From: Omixochitl2002@yahoo.com   
      
   Alienthe  wrote in   
   news:3FC285EC.1050909@hotmail.com:   
      
   > The monster thread has now reached critical mass...   
   >   
   > Omixochitl wrote:   
   >   
   >> Alienthe  wrote in   
   >> news:3FA8284A.5010705@hotmail.com:   
   >>   
   >>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>>Alienthe  wrote in   
   >>>>news:3F9EDC85.7030203@hotmail.com:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>>Alienthe  wrote in   
   >>>>>>news:3F9171E8.20101@hotmail.com:   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>One of these days I'll try to trim this cascade...   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>...but not today.   
   >>>   
   >>>>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>Alienthe  wrote in   
   >>>>>>>>news:3F758312.60406@hotmail.com:   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>Alienthe  wrote in   
   >>>>>>>>>>news:3F57AC0C.5040300@hotmail.com:   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>Alienthe  wrote in message   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>news:<3F4296A8.4090204@hotmail.com>...   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Alienthe  wrote in   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>><3F3501D6.5070505@hotmail.com>:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Omixochitl wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Snoogy  wrote in   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>agreed, though PR went overboard on fashion description   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>rather than tech description and therefore suffered the   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>same failing as hard SF.  though   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Or more precisely, the same failing as hard chick lit.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>"Hard chick lit"? Would that be stories with detailled   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>fashion descriptions set in Harajuku or just outlandish   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>fashions like Trinity's wardrobe inside Matrix.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hard chick lit would be like _Bridget Jones's Diary_ and   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>_The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing_, only more so.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>;)   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>Bridget Jones to Neuromancer sure is a wide span in   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>literary   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>Not that wide.  They're both 20th century, after all.  My   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>literary tastes are a bit wider than those 2 imply.  ;)   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>Well, I think it sounded wide as it was, no matter the   
   >>>>>>>>>>>century. Or shall we say one bridget too far? Ahem.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>Heh.   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>And now in another thread it appears you enjoy generic romance   
   >>>>>>>>>stories too?   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>Actually, I dislike formula romance.  Most of the romantic   
   >>>>>>>>stories I like are definitely outside the genre, and the few I   
   >>>>>>>>like within the genre are still outside the formula or at least   
   >>>>>>>>kick the formula around (for example, _Ritual of Proof_ by Dara   
   >>>>>>>>Joy).   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>Somehow a romantic streak seems a bit odd around here even though   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>Romantic streak?  Where?  I just happen to like several exceptions   
   >>>>>>outside my favorite genres in addition to tons of stuff in my   
   >>>>>>favorite genres.  :)   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>Is it possible to enjoy romance, formula or not, without a   
   >>>>>minimum or romantic streak? Not that I know what it takes since   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>Eh, I had the impression that "streak" constituted somewhat more.   
   >>>   
   >>>Oh. Well, I had more of a "less" in mind, hoping   
   >>>that less is not more here.   
   >>   
   >> It ain't.   
   >   
   > We could go for the other approach: too much of a good   
   > thing is simply fantastic...   
      
   Yup - got more recent cyberpunk books to recommend?  :)   
      
   >>>>>>* let's make it fair and have Nell not call her reinforcements   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>Ah but that would be cheating.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>Nah.  Molly vs. Nell is fair.  Molly vs. Nell + 3,300,000 Mouse Army   
   >>   
   >> Oops, off by an order of magnitude.  Make that 330,000 Mouse Army   
   >> troops.   
   >   
   > What? I thought you had them breeding...   
      
   Eh, adoption seemed to be more their style (China hasn't been the only   
   place with infanticide).  Or maybe recruitment (scattering Primers all over   
   various Leased Territories?).   
      
   >>>>troops is cheating.  Heck, even Molly vs. Nell + 4 Mouse Army troops   
   >>>>is cheating.   
   >>>   
   >>>Molly with her augmented body would also be unfair, without   
   >>>it she wouldn't be Molly.   
   >>   
   >> Trouble is, how many troops are the counterpart of Molly's augments?   
   >> Probably less than 1 girl.  How the heck do you get 0.5 or 0.7 or 0.2   
   >> of them in a fight?  Hmm...maybe a fraction of 1's fighting   
   >> ability...OK, how about Molly + augments vs. Nell + one of those   
   >> older girls who had stunted feet?   
   >   
   > I am not sure what 0.2 girl would look like but I am fairly   
   > sure it would be messy.   
      
   OK, just thought of another way to resolve that: Molly + augments vs. Nell   
   + one of the girls who spends 0.2 of the fight's duration paying attention   
   to the fight and 0.8 of that time doing something else like polishing her   
   toenails?   
      
   Wait, that would be messy too, especially if she wanted blue stripes on   
   black (like I did at age 12) instead of just a solid color.   
      
   >> Meanwhile, a Nell vs. Trinity fight would be even more difficult to   
   >> set up:   
   >>   
   >> "Writing fight scenes in a book doesn't count as martial arts"   
   >> "Of course it does, I see no good reason to instead drill a hole into   
   >> my skull"   
   >> "No fair"   
   >> "You're the one who chose to do this in a ractive, I intended to use   
   >> a proper gymnasium"   
   >> "That's no fair either, you've used your actual hands and feet in a   
   >> fight before"   
   >   
   > Molly aged (realistically?) in the Sprawl Trilogy and had a   
   > close shave in a fight mentioned in Mone Lisa Overdrive, so   
   > the "when" counts too.   
      
   Yeah, that too - Molly aging, the Mouse Army getting growth spurts, etc.   
      
   >>>>>>Libraries stock everything these days, from   
   >>>>>>Nobel-Prize-in-Literature stuff to generic formula romance and   
   >>>>>>Star Trek spinoff novels and such. If they don't stock something   
   >>>>>>for everyone, it's harder for them to ask for tax support from   
   >>>>>>everyone.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>This sounds much like the lowest common denominator. It is easy to   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>More like all the denominators.  Lowest common denominator would be   
   >>>>stocking *nothing but* generic formula romance and Star Trek spinoff   
   >>>>novels.   
   >>>   
   >>>The horror, the horror. That however would not be the *common*   
   >>>denominator.   
   >>   
   >> Then the common denominator would be even lower...the picture books   
   >> the little kids get before they can pick their own and express   
   >> different tastes in books from each other's?   
   >   
   > Any time now we will see this on TV, if it hasn't arrived already.   
      
   They have libraries on TV?   
      
   >>>>>sound elitist, I know, but then again being able to read and write   
   >>>>>appear to qualify to membership in the Elite.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>I've noticed that too.  :(   
   >>>   
   >>>It is one of the things that makes this place so subversive...   
   >>   
   >> Heh.   
   >   
   > Once upon a time people told jokes about why Soviet police always   
   > worked in groups of three. The reason, the joke went, was that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)