alicebentley | Reading

Music Meme, Day 16

A song from a television soundtrack:

The reimagined Battlestar Galactica was one of the best SFF shows of the 1990s - in fact, it may be the best SFF show of all time (with The Expanse only a hair behind it), at least in my opinion. Its soundtrack by composer Bear McCreary is a major engine driving the story, underlying the incredible writing and acting that made BSG the classic that it became. McCreary, who also composed for shows such as Outlander, for which he won an Emmy, became known during his tenure on all four seasons of BSG for what fans lovingly termed "the poundy drums." They're here in this song, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In his reimagining (there's that word again) of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, McCreary did what I initially thought was impossible. Who could be arrogant enough to rescore that song? He was, and despite my initial wariness, I came to love his version even more than Dylan's. It plays during a key point in the show's third season, and the show's producers were absolutely right to go with it. I'm including two versions here: the one on the Season 3 soundtrack, and a live version that McCreary directed during a night of BSG music played live several years ago.

Watch on YouTube

Before I add the live version, here are my previous meme answers, starting with Day 13 (which has a link to the 12 previous answers, and adding Day 14 and Day 15.

Finally, here's the live version of the song.

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: BSG "All Along the Watchtower"

alicebentley

That work thing I didn't much talk about: sales aren't as strong as they need to be at The Bone Factory, and as part of dealing with that they have pulled me out of my beloved Assembly area and put me on Shipping Support. Specifically, running the ink jet printer.

I don't mind doing it, and it's certainly a critical path task, but it's rather a step down from my previous position. Also, sometime in January they're going to drop me to part time. I'm guessing 20 hrs/week but they won't say and I suspect they don't know yet.

It will be a hit in the wallet, and a blow to my illusions of being a useful and valuable member of my work team. But I've never forgotten that Life Is Change, and I'll help it all come around right eventually.

Once I'm on part time I will likely poke around town for an additional part time job. There are a couple places I think likely. But I'm going to put that all aside until I return from my upcoming Friends and Family Adventure, which starts next week (flying to Chicago Wednesday evening) and runs through until past New Years (taking the train from Kalamazoo MI to Chicago IL, then Portland OR, then Seattle WA. That will be a three day trip and I'll be bringing lots of ebooks and audio books.

For 2026 I plan to log all the books I read and/or listen to, even the ones I DNF (which happens rather a lot I'm sad to say).

rolanni

For those who consume podcasts, The Baen Free Radio Hour today features, among other things, Sean Hazlett and me chatting about I Dare and a buncha other stuff, too. Link

rolanni

The Long Back Yard, with sublimating snow:

Friday. Raining like heck, heading for the mid-50s. All the dampness will freeze overnight of course. I am so not looking forward to driving to Brunswick tomorrow in the early AM. Yeah, chicken, here.

Dishwasher doing its thing.

Half hour with the Happy Lite has been had while I made notes for the Unending WIP. Breakfast was oatmeal with walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chips, because I had them. Lunch will probably be soup, to celebrate the rain. That may not be the right word. Oh, and I bought a bag of those lovely little oranges, so I can have an orange for dessert.

Today's to-do list includes Glaring at the WIP; stripping the bed, washing the sheets, and putting the bed back together; changing out the cat boxes; getting the WIP and all its attendants onto a portable hard drive so it can be attached to my laptop and work can continue in the face of progress. Also, the usual fidgets of hanging stuff away and poking at piles.

I am remiss in reporting that I really like my new glasses, and am wearing them. The old glasses -- and I should've minded this better -- had gotten to the point that I preferred not to wear them; they just made everything worse.

Someone asked where I got my glasses -- apparently places like Lenscrafters no longer carry titanium frames, which -- What? I get my glasses at the retail side of my optometrist's office -- Eye Care of Maine. SPOILER: They cost the earth, and I'm not really sure how much of that is the blue light coating and the no-line progressive lenses, and how much is the frame.

All that said, and the to-do list, I better get myself busy.

What's happening with you today?

james_davis_nicoll

In which history long forgotten is recovered.

Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold (Abeni’s Song, volume 2) by P. Djèlí Clark

redbird

No, I did not spend all the money in my wallet on chocolate*, but I treated us to a box of chocolates from Serenade, the chocolatier in Brookline with a wide selection of vegan chocolates.

I took the bus to Brookline Village, walked a little extra because I was wrong about which bus stop to use, walked into the shop, and asked for a one-pound box.

