Bill Bodden's Blog, page 9
July 15, 2019
Death Comes to Call
A friend of mine just died today. She was recently diagnosed with a Glioblastoma - a type of aggressive brain cancer. I now have three friends and acquaintances who have passed from this particular form of cancer in recent memory, when I can't recall even having heard of it before the first one was diagnosed. It's also the type of cancer that claimed former US Senator John McCain, whom I rarely agreed with but whose rhetoric I respected, though his actions and his voting record didn't always match his words.
I spent my late teens and early twenties as part of the local science fiction group, SF3, in Madison, Wisconsin. Most of my friends there are significantly older than I - they having mostly come together in the 1970s to form WisCon and the sci-fi club that ran/supported it. I joined...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/07/15/deat...
I spent my late teens and early twenties as part of the local science fiction group, SF3, in Madison, Wisconsin. Most of my friends there are significantly older than I - they having mostly come together in the 1970s to form WisCon and the sci-fi club that ran/supported it. I joined...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/07/15/deat...
A Golden Age of Toys
*NOTE*: This is a catch-up post. I was traveling overseas when this went live, and didn't have reliable Internet access at the time to post it here.
***
Twenty years ago, I used to write articles about toys for a living.
I was recruited by a friend of mine, who in turn had been recruited by a friend of his. There were a bunch of us sci-fi fans who worked at this site, Collecting Channel, once it was up and running. I spent hours roaming the aisles of Toys "R" Us, Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby, Wal-Mart, and others looking for interesting things to write about. Back then, specialty retailing was still strong -- not a dying breed like it is today. I had to generate a ton of content - several short, newsy pieces every day, mostly about new releases or industry news - and three or four feature articles to headline the...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/27/a-go...
***
Twenty years ago, I used to write articles about toys for a living.
I was recruited by a friend of mine, who in turn had been recruited by a friend of his. There were a bunch of us sci-fi fans who worked at this site, Collecting Channel, once it was up and running. I spent hours roaming the aisles of Toys "R" Us, Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby, Wal-Mart, and others looking for interesting things to write about. Back then, specialty retailing was still strong -- not a dying breed like it is today. I had to generate a ton of content - several short, newsy pieces every day, mostly about new releases or industry news - and three or four feature articles to headline the...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/27/a-go...
July 8, 2019
Not So Great News
Local friends may have noticed that I haven't been very upbeat recently. I went to the doctor last month. I've already had my annual check-up several months ago; this visit was relating to a specific issue that has cropped up in the last month or two. I've been trying to keep it under wraps, but I'm starting to freak out about it a little bit.
I have a tumor. Before anyone other than me freaks out, let me explain something...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2019/07/08/not-...
I have a tumor. Before anyone other than me freaks out, let me explain something...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2019/07/08/not-...
July 1, 2019
Disappointing Zombies
I went to see the latest Jim Jarmusch film, "The Dead Don't Die" recently. To be honest, zombies aren't really my thing. However, I was highly impressed with Jarmusch's moody, dream-like vampire film, "Only Lovers Left Alive," and wanted to see what he could do with the mindless undead. I had been thoroughly captivated by the previews, which made the film look like it was as much a comedy as a horror show. Here's a link to the official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs5ZOcU6Bnw
I have to admit I was disappointed in this film. It seemed to have a bunch of great ideas and more than a few good lines, but...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2019/07/01/disa...
I have to admit I was disappointed in this film. It seemed to have a bunch of great ideas and more than a few good lines, but...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2019/07/01/disa...
June 24, 2019
Monarchs of the Garden
Last autumn, I tried to sow a tiny patch of ground outside our condo with a few milkweed seeds. I was rewarded this spring by finding a bunch of milkweed plants growing in that patch of ground. They started sprouting before we left on our trip to Venice, and by the time we got back the plants were over two feet high.
This patch of ground is quite small - maybe 10-12 feet square. Living in a condo development, I was made painfully aware that any plantings I do exist at the whim of the condo association and their maintenance team. Last year, they "thinned" my lilies, basically tearing out all the red ones (my favorite color) and decimating the yellow ones. Its the kind of thing that makes me ...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/23/mona...
This patch of ground is quite small - maybe 10-12 feet square. Living in a condo development, I was made painfully aware that any plantings I do exist at the whim of the condo association and their maintenance team. Last year, they "thinned" my lilies, basically tearing out all the red ones (my favorite color) and decimating the yellow ones. Its the kind of thing that makes me ...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/23/mona...
