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Topics - Camlost

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This is far from TSA related, but thankfully this subcategory seems to be the appropriate place, I'm thinking about taking a road trip across the country. I'm hoping I might solicit some advice and/or recommendations from the folks here for things worth stopping for or seeing.

To give something of a perspective on my potential trip: I live in London, Ontario and I'm hoping to coordinate the beginning of my trip to include a favourite music festival (Dark Star Jubilee) before hitting the road. My end game is to hit California, do a few hiking trips there and then drive up the west coast back into Canada and journey my way home from there.

So the most direct route I can tell from looking at a map is to hit Michigan, Ohio (festival is in Thornville), and then cut West across the country. There are at least a dozen states I could hit between Ohio and California along the way. Is there anything I shouldn't miss? It's easy to check state tourism sites, but I consider those tertiary resources compared to firsthand experience.

[EDIT: I realized it might be worth noting that my trip would be beginning around the end of May; whether there are music festivals, cultural events, state celebrations, or what have you that are time sensitive, I'm just hoping for any feedback to better organize my meanderings]

[EDIT Madness]: For title.

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Author Q&A / [TGO SPOILERS] Cant of Translocation
« on: July 07, 2016, 01:46:17 pm »
How is that Kellhus practically collapses with exhaustion after arriving in time to confront the leader of the Cult of Yatwer, yet he departs from Dagliash for Momemn and is still able to confront both Meppa and Malowebi upon his arrival?

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Author Q&A / [TGO SPOILERS] In the Pursuit of Oblivion
« on: July 06, 2016, 07:27:01 pm »
Do the Nonmen strive for oblivion in life or death?

In either case, how is the Amiolas a punishment? Surely, a soul in limbo is as close as one might get to actual oblivion?

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Writing / Wheel of Osheim Writing Contest
« on: March 21, 2016, 09:35:17 pm »
Looks like a flash fiction contest. Not sure what more to say. Win a signed book?

https://thatthornguy.com/2016/03/21/the-wheel-of-osheim-writing-contest/

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Writing / Write a Novel online course
« on: January 21, 2016, 05:49:22 pm »
So someone sent me a Groupon they received and it happened to be for an online course designed to facilitate and guide someone in writing a novel. Generally, I'm pretty skeptical of any such course that would espouse the ability to teach someone to write a novel, but after a cursory glance at the course description and structure I was admittedly intrigued. Whether I believe that the course can accomplish what it claims, I do believe it is of value to consider, if not accept, the advice of those who have been before and done what you aim to do.

Here's the thing that really solidified it for me. The course is £400. The Groupon is $39 (CAD I believe, but even if it were USD that's a steal). I was willing to spend that kind of money for hours of content considering I've spent more than that for less in other instances.

In any case, I mention it here for any others that might be interested. In addition, they included a referral link with my purchase. If you're interested, check it out: http://groupon.com/bwf/5c97a007-dbd9-4f4a-b0d0-ebdeb15854e9?utm_medium=bwf&utm_source=bwf_fw_email You can save an additional $14 if you purchase before January 24.

Even if you don't buy, I'll likely post any particularly interesting information that I uncover while delving more into it.

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General Misc. / Video Game Thread! What are you playing?
« on: December 01, 2015, 07:36:35 pm »
I'm a bit surprised it hasn't come up by now. I figured I'd broach the subject. What games are you guys playing, if any, these days?

I've always been a sucker for Blizzard games ever since Diablo II and Warcraft III. I nearly went pro in the latter, but let college get in the way lol.

I've seen that a few others of you are playing SCII as well. I am picking that up soon.

In addition to that, if anyone plays Hearthstone or Heroes of the Storm, let me know.

I am always looking for new games to check out too

[EDIT Madness: Title and stickied.]

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Congratulations, you made it past the recruitment phase. Fasten your boots and sharpen your knives. This marks the first step on the journey I guess. Within this thread we'll be discussing the prologue as well as chapters one through four. The entirety of this endeavour is taking place under the Almanac heading, so there shouldn't be any reason to fret over spoilers (Madness you keep your mouth shut). Have at it boys!

[EDIT Madness]: The topics during this reread are open spoilers. The rest of the Almanac is up for debate (and really was a wild wild place of conduct because nothing was ever enforced).

[EDIT Madness]: Title to include the Prologue.

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General Earwa / The Slog of Slogs: A TSA Reread
« on: November 10, 2015, 09:32:56 pm »
Now I know we've tried in the past to do a forum-wide or group reread of The Second Apocalypse and it didn't meet with spectacular results; however, now we have The Great Ordeal looming on the horizon, and if that isn't impetus enough to brush up on that which has come before then I don't know what is.

So with that said, I'm going to be rereading both Prince of Nothing and The Aspect Emperor series in preparation for the upcoming release. I'm going to take it at a leisurely pace of one novel a month starting in January so that anyone else interested might join me(and so as not to interfere with my class readings..).

That also gives us ample time to discuss and speculate or resurrect any details that come up throughout the course of reading.

If anyone wants to join in reading along, I'm happy for the company. If anyone just wants to post while we go, that is more than welcome too.

