The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • AlbaCon 2021!

    It takes more than an endemic to keep Albany's long-running SF convention down. AlbaCon 2021 is going on tonight and through this weekend, but only in virtual form. I'll be there, participating in four events: At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday the 18th I'll be part of a panel discussing "No One Goes to Space Anymore."…

    jamescambias

    , ,

  • Food Bragging: Harvest Edition

    When you belong to a farm share, you get the vegetables in season, and you get as many as the farmers have produced. This means one must learn to deal with huge waves of vegetables, often more than can be eaten in a week. We're just past peak sweet corn season, so we're still getting…

    jamescambias

  • The Zydeco Operation

    The Godel Operation comes to Acadiana! On Wednesday, September 22, I'll be doing a reading and signing at southwestern Louisiana's premier book shop, Beausoleil Books of Lafayette, from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is free and all are welcome. Come on down and hear some of the adventures of Daslakh and Zee in the Billion…

    jamescambias

    ,

  • A Chilling Analysis

    This article, "The Good Death — Cancel Culture and the Logic of Torture," by Christopher Van Eecke takes a look at the phenomenon of online Twitter mobs and their fetish for destroying lives and inflicting public humiliation on people. He finds a useful — and disturbing — parallel in the public torture and executions of…

    jamescambias

    ,

  • The Endemic

    Note: I haven't put up any new blog posts for several weeks, and this one is the reason. I've been thinking about this piece for a while, but was reluctant to post it because I didn't want to feed the endless anger. Nevertheless, I think it's important, so here we go. The definition of an…

    jamescambias

    ,

  • More Food Bragging

    Turned 20 lbs. of tomatoes (from the farm stand, not our garden) into 6 quarts of sauce, put up in jars for winter. Had the excess sauce with some garlic and basil over homemade linguine. It was very good.

    jamescambias

  • Summer Afternoon Supper

    The fresh corn and tomatoes are now appearing in our farm-share and at the local farm stands. Also, it's really hot. The obvious solution: Caprese Salad and Corn Fritters. Caprese Salad is one of the simplest, most elegant salads out there. Tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves, with some oil, salt and pepper. Cool, subtle,…

    jamescambias

  • Movie Review: Prospect

    The other night we watched the 2018 science fiction movie Prospect, made by the highly tasteful and perceptive people at DUST Studio. It was excellent. More importantly, it was excellent science fiction. The story concerns a young woman named Cee and her father, a pair of struggling prospectors hunting for weird biological gems on an…

    jamescambias

  • Movie Review: Pig

    Went to see the new Nicholas Cage movie Pig. It's . . . unlike anything else.  This isn't gonzo Nick Cage, it isn't action-movie Cage, it isn't "I'll do anything for money" Cage. This is Nicholas Cage the by-God actor, in a movie with a real story about people having real emotions. We thought the…

    jamescambias

    ,

  • Wood

    I grew up in an old house with a fireplace, in a city where it is a news-worthy event when the temperature gets below freezing on a winter night. My father would sometimes light a fire, but it was entirely an aesthetic experience. I never paid attention, but I'll bet the gas heater ran more…

    jamescambias

The Worldbuilding Index