Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“Do you have an owner-granted name?”
“Lucy calls me ‘Robot’”.
“Are you serving Lucy Walker well?”
Robot reflected. “I am
learning. She seems to want me to stand
and wait, most of the time.”
Alpha responded, partly as if talking to himself. “That seems to be very common in reports from
others. It would appear that humans are
very different. Our function is to do.
Humans often seem content just to
be. In fact, they designed us to do
work for them, allowing them a great deal more time just to be.”
(from Robots Like
Blue, by Anthony J. Deeney)
7*/10. The full review is here.
.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Thursday, July 09, 2015
Forgetfulness
Truth be told, I've had this happen to me with my car keys, and with my sunglasses. But never with a glass of red wine.
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
Two
things, a wise old man had told him once, that you don’t ask about: what the
meat is in a shop-bought meat and turnip pie, and where anything worth having
comes from. Wisdom indeed. True, the same old man had then sold him a cow
that died three days later, but there you go.
Life is really just a river; it moves on, and all sorts of stuff ends up
in it.
(from The
Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Tom Holt)
9*/10. The complete review is here.
.
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Monday, July 06, 2015
The Worst Rock-n-Roll song Ever?
Listen, I'll admit We Built This City is not the best song Jefferson Airplane/Starship ever put out. But there are plenty of crappier rock-&-roll songs out there.
Saturday, July 04, 2015
Thursday, July 02, 2015
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
Record Stores
Anytime I make t to two used-record stores in one day is a great day. Finding two Johnny Cash albums I've been looking high and low for for quite some time is just icing on the cake.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
The Ants are my Friends; They're Blowing in the Wind...
Indeed, I've been inflicted with this all my life.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Dogs in Bed
Well, we have three little dogs instead of one big one. But otherwise, the graph is quite valid.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“American?
You are the enemy!” Said with a
smile.
“We have taken your democracy and given it to the polloi.”
“You Americans are like our former gods.
You come down from your mountaintop, make chaos, make fornications, many
problems, then you return to your mountain.”
Her brows were knit tightly here.
“That’s us all right.” I found it endearing the way she said “moun-tane.”
(from Little God
Blues by Jeffrey M. Anderson)
7*/10. The full review is here.
.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
Racism and Guns
The GOP-wad Presidential candidates are tripping all over themselves trying to lamely explain why we shouldn't think of the tragic church shooting in South Carolina as evidence of racism or the need for gun control.
Frankly, it makes them look like the racist hatemongers that they are. This was an act of racism, and it is a clear reason why we need to make it tougher for everyone to get guns.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“Anatoly, come back in,” Duvall said through
the window. “For God’s sake, you’re not
wearing pants.”
Kerensky turned around, following her voice. “This isn’t a ship,” he yelled up to the
window.
“No, it’s the Best Western Media Center Inn and Suites,” Duvall
said. “In Burbank.”
“Is that a planet?” Kerensky yelled.
“What system is it in?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Hester muttered. “You’re on Earth, you moron,” he yelled at Kerensky.
Kerensky looked around disbelievingly.
“Was there an apocalypse?” he yelled.
Hester looked at Duvall. “You
actually have sex with this imbecile?”
(from Redshirts
by John Scalzi)
8*/10. The full review is here.
.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Vampire Romance
Funnily enough, I just started reading a Vampire Romance novel. Look for a review in a week or so.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“It’s one of our ancestors’ greatest
triumphs against the Snowdonian Welsh.
The odds were astounding: five thousand against six. It was a hard, hand-to-hand battle over two
days with every inch won in blood and sinew, but thank Snodd we were
victorious. Despite everything, we were
impressed by the fighting spirit of the Welsh – those six certainly put up a
terrific fight.”
(from The Eye of
Zoltar, by Jasper Fforde)
8*/10. The full review is here.
.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
The problem with Classical Music
True dis. There have been times when I've wanted to find out who wrote some piece of classical music, and have had no idea how to Google that. I end up making random guesses on YouTube hoping to luck into the tune. One time it turned out to be Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Monday, June 08, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“If they can work out the kinks, it could
revolutionize space travel.”
“’Work out the kinks’?” Jared said.
“I’m about to use this thing.
Kinks are bad.”
“The kink is that the drive is touchy about the mass of the object it’s
attached to,” Wilson said. “Too much
mass creates too much of a local warp on the time-space. Makes the Skip Drive do weird things.”
“Like what?” Jared asked.
“Like explode,” Wilson said.
“That’s not encouraging,” Jared said.
“Well, explode is not quite
the accurate word,” Wilson said. “The
physics for what really goes on are
much weirder, I assure you.”
“You can stop now,” Jared said.
(from The Ghost
Brigades by John Scalzi)
9½*/10. The full review is here.
.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Saturday, June 06, 2015
Friday, June 05, 2015
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
Book Excerpt for the Day
“I am looking for the great superhero, John
Doe the Undefeated. Do you know where he
is?”
The woman nodded. “I may.”
Professor Smith couldn’t contain his excitement. “Is it true he came back from the dead, and
rained his vengeance upon those who had tried to kill him?”
“Umm, no. All he did was scare
his wife away, who left the village screaming like a headless chicken.”
“Do headless chickens really scream?”
(from The Zombie’s
Life Is In Danger, by Shantnu Tiwari)
2½*/10. The full review is here.
.
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Monday, June 01, 2015
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