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Philosophy & Science / Connectivity rolling over Connection?
« on: August 21, 2015, 02:39:12 am »
Not sure this fits here, but I reckoned science and technology some sort of symbiotic and indivisible enough relationship that I'd find forgiveness for it.

A little exposition as it brought about my observation/concern: I was out on a bar patio last night with a bunch of friends, maybe a dozen of us, for one last shin dig before the summer ends and school again takes over people's lives. We're all hanging out, having drinks, chatting, that kind of jazz, and at one point I notice that about nine of thirteen people have their phone out or in their hands. I couldn't help but be irritated by the fact that odds were we weren't likely to see each other again for months and these folks were absorbed in their phones.

So I did what any sensible passive aggressive person would and swallowed my frustration and did my best to get some more lively conversation going, thinking that perhaps that was all the technological distraction was about. It wasn't. It got to the point where I whispered to my buddy how ridiculous a situation this was and he remedied the situation by sending a mass text message to everyone saying something along the lines: "Anyone with a phone out must stack it face down in the center of the table. Anytime you want to check your phone you have to buy a drink for everyone stacked below yours"

I thought it was a little pathetic that that was what was required to get people off their phones whilst hanging out with their friends, but it seemed to work. Until one guy realized he could just buy a pitcher and take his phone out of the rotation and somehow managed to seem perturbed that I hadn't even taken mine out of my pocket since I had arrived.

I don't know if any of you have ever experienced anything similar or to what degree, but it kind of depressed me. At what point does--or has it long been past--constant availability and constant connectivity get in the way of simply being present? I mean, when did the fact that someone actually paying attention to the people they are with become in any way remarkable? Is this dynamic indicative of the current state of human interaction? Am I being unreasonable or should I start searching for some mountain cavern and take up residence?

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Literature / Weapons in Fantasy
« on: July 23, 2015, 04:07:09 pm »
I was just doing a quick reread of Richard Morgan's A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy before diving into the last book and it kind of surprised me that the topic of legendary weapons has never come up given that we comprise what I suspect is primarily a spec-fic audience. So, based on my most recent read, I present the Ravensfriend:

Quote
"I am Welcomed in the Home of Ravens and Other Scavengers in the Wake of Warriors," Ringil recited for him, hollowly. "I am Friend to Carrion Crows and Wolves. I am Carry Me and Kill with Me, and Die with Me Where the Road Ends. I am not the Honeyed Promise of Length of Life in Years to Come. I am the Iron Promise of Never Being a Slave."
"That's its dedication?"
"That's its name," Ringil told him flatly.

A few others come to mind immediately, but I haven't any defining passages to include for them. Any weapons you've read about that really stand out to you? If this catches on I'll add some more

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Light, Time, and Gravity / Spare a copy of LTG?
« on: May 19, 2015, 09:39:37 pm »
I recently had to reformat my desktop and lost a lot of files, one of which was my downloaded version of Light, Time, and Gravity.

Would anyone out there be kind enough to email me a copy of it or direct me to the original download source (I haven't had the time to look for it).

Any lead would be much appreciated

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General Misc. / Light Speed and Relativity
« on: March 31, 2015, 04:05:07 am »
You guys seem like a smart lot and have likely dug through more than your fair share of science fiction, so I thought I'd query you. I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around Relativity and light speed travel. I've done a bit of research online and I've found that those sites which strip the complexity down to a level that it's openly accessible don't give enough information and those that don't shy away from the mathematics of it are far too confusing. There are all sorts of relativity calculators but without a basic theoretical understanding I'm really just punching numbers. One fact I did find interesting, mainly because it had never really occurred to me, is that the effects of relativity don't really begin to become significant until you are closely approaching the speed of light (ie. >0.8c).

The reason I bring it up is that I'm having an issue with a short story I'm considering in which the transfer of information over vast distances is a significant element. I'd like to avoid the "ansible" route if possible because the instantaneousness would undermine other elements of the story.

Any of you guys have a working understanding of complex physics that might be willing to break this down to something more manageable? Or, how about any examples in books you've ready that you feel handle this issue well?

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Literature / Ender's Quartet
« on: March 28, 2015, 03:44:21 am »
I just finished up Children of the Mind, after a long hiatus from the series following what I found to be a less than enjoyable read of Xenocide, and I'm left disappointed. Neither the third or the fourth installments managed to deliver on that which made the first two so captivating. Am I the only one who feels this way? Am I missing something about the last two that might redeem them in my eyes if I were enlightened?

(click to show/hide)

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Literature / Summer Reading Lists
« on: March 14, 2015, 02:17:58 am »
The winter season and school year eats up so much of my time that my reading rate usually drops by about half. With the summer coming though I'm already building my projected reading list in my head and I'm curious what you guys have on your shelves waiting to be delved into--I'm always looking for recommendations and new authors.

This is what I have ready and waiting so far, which will no doubt expand with new releases and level of consumption:
Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
A Dance with Dragons by George R. Martin
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Dark Defiles by Richard Morgan
The Crippled God by Steven Erikson and maybe so Esslemont novels (It's about time I finished that series)
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
The Birth of Classical Europe by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann

I also have two enormous tomes of Lovecraft and Poe short stories I'll be digging through

What do you guys have on your to-read lists? Anything your anxiously waiting to be released? Any recommendations?

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