Monthly Archives: November 2006

Cover Me: A Musical Open Thread

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 […]

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Oh My God! It’s the Zombie Patrick Henry!

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 […]

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Must. Not. Destroy. Computer.

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, […]

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A Small and Disturbing Moment in Home Maintenance

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 […]

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Some Good Advice

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 […]

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For When You’re Shopping Your Brains Out: A Bookseller Pimp Thread

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 […]

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Your GNR Report

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 […]

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A Special Edition of The Ghost Brigades

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 […]

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Head Trauma Can Be Fun!

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 […]

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A Little Respect for Pierce Brosnan

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 […]

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A Delightful Holiday Reheat

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 […]

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New Book Announcement

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 […]

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Random Thoughts Early on a Thanksgiving Morning

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 […]

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The Really Incredibly Clueless Opinion Column of the Day…

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 […]

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Reviews and Etc

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 […]

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Bright Red Clouds

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 […]

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Robert Altman, RIP

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 […]

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