I bought two vegan caramels, which Adrian had asked for; I'd have gotten more, but I wasn't sure what she or Cattitude think of sea salt caramel. Just for myself, I got six dairy truffles, three lemon and three lime. The rest was a few (vegan) chocolate creams, and a lot of chocolate-dipped fruit and nuts, including several of their excellent chocolate covered plums, a candy I haven't seen anywhere else.

I came home via Trader Joe's, where I bought fruit, a bell pepper, hummus, pre-cooked chicken sausages, a carton of chocolate ice cream, and a box of frozen vanilla and chocolate macarons.

Even counting the chocolate part of the groceries, I would have had money left from the $79 that happens to be how much cash is in my wallet right now. That's a pretty arbitrary metric, since I don't always have the same amount of cash (I do make a point of having some, because cash still comes in handy sometimes).

*see yesterday's post

rolanni

62 The Besotted Baron (Bad Heir Days #4), Grace Burrows (e)
61 Storm Called, (Royal States #1) Susan Copperfield (e)
60 That the Dead May Rest, Karen A. Wylie (e)
59 Emilie and the Sky World,(Emilie Adventures#2) Martha Wells (e)
58 The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman (e) (bkclb)
57 The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, Mindy Thompson (e)
56 Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (e) (bkclb)
55 Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega 2)(re-read) (e)
54 Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega 1) (re-read) (e)
53 Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega.5(re-read) (e)
52 Blind Date with a Werewolf, Patricia Briggs (e)
51 The Women, Kristin Hannah (e) (bkclb)
50 Emilie and the Hollow World, (Emilie Adventures #1) Martha Wells (e)
49 Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48 Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47 Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46 Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45 Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44 Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43 Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42 Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41 I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40 To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39 These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38 Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37 Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36 The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35 Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33 The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32 Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31 The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30 The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29 Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28 The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27 Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26 The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25 Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24 The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23 Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22 The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21 The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20 A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19 The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18 A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17 All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16 Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15 The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14 A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13 Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11 Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10 Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9 House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6 Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.

rolanni

Supervisors be supervisin'

Not a very satisfactory afternoon, alas.

Back and knees hurt from PT, which meant that it was hard to concentrate, and though I did write a scene, I fear it is the wrong scene, but I'll look at it tomorrow.

I clipped Tali's front claws, but when I tried to do the same for Rook, he hissed at me, which was very lowering. For both of us, apparently. He's now trying to pretend that it never happened, but his claws still need to be clipped. Tomorrow, I'm thinking.

Speaking of tomorrow -- the 'beans are calling for mid-50sF and rain, with an overnight low of 23F, so that's going to be a fun 6am drive on Saturday morning.

I believe I will be having an Early Night and a sleep-til-I-wake morning.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Today's blog post title brought to you by! "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day," written by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz.

rolanni

. . . this keeps happening. Must investigate.

So. Thursday. Sunny 40!F!/4C.

Breakfast was the last of my homemade hummus and naan. Am munching on cheddar cheese pretzel pieces as I type this, because (1) they're addictive and (2) I'm snackish. Lunch will be the other piece of lasagna.

PT has been accomplished, as well as a PO run, and a stop at the grocery store. I filled the car up with gas, so I'm ready to go flying outta here on Saturday morning on a heading for Brunswick.

I have not been able to get excited about Doing Something for Christmas. I did pick up a ham slice, and I have yams on hand, so, yanno, ham and and a yam for dinner on the day could be a thing. I also picked up a frozen so-called single pizza (Screamin' Sicilian, for those who keep track of such things), in case that's something I'll be wanting. Oh, and canned chick peas, on account of I am making hummus again.

Mostly, though, it's looking like next Thursday will be nothing any more or less special than all the days have been lately.

The plan going forward is to heat the oven so I can have warm lasagna for lunch, then hit the WIP.

Tomorrow, I need to do a cat box changeout, and also get all my working files off of Steve's computer, where I've been diligently writing, so I can continue to write while his office is upside down and the French doors are being replaced.

I need to decide if I'm just going to set up my laptop in the living room, and write there, or bring it totally back into my office. I'm leaning toward the living room, which will keep the task-spaces separate, and which I've been finding really useful.

Saturday, of course is the pre-dawn trip to Brunswick, two MRIs and home again, where kind neighbors have volunteered to come over and help push furniture around, because the window people require a six-foot clearance. For which I can't blame them and there's no denying that's a full office experience.

. . . I think that's all the news at the moment.

How's Thursday treating you?

james_davis_nicoll

A determined artist faces potentially lethal criticism.

The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 15

I've been surviving very cold Chicago; I've been adulting, doing the Green Card renewal (which the CIS folks just sent me two letters stating my case is "in process," huzzah) and getting my Rexulti program application for 2026 ready for delivery to my delightfully old-fashioned shrink and The Amazing Nicki, and spending more time than I should cooking and baking rather than reading. But it's time to put all that behind me and return to my music meme, at least until I can think of interesting things in my brain that others might like to hear about. Therefore, I bring you -

A song from a movie soundtrack:

I've read The Lord of the Rings trilogy more times than I can remember. I also watched the three movies, both theatrical and extended release, dozens of times in total, in theaters, and at home. I love both the books and, with caveats, the movies.

I believe that the ending of The Return of the King, the third movie, is as close to perfect as it could possibly be. A major reason is the song written by Annie Lennox and Fran Walsh, with music by Lennox and Howard Shore. The words, which take from one of Gandalf's comments to Pippin before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and speak of Elves being called home to the Undying Lands, get me every time.

This could have been the song I chose as one that makes me cry, but it's for that strange mix of grief, awe, and yearning that is somehow transmuted into joy. And of course Annie Lennox's voice is the wind that fills the sails as the ships leave the Grey Havens.

Watch on YouTube

Here is a link to Day 14 and to Day 13; should you desire, you can see what I yammered on about in earlier meme iterations.

.

Current Mood: impressed
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Annie Lennox "Into the West"

rolanni

Liaden Read-Along Folk!

Here's the link for the Agent of Change Read-Along (which will start in January), so you can bookmark it

If you get lost, all you have to do is look on the menu on the left side, and you'll see, right at the top "Liaden Read-Along" with a down-arrow. Click the down-arrow and you'll see "Agent of Change Intro." Click that and you'll be at the top of the discussion.

Reading does not start here at the Confusion Factory until January. What's up there right now is an intro, with information from the story card, the novel's tag line, About The Author blurb, and a short history of how the novel got published.

Feel free to share the news of the Read-Along with friends, but be sure to let them know that there will be spoilers.

james_davis_nicoll

The tabletop fantasy roleplaying game from Kobold Press of high adventure in a Labyrinth of infinite worlds, and more.

Bundle of Holding: Tales of the Valiant

redbird

I just made another call to Fidelity (investment company) about the inherited IRA. They are going to generate a "Letter of Acceptance" form and send it to BNY, and then (I hope) we will have the money out of my mother's name before the end of the year, which will please my brother as executor of the estate.

The bit where the advisor told me to search for something on the website, and that led to an irrelevant form, was not encouraging--I think he overheard me saying to

cattitude that I'm starting to understand why people hide their money under mattresses.

Jonathan said this should take 1-2 business days at the BNY end, and that he'll let me know when the transfer has gone through.

I am not going to spend all my money on chocolate, probably not even all the money currently in my wallet, but it's tempting.

Current Mood: worn out

james_davis_nicoll

Micah was a co-worker at the theatre. He was the sort of person who becomes a front of house manager by age 18.

Micah Aaron Tajone Kalap Obituary

As it happens, the bridge nearest the funeral home was just torn down. As a result, access looks like this...

(Buses are even worse)

james_davis_nicoll

Can a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification? Should a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification?

Princess Jellyfish, volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura

johnridley

We're in High Point, NC visiting Jenn's mom. I look forward to this trip every year.
The drive is a bit lengthy but not terrible at a bit under 10 hours. It's not like I should be used to drives that long. And in this case, I'm the passenger and can read or watch videos the whole way.
We went over to Greensboro and found the troll that has recently been built there, using waste wood from furniture building. I have to say that a troll built of various hardwoods smells amazing.

There is caroling, probably a visit to the science center, and whatever else we can think of, ahead.

rolanni

Tali wants everybody to know that I was properly supervised this morning as I wrote:

Tuesday. I have new glasses. Except for a change in color -- the old glasses were blue, these are a silvery pink -- they look pretty much the same. Titanium frames. The prescription pulls the right eye into line, as it continues its descent back into nearsightedness.

Regarding the read-along -- thanks to everyone who chimed in to say that their idea of reading along matched mine, and we will hope that those who were afraid they'd miss something unless recorded due to their work schedules and whatnot are now relieved to know that we're text-based, and they can check in whenever they have time.

So! People of the Read-Along, I ask your input. Do you prefer order or chaos? Which is to say, shall we commit to reading, eh, 50 pages a week, and look for an update on Monday afternoon? Or do you prefer that I just comment as I go along, and you'll catch up with me?

Please state your preference in comments.