Sunday, February 24, 2008 

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Title: Cursor's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Ace
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0441015476
Pages: 544
Keywords: fantasy
Reading period: 23-24 February, 2008

Cursor's Fury is the third book in Jim Butcher's fantasy series, Codex Alera, and the sequel to Academ's Fury.

Tavi is now a cursor, a special agent of the First Lord. Planted undercover in a newly-formed legion, Tavi suddenly becomes its leader when all the other officers are assassinated, just as an invading force of Canim have landed nearby. Meanwhile, his aunt Isana, is trapped in a besieged city, when one of the High Lords, Kalare, attempts a coup. Isana's brother Bernard and his wife Amara lead an attack against Kalare.

Exciting and entertaining, with almost every chapter ending in a cliffhanger for one of the principals.

posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 7:58:06 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Title: 1634: The Bavarian Crisis
Author: Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Baen
Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 1416542531
Pages: 690
Keywords: alternate history
Reading period: 13-23 February, 2008

Another book from the 1632 series. This one largely develops a new plot. The archduchess Maria Anna of Austria is sent to Bavaria to marry the newly widowed Duke Maximilian, and finds that she'd rather not. She flees Munich in the company of two Grantville women, triggering a major crisis.

The book is entertaining but it's marred by obsessively detailing the enormously complicated realpolitik of Mitteleuropa. Still, it's one of the good books in the 1632 series.

posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 7:57:15 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, February 17, 2008 

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Title: Domino
Author: Ross King
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Publisher: Penguin
Copyright: 1995
ISBN: 0142003360
Pages: 436
Keywords: fiction, historical
Reading period: 15 January-12 February, 2008

George Cautley, a young gentleman of indifferent background, comes to London in 1770 and attempts to enter society, hoping to make his way as a painter. He becomes obsessed with Lady Beauclair, who sits for her portrait and spins him a tale of a castrato opera singer, who fifty years earlier fled Italy for London.

Lady Beauclair is not what she seems. Indeed, nothing is what it seems in this novel. Everything is a mask. Or a masquerade. Arch whispers. Veiled glances. Layers of face paint hiding blemishes. New portraits daubed on top of old. Deception. Intrigue.

posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 6:49:08 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 

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I sent this letter to the New York Times this morning:

I was struck by the juxtaposition of Anya Kamenetz's thoughtful column and Maureen Dowd's puerile nonsense on today's op-ed page.

Anya Kamenetz's makes a sensible proposal on empowering ready teenagers by lowering the age thresholds for voting, drinking, credit cards when they demonstrate maturity.

Maureen Dowd continues in her usual rut, going on again about Cheneyesque paranoia, Bill's legacy, Obambi, and tough dames.

Perhaps Ms. Dowd could take Ms. Kamenetz's maturity test.

We attended a Super Tuesday party last night. As a PCO, I know a fair bit about the local caucus process, but I was unable to give a good answer about who the super delegates are. What should I find in my email as soon as I got home, but a list of the Washington State super delegates.

Elected Officials

  • Rep. Rick Larsen (2nd District)

  • Rep. Brian Baird (3rd District)

  • Rep. Norm Dicks (6th District)

  • Rep. Jim McDermott (7th District)

  • Gov. Chris Gregoire

Democratic National Committee Members

  • Dwight Pelz - WA Democratic Party Chair

  • Eileen Macoll - WA Vice Chair

  • Ed Cote (coed@pacifier.com)

  • Sharon Mast (skmast@att.net)

  • David McDonald (davidm@prestongates.com)

Already Endorsed Obama

  • Rep. Adam Smith (WA)

  • Pat Noter WA DNC Member

Already Endorsed Clinton

  • Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA)

  • Rep. Jay Inslee (WA)

  • Former Speaker Tom Foley (WA)

  • Sen. Patty Murray (WA)

  • Ron Sims (WA)

Finally ...

Methinks the lady doth protest too much, -or-, please don't throw me in the briar patch. Conservapedia's most viewed pages:

  1. Homosexuality [2,329,656]

  2. Main Page [2,221,503]

  3. Teen Homosexuality [409,064]

  4. Arguments Against Homosexuality [329,586]

  5. Homosexual Agenda [326,164]

  6. Ex-homosexuals [314,408]

  7. Homosexuality and Choice [309,297]

  8. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer [297,073]

  9. Homosexuality and Health [290,954]

  10. Wikipedia [290,439]

posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 6:32:38 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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Sunday, February 03, 2008 

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Use O'Reilly Maker to generate book covers. I've always wanted to write a book for cousin Tim, and now I have!

Via Pavel: Adolf Hitler - Vista Problems (YouTube).

The Photographer's Right: a handy one-page guide.

The general rule in the United States is that anyone may take photographs of whatever they want when they are in a public place or places where they have permission to take photographs. Absent a specific legal prohibition such as a statute or ordinance, you are legally entitled to take photographs. Examples of places that are traditionally considered public are streets, sidewalks, and public parks.

The tiny <code> font in Firefox has been bugging me for a long time. I finally figured out the obvious: Override the Monospace setting. Tools > Options > Content > Fonts & Colors > Advanced > Monospace: change Courier New at size 13 to 16. While you're at it, change the font to Consolas or Lucida Console or Monaco. Courier New is ugly.

My man, John Edwards, is out of the presidential race. Some analysis from Corrente and Meteor Blades of Edwards' candidacy.

I have never been enthusiastic about Hillary Rodham Clinton as a presidential candidate. She's accumulated 16 years of negatives from being relentlessly demonized by Limbaugh and his ilk; she's too damn centrist and corporate for my liking; and I remain troubled about her vote for the Iraq War and her refusal to apologize for it.

I am now an Obama voter. I have expressed some doubts in the past about his efficacy, but there's no doubt that his messages of transformation and inspiration are striking a chord with primary voters.

The Washington state primary on February 19th is a complete farce, at least if you're a Democrat. The Democratic presidential candidates are entirely chosen by the Washington state caucuses on Saturday, February 9th. Washington state law requires that a presidential primary be held, but the parties are not actually obliged to select any delegates as a result of the vote. The Republicans delegates will be allocated 49% from the caucus results, and 51% from the primary results.

I'm the Democratic Precinct Committee Officer for SEA-1945, and I'll be participating in our neighborhood caucus at Asa Mercer School. I need to phone participants of the previous caucus today, both in my own precinct and some adjoining, PCO-less precincts, to remind them of the caucus.

I've uploaded Vim syntax highlighting for PBwiki, a free, hosted wiki that I've used for a few different projects.

posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 8:43:06 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 
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