interesting things

Who is Jamie Nash?

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Well, for starters, he’s a guy I know online. Not remarkable, you say? How about this, then:

He’s one of the writers for this comic book, on stands now:

Blackbeard

I picked up the first issue this week, and it’s terrific.

And he’s the writer for I WAS A SEVENTH GRADE DRAGONSLAYER, upcoming for 2010. Here’s the trailer:

He also just put out a raucous short film spoof of the movie PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (warning: NSFW due to language, but damn it’s funny.):

AND! He also writes and directs a webseries spoofing the reality TV Ghost Hunters-style supernatural investigations shows, right at ParaAbnormal.tv. Here’s part one of the first “case” in which the investigators look into a haunted sex tape.

“Hi, I’m Tony. I’m an internet-certified exorcist.” lol

That’s who Jamie Nash is. He’s the dude who makes me feel like a slacker.

Randomness for 10/20

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1) Dead man lies on balcony for days in plain view of neighbors… who didn’t call the police because they thought he was a Halloween decoration.

2) The Genreville book club for October runs this week. The book is Seanan McGuire’s Rosemary & Rue, which I haven’t read because it just came out. Apparently, it’s selling quite well, though, so if you read it and want to participate, head over now.

Anyway, this is interesting to me not just because she sat next to me at my panel at Comic-Con. The book club actually starts off with a note from Rose Fox asking the author to refrain from commenting because it stifles the conversation.

And that was the basis of my original desire to make no mention of reviews in my blog. Maybe I should do a review link-farm post, and back date it so it doesn’t turn up on friends lists or something. Yet another thing to add to the to-do list.

3) “I sold my family downriver for a manuscript.” via Bookslut

4) Do Americans want bipartisan support of health care reform? Sure. Do they want bipartisanship at the expense of the public option? No, they absolutely do not. A majority of Americans want the public option, whether it garners any Republican support or not. via Ezra Klein.

5) Man, it’s going to be tough for this dude to find a new job in this economy.

6) What happens when a man loses job and the healthcare that goes with it? What if the man’s wife and the mother of his three children has cancer and needs chemotherapy they can’t afford? He joins the Army.

The Post Sci-Fi Era

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Welcome to it! Apparently, “sci-fi” has become the mainstream of cultural expression, mostly by being dumbed-down crap. Not that it has to be that way, mind you!

via bookslut

Randomness for 10/14

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1) E.E. Knight explains “modeling” and bookshelf presence. There’s always something knew to learn about writing and selling books.

2) Honda unveils Segway-like unicycle. Tremendously awesome and tremendously uncool at the same time. via Genreville

3) Buy your own secluded Bond-villain hideaway! If this had been built in the woods instead of the desert, I’d be showing it to my wife. via seawasp.

4) The art and science of boiling perfect eggs. via Ezra Klein

5) Will climate change mean the near-extinction of basic food crops?

6) Here’s your word of the day: Procrasturbation: to waste time by pleasuring oneself. via Savage Love. Also discussed in that linked article is the ethics of sex with zombies.

Randomness for 10/12

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1) MIT students build high altitude “space” camera on $150 budget. via jeffsoesbe. It’s an interesting story, but the “Take THAT!, NASA, you spendthrift!” tone is annoying.

2) Wealthy conservative crusader tries to eliminate local library, drives 11-year-old girl to tears.

3) Here’s a beauty from Awkward Family Photos.com. If you’re wondering what’s awkward about it, look again.

4) WWII GI returns rare books stolen from hidden German stash. via bookslut.

BrickCon 2009

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I wish the photos had turned out better, but still, they can’t help but be pretty cool considering the subject matter.

For instance, a huge diorama of the zombie apocalypse:

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or an equally huge epic fantasy layout:

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Of course, I posted multiple photos of the dioramas. Check them out.

There’s also a set of steampunk creations, a WWII layout, space ships of every kind (many of which I’m sure come from TV or movies I don’t recognize) and other fun, wild stuff. Really amazing.

I uploaded them at their full size, so if you’re really interested, you can see them fully blown up. Here’s the whole set.

Randomness for 10/6/09

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1) A new type of cloud is recognized. And it’s beautiful.

2) Manly men = Straight men, now and in the past? Not so.

3) Cops have their water hoses, but what do protesting farmers have?

4) Paul Krugman answers readers’ questions about the economy.

5) Facebook status updates from comic book superheroes. So damn funny I can’t stand it.

Randomness for 10/4

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1) Origami as done by a master. I can’t wait to show this to my son.

2) An alternate history that I’m glad is alternate: The speech William Saffire wrote for Richard Nixon in the event that the first men on the moon could not return safely.

3) Steve Harvey: Relationship guru. All I need to know is that the book his advice is taken from is titled: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. Pass.

4) The gender wage gap, state by state. I’m sorry to see Washington state looking so pale.

5) Win free manga!

“Stop saying that!”

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Andrew Wheeler discusses the pricing of e-books, especially the widely-held contention that they should cost less than ink-and-paper books because they cost so little to create.

As Wheeler points out, creating the file is a lot more complex than “Print to PDF” or a quick bit of copy pasta. It’s also not free to store or sell after the file has been created.

As an additional datapoint, someone on my LJ friends list (not named here because it’s a locked post) linked to this news report about the launch of Amazon.com’s Kindle in the UK market. Is that a good thing? Maybe not for authors, since breaking down the various rights for different markets into “World English” reduces the money writers get. (For the record, I sold world english rights when I signed my contract). Also Amazon.com has worked hard to force huge discounts from publishers, which limits my payments (assuming I earn out).

At which point I say “Hrm.” In the years leading up to my sale, I tried to learn as much as I could about publishing, but I skimped on ebooks. I don’t read them and I know sales are still quite small, despite the noise people make about them. Plus, every time you scan a discussion of electronic texts, somebody starts waving the skull and crossbones, and I’m not interested is chewing that meal for the thousandth time.

Always something new to learn.

Randomness for 9/24

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1) Entrepreneurship and health care. “You’ve heard of learned helplessness? This is learned corporatism.”

2) Giant stuffed microbes. Just in case you wanted to cuddle up to the swine flu.

3) Want to receive free advance reader copies of Del Rey books to review on your blog? Fill out this form.

4) Limits of human endurance: in the muscles or in the brain? Crazy-interesting, and my wife will love this. via Jay Lake

5) Do you guys like these link roundups? Anything you want less/more of?