Does anyone have Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust yet? Did you like it? Were you a big fan of the original series? Considering getting it for business travel later this week.
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I’m currently wrapping up Ripped, by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune. It’s an interesting look at intelectual property in the music industry in the digital era, and how music is distributed, and whether downloading helps or hurts the artists’ bottom line.
@mindysan33, this may be right up your alley. Any thoughts?
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I have not read it, but will put it on my list. I did just finish reading this, though, which if you’re interested in the topic of music and value, should be of interest to you:
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i’m in the last hundred pages or so of the last book of the original series, and i’m liking it, so i’m looking forward to the new book for sure. soooooonnnnn
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I’m still reading the Ann Leckie novel, but I started on this too. Good stuff if you’re at all interested in electronic music, UX or design.
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That looks cool.
I’m going to find that now
Once Upon A Time In Shaolin does sound interesting. I don’t know the story behind this album at all, so I don’t know why they put it out. I will have to check it out.
But yeah, the value (and propagation) of music interests me. How does the music we hear everywhere get to be everywhere, especially since I have heard way better music from relatively obscure artists, and this music oftentimes influences the next generation of ubiquitous artists.
One interesting question that Ripped didn’t answer was, why are the record labels the bad guys? I understand they need to make a profit, and exactly how they do that needs to be hammered out so that it’s more equitable to everyone involved. So, if bands can promote themselves more efficiently without the labels getting involved, this should encourage the labels to step up their game.
And as for corporate music, Dave Van Ronk railed against this in The Mayor Of MacDougal Street as well… but Death Cab For Cutie or Bright Eyes is not Dave Van Ronk. Passing up an influential but obscure folk artist for someone more marketable is something I can see, but most of the bands mentioned in Ripped have huge followings. Did the labels miscalculate by passing these bands up when they were starting out, or is there a trend where artists who traditionally wouldn’t be marketable are now starting to become more marketable without corporate influence? Why does there have to be any corporate influence whatsoever? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the bands to do their thing, whatever it was that makes them unique and got them a following in the first place, and not interfere with that energy?
Basically, it just doesn’t make much sense to me that there’s corporate interference in music, and that the labels are taking so much money off the top when it’s doing them no favors. The record industry just can’t be that dickish for no reason.
I was replying to your comment in this thread, and I’m talking about the books, but we can move it over to the thread. Right now, it’s on topic, but if we keep discussing it, it will derail the thread. Best to move it then.
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It can stay here and we can continue to talk in the other thread!
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I remember enjoying InterstellarNet: Origins a few years ago, a story collection where extraterrestrial contact is through AI brokers who are licensed to exchange information. Space is too vast to travel, but even newer sentient races have some kind of info or unique tech worth trading. Stories are set up like small puzzles almost in the Asimovian “robot” mold.
There are later books in the series but IIRC at some point (3rd book?) the author introduces superluminal flight which kinds of ruins the premise. Anyway the first set of stories stands alone.
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I think as is typical of having read stories in multiple translations, I have my own private version of Borges which does not exist in any volume. I’m sure I’ve tried to source an exact quote before only to realize those words were an amalgamation of various versions I’ve read. Much like my experience with the Bible, I guess.
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Sorry for multiple posts, just revisiting this thread for the first time in awhile…
The Vorkosigan Saga has become a series I’m patiently reading through, saving each book for a pick-me-up when I really need it. It hasn’t failed yet. Brilliant pacing in just about every novel once you get to Miles.
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Spoiler alert 
One of my great joys is loading a bunch of books on my kindle, forgetting which ones are romance, and discovering during the readthrough…
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Just finished (in the last week):
This was quite good. I’m not sure it is actually “#2” as it is a pair of short novels, each about one of two twins. I haven’t read the other yet.
This was very good and a bit sad.
This was…long. It was good but it was…long.
“Just kill Caesar already, forchrisake.”
Reading right now (still):
and
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The Forever War.
I’ve seen a few things saying it’s relevant again, but it’s got some really gross sexism that does not play well today. I just about stopped reading because of it.
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I’m about halfway though this
It needs updating, as Rojava wasn’t a libertarian socialist region in 2010. Carne Ross hasn’t mentioned the Kurds so far in the book so I don’t think that he thought anything would happen there (to be fair, I doubt that most of the Kurds thought that things would change so quickly).
The parts where he talks about his work as a British diplomat are interesting, as it explains how he started off believing that the state was a force for good, then as time went on he realised the harm he caused in Kosovo and Iraq. He compares the situation to the Milgram experiment.
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