I'm a pure-D housebound gimp now, but otherwise things are lovely. Mr. ZM got a job at Blizzard, so we moved to Irvine and holy hell do I not miss living in Los Angeles, although we do visit once a month.
A little birdie told me someone had randomly dissed my blog because I stopped updating for a while. Which I found fairly funny given all the circumstances he knows nothing about. And it also made me want to come by and see all you wonderful people again.
All this new folderol with the trophies and the buttons and the icons is rendering me frightened and confused, though.
#15
Allen who is Quiet
Irvine? Man, I forgot you lived relatively nearby.
#16
Bumble the Boy Wonder
You didn't miss anything... not nearly as much as we missed you.
I had a hard time in school because my teachers all had at least one of my 3 older brothers.
I can't imagine being the last of 21 to go through the same school district.
#28
Bubble181
Oh, and if that was a reference to buffalo buffalo buffalo, I want my maple cookie please (cfr your blog post of July 6th). Otherwise, I'm curious what it's a reference to.
Ha ha, how sad that I knew that was the first thing to do when I was poking around here for the first time in forever.
stienman, your fecundity astonished me two years ago, so that hasn't changed. Mazel tov! And we moved a year ago. I was seriously about to turn into an agoraphobic towards the end there. Oh, and the cats like it better here too.
I regret that I didn't get the chance to know you as much as the "older generation" on here before you disappeared, but I recall that your posts were usually of a higher-than-average caliber.
Glad to see that you haven't disappeared! There's been entirely too much of that, of late.
Ok Dave, i admit you where right, sacrificing Chaz in that blood ritual did work...
#38
Azurephoenix
The legendary ZenMonkey returns!
#39
ZenMonkey
Thanks all. I literally don't have the energy (mental or physical) to keep up around here anymore -- which is no comment on the forums at all, just a fact of my illness. But lately I've really needed a little HF back in my life.
No, I've been treading fetid water in some other murky depths. Suffice it to say that I was craving the mature discourse of Halforums -- not kidding -- if that gives you any indication. Also I felt like being around people with goddamn senses of humor again!
*waves quietly to the lurking types* *shakes hands with Frank* *hugs all the rest of you crazy bastiges*
It's clearly rtying to lure food with a fake Bumble, but such bait is far too liable to attract GasBandits and other dangerous creatures. He's going to get eaten one of these days, I tell you.
Oh, and if that was a reference to buffalo buffalo buffalo, I want my maple cookie please (cfr your blog post of July 6th). Otherwise, I'm curious what it's a reference to.
Yeah, i'll let any future kids know that if some blue ghost shows up with unsolicited advice and asks them to go to the dark side jungles of Brazil for training they shouldn't kiss any attractive females because it's probably their twin sister...
Used to post under a different name since before the schism, I think we conversed once or twice. I mostly hung around in the GBandit vs JCM epic thread battles of history.
Forrest J Ackerman used the term sci-fi (analogous to the then-trendy "hi-fi") at UCLA in 1954.[38] As science fiction entered popular culture, writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "B-movies" and with low-quality pulp science fiction.[39][40][41] By the 1970s, critics within the field such as Terry Carr and Damon Knight were using sci-fi to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction,[42] and around 1978, Susan Wood and others introduced the pronunciation "skiffy". Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers".[43]David Langford's monthly fanzine Ansible includes a regular section "As Others See Us" which offers numerous examples of "sci-fi" being used in a pejorative sense by people outside the genre.[44]
In other words, "I'm a pretentious douchey nerd nobody can stand. Like the fat kid from Anime Club."
#110
Calleja
You read a webcomic named "Anime Club" and I'M the nerd?
It's not really a pretentious thing, it's really gotten to the point where you need to separate Space Operas and "pulp fantasies in space!" from real science fiction. Star Wars isn't science fiction, Star Trek is. It's not necessarily bad to not be science fiction, but when authors like Asimov and Clarke himself speak up against the term "Sci-Fi", it's hard to argue with them.
It's like pop and rock. It's ok to like both, and arguing which is better is subjective and stupid, but you don't go around calling them the same thing, even if the roots could be the same.
You read a webcomic named "Anime Club" and I'M the nerd?
It's not really a pretentious thing, it's really gotten to the point where you need to separate Space Operas and "pulp fantasies in space!" from real science fiction. Star Wars isn't science fiction, Star Trek is. It's not necessarily bad to not be science fiction, but when authors like Asimov and Clarke himself speak up against the term "Sci-Fi", it's hard to argue with them.
It's like pop and rock. It's ok to like both, and arguing which is better is subjective and stupid, but you don't go around calling them the same thing, even if the roots could be the same.
it's not my fault that Achewood is one of the good ones and Penny Arcade goes around with its pants down to its ankles, talking in its ghetto slang, listening to rap music and gangbanging
it's not my fault that Achewood is one of the good ones and Penny Arcade goes around with its pants down to its ankles, talking in its ghetto slang, listening to rap music and gangbanging
You're dealing in absolutes anyway, Sith. You said those two were the ONLY webcomics that didn't "completely fucking suck always". Those are 2 generalizations right there. Nice logic. You should jump down your own throat with sentences like that.
I like Science Fiction and SciFi, but lately I've been rather disappointed with SyFy.
And I believe Star Trek is generally regarded as "Science Fantasy."
Wait, lemme see if I can dig up a graphic I posted on this subject a loooooong time ago...
…nuts, can't find it (we can't look up our uploaded graphics any more? Aww…), I'll repost it here when I get back home, but it was regarding the Silistra series
It is great that they came back from that long hiatus. How long was it, seems like years.
#137
fade
When I think of science fantasy, I think of things like A Wrinkle in Time or A Princess of Mars. There's a focus on the science, but it is beyond unlikely, and more specifically, it has fantasy elements.
#138
strawman
Unfortunately that's a pretty subjective measure. Knowing what we know now, Edgar Rice Burroughs would not be considered science fiction. The atmosphere on nearby planets is not human compatible, and there aren't creatures on those planets.
But he is certainly considered an early pioneer of science fiction, and you'll be hard pressed to find any serious science fiction organization claim otherwise.
Wait, lemme see if I can dig up a graphic I posted on this subject a loooooong time ago...
…nuts, can't find it (we can't look up our uploaded graphics any more? Aww…), I'll repost it here when I get back home, but it was regarding the Silistra series
Notice how even the publisher can't decide whether or not this series is Fantasy, Science Fiction, etc. And then there's that "Science Fantasy" novel just below.
Incidentally, "The Inner Light" is my favorite episode in all of Trekdom.
I'm pretty sure this is a subjective thing, but I know authors like Larry Niven, Hal Clement, and others call what they do "hard" SF (which is what I see meant by "Science Fiction" as opposed to "SciFi" above), meaning that everything that they write is based on Science as it was known at the time of writing (or at least a best effort). Star Trek, in particular, has often been called out because they play fast and loose with Physics, especially as it applies to transporters, communication, genetics, etc. That is to say, in Trek, Nature often bows to the plot device of the moment. It makes great stories, certainly, but it lacks accuracy...even to itself. That is, even if you assume the laws of Physics actually are different in the Trek universe, they will up and violate their very own rules in another episode. So long as it's not too glaring, it doesn't ruin the immersion, but there have certainly been some eye rollers. I know that Arthur C. Clarke is quoted as saying, "Any sufficiently advanced techn0logy is indistinguishable from Magic," but there's a lot of the Trek universe that seems to operate purely on Faith and/or Whimsy. Again, doesn't stop me from enjoying it, just frays a little at the edges.
--Patrick
#140
Calleja
No, I've always seen Hard SF as, well, a really rigorous subset of SF, but making then all "soft" SF "SciFi" is unfair. There's a reason the term Hard SF exists.
