And now, after Retro Weekend, we resume normal blogging service. Who knows? Maybe in a couple of months, I’ll feel the need for another Retro Weekend, I’ll put some Creedance in the old stereo, and we’ll rock out again like it’s 1999. 😆 In the meantime, though, I need coffee. And a good descruffyfication. InContinue reading “On Resuming Normal Service”
On Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen
On a mailing list I subscribe to, discussion turned recently to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. The series were published in 1985 and 1986. Watchmen is credited with beginning the era of “realistic” superheroes, Dark Knight is credited with turning Batman “serious.” It was noted that theContinue reading “On Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen”
On a Retro Weekend
When I was a kid, way back in the early ’80s, a local radio station — Q101, in Harrisonburg, Virginia — used to have “Hot Wax Weekends.” They’d pull music out of the vault and turn back the clocks. It was on a Hot Wax Weekend that I discovered Creedence Clearwater Revival. I first heardContinue reading “On a Retro Weekend”
On E-Mail Inaccessibility
For the record, I love my e-mail client. I use The Bat. I discovered it, what seems like ten years ago, and didn’t begin to use it regularly (yes, finally abandoning Outlook Express) until about 2001. What I love about The Bat is that it works hard to be secure. And that means that it’sContinue reading “On E-Mail Inaccessibility”
On That Thursday Feeling
I have a migraine. I hate it. I have a nasty cough, phlegmy sinuses, and bronchial passages that feel clogged. I hate it. I’m feeling a bit miserable right now. *sigh* So, what about you? Life treating you well? Doing better than me, at least?
On Tortured Similes
I frequently read Penny Arcade. The creators bring a snarky eye to pop culture and video games, and the web comic rarely fails to amuse me. Today’s strip concerns, of all things, literary criticism. Specifically, the tendency in science fiction to invent really complicated similes for really simple comparisons. Throwing in random, made-up words —Continue reading “On Tortured Similes”
On a Mystery That’s No Mystery
I’m currently reading a mystery novel. I have a problem with it, though. It’s not much of a mystery. Here’s the problem. The way the murder is set up, at the end of the first chapter, there are only two characters that have the opportunity to commit the murder. At the end of the secondContinue reading “On a Mystery That’s No Mystery”
On Free eBooks
Tor is making available a number of their books as free eBook downloads. Science fiction and fantasy, they have both. The selection is interesting. Some stuff I’ve heard of. Some stuff I’ve not. Also, they have a nice selection of desktop wallpapers based on covers and other sfnal art. Check it out, before it’s gone.Continue reading “On Free eBooks”
On Godhood and Other Random Hits
I am no mere Excel guru. I am an Excel god. Look upon ye mighty spreadsheet in despair! ‘Tis nobler to reign in Excel than serve in heaven! Excel! I had a project dropped in my lap today. A project that should have been done weeks ago. A project that involved taking a very largeContinue reading “On Godhood and Other Random Hits”
On a Battle in the Saguenay
Colonizing the Saguenay seemed a good idea. The land was lush. Resources were plentiful. There was abundant wildlife and water. Naturally, I wasn’t the only person interested in staking a claim to the Saguenay. So, too, did Henry the Navigator and Suleiman the Magnificent. They mocked my explorer, Sir Henry Sinclair, as he moved acrossContinue reading “On a Battle in the Saguenay”