If Pattern Recognition was even vaguely readable for you, Spook Country is fantastic. Many character and plot points are similar to my life and the lives of my friends. He's talking about our world, right now.
Pattern Recognition is set in early 2002, and Spook Country is set in February 2006.
If you read his earlier work, like Neuromancer, you may recall that he drops invented terms or cultural references into his story and never explains them, just uses them as if you're supposed to know what "the Panther Moderns" or "jacking in" or "cyberspace" means. And soon, while reading, you do know what they mean.
Well, now, he does the same thing, except with terms that already mean something, and usually something you know. Because you live here, in this twisted culture. In Pattern Recognition, he says that one character looks like Tom Cruise, except with a cowboy hat, floating European accent, and longer teeth. In Spook Country, I just got to a part where a character feels an intense awareness, as if he "were a vampire in an Anne Rice novel, or a novice cocaine user."
Who writes like that? Isn't that breaking rules? This book is pure gratification for me. I fucking love it.
I'm going to the signing at the church near Book Passage on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll have finished the book by then.
TIPS FOR PERFORMERS: Playing cards have the top half upside-down to help cheaters. There are a finite number of jokes in the universe. Singing is a trick to get people to listen to music for longer than they would ordinarily. There is no music in space. People will pay to watch people make sounds. Everything on stage should be larger than life.
LIVING WITH OTHER PEOPLE: Violence on television only affects children whose parents act like television personalities. Table manners are for people who have nothing better to do. Civilization is religion. Civilized people walk funny. There is always a party going on somewhere. People will remember you better if you always wear the same outfit.
LIFE ON EARTH: Men like pastries, women like custards. Scientists have invented a love drug, but it only works on bugs. Animals like earthquakes, tornadoes and volcanic activity. Nuclear weapons can wipe out life on Earth, if used properly. Cats like houses better than people. Dolphins find people amusing, but they don't want to talk to them. People look ridiculous when theyre in ecstasy. Schools are for training people how to listen to other people. Body odor is the window to the soul. Sound is worth money.
IN THE HOME: There have been cases where peoples shoes got stuck on their feet and could never be removed. The best way to get rid of unwanted insects is to have a strong body odor. There hasnt been a good-looking American car in 20 years. There is always something on television. The best length for television programming is either 30 seconds or 8 hours.
THE SPACE PEOPLE: Space people read our mail. The Space People think that TV news programs are comedies, and that soap operas are news. The Space People will contact us when they can make money by doing so. The Space People think factories are musical instruments. They sing along with them. Each song lasts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No music on weekends.
MONEY: People will do odd things if you give them money. When everything is worth money, then money is worth nothing. If you keep your money in your shoe, then people will know which bills are yours. If you crumple your money into little balls, it will never stick together. The best way to touch money is by the edges. U.S. money is the worst looking money in the world.
WORLD TRAVEL: Passport pictures are what people really look like. Rich people will travel great distances to look at poor people. Toast is the national dish of Australia. People never travel to look at flat landscapes. People would rather watch things than eat. Looking at postcards is better than looking at the real thing. Looking up is as scary as looking down.
IN THE FUTURE: In the future, women will have breasts all over. In the future, it will be a relief to find a place without culture. In the future, plates of food will have names and titles. In, the future, we will drive standing up. In the future, love will be taught on television and by listening to pop songs.
WORK: Crime is a job. Sex is a job. Growing up is a job. School is a job. Going to parties is a job. Religion is a job. Being creative is a job.
So, I was trying to deploy an SSIS Package via the Package Installation Wizard:
( boring ) I just thought this bullshit deserved to be on the internet. You know, for posterity.
P.S. Due to spam, I'm screening comments here & not getting email updates about them. If you'd really like to discuss this particular problem in a comment here, make the comment & then email me separately.
Flying out of SFO, they asked me to step through this thing:
So I did. And I near to pissed myself. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I was jittery and upset for the next 30 minutes or so. It was dehumanizing, and immediately occured to me that someone with past trauma could be much more upset by the experience. I was skeptical (/paranoid) about whether the TSA employees had been fully informed about its function, which they said was to blow a little air on you and sample it. The thick walls make it look like it could contain x-ray machinery and shielding.
This guy engaged me with some extremely self-conscious "aggressive hospitality" when I took a few pictures:
Today I googled "entryscan", but it's mostly industry stuff for the first page. Plus Popular Science talking about how cool it is. GE has A list of supplies you may purchase for your EntryScan, and they all do appear to relate to explosive and narcotics detection. I'm still not convinced that they aren't xraying or something, but whatever.
You can view a photograph of their "Dopant, Explosive" product. Dunno what they use it for:
Maybe it's used to treat whatever air they collect for sampling. Maybe it's how they produce the air blasts, as according to Wikipedia, dichloromethane can be used as an aerosol spray propellant. Also according to Wikipedia, it's carcinogenic:
Methylene chloride is the least toxic of the simple chlorohydrocarbons, but it is not without its health risks. Chronic exposure to methylene chloride may be carcinogenic, as it has been linked to cancer of the lungs, liver, and pancreas in laboratory animals. It is a mutagen and teratogen, causing birth defects if women are exposed to it during pregnancy. Prolonged skin contact can result in the methylene chloride dissolving some of the fatty tissues in skin, resulting in skin irritation or chemical burns.
In many countries, products containing methylene chloride must carry labels warning of its health risks. However, it is often mistaken for paint thinner which can be applied freely to the skin.
Note "chronic exposure". Anyway I'm not going near one of those things again. I will avoid flying out of SFO, and wherever fly out of, I will provide an extra six hours in case I need to explain myself to security. I can't begin to explain how embarrassed I will be.
Silver magic ships you carry Jumpers, coke, sweet Mary . Jane
Thank you, David Holmes. He needs to do that shit more often. I really appreciated A Little Less Conversation, too (which was not a well known song before Oceans Eleven, even among Elvis fans).
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