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tcpipThe stars were right on Thursday night to start a combined Horror on the Orient Express and Masks of Nyarlathotep game at the asylum. This are recognised as two of the greatest scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, with fitted well with acquiring the last book of the three-part H.P. Lovecraft omnibus series. I have made significant required modifications to the core rules. The first session ended up with one character in a parallel reality and another half-insane; a good start.
Finished "War and Peace" this morning. As with many classics, it was popular literature of its time, and one hardly struggles with the writing style. It is, of course, about Russian aristocrats and the Napoleonic wars, of which I derived no small amusement at the Russian aristocracy making extensive use of French bon mots. Only one character (Pierre) has any real depth; certainly the female characters seem to exist solely for the purpose of romance. Nevertheless one cannot fault Tolstoy for the research he conducted in writting this historical fiction, although his own commentary on such matters left a little to be desired. Personally, I prefer his short stories, especially How Much Land Does A Man Need?, which James Joyce famously described as the world's greatest work of literature.
In the afternoon, presented at the beginner's workshop of Linux Users of Victoria on An Introduction to the Command Line. It was a well-attended event and received a few people afterwards thanking me on the breadth of the presentation, which lasted a solid two hours starting with simple environment exploration leading all the way up to regular expressions and scripting, with plenty of hands-on material. Also served as good preparation for two courses on similar subjects that I have to present next week.
For the evening's efforts convened a meeting of the Victorian Secular Lobby, with Jamie Gardner, Vice-President of Liberty Victoria and former member of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Jamie gave an excellent presentation on how religious organisations gain special exemptions form equal opportunity laws and the amendments made by the current state government making the situation somewhat worse. The venue, the Kingston Hotel, however was noisy and crowded and we will not be returning. Was also very disappointed with the small turnout; we have had good sized meetings in the past and this one was regrettably a lot smaller, against expectations.
Finished "War and Peace" this morning. As with many classics, it was popular literature of its time, and one hardly struggles with the writing style. It is, of course, about Russian aristocrats and the Napoleonic wars, of which I derived no small amusement at the Russian aristocracy making extensive use of French bon mots. Only one character (Pierre) has any real depth; certainly the female characters seem to exist solely for the purpose of romance. Nevertheless one cannot fault Tolstoy for the research he conducted in writting this historical fiction, although his own commentary on such matters left a little to be desired. Personally, I prefer his short stories, especially How Much Land Does A Man Need?, which James Joyce famously described as the world's greatest work of literature.
In the afternoon, presented at the beginner's workshop of Linux Users of Victoria on An Introduction to the Command Line. It was a well-attended event and received a few people afterwards thanking me on the breadth of the presentation, which lasted a solid two hours starting with simple environment exploration leading all the way up to regular expressions and scripting, with plenty of hands-on material. Also served as good preparation for two courses on similar subjects that I have to present next week.
For the evening's efforts convened a meeting of the Victorian Secular Lobby, with Jamie Gardner, Vice-President of Liberty Victoria and former member of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Jamie gave an excellent presentation on how religious organisations gain special exemptions form equal opportunity laws and the amendments made by the current state government making the situation somewhat worse. The venue, the Kingston Hotel, however was noisy and crowded and we will not be returning. Was also very disappointed with the small turnout; we have had good sized meetings in the past and this one was regrettably a lot smaller, against expectations.
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Date: 2012-08-19 12:05 am (UTC)Nice!
Keeps a copy)
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Date: 2012-08-19 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-20 12:01 am (UTC)More so because they are often in several languages at once. As in the case with Anna Karenina because Russian is such an unromantic language that Vronsky only speaks to her in French. A common thing for aristocrats to do (same in English until the 1600's).
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Date: 2012-08-20 02:29 am (UTC)One of the amusing things about Anna Karenina is the extensive use of nicknames throughout the book. I have encountered a few readers who have confused by that!
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Date: 2012-08-22 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 11:12 pm (UTC)Third Saturday of the month, every month :)
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Date: 2012-08-22 11:27 pm (UTC)