Monthly Archives: November 2006
Cover Me: A Musical Open Thread
Posted on November 30, 2006 178 Comments
I owe somebody something and they’re getting justifiably twitchy about, so I’m off to my sea-side writing bungalow to get it done. Or maybe my mountain writing bungalow! Possibly the African veldt writing bungalow. So many writing bungalows. Oh, wait, I don’t actually have any writing bungalows. I’m just going to sit here at my […]
Oh My God! It’s the Zombie Patrick Henry!
Posted on November 29, 2006 62 Comments
Oh, don’t look so shocked. You knew this was coming. Also, the target of Zombie Patrick Henry’s ire would in fact be Newt Gingrich, for being yet another schmoe promoting the “terrorists hate our freedoms, and that’s why we have to ditch the freedoms” mindset. Note to Gingrich: The expiration date on that particular school […]
Must. Not. Destroy. Computer.
Posted on November 29, 2006 38 Comments
I just had one of those “You’re writing a long entry and then the computer freezes up and eats it all” moments, about which the less said the better for my blood pressure. I could re-write the thing, but I think I’d rather tongue-bathe the crap I pulled out of the sink earlier today. Instead, […]
A Small and Disturbing Moment in Home Maintenance
Posted on November 29, 2006 64 Comments
I snaked one of the bathroom drains. I may never. Stop. Screaming. I mean, honestly. Hideous monsters must be shedding into our sinks, because what came out of that drain had nothing to do with any of the humans who live here. I doubt it was even mammalian. To reiterate: Gaaaaaaaah. The tub drain needs […]
Some Good Advice
Posted on November 28, 2006 7 Comments
My pal Joe Rybicki is moving on from his job as editor at Official US PlayStation Magazine (in no small part due to the fact the magazine is closing up shop on Thursday), but before he saunters off into the editorial sunset, he’s posted some thoughts about business, gaming and life in general over at […]
That Tinkling Sound You Hear is the Sound of a TV Advertising Executive Earning Her Wings, and Then Plummeting Straight Into Hell
Posted on November 28, 2006 29 Comments
Athena, today, as she watched TV: “The only reason I’m watching this is to get ideas for things I want.” On one hand, I’m proud Athena’s twigged to what TV is really about. On the other hand, I am, of course, utterly terrified.
For When You’re Shopping Your Brains Out: A Bookseller Pimp Thread
Posted on November 28, 2006 61 Comments
I’m not saying that you’re planning on putting The Android’s Dream on your holiday shopping lists, or even that you should, although, clearly, if you don’t, we’ll have to sell Athena to the salt mines, and with her bad neck and all, how long will she last? Really? However. If you are thinking of putting […]
Your GNR Report
Posted on November 28, 2006 43 Comments
Before it all fades back into a haze of memory and pot smoke, thoughts on the Guns N’ Roses concert I went to Saturday night: * First, it was really good. I had heard that the aborted 2002 series of concerts had been a big fat mess, but this time around, at least, the band […]
John Scalzi’s Culinary Discovery of the Day
Posted on November 27, 2006 22 Comments
It’s not rocket science: Three scoops vanilla ice cream, a handful of Rice Krispies and a spiral of Dulce de Leche dessert topping. In a word: Yum. I was gonna take a picture, but then I ate it. Sorry.
A Special Edition of The Ghost Brigades
Posted on November 27, 2006 58 Comments
Last year, I and Tor Books made a special electronic edition of Old Man’s War available for free to the folks serving in Iraq and Afghanistan; here in 2006, we’re doing it with The Ghost Brigades. TGB is a follow-up to OMW but it’s a stand-alone book; you don’t need to have read Old Man’s […]
Head Trauma Can Be Fun!
Posted on November 27, 2006 54 Comments
Yesterday I was going to do a write-up on the Guns N’ Roses concert I attended Saturday night/Sunday morning (GNR didn’t take the stage until after 11), but then I got home and in circumstances rather too annoying to discuss but which were not her fault (or, for that matter, mine or Krissy’s), Athena found […]
Do you Know Where You Are? You’re In Middle Age, Baby. And You’re Gonna Die
Posted on November 25, 2006 78 Comments
So, a friend said to me: Hey, I got tickets to Guns N’ Roses. You want to come? And I said, I wouldn’t miss a chance to see Axl Rose implode live! Mind you, if we actually get to see him onstage at all; he can be capricious that way. And so I’m off to […]
A Little Respect for Pierce Brosnan
Posted on November 25, 2006 76 Comments
Krissy and I got out to see Casino Royale this evening and as advertised, it’s pretty damn good: It’s got a rougher and more realistic edge than previous Bond flicks (I mean, within reason; it’s still a Bond flick) and Daniel Craig is, in a word, terrific, and puts a great new spin on Bond […]
A Delightful Holiday Reheat
Posted on November 24, 2006 25 Comments
As it’s now officially the holiday season, God help us all, and as the piece no longer appears to be up at the National Lampoon Web site, allow me to re-present a holiday favorite here at the Whatever: The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time. Revel in Ayn Rand’s “A Selfish Christmas,” Star […]
New Book Announcement
Posted on November 23, 2006 40 Comments
In the previous entry I hinted that I had a little something that would help me replace the income I lost when Official US Playstation Magazine went down the tubes, but said I couldn’t discuss it yet. Well, the person who can give me clearance to discuss it happens to read the Whatever, and he’s […]
Random Thoughts Early on a Thanksgiving Morning
Posted on November 23, 2006 48 Comments
In no particular order: * I just got my final four contributor copies of Official US Playstation Magazine in the mail today. They look great, and I’m sad not to be writing for the magazine anymore, and even more sad that it will stop existing at the end of the year. A reminder, as I’ve […]
The Really Incredibly Clueless Opinion Column of the Day…
Posted on November 22, 2006 57 Comments
It’s here, where Los Angeles Times columnist Erin Aubry Kaplan is apparently under the impression it says something about race relations in America that people are more outraged about the recent OJ Simpson If I Did It thing than they are about Michael Richards calling his comedy club hecklers n——s. She writes: I’m not equating […]
Reviews and Etc
Posted on November 21, 2006 28 Comments
While I wasn’t paying attention, some nice things have happened, review-wise, for some of my books: * The Android’s Dream got a good review from the good graces of Paul Di Filippo over at SciFi Weekly, who writes: [T]he SF ancestors of Scalzi’s newest book are masters like Keith Laumer, Christopher Anvil, Eric Frank Russell […]
Bright Red Clouds
Posted on November 21, 2006 11 Comments
I was going to write a piece on what you need on your Web site if you’re a writer, but ironically it just doesn’t seem to be coming at the moment, and I have other things to do. So: Here, have a sunset. Not as spectacular as some I’ve posted before, but I like how […]
Robert Altman, RIP
Posted on November 21, 2006 29 Comments
Nuts. Robert Altman has passed away. I interviewed him once when I was full-time movie critic, and I’m here to tell you he’s probably one of the smartest people I ever interviewed in the film industry, as well as disarmingly practical and modest about what he was doing with his films and his life. He […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying