Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has picked his vice presidential running mate. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Joe Biden? I thought Obama was running as the candidate who was going to change Washington. How does picking an “inside the Beltway” Washington insider do that? Biden has been serving as Delaware’s Senator since Obama wasContinue reading “On Joe Biden”
Monthly Archives: August 2008
On Smurfs and Smurfing Smurf
Some Smurf musings, as I’ve had Smurfs on the brain! Occasionally, Smurf biology comes up in conversation. Smurfs clearly reproduce asexually. Consider! Smurfette was a homunculus created by Gargamel, and her existence was alien to the Smurfs. The Smurfs had no idea what Smurfette was, or where she had come from. Quite simply, the SmurfsContinue reading “On Smurfs and Smurfing Smurf”
On John McCain and His Disconnect
A day after writing about John McCain and his treatment as a prisoner of war at the hands of the North Vietnamese, I reluctantly find that I must take up the keyboard and write again of John McCain. When asked, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, could not name the number of homes thatContinue reading “On John McCain and His Disconnect”
On John McCain and Torture
In all the hubbub over Senator John McCain dismissing the Dungeons & Dragons vote, one vital story has been ignored — was John McCain tortured by the North Vietnamese during his captivity during the Vietnam War? John McCain would say yes: Just after his release in May 1973, he detailed his experience as a P.O.W.Continue reading “On John McCain and Torture”
On Vincent Price, Gourmet
Random linkage for the day. An article on Vincent Price’s 1960’s cookbook, A Treasury of Great Recipes. Yes, that Vincent Price. The actor that was born to star in horror films of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The voice of Mystery! The creator of Edward Scissorhands. It’s such an amazingly… bizarre concept. Vincent Price.
On Things That Annoy Me, Number 42
People who don’t “get” references to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy annoy me. I realize that not everyone in the world is going to recognize a reference to H2G2, especially the really obscure ones, but still. There should be some minimum cultural knowledge here! 😆 Blogged with the Flock Browser
On Writing and Emotional Movement
Over the past week — and more intensely since Saturday — I’ve been working on an outline for a novel. It’s… interesting stuff. To be honest, I know that it’s not working. To be slightly more specific, it’s not working the way I want it to. The story is developing in interesting directions, but theContinue reading “On Writing and Emotional Movement”
On Another Free Coldplay Song
I came into work this morning, to find in my e-mail inbox the Coldplay newsletter. There’s a new free song to download, “Death Will Never Conquer.” It’s an odd song. Piano based. Sounds like a ragtime-like riff on a Southern spiritual. It also sounds unfinished. It’s amiable. But, hey, it’s free!
On Search Engine Stupidity
When I was younger, back in high school no less, I read Hans Moravec. Mind Children, an amazing book. Verner Vinge, the Singularity. I’m there. The technological trends are there. Teilhard de Chardin, the noosphere. Got it. Human knowledge will become so massive, technology will be able to create minds better than ours, the nextContinue reading “On Search Engine Stupidity”
On Outline Writing
I spent the weekend working on a novel outline. It’s not quite finished. Right now it’s at 2,500 words. I think it’s going to finish up about a thousand words from now. I’ve just blown up something very big. There are other things to blow up, too. Not quite as big. The story is aboutContinue reading “On Outline Writing”