...maybe a little too on the nose with channeling Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, there's some truly problematic stuff with the native Medusans that goes all but uncommented upon, there's some reactionary politics that may just be de rigeur for 20th century military sci-fi (I don't know... would be happy to be educated), and the characterizations are almost beside the point, I guess.

On the plus side, the world-building is starting out pretty meticulous in a satisfying way (except for Manticoran dates, which is there for good in-universe reasons, but Weber seems to be using it to be the one ongoing reminder that this the distant future and not exactly England in Space), there's a nice hyper-competence problem-solving ship's crew vibe that will feel familiar to Star Trek fans, and the descriptions of actual shipboard action are very engrossing. Stylistically, there's nothing to write home about, but it's clear prose and allowing for the aforementioned weak characterizations, there's nothing egregious either.

I am cautiously optimistic going forward, and if you had the budget (or could get an animated series greenlit), it seems to me that the universe and Honor herself could be spruced up and modernized into a really compelling space opera franchise that would be well-paced for TV.

So, let's close out this little arc before I head out on vacation, hopefully to be less online for a bit. Technically a little bit older but very much of the same Xennial bent as Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell has established himself as arguably the preeminent Americana singer/songwriter of his generation. Struggling with so many of the same demons, even at times with the conscious notion that it might be a right of passage, he and Earle became friends in Isbell's early days with the iconic roots rock band Drive By Truckers. If anything, DBT and early Isbell's sound hearken back to Steve Earle's early commercial albums, with a lot of hard charging electric guitar. In an arc that reminds outside observers of various "path not taken" alternate universe narratives, Isbell found what has seemed to be a fairly sustained sobriety and reoriented a phase of his career to unpacking what it has all meant, how to live with who he is, and has pulled remarkable creativity out of a type of stability that seems to frighten a certain type of young artist.

If We Were Vampires is a southern Gothic love song, though not really touching on the supernatural, more like what if an Anne Rice reader wrote a brilliant ballad. Listening to it was one of those "wow" moments, when I just perk up at a lyricist who absolutely nailed it on a song. I'm hardly alone in admiring his work, and a song or two only scratches the surface.

To stitch this thread back on itself, and close the loop, here's Isbell's rumination on his friend Justin Townes Earle, wistful but also with a decent amount of survivors' guilt and lingering resentment.

You want to talk about a legacy? Try being Steve Earle's kid, named after Townes Van Zandt, and inheriting every bit of talent and disfunction that implies. Always looking to push clear of their shadow, his voice (both as a singer and a writer) was decidedly less country, but still brilliant and deeply rooted in American roots music. Unfortunately, even if he found a place outside his father's legacy, he didn't escape his namesake's path, passing away from an accidental OD in 2020.

Bonus points for the willfully inane patter from Dave and Paul in the video, and especially on this one, pretending like they weren't listening to the lyrics (being suicidal in one and trying desperately not to be suicidal in the other) to keep the network suits at bay.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15779428

If you use the right ink, the right plastic keycaps made for mechanical keyboards, and the right settings on your laser, you can effectively dye-sublimate any design you want.

https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/699804325565108276

If you use the right ink, the right plastic keycaps made for mechanical keyboards, and the right settings on your laser, you can effectively dye-sublimate any design you want.

https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/699804325565108276

Github: https://github.com/zalo/CascadeStudio

Steve Earle's entire career posits the question: What if that slightly cringey try-hard kid that kept coming around were actually a world-class talent in his own right?

Earle idolized Townes Van Zandt and his cohort of Austin/Denver/Nashville singer songwriters, and sort of insinuated himself into their circle, but they put up with him because he was actually a good songwriter, and brought a harder rock sensibility that was unique and interesting. I can't say I find his output as consistent as Van Zandt or Guy Clark, but the highs are high, he's a grand and earnest storyteller (if not exactly a wry or subtle one) and there's a thumping beat and a unique energy to a lot of his stuff that can be really refreshing in between my endless playlist of murder ballads.

If Townes Van Zandt is the Bob Dylan of highly literate country-adjacent songwriters, his buddy Guy Clark is the Springsteen. Maybe a little less transcendently brilliant, but more straightforward about the human condition, you might say "efficiently poetic" maybe, and with a better ear for what will sell and a less publicly dramatic personal story.

Dublin Blues is a personal favorite, just a brilliant example of communicating the universal by writing the specific.

Casual live performance from an old documentary. A few minor lyrical tweaks for those who know the song well, but a lovely performance from probably the iconic Texas troubadour.

Welcome to the intermittent hell my brain has been hitting me with for for 25 years.

I still pull this up from time to time and can't help but giggle.

Very solid and mature parametric modeler, and if your workflow doesn't rely on booleans too much, the hobbyist version is generally under $200 for a perpetual license.