So those who have been around here for a while are likely to be aware that my fantasy novel Dragon Stones was and remains by far my post popular book, having even been, briefly, the #1 fantasy novel in the Kindle UK store.
(Don’t) Mind the Gap
Not A Review Of “Cosmopolis”
So this week we watched Cosmopolis, a film from 2012 by David Cronenberg, which, shockingly, doesn’t really involve malevolent technology, monsters, heads exploding, people turning into giant insects, or anything like that.
Well okay, maybe it kind of does involve monsters (of the human variety) and malevolent technology, but not in the usual Cronenberg manner.
Continue reading “Not A Review Of “Cosmopolis””Teaser Tuesday: “All Systems Red”
So this week I was reading All Systems Red, the first novella in “The Introvertbot Murderbot Diaries”, the multiple-award-winning series by Martha Wells:
The Early Years: Party Time! Excellent!
So last week I posted a scan of an old mimeograph of the rules for first grade; these rules indicated that there would be in-school parties for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day, and I mentioned that I remembered the Halloween parties and the distribution of Valentine’s Day cards from everyone to everyone, but that I didn’t really remember the Christmas parties. Because my folks read the blog—they were, of course, the source of the giant pile of elementary school era documents from which I pull my posts for “The Early Years”—my father sent along a few pictures of some of those long-ago festivities. I don’t know if these are specifically from first grade or not (I’m no good at figuring out how old kids [including my past self] are just by looking at them), but they’re definitely from elementary school, I can tell that much …
Continue reading “The Early Years: Party Time! Excellent!”The Early Years: Old School (Rules)
It’s been quite a while since I went poking around in the stack of paperwork and whatnot from my elementary school days (a document trove even larger than my pile of rejection letters), so I thought that this week I would go fishing in there and see what I came up with. And lo! I found an ancient mimeograph of the ancient Rules for First Grade from many years ago. It’s not quite as old as the Code of Hammurabi, but on the other hand, it’s not as well preserved. Let’s have a look!
Continue reading “The Early Years: Old School (Rules)”Sing Us A Song You’re The Piano Man
So as I’ve mentioned before, our current go-to show is Halt and Catch Fire, which is largely a dramatic program (although the drama is punctuated by some very funny moments). However, we also like to keep something a little lighter—variously referred to as “fluff”, “dessert”, and/or “a marzipan confection”—as an antidote to all the heaviness. One recent auditionee was the longrunning sitcom Community, which I’d heard of but never watched. It came up a lot in discussions/reviews of Mad Men due to sharing an actress, Alison Brie, with that show, as well as with another show that I watched but was never able to get my wife interested in, despite its being set in the 80s and featuring lots of 80s music:
Continue reading “Sing Us A Song You’re The Piano Man”Wife: “Hey, isn’t that Pete’s wife? Wasn’t she in that weird wrestling thing you used to like?”
Teaser Tuesday: “Space Opera”
So this week I was reading Space Opera, by one of my favorite authors, Catherynne M. Valente:
Continue reading “Teaser Tuesday: “Space Opera””
Spamcommentology: Well That’s Suspiciously Specific
Those who frequent the excellently time-wasting site TV Tropes may be familiar with the trope “Suspiciously Specific Denial“:
More Odds & Ends From This & That
So this week I’ve got a few more bits and pieces of things we’ve watched that don’t individually rise to the level of a “Not a Review“, but that, taken together, add up to a post.* This includes a television show and a couple of movies, including one which, astonishingly, my wife not only asked about**, but which she stayed up for in its entirety***.
Continue reading “More Odds & Ends From This & That”Teaser Tuesday: “The Seventh Sword” Collection
So this week, and likely for several weeks yet to come*, I have been reading The Seventh Sword, an omnibus collecting the four books in “The Seventh Sword” series, by Dave Duncan:
Viscosity 