Hare Brain versus Tortoise Brain

John Cleese on creativity HERE.

(Procrastination can be a virtue!)

e-Book Advantage

I've just discovered a new advantage to e-readers that I never expected.

A favorite author, Lois McMaster Bujold, has a new book coming out, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance.  In November.

Long wait!  Like any devoted fan, I've been ticking off days in my calendar until I could get my hands on a copy.  But now the author and publisher, Baen Books, have had a brain wave: let eager readers buy the electronic Advanced Readers Copy...

NOW!

Having devoured the book at (almost) one sitting yesterday, I can safely say this is a very fan-satisfying novel. It wraps up all kinds of loose ends for the title character, long a favorite, and in way I at least never expected.

For new readers, I would probably not recommend starting Bujold's award-winning science fiction series about the planet Barrayar and the Vorkosigan family with this book; better to start with Cordelia's Honor (or Shards of Honor), then work through the books in internal chronological order.  This new novel fits in the series time-frame just after Diplomatic Immunity.  But read in publication order, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance makes a very good capstone to the series so far.

One of the things I like about Bujold's Barrayar series is that each book has a distinct character - space opera, adventure, romance, mystery, or in this case, a sort of heist caper with (this is Ivan!) romantic and humorous overtones.

All Bujold's novels develop the classic S-F "what-if?" where some scientific and/or social development is expanded to its logical conclusions. (Speculation that is exactly what I love about S-F.)  Bujold's books all contain humor, often of a comedy-of-manners style, and can have elements of romance.  But an amusing tone and the biological sciences she speculates upon - rather than rocketry or ray guns - can fool a reader into overlooking how "hard" her science is and how ruthlessly she spins out its social effects.  Her books discuss exactly the scientific, medical, ethical, social, and legal issues our present day society grapples with: life extension, genetic manipulation, cloning.

But while Bujold's fictional science and time-frame are futuristic, she keeps her human characters very... human.  Even her evolving-super-race, the Centagandan Hauts, have recognizably human motives like revenge and spite (as this novel illustrates).  

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold, Baen Books

I don't want to spoil Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, so I'll just say that Bujold's new book lives up to her usual high standards of writing and invention with some particularly comic moments.  As a long-time series fan, I enjoyed the tidbits about other characters sidelined in this plot and was very satisfied with this resolution to the Idiot-Ivan dilemma - great fun to read a book with his viewpoint! I really enjoyed this book's ride.  


Thank you Ms. Bujold.  I'll start re-reading immediately.


You!  Go buy a copy of either Captain Vorpatril's Alliance HERE or, if you're a newbie, buy or check out Cordelia's Honor and get to reading!

Sunburnt Garden

This morning's Dallas Morning News had another article about the continuing negotiations between the Nasher Sculpture Center and Museum Tower, the ultra-lux high-rise condo project that is reflecting sunlight into the Nasher's galleries and garden.  (Earlier post HERE.)

It seems one of the lawyers has written a "combative" letter.  (What other kind do lawyers write?)  The letter is part of an attempt to keep the paper from gaining public access to notes, emails, etc. regarding the negotiations.  (If talks are ongoing, a little privacy might be helpful?)

Legal and PR wrangles aside, it seems to me that the only possible solution will be to add some sort of solar screen or bris soleil to the western face of Museum Tower to reflect sunlight away from the Nasher... and incidentally save condo owners fortunes in air conditioning bills.

I'm amazed there wasn't some solar protection on the tower from the beginning anyway, but since there isn't it can be designed to focus sunlight elsewhere.

A bris soleil on the Times building - image from architechnophilia illustrating an interesting article on architecture and unintended consequences

The catch to this solution, obviously, is that someone has to pay for it.  Luckily, the condo owners will be  rich people.

This situation is not very different from when any new building diverts rainwater to flood a neighbor: what wasn't a problem before, suddenly IS because of the new construction.  The law is clear on the responsibility for site drainage, intruding trees, or wandering cattle - ancient legal squabbles- but not so clear on reflected sunlight - there having been little reflective glass in antiquity, I suppose.  But there have been modern precedents, like Frank Gehry's Disney concert hall in L.A., whose reflective skin cooked neighboring condos.  I'm sure there are others.

But whatever the legal responsibility or cost, Museum Tower - which takes its name and importance from its location in Dallas' Arts District - needs to be a good neighbor.  I think they are trying to fix the problem graciously...  Just my opinion, but I think gracious is the way to go.

Not like the Nasher could erect a forty-story spite-fence, is it?

Summer Book Sale

I love these guys at Lulu.com - they have lots of sales!

Here's another chance to save 20% on my theater set design how-to book Alice Through the Proscenium:

Just hop over to Lulu.com and find the Secret Code, then to Alice's page HERE for a bargain on its already reasonable price.  (I believe in value-packed books, don't you?)

For a sneak peak at the set design methods chapter look here at Snippet Central.

(Sidenote: for eReaders, there's a NOOK version available at Barnes and Noble HERE, not on sale, but cheaper anyway.)

Day of Rest? In Theater?

Ha.

Today was the strike for Ruth at Kitchen Dog.

A large number of Dogs were there to dismantle the set - which went pretty quickly.  As a set designer it always amazes me how much faster a set comes down than it goes up.  Poof!  and you're back in a blank black theater - as if the show never happened or hasn't happened yet or, given the word-haunted nature of theaters, is continually happening in some invisible, inaudible time-loop.

But there was a certain amount of resting today too: Movie Day!


Don't you love an ice-cold movie theater on a hot day?

Today's feature was the quirky time-travel-romance Safety Not Guaranteed.  Definitely an off-beat, not-high-budget film... which I really enjoyed.  Much more about the people than the sci-fi, though that was there too.  Another recent satisfyingly quirky feel-good flick was Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.  Frankly, I have never gotten his humor before this, but because of its young protagonists, this film was more accessible (at least for me) and I really liked it.

Of my "bigger" movie viewings lately, I enjoyed Men in Black III - much better than a sequel should be - and The Avengers - still fun on a second viewing.

And just to catch up on months of TV while I'm at it: I've enjoyed the (now canceled) eccentric spin-off from Bones called The Finder; the forensic procedural show Bones itself; the writer-n-cop show Castle; catching up on 30 Rock (I'm still way behind); and Vampire Diaries (also a season behind).  I've enjoyed several British shows: Doctor Who of course, the grumpy doctor show Doc Martin, and another quirky time-travel story, a police show called Life on Mars.

Time travel - it's everywhere.

Believed public domain image.

Catching Up

It's been a busy couple weeks here at Scenic Central, what with a beach vacation and a rather frantic catch-up week.

This week included last night's opening for Crimes of the Heart at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (check it out) which was a LOT of last minute work (thanks visitor/volunteers!); scrambling to get back up to date on the builds for the up-coming Divine Sister at Uptown Players and Smokey Joe's Cafe at WaterTower Theater; plus reading the new script See How They Run for Circle Theatre... starting the design process for that set.

The very beginning of set design, for me, starts with reading and rereading the text and mulling over it in the chinks of time between other projects - thinking it over in the car or the shower, looking idly through books about the period, keeping my eyes open as I go through the day for ideas and images.  You can become amazingly aware of hints and fragments of ideas all around you.  It can feel as if your design problem is following you around, constantly manifesting itself.  (Just as a pregnant woman suddenly notices crowds of other pregnancies and babies and children that she'd never ever noticed before.)

Blog posts will start appearing here again as I catch up with myself... and catch you up on what I've seen while I wasn't blogging!

Public domain photo from publicdomainpictures.net

Beachy Break

More substantive posts comin' later, but for now I'm only reviewing sand (brown) and sea (salty).

Oh, and a classic pirate novel by Rafael Sabatini from 1922, Captain Blood.

A wonderfully old-fashioned swashbuckler!  The wronged and noble hero - a doctor - makes the mistake of tending the wounds of a rebel, is wrongly condemned for treason, sold into slavery in the Caribbean, rebels in his own turn, and escapes... into a life of piracy.  Turns out he's really really good at it.  Though secretly he's still darn noble, all for the love of a Good Woman.  Sea battles, intrigue, romance.  And all ends well.  Classic fun!

HERE's a Wikipedia article.

Early novel cover for Captain Blood, public domain  Wikipedia

Pictures in the Paper

Part of the set designer's career is to keep track of what "the papers" - nowadays mostly blogs - have to say about your shows. Luckily, reviews for my now-on-stage productions have been pretty good, which is always a relief.

(Many theater people say they never read reviews... yet somehow they always know.  Psychic, you think?  Me, I read the reviews.)

Here's a sampling:

Boeing, Boeing at WaterTower Theater

Sketch for Boeing, Boeing at WaterTower Theater

HERE's a pretty detailed review of WaterTower's Boeing, Boeing at CriticalRant.com

Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater

And a review of Kitchen Dog's Ruth HERE at The Observer.

Next up - Circle Theatre's Mistakes Were Made.  I thought the show and the chief actor were electrifying in rehearsal!  Guess we'll see what the critics have to say soon... opens Friday.  Tomorrow!

Or, better still, buy a ticket to one or all of these fine shows and form your own opinion.