Thursday, March 31, 2011
Well, my cello teacher had never even heard of removeable pegs. But also now I've found that setting the cello on top of a very thick book also helps a lot. I guess making the cello more horizontal thus making it easier to get the pegs behind my neck while still keeping it a bit further away from me. So, I'll try to just do that. Although the book is quite thick. May have to get a bent end-pin I guess.
I'm playing the first two pages (of three) now of Romberg's sonata in c major somewhat decently now. Managing to add some decent (at times) vibrato.
I'm playing the first two pages (of three) now of Romberg's sonata in c major somewhat decently now. Managing to add some decent (at times) vibrato.
One important thing about Lovecraft, his lack of characters/dialoque makes his dreamlike stories more realistic than most contemporary fantasy, which generally fails for the 2D characters. I prefer these characterless stories over the vast majority of popular fantasy for this reason.
The Temple
Evil German fellow during I think WWI. His sub runs out of fuel and he's stuck finally alone on the bottom of the ocean amongst the remains of possibility Atlantis. Some ancient civilization.
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
Old Arthur counts among his ancestors some strange ape-like creature from a lost civilization. Which he finds out to his horror. I believe he immolated himself when he found out, which seems a bit of an overreaction...
The Street
The vague, misanthropic and suppose simply racist history of a street.
Poetry and the Gods
Actually has a woman character for what that matters in stories where it's just someone basically observing with hardly any dialogue.
She's wisked off to a lower level of a grecian heaven and meets Homer, Dante, Goethe, Shakespeare, Milton, and Keats.
Finally she is told, "Weep not at the bleakness of thy life, for the shadow of false faiths will soon be gone, and the Gods shall once more walk amoung men." Back to earth she goes and lives with the great next poet.
Celephais
A man dreams of a heavenly city and by dreaming it, he brings it into being and eventually becomes the king of it for all of time.
From Beyond
A movie was made of this which I saw. A machine is made which in effect exercises the pineal gland. Which gives you a sixth sense, thus you can see horrific creatures that are actually all around us.
Nyarlathotep
I guess Nyarlathotep is a sort of god or a sort of prophet. People hear him speak and seem to go crazy. Wasn't very moved by the story while I was reading. Now as I go back over it, understanding the whole of it better, it's more impressive. So Nyarlathotep brings havoc I guess. Such a dreamy feeling to Lovecraft such that it's hard to know what's really happening at times.
The Picture in the House
Blood dripping off the ceiling in the house of some guy who seems to be a nutty psychopath. So very many later slasher films had this stereotype. I wonder if Lovecraft started it?
The Crawling Chaos
An opium trip I guess. Wandering around through a psychedelic landscape. A bit too nondescript and just random.
Ex Oblivione
Again we're a fellow wandering around alone through a dreamlike world. Eventually happy to cease to exist I guess, to go into oblivion.
The Nameless City
Guy wandering along, as if a dream, goes underground and eventually finds all sorts of wonders. Similar to many Lovecraft stories. A bit too nondescript though.
The Quest of Iranon
This is about a dreamer who spends his life searching for the heavenly/utopian city of Aira. He stays young throughout his long life as he stays focused on his dream. In the end someone destroys his dream and suddenly he is old and dies. I liked this story a lot. Liked the dreamy feel of it. I suppose such was in vogue back then. Dunsany was similar at least I recall.
The Moon Bog
Guy drains a bog, scoffing/laughing at everyone who tells him not to. And something horrible happens to him as a result, although what exactly that is, is as vague as can be. Also, as usual, virtually no dialgue, still a decent story.
The Outsider
Excellent story about a ghoul who doesn't realize what it is. Only thing is I would remove the last line. It should be obvious he was looking in a mirror. Lovecraft often adds a sentence or two at the end of his stories which takes everything down a couple of intellectual levels. Turns the dreamy into something silly at times. But just how smart or stupid is the audience? How high do you dare aim?
The Temple
Evil German fellow during I think WWI. His sub runs out of fuel and he's stuck finally alone on the bottom of the ocean amongst the remains of possibility Atlantis. Some ancient civilization.
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
Old Arthur counts among his ancestors some strange ape-like creature from a lost civilization. Which he finds out to his horror. I believe he immolated himself when he found out, which seems a bit of an overreaction...
The Street
The vague, misanthropic and suppose simply racist history of a street.
Poetry and the Gods
Actually has a woman character for what that matters in stories where it's just someone basically observing with hardly any dialogue.
She's wisked off to a lower level of a grecian heaven and meets Homer, Dante, Goethe, Shakespeare, Milton, and Keats.
Finally she is told, "Weep not at the bleakness of thy life, for the shadow of false faiths will soon be gone, and the Gods shall once more walk amoung men." Back to earth she goes and lives with the great next poet.
Celephais
A man dreams of a heavenly city and by dreaming it, he brings it into being and eventually becomes the king of it for all of time.
From Beyond
A movie was made of this which I saw. A machine is made which in effect exercises the pineal gland. Which gives you a sixth sense, thus you can see horrific creatures that are actually all around us.
Nyarlathotep
I guess Nyarlathotep is a sort of god or a sort of prophet. People hear him speak and seem to go crazy. Wasn't very moved by the story while I was reading. Now as I go back over it, understanding the whole of it better, it's more impressive. So Nyarlathotep brings havoc I guess. Such a dreamy feeling to Lovecraft such that it's hard to know what's really happening at times.
The Picture in the House
Blood dripping off the ceiling in the house of some guy who seems to be a nutty psychopath. So very many later slasher films had this stereotype. I wonder if Lovecraft started it?
The Crawling Chaos
An opium trip I guess. Wandering around through a psychedelic landscape. A bit too nondescript and just random.
Ex Oblivione
Again we're a fellow wandering around alone through a dreamlike world. Eventually happy to cease to exist I guess, to go into oblivion.
The Nameless City
Guy wandering along, as if a dream, goes underground and eventually finds all sorts of wonders. Similar to many Lovecraft stories. A bit too nondescript though.
The Quest of Iranon
This is about a dreamer who spends his life searching for the heavenly/utopian city of Aira. He stays young throughout his long life as he stays focused on his dream. In the end someone destroys his dream and suddenly he is old and dies. I liked this story a lot. Liked the dreamy feel of it. I suppose such was in vogue back then. Dunsany was similar at least I recall.
The Moon Bog
Guy drains a bog, scoffing/laughing at everyone who tells him not to. And something horrible happens to him as a result, although what exactly that is, is as vague as can be. Also, as usual, virtually no dialgue, still a decent story.
The Outsider
Excellent story about a ghoul who doesn't realize what it is. Only thing is I would remove the last line. It should be obvious he was looking in a mirror. Lovecraft often adds a sentence or two at the end of his stories which takes everything down a couple of intellectual levels. Turns the dreamy into something silly at times. But just how smart or stupid is the audience? How high do you dare aim?
Blindness by Jose Saramago
This is about an extremely infectious strange epidemic of blindness. Told in third person and the first 33% takes place in the quarantined place for the blind. I'm trying to understand what is any good about this book. The author won a nobel prize at some point so perhaps there's a pretentious emperor's new clothes thing going on. Other than that I guess some people would find his insights into people's psychology, etc interesting. But my own are far better and as such there's nothing worthwhile about this. I stopped 33% in. Yes, people are blind. It's very infectious and happening very suddenly and people are acting as one would expect. The insights are uninteresting to me.
This is about an extremely infectious strange epidemic of blindness. Told in third person and the first 33% takes place in the quarantined place for the blind. I'm trying to understand what is any good about this book. The author won a nobel prize at some point so perhaps there's a pretentious emperor's new clothes thing going on. Other than that I guess some people would find his insights into people's psychology, etc interesting. But my own are far better and as such there's nothing worthwhile about this. I stopped 33% in. Yes, people are blind. It's very infectious and happening very suddenly and people are acting as one would expect. The insights are uninteresting to me.
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
Not enough depth to the setting. Has a strange part that reads suddenly like a harlequin romance which made me realize that it was written by a woman. Not quite the right sort of feeling of mystery, too much magic explanation. Laborious explanation of uninteresting plot stuff at times.
Characters are a bit light also.
No real ace hidden up the sleeve.
There is injustice but not one easily related to. (An adept who's has lost her magic.) And it's in third person. Think maybe it needs to be in first person for maximum injustice effect.
A lack of decadence.
Finally I kept expecting a better explanation for Gerald Tarrant killing his family. Apparently there isn't one, which makes his character not realistic.
Meh. Won't read Friedman again.
I had come across her from this list:
http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php
Was already familar with the top ten. Friedman was 11. Don't agree with his critiques or his rankings. But he at least has Hobb in the top ten.
Maybe try J.V. Jones next. (If the first name is initialized does that always mean it was written by a woman by the way?)
Not enough depth to the setting. Has a strange part that reads suddenly like a harlequin romance which made me realize that it was written by a woman. Not quite the right sort of feeling of mystery, too much magic explanation. Laborious explanation of uninteresting plot stuff at times.
Characters are a bit light also.
No real ace hidden up the sleeve.
There is injustice but not one easily related to. (An adept who's has lost her magic.) And it's in third person. Think maybe it needs to be in first person for maximum injustice effect.
A lack of decadence.
Finally I kept expecting a better explanation for Gerald Tarrant killing his family. Apparently there isn't one, which makes his character not realistic.
Meh. Won't read Friedman again.
I had come across her from this list:
http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php
Was already familar with the top ten. Friedman was 11. Don't agree with his critiques or his rankings. But he at least has Hobb in the top ten.
Maybe try J.V. Jones next. (If the first name is initialized does that always mean it was written by a woman by the way?)
My cello teacher is always commenting that my right arm is not relaxed. It isn't. And this is because I'm too tall. I have to scrunch it up a bit for the bow to be on the strings. It's not just a matter of personal comfort though. If I can relax I get a much better sound. This I know by putting the cello further away from me so I can relax it. Unfortunately putting it further away means the pegs are digging into my neck instead of being behind my neck. And if I try to tilt the top half of the cello away from me, then the bow is hitting my left leg on the A string. Finally yesterday found out there's such a thing as removeable pegs.
http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/jensen/jensen.htm
I think I've been relying too much on my teacher instead of reading up on my own.
http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/jensen/jensen.htm
I think I've been relying too much on my teacher instead of reading up on my own.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A key to happiness for me is a feeling of security (as opposed to hope) is that I'm motivated by positive reinforcement, not negative. In a capitalist society the negative usually wins out for me. The possibility of ending up homeless is of more interest to keep on the edge of my consciousness then whatever positive capitalism offers. So then something that works at least for me is thinking that if I won the lottery I'd want to keep my current job.... Maybe not something to look at too closely. (Because maybe I could find some better way to improve this world than in my current job...) But as a nurse I certainly can do more than most. So, I like to think as if I've won the lottery and yet, by choice, off to work I still go. This pretty effectively negates most negative reinforcement. Gets rid of the stressful nature that perhaps plagues me more than usual. Of course few people can say in any sense though that they'd continue their job even if they won the lottery/got many millions somehow, so this is of little use to most, except that they may want to try to find a job for which it is true of.
Monday, March 28, 2011
So I switched from 1/1 to 3/1 and ran 29:15 on wednesday, 28:30 on friday, 27:50 on monday, 27:20 on Thursday, and 26:59 today, Monday. The course is I guess 3.1 miles, maybe 3.2. Knees have been achy at times but really seem to be holding on. Also trying to get some of my vertical leap back as I think the extra muscle will help my knees/running. Just once or twice a week a bit of time jumping up on a basketball rim. Not quite back to dunking a basketball yet.
I should probably alternate with a 6/1 but then, I'm so sick of running slowly, want to improve my speed a bit more....
I should probably alternate with a 6/1 but then, I'm so sick of running slowly, want to improve my speed a bit more....
Hope ~ 1/Security
The amount of hope we have for the future is generally inversely proportional to the amount of security we have as we age. Hopefully at least, as we age, we gain security to make up for the loss of hope.
Compassion ~ 1/Proximity
The further away someone is, the more we seem to give a damm about them. In other words, compassion is inversely proportional to proximity. And the distance can be both physical and in terms of time. So we can be fascinated to learn all about some ancestor we not only can't ever meet, but can't ever even actually speak to. Meanwhile we as often as not have virtually nothing to do with our living relatives. Or at least really wish we had nothing to do with them.
Intelligence ~ 1/Happiness
Happiness is generally about finding ways to delude yourself. Happiness is about myopia. Focusing on small inconsequential transient phenomena from one moment to the next, for, your entire lifetime. DO NOT see the big picture. Manage somehow to hold on to religion/mysticism. Find this world to a relatively wonderful place. Etcetera.
This new show about people finding out about their ancestors sickens me. My family doesn't even speak to any our of relatives. Not our great aunt. Not my mom's sister's family. No one at all of my biological father's family or him. If someone offered to tell me all about my ancestors, I'd say I really don't care at all to hear about them. Because you know, let's KEEP IT CONSISTENT.
I've felt more secure lately. And it did make up for the lack of hope. Last week or so, security feelings are somehow receding. Why, I don't really know. Just too much negative stuff at work lately. And it is generally all about work.
Life, that is. Like it, or not.
The amount of hope we have for the future is generally inversely proportional to the amount of security we have as we age. Hopefully at least, as we age, we gain security to make up for the loss of hope.
Compassion ~ 1/Proximity
The further away someone is, the more we seem to give a damm about them. In other words, compassion is inversely proportional to proximity. And the distance can be both physical and in terms of time. So we can be fascinated to learn all about some ancestor we not only can't ever meet, but can't ever even actually speak to. Meanwhile we as often as not have virtually nothing to do with our living relatives. Or at least really wish we had nothing to do with them.
Intelligence ~ 1/Happiness
Happiness is generally about finding ways to delude yourself. Happiness is about myopia. Focusing on small inconsequential transient phenomena from one moment to the next, for, your entire lifetime. DO NOT see the big picture. Manage somehow to hold on to religion/mysticism. Find this world to a relatively wonderful place. Etcetera.
This new show about people finding out about their ancestors sickens me. My family doesn't even speak to any our of relatives. Not our great aunt. Not my mom's sister's family. No one at all of my biological father's family or him. If someone offered to tell me all about my ancestors, I'd say I really don't care at all to hear about them. Because you know, let's KEEP IT CONSISTENT.
I've felt more secure lately. And it did make up for the lack of hope. Last week or so, security feelings are somehow receding. Why, I don't really know. Just too much negative stuff at work lately. And it is generally all about work.
Life, that is. Like it, or not.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Lovecraft was an indifferentist because compared to the cosmos life on earth was so insignificant in his eyes.
I think such is a rather silly idea but wonder if I do something equivalent. If I sort of look at a thing and take away all it's meaning by in effect dissecting it. Looking at the micro, looking at each individual part in isolation, losing sight of the connections....
I find a way to sneer at all happiness. I love my house for example. Oh what a silly shallow minded materialist I am. I enjoy the cello. But I'm at the point that I really have to spend a lot of time, to get better. A few days off and I regress... (Previously, instruments were such decadent things to be wasting time on while there was a world out there that needed saving, but not any more!)
No, just sleep now.
-
Intelligence is inversely proportional to happiness.
Compassion is proportional to distance. The farther away, the more we care.
I think such is a rather silly idea but wonder if I do something equivalent. If I sort of look at a thing and take away all it's meaning by in effect dissecting it. Looking at the micro, looking at each individual part in isolation, losing sight of the connections....
I find a way to sneer at all happiness. I love my house for example. Oh what a silly shallow minded materialist I am. I enjoy the cello. But I'm at the point that I really have to spend a lot of time, to get better. A few days off and I regress... (Previously, instruments were such decadent things to be wasting time on while there was a world out there that needed saving, but not any more!)
No, just sleep now.
-
Intelligence is inversely proportional to happiness.
Compassion is proportional to distance. The farther away, the more we care.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Titled "137". Hadn't bothered to write a song in many months and I've felt very different during this time yet I still have the same issues when I think about naming, etc. Instead I've been practicing the cello really hard. As to composing/recording I want to do some different things that would require buying some gear to handle reverb issues, which I've been too unmotivated to bother with. It seems it would be a lot of work that wouldn't quite be worth the effort.
This song was written/recorded/rendered/uploaded in under two hours.
Monday, March 21, 2011
An email I guess I won't send. Why? Our manager really hates this stuff. Also I'm just going to defer to my wife's judgement. Saying negative things about others is dangerous. And I seriously doubt my opinion would matter on whether or not the doctor's career is ruined.
H,
Sorry to bother you with this. But yesterday JM was saying that she had filed an incident report concerning GJ that she claimed may get him fired and I was just thinking that maybe I finally ought to mention something.
I really think that J is inappropriate with a few men. With other women she is fine. But with me for example, she has been an extreme headache off and on since I've worked here. When I was a nurse's aide she criticized my performance literally every single day for months at a time. Always though, pretending she was "joking" with me, but at the same time, quite seriously criticizing everything I did. Literally including how I pulled people up in bed, claiming I caused her to hurt her back, then going on about it for 6 months almost daily, yet with the facade that she was just "joking" which I guess somehow in her mind makes it OK to go on for literally six months.
As a new nurse she only took it to a higher level, constantly criticizing everything I did. Claiming I answered the phone wrong, claiming I left stepdown when I shouldn't have, endless little things really, then she'd just wait to see what kind of reaction she could get out of me, and if I ever (would finally) respond with annoyance she'd claim she was just joking.
I wouldn't bother pointing these things out except to mention that I can seriously sympathize with someone finally truly blowing up at her. She is very passive aggressive towards a few men and will just keep taking "pokes" at them.
I could go on and on about the sorts of things she's personally done to me but I don't want to just waste your time with something that you can't do anything about. I only wanted to finally mention this with respect to her possibly getting GJ fired. I don't think GD or for that matter Dr. Jac acts in an appropriate manner all the time, but I do think that JM is partially to blame for whatever happened with GJ because I'm pretty sure she's been taking "pokes" at him for quite awhile now also.
I could mention for example this Sunday. One of my patients was moving to the floor. J was to get the patient and everything was ready for her at 4:30pm. She never took the patient. The patient was moved at shift change. J was not so busy as that. I expressed some annoyance to someone in stepdown about it as on top of this (trached and restrained patient) my other two patients were very busy at the time.
J apparently was in the medroom listening at the door. She then around 6:15 finally comes back to stepdown when I'm charting something and says, "Look at you. Throwing a big fit and you hardly look like you're that busy."
Said though, as usual, as if she's (somehow) joking. Attempting to claim I "threw a big fit" when I hadn't. Claiming I'm not busy when I'm extremely busy and yet said in her typical half joking manner such that if I respond seriously I'm somehow being inappropriate.
I responded, "Excuse me? I'm extremely busy."
So then she leaves, never does take the patient. At shift change I hunt down A who says that J told her I had no updates (to add to earlier taped report). I did have updates. Most importantly the patient was wearing mitts that she had managed to take off twice and was a serious risk for pulling out her trach. Why J would claim I had no updates concerning a patient that was supposed to be moved out to her on the floor 2 and half hours ago that instead she never spoke to me concerning I couldn't say.
What I do know furthermore is that she's far and away the biggest gossip on the floor. She recently spent 6 months slandering BL every single day. Attempting to seriously convince people he was going to come to work with a gun. I know she'll go and on behind my back with some smear concerning this issue.
She goes on and on about MS and has even managed to get a rise on numerous occasions out of BH. (the other few men basically)
I'm sorry for the long email. I just hate to see her get someone fired who she's been creating drama with the last year plus.
She also was extremely inappropriate with TJ when he worked here. Constantly flirting. Spending all her time with him. It really didn't seem like appropriate behavior in a hospital setting. The people who tried to talk to her about it though she then smeared them behind their backs for the next 6 months.
Anyway I really try to just stay out of these sorts of things but I just would hate to possibly see someone getting fired at least in part because of her behavior.
H,
Sorry to bother you with this. But yesterday JM was saying that she had filed an incident report concerning GJ that she claimed may get him fired and I was just thinking that maybe I finally ought to mention something.
I really think that J is inappropriate with a few men. With other women she is fine. But with me for example, she has been an extreme headache off and on since I've worked here. When I was a nurse's aide she criticized my performance literally every single day for months at a time. Always though, pretending she was "joking" with me, but at the same time, quite seriously criticizing everything I did. Literally including how I pulled people up in bed, claiming I caused her to hurt her back, then going on about it for 6 months almost daily, yet with the facade that she was just "joking" which I guess somehow in her mind makes it OK to go on for literally six months.
As a new nurse she only took it to a higher level, constantly criticizing everything I did. Claiming I answered the phone wrong, claiming I left stepdown when I shouldn't have, endless little things really, then she'd just wait to see what kind of reaction she could get out of me, and if I ever (would finally) respond with annoyance she'd claim she was just joking.
I wouldn't bother pointing these things out except to mention that I can seriously sympathize with someone finally truly blowing up at her. She is very passive aggressive towards a few men and will just keep taking "pokes" at them.
I could go on and on about the sorts of things she's personally done to me but I don't want to just waste your time with something that you can't do anything about. I only wanted to finally mention this with respect to her possibly getting GJ fired. I don't think GD or for that matter Dr. Jac acts in an appropriate manner all the time, but I do think that JM is partially to blame for whatever happened with GJ because I'm pretty sure she's been taking "pokes" at him for quite awhile now also.
I could mention for example this Sunday. One of my patients was moving to the floor. J was to get the patient and everything was ready for her at 4:30pm. She never took the patient. The patient was moved at shift change. J was not so busy as that. I expressed some annoyance to someone in stepdown about it as on top of this (trached and restrained patient) my other two patients were very busy at the time.
J apparently was in the medroom listening at the door. She then around 6:15 finally comes back to stepdown when I'm charting something and says, "Look at you. Throwing a big fit and you hardly look like you're that busy."
Said though, as usual, as if she's (somehow) joking. Attempting to claim I "threw a big fit" when I hadn't. Claiming I'm not busy when I'm extremely busy and yet said in her typical half joking manner such that if I respond seriously I'm somehow being inappropriate.
I responded, "Excuse me? I'm extremely busy."
So then she leaves, never does take the patient. At shift change I hunt down A who says that J told her I had no updates (to add to earlier taped report). I did have updates. Most importantly the patient was wearing mitts that she had managed to take off twice and was a serious risk for pulling out her trach. Why J would claim I had no updates concerning a patient that was supposed to be moved out to her on the floor 2 and half hours ago that instead she never spoke to me concerning I couldn't say.
What I do know furthermore is that she's far and away the biggest gossip on the floor. She recently spent 6 months slandering BL every single day. Attempting to seriously convince people he was going to come to work with a gun. I know she'll go and on behind my back with some smear concerning this issue.
She goes on and on about MS and has even managed to get a rise on numerous occasions out of BH. (the other few men basically)
I'm sorry for the long email. I just hate to see her get someone fired who she's been creating drama with the last year plus.
She also was extremely inappropriate with TJ when he worked here. Constantly flirting. Spending all her time with him. It really didn't seem like appropriate behavior in a hospital setting. The people who tried to talk to her about it though she then smeared them behind their backs for the next 6 months.
Anyway I really try to just stay out of these sorts of things but I just would hate to possibly see someone getting fired at least in part because of her behavior.
Friday, March 18, 2011
More Lovecraft short stories:
Polaris
A guy sees a city in another time/place. Finally one day he becomes a part of it. In it he's supposed to keep watch from a tower for when the enemy attacks. He falls asleep. Possibly a certain evil star played a role... Where are we really? Who are we really? Hard to tell... Goes well "Happy Ghosts".
The Green Meadow
A diary is found with a large meteorite. It's a longwinded diary. Very prettily written while saying hardly anything, but seemingly "real" just from the preponderance of description... He sees something at end real awful which isn't explained at all. The End.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Doctor at the mental institution realizes one of his patients is possessed by alien higher intelligence. Which is engaged in a long term fight with some creature that is at some far away star. Alien briefly and vaguely explains and then leaves patient's body as it dies. Nobody believes doctor. The End.
Memory
One page long. Genie and Demon talking. Man is extinct and forgotten.
Old Bugs
About a drunk who stops a kid from starting to drink. Turns out the drunk had been engaged to the kids mother long ago. Published 40 years after it was written. Long after Lovecraft was dead. Pretty good story though. Like something on the Twilight Zone.
The Transition of Juan Romero
Miners dig into some bottomless pit. The actions lead us to believe some strange god is in it. It leads one of the peons into it and kills him. The other people claim the peon (and his friend) never left their room. Then the pit disappears. There is something about this story. A beginning of really touching on Lovecraft's alternate gods. Hardly anything happens but this one has more weight to it.
The White Ship
Even more dreamy... "ethereal" than other Lovecraft stories. They somehow combine a high level of detail with being extremely vague. Like a dream I suppose. In this one the white ship takes him to a heaven like place. Where eventually he gets bored and goes on searching for some other place. But he doesn't find it. Ends up back in really boring old reality.
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
One city and people totally destroy a strange race of humanoids. A 1000 years later the humanoids return and attack. Later no remains of the magnificent city of 1000 years are ever found. The End. Again Lovecraft goes on and on describing the setting, the surroundings, while saying almost nothing. No dialogue/characterization. And almost nothing happens. No attempt to put a plot together. It's like Lovecraft gets this tiny image in his head of one little happening and somehow without adding anything but a ton of detail on the setting he manages to write a "complete" story.
The Statement of Randolph
Sillier one. Two guys go off and one digs a hole in the ground, or was it a grotto? Then he yells to the other to run away from the unspeakable horror! The other doesn't until something speaks and says his friend is dead. The End.
The Terrible Old Man
Three guys plan on robbing and old guy. Instead the old man kills them. All second hand as usual. No decription of how. The End.
The Tree
Two sculptors who are great friends are in a competition for a king. The one dies during it and is buried. A strange looking tree grows up out of his grave and it's limb ends up destroying the statue the other sculpture was making. The End.
The Cats of Ulthar
Old couple kills cats. Gypsy kid's cat is killed. Kid uses some kind of magic and all the cats in town go and kill and eat the old couple.
Lovecraft purposely uses larger obscure words. Somehow this does add to his stories although without the Kindle dictionary function it always just annoyed me before.
Polaris
A guy sees a city in another time/place. Finally one day he becomes a part of it. In it he's supposed to keep watch from a tower for when the enemy attacks. He falls asleep. Possibly a certain evil star played a role... Where are we really? Who are we really? Hard to tell... Goes well "Happy Ghosts".
The Green Meadow
A diary is found with a large meteorite. It's a longwinded diary. Very prettily written while saying hardly anything, but seemingly "real" just from the preponderance of description... He sees something at end real awful which isn't explained at all. The End.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Doctor at the mental institution realizes one of his patients is possessed by alien higher intelligence. Which is engaged in a long term fight with some creature that is at some far away star. Alien briefly and vaguely explains and then leaves patient's body as it dies. Nobody believes doctor. The End.
Memory
One page long. Genie and Demon talking. Man is extinct and forgotten.
Old Bugs
About a drunk who stops a kid from starting to drink. Turns out the drunk had been engaged to the kids mother long ago. Published 40 years after it was written. Long after Lovecraft was dead. Pretty good story though. Like something on the Twilight Zone.
The Transition of Juan Romero
Miners dig into some bottomless pit. The actions lead us to believe some strange god is in it. It leads one of the peons into it and kills him. The other people claim the peon (and his friend) never left their room. Then the pit disappears. There is something about this story. A beginning of really touching on Lovecraft's alternate gods. Hardly anything happens but this one has more weight to it.
The White Ship
Even more dreamy... "ethereal" than other Lovecraft stories. They somehow combine a high level of detail with being extremely vague. Like a dream I suppose. In this one the white ship takes him to a heaven like place. Where eventually he gets bored and goes on searching for some other place. But he doesn't find it. Ends up back in really boring old reality.
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
One city and people totally destroy a strange race of humanoids. A 1000 years later the humanoids return and attack. Later no remains of the magnificent city of 1000 years are ever found. The End. Again Lovecraft goes on and on describing the setting, the surroundings, while saying almost nothing. No dialogue/characterization. And almost nothing happens. No attempt to put a plot together. It's like Lovecraft gets this tiny image in his head of one little happening and somehow without adding anything but a ton of detail on the setting he manages to write a "complete" story.
The Statement of Randolph
Sillier one. Two guys go off and one digs a hole in the ground, or was it a grotto? Then he yells to the other to run away from the unspeakable horror! The other doesn't until something speaks and says his friend is dead. The End.
The Terrible Old Man
Three guys plan on robbing and old guy. Instead the old man kills them. All second hand as usual. No decription of how. The End.
The Tree
Two sculptors who are great friends are in a competition for a king. The one dies during it and is buried. A strange looking tree grows up out of his grave and it's limb ends up destroying the statue the other sculpture was making. The End.
The Cats of Ulthar
Old couple kills cats. Gypsy kid's cat is killed. Kid uses some kind of magic and all the cats in town go and kill and eat the old couple.
Lovecraft purposely uses larger obscure words. Somehow this does add to his stories although without the Kindle dictionary function it always just annoyed me before.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Some H. P. Lovecraft short stories.
Lovecraft is excellent for the kindle. For one, his paragraphs just go on and on. Easy to lose your place but can use a large font on the kindle. Also his vocabulary is a tinsy bit much. The kindle dictionary function finally coming in handy.
The Beast in the Cave
Gets lost in a cave and by quick luck kills a strange manlike creature. The End.
The Alchemist
The last scion of a noble family discovers a secret passage in his huge gothic castle and finds a warlock that has lived for centuries apparently just so he can kill every member of the family at the age of 32 in revenge for the murder of his father. Guy kills warlock. The end.
The Tomb
A man who has visions, speaks to the dead, etc, becomes obsessed with the tomb of a formerly wealthy but now all deceased family. Eventually imagines he goes back in time to the day the mansion burns down. Goes mad. The end.
Dagon
Lost at sea, finds remnants of an ancient civilization of monsterous creatures. Sees that actually at least one is still alive. Goes mad. The end.
A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson
This hardly made sense to me. It had no plot at all really. I was using the text to speech kindle function in the car though. Maybe I missed a sentence or two that constituted something actually happening.
Sweet Ermengarde
Or, the Heart of a Country Girl
Lighthearted thrown together spoof. Published 26 years after it was written.
Lovecraft's use of language makes up for serious deficits in these early stories. There's little plot. No character development. Virtually no dialogue ...which gives it such a lonely feeling. And then I know about the actual man... I hope he wasn't as miserable as he appeared to have been...
"Circumlocution". A word I learned from Lovecraft on the kindle. Unfortunately defines these stories. But doesn't it always, sort of, for writers? Without excellent "circumlocution" would we really ever have much?
