Shadowrun

Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kontact on <09-08-10/1947:05>

Title: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Kontact on <09-08-10/1947:05>
He's going to be at Powell's in Portland today around 7pm.  (Was in Seattle yesterday, btw.  Anyone stop by and see him?)
Ought I go to shake hands and see what he's up to? 

I'm running pretty empty for a Wednesday, so I need encouragement or discouragement to decide.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Casazil on <09-08-10/1948:19>
If it's not too far away to go (like over 25 miles one way) then yes you should go!
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: FastJack on <09-08-10/2056:13>
Heh... Just be sure NOT to mention Shadowrun. I don't know if he's changed his mind recently, but he's gone on record that he doesn't care for it (http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/archive/2003_05_01_archive.asp#200265459).
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Turtletron on <09-08-10/2306:33>
Yeah I remember reading that on wiki that he didn't give a damn about shadowrun, sad :-\
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: FastJack on <09-08-10/2310:01>
I can kinda understand where he's coming from, since he's a sci-fi GOD (IMHO), and doesn't want anything to do with Fantasy (unless it's steampunk... *shrug*).
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: BlackMyron on <09-08-10/2344:26>
 Ah, I miss the days when there 50% of the BBS handles were derived from Gibson stories (back in ye olde dial-up days)
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Kontact on <09-09-10/0139:16>
It was encouragingly crowded... but quite hot with the mass of bodies.

I didn't stick around for too much reading.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Pepsi Jedi on <09-09-10/0345:20>
*Smiles* I've got a signed copy of Neuromancer. I re-read it a week or two ago.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Doc Chaos on <09-09-10/0349:06>
I now officially hate you :(
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Pepsi Jedi on <09-09-10/0420:05>
It's a copy from 1984 too. Not especially good condition, but great sentimental value.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Doc Chaos on <09-09-10/0424:27>
Anytime you want to stop rubbing more salt is fine with me.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: FastJack on <09-09-10/0920:43>
*Smiles* I've got a signed copy of Neuromancer. I re-read it a week or two ago.
Yeah? Well... I-I-I got Michael Stackpole to sign Wolf & Raven! :P
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Doc Chaos on <09-09-10/0939:42>
On some occations... it really, really, REALLY sucks being german...
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: The_Gun_Nut on <09-09-10/1020:35>
Except when making beer.

Then it's teh awesome.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Doc Chaos on <09-09-10/1023:56>
And schnapps. Don't forget the schnapps! And Jägermeister!
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: The_Gun_Nut on <09-09-10/1025:16>
Ugh.  My friends OD'd on Jagermeister (I don't want to look for the funky dots that go above that "a") so now none of us can drink it, or even smell it, without getting ill.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: Doc Chaos on <09-09-10/1050:33>
Yeah, that's a common end of stories involving Jägermeister...
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: FastJack on <09-09-10/1115:11>
Yeah, that's a common end of stories involving Jägermeister...
... unless you're part of a Heavy Metal band.
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: PeterSmith on <09-09-10/1204:25>
He's going to be at Powell's in Portland today around 7pm.  (Was in Seattle yesterday, btw.  Anyone stop by and see him?)

Chicago's on the stop. Considering the crowd that was on hand when Jim Butcher showed up I plan on staying as far from that Borders as I can. Which is tough, considering it's only a few blocks from my office.

Yeah? Well... I-I-I got Michael Stackpole to sign Wolf & Raven!

I was his handler for a weekend when he came out to a convention in Chicago's 'burbs. ^_^
Title: Re: William Gibson book tour
Post by: The_Gun_Nut on <09-10-10/1410:36>
I thoroughly enjoy many of Stackpole's Battletech novels.  Even with their rather bizarre fetish for insisting that lasers capable of burning through tanks transfer kilojoules of energy.  I mean, seriously, if kilojoules were that bad then the surface of the Earth would be molten; one square meter of the Earth's surface absorbs one kilojoule of solar radiation per SECOND.

Granted, if you focused it onto a square millimeter and dumped it in a millisecond that would generate more oomph.  But still, one ton of TNT generates about 4 gigajoules (billions), 2 pounds of TNT generates ~4 megajoules (millions), so 3.2 ounces of TNT would generate ~4 kilojoules (thousands).  That's nasty, but hardly the kind of thing that blows up tanks.

Now, dozens or hundreds of kilojoules...that would be exciting.

Interesting sidebar:  TNT has about 4.6 megajoules per kilogram, but gasoline (when you have an oxidant in there giving it the O2 it needs) has 47.2 megajoules per kilogram.  So now you know.