Posted on May 12, 2006 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
I’m stepping away from the computer because it’s Friday night, and I’d like to spend time with my wife. Chat amongst yourselves, about whatever it is you chat about when I’m not around. Catch you later.
Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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I.. uh… I… that is…
I have nothing to say.
It’s Friday night? Damn, I’d better go out and do something fun.
Or maybe I’ll just spend another evening watching “Ghost Whisperer”.
Just finished your “Ghost Brigade”. LOVED IT.. I have been a SCIFI fan since the 70’s and this takes me back to those times and the “Golden Era” writers. You put in just ehough hard science to make it believable but your forte is the twist at the end…it had soul…lol. might I suggest a followup on Lt. Sagan….PLEEEEEASE. She reminds me of one of my old crusty NCO’s when I was in the Military… always getting the “good” jobs to perform and no credit. Can’t wait for the next installment.
What should we do tonight, guys?
Same thing we do every night, RooKie: TRY TO TAKE OVER THE THREAD!!!
Uh, but guys, he’s already haneded over control. Besides which, I have to go pick up my girlfriend from the airport in a little while… so, uh, you’re on your own.
CURSES!
…
I’d like to take this moment to mention that Scalzi’s fans are a strange bunch. And I doubt that it’s accidental.
Dude! It’s SciFriday! I’ll be watching Dr. Who! :-)
Yo Rook, how do we know you are full of crap? Easy, no one here has a girlfriend .
Or we could take our time and watch They Are Made Out Of Meat” and wonder.
Anyone need a girlfriend? I’m available.
I have been a long time fan of John’s, so much so that I own several of his books. Teehee. We would have at least that in common, to being with.
Y’know, next time there’s one of these open threads, we ought to all agree not to say anything at all. If we do, then:
1) John gets to wonder where the hell everyone went, kinda like hiding in the closet (though jumping out and saying “boo!” is something I haven’t quite worked out the details on), and
2) Nobody would notice how bad we suck at open threads. “Making Light” has cool open threads, but the best we can do around here is pathetically lame comments like the one you just finished reading.
Mummy…are you my mummy?
Yeah, Dr. Who all the way. And Numbers. I do love me some hunky math nerd.
Okay, here’s a question for you to ponder, packed with all sorts of open thready goodness:
If you could change reality in any one way (give humans the power of flight, give dogs telepathic control over cats, make raindrops sparkly purple with little unicorns inside, whatever) what would you do and why?
Me, I’d enable all humans one mutant-like super power of their choice that was jazz enough to be cool, but not enough to, like, end the world. Just to see what y’all would come up with.
Sadly, I do need a girlfriend.
Oh well, nothing a night of drinking won’t make me forget. Here’s to Jim Beam.
The best line from Friday’s Dr. Who was the Dr.’s soliloquy about life being nothing but a way to keep meat fresh.
What would I do to change the world?I have actually given thought to this one. I would alter humanity so that puberty doesn’t occur until around 18 or 21 years of age, when hopefully we have enough intellegence to deal with it.
Laura, meet Fred. Fred, Laura.
My work here is done.
Oh, and just for the record, I have girlfriend. We live together and everything. Even the guv’mint thinks we’re married. The fact that she’s away in Montreal for a conference has nothing to do with the fact that I did nothing on Friday except watch the hockey, drink beer and play computer games. Nothing at all.
A man has to do more than code for The Man and read Sci-Fi.
Well, I want to get back to Ghost Brigades. I’m nearing the end of it and I am delighted by the wonderful symmetry of it that’s now appearing. That is, (and this contains SPOILERS, I guess, so buyer beware) one of the underlying threads within Old Man’s War is the idea of getting used to having a Brain Pal — and in Ghost Brigades, Scalzi quite brilliantly explores the opposite tack: what happens when someone who’s known no existence outside of one with a Brain Pal suddenly loses that crutch?
Now my other thought on Ghost Brigades (and this actually occured to me during Old Man’s War, as well) is that there are only a finite number of last names of famous scientists and philosophers to use for the Special Forces. So when they inevitably reuse names, do these oddly born folks start identifying pseudo family units? When Jane Sagan meets Larry Sagan, do they acknowledge anything in common at all, even though it’s basically coincidental? Do these folks try to make connections, however tenuous, with others? Can people born without even the concept of family begin to develop that concept on their own?
That Neil Guy:
“So when they inevitably reuse names, do these oddly born folks start identifying pseudo family units?”
You know, I’ve thought that very same myself. I think they might in a basic sense, but I’ve not explored that scenario fully in my own head. Might make a fun short story.
eu u SCIFI fags know how to have a good time! I love spending my fridays looking up what to do with my life on googles. you can be my new friends!Groovie