Monthly Archives: September 2008
A Really Excellent Way for America’s Automakers to Go Under
Posted on September 8, 2008 82 Comments
Follow this fellow’s suggestion. I suppose he might see this as a feature, not a bug. More generally, speed limits exist to let you know what speed you’re going to go five to ten miles an hour faster than.
To Ward Off Further Linkage
Posted on September 8, 2008 35 Comments
Yes, I’ve seen today’s xkcd. Also, the bastard deserved what he got.
Whatever X, Day VIII
Posted on September 8, 2008 45 Comments
This entry is as true as when I wrote it, eight years ago. OCTOBER 2, 2000: The New Muppets Suck This makes me feel like something of a heel, but damn it, someone has to say it: All those “new” Muppets on Sesame Street really and truly suck. Being a stay-at-home parent, I’m exposed to […]
Something Doughy This Way Comes
Posted on September 7, 2008 46 Comments
Athena attempts making bread for the first time. At this particular juncture, she’s more amused by the mess than anything else. We’ll know how the actual bread has turned out in a couple of hours.
Whatever X, Day VII
Posted on September 7, 2008 23 Comments
In this look back, we remember just how much I like to anthropomorphize my books. JANUARY 9, 2007: Broken-Hearted Books Michael Berry, who reviewed Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades for the San Francisco Chronicle (and who put TGB on his holiday recommendations list), explains on his blog why he’s not reviewing The Android’s […]
TLC in the UK
Posted on September 6, 2008 26 Comments
The Last Colony had its official UK release yesterday (it had been available before that as an import but is now out via Tor UK), and today saw a nice review of it in the Guardian, which called it “a fast-paced political thriller laced with observant characterisation, great dialogue, and some genuinely original science.” Can’t […]
Whatever X, Day VI
Posted on September 6, 2008 28 Comments
Let’s go back a couple of years and admire some artistry: JANUARY 19, 2006: Selected Creatures from the Athena Collection, With Artist Commentary “He’s just a mixed up monster. Because he has crab arms, and an oval body and he has two ears that are, like, from an animal, I think? Is that right? Yeah. […]
Note on “Big Idea” Proposals
Posted on September 5, 2008 3 Comments
For everyone who sent something in: Got ’em, looking at ’em, be in touch with you soon about ’em. Thanks! Also, if you’re an author/editor/publicist with a new book, it’s not too late to get in on the action.
Mind the Foamyness
Posted on September 5, 2008 85 Comments
Just a reminder to folks: Just because we’re at an interesting point in the political cycle for both sides is not an excuse for you folks to start losing your shit at each other in the comment threads. If I wanted to watch people lose their shit in comment threads, I could go to Little […]
Whatever X, Day V
Posted on September 5, 2008 51 Comments
Rather than post a previous entry today, I thought I would do a little fan service for the cat crowd and take you back to 2003, and the first appearances of one of The Intarweeb’s most famous felines. Yes, people, it’s time for: Ghlaghghee, The Early Years The very first picture of Ghlaghghee, taken the […]
The Thing About “Rock Stars”
Posted on September 5, 2008 168 Comments
For all the Republicans who are exulting that there’s now a “rock star” on the GOP ticket (and all the Democrats who are freaking out about it), there is one minor detail that’s worth considering in the days and months ahead. And that is that the “rock star” on the Democratic ticket is actually the […]
Oh, SNAP
Posted on September 4, 2008 170 Comments
Spotted in various places on the Internet, in response to Governor Palin’s “community organizer” jab at Obama: “Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor.” And oddly enough, Palin’s GOP role is to try to do to Obama what Pontius Pilate did to Jesus. Mind you, look how that eventually turned out for […]
The Big Idea: Julie Czerneda
Posted on September 4, 2008 15 Comments
How do a graduate student’s observations of fish in a laboratory wind up fueling not one but two science fiction series? Well, first, it helps to have that graduate student be Julie Czerneda, who would become the Prix Aurora-winning author of In the Company of Others (also a Nebula Award nominee), and whose latest novel, […]
Bacon Beans: More Detail
Posted on September 4, 2008 25 Comments
People are curious about the bacon-flavored jelly beans that made an appearance in this entry (they’re actually interested in the whole described event, actually, but I think some things are more amusing left unexplained), so here they are, naturally posed with Ghlaghghee, i.e., Bacon Cat, who as before looks somewhat less than impressed with the […]
Whatever X, Day IV
Posted on September 4, 2008 30 Comments
I’m happy to say that up to this point, the concern in this following archived entry has not been realized. JULY 15, 2003: Strippers With Swords All right, I’m officially a science fiction writer (I’ve got the SFWA membership to prove it) so let me just say this: Please God, never let me have a […]
Summer SF/F Movie Wrap-up
Posted on September 4, 2008
Did this cinematic summer of dark knights and iron men and Chaplinesque droids teach us anything about the state of the industry? Sure it did. And I wrote about what those things might be in my AMC movie column this week. Go and bathe in summery wisdom (or, at least, me cranking out 800 words […]
Shave Secret
Posted on September 3, 2008 89 Comments
I despise shaving, first because it’s damn annoying and second because there are certain specific spots on my face and neck which, regardless of how much care I take or what razor or shaving cream I use, scrape raw every single time I shave. Because of this if I try to shave more than once […]
Why I Like to Publish Short Stories Online
Posted on September 3, 2008 71 Comments
This is why: 5:06pm, September 3, 2008: Complete short story entitled “Denise Jones, Super Booker.” 5:09pm: Submit it to Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press. 5:15pm: Bill Schafer buys the story. 5:16pm: Payment for story arrives in my Paypal account. 5:19pm: Story is posted at Subterranean Online. Total elapsed time from completion to publication (including payment): […]
Whatever X, Day III
Posted on September 3, 2008 34 Comments
As an FYI, the novel I was writing in this 2001 Whatever entry was Old Man’s War. JULY 16, 2001: “Working on the Novel” What a wonderful phrase: “Working on the novel.” Writers know exactly what the means: Not a damn thing. Everyone who is a writer, was a writer, or wants to be a […]
Playing With Chrome
Posted on September 2, 2008 34 Comments
Which is to say I’ve downloaded the new Google browser and have been playing with it today. Early thoughts: Meh. It’s okay so far. It doesn’t compel me to switch my default browser from Firefox, but it’s not bad. I’ll play with it some more and let you know what I think.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying