Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Davey -- Well, as long as you're qualified to "rant," what IS it that
makes white chocolate not chocolate?  A bunch of us in a test
conference were trying to figure that out recently.  I thought there
was an official, definitive answer, but danged if I can find anyone who
knows it.

Choir song hit a few snags in finding recording equipment that didn't
sound like an AM radio station in an electrical storm, but I got an
extension from the guy who's putting the album together; he's behind,
too.  (During my preoccupation with the technical crud, my guitar
calluses have all but peeled off.  Grr.)  Thanks for asking, again --
I'll keep you posted.

Afetysay ostpay.
  

    
Mary -- Ooh, a Passover Seder on Holy Thursday sounds cool!  I
actually went looking for such a thing around here -- something I've
wanted to do for a couple years, and the fact that my b-day fell on
Holy Thursday this year gave me that much more reason to do something
out of the ordinary -- but with the job move and everything, I just
didn't find one in time to get directions and info.  Maybe next
year....

'Grats on getting the _Neverwhere_s in!  Hope everybody passes all
their classes.

I've been so busy and virtually Internet-less that I can't remember if
I thanked everyone for the birthday wishes.  Thanks, gang!  :D  And
Erynn (<608>), thanks for the well-wishes.  I took 2 days off to get
rid of my cold, and now even that lingering stuffiness is gone (KOW).

Whenever you start that goat dairy farm, I'll be a customer!  I love
goat cheese!  Maybe you can supply Maure's comics café with fine
cuisine....

Safety post.
  

    
Dodge -- Hope your back's doing better!  <careful hugs>

Martha -- Don't know if I've said this already, but Congrats!

Hi, Bill!  What milestones?  Birthday?  The kind that's important
because we have a base-10 numbering system?  Best wishes for whatever
you're talking about!  :D  And as for WisCon -- you know you want to. 
(Lucky non-East-Coast #!#$@&^!)

I am thirsty.  It is late.  And I have to give clues in a guessing
game in another conference.  So, more later....  G'night!
  

    
Um, Davey--Sorry.  You asked about Neverwhere last week, and I didn't
answer you. We start this coming week--Wednesday/Thursday it looks like
now.  We're finishing up some mystery stories at the moment.  One of
my students is already on chapter 4.  She thinks it's "weird".  It's
certainly different from anything else they've read, which was the
point, as far as I'm concerned.  Anyway, I've assigned the Prologue for
Wednesday, Chapter 1 for Thursday, and, optimistically, Chapter 2 for
Friday.  I'll let y'all know what happens.  I'm going to try to play
them the audio book reading of the prologue, to give them an idea of
Richard's accent.

Neil will be here before school is out, so maybe some of them will be
interested in hearing him read at the Printer's Row Book Fair.  We'll
probably be finishing up around then.

Stagewalker--Please tell nothing.  Nightcrawler has been my favorite
X-Man since I started reading comics in the mid-eighties, and I'm going
to assume from your post that they don't bugger him up. We're taking
Chris next weekend (Debbie said tonight that that's what she wants to
do for Mother's Day--she is so cool) and I regard it with a combination
of dread and eagerness.  I just want 'Crawler to be perfect, that's
all.  Just perfect.

Pterry Pratchett signs tomorrow in Naperville!  Yay!  Many Unusual
Suspects will show up. Hey, Neil--anything you want us to tell him?

Mary (reading Wild Seed by Octavia Butler)
  

    
    tiny -- "white chocolate" doesn't contain any complete chocolate
liquor, made from roasted cacao beans.  (When you see percentage
numbers on high-octane premium chocolate, like Valrhona 70%, that's the
percentage of liquor.)
    White does have cocoa butter (the fat extracted from the liquor)
in it, which is why, at least some places, you can get away with
calling it chocolate.  Most of the flavor is actually vanilla, which is
weird, but I like it anyway.
    As I recall, in chocolate-serious countries like Belgium and
Switzerland, you have to call it "confectioner's coating" or somesuch;
Lindt bars are called "Classic White" but don't say "chocolate" on the
label.

     This has been a service of More Than Anybody Really Wanted to
Know Industries, a division of Pedants 'R' We.
  

    
Mary - I won't say anything, but as a fellow Nightcrawler fan I will
make this comment: the time span of the film is a couple of days and
Kurt Wagner is a very complex character. ... I can't say anything more
without giving stuff away. They didn't bugger him up at all, but we can
talk about what we do and don't see of him in this film after you see
it.
  

    
Mike--you rock.  I've wondered about that myself, so thanks for the
explanation.  What are you writing now, and when are you going to come
to Chicago, so the Unusual Ones can stalk you?  It's not *that*
scary--we know where some pretty good restaurants are..........

Blue elfy person--cool.  I can't wait to see it--I'll let you know.

Tinymonster--Holy Thursday did rock--we have a good number of Jewish
people in mixed marriages in my parish, so the seder is neat.  Many
Catholic churches are doing seders on Holy Thursday, apparently.  I
think it's cool.  Easter in general was lovely--it just goes by in a
blur when you're there 16 hours a day, and then have to be back at
school Easter Monday.

Mary (v.v. excited about stalking Mr. Pratchett) 
  

    
 . . . while I'm v.v. disappointed in not being able to do so too. 

But my friend Anthony has his last concert with the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra tonight, conducted by Barenboim, and he's moving away in a
month, so I'm going to that. And then directly after, probably even
before the last few ovations, I'm running off back uptown to do the
radio show until midnight or so. And then I have to work at 5:30 in the
morning.

I don't like white chocolate. But then, I don't really like chocolate
either. But now I know why white chocolate doesn't taste remotely like
chocolate, and knowing is half the battle. Or so I've heard.
  

    


Doddge (Holley Nowell) writes:




Dodge (hnowell)

Happy Monday.
I finally got that wall painted. It's a very pale pale pink now. There are
rose red colored roses climbing the wall next to the door with little petals
falling off them. At the bottom of the wall next to the trim is a pile of
rose petals. (I'm thinking of buying a bag of dark rose pink silk rose petals
and piling them up for real at the base of that wall for a lark.) The far
wall in the living room is the dark rose red & I still have half of it to do.
Now, I just have the front wall to paint the pale pink, & the vertical blinds
& lace curtains to install on the patio door & I'll be finished with the
living room. Oh. And the 15 boxes piled in there emptied and removed.
Hopefully, much of it will go into the big cabinet. I moved furniture all
around. Rearranged. Today or tomorrow I get the big cabinet. Decided to buy
it after all. It is 8 feet tall, 80 inches long and 23 inches wide. Just fits
on the short pink wall. I guess I don't really need to repaint that as
nobody's going to ever see it again once that cabinet is in place. I know I'm
danged well not going to be moving it ever again as long as I live there. Oh,
it does come in 2 pieces so the guys bringing it over won't have too bad a
problem with it. I also (yay) got rid of the twin bed so there's more room in
the bedroom. And, man, that Old English scratch filler stuff is great.
Salvaged some more pieces of furniture I thought I was going to have to
refinish with it. Wow. & That's me for the weekend. Now. To work.

In the book Why Does Popcorn Pop? by Dan Voorhees there is an explanation
about chocolate and white chocolate.(paraphrased by me to shorten) - a very
good book if you have ever been curious about things such as what
is Saccharine sweeteners made of? (it's a petroleum by-product)
See.
They roast the beans. Then do buncha other stuff to 'em. They chop them up
into nibs and then they grind 'em & squeeze 'me. Then they process and
process and heat until the cocoa butter liquefies and turns into chocolate
liquor & then separate the cocoa butter from the chocolate liquor.
1. Baking chocolate is pure chocolate liquor that has been molded & chilled.
Contains 53% cocoa butter, the same amount that's in the nibs before they are
ground. Bitter.
2. Bitter sweet chocolate has added sugar & cocoa butter. Contains at least
35% chocolate liquor.
3. Sweet chocolate is 15-35% chocolate liquor with more added sugar & cocoa
butter & added flavorings such as vanilla, vanillin, salt, oils, cinnamon &
cloves.
4. Milk chocolate is chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, milk, sugar &
flavorings. Must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor & 12% whole milk.
5. White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor. It is cocoa butter with
sugar, milk, and flavorings added. (in some countries, they can't even call
it chocolate on the label)
6. Chocolate flavored syrup is corn syrup & cocoa with added preservatives,
emulsifiers & flavorings.
  

    
Christy--
Yep, you're exactly right. The kind that would also be two shy of
significant if we counted in hexadecimal. I'll let you do the math. :-)

And yes, I do want to go to WisCon, badly. It will most likely,
though, be a game-time decision as to whether we actually go or not. We
shall see. It's that seven-hour drive that starts to make it a little
sticky.

Saw X2 over the weekend. Summarily geeked out. Lots and lots of good
stuff in there, and only a few minor complaints, which I will keep to
myself unless asked directly.
  

    
If you go over to movie conference you'll find plenty of people
picking on X2.  

Yes, I enjoyed it.  Yes, they could have filled in the plot gaps a
little.
  

    
Mary -- We have what I think is the final ToC for the collection
(which should be out by Minicon next year).  I'm actually finishing the
afterword for Steve Brust's next-after-next book (that is, the third
volume of VISCOUNT OF ADRILANKHA).

Chicago doesn't scare me (or did you mean the Unusual Ones?), having
grown up at 116th Street and US 41, a few blocks over the Indiana line.
 And yes, there are many Good Restaurants, though it ain't quite the
same since Chef Louis quit.  Elise and I did Russian Tea Time and the
Berghoff last time we were through, which was indeed fun and indeed way
too long ago.
  

    
Yesterday was an adventure. Got to Naperville after many wacky and
wild adventures on three diff. trains, and attempted to use the
directions that gal from the store had given me to walk from the train
station to the bookshop. However, for reasons I cannot explain, she
tried giving me directions using nothing but landmarks that meant
bugger all to someone who had been to Naperville exactly once before,
and she never actually gave me any street names until the very end.
Apparently, I am a guy. Give me street names and which way to turn, (or
even better, cardinal directions and actual distances), and I'm happy.
This "Okay, now, walk towards the museum" crap doesn't help me.

So I ended up getting there about 3:20pm or so. Debbie was already
there, and was saving seats, and I ran over to the shop's little
bathroom because I'd had to pee for about two hours. Knocked on the
door to see if there was anyone in there.

There was. And he let me know by opening the bathroom door to tell me,
*while still sitting on the toilet, doing his business.*

Right. So, praise heaven above for long-tailed men's buttondown
shirts.

Also? Eeeeeeew! 

I think the guy was actually touched in the head, as when he finally
did leave, he didn't flush (ick!) and wandered around the store,
muttering. Who knew Naperville had Uptown-style crazies? I'm surprised
Stepford doesn't take them and turn them into soylent green. Maybe they
do. Maybe I am the last human alive to ever see that poor befuddled
freak show of a guy ever again, and no one will ever know what happened
to him...

pTerry was actually outside the shop, sitting on a bench when I got
there, chatting with someone, so at about 3:30, he came in and pointed
out that if he signed books until 4pm, instead of peering around
corners to see if we were all still there, that might make more sense.
So he did, and then right at 4, he started his talk which was a brief
history of how a geeky kid obsessed with reading became a world-famous
author who owns many many greenhouses and his own observatory.

Afterwards, he asked if there were any questions, so I asked "How many
people in the last 4 days have asked you about the 'Good Omens'
movie?" and he said 27, including me. Even tho that was actually the
answer I was looking for (because I am, as previously noted, a freak)
he then actually did fill folks in on the current state of the project
(which would be dead in the water, tho for the first time I heard
Gilliam was no longer attached except vaguely). But at this point, I
think it's just as well it never gets made. It would have been fun, but
I don't trust Hollywood to do anything right, so anyway, there you go.

I picked up _Wee Free Men_ for my Judy, had it signed to her, and
shall surprise her with it as a Mother's Day pressie. I also had a
blissful moment when he went to sign my _Maurice_ and said "Tara? Like
the hill of Kings!," in the exact tone of voice 99% of the time I hear
"Tara? Like Gone With The Wind!" and I think my smile grew 200% and I
thanked him for being fabulous and got my ancient and crumbling copy of
_Truckers_ which I bought in a used bookshop in Ireland when I went
for Rona's wedding signed as well. Cannot WAIT to see what Dreakworks
does with that trillogy...

Afterwards, we went to a pub and had supper, and a kickass dessert,
and then Mary drove Deb and me home in the Pinkmobile, and I saw half
of "Everwood" and even remembered to pop a tape in and switch over to
Ben Browder on "CSI: We're Just In It For The Money". However, I shall
most likely tape over it tonight with "Smallville."
  

    
Oh! Meant to share with people, if you are wanting to know more about
chocolate, go here:

http://www.chocolateandcocoa.org/

I found it a few weeks ago, when I was looking up how much caffiene is
in a cup of cocoa (1 month and counting caffiene free!), to see if
that had been keeping me awake, and I surfed for about an hour,
fascinated.

Also, for sheer evil malicious glee, check out:

http://www.lptrixie.com

It's a wickedly clever site, and if you're already familiar with
Lincoln Park Trixies, even more so.
  

    
So...er...how much caffeine IS in a cup of cocoa?  
  

