Monthly Archives: May 2005
Whoops
Posted on May 31, 2005 5 Comments
It’s been pointed out to me that the quote I use here was taken from an online area where the house rules forbid outside posting. I’d note I checked the house rules prior to posting and missed the part that forbade outside posting, so I didn’t intentionally act maliciously. Regardless there was error and it […]
The Honeymoon is Over
Posted on May 31, 2005 32 Comments
I don’t want to suggest I’ve become displeased with my Mac, which is and remains a fine machine — a tool for living, if you will, and somewhere Walter Gropius is smiling. Be that as it may, I’ve finally given up on the keyboard that came with the Mac and replaced it with one of […]
All The Cool People at Wiscon
Posted on May 31, 2005 12 Comments
Well, okay, not all the cool people, just the ones that happened to wander by my camera during the “Sign-Out,” in which authors signed books for their adoring fans (three of them in my case, although none were tremendously adoring, although they were perfectly nice). In case you’re wondering who is who in this little […]
Feeling Madisonian
Posted on May 27, 2005 14 Comments
Here’s the capitol building in Madison; you turn a corner and suddenly it’s all, whoa, there’s a big-ass dome in my face. It’s very pretty. Madison, at least the parts that I’ve seen, are also very pretty, although if you go down to the shoreline, prepare to be accosted by wave after wave of gnats, […]
Kibbles and Bits
Posted on May 25, 2005 12 Comments
Couple of things: * Justine Larbalestier has caved and has now started a blog to complement her longer-form musings. One of us! One of us! Her first entry features her ginchy cover art for her upcoming book. Swing by and say “hi” to her. * SFSignal has an interesting bit on the criteria the proprietor […]
A Week’s Vacation
Posted on May 24, 2005 11 Comments
I’m heading to Wiscon this Thursday and before then I’ve got a truckload of articles to write for various people, places and things, so consider this official notice that between now and next tuesday, you ought not count on the Whatever being particularly busy. Now, of course, having said that, this is my signal to […]
Not Even the Doglings Were Spared!
Posted on May 23, 2005 18 Comments
See? This is how Jake Lloyd should have been. Update: Athena’s lightsaber’s been upgraded, courtesy of Eric Buhler. Thanks, Eric!
Holy Crap
Posted on May 23, 2005 16 Comments
Having just spent an obnoxiously large sum of money today to travel places around this goofy globe, I would now like to say that after this August, I am never again traveling anywhere ever again. All y’all are too damned expensive to visit. Thank God it’s all tax-deductible. In other news, I am definitely going […]
Synchronicity
Posted on May 22, 2005 7 Comments
My friend Norm forwarded me one of those Amazon “If you bought this, you’ll like this” marketing e-mails this morning, on which it said: “We’ve noticed that customers who have purchased Old Man’s War by John Scalzi also purchased books by Chris Roberson. For this reason, you might like to know that Chris Roberson’s Here, […]
Old Man’s War: A Recruiter’s Wet Dream?
Posted on May 22, 2005 13 Comments
Blogger Douglas Hoffman read Old Man’s War and liked it, so he gave it to his wife to read. Her reaction: She zipped through it in two days, called it entertaining, and set it aside. A day later, she came in to the office and declared that she’d been thinking things over in the shower […]
Revenge of the Sith — The Long Form Review
Posted on May 20, 2005 50 Comments
George Lucas is indisputably the most important filmmaker of the last 30 years because his influence is absolutely everywhere in film. With the possible exception of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for which Francis Ford Coppola intentionally used in-camera special effects techniques dating back to the dawn of film, there’s hardly a special effects film since 1977 […]
Revenge of the Sith: The Mini-Review
Posted on May 20, 2005 14 Comments
Here it is: It didn’t entirely suck. And it’s better than Phantom and Clones. But it wasn’t exactly good. More thoughts later.
Writing in the Age of Piracy
Posted on May 19, 2005 43 Comments
I came across the following comment from a writer recently — which writer and where I found it I won’t tell you, for reasons that will become clear shortly. It regards the nature of humans, and the business of selling books, and of piracy: “I think that the rise of mass-market print publishing created the […]
The Family Assassin
Posted on May 17, 2005 69 Comments
My sister asked me to send this to her, and I figured, well, as long as I am sending this to her, I might as well repost it here. It’s another from the long-lost Scalzi Archives. “OTHER THAN THAT, MRS. LINCOLN…” Thoughts on the Family Assassin Every family should have an interesting skeleton in the […]
In Case You’re Wondering —
Posted on May 17, 2005 6 Comments
At the moment I’m fiddling with fonts. Don’t be surprised if the site looks slightly different. Update: Mac users, it should look different. PC users shouldn’t notice a difference at all. Of course, depending on what fonts you have on your computer, your mileage may vary.
Selling Science Fiction Books in 2005
Posted on May 17, 2005 39 Comments
I’m finding the aftermath commentary to the Stupidity of Worrying About Online Piracy very interesting; apparently this subject is something people are thinking about, particularly for its long-term implications, much of which boils down to: Being willing to not worry about online piracy may work now, today, in 2005, when people are still lugging around […]
Wireless
Posted on May 15, 2005 24 Comments
One of the problems with being bi(processorial) is that when you have two computers and you actually use both, you end up having two keyboards, two mice and so on — a veritable noah’s ark of computer accessories. I suppose I could get one of those boxes where you can route your keyboard and your […]
My Wife Done Got Herself Edumacated!
Posted on May 14, 2005 19 Comments
Note the happy smile, and the college degree. What you don’t see is the 4.0 GPA, but trust me, it’s there. Needless to say, this just adds to Krissy’s awesomeosity. I have nothing else to say here. I leave it to you to imagine my immense pride at my wife’s accomplishments. Except to say that […]
The Stupidity of Worrying About Piracy
Posted on May 13, 2005 113 Comments
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, to which I belong, recently e-mailed its members a poll about Amazon’s “look within the book” feature, about how they felt about it and whether they’d want to let Amazon browsers check out their books online — and how much of the book they’d want to let […]
Scott Westerfeld’s New Blog
Posted on May 13, 2005 12 Comments
Scott Westerfeld, who has several fine books out, has finally succumbed to the insidious, pod people-like drive to put up a blog. Naturally, I think you should go over there right now and say hello. Right now. Look, you’re already slacking off by being here.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying