Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to watch an Oscar nominee today. Lilo and Stitch is in the mail, though, so hopefully the series can resume tomorrow or Wednesday.
But I did just finish a really good book. Pattern Recognition is William Gibson's most recent book, and it's also his first that is set in the present and isn't really sci-fi at all. I haven't read much Gibson other than Neuromancer which I re-read a couple weeks ago after reading a review of the new book. It was better than I'd remembered.
In Pattern Recognition Cayce Pollard hunts the globe for what is cool, helping capitalism comodify it. She receives a strange assignment: find the maker of a series of mysterious film clips that have a thriving cult of fandom on the Internet. People all over the world wait for the next film clip while analyzing the last one. They get in raging battles over little details, form camps and alliances, and engage in childish flame wars. Hmmm, sound anything like blogging?
If I say anything else about the plot, I'll be revealing too much. Suffice to say that the book is wonderful. The plot is absorbing, and unlike much of sci-fi, the characters are fully developed and likeable. I'm looking forward to reading more of Gibson's books now.
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