Monthly Archives: May 2009
Re: California
Posted on May 15, 2009 45 Comments
As I’ve had more than one person forward me a “Prop 8 Overturned!” link from the LA Times: Folks, the story I’m getting sent to me is from May 16, 2008. Which is, you know, a year ago. I’m seeing no current news about the case regarding Prop 8 that’s now at the California Supreme […]
25 Geeks NOT to Follow on Twitter
Posted on May 15, 2009 54 Comments
Since I was on the list of the 100 geeks to follow on Twitter, I thought it would be appropriate to give a little attention to the other side of that particular equation. The 25 Geeks NOT to Follow on Twitter 1. @DrunkenStalker 2. @MoroseOldBoyfriend 3. @IHeartBoogers 4. @AynRandBoyToy 5. @EnterTheBasement 6. @Cats6Catboxes0 7. @BobaFart […]
Interview With a Stick of Butter
Posted on May 15, 2009 112 Comments
Me: As of 7:26 this morning, 62% of respondents polled have said it is wrong to eat you. Stick of Butter: What? Why? Me: Comments seem to suggest that there’s a general concern that a couple of hours after ingestion, you will reappear as a squirty, oleaginous mess, which will make me quite unhappy. SoB: […]
An Important Question For You To Ponder
Posted on May 14, 2009 80 Comments
I already asked it on Twitter, but I figure it deserves poll treatment here: Feel free to expand upon your answer in the comments.
More Confirmation That I Am a Procrastinating Geek Who Blathers Too Much Online
Posted on May 14, 2009 12 Comments
I made Wired’s list of 100 Geeks You Should Follow on Twitter. Me and Wil Wheaton and Jonathan Coulton and Trent Reznor and Felicia Day and 95 other folks of apparent geekoidial quality. Yeah, we all get together and talk about how much we love Twittering. Because we’re cool/geek like that.
“No Thanks” Tech
Posted on May 14, 2009
Over at AMC today, I’m discussing some future technology we find in Star Trek and other movies that I think is just a really bad idea. Come discover why I think transporters and flying cars are disasters waiting to happen — for starters. And of course come over and add your thoughts on future tech […]
An Ethical Puzzler
Posted on May 13, 2009 293 Comments
First, the situation: President Obama is seeking to block the release of photographs that depict American military personnel abusing captives in Iraq and Afghanistan, his spokesman said Wednesday, fearing the images could spark a hostile backlash against United States troops. “The president reflected on this case and believes they have the potential to pose harm […]
Make Justine Larbalestier Dance the Lindy Hop
Posted on May 13, 2009 26 Comments
Author Justine Larbalestier (who is a dear pal of mine) is writing up a novel set in the 1930s, and as a result some of her characters do a dance called the “Lindy Hop.” Not knowing that facetious comments on one’s site will often cause one to gain an unwanted obligation, Justine jokingly asked her […]
The God Engines Pre-Order Is Up
Posted on May 13, 2009 35 Comments
You’ll recall I recently finished my first fantasy work: A novella called The God Engines. It’ll be coming about in book form from Subterranean Press this December, both in a limited signed leather-bound edition of 400 ($45) and a non-signed trade edition ($20). Both versions will feature cover and interior artwork by Tomislav Tikulin. If […]
Quick Review: Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
Posted on May 12, 2009 43 Comments
It’s good, and I like it, and I think I’ll like it more the more I listen to it. It continues in the same vein of American Idiot, i.e., loosely linked concept album with lots of anthemic moments, so if you like the one you’ll like the other. That said, I’ve seen reviews that say […]
The Big Idea: Sarah Prineas
Posted on May 12, 2009 9 Comments
“What if you could do magic by blowing things up?” This is the question author Sarah Prineas is asking in her The Magic Thief series, of which the second, Lost, has just hit the stores. My answer: Man, if I could do magic by blowing things up, I’d be the happiest wizard ever. But there’s […]
The Society for Creative Drinking
Posted on May 12, 2009 68 Comments
Here’s an article which suggests that more than one in ten caucasians are potentially able to convert alcohol into creativity — i.e., that it affects their brain in a way in which “ethanol behave[s] more like an opioid drug, such as morphine, with a stronger than normal effect on mood and behavior.” This statistic that […]
Quick Review: Star Trek
Posted on May 11, 2009 179 Comments
I enjoyed it. First, it was substantially better than the last two Trek films, which shouldn’t have been hard to do, but then one should never underestimate the power of Hollywood to mess up a sure thing. But they did their reboot well enough; it was big and pretty and noisy and didn’t look like […]
Happy Average Birthday, Rob
Posted on May 11, 2009 17 Comments
One of my closest friends in high school, Robert Lawrence, has a birthday on the 12th of May; mine is the 10th. Which makes today our Average Birthday. To commemorate the occasion of our 40th Average Birthday, I present a song that we played a lot in our high school years, ON AN LP BECAUSE […]
Before I Forget
Posted on May 11, 2009 2 Comments
Let me just say “thank you” to everyone who’s wished me happy birthday via Whatever, e-mail, in person and in the various social media. I got quite a lot of birthday wishes this year; it’s been a nice feeling. Thanks again.
Nitpickery on a Non-Trivial Scale
Posted on May 11, 2009 111 Comments
Over at Tor.com, Jason Henninger interviews Fantasy & Science Fiction editor Gordon Van Gelder about the state of the science fiction market, and my name gets invoked (along with that of Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow) as being one of the “big three” science fiction authors who have figured out how to make this whole […]
40
Posted on May 10, 2009 91 Comments
It’s here and I feel good about it. I suspect that’s due to the fact that, in accounting for Things I Wanted to Do With My Life When I Grew Up, I’ve pretty much hit them all. If you get all your childhood hopes and dreams squared away by your 40th birthday, you really can’t […]
Tick Tick Tick
Posted on May 9, 2009 84 Comments
If you had something absolutely critical you needed to tell me while I was still 39, now is the time to say it.
How to Make Entrails
Posted on May 8, 2009 17 Comments
Mary Robinette Kowal shows you how. Because haven’t you always wanted to know? There’s another way to make them, but it requires a willing partner plus nine months, and then there’s all this other stuff around the entrails called a “baby.” And, well. They don’t let you use those entrails. Because apparently the baby needs […]
Off to Ohioana
Posted on May 8, 2009 2 Comments
I’m traveling today for the Ohioana Book Festival, so I suspect I’ll be away from the computer for much of the day. I’ll do the Twitter thing, etc, if you can’t live without me. If you’re in the Columbus, OH area, remember also that I’m doing a reading/Q&A today, at the Dublin Branch Library in […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying