TV

I was a huge fan of the show ANGEL

Standard

I mean, seriously. I liked it from the first episode. So how happy was I to see the Twenty Palaces books listed on io9.com as books that could fill the void. Money quote:

Basically, if you want a series that’s entirely based on the storyline about Angel going to work at Wolfram & Hart, this might be the closest you’ll get in book form.

As you might expect, the sales rank on Amazon for Child of Fire improved by quite a bit, although they’re returned to normal now. I’m also getting brand new 2-star reviews, a 5-star review that suggests the books would be perfect for “An urban fantasy fan who loves death”, and a mini-surge in sales of the prequel (although that’s still declining).

It’s nice to know folks are still finding the books. It won’t change the status of the series by any degree, but a high profile recommendation is a high profile recommendation.

Randomness for 5/19

Standard

1) Dungeon Kickstarters.

2) Eleven problems music can solve.

3) George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change: Revenge on Rich Neighbors

4) The Nine Circles of Hell… in Lego.

5) Inventor turns Nerf gun into a working Tesla gun.

6) The creator and showrunner of COMMUNITY responds to being fired via press release.

7) The Most Successful Self-Published SF/F Authors.

Randomness for 4/6

Standard

1) A webcomic appreciation of Doctor Who. via @sinboy

2) The invasive species diet. I don’t care how much good it does for the planet, I’m not eating nutria.

3) The Dalek Relaxation Tape. Video.

4) Worst Album Covers Ever. Some of these are NSFW.

5) It’s Official: Star Wars Kinect Is the Worst Star Wars Thing Ever. I don’t know. To me, a little silliness if just fine.

6) D&D: The Important Questions

7) Awesome animated gifs. No, seriously for real.

Randomness for 3/28

Standard

1) A history of the McFarlane/Gaiman Miracleman lawsuit.

2) Trompe l’oeil graffiti vanishes Egyptian military barrier

3) A working scientific calculator, built from Minecraft blocks.

4) Two words: Explosive. Polymerization. (Video)

5) Eight “forgotten” live-action children’s shows from the eighties. I doubt “Small Wonder” has been forgotten, but “My Secret Identity” is the only other one I remember (but I’m a bit old for this time period)

6) Heroic Goofballs: Aardman takes on DC. Video

7) An infographic showing the last words of executed inmates in Texas.

Randomness for 3/10

Standard

1) Deleted for potential malware. Try this instead: Westeros in Minecraft: Video.

2) Motherfucking Bike: Music video for the lol. My wife and I are/have been bike commuters, but we have never done anything like these guys, I swear.

3) My Little Golden Book About ZOGG

4) LED light gives off more energy in photons than it takes in as electrons. I don’t *really* understand this, but I’m pretty sure it means I’ll be getting a lightsaber soon.

5) Toy Shining “Heeeeerrre’s Woody!” via Keith Brunkard

6) 19 Really Bad Family Feud Answers.

7) Hunger Names.

Randomness for 3/4

Standard

1) United Artists’ Rejection Letter for STAR WARS. via @rodramsey

2) The Internet Justice League

3) Minecraft Middle Earth

4) Finally, a lit contest I can care about: 2011’s Oddest Book Titles of the Year. I’m rooting for the chicken sexer.

5) Why do innocent people confess to crimes they haven’t committed?

6) Against Big Bird, The Gods Themselves Contend in Vain. Big Bird wrests celestial justice from an Egyptian god in a Sesame Street special. For real.

7) A prosecutor and cartoonist creates A Criminal Lawyer’s Illustrated Guide to Crime.

Randomness for 2/22

Standard

1) Author Jim Hines matches the poses of women on urban fantasy covers.

2) Read this fantastic metafilter comment about libraries.

3) Twelve Creative Business Cards

4) The setting of Word of Warcraft recreated in Minecraft.

5) Comics need fewer creators and more owners.

6) How Pilot Season ensures that the right actors aren’t cast in the right TV show. Via

7) How to [Title] Your First Novel

Randomness for 1/5

Standard

1) Best space photos of 2011.

2) The 2011 Wonky Awards.

3) New Zealand orcas attack great white sharks in the shallows, driving one onto the beach. Video.

4) Best of Literally Unbelievable for 2011. Part 1. Part 2.

5) A Doctor Who Timeline

6) Need a dedicated writing space? Live in Chicago. Check it out.

7) Building a Minecraft village IRL.

Typing this from the U Village B&N

Standard

For Seattle folks, the B&N in the University Village is closing tomorrow, and I’ve just gone through check out. (Most) Everything is half off, and there is still a shocking amount of good stuff available. Many shelves, naturally, are completely empty, but the SF/F section is still full of award winners and best sellers, as is the mystery and children’s sections.

The DVD section has a huge shelf of Criterion releases, lots of movies and TV shows (including lots of Dr. Who/Buffy/MST3K, and so on), and some Wii/DS games. Their “British TV” section is still pretty full.

I’ll be sorry to see it vanish, since it was where I bought the Adventures in Fantasy book I blogged about earlier this week, and this is the only store where I met a clerk who had already read and enjoyed my work. (That doesn’t happen every day, lemme tell you).

But there are deals to be had, and plenty of good books left. If you read pbooks, come down and check it out.

Randomness for 12/29

Standard

1) Massive 1,100+ year old Maya site discovered in Georgia’s mountains Or maybe not?

2) Do the FAA’s assertions about ebook reading during take off and landing stand up to scrutiny?

3) Images from one of the most remote and remarkable landscapes on Earth: Dallol Volcanic Crater.

4) Area 51 Alien Travel Center: a soon-to-be-built sci-fi themed brothel in Nevada. Finally, we know what will empty the last few regulars from rec.arts.sf. Anyway, I wonder if building codes will require the vats be installed on the first floor.

5) How to deal with slow walkers. Video.

6) Instead of helping you defeat an alien brood queen, this exoskeleton simulates the effects of old age for young people.

7) What if you were brought on to write a show that no one was watching and no one cared what you did? How weird could it get?