Ever found yourself in the throes of a hobby that's slowly morphing into something more? That's exactly where the conversation begins in our latest Page Chewing podcast, as Varsha, Chris, Chibipoe, and Jarrod, we gather around the digital campfire to share the evolution of our geeky pursuits into full-blown content creation. From the art of audio editing to the intricacies of book collecting, we cover it all. Join us for an episode that intertwines humorous anecdotes with insightful reflections on how the things we love can shape the work we do.
Imagine a world where your Kindle reading habits and font preferences are worthy of deep discussion. We've got that world covered as we mull over the digital versus physical reading experience and share our latest literary indulgences. But it's not all about e-readers; we also spin yarns of travel mishaps, from mudslides to missed Final Fantasy concerts, and the dilemma of packing books home. Our storytelling extends to the challenges we set for ourselves in reading and the shared joy of discovering new books, including the SF Masterworks series. Tune in, whether you're sipping on coffee-infused ale or clutching a glass of water, and join in on our eclectic conversation.
Concluding our podcast, we delve into the meatier topics like the burgeoning lengths of fantasy novels and our individual reading preferences—appreciating both the brevity of the classics and the depth of modern epics. The group also dissects how dissecting media for content can influence our personal enjoyment, and we even venture into the dark, twisted origins of fairy tales. As we bid adieu, Varsha, Chris, Chibipoe, Jarrod, and I share where you can follow our adventures beyond the realm of Page Chewing, ensuring the camaraderie continues off-air. This is one podcast episode where shared insights become the threads that weave together a tapestry of intriguing discussions.
PageChewing.com
PAGECHEWING: Comics & Manga Podcast
Film Chewing Podcast
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Ever found yourself in the throes of a hobby that's slowly morphing into something more? That's exactly where the conversation begins in our latest Page Chewing podcast, as Varsha, Chris, Chibipoe, and Jarrod, we gather around the digital campfire to share the evolution of our geeky pursuits into full-blown content creation. From the art of audio editing to the intricacies of book collecting, we cover it all. Join us for an episode that intertwines humorous anecdotes with insightful reflections on how the things we love can shape the work we do.
Imagine a world where your Kindle reading habits and font preferences are worthy of deep discussion. We've got that world covered as we mull over the digital versus physical reading experience and share our latest literary indulgences. But it's not all about e-readers; we also spin yarns of travel mishaps, from mudslides to missed Final Fantasy concerts, and the dilemma of packing books home. Our storytelling extends to the challenges we set for ourselves in reading and the shared joy of discovering new books, including the SF Masterworks series. Tune in, whether you're sipping on coffee-infused ale or clutching a glass of water, and join in on our eclectic conversation.
Concluding our podcast, we delve into the meatier topics like the burgeoning lengths of fantasy novels and our individual reading preferences—appreciating both the brevity of the classics and the depth of modern epics. The group also dissects how dissecting media for content can influence our personal enjoyment, and we even venture into the dark, twisted origins of fairy tales. As we bid adieu, Varsha, Chris, Chibipoe, Jarrod, and I share where you can follow our adventures beyond the realm of Page Chewing, ensuring the camaraderie continues off-air. This is one podcast episode where shared insights become the threads that weave together a tapestry of intriguing discussions.
PageChewing.com
PAGECHEWING: Comics & Manga Podcast
Film Chewing Podcast
Buy me a coffee
Linktree
Logo by The GlimmerTwin Art House
Join Riverside.fm
Hello friends, welcome back. We are here to discuss. We're here to just chat, really not discuss anything, just shoot the shit, basically about our breeding month for January. So I'm Steven. You can find me on pagedweencom on the PageDween podcast, pagedween Comics and manga and or film chewing. So I think that's all of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so anyway, my golden life is to. My golden life is to accumulate a list of podcasts as long as these.
Speaker 1:It's amazing how much less time three podcasts takes me versus you two. I think I spend less time editing. We can talk about that in a minute, but I am drinking this beer that I'm excited about. It's called Buzz the Tower. It's a blonde ale with coffee, so we'll find out. It's by ExNovo. It's a local brewery, but anyway. So, varsha, what are you drinking tonight?
Speaker 2:Water, just water, and a pink cup.
Speaker 1:At least you're drinking it in style, right? So tell us about yourself.
Speaker 2:Sorry. Yeah, I'm Varsha. You can find me on my YouTube channel Reading by the Rainy Mountain and, I think, on maybe every other episode on the PageDween podcast, because I show up on a bunch of book discussions and you can find me haunting the PageDween forum.
Speaker 4:Nemi yeah Well, I am drinking cherries and berries cordial. You know again, very rock and roll of me for what is a Saturday night for me. My name is Chris Mullen. I sometimes you Tuber, sometimes appear in discussions just like this with Steve, whether in the film June or book discussions or comic discussions or otherwise. I find kindred spirits, let's put it that way. We have kindred spirits in that we have a multi, multi kind of I'm not allowed to use word content, but it's kind of multi faceted view of storytelling and all that kind of stuff. So I like that and then the all of that, and you can also find me the PageDween forums as well.
Speaker 1:It's very enriching. Yeah, and ChibiPo's here, hey, chibipo.
Speaker 3:Hello. Well, I'm ChibiPo hanging out on the PageDween forums and popping here every now and then I'm not drinking anything special, sorry.
Speaker 4:It's like me and Varsha.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So yeah, I think it's funny but, like with audio, it's so much easier to edit it. Even when you have an audio track that has like pops and hisses and we experienced that recently with the podcast we did Even fixing that is a lot easier and a lot less time consuming than editing one video. I think it used to take me put me a weekly wrap up. It would take me like two and a half three hours for a 30 minute video to script it, record it, edit it, thumbnail upload, post it. It would take two and a half three hours for a 30 minute video. So now it takes me like 10 minutes, if even that. Once you have your workflow down, it's a lot easier to do an audio edit unless there's like a track that's has like a background noise or something weird with it. It's usually pretty straightforward, but nice.
Speaker 1:You have to show me how the box and crack.
Speaker 3:Oh wait, sorry was she busting him.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I said, I was just curious have we lost you?
Speaker 3:because you looked like you were frozen, so, but did you start saying things? Yeah?
Speaker 4:your video doesn't show him. But your voice is coming through. I can clear it. It's just nice.
Speaker 2:Okay cool. Yeah, I don't know what's going on with my Wi-Fi, but yeah, I was going to say Steve, you have to show me how to do that so that I can make my workflow 15 minutes. I feel like audio takes me longer, but that's because I use After Effects to do the spectrum thing and then like that takes five minutes to do but it takes an hour to export every time. Like, not that you can help me speed that up, but maybe show me the audition to fix the box and crack it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say with that, the track we're talking about. I think we're talking about the same thing. Yeah, I was going to kind of play around with it and see if we can fix that up Nice.
Speaker 2:Can I watch you do it? Give me a working session.
Speaker 4:I don't even know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to put it around with it. I should watch that, that's at 8.
Speaker 4:Even if you're a pissed about that, I just want to watch.
Speaker 1:It's not. Yeah, it's just like you know. It's just like a dog trying to open a door, like that's what it'll be me, just like pouring out a door until it gets right, hit, like at it right. Yeah, okay, sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Okay cool.
Speaker 1:So something I've been thinking about lately, and with content, when you start making content and we'll get to a reading in a minute, but I was just curious to hear everyone's opinions on this but I find myself wanting to join something, no matter what it is, whether it's a book or a movie or a TV show or whatever it is. I find myself, I catch myself thinking how can I turn this into content, or how can I turn this into something to, and I think part of it is just because it's fun to do. But I'm trying to not think of things that way. Do you have the? Do both of you have the same experience?
Speaker 4:Definitely have that problem, like everything, especially if you're enjoying it, like you want to share on that, and sometimes when you're just by yourself and watching like I've watched a lot of TV this month and I have no outside of the true detective stuff. I have no other vehicle for it, if that makes sense to do something with. And I did mention very jokingly to somebody else I could just start a podcast and I'm like that's a great idea. I was like, oh shit, what's it wanted to do? And now we're in a private chat in the group and there's a Google document with ideas and it's like I only casually floated that out there, but it's also, you know, it is exactly what we're talking about?
Speaker 4:which is this idea of?
Speaker 4:you know, I'd like to discuss some of these things and see if you know somebody else has seen it or if they, even if they hated it, they can tell me why they hated it. Whether I just love things and see them for movies, etc. Except again, I watched too many movies to kind of make large amounts of content, for because the drawlers spend the time watching the movie or watching TV series and making the content, if that makes sense. So books are find a bit different, because obviously books take a lot longer to read and so actually that time is sort of like invest in it and especially for the books that we tend to read and the comics that we tend to read, they're always enriched by the conversation, like massively, like it's just just everything takes on another, another level of appreciation or hate or whatever it is.
Speaker 4:You know that you're doing.
Speaker 1:It's almost like I can't enjoy it unless we talk about it. You know like it's like a cast, a full circle, otherwise it feels incomplete, like I want to hear other opinions and like yeah so I'm glad it's not just me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I find that with books, maybe movies not so much because I don't really make any movie related content but there's also some science stuff that my husband and I are thinking of doing that maybe we're like, oh, we hear something interesting, like, oh, how do we turn this into some video that we can do? We haven't started anything yet, but it's been an ongoing process. Like we've been listening to the First Three Minutes by Stephen Weinberg, in which I think he turned a lecture that he gave on the first three minutes of the universe into a book, and we've been listening to that during our car rides and so, like taking notes, like let's dig deeper, deeper into that and see if we can do something with it. So I kind of get, I understand that impulse and with respect to books too, but, yeah, maybe on different things than you were talked about, don't take notes while you're driving Varsha, just a second, yeah.
Speaker 2:Don't take notes while you're driving.
Speaker 4:That's a terrible idea.
Speaker 2:So do we clear? My husband does the driving, I take the notes on my kinder Right.
Speaker 1:For those of you who can take notes on a Kindle, you have my respect because I even just turning a page on a Kindle is a pain in the ass. I don't know anybody loves the Kindle. I don't get it.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love my Kindle it's my favorite reading device, but I mean okay, I meant the app. I find typing on the Kindle a pain, I agree with you there. But I love my Kindle for reading though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's great for reading. For anything else it's like to search and to take notes and to I mean, even just like jumping to a chapter. Sometimes is like an adventure.
Speaker 4:But I have a paper white, so maybe that's why I just type the iPad up on the Kindle, up on the iPad. It's like butter. It's a pretty nice experience.
Speaker 2:Does it not bother your eyes? I find I, and it's been a thing recently. I can't read a lot on my phone. I like the Kindle for that reason too that I it doesn't bother my eyes the way my phone or an iPad would.
Speaker 4:I have got old man, older man issues. So it's nice thing about Kindle is you can kind of turn up the font size Gradually. So actually I've had to do that a bit over the past past couple of years and like that kind of flexibility. I think is one of the things that makes the Kindle just such a great reading tool, because sometimes there are occasionally books that are open and start reading go. I just can't. This is too small or I need. I can't read this with a bedside light. I need actually full daylight to be able to do this. It's definitely old man problems, but between that and the bladder, like there's definite signs.
Speaker 1:I find myself like refusing to change the font, but like I will not do it and let's tell him like this.
Speaker 2:I'm like, I will not change the font size or refuse.
Speaker 1:I will not do it.
Speaker 2:Do you guys care about what font you're reading? I find that I have to keep like books that have a particular font I am more likely to read than if the font is not to my liking, and with the Kindle I keep changing the font every now and then to make it nicer. I don't like any of the fonts on the Kindle, but I keep changing it to see if I can improve how it feels. Is that something you guys care about or is it just me?
Speaker 4:Just me. I like a nice, clean font with no kind of scarf, no kind of tails or anything, just something nice and clean, something Helvetica or something like that, I'd say. You know, even the word default of Calibri's is perfectly fine. Times New Roman too fancy. Garamond too fancy you know all those ones just a bit too fancy.
Speaker 2:Interesting. I think I really like the ones on Grand Conspiracy, like the Johnny Woods books, not the first two yes, because the jeans, the font did yeah. Four and five. I like the font.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I quite like reading this font. There is definitely something really nice about it, I think more so than the font. The space and etc is important, and then, especially on paperback ones, oh my god, see if they put it too far into the middle, see if they don't have that space.
Speaker 2:And for the middle, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, as you know, I'm not a spine cracker and that that causes problems. Oh dear god, chibi.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:Oh no, Chibi Paul, not you too.
Speaker 2:The broken spine.
Speaker 1:Oh, no broken spines.
Speaker 3:Oh, to be fair, this is a copy from 2000.
Speaker 4:So somebody else broke it. It's a 20.
Speaker 3:It's a 20 plus year old copy, so it's a good looking copy, it is, yeah.
Speaker 2:That has been read. What 15?
Speaker 3:times it looks really good for that. Yeah, it's not like my Chris of the Mysteries, which I read the cover off completely. The cover is tucked into one of the inside pages.
Speaker 4:What is this?
Speaker 2:I think I had some. Harry Potter books like that.
Speaker 1:So I guess, yeah, I think for me the font depends on the book too, because if the book is like something that is kind of more straightforward, I don't mind a more basic font, but if it's, sometimes it can be like it can add to the experience what the font is. So it depends on the feeling and the theme of the book too. It has a certain feel to it. I don't mind a fancier font, something, but then again, if after a while it might get a little bit annoying if it's, you know, hours and hours of reading.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, the fancy font right, yeah, but yeah, mostly I think I like small roundish fonts that are small on the page, even though it's hard to read. I like that, it's pretty or that way.
Speaker 1:So I guess we should get, we should talk about what we've been reading. So, chibi-po, what have you been reading this month?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm rereading this, you know, just you know. So I'm not, like you know, hanging around being like why are you guys not, you know, on my level?
Speaker 4:You think that? Anyway, Chibi.
Speaker 3:I'm still working on Kingdom of Copper and I think those are all the two I'm actively reading right now. I did pick up. Varsha saw one of the books I picked up while I was in Seattle last weekend, but I have picked up some others. You know, at a little used bookstore over near the Macahal that you know had a couple books that I liked, so I got a.
Speaker 3:you know one of the volumes of Runa Stars. So I still got some gaps to fill in that. I picked this up because I realized I didn't have a mass market paper back of it.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's Red House, Cosm Crazy, you know easy read, and then I found at that same bookstore.
Speaker 4:I found CJ Cherry Pics Fortress Eagles and Fortress of Dragons. Very nice, Recommend a book. Johnny, I think the last time we were speaking here yeah, I've got, I have.
Speaker 3:I've had this one for a long time and I've read it and enjoyed it. And I've got the others in hardback and I was like, all right, let's, do you know paper actors still like one other. I've got to find that she did, but I think she, like the series, didn't sell well, so she didn't finish the whole trilogy. Oh no, and then at the bookstore that Varsha took me to, I got this so, Sean Spickman, I don't know that one at all the King Killing.
Speaker 2:Queen, it's a great name.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Sean Spickman owned slash runs Grimoog Press right. Oh right, very good.
Speaker 3:Yes, grimoog, and the signed page or something I think is other, you know what they have. I don't think he does something in those two, but I don't remember.
Speaker 1:How was your trip to the Pacific Northwest?
Speaker 3:Well, I was telling Chris a little bit about it. So getting up there was fine. I met Varsha and we checked out a nice little coffee shop, slash bookstore I love. You know, like that. I wish I bought more books, but that's all right. I ended up spending a little bit more money than I had intended while I was there that weekend, but that's all right.
Speaker 3:Then, saturday, the concert was Saturday night and Saturday day I get a phone call from Amtrak. They're like you know, that makes no sense whatsoever. You know their voicemail. I'm like you know something with my train tomorrow on Sunday. I'm like, okay, so I call them and finally make sense of that, which is, you know, mudslide, had taken out the tracks and they wouldn't be cleared until, sometimes, sunday evening. And they're like well, we're going to sit you on a bus. I'm like okay, so that ended up being a, you know, made Sunday quite a chore, because it's like, basically, I got over to the station so that I could be there and you know plenty of time, and sat around there and then rode a bus down to Portland and then rode a bus from Portland to home. So Saturday, sunday was just like uh, concert was a lot of fun and I bought. Where the heck did I put them? Well, shoot what concert was it.
Speaker 3:I went to the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert and so I got to see them perform a bunch of tracks from different Final Fantasy games. And then, you know, merchandise I bought like all their you know all six of their CDs that they've produced from their concerts. You know there were some other stuff too. But I was like, all right, I'm going to, you know, restrain myself, especially because I bought the last copy of one of them. That's the first person in line. So I was like these people behind me are going to be so bad because there's no copies of the newest album that they've released, because I just bought the last one.
Speaker 4:Doesn't sound like you're too sad about it.
Speaker 3:No, I'm not too sad. Now, what I am sad about is and I don't know if it's you know, you know something's worked on my computer, but my desktop. I could swear I'd gotten into play music CDs before. But it's got a Blu-ray drive and apparently it doesn't play audio CDs. It doesn't even recognize that there's anything there, and my PlayStation 5 doesn't play audio CDs anywhere. So I bought these six CDs and I have nothing to play them on.
Speaker 1:Oh no, it doesn't read the disc at all.
Speaker 3:Uh, nope. Yeah, the computer, just you know it can tell it's trying to do something, but then it just sits there after a bit and it's like just stops and it's like nope, you know, we don't detect anything here. It's like insert a disc, I'm like okay, and then the PS5 detects there's something there, but it's like we don't read that. So that's, that's annoying. But I'll get that fixed. So no big deal. Uh, that's about all.
Speaker 1:It's always fun to buy books when you travel, but then you realize, how might I get this back home with me? Yeah, it's never easy.
Speaker 3:It's like repacking and packing, I'm like, all right, how do I get all these things? And you know, and even then with the CDs and everything, I'm like, oh look, you know, I have. You know, I still have an extra bag of stuff because, you know, I misjudged how much space I shed and I'd even had the thought before I left that it's like you know I should take, like you know, just tuck the fold up the extra bag and stick it in here to put books or something in. You know, uh, and didn't do it. So I'm off to just like next time you travel, do that. Pro tips.
Speaker 1:To our farm, for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was also thinking things like you know, maybe I can do things to like minimize my bag space and just get like one of those little uh, you put your, put your clothes in them and you like vacuum, you know seal it, so it like reduces your clothes down to like just a little tiny. You know flat thing and I'm like, and then clothes don't take up much space. But then there was a realist. But then you still have to lug the thing around with you because otherwise your clothes will take up all the space when you come back, and so I don't know.
Speaker 1:That is a great idea to vacuum, seal your clothes, make room for books. I've always said to Tim when I travel to buy books because it's like to haul these all the way back home but that's a great idea. Pro tip for sure. Chubbypo, reading through the the war's a lot in shadow again, Are you noticing things on your? How many reads have you done?
Speaker 3:I've lost count.
Speaker 1:Have you, have you been noticing new things or anything that do have a different perspective?
Speaker 3:All kinds of little little little things, like like you know, especially especially with you know what I got to. You know privilege to do. You know when I met up with her, you know, back in November, you know, and I just like and noticed little things and I was like, oh, so that ties to this and that will tie to that, and just finding little things I missed here and there and and oh, hello, oh, I'm in the oneness here. Ah, look at that.
Speaker 5:Uh-huh, oh, so good. Jenna just guarantees everybody.
Speaker 4:So good, you can go now. It's fine, oh God.
Speaker 1:When he comes in, eats a steak in front of us. He eats a piece of steak in front of us and just like hey, bye.
Speaker 3:Delightful. All right, that's it. See, kick him out. Band.
Speaker 4:That even sounds like moist and tander and stuff like oh it's, it's hearing me so good.
Speaker 5:Good, oh, I'm getting shot by a transwoma, okay, what's going on, guys?
Speaker 1:You got my wine, you just like pulling all the stops today. So, jared, tell us about yourself.
Speaker 5:Ah, my name is Jared. I have a YouTube channel called a fantasy thinker where I talk about fantasy of old kinds, and I also have a blog on the page chewing forms or pagecom, called creative crossroads, and I hang out there all the time.
Speaker 1:Can confirm yes, there's a new yeah, a new post up for your blog, so exciting.
Speaker 5:Yep, yep.
Speaker 1:What's going on, guys? We're just saying a lot of awful shit about you and then you shut up. No, we can't continue.
Speaker 4:Unless, we got out of the way.
Speaker 3:All right, optimus Prime, so can you flame in your carried? Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:No, we're just, we're uh. Chippie Puff was taught us about his trip to the uh Pacific Northwest and his adventures traveling with books and buying books and being the first person aligned to buy the only book available that you wanted. How, how satisfying that was to watch everyone else cry and, and uh, filled with regret that they weren't the first one aligned, so yeah, yeah Well, if they don't want to be first person aligned, they should have shown up sooner.
Speaker 4:Everybody has the opportunity to be the first in line. Yes, so it takes a certain dedication and poor plan.
Speaker 5:So so are the um. Are the bookstores in Seattle better than Portland?
Speaker 3:Um, oh, seattle doesn't have Powell's, so I would say no, but I only got to see two of them, so I can't. You know, varsha would have maybe have a better, you know opinion there.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:I haven't been to that many book shops, but the ones that I have been to, I think Powell's you can't beat Powell's is an entire block full of books. So yeah, I think Portland can have this one.
Speaker 1:Wow, they're right. Runny out of Seattle.
Speaker 5:Oh right.
Speaker 1:And also Jared. We were just discussing content earlier. And do you find yourself when you read a book or probably more books for you, but when you read a book or you're absorbing some kind of material, do you ever wonder or find yourself wondering how can I turn this into content?
Speaker 5:Uh, for what like? For my, for my channel, or for for a podcast or anything at all.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, um, uh, yeah, I do. I am for a book. You know, mainly books that I'm reading. I consider what I'm going to say in my review of that book if I plan on doing that, and I, you know, I also like to consider if any books that I'm reading for prose purposes, because I have a segment called Reading to Prose. So I'm always on the lookout for prose that stands out to me and catches my eye and makes you know that will make the grade basically for the segment I'm thinking about. And you know, and I also, yeah, so I'm constantly looking for, I'm constantly looking for themes and or interesting stuff to talk about with most of you guys and anything that might stand out on my own channel too. So, yeah, absolutely all the time.
Speaker 1:Follow-up question for everybody Does that bother you? Does it ever bother you? Do you wish you could just watch a movie, read a book, whatever it is, and just not think about that?
Speaker 5:So, I have an answer to that I was like.
Speaker 4:I'm still trying to think whether it does or doesn't.
Speaker 3:It doesn't really bother me, but I don't make a lot of things. So if I watch videos or whatnot you know movies I'm watching them to enjoy them mostly.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was going to say it doesn't bother me for books that I am enjoying and I want to talk about, but for books that I'm just reading for fun and don't intend to make any videos about or do any discussions on, I kind of wish I could turn off the analysis of what I don't like and what I like and so on, so that I'm just reading for fun.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it doesn't bother me at all. I realized that when I was going to college and I went to college later on in life. I didn't go right out of high school, so I went more as an adult. And I realized that after, because that's what you're doing in college, because you know, literature was my college thing and so that's what you're doing there. And when I realized that after I left college, I actually missed that, I missed reading to have something to say after, after I was done, and so when I actually realized that there were people who did this all the time, I was like, oh, now I have some way to put my energy, I guess. But so yeah, it doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy, I enjoy paying attention, I enjoy taking things apart. So with books, then then like movies, movies, I still do it here and there, but definitely, I definitely enjoy it. So I don't, it doesn't bother me in one bit.
Speaker 4:We would be talked about this a little last night after recording of our podcast. In terms of the books that we are doing discussions for, I approach in a very different critical mind to, because I kind of wanted I'm always thinking what am I going to say when I'm doing this? So the content, part of that mechanism of developing that book is different than, say, if I'm reading something just for fun, where I'll just kind of go through and sort of get a feeling whether I'm enjoying it or not. That's pretty much the only thing that will come through. Watching movies is very different, though.
Speaker 4:I can't not watch movies critically, but I don't know why. That's true, to be fair, but maybe it's just because they're a shorter art form or I don't know. They're just kind of sitting there and trying to make a decision about whether you like that movie and being able to describe to somebody what you really like about it. I suppose because I have I'm on a couple of chats maybe with a couple of people where we constantly recommend stuff to each other and it's not just good enough to kind of say, oh, this is a really good movie. This is a really good movie because of this is a list of things. And if you've liked my the people love that, dirk then that sort of encourages. It's a bit like having like every time I watch a movie I'm just thinking about doing a book, think episode of it at the end, if you don't mean if you're going to recommend it to somebody and kind of exactly why this would appeal to somebody else that might not, you know.
Speaker 5:Yeah, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Steve, what about you? Well, I think with I think I think if I didn't have and I'm listening to something really cheesy and like I'm, you know, because you know, like, but if I didn't have all of you and the group we have to talk about all this stuff, I think I'd feel differently about it. But I think because it's, I think for the most part, we find a way to talk about all the stuff that we want to talk about. We find a way with someone to talk about, so it makes it easier. But if I think, if I didn't have the people around that we do, then it would be a problem, then I would feel differently about it. But because we have the group we have and because we have the camaraderie and like the ability to, to all you know, kind of spend time with each other, then it's different. But if I didn't have that, then I'd be probably pretty miserable and, just like you know, I'd have to learn how to shake that feeling off.
Speaker 5:That's a good point, steve, because that there was, there was that feeling that something was missing when I wasn't having these kind of chats before, when I wasn't looking at stuff and, like you mentioned, miserable. But you know, I don't know if I go that far, but I was definitely not as happy when I, when I finished, when I finished, like bone hunters you know, mal was in bone hunters the first time I wanted to like go out and shout out on the rooftop because I had nobody to tell about it, I had nobody to talk about it with, you know, and and that was that was frustrating, that's what I would call it frustrating. So I'm very fortunate to have people like you guys to talk about this stuff with.
Speaker 4:And that that making content forces you to reflect it. You know it'd be very easy to just finish a book finish, strap it, go to the shelf, lift another one, just kind of keep like the train going, if you know what I mean I'm not really thinking about. You know whether the book affected you emotionally. What made you think about it? You know you sort of not getting the value out of the artist, like walking around to a museum looking at the artifacts and spending five seconds and it's going on. Isn't that cool? Isn't that cool? And I kind of appreciate it in some way. So I think that's one of the reasons that we all, when somebody says I'm going to read this thing, would anybody like to read along with me? It's very hard to say no because you know by doing so you're going to have a much more rich and deeper reading experience because of it.
Speaker 5:Yeah, especially to Varsha. It's hard to say no.
Speaker 2:It was my last one, because of which I started my channel, because I desperately want to talk about it and like I'm hoping we eventually get to do a reading group on it, but it that was the series that I was like I'll talk into the void, I don't care. I need to share how I feel about this series. So, yeah, I understand what you said, jared.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's become like. I think it's important to have some kind of outlet into, to have some way to to, and plus, I've learned so much from all of you with just discussing a book or movie or whatever it is. It's like a constant. I feel like it's a constant growth and just different perspectives and you just view everything differently now. Like I see things like the like the Green Night of I was thinking about that the other day about, because I talked about the Green Night and I view that movie totally differently now, I think with all the other ones we've seen. But it just enriches the experience so much. But if I feel like it didn't have that, even I would have some kind of solo podcast or something. But it's just not. It's not that there's anything wrong with solo podcasts, that's it can be. Really, I think it's can be. There's good things about that too. But I think having different perspectives brings a whole new level. It brings a whole new. It's a whole different experience.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I also think it's pretty good for mental health, because every time you start a new project, a new book or whatever, you get fresh energy injected into your week, into your month, all the time kind of going right. I'm going to start this a fresh, clean slate for Jared. That's his new page in his notebook for his notes. It's going to be started and it goes right, clean page. Let's go. New book title at the top.
Speaker 4:They started and you kind of, regardless of how the last book went or how the sun was coming up, you're going to treat that piece of reading on its own merits and kind of see what you think of it. And then, as, as is fun and this is where the camera, I suppose, really really pays off when you start doing it you're like, oh my God, I don't want to sound stupid, god, I've seen this thing, but I don't maybe want to bring that to the fore or say that because maybe this is just nonsense. But then you realize that actually all opinions are valid If you don't, I mean somebody else says something, you're like I never even considered that. That's absolutely incredible and actually that encourages each other to, you know, to say more.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, so it does. It's been great too, because a lot of the discussion we've had on various things, everybody brings their own angle to it and everybody gives me a new perspective and a new idea on all the stuff we talk about. It's been pretty rewarding in that sense too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, steve loves I was going to say Steve loves a project as well, like you know a challenge or something like that. So whether it's a run of helium movies or it's 24 movies in 24 days, that was fun though. A lot of great movies. It really helps that there's so many fantastic movies in it.
Speaker 2:Oh, are you doing?
Speaker 1:any challenge things and plus keeps you motivated. No, go ahead, varsha, sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was going to say are you doing any challenge things this year?
Speaker 1:Sorry, the only challenge I have for myself so far is to not buy any more first books in a series. That's my challenge.
Speaker 2:So I will not.
Speaker 1:if I don't already own book one, I won't start any other series. So I went out and bought a bunch of book ones.
