Wally Schirra, one of the Mercury 7 astronauts, passed away earlier today. He was 84. I hate to say, I actually don’t know much about Schirra except that he was the only astronaut to fly on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. And that Lance Henricksen portrayed him in The Right Stuff. The Mercury 7 now numberContinue reading “On Wally Schirra”
On the Bush Dyslexicon
I’m sorry, this is one I can’t let pass. President Bush referred to himself today as, and let me make sure I’ve got this exactly right, “the commander guy.” Referring to the Baker-Hamilton report Bush said: By the way, in the report it said, it is — the government may have to put in moreContinue reading “On the Bush Dyslexicon”
On Some Really Cool LEGO Videos
I love LEGO. But not as much as some people love LEGO. These people love LEGO. And stop-motion. And making videos. Grand Theft Auto: LEGO City. LEGO Halo 2. The first takes one of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City commercials and redoes it using LEGO. The second takes one of the Halo 2 trailersContinue reading “On Some Really Cool LEGO Videos”
On WinAmp and Doctor Who Skins
I decided I wanted a Doctor Who WinAmp skin. And why not? I remember discovering WinAmp back in college. It was new at the time, and it seemed like all the cool kids were downloading WinAmp and ripping mp3s in those pre-Napster days. I’m not sure when I outgrew WinAmp–if I’d ever truly grown intoContinue reading “On WinAmp and Doctor Who Skins”
On Mission Accomplished, Plus Four Years
Said President George W. Bush on May 1st, 2003: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country. Wrote I in September 2006, for the Star Trek: Constellations annotations: On May 1,Continue reading “On Mission Accomplished, Plus Four Years”
On the Old Mission
As I wrote on March 1st I had a short story to write. It’s been sent off. It’s either the work of a twisted genius, or I’m a goofball prat. The truth, most likely, lies somewhere in-between… Twelve thousand words. Which is pared down from the fourteen thousand the story hit. It’s funny. There areContinue reading “On the Old Mission”
On "Making Minds Free"
Occasionally I’ll write a drabble, a short story of exactly one hundred words. One year the only stories I submitted to Pocket’s Strange New Worlds contest were drabbles. Why not? I thought. What editor wouldn’t want to buy a story for ten dollars instead of a few hundred? Well, it didn’t work out that way.Continue reading “On "Making Minds Free"”
On Great Characters
Sometimes you find a character who is an absolute joy to write. Arrogant, prone to speeches and bombast, quick-witted, and an all-around asshole. I love writing this character! I am so going to miss him when I’m done with this. :/ (ETA: 11:30) I’d gotten stuck in a particular scene. I knew how it began.Continue reading “On Great Characters”
On Looking Back Four Years
I like to read Tom Tomorrow’s cartoons. He’s a political cartoonist, and his weekly cartoon–entitled This Modern World–are usually carried in the alt-weeklies. In Raleigh I read them in The Independant. Here in Baltimore I find them in City Paper. If you have an alt-weekly, chances are you can read Tom Tomorrow. Alternatively, you canContinue reading “On Looking Back Four Years”
On Trade Shows and Booth Babes
My sister came to town. She had a trade show downtown to attend, and she asked me to tag along which was, in the final analysis, very probably a good thing as my sister’s sense of direction is not that good. So I went to a trade show this morning for framers and such. JustContinue reading “On Trade Shows and Booth Babes”