tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56282812012-01-10T20:55:22.562-08:00I'm Not a Real Doctor, But I Play A Guy With A Nickname On The InternetEriknoreply@blogger.comBlogger7561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-3366020110961018662011-10-13T05:49:00.000-07:002011-10-13T07:02:23.825-07:00

When you come across some poor, unfortunate rich person who seems to be very, very upset that they do not pay enough taxes, send them here. It's a link to the address where anyone can send extra money to the US Government. And, unlike regular tax payments, they even let you have a say in where the money gets used.So give them this address. Then hang around, anxiously waiting to see whether or not

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-34717524613966921872011-04-29T21:15:00.001-07:002011-04-29T21:33:45.693-07:00

All this talk about the birth certificate is so frustrating to me.Listen, everyone who is mad that Obama "had" to show his birth certificate:You know how you think it's all those right wing talk radio nuts who wanted him to show it? That they wouldn't shut up about it? How the President, in his speech, said people were talking about it instead of real issues?I listen to a lot of right-wing talk

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-79222095752761920982011-01-23T23:44:00.000-08:002011-01-23T23:53:54.490-08:00

Note: I wrote this article for a writer's group I'm in, but thought I'd share it here, too. Click the post title for the full text.My 8 year old daughter made up a knock-knock joke a couple of weeks ago using some of her spelling words. It goes like this:Emma: Knock KnockYou: Who's there?Emma: (Very seriously) Never forget.You: Never forget who? Emma: (Shrugs) Eh, I forgot.Scientists have

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-32913847853878869582009-11-25T19:35:00.000-08:002009-11-25T19:46:39.357-08:00

Text of the speech Lincoln gives:The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning embattlements, our bristling sea coasts. These are not our reliance

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-7612210812766477402009-08-15T13:55:00.000-07:002009-08-15T14:10:15.186-07:00

Yeah. Like the title says.It's probably my favorite part of the airplane ride--the part where you're up over the clouds, the sky pure blue, the clouds pure white and airy like brushing across the down of a swan.For me, it puts life in perspective.And having clouds put life in perspective reminds me of this quote from The Screwtape Letters.The Screwtape Letters is a book C.S. Lewis (The Narnia guy

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-9987246894193957952009-03-07T06:52:00.001-08:002009-03-07T06:52:16.959-08:00

Eriknoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-9401310794246880072009-01-31T20:22:00.000-08:002009-01-31T20:28:43.384-08:00

Okay, so pretty much everybody in North America is going to be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow. And of course, it's the one show where, in 2009, nobody is going to fast forward through the commercials.So I want everybody's opinion on one spot: the G.I.Joe ad. The new G.I.Joe movie is coming out this year, and this weekend is the first time they've released any moving pictures from the movie.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-38427575689714769412009-01-16T06:23:00.000-08:002009-01-16T06:38:45.800-08:00

Last night, my oldest daughter and I did a Daddy/Daughter date and went to the art museum at Cal State San Bernardino. They had a great display called Excavating Egypt, which I guess isn't their normal Egypt display, but was a lot of fun.Among the things we saw was this mummy mask:And it made me wonder.See, this thing is even more cross-eyed in real life. And one eye bulges out farther than the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-23597601048838737052008-11-27T07:35:00.000-08:002008-11-27T07:37:34.033-08:00

This Thanksgiving, Snopes.com reminds us that it's easy and free to send a thank you card to a soldier.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-24209212786279673972008-11-26T18:17:00.000-08:002008-11-26T18:18:19.278-08:00

Dave Barry helps you find that gift you'd have never thought of on your own.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-35952652533273983372008-10-17T09:23:00.000-07:002008-10-17T09:37:50.670-07:00

Okay, full disclosure. I've never been to California Adventure.But I haven't heard wonderful things about it. Some of the rides are apparently really good, but the park itself--well, people felt it was missing something. Roy Disney seemed really down on it, and that's enough for me.So now, Disney has unveiled its plan for how to fix the park.Here's their diagnosis and their treatment of the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-51664007892569079092008-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:002008-10-08T12:12:46.549-07:00

Pretty much what the title said.The new Weird Al Yankovic single is out on iTunes.It's called "Whatever You Like," and it's a parody of a song called "Whatever You Like." by T.I.Yeah, I've never heard of it either. Man, I'm getting old.Anyways, the new song is on iTunes here: And if you're interested, the song he's doing the parody of is on iTunes here:(Like I said, haven't heard the song, but

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-8864171453034073962008-09-04T07:22:00.000-07:002008-09-04T07:49:08.597-07:00

Amazon.com WidgetsBack when I was going to school at Cal Poly Pomona for my degree in Business Management, one of my instructors introduced me to a little company he served as an advisor to.Food From the Hood.Food From the Hood was started back in 1992 when some teachers and students at Crenshaw High School ripped out some of the weeds on the campus and started planting a garden. The business

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-68507217441439757042008-08-25T19:22:00.000-07:002008-08-25T19:43:00.742-07:00

Just a couple short weeks after 08-08-08, science fiction writer Ray Bradbury is turning 88. SF signal is celebrating by posting an old commercial featuring Bradbury.Oh, to have lived in a world where TV would feature commercials with science fiction writers.I can see it now. James Patrick Kelley for PetCo! Robin Hobb for Carnival Cruises! William Gibson for Ray-Bans! Happy birthday,

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-26181221968996362832008-08-15T17:59:00.000-07:002008-08-15T18:51:04.907-07:00

I've had a couple people ask about the rest of Orson Scott Card's Boot Camp, as well as for my overall impressions of the experience.We ended up doing my story the next morning, as I said in that last post. I now have blurbs for the cover of my next book. Stuff like this: "I don't know if you know how to develop a character." -- Orson Scott CardOr maybe "I'm not really sure if you know how to

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-17618115088490849402008-08-01T08:03:00.000-07:002008-08-01T08:11:16.153-07:00

Last night, when I was talking to my wife, I couldn't believe that it had only been one day of reading stories.The stories I read yesterday morning feel like an eternity ago.And the critiques have been amazing. Not just from Orson Scott Card, but from everybody.I hadn't expected everything everybody said to be useful. But as we went around the room, I felt like everything everybody had to say

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-14653649746576081062008-07-31T06:13:00.000-07:002008-07-31T06:22:46.105-07:00

Well, yesterday was the first day that I actually thought I was going to die.But that was because it was the day that I spent all alone in a hotel room trying to write an entire story.It's finished now. It feels like a good story weakly told. But part of the point is that it's worthless to go in and edit for language when somebody may say something about an event on page 4 that would make

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1321987591187459202008-07-29T18:33:00.000-07:002008-07-29T18:48:27.125-07:00

Well, day 2 of Boot Camp with Orson Scott Card was also great.Today we DID do the story openings, and he DID get to mine and I DID make the same mistakes as everybody else.The main mistake comes down to this:As fast as you can in your story opening, have something happening, and have it be clear what is happening.Don't do anything coy, like not name a character (calling him "he" or "she") or

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-20052538531067700782008-07-28T19:38:00.000-07:002008-07-28T19:42:56.154-07:00

Wow. I'd forgotten how much I love to research.Did you know that the huge effort to get all the troops home after World Ward II had a code name? It was called "Operation Magic Carpet." That is such a great name.Did you know that Canada had a code name for the project to get all the European war brides to their Canadian husbands? They called it "Operation Daddy."Getting war brides over to the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-26243660753207664192008-07-28T19:02:00.000-07:002008-07-28T19:16:07.092-07:00

Well, Day one is down. We didn't get to the story intros, or to the other part I've been really looking forward to--the "1000 ideas an hour" session on the rules for magic. That would have helped with tonight's story assignment: Write 5 complete outlines for stories in about 300 words. (Each has to fit on the front and back of an index card.)He gave us specific assignments for how to get the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-76258162435940378682008-07-28T14:11:00.000-07:002008-07-28T14:15:39.475-07:00

Well, on lunch break now, with homework, but I finished it early.Session started out with us creating a character (a 60 year old woman) and then creating story possibilities by asking lots of "why" "how" and "what result" questions about things.This led into a discussion about "causality" and how to create, craft, and revise stories based on who did what, why, and what it made happen.After that,

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-4888363732326576742008-07-28T07:32:00.000-07:002008-07-28T07:34:07.167-07:00

Well, 90 minutes from now, I'll be starting Orson Scott Card's Writers Class and Literary Boot Camp. I have no idea whether I'll be able to drop in little notes like this every day--we'll see how it goes.In the meantime, you can be sure that I'm having a good time.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-25559964198073199052008-06-21T06:59:00.000-07:002008-06-21T07:15:44.119-07:00

What if I told you my favorite movie I saw this year was a documentary?What if I told you it was about people playing video games?What if I told you that it had just as many plot twists, just as much intrigue, just as much deception and mysteries as your typical Hollywood blockbuster, if not more?Ladies and gentlemen, I give you King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Amazon.com WidgetsAs you can

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-15168391201084798552008-05-20T22:26:00.000-07:002008-07-28T07:34:24.457-07:00

Once upon a time, I was a science fiction writer.Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. I wrote science fiction. I was even published. Here's a link to the Locus Magazine Index of Science Fiction entry for me. I even won an honorable mention in the Writers of the Future contest.And then, my sweet, dear, kind wife gave up a bunch of money so I could go to a writing class with New York Times

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-71224100731288219862008-05-14T06:44:00.000-07:002008-05-14T07:03:01.127-07:00

California voters are being subjected to a very confusing set of ads about Propositions 98 and 99.A couple years ago, Jarrod and I did a pro and con on a fictional proposition making fun of tactics used in election ads.I swear our parodies aren't that far from the actual tactics used in these ads. If you vote yes on one and no on the other, you're going to be ripping children from their homes.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-3967810218829926732008-04-16T20:22:00.000-07:002008-04-16T21:42:59.692-07:00

In the title of this blog, I kind of promise musings. I haven't posted a good musing in a while so here goes.This is very, very random. I don't consider it to be all that insightful. In fact, I don't quite know what I'm going to say about this yet. But I saw something today, and I decided I wanted to work out how I felt about it.What I saw wasn't anything particularly insightful or new. It was a

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-8750267004362509352008-04-11T11:17:00.001-07:002008-04-11T11:18:19.544-07:00

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-57938680231798831542008-03-18T23:25:00.000-07:002008-03-18T23:38:55.793-07:00

If you were to ask somebody for the A, B, C's of science fiction, chances are the three names you'd most likely get would be Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke.Asimov passed away in 1992, and now another of the big three has passed, as we have lost Arthur C Clarke.The world would probably best know him as the author of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film that probably perplexed most of them as much

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-68032751803757264752008-03-17T16:36:00.000-07:002008-03-17T16:42:33.462-07:00

Since I posted about Dan Harlan being arrested, I felt obligated to post his official statement regarding the incident, which I thought was candid and insightful.Although I try to keep my personal life separate from my public life, that is no longer possible. In a way, that's good. I am going through a frightening and challenging time and I know I can't face it alone. Regarding the incident in

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-56084093322211084502008-03-15T15:34:00.000-07:002008-03-17T16:43:17.045-07:00

So the headline is, "Man Loses Pants During Bar Heist." It's complete with a photo of how his mug ended up after his wardrobe malfunction led to a face-plant.What the headline doesn't make clear, is that the "Man" in the quote is Dan Harlan, the magician.Now nobody's ever going to say Dan Harlan is their favorite magician, and he's probably as famous for his haircuts as he is for his magic, but

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-70437661964371312872008-02-19T20:31:00.001-08:002008-02-19T20:34:07.733-08:00

Saw this E M Forster quote in the new issue of Analog:The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-54448106758447465102008-02-10T22:14:00.000-08:002008-02-11T08:57:04.772-08:00

So, you may or may not have heard about Max Cannon, the Utah County doctor who was recently arrested for trading perscriptions for sex.Well, neither had I. Until my Dad told me it was the same guy who'd done surgery on my grandfather less than a month ago.Now that would be an interesting story if it ended there, but it doesn't.Middle of last week, my grandfather goes back into the hospital

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-67045662359982985792008-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:002008-02-09T10:34:31.013-08:00

New kid's CD/DVD combo from They Might Be Giants, Here Come The 123s.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-82286663678172236932008-01-26T22:20:00.000-08:002008-01-26T23:47:12.064-08:00