Speaker 4:Just get them out of your system. Yeah, just in case.
Speaker 1:All these book ones, just in case. Yeah oh the Sacred Hunt, yeah oh Sacred Hunt. Duality.
Speaker 5:Official Wisdom.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, that looks pretty cool, I was going to say that's a book one and two. Was it a Geology? Was it yeah?
Speaker 3:It is a duology but for the larger series it's a part of you know. That would make it right now book one of 19. Nice, wow, actually it's 28th County and thought a little. Short story collection.
Speaker 1:But I mean I'm down, I mean we can do like we could do a challenge. I mean don't, don't tempt me with a good time, but yeah, I'm up for a challenge. I think movies are, movies are easier because of shorter and we could do it in advance. And so, yeah, we can do something. We can do something fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Don't get my gears going, I'll come up with something stupid that you're all going to hate me for. But and plus, whenever we do like reading, in case we're motivated, because sometimes you, you know that you have to. You know and not like you have to, but you don't want to. You, you want to be, you know, up to you, want to like, be a part of the experience, and when you miss out on it then it's like a big bummer. So it motivates you to, to keep up when you can Dude.
Speaker 4:Like we have. We have the greatest challenge of all gone. This is the 18 year friendship. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 5:Who will stay, who will?
Speaker 2:leave.
Speaker 4:I will just clarify and say we're going to be six percent, so let's go somewhere else with her.
Speaker 5:Happy year, yes, happy year.
Speaker 2:Down Goot in 17 and a half to go Only. Oh, my God, that that is my favorite thing that we started last year. I love the SF Masterworks discussion series and I think, yeah, they are a big highlight of my of every month and those are books that I've been wanting to read for a while.
Speaker 5:So that's that's an interesting point. Vashar is like the, the sci-fi masterworks stuff. Like I I I was not a sci-fi reader at all, so going into this it was all new to me and even though we're all not liking some of the books, that was a whole new facet of discussion that I didn't even dream of when I started my channel you know, because I thought I was just going to be talking about stuff that I liked and that was it, and so this this is a you brought a new dimension to my perception of reading and and discussing stuff, you know.
Speaker 5:so it's good.
Speaker 2:It is something how polite we talk about things we don't like.
Speaker 4:Or not polite like yeah.
Speaker 1:It's just not for me. It's my favorite line.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, we don't. You know, we weren't enamored with, you know, cities of flight and maybe bevel 17s for some of us, but we still had lots of neat stuff to say about them.
Speaker 4:So it's. It turned an average read in some cases into like a really pleasurable experience, you know, and being able to discuss, discuss those things. Even people who DNF the book didn't get more than halfway through it or something, or like I want to hear. I want to hear what I missed out on or why it worked for somebody else and not for me, except, yeah, just could my like stuff. I'm not sure. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a different one.
Speaker 1:Sometimes the hardest thing about a review or kind of sharing your thoughts on something you didn't enjoy is how to explain, how to not be nasty about it.
Speaker 5:Right, yeah, yeah, you don't have to be negative, you don't have to be yeah, you don't have to be insulting, and you can still say what you thought was the weak points of a book without without garnering that kind of negativity towards it.
Speaker 1:Yeah and Varsha. I thought we were starting Melazza in June.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:For July yeah.
Speaker 2:In that general ballpark.
Speaker 1:That general, yeah, the general vicinity.
Speaker 2:Finished the second apocalypse right.
Speaker 1:I can't wait. Let's do so much fun.
Speaker 2:Can you? Can you hear me? Okay, I've been feeling some weird echoes and stuff. Okay, cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, your. Your video is frozen. We can hear you, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's good.
Speaker 1:But thankfully there was like no goofy faces yet. You're good so far.
Speaker 4:The only interesting face was when Chibi was talking about the Seattle bookshops. He just froze on like I'm judging you face Just right at that moment.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so, yeah, it's basically what I'm trying to say is that I'm thankful for all of you and I'm really. It's a really great group. I agree, sure. So many different perspectives and personalities and everyone's like respectful and like. You know, we can like not, we can disagree on something and still be like, hey, that's cool, like let's talk about it anyway. You know I hated it, but it's still talk about it.
Speaker 4:I have to find more things with disagree on those.
Speaker 1:What's funny is that when we usually just when we like we one of us doesn't like something, we usually come out of the conversation.
Speaker 4:I like it more now that we talked about. That's not multiple times, for me for sure.
Speaker 1:Go ahead, Varsh. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, sorry, I was going to say Chris, I think I caught your thumbnail making bug. Especially when you get to use AI to generate stuff, that's a lot of fun.
Speaker 4:Thumbnails are fun. The nails are just the best.
Speaker 2:I made the thumbnails for the podcast that I'm publishing for the SF Masterworks. That was a lot of fun to make, so I understand.
Speaker 4:That's the truth. It's just so satisfying when you kind of move things about and you change maybe one color and you go. No, that looks even better than a tip of four hand, or you know.
Speaker 1:I hate thumbnails. I don't know how you guys like that. It's like torture.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, I take the first image I see and I say yep.
Speaker 2:I have a template for each thing I do on my channel, so I just copy paste that. For every new thing, like for every warrior profit episode, I had the same thumbnail. I changed the chapter name, same with the Chaniworth ones. And I have a thing I do for each book discussion, like solo book discussion, that I put up. I know exactly what to do once I have the book, the cover of the book, so I have a process that helps, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So who wants to go next with what they've been reading? I guess we just fuck up into that too.
Speaker 5:I was wondering if you guys did any wrap up stuff, I think for some of the rest of us.
Speaker 4:Yeah, a lot of us have been in similar aspects, so if I go, I'll cover some of Jarrad's and Varsha's and yourselves as well.
Speaker 4:So talk about the Babel 17 very quickly, which was the SF Masterworks, since we're on them on the train there, a story that is like the movie Arrival, which we also had, a story of which will come to in a while, and that it sort of involves a linguistics expert who's set out to basically crack the code of a language, the aid like a war effort of some sort of sort of like analogous to the enigma machines of World War II, something like that. And I mean it starts off like that and then it kind of goes in a little wander around being kind of a bit of action, and then there's lots of, I think, very cool ideas. I think I liked it better than Jarrad Varsha. I think it was only me and Olivia that I think really enjoyed it. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I thought it was interesting enough. With some of its ideas in it. The merit reading and, as usual for these things, like they're so good, they're so short.
Speaker 4:I think that might be my favorite bit, because it never feels too much like a slog to get to the end of an idea or something of that.
Speaker 1:Have book lengths changed over time, is it? I want fantasy books and the somebody might know I might be, but I wonder if the length of fantasy books that now today would be 6,800 pages, were shorter than, or has that changed, or has it always been longer?
Speaker 5:I'm trying to think of all the 70s stuff I read, and the longest stuff was the stuff that was trying to imitate Tolkien back then. If you look at the Lord of the Rings individual books, they're not actually they're nowhere near as long as the books today. You know that they're. They're longer than like the, the, the actual pocket books that were coming out in the 60s and 70s, but they're not longer than Like the classics, you know some dick and stick all three of them together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're not like yeah like too much longer than something like this.
Speaker 5:No, right exactly. And so I think that that the book length has definitely gotten more as we moved into the 90s and 2000s and stuff, because I was picking up fantasy series In the 80s and they were, you know if they, if they hit 500 pages, you thought it was a chunker. Today, 500 so was normal, if not 600 and so and I'm not sure what's spurned that, that glut of words to a story. You may be right there.
Speaker 3:I was like you look at, look at, and you know there's been others who followed his you know trend. But it's like you look at some of the wheel of time books and they're enormous, like you know, and you know another good example, but it's Sanderson with Stormlight. Those books are way too big.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but those came. Those are more, a little more recent right, it's a continuation, jordan.
Speaker 5:Yeah, jordan was the what, the early 90s, when he's first started. Yeah, with that series, you know, and like the eye of the world, great hunter, probably the shortest of the books the, you know the first two, and then they just get gradually bigger and bigger. That goes on. So, because I remember getting the horse clan series in the 80s and there are these thin little things you're gonna literally stick in your back pocket and so, yeah, what I don't know there was a still was there was some kind of mental switch from sword and sorcery style of fantasy to Epic style of fantasy and when people tried tried to imitate Tokin, things got bigger because they thought they had to be more epic. I guess that's.
Speaker 4:Kind of what I attribute to you. Obviously, you know, anybody that reads fantasy has a different concept of a chunk are compared to people that read other Other genres, like I know there was this year, remember, the Booker Prize nominations came out and one of the books was 600 pages and people lost their minds Over it being 600 pages. What is this book being on the list for? It's like this isn't right, what is happening, etc. But you know we obviously 600 pages still thinks a long book, even for a fancy book, especially when it's gonna be book one of however many. Yeah, but it's not the end of the world.
Speaker 3:So I did look it up and and for you know, sci-fi and fantasy and I guess you know would fit it in there in horror. At least the longest one that someone had dug up Is 667,000 words and was written in 1845.
Speaker 4:Wow yeah some of our needs, of some of that 19th century stuff is Is.
Speaker 5:Some of the 19th century stuff can get pretty long sometimes, but yeah, as far as modern fancy goes, is definitely on the upward trend.
Speaker 3:Yeah, actually I'm thinking about it. So I don't know. Well, this list that someone's got, yeah, looks like you know they may look like it, but it looks like at least in the top 20, jordan's not even in there. You know they've got stuff going back hold but, like you know, jordan is Lord of Chaos is sixth, the longest well-tongued novel. It's like 395,000 words. But so actually you know and I think about it, um, ted Williams would probably be the the the forerunner for modern stuff on that, because his books are always big. Our most current guy is obviously Brandon Sanderson because, like I said, stormlight books are way too big. Like I look at them in paperback and I'm like who would buy this? This will fall apart after one read.
Speaker 1:Like a lancris as well, like 1300 pages or something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's like that's. That's insane for you know a. Mass market paperback.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean in some of the Ericsson Ericsson books are big too and that they're very long.
Speaker 3:Yes, they told, the hounds is our longest Ericsson. Yeah 389,000 words.
Speaker 1:Geez yeah.
Speaker 5:So you know Chris's, Chris's delight at the shortness of these masterworks is Is well found and it always means that if you give yourself a week to read it, you can make it easily.
Speaker 4:Like it's it's Absolutely fine, like it's not, like you have this planet a long time ahead, like if you were doing SF masterworks and raw 600 pages each. You didn't, you'd need a weekly ration to make sure that you were keeping up the date, so you weren't having a heart attack or wasn't causing you on distress, whereas these a couple of good, solid days reading and it's done. You know that's the yeah, it's interesting for that.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but I found with With Ericsson, it's easy to break it up Because he has he writes in In the short story style, where he writes like you can read a segment and get a full, like you know, you can get a sort of a completion out of just that segment and just come back to it later, you know, and so whereas I think, like with Jordan with wheel of time, you know you're reading a hundred pages and you're still reading the same scene and and it it can. That's long.
Speaker 3:Four thousand four million three hundred sixty thousand words For every solid books.
Speaker 5:So I guess it depends on how you approach to the, the books you're reading, sure.
Speaker 4:And aside from that, all the things have been reading together. I know I missed the discussion, but started the field out by Every bigger and some Phillips again.
Speaker 5:Just bloody genius. I love this so good.
Speaker 4:It's I actually you know I don't know if any of you's know actually how you represent of it is of Hollywood at that time the key you how Things are very, very close to how the studio system used to work down kind of dealings, these to go on. That's a lot of. It's very you know, there's lots and lots of books on that period of Hollywood. It's been this been sort of accurate in a lot of ways of how those relationships worked and the ghost writers and especially, you know, the flushing out of the communists, sympathizers from from the whole of Hollywood at that time is all just like we walks of American life that time. But how people would just have to go stride and do all of that kind of stuff is very much, very much true to life of things that happened at that time. But yeah, good artwork, great story writing, great dialogue, great, great storylines yeah, really enjoying it so far.
Speaker 1:It's so good.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that was a. That was a fun discussion to the first four issues we had to keep it, looking forward to the next one, it's good.
Speaker 4:And then obviously going conspiracy, which we'll be talking about tomorrow, for chapters four to six. Yeah, it's so good. Oh my god, it's so good it is. It is just that every time you read in a section and actually I think I've actually worked out how long it takes me To do like we only do you like 120 pages or something out of this like every two weeks it's about five hours reading for me, like it is not in consequential at all, but it's so me day.
Speaker 2:Thank you for Saying it's so.
Speaker 4:Media and so much happens that I would fear if we went above three chapters because it would just be like I don't know, we just have to skip over so much stuff and you know, wouldn't I wouldn't have anywhere as near a hold on my, you know, opening the page to kind of get another chunk, to kind of go this is so rich, this is so good. All of the character interactions, especially now we're at a stage it feels like there's not that many new characters ever come along. We get recurring characters coming back and as soon as you see a name you have a feeling for how it's gonna be. But also it depends the character state of mind at that time and all of that kind of stuff. Oh, it's so rich and so good.
Speaker 4:There's no doubt every, every book that continues in this series doesn't feel like, oh, it's just more of that stuff which Couple sick repulsion and will it I'm, but will it I'm definitely dead feel like Another bit of the story rather than kind of building on the story. Yeah, which I think is a very big, distinct difference. But it's just phenomenal, can't? We Can't wait to discuss.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, great, and I think Janie does a great job of. I love how she breaks up her chapters and so you can read in those those sections of those chapters and Get something full out of it and you can take them, you can take a break and stop and go back and read the next section and I love how. That's all. I love how it's put together, I love how it's presented and and of course, it's had to beat her pros phenomenal it's.
Speaker 1:I'm glad just because you know the one chapter would have taken me, takes me, I don't know how else.
Speaker 4:There's no, there's no Russian through it, like either you, just no, it's be, you can't speed, it doesn't invite speed reading at all because it just does feel like You're, like you're missing the essence of the book. Then if that makes sense, you know, what makes it so good is Sort of comes in. I have said like so far this isn't a short road to being the base of the series. So far, definitely for me, like there's just so much interest and stuff that seems to happen every chapter and it's not as heavy and Dark as a fugitive Prince was. Oh my god, I was like I just I just feel like giving up. Nothing good can happen but the any of these people. Now it's Something all together.
Speaker 4:So what else? Well, we could talk about the sci-fi stuff we've been reading, which has been a bit Ted Chang, search, stories from Stories of your life and others. Yeah, and I think for me and for some of us it's, it's good, it's not great, like it's not. It's often gets compared on a fantasy and the paper menagerie and stuff like Ken Kennedy. It's nowhere near on that level for me when I just found all of those stories like phenomenally profound, like emotional, all of that kind of stuff and for the most part Ted Chang stories are sort of enjoyable, interesting, but Miss the mark just never so slightly.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, they're okay. They're okay. You know, I it's not. It's not like that pulley down. Yeah, they're definitely well written, but they're just not. I don't think I'm really gonna Talk about this, that collection, as like, yeah, one of my favorite of all times, or whatever it's it's. It's gonna be something I read and moved on and but that's not like, but it's definitely not bad. It definitely is not a bad, it's a good. You know, it's a decent book.
Speaker 4:It's not bad it's not bad, it's alright, it's like the SF master works through interest in the discuss, like it's really doing one a week. They're always, you know, I sort of dread getting a really good one. That it's really really good because this podcast are long enough.
Speaker 1:Imagine really good into something of me something else.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm a started an allation of course, first chapter of, and I think we're all in agreement. This is extremely exciting. Yeah, it was fun. Yeah, a lot of fun, super good fun. So we're near chapter in. But, like the way he did, he writes jack for Jeff. Founder Jack was gonna change his name and Vandermere and not leaving it, burn those two nuts by just giving you what you need and kind of keeping the mystery going up and, like His office can't wait to finish, to finish. That's big, even though I'm only allowed to read one chapter this way strict instructions only allowed to get one chapter.
Speaker 4:That's right, the bosses give me busters. Two other quick ones that have been reading. I've been reading for a manga, was reading for metal alchemist. I started this one. I've had to stop at the end of the first one because the second one's out of print and I can't not buy these beautiful hard covers. So you know, I could just handle them, but I sort of know a lot of the story already, or I think I know a lot of the story already, so I'm not in a rush to keep on going.
Speaker 4:They are way more thematically rich than the, than the anime, it would say. Even from this first volume there are a lot of Ideas that are explored a bit more fully, a bit probably like berserk in a lot of ways. In so far as you know, the anime does a lot of the actiony stuff without dwelling too much on a couple of very noticeable Exceptions, like the time era episode, for instance, in the anime is like there's nobody in flirts of tears, not in floods of tears at the end of that episode, for instance, but like the kind of the role of God, all other stuff so good in here, like that can't wait to continue on. Unlike. They are the most beautiful hardback editions of Ever. And then the last thing that I started is Lonesome Dove by Lyra Wirtry, which is which is a choker.
Speaker 4:Which.
Speaker 4:I think, is a pretty good one to have keep going the background when you have a couple of Couple of days when you can knock out another fifty or hundred pages or so and just keep it going. I don't think there's anything happening in so far. That would really need you to keep on reading it all the time. Very, very character heavy at the moment, really interesting characters, characters that you like in sort of root for and get it just In much the same ways, johnny Canada's, you just got a slither bit more.
Speaker 4:Every chapter, every bit you get another little bit about what makes the person you know and kind of what makes that person interesting. So people that you kind of first introduced you go on, don't like them, don't trust them, and then you get to know more about them and then, a bit like our friend, a car, for instance, suddenly they start to become oh, I understand you, I, I know what's happening with you, I like you a lot, you know that that exterior that you're purporting to show other people isn't the story. So that I just be chipping along with that for a lot of months, I think Only because it's it's very easy to digest and it has the just rich character moments, just chapter to chapter of little things that happen between them and Give you, give you an idea of of what they're doing. So that's my yeah, that's been the amount of reading that. I don't know If you've been paying attention, that's a lot more reading than I've done in a long time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, great.
Speaker 1:Do you do you find that reading bits and pieces is easier or is Is more enjoyable for you than reading chunks at a time? And one book is it? Is it better for you to jump a little bit and Take bites?
Speaker 4:normally I would have said no, because I like to finish a book and then kind of have that feeling of starting something new. But because we're discussing them at the end of each of these chunks, it changes. But exactly what we're talking about it. It changes the process of of the reading to Create that moments of enjoyment throughout the book rather than just at the end of it.
Speaker 4:You know, sometimes you can be reading a 400 page book, you get the page 250 and you're going I'm having to push through this bit, this bit's dragging a little bit in the middle and you kind of think should have just started another book or I should buy another book one. That's what I do, that's exactly what I'm missing out of my life. But because we're doing them kind of every hundred pages or so, then it means there's always that finite end and it always gives you Something the info aim for, like I know, by time, on certain time of Friday or a Sunday every two weeks I'm gonna have to have this in mind finished and it always means that I'm making progress and for anybody that that wants to be a habitual reader, I think that regularity is is is very good for keeping you, keeping you moving forward and progressing Sure.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I agree with that, and I know Vash is no stranger to having six or seven books open at once, as well as myself.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 4:Rebels in it. But it does make for weird experience when you're kind of talking about what did you read? This month will have finished no books and and I'm halfway through about six or seven books put it back in the next month. I'll be able to talk with loads and then people say you finished seven big books that month. You're like Sure.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but yeah, it's it's. It's. It's fun though because, like you said, chris, it I mean I always. I always had a couple books going before I I started getting involved read-alongs and stuff like that. I always had two or three books going, depending on that, because I read One at work during my lunch break and I read one at home yeah you know I do stuff like that and and Of course I would always and I'm always reading comics in between as well.
Speaker 5:So you know I'm breaking it up in that manner, but then once I started doing read-alongs and stuff like that, then it got even crazier, because you know you're you're reading some and stopping, and you know it, like you said, and. But I don't know, it's kind of a blast. I like it a lot.
Speaker 1:The comics really help. Even reading berserk, think helps break things up a little bit and kind of An easier read.
Speaker 4:It's a it's all relative.
Speaker 1:It's an it's with the visuals, it's not as yeah, it's has different, different.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and it's a good point about the comics, because comics Actually force you, if you're doing a monthly comic, force you to put the story aside For a month until the next issue comes out. You know, even if you're doing it by trade, if there's more than one trade, you still force to put it aside until the next train comes out and and that kind of. That's almost like a training for what I'm doing now with regular books.
Speaker 2:Yeah you practiced all your life for read-alongs Right.
Speaker 1:You've been training for this, yeah.
Speaker 5:It's been rough, but we did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a long road to get.
Speaker 1:Well you Jared, what are you reading this month? We're prepared.
Speaker 5:Well, I finished. Or accept the throne by the NSM on the. Fourth, book in the novels of the Malus and Empire. It's a reread that I'm rereading all Malus and journey here and I'm rereading him in publication order. So that's the book that was published after told hounds, the eight book in the air, erickson's Malizen book of the fallen, and it was probably that my favorite Esselmont book so far out of the ones he's written.
Speaker 5:It's a direct sequel to Total Hounds and so it was very integrated with that and so I really enjoyed it a lot. And it's actually one of the few Malizen books with kind of happy ending.
Speaker 5:So there actually was like, oh wow, things worked out for some of these characters, which doesn't happen often and you know, anybody who's read Malizen knows that. But so that was cool. I finished that off getting into Duster Dreams next for my reread, and besides the ones that Chris mentioned, I did read the Old man in the Sea by Hemingway. That was very interesting and I had a discussion with Joanna about that on my channel and that was. That was very. You know contemporary literature, it's more like a long novella than an actual novel. It's it's quite thin, but it was. It was cool. It was. I actually liked it because I didn't like I read Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is a much longer book, and I was kind of bored in a lot of sections with that. With that book it didn't. Yeah, I was, and so I was. You know, the Old man in the Sea. I was like, okay, here's Hemingway again. But it was actually quite gripping. It was actually. It went by quick and it was cool. I liked it.
Speaker 5:What else did I finish? I finished, oh, I finished Wistful Ascending by Joe Byrne. Oh nice, that was a blast. That was a ton of fun. So I really had a good time with that one. So a lot of cool stuff. Space Bears Come on, it's great, it's fun.
Speaker 1:Have you read Invincible Jared I?
Speaker 5:have. Oh, let me correct that. I read like the first two trades Did you see the?
Speaker 1:did you notice any crossover there?
Speaker 5:With Wistful, huh, yeah, I don't know now. I mean, you know you get the this, the superman, like a dude, but other than that, I think Joe Byrne took quite a different tact towards that kind of you know, that kind of hero. Yeah, you know what I like, what that Wistful did was it had nothing to do with Earth for the most part. I mean Earth was mentioned, but it was, it was really somewhere else and I kind of like that. You know, it wasn't like Earth was a center of the universe type thing that most year a Superman and clone stories are. So you know, all those type of superhero stories are derivative of each other. You know, with their it's, it's. You know those type of stories they haven't moved beyond the original idea of Superman, beyond just making the character different somehow, you know. But but so you know, as far as that goes, yeah, is it? Is it similar that it's a superhuman dude who's powerful? Yeah, but is it? It was different enough within that very small genre? It was different enough? Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because, joe, he mentions Invincible being a big inspiration for him for writing Wistful ascending. So Okay. I saw the Omnibus yesterday or a couple days ago at the comic book store and I almost picked it up Every, every Robert Kirkman story I've read.
Speaker 5:I get sick of it after one or two volumes, wow yeah, every, every single, like walking dead, invincible. He did something else too. I can't remember any of it, but it's like it always starts off with a neat idea and a bang and then it seems. I don't know what it is, but his stories I get. I get tired of him. I don't know if he repeats himself, or or the idea just doesn't.
Speaker 5:He doesn't it doesn't seem to grow, you know, and it kind of stays stale after, after a little bit. In my opinion, yeah it's quite delicious the other. Jared that's what I'm reading right now. I'm, I'm, I'm still doing my monthly Assassin's.
Speaker 5:Apprentice comparison from the comic to the novel. And it's really weird because, like, I read a chapter and a half of the novel this month because that's how much the comic covered. So it's like reading the novel. I'm going so slow, but reading the comics are really cool because it's it really is like the best adaptation I've ever seen in the comic book of a novel, and so if you haven't picked up the Assassin's Apprentice comics, they're really good. So I'm doing that and I'm also reading. I've, I've. What's funny about this? Short stories we're reading for the science if it was the name of it speculative speculations.
Speaker 5:What's funny about that is I had already told myself I was going to read more short stories this year and of course Varsha comes along and says hey, you're reading short stories with a guy, okay, and but I also I started reading some short stories out of a book called Swords and Dark Magic, which is, which has been pretty cool because it's headed Erickson story in there and had a Gene Wolf story in there and some other ones too, and it's been pretty good. I read a couple of those. I read Nightfall with Asimov with you guys. That was cool. And and then I read I'm reading another short story collection called Tales Before a Token, which were stories from the 19th century that might have influenced talking.
Speaker 5:I read a couple of those. You know just one here and there in between stuff. So that's in doing that in stories of your life with Ted Chang. Yeah, and I am also in the middle of the spear cuts through water, simon Himinas. That's fantastic. It's a lot of fun, really unique, really really unique novel, enjoying that a lot. And, yeah, I'll stop there doing the.
Speaker 1:I don't know it's not there. It's also what I was reading.
Speaker 5:I've been looking up Simon Himinas now yeah, I got that and yeah, what's my reading?
Speaker 1:what's your Himinas bookie reading?
Speaker 5:the spear cuts through water. The spear cuts through water. Yeah, yeah, very good, yeah. And then, yeah, I'm gonna move on to Dustin dreams. I gotta move on to Lord of Light by Selassie for our next sci-fi masterwork, and I think that covers everything.
Speaker 1:That's all do you find it challenging to when you're reading more than a couple of fantasy books? Do you find it challenging to keep up with characters and locations and lore and histories and stuff?
Speaker 5:no, I'm doing alright okay yeah, I. I guess I compartmentalize pretty well. So I yeah, yeah, I yeah when I'm, when I'm in that world, I'm in that world, you know, I mean, and then when I'm not in it, I'm not in, and so that's. That's just that's how I break it up, I guess.
Speaker 1:Yes, and Varsha, do you have to tell us about the podcast?
Speaker 2:speculative speculations, speculation yeah, yeah, so that's a sci-fi podcast that I bullied all of you to come discuss books with me, sci-fi books specifically. There's a bunch of series that we're going to work our way through. We started with the southern reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, but on the list of series that we might read eventually are Dune and the Mars trilogy and the Tchaikovsky trilogy, which is called what children of time? Yeah, I would go to a whole list of books, to a caveat, and we also are reading one short story every week. Currently, like Chris and Jared mentioned, we're reading stories of your life and others by dad Chang, but eventually we'll pick up more older sci-fi short stories as well, because I think in the 60s 50s, sci-fi was primarily published as short stories and those with the sci-fi of ideas and exploration and thought experiments those should all be fun to discuss. So we'll do all of that in the podcast called speculative speculations.
Speaker 1:The original title for the podcast was average intelligence, but the name was taken so someone found out I was on the podcast, so the key is not average, it's way below average other way.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so should I do my wrap up thing now okay so we have reading annihilation, like they said. I'll try to skip over books that Chris and Jared already talked about, because I'm reading a lot of the reading groups I am into, or I bullied them inspired as the word for inspired not bullied. I inspired the reading groups. I did. I did finish books this month, so that's a change from the last couple of times I was on here. I I finished the restaurant at the end of the universe.
Speaker 2:I was listening to this on audiobook with my husband yeah, and so my husband and I have been listening to some audiobook during our commute. We he prefers comedy, so we've been working alternating between discworld and Douglas Adams. So we finished the restaurant at the end of the universe. We did not start the next discworld book, however. We started the first three minutes because we wanted to listen to some physics stuff, so by Steven Weinberg. So we're listening to that. And then we finished warrior prophet this month, which we're reading for the prince of nothing series discussion. We're discussing that one, a hundred pages, every week. We are on a brief break for a couple of weeks and then we'll start. What's the next one called the thousand full thought mm-hmm and what else did I read?
Speaker 2:I read. I read Nephilim's hex and anachrony anachrony. Oh yeah, I'm currently reading truth of France, but I'll get to the currently reading list in just a second. Steve was holding up the book. But Nephilim's hex, which is the third book in the timelessness series by Susanna imaginary whom who comes on this podcast quite a bit and anachrony anachrony. One of those, maybe in pronunciation. So I finished both of those. I've been listening to those on audio. That's everything I finished. I have a head start. Good reads tells me I'm two books ahead of my schedule for the good, but I'm cheating because most of these I was already reading in January it's okay, still counts did you guys lose me for a sec?
Speaker 2:yeah am I still lost? Yeah, so, yeah. So those were the books I finished and then currently reading. I have 15 books in my currently reading list, but I'm actually not reading all of them. I just have them as a reminder. Start, wow, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4:I guess we think it's changes and it's tight, can you guys feel me okay?
Speaker 1:you're still there yeah, yeah yes, we can you're good for sure oh, this is.
Speaker 5:I think she froze the.
