Monthly Archives: December 2010
An Interview With the Christmas Bunny
Posted on December 22, 2010 35 Comments
Your name, please. Aloysius McFuzz. And your profession? I am the Christmas Bunny. The Christmas Bunny. That is correct. Not the Easter Bunny. No, but close. But the Christmas Bunny is a franchise. Franchise? Yes. You know what a franchise is? In the sense of McDonald’s or Burger King franchising a store. Yes. Sure. Same […]
Stats Geekery Addendum
Posted on December 22, 2010 27 Comments
In October, I posted an entry about the readership stats for Whatever and noted at the time that it’s often difficult to get a true bead on how many people are reading what I’m writing here, in part because of the variance in reporting between stats programs, and then also because the stats programs may […]
I Write About Some Science Fiction Films, and Try To Be Brave
Posted on December 22, 2010
Specifically, I’m talking about the SF films of 2010, in an “end-of-the-year wrapup” fashion, in my column for FilmCritic.com. Please go visit, because now that the SG:U gig is gone, this is the only regular paycheck I have left, and if you don’t go and read it right now, I’ll be fired, we’ll be thrown […]
An Interview With the Nativity Innkeeper
Posted on December 21, 2010 130 Comments
Your name, please. Ben Cohen. Occupation? Retired. I was an innkeeper. In Bethlehem. Right. And in fact it was your inn where Jesus was born. That’s right. Well, not in the inn itself. Out back. In the animal shed. Yeah. I still get a lot of flak for that. How do you mean? I mean […]
Early Cr-48 Impressions
Posted on December 20, 2010 41 Comments
I’ve had the Chrome laptop for six whole hours now. What do I think of it so far? Well: * The black, matte “no distinguishing marks” look of the computer really appeals to my baser nerderati impulses, i.e., “oh, you have a Mac Air, do you? How nice for you. Excuse me while I pull […]
I’m a British Fantasy Award Nominee
Posted on December 20, 2010 10 Comments
For this very blog, in the non-fiction category. Very cool! Here’s the entire list of nominees, via SF Signal. Congrats to all of them. Update: Whoops, this information is from June. This is what I get for not paying attention. Never mind; as you were.
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Nerdmas
Posted on December 20, 2010 40 Comments
Hey, guess what showed up on my doorstep today: Yup, it’s one of those Cr-48s, from Google. Apparently they saw me kvetch enough about wanting one and sent one along. I did also sign up to be a beta tester, of course. But I think it was the kvetching that did it. So now I […]
Candy Candy Candy
Posted on December 20, 2010 37 Comments
Many of you know that before I had novels published, I was a frequent contributor to the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series of books — those books filled with informative, fun trivia articles just long enough to take care of one’s business, as it were. What you may not know is that I still write […]
Yet Another 10 Things I’ve Done That You Probably Have Not
Posted on December 19, 2010 186 Comments
Following on this list, which follows on this one. Not saying you never did any of these things, just that I suspect you probably haven’t. I think the odds are in my favor overall. And if you have done all ten, stop stalking me. 1. Been a couple of feet away from a Shakespeare First […]
About Time
Posted on December 18, 2010 74 Comments
Congratulations to our gay and lesbian service members, who very soon will no longer have to worry about “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The arc of history bends toward justice, indeed.
Zoe, In Japanese Form
Posted on December 17, 2010 26 Comments
Japan’s been a very good market for me, both in sales and in attention (I won the Seiun Award this year for best translated novel, for The Last Colony), so it’s nice to see Zoe’s Tale out there as well. And I find the cover illustration kind of interesting; Zoe here is clearly sporting a […]
A Relevant Issue With Cloud Computers
Posted on December 17, 2010 40 Comments
Cory Doctorow points it out in a tweet: A cloud computer is just like a regular computer, except you have to ask permission from the phone company every time you use it. And this is why even though I’d be interested in playing with Google’s Cr-48 computer with the Chrome OS, at the end of […]
Taxes and Obama
Posted on December 17, 2010 132 Comments
I mentioned that I wanted to hold off commenting on the tax legislation deal agreed to by Obama and the GOP until after it passed. Well, it passed and Obama’s going to sign it into law later today. So here are my thoughts. 1. If I were a Congressperson, I wouldn’t have voted for it, […]
Stargate: Universe Cancellation Followup
Posted on December 17, 2010 132 Comments
So, to answer some of the questions and comments I’ve seen here and various other places. Bear in mind I’m speaking for me and only for me. Why was the show canceled? I’m not privy to the inner workings of Syfy’s corporate thinking, but I would expect it was because the ratings weren’t what Syfy […]
Ending the Day on a High Note
Posted on December 16, 2010 12 Comments
I know we’re all sad about SG:U, and years from now we’ll talk about where we were when we found out the show was cancelled, but hey: Here’s a cute picture of my kid, looking all introspective in the snow and all. And with that, I’m outta here for the day. See you all tomorrow.
Stargate Universe Cancelled
Posted on December 16, 2010 125 Comments
Here’s the tweet that says it, from Syfy’s Craig Engler, about ten minutes ago: I’ll have more to say about it at some point soon, but for now I’ll say that it’s a shame, and also that it was a tremendous honor to work with the SG:U folks, particularly Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi, the […]
A General Reminder, Re: Bacon
Posted on December 16, 2010 8 Comments
Dear Assembled Masses: Okay, it’s not quite 2 pm as I write this and I’ve already gotten six bacon-related e-mails today, so it’s probably a good time to remind people of this: The Canonical Bacon Page. It’s where you can go here on the site and post things about bacon, in order to share its […]
Just Arrived, 12/16/10
Posted on December 16, 2010 15 Comments
Hey! Look what I got in the mail! * Soul Hunt, Margaret Ronald (Harper Voyager): The third book in Ronald’s fabulous urban fantasy series has our paranormally empowered heroine discovering that she owes a debt to someone very powerful and thus must take on a job that she dare not fail at, or else bad […]
Sequels, Remakes, and Transformers in 3-D
Posted on December 16, 2010
Over at Filmcritic.com today, I dip into the mailbag and answer questions about whether 2010 is unusually pocked with sequels and remakes, and what it means for the next Transformers movie to be in 3D, especially when Michael Bay whined about 3D so much earlier in the year. Come check it out, and as always […]
Hey! Baen’s Updated Its Web Site!
Posted on December 15, 2010 14 Comments
And it’s celebrating its new look by offering you a free story: “Space Hero” by Patrick Lundrigan, which by its very title alone you can tell is going to be perfectly Baen-tastic. Check out the new look and enjoy the free fiction, right there on the front page of the site.
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