The Cambias Digression

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

  • Art and Storytelling

    Should the visual arts tell stories? Or strive for simple abstract beauty? The answer of course is "yes" to both. Just as music has room for both fugues and ballads. Here's a good essay by Aidan Harte — sculptor and animator — touching on the neglect of story in contemporary art, and how he's trying…

    jamescambias

  • The Subsurface Agency Wants YOU!

    Geoff Manaugh is an interesting writer — his book A Burglar's Guide to the City is something everyone should read — and he has a fascinating blog called BLDGBLOG. The most recent post (as of this writing) is about some ambitious projects to do large-scale surveys of the subsurface environment using ground-penetrating radar, sonar, and…

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  • New Paradigm Required

    Forgive the interruption in service. Regular blogging has resumed. I've noticed something about the way cities are portrayed in most comic books — and in the superhero movies based on those comics. What I noticed is how old-fashioned the cities are. Whether you're looking at Batman's decaying Gotham City, Superman's bright and thriving Metropolis, or…

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  • Save the Date!

    We're holding a "Fantasy & Science Fiction Festival" to benefit Deerfield's Tilton Library — and everyone's invited! When: October 8, 2023, from 3 to 5 p.m. Where: The Deerfield Community Center, at 16 Memorial Street in Old Deerfield. What: Meet local authors, watch a panel discussion about libraries in fiction and real life, listen to…

    jamescambias

  • Culinary Notes

    This is the weird time of the culinary year. This coming week I'm going to be canning summer tomatoes . . . and making a pudding for Christmas. New England's late growing season means you get all the summer produce right about the time it starts getting too chilly to sit outside and enjoy it.…

    jamescambias

  • Albacon 2023

    Albany's long-running science fiction and fantasy convention is back up to full speed this year, with an impressive guest lineup, a full schedule, and a nifty hybrid live-plus-online format. As always, I'll be there — I said I'd be at their disposal for one full day, Saturday the 10th — and they're getting the most…

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  • Island of Lost Games: Fading Suns

    It's been a while since we visited the Island of Lost Games, but there are still a few old and obscure titles on my shelf to explore. Today's game is 1996's Fading Suns, by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg. It's probably the most well-known and successful of the Island's titles, but it never did manage…

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  • Notes on Lovecraft’s Great Race

    The "Great Race" — often known as the "Great Race of Yith" or "Yithians" (but more on that later) — are the villains (?) in H.P. Lovecraft's last major story, "The Shadow Out of Time." Written in 1934 and published the year before Lovecraft's death, the story is the narrative of one Professor Nathaniel Wingate…

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  • Nope

    I write science fiction. I'm a huge astronomy buff, and a fan of all things space-related. I'm theoretically in the middle of writing a series about designing alien planets and extraterrestrial civilizations. So now that the United States Congress is holding hearings on whether there are alien spacecraft visiting the Earth, and whether the armed…

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  • France Excursion 2023 Part Nine: Reunion in Paris and Departure

    On June 28 I had my last breakfast in Tours, said au revoir to Diane, and went off to the train station while she remained behind for another couple of days at the conference. I made the train in plenty of time, rode to the transfer at St. Pierre-des-Corps, and boarded the TGV to Paris.…

    jamescambias

The Worldbuilding Index