Speaker 2:The connection could handle the currently I had to change my wife. I again. Okay, today, let me say, I had 15 books in my currently reading still don't ask yes, no, yes, yes yes yes, actually reading 15 books.
Speaker 2:I just have a short term books I want to start soon which I already have a couple of shares for, and it was getting ridiculous how I was tracking those so I put everything here. I've got to remove some anyway. Truth of grounds I am reading that one by Carl D Albert who joins us on the Prince of Nothing discussion groups. But yeah, I've been I'm what three quarters of the way in, almost. I booked some fun, although he's been hurting some people that I was fond of and I'm not happy with them about it. And then I started the next book in timelessness, annamnese's. I have to ask to Zana how to pronounce all these titles, but yeah, I just started that. I'm about 15 minutes into the audiobook, so not a whole lot of progress there. And then I started Morning and Evening by Jean Fosch. He won the Nobel Prize last year. I another thing that I don't know how to pronounce his name, but it's a very short book and it starts at the birth of one, of a baby named Johan, I think, and, and then it continues on as Johan is is dying, is on his deathbed, so I think they're the same person. I think it tells the story of this baby's life. But yeah, I'm just reading that a little bit at a time and that one's been interesting so far. We already talked about the first few minutes. I still have the voyage of the Basilisk going on. I haven't made much progress there.
Speaker 2:Spinning silver I read quite a bit off this month by Naomi Novik. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of it. It plays with a lot of different fairy tales and it feels like it picks up where those fairy tales left off and is examining the consequences of that. For each of those stories, like the one with Rumpelstiltskin, is that the one where you, she, was signing away her first born? And then. And then there's the one about the what was it? The shoemaker's daughter, who, who gets locked into a room and she has to spin a whole bunch of cloth. So there's all these short fairy tales, that is, those that are like so retold in this book. But then what's being examined is the consequences of those actions and I love all the characters in this book. I'm really enjoying this one, this one also I'm listening on audiobook and the count of Monte Cristo. I started this one after we finished the stars my destination.
Speaker 2:I'm only about like 60 pages and it's gonna take me. I don't know. Maybe, maybe check back in December. I would have finished this by then, but yeah, that that's where I'm at with that. I started this after stars my destination, which we read for the SF Masterworks series, and that book was highly inspired by this one and I was curious to see what it was based on. So that's what I'm reading. What are you sure?
Speaker 1:well, I actually have a question for you about the Prince of Nothing. Is it because I'm sure you've heard, you've heard a lot about how dark and bleak and everything else it is? Is it what you expected? Or is it? Is it your expectations going into the series, how, what?
Speaker 2:are your thoughts on that? Now did I get dropped off from the call again? Okay?
Speaker 1:did you hear anything? I said I used to there Russia yeah. Oh, did I drop off.
Speaker 4:The first video and it was coming through nice and clear for me.
Speaker 2:Was that? Oh, so we're all. I don't see Steve's videos. I was wondering if I had a weird connection again. Yeah, anyway, so that's been what I've been reading. When I finish Two of the Crowns, I'll probably go back to the voyage of the Basilisk and finish that one. Oh, I also started Dictator, which I haven't put on the currently reading list yet, but that's the third book of the Cicero Trilogy. So I switch up the books I read just before I go to sleep. I need them to be lightweight, easy to read things, so that I can remember what happened, even if I fall asleep on them the next day. So I am probably going to read Dictator like that when I finish Voyage of the.
Speaker 4:Basilisk you enjoyed.
Speaker 2:Cicero, I did. Yeah, it is. It was very easy to read and I liked the story. We studied dualist teaser when I was in school the Shakespeare play and it turns out I remember absolutely nothing about it, even though I studied it for two years, but I do remember the largest strokes of that, so it was interesting to see that from a different perspective. Nice, I think I want to go back and read the play at some point.
Speaker 1:Can you hear me? Okay now, yep, or is it just me?
Speaker 4:No, it's all coming through, clear for me.
Speaker 5:Oh, okay, hey.
Speaker 1:Thank you there, varsha, or is it just me, so I guess? Well, until Varsha can hear me, did I hear something? No, yeah, but until Varsha comes through back, makes circles back.
Speaker 2:I have a question for everyone who talks has anyone started the second chapter of Annihilation yet?
Speaker 1:No, yeah.
Speaker 2:You're worried. You're going to read on.
Speaker 5:Yes, yeah, I'll probably wait for that until Wednesday or Thursday. It's a quick read.
Speaker 2:I want to see what I'm nervous about. 72 letters, that's a particularly long one. I thought there was a pretty good scope that we'd like understand because it wasn't as dense as the others in terms of the technical stuff you put in, but I had other objections to it. I did like it, though I did enjoy I think one of you said it I did like and enjoy every single story on there, but there was something off about each one. I think the idea of themselves was interesting.
Speaker 1:So yesterday we talked Grimdark. On the Friday conversation we discussed fairy tales and I have a question for all of you, because we discussed this yesterday, we'll be posted next Friday on the podcast. Are fairy tales Grimdark? Even think back to the early Disney movies Bambi, pinocchio, dumbo there's some pretty dark stuff I was thinking of.
Speaker 4:Golly Locks and the Three Bears. It's a pretty grim, dark story in its own right. It's when we remembered somebody had written an English lesson on how people use assumptions to tell a story. But they actually give them the story and then you ask people questions afterwards and they give you the answers based on a version of that story They've been told rather than the actual one that they've got. But the idea that this girl does a home invasion and breaks into house, steals or food, sleeps in their beds and then feels like some internal right to be there. It's a horror movie and any other name how dare you kick me out of your house.
Speaker 5:Right yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you read the Little Mermaid, the Hans Christian Anderson the original story? It was in this collection that my uncle gave me and it has a very dark ending, I think in the version that I read as a child. She marries one of the princes or something and she lives happily ever after and so on. But the actual story does the main story have the thing about where her feet hurt like hell and she can't cry and there's all kinds of problems with her physical body, but she changes anyway. But anyway, the ending of the Little Mermaid. She turns into foam in the ocean and that's it. That's her ending. She doesn't end up with either one. She's like oh, you made a bad decision, now this is how you suffer for it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, turning to foam, though I think at some point it gets a little happy ending for her. But supposedly her soul just disintegrates too. She doesn't get to go to heaven or anything she's like nope, and then I think some version of it got adjusted to be like oh no, she did get to go because blah, blah, blah, I don't know.
Speaker 4:It's been a while since I read it. I say you're telling me she doesn't become part of your roof. This is unbelievable, See.
Speaker 1:Grimdark.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I almost was pretty shocking. And the rest of that collection had some really dark stories too. I think that was the one which also had a story where a mother loses a child and then she follows, I think, goes to an underworld of sorts to make a bargain and then the typical story about, like every, you have to bring me another child to replace the one who died, and then the one who died, and then she can't bring herself to replace any other child. But I think these are children's stories.
Speaker 4:Again, what Grimdarks for everybody, not for the children. Why is it the message I didn't?
Speaker 2:have an impact for.
Speaker 1:So this month I've been reading lots of comic books for the comic book podcast. Too many to list has been a lot, but I've been fun with that First chapter of annihilation. I really liked that book and I'm almost glad I watched the movie because it gives me a good picture of what the area X looks like. The hardest part was not reading past chapter one, the fade out. Reading that with all of you, with Brubaker and Phillips, and you can't beat that group. People who talk about how comic books isn't a good storytelling format. I just wonder, are they just looking at capes and cowls kind of thing or what? Because they're missing out on some really great storytelling? Partially can't hear me. She's just nodding to what I'm saying. So I can say anything. She'll just nod. I won't take advantage of that. So also I've been reading the fugitive prints. I'm trying to catch up to all of you and it's proven harder than I expected because it just takes me forever to get through. We finished the Warrior Prophet. That was my second read through that one and there was a lot of things that happened in that book that are very important to the rest of the series. I guess you can say so it was fun to go back and know what certain things meant, because I've read the series before. So it's fun to say, oh, that's what that was.
Speaker 1:And also reading Truth of Crowns by Carl D Albert. Carl is a friend and part of a little group. The book starts off pretty predictable, but it's kind of like fantasy setting up the world and then everyone starts dying and everyone's like there's double crosses and betrayals and it's like one thing after another after another. It's a tragedy. It's almost like a Shakespearean tragedy. That, yeah, so I've been impressed with. He just goes for it. So, yeah, so anyway, truth of Crowns it is darker than I expected it to be, but it's taken off quite a bit. I'm trying to think, oh, and of course, reading Berserk. We are on volume 34, we have about 11 to go, I think. So we're almost there. Wow.
Speaker 4:Almost there Still looks good, not till enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's pretty good. I think there are lulls. I feel like you almost have to have a break sometimes, but I think you almost need like the lulls and, like you know, the story has to do. You can't be a 10 all the time. But yeah, I don't feel like I'm getting tired or that I'm wanting to kind of want it to be over. I am wondering how it's going to end and I hope it does end someday. Can you hear me now, Varsha?
Speaker 2:Yes, I can hear you.
Speaker 1:Okay, alright.
Speaker 2:I was just saying lots of awful things and you were just there nodding when.
Speaker 1:I was talking.
Speaker 2:I couldn't hear anything.
Speaker 1:I was like Varsha likes to kill a puppy, and you're like, yeah, it was really bizarre.
Speaker 2:Everybody's quiet and I was like, why isn't anybody saying anything? Because I couldn't hear you. But you were talking, oh dear. Sorry if I interrupted you. I couldn't hear you. I thought I was filling the silence. If I may have interrupted you there, no, that's okay.
Speaker 1:No, I was just wrapping up my wrap up. What I wanted to ask you in your expectations for the Prince of Nothing, from your expectations going in, how different is it now that you've been through two books?
Speaker 2:I think the main expectation I had for it was that it would be a super dark book. And well, I suppose it fulfills that expectation, but not quite in the way that I know. I've heard some people talk about it. I mean the way people go on about how dark it is. I expected a rape on every other page or something like that. It wasn't like that, so it wasn't.