Lovecraft is excellent for the kindle. For one, his paragraphs just go on and on. Easy to lose your place but can use a large font on the kindle. Also his vocabulary is a tinsy bit much. The kindle dictionary function finally coming in handy.
The Beast in the Cave
Gets lost in a cave and by quick luck kills a strange manlike creature. The End.
The Alchemist
The last scion of a noble family discovers a secret passage in his huge gothic castle and finds a warlock that has lived for centuries apparently just so he can kill every member of the family at the age of 32 in revenge for the murder of his father. Guy kills warlock. The end.
The Tomb
A man who has visions, speaks to the dead, etc, becomes obsessed with the tomb of a formerly wealthy but now all deceased family. Eventually imagines he goes back in time to the day the mansion burns down. Goes mad. The end.
Dagon
Lost at sea, finds remnants of an ancient civilization of monsterous creatures. Sees that actually at least one is still alive. Goes mad. The end.
A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson
This hardly made sense to me. It had no plot at all really. I was using the text to speech kindle function in the car though. Maybe I missed a sentence or two that constituted something actually happening.
Sweet Ermengarde
Or, the Heart of a Country Girl
Lighthearted thrown together spoof. Published 26 years after it was written.
Lovecraft's use of language makes up for serious deficits in these early stories. There's little plot. No character development. Virtually no dialogue ...which gives it such a lonely feeling. And then I know about the actual man... I hope he wasn't as miserable as he appeared to have been...
"Circumlocution". A word I learned from Lovecraft on the kindle. Unfortunately defines these stories. But doesn't it always, sort of, for writers? Without excellent "circumlocution" would we really ever have much?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
I ran 3 miles in 26.37 about 12 days ago. Then decided to change it up. Recall a guy I knew who ran a mile in 4:05. He would sprint 100 meters, walk 100, etc for 5 miles on M, W, F and do a 5 mile jog on Tue, and Thurs. I'm going to run for one minute, walk a minute once a week. Then run for 3 minutes, walk a minute another day. Then try to get to easier jogs in there.
Last monday I runing/walking 1/1 I did 3 miles in 32:30. Wednesday I did 30:30, Friday I did 30:25. This Monday I did 29:50.
Feel a slight ache in my knees. Not like last year (or was it two years ago?). But it's there slightly. Perhaps my calves aren't strong enough, aren't good enough shock absorbers for the faster running.
Feel in excellent shape lately though, otherwise. Back is very good. With giving up the caffeine I did have one single headache. But basically, really feeling very good.
Last monday I runing/walking 1/1 I did 3 miles in 32:30. Wednesday I did 30:30, Friday I did 30:25. This Monday I did 29:50.
Feel a slight ache in my knees. Not like last year (or was it two years ago?). But it's there slightly. Perhaps my calves aren't strong enough, aren't good enough shock absorbers for the faster running.
Feel in excellent shape lately though, otherwise. Back is very good. With giving up the caffeine I did have one single headache. But basically, really feeling very good.
Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Timothy Wilson
I love the subject but mostly dislike this book. Wilson does not believe one can uncover the unconscious thought processes by introspection. His "proof" of this is experiments/studies that only confirm that the average person is stupid. And/or he's not doing so well himself.
I was annoyed by his misinterpretation of some experiments. For example asking the girl out on a date you met on a rope bridge. Wilson thinks having fear because you're on a rope bridge leads to an adrenal rush that goes over into sexual arousal and tiddah! You're suddenly attracted to a woman you otherwise wouldn't be. He sees this as an example of not being aware of our unconscious thought processes. My explanation would just be that if we're sharing some fearful experience we're more likely to reach out socially, to bond with whomever we share such an experience with. Such, by the way, does not remotely make the feeling of a bond invalid. If a person was better able to realize that's what happening on the rope bridge that wouldn't mean they should resist the urge to ask out the woman. Yet Wilson thinks asking the woman out is proof we can't reach our unconscious.
Wilson actually in the beginning of the books mentions that the idea of "personality" is totally dependent on whatever situation your in, we don't have one single personality. Yet, Wilson then gives as proof of the futility of introspection, multiple studies that he claims are examples of people not really knowing their preferences (or their personality). When in fact, these are just examples of people not being able to construct situations in their head well enough. And/or imperfect memory. The fact, for example, that we don't really know for certain what kind of sexual mate will be best for us, is not remotely proof of any barrier to our unconscious. Every type of person isn't just sitting there in our unconscious perfectly formed and waiting for us to explore. Argggh! Really I ultimately found this book highly annoying for the degree of misinterpretation.
Wilson is an improvement from Freud, for what little that's worth.
Wilson never mentions religion, existential nihilism or such things. Nothing philosophical here. He only thinks of application in terms of the most crude. Job interviews, sexual partners, subliminal experiments to discover unconscious racism.
The idea of performing experiments to try to discover our unconscious is interesting. I never thought of such because I can actually know my unconscious by introspection.
Wilson talks about trying to get the unconscious in line with the conscious. I've thought concerning existential nihilism that it might be worth recognizing that we actually need to do the opposite to an extent.
A related book is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.
I only read the Kindle sample and I find this one so annoying I don't think I'll be able to read further. Although maybe eventually as there doesn't seem to be much out there on this subject. Gladwell starts with the example of the Getty Kouros. He goes to great lengths about it, in attempting to say that our unconscious initial reaction is often more reliable than our conscious thought. But he really only proves that archaelogists, etc are also stupid.
And so then, since we're stupid, we should often just go with our unconscious first impression. Probably good advice for the idiocracy.
I shall seek other books on the unconscious (not Freud) but I highly doubt I'll find much of use.
I love the subject but mostly dislike this book. Wilson does not believe one can uncover the unconscious thought processes by introspection. His "proof" of this is experiments/studies that only confirm that the average person is stupid. And/or he's not doing so well himself.
I was annoyed by his misinterpretation of some experiments. For example asking the girl out on a date you met on a rope bridge. Wilson thinks having fear because you're on a rope bridge leads to an adrenal rush that goes over into sexual arousal and tiddah! You're suddenly attracted to a woman you otherwise wouldn't be. He sees this as an example of not being aware of our unconscious thought processes. My explanation would just be that if we're sharing some fearful experience we're more likely to reach out socially, to bond with whomever we share such an experience with. Such, by the way, does not remotely make the feeling of a bond invalid. If a person was better able to realize that's what happening on the rope bridge that wouldn't mean they should resist the urge to ask out the woman. Yet Wilson thinks asking the woman out is proof we can't reach our unconscious.
