The 2003 Nebula Awards ballot is up. There's links to online short stories, excerpts from novels, and to the Amazon listing for the novels. I'm surprised, and sad, to say that I've read very few of the works that are listed. However, "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford is nominated under novelettes and that was a fantastic story. So that's where I'll be rooting.
(Link found at Return of the Reluctant.)

Following some blog rolls around, I found Ptarmigan, written by Alan Deniro. I immediately fell in love with it for this entry:

"National Dungeons and Dragons Meetup Day falls on the 14th of every month. Valentine's Day. Never has there been a more succinct, yet apt, description of myself at 17."

I wish I had written that line.

Lucius Shepard, a great writer and reviewer, will apparently have a Web site at that link soon. In the meantime, there's an odd picture there. Bookmark it now!

Here's a new Web site for the 2004 remake of Dark Shadows. Why are they making this again? They tried it in the early '90s and it didn't fly. (although I thought the show was pretty good at the time. Haven't seen it since.) While I'm at it, "Battlestar Galactica" was picked up by the SciFi Channel. Production is about to start on 13 one-hour episodes.

Shark attack! But, you know, a rather silly one: "Luke Tresoglavic swam 1,000 feet to shore, walked to his car and drove to the local surf club with the 23-inch shark biting his leg and refusing to let go."

Technology in revolt!

Ninja granny.

World's oldest insect found, in a drawer. Here's the first couple paragraphs of the New York Times story: "Scientists say they have discovered the world's oldest known insect fossil a 400 million-year-old set of minuscule jaws that lay unrecognized for nearly a century in a lonely drawer at the Natural History Museum in London.
The findings, being published on Thursday in the journal Nature, pushes the date for the appearance of insects, one of the most successful life forms on earth, some 10 million to 20 million years back in the fossil record. And they suggest that insects were among the first animals to live on land."

The Chesapeake Bay monster, called Chessie, has been identified as a manatee during the '90s. However, some of the earlier sitings have yet to be dismissed.

Now here is a fine, fine gift for your loved one at Valentine's Day.

Three Wise Men were neither wise, nor men. Discuss.

Space Station crew see unidentified "20-centimetre long strip of soft material." They say they may never know what it is. (Although people suspect insulation or something similar.)

Woman marries her dead husband. Isn't that a sweet story for Valentine's Day?

Update on that sea lion from yesterday. Apparently, it was suffering from a bullet in head. Enough to screw up anyone's sense of direction, I'm sure. (This link has pictures and video too.)

Richard Linklater is going to be filming a version of Philip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly." Dick's work has been filmed again and again lately and few people have done anything worthwhile with it. (The one's who did either ignored the source material ("Blade Runner") or created a movie that was Dick-like ("The Matrix") but not a direct adaptation.) The good thing about this news, Linklater has expressed an interest in Dick before. He has a small part in his movie "Waking Life" where he talks about Dick and his understanding of reality. The only problem I see is that Linklater has a tendency to be wordy. His characters like to go off on long speeches at the drop of a hat.
(Link found at Website @ the End of the Universe.)

Julius Schwartz has died. Anybody who has been into comic books or science fiction has been touched by this guy's work, whether you know it or not. Here's an appreciation of him by Mark Evanier. Here's what Neil Gaiman, Nick Mamatas, DC Comics, and Marv Wolfman have to say about him. Harlan Ellison is writing an obituary for the New York Times. When I see that, I'll update this entry with a link.

Return of the Reluctant has an excellent post on what's wrong with a proposed remake of "Assault on Precinct 13." (I didn't even know someone was remaking it, and it sounds like it shouldn't be.) I haven't seen that movie in years, but I loved the trapped feeling you have in that film. There's no way out, what can you do? I have to see it again.
I seem to be on something of a John Carpenter kick lately. I just bought the Collector's Edition DVD of "The Thing" the other day. That movie holds up extremely well (despite a few holes I can now see in the plot.) Next I want to buy the "Escape from New York" special edition. Between 1975 and 1985, Carpenter was at the top of his game.

Here's news my friend Charles probably knew months ago. The original Star Wars trilogy is coming out on DVD on Sept. 21. Huzzah!

Pop star has to make a tough decision between his baboon and his wife.

Well, I seem to have failed at the 50 Books Project. I couldn't think to say anything about Nova by Samuel Delany. It's a great book, filled with some good characters and a detailed space opera setting. But what can I add to it that other people haven't already said. Here is a review by someone who wasn't bowled over by it. (I feel differently. I've read it three times and could read it hundreds more.)
I just finished Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick. It was excellent. It retold the Faust tragedy with Mephistopheles played by an alien intelligence who wants nothing more than to wipe out humanity. To do that, they give Faust all the knowledge he seeks and he changes his world.
I've always been fascinated by the Faust tale. I read Christopher Marlowe's version when I was in college. It was shortly followed by a translation of Goethe's version. I've also enjoyed Randy Newman's Faust. (I disagree with that review by the way. I think the humor, especially in the conversations between God and the Devil, is great.)
Swanwick really takes on modern technology and its effect on society and what unlimited knowledge could really mean. It's good stuff. I'm surprised the book hasn't gotten more attention. I'm so glad I picked the book up for $2 from a "Buck a Book" store a couple of years ago. Best $2 ever spent.
So, while I may have more to say about the books I read, consider me a failure at the 50 Books Project.

Trees getting married! How dare they? They are ruining the sanctity of marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman, not oak and pine. Can't they just live together?

Here's a weird story from Popular Mechanics claiming to describe how governments will deal with alien first contact. But the whole article credits no sources and most of the details sound like ideas straight from ET, Close Encounters and whole lots of B-grade extraterrestrial films. Take with a grain of salt.

Australian man is searching for friends he saw a UFO with 30 years later. He can't get the incident at Darwin Airport out of his mind.

Sea lion is found on a California highway, 65 miles from the ocean.
"The animal basked in the sun on the back of a CHP patrol car."

McSweeney's asks you to discern between quotes from two war-time leaders: Bush and Palpatine.

Ghost stories of the day:
A ghost version of the tell-tale heart.
Thailand promotes ancestor ghosts as a way to keep kids off drugs and not having sex.
And John Cleese, former atheist, discovers religion, California-style.

Jakarta, home of the weird story. This week: Fears over 'green underwear' beast.

Scientists study submerged trees in Lake Tahoe that date back centuries. They're also interested in small jellyfish-like objects that live among the trees. What are they?

Someone tell these penguins that being gay is unnatural!

Motime Like the Present has been posting a lot of essays on his reading of "Watchmen." It's a joy to read his take on comics, he sees them through such a peculiar lens.

Ray Bradbury offers a literary parlor game based off his novel "Fahrenheit 451."

Jimmy Carter (yes that Jimmy Carter) is blogging about his trip to Ghana. The blog also includes photos. It seems his idea of a blog entry is about the length of a New Yorker article. So, naturally, I haven't read any of it yet.
By the way, if both presidential candidates and ex-presidents are blogging now, does that mean blogging has officially jumped the shark? Or maybe that happened when I started blogging?

Check out The Online Video Game Atlas. They've archived maps from all kinds of video games. Neat!
(Link found at Return of the Reluctant.)

Parrot who speaks back and has a sense of humor stuns scientists! I would feel a lot more interested in this if they didn't offer this little tidbit:
N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy, feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine.
It's not enough that you have a parrot who can converse with people, you have to say he's telepathic too? If it's true it's amazing. Otherwise, it's simply interesting.

This an interesting article on slave-making and parasitic ants. But more importantly, it has one line of dialogue I'd love to see somebody use in a short story:

"'I went over there and looked at it and said 'Oh my god, you've got minutissimus."'

I don't know, it struck me funny.

The late, lamented Captain Kangaroo could have helped out science. Apparently, scientists are using ping-pong balls to simulate snow avalanches.

Hair pieces for cows. It's a big scandal at the Ohio State Fair.

At Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, Sarah Weinman gives a great entry about why blogs are different than journalism and what keeps us reading. Here's one portion:
"Second, the best blogs know how to construct their content to keep reading. Just when you think they've put up a fantastic post--oh wait! Here's another one. Just when you think that earlier post couldn't get more thoughtful, provoking, or controversial, they are back with another one. Blogs know how to move quickly, efficiently, and keep the reader strung along."

FARK has the right idea:
Dear CBS, FCC and NFL: We really don't care that much about Janet's booble. Please get on with your "Has the Media Gone too Far" retrospective. Love, the public.
Also, props to TMFTML for the "IT WAS A NIPPLE. GET OVER IT." headline.
Can we please stop talking about this story now. Jackson showed her breast on national TV, no one is quite sure whether it was planned or not. (Although if it was planned, it was pretty fuckin' stupid.) We've all seen Janet's breast now, and sure, we're all pleased, but it's over. Get on with life.

Feeling jealous of the pope, President Bush gets his own Bushmobile decked out in red, white and blue.

China's dealing with the avian flu, but this is ridiculous. 10,000 small birds fall dead from the sky.

The feel good story of the year! Goldfish thrown 15 feet from car accident. Cops search area for 15 minutes. Miracously, the goldfish survives after being found amid broken glass. Oh yeah, the car owners are alright too.

Ceramics bought at government auction turn out to be human skulls.

Centuries old ruins found off the coast of Japan.

Dear God! I want to be a Michigan college student right now!
UPDATE: Man, I was a student in the wrong decade.

I'm under its command.

Dear doctors, using paperclips to close wounds is not the best idea.
Your Patients

Hitler had a Welsh girlfriend, who actually prevailed on him to save Jews (just the ones she worked with, but still.)

This guy argues for more use of the adverb. And yet, I saw very few adverbs in that column that improved sentences. I'm still cutting them out.
(By the way, every day I seem to steal more and more from Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit, so make sure you're checking that site out.)

Do you have Atomic Explosions Phobia? The Phobia Clinic offers a cure.

Super toilet blows up. It had to do with the high voltage cables underneath the toilet, say energy bosses.

Priest says image of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria has been growing. There have been many supernatural stories about the statue over the years.

A new species of jellyfish has been found. The researchers called it "Bumpy." I like this quote: "'It's heartwarming to know that there's still a lot of mystery in the deep ocean. There are still a lot of big things moving around out there that we don't know about.' "
You can see pictures of the jellyfish here.

Go to this page and click on the art work. From there you can download a preview trailer of "Dragon Wars" or D-War as it's called in the trailer. If the movie is 1/2 as good as the trailer, it will be awesome. However, I have a sinking feeling that all the best stuff (and all the money for the movie) went into the trailer.
The movie will be directed by the guy who made the remake of Yongarry, called Reptilian in America. Here's an appropriate quote on the Rotten Tomatoes site about that film: "Passes the so-bad-it's-good threshold and lands square in the realm of bad again." Actually, that might make the movie sound better than it was.
Still, here's hoping this Korean film turns out to be as good as the trailer would lead you to believe.

Joseph Clifford Faust posts about plotting and how there are only so many plots in the world and it's your take on them that makes them something. I found it inspiring. Check it out. And while I'm at it, this Making Light post on rejections is quite good.
UPDATE: And now Neil Gaiman has written something about writing. It's a good day for writing advice.

The American trailer for Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi is up. It's the story of a blind samurai. I just watched the original film recently. It was smart, fun entertainment.
I like Takeshi as an actor. As a director I'm a little leary. His movie "Fireworks" was much praised by the critics. But I don't know. It was certainly good, but it wasn't as powerful as I expected. On the other hand, I really enjoyed his film "Brother," which most critics didn't like.
Apparently, Miramax has picked up Zatoichi for distribution in the States. I'm looking forward to it.

Director of Versus rumored to be making 50th anniversary Godzilla movie. Versus was one sicko action/zombie flick, made with humor and really fast pacing. I loved it. I can't imagine what he would do with a Godzilla film.

Take a tour through the German cannibal's house.

Chupacabras are living in a mine in Chile. On the other hand, this nonsequitir at the end kind of throws me off:
"In a spectacular display of willful ignorance, big media recently announced that Bigfoot doesn't exist. In this fascinating, fun book, Loren Coleman shows that it just isn't true. There's plenty of evidence, and the media should be ashamed of itself. "
What that has to do with chupacabras, I don't know.

Here's an article on how Deja Vu happens. Here's an article on how Deja Vu happens. (I know, lame joke. Sorry.)

An explanation of the belief that the soul weighs 21 grams.

Only in San Francisco would somebody propose making feng shui the design principle for new buildings.

Jon Thompson says he'll find Amelia Earhart's plane by the third day of his deep-sea search in March.

Ed Gorman, horror and mystery writer, has his own blog at Ed's Place. I haven't had a chance to check it out (besides his review of "The Darker Side" an excellent little horror anthology), but I'm sure it'll be good.

The New York Post ruminates on getting fired for running a blog. I enjoyed this part:
"And when bloggers fall victim to self-inflicted catastrophes, Ljdrama.com becomes their reality check. "This site exists to point out the hypocrisy of people taking out drama on the Internet and then whining when people notice," says Ljdrama's Hep, who has no sympathy for the dumped or fired blogger.
"'People think just because it has the word 'journal' in the title, that [a blog] should be treated like a paper journal that you keep under their bed,' she says. 'But it's on the Internet! I don't have any pity for these people.'"

Bush and Blair have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, for, you know, launching a war. How better to express peace than through war?

A Georgia school system considers banning the word 'evolution' from its curriculum and replacing it with "biological changes over time." The superintendent justifies it this way:
"Cox repeatedly referred to evolution as a "buzzword" Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching."
How weak kneed is that. I know teachers have to deal with a lot of silly pressure over this whole creationism movement, but there are some places where you have to stand up and do what's right. Changing the name clutters up the language for no reason. Teach evolution, call it evolution and explain what it is. Then kids will have their own chance to decide whether they believe in evolution or creationism.

Punxutawney Phil predicts more winter weather. In Nebraska, they apparently don't have groundhogs, so a woman dressed as a groundhog will have to do. Here's a little history of the holiday. And what would Feb. 2 beg without groundhog carols?

Man sells nothing on eBay. Winning bid is $11.85 (in U.S. dollars). Here's part of the sales pitch:
"My wife tells me I offer her nothing at all times and has threatened to leave me because of it. So I am reluctantly forced to choose between nothing and her. If anybody would like to offer me nothing for my wife I would be happy to consider. No, just kidding. The wife stays and the nothing goes!"
Oh yeah, there's a picture of nothing as well.
(Link found via
Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit.)

Fish Piercing. Article contains picture of pierced fish and interview with the guy who thought this was a good idea.

Engineering geek Jon Blake Cusack names son Jon Black Cusack Version 2.0. That will be a happy family life.

Planecrashes into the water off Lagos. But Nigerian officials claim it's false because no planes are reported down. It has been termed a unidentified flying object. Obviously it was a sea & air craft belonging to the Atlanteans. Duh.

Boston Globe article asks if we're in a golden age of conspiracy.

The majority of candidates in this presidential election have graduated from Yale. Also, it looks like we'll have the first election fight between two Skull and Bones members, the exclusive secret society that also included members like Howard Taft, Henry Luce, William F. Buckley and the elder Bush. You can find more on Skull and Bones here, here, here and here.
Here's the classic Ron Rosenbaum Esquire article on the group.

OK, I've done it. I've changed my comments generator. I've chosen HaloScan, which appears to work well on other people's blogs. Please try it out for me and see how (and if) it works. Hopefully we won't have all the crashes and other problems I had with the last comments generator.

Crystal ball becomes heat beam.

As you've probably noticed, I've done a massive update to my links sidebar. I've included blogs, news sites, fiction sites, comics site, videogame sites, and basically anything I read on a semi-regular basis. Take a look around and leave a comment if you find any broken links or other problems.

Here's the Baphomet entry on a encyclopedia of the mystical, religious and occult called the Mystica.

The Revealer has an interesting article starting with the idea that churches and strip clubs serve similar needs. From that profane beginning, the article goes on to discuss the necessity of being able to explain your religious decisions. Good writing, well thought out. I'm really loving The Revealer, check it out.

I think I'm going to take the 50 Book Challenge as interpreted by Bookslut. Last year, I read about 54 books, so it's definitely possible. More importantly though, it'll give me a chance to write about what I've been reading. So I'll be posting my thoughts on each book as I finish it. The first will be "Nova" by Samuel Delany, which I've almost finished.

A Russian Orthodox archbishop has cleared chess of satanic links. Thank goodness. I know we were all worried. Video games, however, they have a little Satan on their side.

I've always liked the idea of a motor home, being able to travel the country and live (somewhat) comfortably at the same time. What a cool life that would be. Now they're just making me jealous with this: a new motor home that can travel 80 mph on land and 6 knots in the water. Link has pic of the motor home at sea.

Whale explodes in Taiwanese city. "Passers-by and cars were soaked in blood and body parts were sprayed over a road after the bursting of the whale, which was being carried on a trailer."
UPDATE: Yahoo has pictures of the aftermath.

The Mola mola is a 10 foot long fish that looks like a giant fish head floating through the sea. Another wonderful, weird sea creature.

Here's a little bit of history I didn't know about: The Hartford Convention. Apparently, New England (or at least the Federalist Party members in those states) thought about seceding from the Union and talked about it in a convention in Hartford. Why don't we learn about these things in high school?

Trent at s1ngularity::criticism offers a take on "The Lord of the Rings" (the books, natch) as anti-racist. I'm not sure I buy it any more than I buy the racist viewpoint, but it's nice to see it spinned in the other direction. The comments also add a lot to the discussion.

Apparently Alexis Kanner died back in December. Kanner played some great parts on "The Prisoner" TV series. He hasn't done much else that I recognize, but it's sad to see him pass.

You'll all be glad to know that the woman with the giant tumor (see yesterday's entry) has gotten it successfully removed.

Here's a site on Nazi architecture that includes images from the 1930s and '40s and the same place today. The real interest here is the "Thingstatte" (scroll down to the Heidelberg section) which was called a "veritable church of the Reich" by Goebbels. It was an open air stadium built to harken back to the ancient pagan gatherings. (Page found via Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit.)

According to Poynter Online, The New York Times Book Review is changing direction. Now there will be less literary fiction reviewed and more nonfiction. Because literary fiction is boring. Unlike, say, the latest book on budget implications on capitol hill. Or the big, multivolume epic on the life of President Garfield. The Book Review is the only section of the Sunday Times I still read, even as boring as it is now. This "updating" of the Review is bound to send me off completely.

All right this is disgusting and I urge you not to look at it: Woman to have 12 stone tumour removed. Apparently, 12 stone is almost twice the woman's body weight. This is so ugly and bizarre, it doesn't seem to be real. Ugh.

Complete mammoth skull unearthed in England.

Fishermen have been making some big catches lately. Here's a world record blue whiskerfish. Tanzanian fishermen caught a rare dugong, which must be like a manatee (it looks like one and they call it a "sea cow.") And thank god for the Russian army. They saved 10 tons of beer that sank under ice in River Irtysh. Best catch of the day.

Story and video of mysterious object caught on video over Kansas City sky. It looks like a flat, white rod or something. Not very impressive. And the second half of the video, you can barely see the object.

Some people are reporting that "Enterprise" may get canceled. Not having cable and not watching TV anyway, it doesn't concern me much. But I've always liked the Star Trek franchise. Still, I think this is exactly what it needs.
For too long, Star Trek has been coasting. After the Deep Space Nine (the pinnacle of Star Trek shows), they had the awful "Voyager" and the (from what I've seen) boring "Enterprise." On top of that, the last two movies have not been winners with critics or with fans. And "Nemesis" was a bomb at the box office. It's time for Star Trek to settle back into obscurity for a little while, let people work up some interest in it again. Wait a few years. Then maybe Paramount can get an ambitious and intelligent writing staff to come up with a new direction for Star Trek.
Or maybe, it's just time the franchise was put to bed and better stuff will take its place.

This link is more for me to go back for than any other reason. Someone named Dorothy Lamour has put 1940s science fiction comic books on the web. They look great, ray guns and green guys with clubs and bug-eyed monsters.

Girl, 6, found dead in motel and an exorcism is suspected as the reason. The girl had a broken back and, according to this article, was stabbed. That's some pretty severe demons. Oh, and the adults and two children were found outside, in the snow, naked.

There's a new blog called Boomer Deathwatch and it's something to see, especially by people of my generation. They take all the angst about the selfishness and screwed-upness of baby boomers and print it in great detail. I'm not sure I feel as strongly as they do, but I'm sure enjoying the bile. I like their disclaimer too:
"And if you're in any way offended by the content or message of Boomer Deathwatch, sorry, but we really don't care. Seriously. We'll probably just post your pissy e-mail and make fun of it, so don't bother."

Taiwan scientists accidentally develop two-headed fish.

Starfish Invasion Reported In Volusia. Reminds me of the beginning of "Rebirth of Mothra II," with the red starfish attacking everything.