Reducing Star Trek to "Science Fantasy" because it doesn't go deeply into technicalities (this would make ANY Hard SF series become bogged down with long, technical explanations. Hard SF is almost exclusively written because of this, it's not very compatible with the pacing of television or movies) is taking it too far.
Besides, I've truly never, ever heard it being referred to as a "Fantasy". Wikipedia, which has TONS of pages on the discussion for terms like these goes with "Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise", whereas something that is DEFINITELY not SF like Star Wars goes with "Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise"
Unfortunately that's a pretty subjective measure. Knowing what we know now, Edgar Rice Burroughs would not be considered science fiction. The atmosphere on nearby planets is not human compatible, and there aren't creatures on those planets.
But he is certainly considered an early pioneer of science fiction, and you'll be hard pressed to find any serious science fiction organization claim otherwise.
I'd say that's true, but then the lines between spec fic/science fic/science fantasy are pretty fuzzy and subjective. It's possible for a story to be viewed as all three. But what makes Princess science fantasy isn't that the science is wrong. It doesn't have to be right to be science fiction, just believable. What makes it science fantasy is that the science is there, but the fantasy opera story is also there.
#142
Chippy
Forgot to add Hark! A Vagrant and Three Word phrase to the list of good webcomics
#143
bhamv3
I feel like there's an Arthur C. Clarke quote appropriate here.
I know right. They're missing SCA furries, renfaire furries, roleplaying furries, LARP furries, comic furries, and bald furries?
#150
Calleja
What? that chart's stupid, it's implying being "more geeky" is bad. I'm the biggest geek I've ever, ever met. Seriously, there's no sphere of geekdom I don't at least have the equivalent of a high school diploma on. I have several geek PhDs, too.
What? that chart's stupid, it's implying being "more geeky" is bad. I'm the biggest geek I've ever, ever met. Seriously, there's no sphere of geekdom I don't at least have the equivalent of a high school diploma on. I have several geek PhDs, too.
Ayep. For a really good example of "Where exactly do I put this one?" you can check out Christopher Stasheff's "The Warlock in Spite of Himself," which can pretty much be described as quintessential Science Fantasy.
True, but most of them are written with the assumption that they are not required to educate their readership about the principles involved (though many do anyway), it's just a requirement that the story be grounded in our current understanding of reality. I completely agree that Hard SF can get pretty tedious and dry as the author drones on and on about minutiae, but I don't pretend to "get" every XKCD comic without a little help from Google, either.
--Patrick
#156
strawman
I DON'T CARE THAT THEY USED A WORMHOLE AND THAT OUR PLASMA WEAPONS WORK VIA PHOTOSYNTHESIS JUST TELL ME ABOUT THE ALIEN INVASION AND HOW WE BEAT THEM REAL GOOD.
I DON'T CARE THAT THEY USED A WORMHOLE AND THAT OUR PLASMA WEAPONS WORK VIA PHOTOSYNTHESIS JUST TELL ME ABOUT THE ALIEN INVASION AND HOW WE BEAT THEM REAL GOOD.
S1 is hard to get through... just pay attention to the b plots in each episode and ignore the main plots up until the season finale...[DOUBLEPOST=1359154319][/DOUBLEPOST]
Hey, stop interrupting my righteous rant with your silly pointing out of clarifications you made in the meantime...[DOUBLEPOST=1359155112][/DOUBLEPOST]
Unfortunately that's a pretty subjective measure. Knowing what we know now, Edgar Rice Burroughs would not be considered science fiction. The atmosphere on nearby planets is not human compatible, and there aren't creatures on those planets.
But he is certainly considered an early pioneer of science fiction, and you'll be hard pressed to find any serious science fiction organization claim otherwise.
Mars having life or not doesn't actually matter in this case, the actual question you need to ask is "if Mars had life, could it work like in the book IRL?"