The excellent folks at io9 do me a solid and link to my AMC column on Speed Racer today, but some of the folks commenting there don’t appear to have actually read the column before commenting, because a fair portion of the comments boil down to “John Scalzi is completely wrong about this because [insert point actually discussed in the column].” At least one of them was nice enough to note he/she didn’t read the column before trying to disprove my point using information I specifically note in the column, though.

Lesson: It’s always a good thing to read what you’re commenting on. Just sayin’.

It’s on its way:

The California Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory.

But note:

The state high court’s ruling was unlikely to end the debate over gay matrimony in California. A group has circulated petitions for a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution to block same-sex marriage, and the Legislature has twice passed bills to authorize gay marriage. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both.

Basically, if you’re wanting to have a same-sex marriage in California, sooner would be better than later.

That said, a good day for basic human rights in my native state.

Update: From the ruling:

“Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation like a person’s race or gender does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental consitutional right to form a family relationship, the California constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples.”

Rock on.

Whatever reader and commenter Kate Baker recently had some music she wrote and performed played on a radio program called “Off the Beaten Track,” which is broadcast on WELY in Minnesota. Kate got permission to stream the segment on her own site, so if you’ve not heard Kate’s very lovely voice and songs, here’s your chance.

Note that DJ Vince O’Connor talks for six and a half minutes at the opening of the show; the first song starts after that point.

I’m extremely pleased to announce that Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998 – 2008 is now available for pre-order straight from Subterranean Press. For those of you who don’t know, Hate Mail is a retrospective of the entire run of Whatever, all the way back to the hazy days of 1998, when the concept of blogging was so new they didn’t even have the word “blog” yet. We called them “online diaries.” We also had to type uphill in the snow, both ways. And we liked it.

The book is limited, signed edition, and only 1,000 copies of the hardcover are being produced (it’s possible there will be a trade paperback version later, but it will be a long time from now if at all, and it won’t be signed). The limited edition will be $35 (the same price as Coffee Shop), and there will be a special lettered, traycased edition for $250. There will be only 26 of those.

Why should you order Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded? I have a list of reasons:

1. It includes Whatever entries from the early years (1998 – 2002), which are not currently on the site. Now you can finally see what you missed.

2. It also includes entries from 2002 – 2007, which are on the site, but thanks to the generally awesomely broken and disorganized nature of Scalzi.com and Whatever (because I suck, you see), are difficult to get to.

3. Writing the foreword: Wil Wheaton. Yes, the Internet’s own Wil Wheaton. You know Wil. You like Wil. And if you shell out for the lettered edition, you’ll get Wil’s signature along with mine. And that’s just so much geek joy.

4. If you order the book through the Subterranean Press site, you will receive an exclusive, special extra: A chapbook entitled “Waiting For Athena,” with Whatever entries about Krissy’s pregnancy and Athena’s birth. You can only get this if you order through SubPress; ordering off Amazon or BN.com will cause you to miss out.

5. This picture (or one very much like it) will be on the cover:

6. And this picture (or one very much like it) will be on the back cover:

7. Every penny of author income from the sale of these books will go to the Athena Scalzi World Domination Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the principle that things would be much better if a quirky nine-year-old girl ruled the planet. How could you not want that?

8. The book is printed in English, with words flowing from left to right. These superior and unique features, we believe, will offer better reading comfort for most of the book’s intended audience.

9. Copies of Coffee Shop, the previous Subterranean Press limited edition book based on Whatever entries, have an asking price of up to three hundred dollars on the rare books Web sites. Think what Hate Mail will be worth, especially after my death during the long-predicted Horrible Dolphin Incident of 2011. Yes! Profit from my freakish demise! I want you to.

10. It will make you smarter, wittier, and more attractive to the people you wish to be more attractive to. Just like beer.

All of these are excellent, excellent reasons.

Here’s the SubPress order page again, and remember, ordering through SubPress is the way to get the “Waiting for Athena” chapbook. The book itself will be published September 13, which is the ten-year anniversary of Whatever. Save the date.

In this one, I talk about why the movie Speed Racer is totally doomed. Does the reason have something to do with Star Wars? Well, how could it not?

Check it out, and if you want to comment, do so there. The AMC people were happy the last column got lots of interesting comments.

You have until one second before midnight to get your entry in to win a Zoe’s Tale ARC, so, you know. Tick Tick Tick. All the details are here. I notice that lots of folks are turning in sort of epic entries, which is very cool, but I’ll note that longer doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s entirely possible a short, punchy entry could win, too. Heck, one of my favorites so far is a single sentence.

Even if you don’t feel like entering, I do suggest you drop by the contest thread and check out the entries. There’s an insane amount of creativity going down there. I’m having too much fun reading them. I think you will too.

Last note: If you decide to enter, please make sure your entries go into the official contest thread, not here. If you put it in this comment thread, I might not see it, and/or I might not count it.

For those of you with your noses smooged up against the windowpane of Whateveresque, the Whatever reader forum, wishing you could get in, good news! Registration is now open through 10 pm Eastern time.

As always, help an administrator out in approving your membership request by choosing a member name that is recognizably NOT a spambot name (here’s a primer on how to do that).

Once you sign up, hop by the “All About You” section and let people know who you are. Because we’re all interested in the new kids.