True story. When I read the first Harry Potter book, back in the dark days of the autumn of 1999, I had no idea how to pronounce Hermione’s name. What I came up with was… Hermey Own. Like Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Plus Own. HermeyContinue reading “On Mispronunciations”
Category Archives: Reading
On Magneto and Cosmic Boy
A reader named Alex dropped by the “Ask Allyn Anything” post Saturday-ish and asked a geeky question. Because the post has dropped off the front page, though, I’m going to respond to it here as well, to say nothing of greater length to explain my reasoning. It’s my blog, and I can do things likeContinue reading “On Magneto and Cosmic Boy”
On a New Edition of Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick, visionary science fiction author, is getting the Library of America treatment next summer in a one-volume hardcover containing four of Dick’s seminal novels: The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Ubik. From the Library of America’s website: Known in hisContinue reading “On a New Edition of Philip K. Dick”
On Plato
Lately, I’ve been reading Plato. I haven’t thought about Plato since college. Ten, fifteen years. Reading Plato. I’ve read the Critias, Plato’s incomplete account of Atlantis. I’ve read the Apology, his account of Socrates’ trial. For good measure, I’ve also read Xenophon’s Apology, he take on the same event. I’ve read a little bit ofContinue reading “On Plato”
On Lankhmar News
I love Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories. Set in the world of Nehwon, these stories follow Fafhrd, a barbarian, and the Gray Mouser, a failed wizard, as they adventure from one side of the world to the other, getting into weird scrapes in their quests for coin, cleavage, and alcohol. When asked what is my favoriteContinue reading “On Lankhmar News”
On the Books I've Read
Stolen from Richard White, a list of the most significant science fiction novels written since 1953. We’re going to bold the titles I’ve read, strikethrough the ones I’ve read and hated, italicize the ones I’ve started and never finished, and put a star next to the ones I love. Any questions? 🙂 The Lord ofContinue reading “On the Books I've Read”
On The Eye of Argon
On this Saturday past (and with thanks to Terri Osborne) I attended Capclave, a science fiction convention in Silver Spring, Maryland. As conventions go, it was different than any I had attended before–my previous convention experiences having been limited to Shore Leave and Farpoint, both of which are media conventions, while Capclave was geared towardContinue reading “On The Eye of Argon”
On Rick Santorum's Faulty Analogy
Pennsylvania’s junior Senator, Rick Santorum, spoke recently about Iraq and terrorism: Santorum said that the United States has avoided terrorist attacks at home over the past five years because the “Eye of Mordor” has been focused on Iraq instead. “As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhereContinue reading “On Rick Santorum's Faulty Analogy”
On "Minds… Destroyed by Google"
Bruce Sterling had a new short story, “I Saw the Best Minds of My Generation Destroyed by Google,” published in the New Scientist recently. It’s an amusing little cautionary tale, told from the perspective of a teenager in a world twenty years hence where RFID chips, GPS positioning, and a rampant information culture have destroyedContinue reading “On "Minds… Destroyed by Google"”
On Being Offered Things I Already Have
I find it mildly annoying at times to receive an e-mail from Amazon.com, telling me about a fantastic offer they have on a product, when it’s a product I already own. It’s not a mystery why I receive these e-mails–they’re based on things I’ve bought from them in the past, and as at best fiveContinue reading “On Being Offered Things I Already Have”