June 17, 2019
Why This Blog Post Is Late, Part Two
After we left Venice, we spent some time getting used to the ship. We found previously that the food in the buffet on this cruise line is adequate: highly edible, but nothing special. That conclusion was borne out again at the beginning of this trip, so we tried to eat most of our meals in the dining room, where the dinners are cooked to order from a limited menu and are quite good.
Our first port of call is Kotor, in Montenegro. We made the mistake of attending a "What to expect in tomorrow's port" lecture, which was more sales pitch about further things you could buy from the cruise line than actual helpful info, although there was a little bit of useful information sprinkled sparingly throughout. We did take...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/17/why-...
Our first port of call is Kotor, in Montenegro. We made the mistake of attending a "What to expect in tomorrow's port" lecture, which was more sales pitch about further things you could buy from the cruise line than actual helpful info, although there was a little bit of useful information sprinkled sparingly throughout. We did take...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/17/why-...
June 10, 2019
Why This Blog Post Is Late, Part One
T and I took another of our patented, fabulous vacations, and we only got back last week. Where did we go? Venice, Italy. Then we got on a cruise ship and visited Kotor, Montenegro, and four ports in Greece: Corfu, Athens, Mykonos, and Argostoli. It was fabulous. Then back to Venice for an overnight before boarding a plane back to Chicago.
That was the plan, anyway. Turns out, airlines sometimes cancel flights; who knew?
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/10/why-...
That was the plan, anyway. Turns out, airlines sometimes cancel flights; who knew?
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/06/10/why-...
May 20, 2019
Who Killed Steampunk?
Recently, a blog post from a self-proclaimed steampunk fan posed that very question to his readers. He listed several reasons why Steampunk was dead: unsurprisingly, those reasons focused on a highly self-absorbed premise; that, because Steampunk wasn't exactly the same as when he started, it must be dead. At the very least, it no longer held any interest for him, which is clearly all that matters. Another opinionated blogger opined that Steampunk, having lost it's anti-authority edge, could no longer claim the "-punk" moniker at all.
Sorry to use such harsh language in front of the children, but seriously, I've been attending Steampunk events now for a decade. Steampunk is still going strong, and while the community certainly...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/20/who-...
Piffle.
Sorry to use such harsh language in front of the children, but seriously, I've been attending Steampunk events now for a decade. Steampunk is still going strong, and while the community certainly...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/20/who-...
May 13, 2019
The Business of Horror
I attended my first StokerCon over the weekend. StokerCon is the annual convention sponsored by the Horror Writers Association, and this year it was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Several fellow writers encouraged me to attend this year, so I decided to take the plunge. One thing that's consistently made me crazy over these last few years is seeing anthologies being advertised -- on Kickstarter and elsewhere -- that I would've given my left nut to have submitted a story to, but didn't hear about until they were over and done. Many of these may have been by invitation only, but it occurred to me that if I wanted this trend to stop, I needed to up my networking game.
Most of what I've had published -- both in fiction and in tabletop role-playing games -- has either...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/13/the-...
Most of what I've had published -- both in fiction and in tabletop role-playing games -- has either...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/13/the-...
May 6, 2019
Sad News
Nothing lasts forever.
I just received word very recently that the publisher of an anthology I'm in will cease publication entirely, closing up shop for good. I hate to say it, but this news isn't particularly surprising. The publisher has had a number of major personal issues crop up in his life over the last couple of years. I don't feel comfortable relating what little I know about the situation: first, it isn't my story to tell, and second, I don't know all the details, so it seems grossly unfair to just fling what I know out there without context or even the full story. The end result is, Alliteration, Ink is closing its doors, so Sidekicks! and my story, "In the Shadow of His Glory," will need to find a new home, or, more likely, the book will simply...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/06/sad-...
I just received word very recently that the publisher of an anthology I'm in will cease publication entirely, closing up shop for good. I hate to say it, but this news isn't particularly surprising. The publisher has had a number of major personal issues crop up in his life over the last couple of years. I don't feel comfortable relating what little I know about the situation: first, it isn't my story to tell, and second, I don't know all the details, so it seems grossly unfair to just fling what I know out there without context or even the full story. The end result is, Alliteration, Ink is closing its doors, so Sidekicks! and my story, "In the Shadow of His Glory," will need to find a new home, or, more likely, the book will simply...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/06/sad-...
