Monthly Archives: June 2006
Say Goodnight, Gracie
Posted on June 30, 2006 10 Comments
Bye, June! I’m taking a break until the 5th. I do hope you’ll find something to do to occupy your time until then. One idea: Vote for the Hugo Awards! As you may recall, Old Man’s War has been nominated for Best Novel, and I’ve been nominated for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. […]
SCOTUS to POTUS: RTFM
Posted on June 30, 2006 61 Comments
The upshot of yesterday’s Hamdan decision seems to be that the Supreme Court has rather vigorously slammed the door on the idea of an imperial presidency, the one where our executive branch takes input from the legislative and judicial branches under advisement — if it feels like it — before doing anything it damn well […]
On Tonight’s Episode of “Those Crazy Clones!”
Posted on June 29, 2006 20 Comments
When Clone #1 won’t share his copy of Subterranean Magazine #4 — the SF Cliche issue — Clone #2 gets upset, and Clone #3 takes matters, and a battle axe, into his own hands. Those crazy clones! (In other news, yes, the magazine has arrived. It looks great. Get your own copy. And then get […]
Jim Baen, 1943 – 2006
Posted on June 29, 2006 12 Comments
Science fiction and fantasy readers, pause a moment in your day to to note the passing of publisher Jim Baen, who died yesterday. Author David Drake has an appreciation of him here.
Clouds and Rainbows 06/28/06
Posted on June 28, 2006 6 Comments
You need to see that one in the larger version, I think. Athena loves rainbows. Whole set here.
Also, Now That I’m Thinking About It…
Posted on June 28, 2006 59 Comments
… I actually don’t enjoy toast all that much. Just not a big fan of burnt, crispy bread. You want crispy bread, have a cracker. That is all.
The Blabbering Masses
Posted on June 28, 2006 18 Comments
I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails over the last couple of days asking me if I have any opinion about the slapfight currently going on between The New Republic and Daily Kos. The answer is no, not really, because I’m not entirely sure I understand what the hell it’s about, or even why I should […]
Author Interview: David Louis Edelman
Posted on June 28, 2006 1 Comment
Over at By The Way, I’ve put up an interview with David Louis Edelman, whose SF/Business thriller Infoquake has found its way into bookstores. Learn why there are no bug-eyed aliens in the book (but why there are bears), what future business has to go with the go-go 90s dotcom era, and what we have […]
Back to the Amendment Junkpile
Posted on June 27, 2006 23 Comments
Flag amendment fails. Yet again. Back into its hole for another year. Thank you to the 34 senators whose brains are not made of cottage cheese on this matter.
Subterranean Magazine #4 Update
Posted on June 27, 2006 1 Comment
I’ve been informed that most copies of Subterranean Magazine issue #4 were mailed today and the rest will be mailed tomorrow, so those of you who have ordered copies: Here they come! (And those of you who have not ordered a copy: It’s not too late to turn away from a life of deprivation. Here’s […]
An Unfathomable Cavalcade of Riches
Posted on June 27, 2006 26 Comments
A banner day for SF/F lovers, today is, because four big novels drop into the stores: Fellow Campbell nominee Sarah Monette’s The Virtu, which has gotten a lovely starred review in Publishers Weekly (“This sequel is every bit as original and satisfying as its predecessor”); Scott Lynch’s debut novel The Lies of Lock Lamora, which […]
Re: Flag Burning Amendment
Posted on June 26, 2006 37 Comments
Oh, look. Another year passed, another idiotic debate on a flag-burning amendment to the US Constitution, as ever, just in time for July 4th. Funny how that works. Rather than wind myself up on the matter, I commend those of you who have not seen it to last year’s post on the matter, in which […]
Because I Am a Bad Bad Person…
Posted on June 26, 2006 17 Comments
… I find this almost unspeakably funny. Well, except for that very last part. But right up to that. Update: It appears to be an edit of an ad for Nokia (Thanks, Codepope, for the catch). Still funny, however, and I feel better about laughing.
And Now The Bad News
Posted on June 25, 2006 20 Comments
I’m at crunch time for The Last Colony, which means that from tomorrow until the end of July I’m going to spend almost all of my waking life writing, buffing and polishing that book in anticipation of shipping it off to its editor. My blathering here is very like to wrench down to a minimum. […]
John Scalzi: Egotistical Toady-Loving Asshole?
Posted on June 25, 2006 70 Comments
Due to my reaction to a number of his recent posts, a fellow who comments here at the Whatever has decided to take his leave of this sunny vale, but not without offering a kiss-off which reads, in part: You’re an asshole with an inflated ego who only truly suffers the company of sycophants & […]
Testify and Amen
Posted on June 24, 2006 59 Comments
From Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history at Barnard College: Jesus is not a Republican: I went to Sunday school nearly every week of my childhood. But I must have been absent the day they told us that the followers of Jesus were obliged to secure even greater economic advantages for the affluent, to […]
The Great Book Triage of 2006
Posted on June 24, 2006 26 Comments
Because the quantity of books I have threaten to collapse upon me and cwush my widdle head, we have, as a temporary measure, packed up the majority of my books into plastic tote containers, for easy shlepping to the basement. At some point in the near future I’ll put up some more bookshelves and they […]
Why There Are No Great Video Game Critics (Yet)
Posted on June 23, 2006 51 Comments
In the e-mail box today, a question from one of the great new writers of the day, Joe Hill: On the assumption that you’re always hunting for material for the blog, I thought I’d point you to the Chuck Klosterman article in the latest ESQUIRE. The always interesting Klosterman wonders why, if videogames are the […]
New Favorite Photoshop Effect
Posted on June 22, 2006 22 Comments
Diffuse Glow (0 grain) + 50% boost in saturation. It’s an interesting look. Incidentally, if it seems like I’m posting pictures more than writing anything of any consequence over the last couple of days, that’s because that’s basically what I’m doing. I’m in an unaccountably foul mood over the last few days, and I’m largely […]
You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows
Posted on June 22, 2006 15 Comments
Just before the thunderstorm: We’re in the thunderstorm right now. Wheee!
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying