Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel

Another midnight opening. This time, for World of WarCraft. Unlike Halo 2, though, this isn’t a company-wide phenomenon. In fact, I know of no other stores in the chain doing a midnight opening. Like Halo 2 we had the product in stores, in the backroom, awaiting the street date. Pre-sells were solid, substantial, not HaloContinue reading “Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel”

For Geekoid Fanboys Only

In the summer of 1999 I reread The Lord of the Rings for perhaps the dozenth time. With that particular reading I studied, really studied, Appendix D on the calendrical systems in use in Middle-Earth in the Third Age. I was drawn, in particular, to the Hobbit calendar and decided to write a quick-and-dirty computerContinue reading “For Geekoid Fanboys Only”

Some Fictional Perspective

“If the re-election of George W Bush for his second term as President has a significance in terms of global history, it is that this, far more than his original accession to power, was the point when certain facts became clear to the traditional allies of the USA. Namely, that not only was the behemothicContinue reading “Some Fictional Perspective”

Reflections on the Presidential Election

What happened four years ago–Florida, the Supreme Court, the election of Bush rather than Gore–shook my confidence in the American political process. What happened on Tuesday–the re-election of Bush (or the first election of Bush, depending on how you felt about Bush v. Gore four years ago)–shook my confidence in the American people. At timesContinue reading “Reflections on the Presidential Election”

"Shame on Bush!"

Last night I attended my first political rally. Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards was holding a rally at the North Carolina State fairgrounds with Jon Bon Jovi. The arena was filled almost to capacity–five or six thousand people. The candidate’s daughter, Cate Edwards, introduced the singer, who performed a few acoustic numbers, then theContinue reading “"Shame on Bush!"”

Ellery Queen's A Study in Terror

DAW Books published in 1988 a Jack-the-Ripper anthology, Red Jack, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh, and Frank D. McSherry. Recently reprinted by iBooks as Jack the Ripper, the anthology’s centerpiece is the Ellery Queen-bylined Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Terror. Never having read Queen’s novel nor seen its film adaptation IContinue reading “Ellery Queen's A Study in Terror”