nonviolent offenders convicted of such crimes as burglary, forgery or minor drug offenses, although they could have previously been convicted of more serious crimes.
Powers said he is now focusing on getting new hires out into the field, and working with mental health programs and other community outreach organizations to lower recidivism rates.
"We've established a strategy to get (probationers) back into compliance," he said. "We've got to get (officers) out in the community."
He also directly challenged the assertion of union leaders that the policy of sending deputies out to do compliance checks — visits designed to inspect a probationer's living situation both for violations and coaching efforts — is a dangerous policy.
"We can't engage from behind our desks," he said. "I heard that we can't do compliance checks, because we didn't have vehicles, so I ordered 100 vehicles and put cages in them in case they needed to transport someone. I heard we needed more training, I added more training."
Powers also added that if they feel like they might be in harm's way, officers can ask for armed backup from one of the department's armed Special Enforcement Officers or other local law enforcement.
But union leaders were not convinced.
"You're dealing with a different level of offender than ever before," said Sue Cline, steward for AFSCME Local 685, which represents most of the department's deputy probation officers. "They've gone to jail and learned to be more sophisticated than ever before. Yes, we can ask for backup. But if they're busy, we're not going to get it."
Other departments, including San Bernardino County, arm all probation officers.
The county has received more than $720 million in the past three years, which is largely split between the probation department and the Sheriff's Department, along with smaller amounts to other agencies.
Earlier Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Commission was told that stepped-up enforcement efforts by LAPD as a result of the AB 109 releases will cost the department more than $18 million during its 2013-14 fiscal year. Assistant Chief Michel Moore was also quick to note that the money was not coming from the state, but from other programs within the department.
He defended the decision to work on probation programs even as resources tighten elsewhere, saying it's the right move in the long run.
"The cost of not doing this is much greater than doing this," he said. "We believe that it is thoughtful, that it is strategic."
The report said since 2011, LAPD has had 160 to 170 officers assigned to monitor the convicted felons that form the AB 109 population.
These officers routinely work with the probation department.
The law requiring county probation departments to take over the monitoring of low-level offenders took effect in October 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order requiring the state to reduce prison overcrowding.


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From NBC's Mark Murray
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U.S. agricultural exports are expected to reach a record $77 billion for the 2007 fiscal year, according to a November report from USDA's Economic Research Service and Foreign Agricultural Service.
The export figure is up $5 billion from the August forecast and $8.3 billion from 2006.
Forecast corn exports were raised $2.1 billion from August to a near-record $8.9 billion on higher prices due to continued strong demand and tightening domestic supply. Domestic use for ethanol and overseas demand for feed use remains strong.
Projected wheat exports were raised $340 million on tighter world supply and reduced competition from Australia.
Soybean exports were raised $900 million, reflecting higher prices, record crushing, slowed production growth in South America, a record U.S. crop, and strong demand from China.
According to the report, China will replace the EU-25 as the fourth largest market for U.S. agricultural exports largely due to sales prospects for soybeans.
In 2007, China's economy is expected to grow 10 percent, following 11 percent in 2006. Chinese exports and investment grew 27 percent in the first three quarters of 2006. China's imports in the first nine months of 2006 grew 22 percent, supporting commodity prices.
As China has instituted a more flexible exchange rate regime, the dollar is expected to depreciate modestly against the yuan in 2007.
As the dollar appreciates against the Japanese yen, and weakens against developing nations' currencies and the Euro in 2007, the farm trade-weighted dollar should fall modestly in 2007, continuing to support U.S. farm and manufacturing exports, the report said.
U.S. exports to Canada are estimated at $13.2 billion; Mexico, $11.9 billion; Japan, $9.1 billion; China, $8.5 billion; and the EU-25, $7.2 billion. Exports to the Middle East are up slightly from fiscal 2006 to $3.3 billion on higher grain prices.
The six major economies in Latin America — Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Chile are also growing rapidly. The region is projected to grow over 4 percent in 2007, below the 5 percent of 2006. Growth in Brazil is estimated at 3.5 percent in 2006, rising to 4.1 percent in 2007.
U.S. agricultural imports expanded 11 percent, to $64 billion, in fiscal year 2006, the fourth year of double-digit growth. Import value has grown 12 percent on average from 2003 to 2006, roughly twice the historical rate.
Agricultural imports for 2007 were forecast at a record $69 billion, up $500 million from the August forecast. Though a record high, the rate of import growth is the slowest since 2003, the result of a weaker dollar, stable livestock trade and a slower rate of growth for sugar and tropical products.
Imported vegetable oils also gained in forecast value, due to a mass switch by U.S. food manufacturers to unsaturated oils with no transfats, thereby raising projected demand for rapeseed and olive oil.
In it Nov. 27 crop progress report, USDA reported that corn harvest in the United States is nearly complete with Michigan and Ohio lagging behind their five-year averages, at 78 percent and 88 percent harvested, respectively.
Eighty-three percent of the U.S. cotton crop had been harvested, on pace with last year's crop. Harvested was complete in Louisiana and Mississippi, compared to Texas, 70 percent, Kansas, 55 percent, South Carolina, 75 percent, and Arizona, 72 percent. According to USDA, about 12 million bales of cotton had been ginned by Nov. 15.
According to USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board, world cotton production in 2006-07 is forecast at 115.7 million bales, 1 percent above last season's 114.1 million bales. China and India, accounting for more than 40 percent of world production this season, are projected to increase their crops by nearly 4 million and 2 million bales, respectively.
Meanwhile, the United States, Pakistan, and Australia are expected to produce smaller crops than in 2005-06.
Total foreign cotton production in 2006-07 is estimated at 94.4 million bales, 4 million above last season but approximately 3 million below the record in 2004-05.
Global cotton consumption is forecast at a record 121 million bales, 4 percent above last season. Foreign cotton consumption is expected to reach 115.7 million bales, while U.S. mill use continues to decline. Foreign mill use is expected to increase for the eighth consecutive season.
The largest consumption gains are anticipated in the major producing countries of China (5 million bales higher) and India (1 million bales higher). China is expected to account for nearly all of the 2006-07 global consumption increase.
World cotton trade is expected to approach 41.6 million bales this season, compared with 45.4 million in 2005- 06. The United States and most other major exporting countries are expected to export less this season as foreign stocks are drawn down.
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