So when I heard Cloverfield was going to be filmed as if it were all via video camera, I was worried.See, I don't usually get nauseous for things. I love roller coasters, I can usually read when I'm in a car, and I'm the guy who gets recruited to clean up gross messes around the house.But two things get me. Facing backwards in a car, and watching jerky home movies.So I was worried.Back around the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-65507389414340485442008-01-19T10:41:00.000-08:002008-01-19T10:43:11.639-08:00

I wanted to come up with something positive to say about this movie. I came up with one.It wasn't predictable.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-39957285301083689832008-01-19T08:17:00.000-08:002008-01-19T08:53:51.392-08:00

This post is in response to the comments made on my last post. I know, I could just comment on my own post like I normally do, but this would go on too long.First, to theFrog:I watched that old WB show Roswell all the way to the end pretty much only because they filmed it around the corner from my house. All the scenes that took place in downtown "Roswell" really took place in downtown Covina.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-76954015242773991312008-01-12T08:24:00.000-08:002008-01-17T15:43:53.932-08:00

I think Lost is a great show.Now I'm not going to be so stupid as to say, "Go! Watch it! Right now!"Because I know it's not a show for everybody.Take my wife, for example. She wouldn't even watch season 3 with me. After some of the repetition in season 2, where we saw some of the same things we'd already seen, but from a slightly different point of view, well, that was it for her. She's got

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-43315412807251856142008-01-09T22:09:00.000-08:002008-01-10T09:45:02.461-08:00

This book is changing my life.Actually, it's a group of three books. One is Bonds That Make Us Free, which I reviewed earlier in a review I still think needs updated. The second is Leadership and Self Deception. Leadership and Self Deception is a business book. The Arbinger Institute originally did business consulting, teaching certain principles to businesses about interpersonal relationships

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-63554345767858968452008-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:002008-01-05T22:31:41.703-08:00

It's here.Some highlights:Speaking of time: Americans attempt to adjust to a new Daylight Saving Time law, which Congress passed because it apparently felt that the old law was not annoying and confusing enough. The new law produces immediate economic benefits in the form of an estimated $175 billion paid by corporations and individuals to fix the computers, PDAs, phone systems, etc., that were

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-32326432469295499082008-01-03T20:52:00.000-08:002008-01-03T21:29:00.370-08:00

So the highlight of my holidays was probably my visit up north for the birthday party of Ferd Tihista.I won't say how old he is, but by the looks of it, this page about Ferd is about four years old.Ferd has been like a grandfather to me since I was young--those of you who were at my wedding may remember him. He's always been a powerful man, physically, as this photo from 1945 can attest. When I

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-63314734319866781462008-01-03T20:17:00.000-08:002008-01-03T20:52:14.275-08:00

In anticipation of their new kids' album/DVD, Here Come The 123s, They Might Be Giants are cranking out kids videos.Check out They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast now on .

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-32889634898842473512007-12-20T22:22:00.000-08:002007-12-20T22:57:32.861-08:00

What's the deal with Good Eats on the Food Network?Time it was the show was on several times a day. And they'd air different episodes. Now, it seems they're showing the same three episodes over and over and over, and only like two nights out of the week. Is this some kind of weird holiday rotation, or are they just anti-Alton?I think this is the 87th night this month they've aired Puff, the Magic

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-11359101554697240122007-12-19T22:07:00.000-08:002007-12-20T21:13:40.469-08:00

When did they stop telling people to put two spaces after a period?I had no idea, absolutely zero idea that this wasn't being practiced any more. I thought the increased tendency towards a single space after a period was a combination of two things:1. People learning to type themselves, and never taking a formal typing class where they were told to insert two spaces after a period.2. HTML

Eriknoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-42707605416342955482007-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:002007-12-18T23:02:26.394-08:00

Dave Barry has a solution to relieve holiday stress.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-66230657691969688962007-12-18T22:05:00.000-08:002007-12-19T00:20:22.495-08:00

My brother scored me a seat at the Clarance Thomas event at Chapman University yesterday. Sandefur has a good summary of some of the highlights, including the rather random moment when, moments after he was introduced, a woman in the audience burst into song. Thomas took one question from the small group I was with--a question about whether the Declaration of Independence should be considered

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-14461680164202347342007-12-17T07:40:00.000-08:002007-12-17T10:47:29.465-08:00

Don't normally post links to YouTube videos, but I thought this guy managed to make a video that was fun, and a spot-on match for the tone of this great They Might Be Giants Song.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-80735891851405534122007-12-15T17:13:00.001-08:002007-12-15T17:15:20.192-08:00

Yes, the Magic Cafe is down. (I can hear the screams.)No, it will not be forever. (I can hear the sighs of relief.)The full story is here.The buying and selling forums are responsible for many happy Christmases, methinks, both with money raised and deals made. Glad to know they'll be up soon.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-53702165710964091032007-12-15T00:04:00.000-08:002007-12-15T01:52:53.179-08:00

You know, usually I have the good sense to actually form an opinion before I try to express it, and heaven knows half the time I have nothing better to do than form opinions. I got more opinions than a bunch of inebriated socialite women at a costume party.But I don't quite know how I felt about Kid Nation.I know how I feel about Reality Shows. I hate them.I hate the whole premise of them.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-49205138907844765782007-12-12T20:38:00.000-08:002007-12-12T21:14:49.917-08:00

Okay, this isn't really about who should win or what's best. All of that stuff would involve research and thought and maybe a degree in marketing or economics, and I'm not really ready to do any of those.Instead, these are my thoughts on the most important part of the writer's strike: How it's affecting me.Here be spoilers!I really only watch a few shows, and here is how I feel about what the

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-38933013844071909462007-12-04T19:58:00.000-08:002007-12-04T20:33:58.871-08:00

Got robbed today.Okay, my company got robbed. One of the stores I'm in charge of.How much did they get? Not enough to make it worth their while, but enough that it's going to seriously affect the bonuses of the employees who work there. And this was probably one of the few months their little store would have earned a bonus this year.(Yes, of course, I'm going to try to get them whatever bonus

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-88987855887950440922007-12-03T19:42:00.000-08:002007-12-03T20:00:16.850-08:00

A big thank you to the folks over at All American Blogger, home of the podcast, "A Field Guide To American Politics."I won their November contest, and will soon be receiving a copy of The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason. According to their last podcast, this means I will soon have six quintillion dollars.It is very much appreciated.The last time I won sumptin was from the fine folks at

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-33991713723099591172007-11-29T19:46:00.000-08:002007-11-29T19:56:11.999-08:00

How do I know I'm getting old?My brother, who I think is only doing it because he has no idea what he's getting himself into, is taking my kids to Disneyland tomorrow.So of course, although they're supposed to be in bed, they're doing that insane-giddy-I'm-going-to-Disneyland-and-won't-go-to-sleep thing we all did when we were going to go to Disneyland.I've discovered that being the slightly

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-13421497084098223972007-11-28T19:27:00.000-08:002007-11-28T20:38:04.430-08:00

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. . . . Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-26361712834347266912007-11-27T22:09:00.000-08:002007-11-27T22:35:23.258-08:00

One of my friends mentioned a commercial he'd seen recently, and it made me realize how absolutely unacquainted I am with a couple of things.The first, of course, is commercials. I have no idea what commercials are airing on TV right now. I have no idea what commercials are airing on the radio right now. Between DVR and podcasts, I don't have any exposure to commercials beyond the quick flashes

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-30442132196638845972007-11-26T22:30:00.000-08:002007-11-26T22:59:34.215-08:00

Timothy Sandefur has given up on Dune. As in, the Frank Herbert Sci-fi book that is like in everybody's top ten list of Sci-fi novels. I had to comment.Actually, I had to answer a question that I believe he posed rhetorically: "What could have possessed the world to grant superstar status to this dreary eternity of a novel?"The answer is that he's spot-on in his own analysis. The book is a

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-48429755991561078942007-11-25T21:42:00.000-08:002007-11-25T22:08:01.377-08:00

Well, I'm coming back.I'm sure you all have noticed the new layout and the smoother features and some of the other stuff that's found it's way into the blog page.Yeah, I'm learning. All the learning actually has to do with some other blogs that I'm working on that I'm not quite ready to unleash on the public yet, although they are out there and running, if the more savvy among you are curious

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-64334714099342825912007-11-17T22:11:00.000-08:002007-11-17T22:16:54.906-08:00

Earlier I posted a review of Bonds That Make Us Free.I'm still not happy with the ineptness of my review, and I intend to give it another go at some point, but I think a good one line summary would be this:This book is about the changes that can happen in our life when we start accepting who people really are and why they do what they do instead of insisting they be who we want them to be and

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-53234342780772901012007-10-27T07:22:00.000-07:002007-10-27T07:24:05.879-07:00

Hey! Where did she go?!?

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-8412785250807871802007-09-23T11:11:00.000-07:002008-01-09T23:30:31.689-08:00

I read an absolutely amazing book this week.I read it once before--in fact, I think I reviewed it once before, but I didn't finish reading it that time. I don't think I was really ready for the full implications of what the book was telling me.What the book proposes is that a lot of the unease, frustration, and anger we feel is rooted in attempts to justify the times when we do the wrong

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-19370253850114357632007-09-22T15:08:00.000-07:002007-09-22T15:09:14.832-07:00

Interview with Joss Whedon about the new collector's edition of Serenity.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-74127641871717287952007-09-07T07:51:00.000-07:002007-09-07T07:56:40.361-07:00

If you don't have it yet, go here and get the whole series of that Firefly show you've been hearing about for $20.It's Amazon's gold box deal, just for today. Snatch it up while you can.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-21124102734701460342007-06-16T06:43:00.000-07:002007-06-16T07:35:11.675-07:00

I'm always amazed at the ability of dreams to surprise me. Surprise anybody, really.Since dreams are forged somewhere down in the depths of whatever it is that makes you you, you would think that everything that happened in them would seem fundamentally right. No matter how weird they got, or how sad they got, or how scary they got, they should never quite seem wrong.I mean yeah, you could be "

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-46216729943520678962007-04-06T22:00:00.000-07:002007-06-16T07:36:16.269-07:00

I wasn't expecting this to be a nearly perfect movie.See, here's the thing. If I tell you what this movie's about, you know the whole story. If I say, "It's about a girl from a bad family who goes to a bad school in a bad neighborhood who starts competing in spelling bees," then you can fill in all the blanks. Probably you guess she finds a wise old mentor. Probably you guess a lot of stuff. I

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-47083883425049901152007-03-19T15:42:00.000-07:002007-06-16T07:36:51.968-07:00

You Do Like Reading Off A Computer Screen.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-48295183793227171282007-03-03T15:24:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:37:17.968-07:00

Since that worked so well, here's a little something more we put together:

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-82562656603288031602007-03-03T12:07:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:38:18.897-07:00

This is a test of the Doc's YouTube account.This puts the Magik in DocMagik.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-14614990451842032912007-02-12T18:09:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:38:45.462-07:00

. . . Parent Flunks Humor Exam

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-78360897423410956222007-02-02T07:40:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:39:07.049-07:00

. . . but seems to miss his sports car the most.David Eddings, being, as he eloquently describes it, dumb.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-7940107710363562022007-02-02T07:36:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:40:02.843-07:00

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows is out at Amazon. Go. Get it. You know you want it.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-82232863182248793452007-02-01T21:50:00.001-08:002007-06-16T07:40:23.701-07:00

The Astronaut Farmer

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-58565803279362501932007-02-01T21:41:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:40:46.544-07:00

I am:John BrunnerHis best known works are dystopias -- vivid realizations of the futures we want to avoid.Which science fiction writer are you?

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-8861328961862009092007-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:002007-06-16T07:41:42.521-07:00

We've made a bunch of changes over at mildlyamusing.com. We've basically turned the whole thing into a blog to make things easier. If you haven't been checking it out, check it out. And watch it close--lots of fun stuff in store for the coming year.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-83605907395836180462006-12-11T16:46:00.000-08:002006-12-11T16:48:36.927-08:00

Testing The New Blog: This is just a test of the new version of blogger. Had this been an actual blog post, you'd have gotten bored and stopped reading by now.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1159982715743209032006-10-04T10:21:00.000-07:002006-10-04T10:25:15.766-07:00

Writing Question For Non-Writers: Okay, this question is about writing, but it's for readers.In his book on writing comics, Peter David says that it's good, if your characters are in a situation that's beyond what you would encounter in real life, to acknowledge this by having your characters say something like, "This is like something out of a comic book!"So the question for readers is, when

Eriknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1159837488625012692006-10-02T18:02:00.000-07:002006-10-02T18:04:49.456-07:00

The Medicine Show Rolls On: Issue 3 of the Intergalactic Medicine Show is out.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1159625234102712532006-09-30T07:06:00.000-07:002006-09-30T07:15:01.533-07:00

Winner!: As it turns out, I won one of the pro edits in the raffle, the one from Diane Goettel, one of the editors of the no-longer-in-danger Apex Digest. Now to pick a story . . .

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1159110806184334712006-09-24T07:17:00.000-07:002006-09-24T08:13:26.300-07:00

Savin' Apex: Apex Digest is a sci-fi horror magazine. Note there is no slash in there. That is because it is not a sci-fi/horror magazine. It is a sci-fi horror magazine.In other words, the guys go up on rocketships before they get eaten by the monster.And now, they've become the latest in a string of magazines to offer "cries for help." It seems about once a month, one magazine or another is

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1159061519498678272006-09-23T18:16:00.000-07:002006-09-23T18:31:59.516-07:00

Biggest Loser: Figured I'd post this here, instead of on my other blog, since it has nothing to do with weight loss.On this season's The Biggest Loser, folks from all 50 states were flown in, but only a little over a dozen got to stay--the rest have to go it alone at home.Anybody else notice how, despite the seemingly "tryout" nature of the selection process, that the two biggest television

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1158934593945255662006-09-22T07:07:00.000-07:002006-09-22T07:16:33.946-07:00

Also changes over at Dial-A-Song. Um, yeah.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1158933891000252762006-09-22T07:02:00.000-07:002006-09-22T07:04:51.026-07:00

Those mildly wacky guys over at mildlyamusing.com have started a blog.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1156917895970420632006-08-29T21:23:00.000-07:002006-08-29T23:04:56.033-07:00

Who Wants To Be A Superhero: Okay, I'll admit to watching Stan Lee's contribution to the reality show world.I've got to admit to having mixed feelings about the show.Now I realize that absolutely nobody in the world is watching it except me and my wife and a couple of people who might be related to the contestants, so I can't talk about this the way I could talk about, say, 24, which everybody

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1156402974074147372006-08-23T23:48:00.000-07:002006-08-24T00:03:58.103-07:00

Podcast People I've recently taken to downloading podcasts of various podcasts off the internet to play on the way to work instead of the Radio. Look, I'm telling you--forget whatever chipper pair of Morning DJs you listen to in the morning because you saw their airbrushed mugs splattered across a billboard somewheres, that pair of lightweights you find yourself praying will just shut up and

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1151941820326608152006-07-03T08:47:00.000-07:002006-07-03T08:50:20.346-07:00

I Won!: I just won a stack of replica Firefly 'verse money from the fine folks (or rather, the one heck of a guy) over at Serenity Stuff. Please check him out to appease that Firefly jones--if it's Firefly, and it's for sale, that's where you'll hear about it.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1149519860832042652006-06-05T08:03:00.000-07:002006-06-05T08:04:20.846-07:00

Grateful: You know what I’ve decided?I’m grateful to be alive when I am.I’m a nostalgic type. I like to fantasize about the periods I’ve missed and wonder how it might have been to live in an era not plagued by some of the things we currently have to deal with.But I’m a realist. I know that every era was plagued by something.And I got reminded of that this memorial day. As I was deep-frying

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1148883197760468522006-05-28T23:12:00.000-07:002006-05-28T23:13:17.770-07:00

Don't You Hate: . . . when the kids get into your stuff?

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1146497082069804502006-05-01T08:24:00.000-07:002006-05-01T08:24:42.070-07:00

Why We Need The Internet: Optical illusions at another level.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1146496766017060332006-05-01T08:18:00.000-07:002006-05-01T08:19:26.056-07:00

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1145586641093163042006-04-20T19:08:00.000-07:002006-04-20T19:30:41.183-07:00

Out Of The Grease: Lots of people are watching Dunkin' Donuts right now with interest, including me.See, the company wasn't doin' so hot. They were known for one product (three guesses what it was) which wasn't all that popular during the heat of the low-carb craze. So the company started to re-think its strategy. One of the first things they realized was that they weren't that different, in

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1145585271486493722006-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:002006-04-20T19:07:51.566-07:00

Free Cone Day: . . . is coming.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1145130671812216372006-04-15T12:49:00.000-07:002006-04-15T12:51:11.846-07:00

Hugo And Nebula Awards: Here are this year's Hugo and Nebula award nominees, with links to where you can read the shorter works online.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1144710314136438882006-04-10T15:48:00.000-07:002006-04-10T16:06:11.060-07:00

What I Learned on My Winter Vacation: So what have I been up to while I've been away?Mostly learning how to edit. And I'll bet my readers will be so grateful.Here are some actual recreations of the kinds of stuff I did. They aren't verbatim; as Dan Rather would say, they are accurate forgeries."What was I--" He stopped mid-sentence. (Duh.)He stood up and walked across the room, crossing to

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1137645534194107412006-01-18T19:35:00.000-08:002006-01-18T20:51:07.763-08:00

More On 24: First off, with 24 back on the air, that means one more bonus: Dave Barry is back to blogging about 24.Here's my recap of Sunday's second episode of 24.Agent: We need to figure out a new way to go in.CTU Director: Okay, but hurry, because we've got to go in fast.Agent: You bet. We're going in.CTU Director: How long until you go in?Agent: Right about the time we go in.Jack: Go in

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1137462680641074112006-01-16T17:50:00.000-08:002006-01-16T17:51:20.666-08:00

24 Spoilers: You want spoilers for last night's 24? Within the first 20 minutes, my two favorite characters, besides Jack, croak.But I just keep on watching.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136959427192782462006-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:002006-01-10T22:03:47.250-08:00

In Case You're Wondering: The fourth Harry Potter movie is great, contained hardly a single unnecessary frame, and while they took a few of the subtle clues to one of the big twists at the end and swapped them for beat-you-over-the-head obvious ones, I can forgive them, because the rest of the movie was so perfect, in pacing, tone, and acting.Anyone who didn't know what to expect when seeing

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136868165992480432006-01-09T20:40:00.000-08:002006-01-09T20:42:46.003-08:00

The Brothers Chaps Are Not Dead: In case you didn't follow it all winter on the fan forums, it was a big deal that the Homestar Runner website went over a month without updating.Anyways, they updated.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136349990999476792006-01-03T20:36:00.000-08:002006-01-03T20:51:56.963-08:00

What A Co-inkidink: You know how some movies, when played with some albums, contain coincidences?We used to do that as kids with cartoons. We'd turn down the volume on, say, Popeye, then turn up the volume on, say, Weird Al, waiting for moments when it looked like the character onscreen was singing or the lyrics seemed oddly appropriate for the cartoon. We got some good laughs that way.Well

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136265282954206572006-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:002006-01-02T21:14:43.016-08:00

On Ants: I don't know how I made it to 30 without noticing that ants have a smell. They really do. I'm even smart enough to know what I'm smelling. Formic acid, right? But as Hulk Hogan used to say, those are some pretty bad odoriferous emanations.And why do they only come out when it rains? Is it because they've figured out we need the sun to get the magnifying glass to work?Yeah, yeah.

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136179990037269962006-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:002006-01-01T21:33:10.106-08:00

DOUBLE FEATURE Movie Review of the Day: Fantastic Four and Sky HighYou know, if I were to be totally honest, Fantastic Four was probably at least a good a movie as Sky High. So why did I like Sky High so much better?Some of it's got to be expectation. I didn't ever read Fantastic Four as kid. Not even when one of my favorite comic book writers, John Byrne, took over. I only had so much money

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1136018754755204142005-12-30T23:30:00.000-08:002005-12-31T00:45:54.820-08:00

About Art: My four year old loves to dance. It's just a natural thing in her. Ever since she gained any coordination at all, she's had to move if there was any music on. One of my fondest memories is her as a little bald-headed toddler, lying on the couch. We thought she was asleep, but when she heard some music from a TV commercial, she had to raise her barely-conscious arm and bounce it

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628281.post-1133493009361710612005-12-01T18:57:00.000-08:002005-12-01T19:10:09.400-08:00

For Pete's Sake: Will everybody stop talking about this letter as if it's news? Seriously, no one, not Lewis, not Lewis's Mom, not the president of Lewis's fan club would have thought The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe would have made a good live-action movie. He basically said, live action effects don't do these kinds of films justice, and he was right. But that was nearly thirty years ago

Eriknoreply@blogger.com0