It’s gorgeous outside. Sunny, warm and inviting in the way that only Seattle can be. So of course I’m stuck inside trying to finish today’s pages.
With luck, I’ll finish a little early and have time for a walk and some reading. Then it’s a trip to the library and lunch in Fremont with an old friend I don’t see often enough. Later this afternoon I’m sure I’ll be playing a little Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.
But only if I finish these pages. Logging off.
ETA: Done!
On my LiveJournal friends list, which is where I do most of my internet reading, yet another fanfic (definition) discussion has exploded. No link, because it’s just like all the others: a pro writer said the usual dismissive things about fanfic. People who’d never even heard of this writer before swoop in to berate her/patiently explain she’s wrong/inform her they’ll never buy her work/tell her they’re laughing at her/etc to the tune of 300 comments.
Jesus, it’s like that old joke about the community where everyone’s known each other so long that they don’t even bother telling the same jokes anymore. They gave each joke a number and shout those instead.
Pro: Fanfic 6! Also 4 and 2!
Fanficcers: 12! 22! 19!
Anyway, I would like to offer a little expertise (not my own, ‘natch) on conducting an argument of any kind. Dale Carnegie, take it away!
I just got a call from home saying my package finally arrived. Inside are the two Kolchak TV movies, along with the entire Kolchak the Night Stalker TV series.
I should also have received the disc for Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.
Weekend, you are planned.
But I’ll tell you, I’m bored with my own blog! I have a crap load of work to do on my website (reorganizing, mostly) but I’m tired of the things I’ve been talking about and I’m generally feeling uninspired.
So, I’m going to give the Kolchak videos a watch (I also have the complete season of The Dresden Files) and write a little bit about every episode. Why not? I will love them and laugh at them and make disappointed faces, too. Hopefully, that will satisfy whatever has been making me restless lately.
This is crazy fun.
Facebook users, that’s embedded video. Click through to see it. Sorry you can’t watch it at work, Gary.
Well, I assume it will be better.
I received an email an hour ago letting me know that someone had created an animated trailer for my two books. The emailer didn’t realize that the first comment on that thread was from me (although judging by the f/u email, they did immediately after they hit SEND). Still, it’s pretty damn funny.
Also, I’ve been seeing links to it here and there, some by people I know and some by strangers–there’s something weirdly hypnotic about disco dancers with book heads, I guess. Something weirdly hilarious, too.
Would the trailer I’m planning to make convince as many people to link to it? I don’t know, man. I don’t know.
This is going to be long, so I’ll establish the subject matter and lay in a cut.
During Pizza Week (aka, while my wife was out of town) my son and I did quite a bit of video gaming. Generally, I played and he sat beside me telling me what he thought I should do. The best game we played, the most fun and the most enthralling, was Freedom Force.
I’m going to break this up into sections:
1. Why a long post about Freedom Force?
2. A perfect game? Um, no.
3. Why my son loved the game so much he wasn’t interested in the last couple of levels (hint: it’s not because he didn’t want it to end).
4. What about the sequel?
Continue reading
1) Can YOU crack the Zodiac Killer’s cipher? The original documents are now available online.
2) Pop quiz: Comic book character or wrestling move?
4) I hope I hope I never get a book cover like these. via genreville
5) This book on hoarding sounds fascinating!
6) Take a look at the 15th, 20th and 24th pictures. (Not to mention all the nice happy people).
1) Want Star Trek gear? A warehouse full of ST: The Experience props and costumes is up for auction.
2) Nicolas Cage’s Ugly Mansion. Eight pictures, each worse than the last. No, actually number four is the worst. This living room is a disaster, though.
3) These aren’t new, but maybe some folks haven’t seen them before: Recut move trailers that make kids movies seem like horror films, and horror films seem like domestic dramas. SCARY MARY is my favorite.
4) Businessinsider.com offers 15 charts about wealth and income inequality in America. Some of the charts have small text, but there’s a link beneath that’ll take you to a larger version. Also: Wow. via Ezra Klein.
5) One unfortunate way to express displeasure over medical advice.
6) “Who put these unpeeled grapes in my fruit bowl!” In which John Scalzi lives a blessed life–one he’s totally earned–and that’s a beautiful thing.
1) Which is nerdier: Dr. Who or the X-Men? From the Extremely Bad Advice column.
2) Barack Obama looking at awesome things. via @Scalzi
3) Tricks for better Google searches.
5) How MMORPG designers keep you playing, even when you’re not having fun. More about this later, I think. via Kate Nepvue
6) An instance of Nerd Rage examined. –although this isn’t relegated to nerds (“geeks” whatever you want to call them). The Kindlegarteners dropping one-star reviews on Amazon.com because they can’t buy a Kindle edition in Australia, or because they think the price point is too high are no different than these bitterly angry LOTR fans.
7) 11 Tips for bookselling success at brick-and-mortar stores.
Post edited: This video has been deleted