    <scribbled by maureluke>
  

    
adriana roze/nightwalker: about the same amount as a cup of decaf
coffee, apparently...
  

    
Look, Tara, I'm awfully sorry about the bathroom thing in
Naperville... I was just having a really off day.


*grin*



*bamf*
  

    
So...Decaf is not completely decaffeinated?  I should have known...

RozeWalker
  

    
Something I learnt at an art materials safetly lecture:

There's lead in chocolate! @_@ Aaaaaiiii~!!
  

    
Lead?!

Hey all. I just saw the coolest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. My
friend Emily played Benvolio. It was very strange. chalk full of sexual
innuendoes, of course, without changing the original dialogue a bit.
They took it to the max, especially with Benvolio being a girl. Gives
you a whole new outlook on Benvolio and Mercutio's relationship ("Why
else do you think Benvolio wasn't in the second act? He was too heart
broken to go on after Mercutio died," I was told) They were also 1940's
gangsters in Chicago. Very cool stuff.
Afterward we went to this VERY British couple's house for drinks and
carpet rolling contests. I am still hung-over from all of the cheese
they served. 

Anyway, I'm glad your walls are done, Dodge:)

Christy- I've been talking to some very nice goat people. It doesn't
look like I'll have any goats in the near future:( Apparently, to turn
a decent profit, I'd need to milk about 25 does, until I get a bunch of
connections. I can only handle 10. So until I can afford to not have
to make a profit off of them...when Jess and I are stars (hee-hee)...no
goatsies. I'll just play on other people's farms and milk their goats
for fun for now. Someday I will own my own Nubians. 
 Yeah, I love goat dairy stuff. I prefer their milk to cows. Better
for the digestion and creamier without the extra fat. Hurrah for goat
dairy! 

No one here lives near Nashville, Tenn do they? I'm headed down there
in a few weeks.
  

    
Aaacck!  Why did I know that letting Neil go trotting around Europe by
himself was not such a brilliant scheme?  He needs a pit bull:

Interviewer (bookstore owner/publisher/whomever): Mr. Gaiman, can you
just sign another 100 books/do another interview/read some more/answer
another 50 questions/juggle for a half hour?

Pit bull:  I'm sorry, Mr. Gaiman is having lunch/having
breakfast/eating supper/*sleeping* right now.  That won't be possible.

He's going to be completely worn out by the time he gets back.  He's
still got another week and a half or so!

Neil--if you're reading this, *go get some rest*!

This message brought to you by a mama hen without enough to worry
about, apparently.
  

    
I second that, Neil, Good Lord!
  

    

Hi folks long time no read.  Jeeze. Thought I'd drop in to say that
critic, poet, novelist John Clute and author Elizabeth Hand will be
appearing at the New York Review of Science Fiction at Dixon Space on
May 13th.  Some of you might be familiar with Mr. Clute's work, others
might have heard Neil mention him. Elizabeth Hand has written
novelizations of Terry Gilliam's film 12 Monkeys and for the television
series Millennium.  Anyway, I thought it might be an enjoyable evening
for some lucky NYC Wellies. 

Here are the details:

John Clute & Elizabeth Hand Reading 
7pm  $5 cover charge wine and munchies provided.
Dixon Space
The South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery
213 Water Street (near Beekman)
http://www.dixonplace.org
http://www.nyrsf.com
  

    
Bill -- That was my guess.  Whatever you do, don't look at your age in
Octal.  Or do -- it'll make you grateful you count in decimal.  ;)

And H*A*P*P*Y B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y!!!!!!!!!!!  (Whenever it actually is.)

Tara -- You'n'me both, hon.  TFTP; I ought to start using it on that
board where all newcomers assume I'm male, DESPITE the name "Lark." 
(And yet, one of the main things I get teased about over there is how
much I drool over guy movie stars and the like.  Sigh... I always knew
that somewhere inside me was a gay guy trying to get out.  ;p   )

I wouldn't go so far as to say I do well with cardinal directions,
though.  Not unless they are prominently displayed on the road signs.

I ought to see _Soylent Green_.  Steve Taylor's music publishing co.
is Soylent Tunes, so I should watch the movie just to remind myself
what a sick bugger he is.  ;)

So _Good Omens_ will NOT be a Terry Gilliam film?  That's news to me,
too!  Sigh.  Oh well, like I make it to the movies much anyway.

Very cool that you and Debbie-the-lurker got to see PTerry.  I'll bet
I'd like him.  :)