Monthly Archives: January 2009
These Are the Fast Times
Posted on January 23, 2009 39 Comments
I’ve spent the last month or so pretty much obsessively listening to Fast Times at Barrington High by The Academy Is… and I’ve come to the conclusion it’s my favorite album of the last year or so. Not because it’s the best album I’ve heard in the last year — although it’s pretty damn fine […]
Oh, Great
Posted on January 23, 2009 75 Comments
We ran out of cat food last night, so this morning, for the first time ever, my wife fed the cats tuna, which as we all know is the feline equivalent of crack cocaine. So now that cats are tearing around the house hopped up on fish oils, fighting with each other (see above) and […]
My Inner Fifth Grader Says This is the Best NYT Article Ever
Posted on January 23, 2009 79 Comments
An article on easily misinterpreted place names in the UK: In the scale of embarrassing place names, Crapstone ranks pretty high. But Britain is full of them. Some are mostly amusing, like Ugley, Essex; East Breast, in western Scotland; North Piddle, in Worcestershire; and Spanker Lane, in Derbyshire. Others evoke images that may conflict with […]
Damn It
Posted on January 22, 2009 43 Comments
I wrote up a long piece on the Oscar nominations and the WordPress tool ate it. Yes, I saved it. No, it didn’t help. I think I’ll go kill some zombies now.
Book Notes; Big Idea & Book Haul Information
Posted on January 22, 2009 11 Comments
Various notes relating to things of a book-like nature: 1. Sent from my agent yesterday: The German version of The Android’s Dream, and the Russian version of The Last Colony. I’m particularly pleased by the Russian cover art, which now appears at least tangentially related to what’s going on in the book; I don’t know […]
More on Science Fiction That’s Not
Posted on January 22, 2009
Just for kicks and giggles, over at the AMC column, I’m taking another swing at when a movie is a science fiction film and when it is not: Why, for example, Moonraker is a science fiction film, but the other Bond films with laser-bearing satellites are not. Because, you know. We don’t argue about this […]
Ladies and Gentlemen: Science Fiction Comedy Improv!
Posted on January 22, 2009 25 Comments
As many of you know, last Friday Mary Robinette Kowal and I did a reading at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, in which we read a number of our short pieces, mostly humorous, and generally had a pretty good time. What you may not know is that in addition to reading, we tried something fairly […]
Open Letter to the Scraggly-Bearded Dude in the Concert Tee Who Stood in Front of Me in the Line for the Airplane Yesterday
Posted on January 21, 2009 52 Comments
Dude: Reeking of skunkweed and hasty lavatory wiping is no way to go through life. I’m just saying. I pity the poor bastard who had to sit next to you for three and a half hours. It must have been like having a coach seat in Willie Nelson’s outhouse. So, seriously, dude: Before you subject […]
Holy Crap, Frederik Pohl Has a Blog
Posted on January 21, 2009 63 Comments
You go there now. That’s an order. And if you don’t know who Frederik Pohl is, please launch yourself into a wood chipper. That is all.
Part of the Family
Posted on January 21, 2009 54 Comments
An interesting article in the New York Times about the diversity of the families to which the First Family belongs: The family that produced Barack and Michelle Obama is black and white and Asian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish. They speak English; Indonesian; French; Cantonese; German; Hebrew; African languages including Swahili, Luo and Igbo; and even […]
Quick Pop-in
Posted on January 21, 2009 32 Comments
More coming later in the day when I have some real work done, but first: Notes! * First, hey, I made it home. And it’s good to be here. For three days, after which I travel again. Sigh. * After a week of working off my Acer netbook, my desktop monitor looks like a stadium […]
New Day
Posted on January 20, 2009 117 Comments
Two things of great importance to me happen today: 1. We get a new President. 2. I get to go home and see and my family. I understand that one of these might be of less importance to you. I’m okay with that. Enjoy the day, people. Celebrate the possibilities we have, ready yourself for […]
A Quick Note to the Outgoing President
Posted on January 19, 2009 107 Comments
Dear Mr. Bush: You now have just 24 hours left in your presidency. Please don’t consider it your last chance to bomb Iran. KThnxBye, John Scalzi
Click
Posted on January 19, 2009 19 Comments
Look! My very first concert cell phone picture! Now I’m as cool as a high school sophomore! That’s Jonathan Coulton, by the way. He was excellent. And I got a fudge cake thrown to me by Paul and Storm. You can’t beat that. And that’s all I’ve got, because I just walked up Mason and […]
SF at Night
Posted on January 18, 2009 17 Comments
I went up to Twin Peaks last night and thought I’d get a shot of the city. Look! San Francisco! It’s you! And I totally caught you blinking. Sorry about that.
From the Live Show
Posted on January 17, 2009 14 Comments
Wanted to come to the Scalzi/Kowal event last night at Borderlands Books but were kept away by rampaging toads? Or whatever? Well, here’s a portion of the evening, from Pip Lagenta, who was there (I mean, obviously). It’s of me reading my piece “Alternate History Search Results.” Stay ’til the end, there’s a tracking shot […]
Hey Everyone
Posted on January 17, 2009 54 Comments
Wish my mother a happy birthday. Because she’s awesome, you see.
An Evening at Borderlands
Posted on January 17, 2009 36 Comments
Holy crap, what a great time Mary and I had at Borderlands Books tonight. The placed was packed, and I mean packed — they had to wheel out some of the bookselves to fit in all the people who were there — and the audience was just fabulous, and totally into it. Mary and I […]
The Big Idea: Charlie Huston
Posted on January 16, 2009 15 Comments
Hey kids! I’m stuck in meetings all day long (seriously, from about 8:30 to 6), but that’s no reason why you shouldn’t be having fun. And to help you have fun, here’s neo-noir master Charlie Huston to entertain you with tales of The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, his latest thriller, and […]
Room With a View; Reading Reminder & Request
Posted on January 15, 2009 37 Comments
First, the view out my hotel window: It doesn’t suck. Second, yet another reminder to folks that the fantabulous Mary Robinette Kowal and I will be at Borderlands Books tomorrow at 7pm for an evening we’re calling “John & Mary Show You Their Shorts.” We’re reading mostly humorous short fiction we’ve written, although the way […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying