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.