Apr 01 2008
It’s All True
Why yes, there’s a squidpunk anthology, and yes, I’m a contributor. My own piece is an epic poem, “Ode to a Grecian Squid,” a touching tale about the love between a cephalopod and Hephaestus, the Greek God of manufacture, which enrages a jealous Poseidon, all told in Ionic Hexameter. Really, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, about a squid, in verse. And that’s saying something. So go buy it, and if you don’t I will never ever ever speak to any of you ever again. Ever. Seriously, it may be the anthology that saves us all. After reading it, you will never eat calamari again. Unless they cook it really well. With sea salt and lemon on the side. Mmm… lemony squid.
I'm the Creative Consultant for this television show, appearing Fridays on Syfy. Miss a week? For US residents, 
I know you don’t like baseball, but this baseball story borders on science fiction in many ways….
and it’s timely.
http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2008/04/01/title-5?blog=172#comments
Oh, and congratulations on the squid.
Yeah, Happy April 1st, John. :-)
I just had my moment of shock when reading “General Motors to buy Specialized Bicycle Company”… Fun!
And that begs the question — what’s the most embarrassing April Fools Joke that you’ve been taken in by?
You can’t view this on the BBC site unless you’re in the UK, but the Daily Mirror allows the rest of the world a peek at some amazing penguins.
Oh, is it Eris day again, doesn’t it roll around quick each year.
Ironic hexameter?
Dammit, I got fooled by this for a minute. Even after I fell for the Gmail Custom Time thing.
I freaking hate April 1st. Worst day for gullible people. EVAR.
“…it may be (the) anthology that saves us all.”
A year from now? Dude, CERN is going to unloose squidtacular, Lovecraftian doom upon us all before then. But thanks for trying.
One must view anything on the web today with a jaundiced eye lest you be sucked into the vortex of fools.
Ia Ia Sc’lzi Cthulhu fhtagn! Or something. I’m too tired to do anything original and Lovecraftian today. But even unread, I know your poetry is better than Lovecraft’s, (could anyone’s poetry be worse?) even if you’re writing about ordinary cephalopods…
Going back to bed now.
Alex
I thought John meant that it was “one of the best things he’s ever written about a squid in verse,” but then I recalled that when John uses commas, they mean exactly what he chooses them to mean – neither more nor less.
“Ionic hexameter” tipped me off, which is a first for me, as I am so gullible it’s sad. *feels proud*
The sad thing is, I would totally buy that.
Huummm, Lemony Squidket…..
Bah.
Yeah, the “ionic hexameter” was a dead giveaway. No one’s written in that meter since Niels Bohr. Peramblic kilometer is much more the rage now.
But enough about stylistics… Mr. Scalzi, is the whateveresque registration going to be unlocked today? I was hoping to sneak in, this being the first of the month.
I snort-laughed when I saw the cover, especially the author list.
Locus and SFScope have up some April Foolery as well.
I misread your post and now i REALLY WANT to read a poem in Ironic Hexameter.
I realize it’s a joke…. but can I have it anyway??
I wish this wasn’t an April Fools prank… I’d totally read it.
My wife refuses to eat calamari because she thinks cephalopods are cool. I feel the same way about pigs. That’s right, no bacon.
For maximum pretentiousness though, it really should be “Ode on a Grecian Squid”… I had a (pretty good) high-school English teacher who hated Keats with a passion, mostly based on that poem.
But Dan Simmons seems to like him, so he can’t be all bad. Keats, that is.
Heh. Jewel, Jackie Collins, and John in one book. Double heh.
Mike @4:
Thank you thank you thank you!
That was amazing. The music, the narration, the plucky little buggers. Just perfect!
Does that mean six ironies per line, evenly spaced? That’s an awfully demanding form. (Perhaps you could use some ironic substitutions, throw in a few garden-variety witticisms and a measure of biting sarcasm.)
I find ionic hexameter a highly polarizing art form. Please, can we have a sample?
Ha!
I know it’s a fake because PEter Watts would have to be on this one if it was for real. The man made his bone son squids!
. . .
Squidpunk!
Steven @18 et al.,
My attempt at Ironic Hexameter is at http://cnoocy.livejournal.com/67195.html for your enjoyment.
I just want to know why you used an octopus tentacle? Is that the plot of one of the stories? Does a plucky young squid need to save… the guitar? from the loathsome grasp of a wicked octopus overlord?
I would totally buy that as well. Love the cover.