Wilson actually in the beginning of the books mentions that the idea of "personality" is totally dependent on whatever situation your in, we don't have one single personality. Yet, Wilson then gives as proof of the futility of introspection, multiple studies that he claims are examples of people not really knowing their preferences (or their personality). When in fact, these are just examples of people not being able to construct situations in their head well enough. And/or imperfect memory. The fact, for example, that we don't really know for certain what kind of sexual mate will be best for us, is not remotely proof of any barrier to our unconscious. Every type of person isn't just sitting there in our unconscious perfectly formed and waiting for us to explore. Argggh! Really I ultimately found this book highly annoying for the degree of misinterpretation.
Wilson is an improvement from Freud, for what little that's worth.
Wilson never mentions religion, existential nihilism or such things. Nothing philosophical here. He only thinks of application in terms of the most crude. Job interviews, sexual partners, subliminal experiments to discover unconscious racism.
The idea of performing experiments to try to discover our unconscious is interesting. I never thought of such because I can actually know my unconscious by introspection.
Wilson talks about trying to get the unconscious in line with the conscious. I've thought concerning existential nihilism that it might be worth recognizing that we actually need to do the opposite to an extent.
A related book is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.
I only read the Kindle sample and I find this one so annoying I don't think I'll be able to read further. Although maybe eventually as there doesn't seem to be much out there on this subject. Gladwell starts with the example of the Getty Kouros. He goes to great lengths about it, in attempting to say that our unconscious initial reaction is often more reliable than our conscious thought. But he really only proves that archaelogists, etc are also stupid.
And so then, since we're stupid, we should often just go with our unconscious first impression. Probably good advice for the idiocracy.
I shall seek other books on the unconscious (not Freud) but I highly doubt I'll find much of use.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Endless such "one hit wonders" from that era.
What went wrong?
The most obvious thing is that the music industry has merged into 5 massive companies. Another possibility is that we're less creative because we're so busy being alone together. Which is to say we are more alone, and that in of itself is a big negative in making great music. But then furthermore we're less creative as we waste our lives on facebook, etc. A possibility rarely mentioned is that those analog synthesizers which they don't make anymore and it seems no one uses anymore not only made some essential difference in the music, but perhaps just went with vocals, etc better and/or possibly gave far superior inspiration. And then there's perhaps epigenetics. Children of the UK going through all those bombings during WWII, perhaps it turned some genes on in the next generation which was born in the late 50's or so. Probably not that one. Maybe the first two primarily.
Of course the idiocracy will tell you modern music is just as good.
Mad in America by Robert Whitaker
The treatment of the mentally ill in America is pretty awful. The main treatment in the last 70 years is to just partiallly destroy the patient's brain, nowadays by using drugs, in the past through lobotomies and many other methods. What has worked far better was simply being nice to the mentally ill. The Soteria Project in the 70's, the Quakers more than a hundred years ago, and something very recent in the lapland area of Finland are examples which went in such a direction and had far better results. Actually also something similar often occurs in the third world where the mentally ill are far less likely to be ruined by the drugs. All have had far better results than what has been done in America and Western Europe to a lesser extent.
Most recently the pharmaceutical industry has become very powerful and sophisticated. A number of dishonest studies have been pushed through by doctors who as a result literally own castles with moats, etc. Their drugs, which are only positive to the extent that they chemically lobotomize potentially dangerous psychotics (and that's an extremely small percentage of the mentally ill), are considered wonder drugs, and are now being given even to children.
It's the idiocracy. Like giving gatorade to plants. I almost am amazed that all these highly "educated" people could take part in such things. Then I remember my own experiences in academia.
Meh. I don't know what else to bother saying.
It's a really well done book. It's a world shattering sort of book. It could change people's views of the entire world, far beyond psychiatry, through seeing how FUBAR this particular area is. Because if all these PhDs and the prevailing status quo can actually be this wildly wrong in this day in age in psychiatry, what else might we be wrong about?
Well, a lot actually.
I'd recommend it to people, except that I don't actually know anyone whom I think has enough of a brain to actually read it.
And thus, what does it matter?
The treatment of the mentally ill in America is pretty awful. The main treatment in the last 70 years is to just partiallly destroy the patient's brain, nowadays by using drugs, in the past through lobotomies and many other methods. What has worked far better was simply being nice to the mentally ill. The Soteria Project in the 70's, the Quakers more than a hundred years ago, and something very recent in the lapland area of Finland are examples which went in such a direction and had far better results. Actually also something similar often occurs in the third world where the mentally ill are far less likely to be ruined by the drugs. All have had far better results than what has been done in America and Western Europe to a lesser extent.
Most recently the pharmaceutical industry has become very powerful and sophisticated. A number of dishonest studies have been pushed through by doctors who as a result literally own castles with moats, etc. Their drugs, which are only positive to the extent that they chemically lobotomize potentially dangerous psychotics (and that's an extremely small percentage of the mentally ill), are considered wonder drugs, and are now being given even to children.
It's the idiocracy. Like giving gatorade to plants. I almost am amazed that all these highly "educated" people could take part in such things. Then I remember my own experiences in academia.
Meh. I don't know what else to bother saying.
It's a really well done book. It's a world shattering sort of book. It could change people's views of the entire world, far beyond psychiatry, through seeing how FUBAR this particular area is. Because if all these PhDs and the prevailing status quo can actually be this wildly wrong in this day in age in psychiatry, what else might we be wrong about?
Well, a lot actually.
I'd recommend it to people, except that I don't actually know anyone whom I think has enough of a brain to actually read it.
And thus, what does it matter?
Monday, March 7, 2011
My list of most important nonfiction books.
In no particular order:
Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky
Contains a number of case studies where media bias is actually quantified. Explains the resulting (extreme rightwing) bias in a nonconspiratorial way.
Killing Hope by William Blum
The most comprehensive book about American Imperialism
Mad in America by Robert Whitaker
Simply being nice to the mentally ill works far better than drugs, lobotomies, electroshock therapies, drug induced seizures, diabetic induced comas, and many other barbaric "therapies". Furthermore the pharmaceutical industry lies about their patented drugs in order to maximize profits.