Speaker 2:It broke my expectations that way that the darkness seems to have some meaning that I don't know yet but seems to have a point that I don't understand. Kind of like Malazan a little. But there are some things that are arguably very dark but they have a purpose. So it seems to be like that. So it wasn't just unmitigated like here see how bad I can get with what cruel things I can do to my characters it wasn't just that the purposeful. So I don't mind that too much and I did expect to enjoy that. I think quite a bit. So that has been disappointed. I like his style and the philosophy. I don't. There are some sections that I really enjoyed, Like I think we talked about the one about doubt and the one about the one where two people become friends and the one where two old friends meet. I liked all of those, so yeah, it's lived up to my expectations on how much I'd enjoy the writing.
Speaker 4:That sounds sweet. Two friends meeting up, that sounds great, it was.
Speaker 2:It's basically a romcom, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Grimdak romcom Awesome, and also Varsha. It was asking the group about fairy tales. We talked to them on Friday conversation yesterday about grimdark. Considering how dark fairy tales are or can be, especially older ones, are fairy tales grimdark.
Speaker 2:Are fairy tales grimdark. What was your working definition of grimdark to decide that?
Speaker 4:Oh, don't do that. Whatever it is for you, we don't. There's no definition.
Speaker 1:That's a whole I don't. I don't know you want to be another hour and talk about it, but yeah, so for your, for your kind of your definition of grimdark, do fairy tales fit that definition?
Speaker 2:I think some of them are grim and dark, but I don't know about grim actually, dark, yes, like the one about the little mermaid and that one's grimdark Because it's sort of like what the hell is the point? She turned into foam. So I guess some of them can be Okay. So here's the definition I'm going to use for the purpose of this Like. So you know where I'm coming from. Dark is just like bad things for whatever reason, and grim is sort of a purposelessness, I guess some statement about the pointlessness of some things. So for that, I guess some fairy tales can be grimdark, like the little mermaid one comes to mind, but I think I'm sure there are others.
Speaker 4:I can confirm there are definitely grim fairy tales. That must have been me last night.
Speaker 2:Must have been.
Speaker 5:Do you think that, like the little mermaid one, do you think that those fairy tales that were because those things are written you know like what Middle Ages or even maybe a little after that or something like that Do you think that the purpose of them being that dark originally was to sort of tell people to stay in their place and be happy with their life where they're at and not strive for more Sort of like a control thing?
Speaker 5:Because I know, like the nobles back then and the church back then didn't want people to have to get out of that, get out of place to. You know they weren't progressive at all, you know, and I wonder if that was the purpose of those tales like the little mermaid, you know, stay in the water, you know what are you doing, and other tales like that Hansel and Gretel, don't go to the witches house, stay in your village, you know. And I'm just wondering if that was the mindset behind, because it was a kind of nihilistic time almost. You know it was. Life wasn't easy and going out of your lane could result in very bad things and I'm just wondering if that, when did we want that change to happy fairy tales? You?
Speaker 4:know whenever ratings came along. You know whenever they needed a PG. Are you rating other than a 15 to sell more movie tickets possibly?
Speaker 5:Yeah, well, I mean, disney definitely did his work at giving us the happy ending as far as that goes. But I'm just wondering, if there was a time before Disney that people wanted that happy ending, when did that come about? That people were craving something, wanted to change those original fairy tales to make them a little more palatable for the, for the, for the gentle audience. You know it's really interesting.
Speaker 1:I never thought of it that way. That's like there were a form of control to to kind of keep everyone in their lane. I was kind of saw them as like a cautionary tale for kids, like to you know, kind of a way to to scare kids into doing the right things. But it could be, I mean, a form of control to to not strive for more, to not not take any chances, to not speak up against authority.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but they didn't want kids leaving the farm because then you wouldn't have somebody farming, you know? So it's. It goes along with that kind of mindset.
Speaker 4:Huh.
Speaker 1:Never thought of it that way, but yeah, you could be on to something there. I'll look further into that.
Speaker 2:Do you think the nobility came up with that to keep the peasantry in their place, or the adults for the kids, or just people telling themselves that this is all we can do, so let's be happy with it? Yeah.
Speaker 5:I mean it's definitely the Catholic Church plays a part in that in in European history. I know that for a fact. I mean I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't say more. I mean that's that's where those grim fairy tales mostly originated, was in that area of the world, the, so that they play a part in that, because they didn't want people thinking outside the box generally, and so that's definitely a part of it, and the nobility would play into that, into that, that mindset, even if they weren't always on board with. You know, there was always a struggle between aristocracy and and and theocracy, but the. But when it came to the peasants, the regular people, they were on the same page, you know. So they, it was always that need for control by the people who were already in power.
Speaker 5:And I wonder if they, if fairy tales, help with that, because I don't know, nobody knows the actual origin of the fairy like who wrote them? They were, they were oral for a long time. So nobody actually knows the origins of that. And who was in control of oral stories other than the church was in control of a lot of that. But they, you know, and how this, those stories spread from region to region. You know, you don't know, but people spreading them wouldn't necessarily be thinking I'm doing this to control the next population in the town over there, just spreading tales. So how does that all tie together? It'd be an interesting project to look stuff like that up. So if you want to challenge Steve, there you go, let's do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's do it. That's a great, great so topic. Yeah, I love that. You read that down in my little handy dandy journal thingy that I'm trying to do more of now.
Speaker 5:Journal thinking oh wow.
Speaker 1:Journal thingy.
Speaker 5:No, that's out of the box. You can't do that.
Speaker 1:What's funny is that, like I've been using, I've been trying to do more journaling and kind of like writing notes down and stuff and I've always like find myself worst control F, like what can I do? It's ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's my problem with notebooks I can't search for things, so it's mostly to. I think they help me remember more than anything else, because writing down helps. But I almost have a go back and look at what I've written. It's just that I'm more focused when I write it down.
Speaker 1:So, before we wrap up, speaking of journaling, kind of like being more mindful of writing things down for me was something that I was trying to do, and it's you know working so-so. But also not to buy any number ones, no books, that no number one book in a series is my kind of my resolution. But how's everyone doing on their resolution so far?
Speaker 2:If you have any, I didn't make new resolutions, but I started new hobbies towards the end of last year, not this year, so I've been keeping up with them, more or less I used to. I mean, I've been learning to play western style violin for a while. I'm learning some Indian style, karnatic music style violin. It's pretty different. Even the position where you hold the violin is different and the music theory is different. So I'm starting to learn that and some dance, which I don't know how long I'll keep that up, but I'm trying.
Speaker 5:Doesn't a lot of the Indian music theory have like a bigger scale of notes or something like that?
Speaker 2:So it has.
Speaker 2:I know this it has a seven note scale which is the same, but I think it has more variations. Like you know how the minor scale has the exact differences. And then there's like what three kinds of minor scales and the gaps are defined? Indian music. I mean, I'm still very new to all of it, but I think there are ragas which are kind of like they have a feeling, and so it's not that there's a scale and then there are three other variations of it which make up the minor scale. It's this is the rag which has these notes, and then also the feeling of the rag is defined by some additional ornamentation that you add on top of it, like with vibrato and like some glissando and things like that. Like I mean, there are Y's, e's, e's and apparently it's the same for pretty much all instruments. So it is different, but I don't know if it's because there are more notes or it's just there's more ornamentation added to each scale.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Speaker 1:What about you, Chris?
Speaker 4:Are you muted? No, I had plans to lose weight, but I'm doing it just by virtue of being sick. I've been sick for a month and a half and I'm losing weight just fine, but I've been able to do nothing else, so that one's going alright, I suppose. In that regard. I don't know, I just wanted to get back into a better reading groove, so I suppose I'm sort of doing that and that's about it really. You know what are big plans? Two would be making plans, big changes. I don't know, I'll win the lottery. There's a plan I'll make.
Speaker 2:Good plan.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's air-proof A little bit, you, jared.
Speaker 5:Well, one of the one of my resolutions was to go to IFCA this year, and so I am going. It's all set. I got the plane tickets, got the reservations and stuff, and so I'll be heading down to Florida in March to attend that. So that'll be something to cross off my bucket list, I guess. And yeah, I thought I was going to try to lose weight too, but that hasn't worked out yet.
Speaker 4:Get sick.
Speaker 5:We'll see, let's keep working on that. Yeah, I want to try to avoid that, oh that's fucking familiar content.
Speaker 4:But if you name a new, one and not help you know, I'm just going to put the proof tips out here If you name a new one on a regular basis, apparently it probably will not lead to.
Speaker 5:That's not what I have in my mind here, so I don't know.
Speaker 4:I like your plan better than mine.
Speaker 5:Nice yeah. So yeah, and getting more involved with some read-alongs and stuff was part of the plan as well, and I think you guys can attest to that. I'm doing okay there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, cool. Yeah, this time always flies. But before we go, where can everybody find everyone? Chris, where can people find you? You can?
Speaker 4:find me on my YouTube channel or find me on the Patreon forums.
Speaker 5:Jared. You can find me on my YouTube channel, the Fantasy Thinker, and you can read my blog on Creative Crossroads on page chewingcom and find me on the forums there as well.
Speaker 1:And Varsha the Disruptor.
Speaker 2:You can find me on my. Youtube channel Reading by Drainy Mountain. There are links on the above page to the podcast and the speculative speculations podcast is coming out soon. Look out for that. And of course, I hold the Patreon forum with everyone else here.
Speaker 1:Nice. Thanks everyone. Chibipo had to skip out early because he had dinner waiting, but I want to thank him for hanging out. I'll put it on X or Twitter, whatever is called these days. Chibipo won, I think, but I'll add it to the links down below. So that's one. Well, thanks everyone and we'll see everyone soon, I'm sure Very soon. Night grows5000, you know how that happens. Music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, Music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music.