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
Quantifies a rather extreme increase in social isolation in America over the last century. Main culprits are the automobile, the TV and the internet.
Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske
Caffeine is pervasive in our society and a lot more harmful than people realize. For some people even a cup of coffee a day has a wide range of harmful effects.
The China Study by Thomas Campbell
Meat, eggs and diary increases the risk of many diseases even in small quantities. The power of the companies which produce such products though has been highly influential in keeping this knowledge somewhat obscured.
I'd want to include a book about how one can be physically strong on a vegan diet. This link will have to suffice:
http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=723&start=0
Anyway, these are some of the things I wish people knew a lot more about. Not that it matters. (Thank god/whoever).
In no particular order:
Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky
Contains a number of case studies where media bias is actually quantified. Explains the resulting (extreme rightwing) bias in a nonconspiratorial way.
Killing Hope by William Blum
The most comprehensive book about American Imperialism
Mad in America by Robert Whitaker
Simply being nice to the mentally ill works far better than drugs, lobotomies, electroshock therapies, drug induced seizures, diabetic induced comas, and many other barbaric "therapies". Furthermore the pharmaceutical industry lies about their patented drugs in order to maximize profits.
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
Quantifies a rather extreme increase in social isolation in America over the last century. Main culprits are the automobile, the TV and the internet.
Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske
Caffeine is pervasive in our society and a lot more harmful than people realize. For some people even a cup of coffee a day has a wide range of harmful effects.
The China Study by Thomas Campbell
Meat, eggs and diary increases the risk of many diseases even in small quantities. The power of the companies which produce such products though has been highly influential in keeping this knowledge somewhat obscured.
I'd want to include a book about how one can be physically strong on a vegan diet. This link will have to suffice:
http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=723&start=0
Anyway, these are some of the things I wish people knew a lot more about. Not that it matters. (Thank god/whoever).
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
This is one of those vampire/romance books that are read 97% by women. A woman at work recommended. Not quite my thing.
Ace: The main character is actually an extremely powerful witch but we don't find this out till late in the book. There are hints she's something special from early on. So decently so.
Injustice: Parents gruesomely murdered. People trying to force her away from her love. Could be more injustice for my taste.
Mystery: This is mainly what kept me just barely into finishing. The mystery of Ashmole 782. Unfortunately a little bit too much is withheld.
Decadence: It is a sort of romance book. Goes on about their love, which is really not my thing at all. Goes on a lot about smells and wine too. Also not my thing at all. And rowing at Oxford. More detail about jolly old England might have been nice. Really a book for women. Stereotypical women that is. Like Legend by Gemmell is maybe kind of for stereotypical (young) men.
It seemed like the writer changed her mind about things as she went. And added some stuff later on that was interesting but it seemed should have been mentioned sooner. Came across as just shoddily written.
This is one of those vampire/romance books that are read 97% by women. A woman at work recommended. Not quite my thing.
Ace: The main character is actually an extremely powerful witch but we don't find this out till late in the book. There are hints she's something special from early on. So decently so.
Injustice: Parents gruesomely murdered. People trying to force her away from her love. Could be more injustice for my taste.
Mystery: This is mainly what kept me just barely into finishing. The mystery of Ashmole 782. Unfortunately a little bit too much is withheld.
Decadence: It is a sort of romance book. Goes on about their love, which is really not my thing at all. Goes on a lot about smells and wine too. Also not my thing at all. And rowing at Oxford. More detail about jolly old England might have been nice. Really a book for women. Stereotypical women that is. Like Legend by Gemmell is maybe kind of for stereotypical (young) men.
It seemed like the writer changed her mind about things as she went. And added some stuff later on that was interesting but it seemed should have been mentioned sooner. Came across as just shoddily written.
Legend by David Gemmell
Some people were saying this was his best book, which leads me to conclude yet again that people are very stupid.
Does it have some greater message?
If so it's an ugly one in my opinion, which is that there's something good about pointlessly getting yourself killed in a war. Although I have been thinking lately about how if the ultimate goal of one's life is to continue staying alive, that person is a monster. I wonder if it was this book that got me thinking in such a direction. Thinking that not just in terms of the endless MR patients whom just lay there and shit themselves for decades that I have to deal with, but in terms of people who sacrifice their ethical principles in order to survive. I think though we've evolved into creatures that sacrifice ethical principles without exception. Those who didn't all did eventually die without reproducing.
Gemmell has some writing talents. There are diverse characters here. But just not so moved to describe much.
Thinking now in terms of Ace, Mystery, Injustice and Decadence. How did this do in such terms?
A bit of magic with little explanation, thus decent mystery.
The Legend has got an ace, although it's not really up his sleeve.
Not really much in the way of injustice. Maybe could have strongly emphasized the fact this outpost wasn't receiving adequate help against the invaders, but I think that would have gone against his strange (and vaguely offensive) idea of the honor of fighting till death.
I guess the fighting would be this book's version of decadence. And the entire second is one long fight scene. So it's decadent. Just not my type.
Some people were saying this was his best book, which leads me to conclude yet again that people are very stupid.
Does it have some greater message?
If so it's an ugly one in my opinion, which is that there's something good about pointlessly getting yourself killed in a war. Although I have been thinking lately about how if the ultimate goal of one's life is to continue staying alive, that person is a monster. I wonder if it was this book that got me thinking in such a direction. Thinking that not just in terms of the endless MR patients whom just lay there and shit themselves for decades that I have to deal with, but in terms of people who sacrifice their ethical principles in order to survive. I think though we've evolved into creatures that sacrifice ethical principles without exception. Those who didn't all did eventually die without reproducing.
Gemmell has some writing talents. There are diverse characters here. But just not so moved to describe much.
Thinking now in terms of Ace, Mystery, Injustice and Decadence. How did this do in such terms?
A bit of magic with little explanation, thus decent mystery.
The Legend has got an ace, although it's not really up his sleeve.
Not really much in the way of injustice. Maybe could have strongly emphasized the fact this outpost wasn't receiving adequate help against the invaders, but I think that would have gone against his strange (and vaguely offensive) idea of the honor of fighting till death.
I guess the fighting would be this book's version of decadence. And the entire second is one long fight scene. So it's decadent. Just not my type.
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