Moe Lane's Blog, page 805
January 13, 2021
Star Wars and LotR news.
Some interesting stuff. First off, there was a suspiciously-comprehensive leak to TheOneRing.net which confirms that Amazon’s LotR series is set in the Second Age, which means Rings of Power, maybe the Fall of Numenor, all that good stuff. The good news here is the map that came along with the leak, which looks like it was checked by somebody who knows when Mordor was founded (it is not named on the map). That’s a little thing, but they got it right, so I’m just the tiniest bit more hopeful now.
Speaking of hopeful: an open-world Star Wars is coming, and it’ll be by Ubisoft and not the GA… excuse me, I mistyped that. Clearly I meant ‘EA.’ Ubisoft has its own issues, but I can’t quite believe that the company would blow up inhabited planets… no, wait, I’m mixing up EA/GA again. Sorry about that!
Tweet of the Day, Today’s PSA edition.
I lean towards the “Stick ’em all and let God sort them out” school of vaccination right now, but all three options are actually valid ones. We just need to pick a strategy and stick to it. And if we do take the flip-flop option, let’s at least do it formally.
If you maximize the speed of vaccine distribution, some folks will manage to get a dose out of turn.
— Ogiel (Moe Lane) (@Ogiel23) January 13, 2021
If you maximize the fairness of vaccine distribution, some folks will die before it's their turn.
If you flip-flop between the two, both will happen at a lower rate.
Pick one.
I will be locking existing Backerkit orders for TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION on Friday.
I need to lock in the information so that I can populate the Acknowledgement page for the Kickstarter/Backerkit backers. So, if you want in on that, or you already have and just want to grab a signed copy of REVISIONARY, now is the time to jump over to the preorder store and adjust your pledge. Once I have it locked, I can prep the book fully, get the cover info over to the cover person, and, you know, publish the book and everything.
Moe Lane
PS: The pre-order store will remain open after Friday. But Friday is when I lock down the folks who’ll be listed in the books as early backers.
January 12, 2021
‘Wellerman.’
This was inevitable, really.
A new installment of THE BOLD MARAUDER is up for free at Patreon!
The usual drill: somebody signs up, I write another installment of my space opera THE BOLD MARAUDER (free, at the moment). Let’s get a dozen more people or so, so I can write a new installment every week!
Patreon!01/12/21 Snippet, THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF COAHUILA.
A paladin, this guy ain’t. Also: I decided that in Westerns you should show people getting shot, instead of not showing them getting shot. Hey, I’m figuring this out as I go.
Patreon!But there Jimmy was, sitting by a campfire by his wagon and his dead horse. The damned fool must have decided he was safe after all, because he was actually brewing a cup of damned coffee, without a care in the world. Well, right up to the point where Bailey whistled a greeting. It was comic, the way Jimmy started and scrabbled around – to see Bailey’s revolver pointed right at his head.
Fear cracked across the Royalist’s face as he raised his hands above his head. “But… but I saw you go over that cliff, Bailey. You and your horse both.”
“Well, Jimmy,” Bailey said in a calm voice, “maybe I’m a haunt. Or maybe you should’ve gone to check.” He shook his head, just a little. “See what happens when you don’t?”
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something – and that’s when Bailey shot him. The look on his face was something to see, briefly. He didn’t need a second shot, but Bailey gave him one, anyway. He believed in making sure of a dead enemy, you betcha.
Today is threatening to be a ‘bye’ day.
We have contractors over to fix the walls and bathroom after a pinhole leak in the pipes finally manifested itself last year. The racket is, honestly, kind of frustrating. My kids are already in headphones and whatnot and I kind of want my own.
I dunno what I can do about it, too. Except maybe order my kids pizza, by way of apology. It’s hard enough to concentrate normally.
Tweet of the Day, The Song Is ‘Wellerman’ edition…
…and the link to an album featuring it is below.
2021 is the year of the sea shanty pic.twitter.com/ohOAGvkbtC
— Tim – Poster of Hugo Pics (@Beertheist) January 11, 2021
As promised: a Sea Shanties (sorta) list.
This came up elsewhere earlier, so let me offer a quick list of good sea shanty compilations. Or, at least, sea shanty compilations that I like. A lot of them are nautical music collections in general, because I don’t care it’s my list.
97th Regimental String Band, Vol. III: Chantey Irish. An excellent string band in general for Civil War music, in fact, but there’s good stuff on this one.Clam Chowder: various. They were always happy to sing a shanty or two.Classic Maritime Music from Smithsonian Folkways. This is gonna be one of your go-tos, actually.The HPL Historical Society: The Curious Sea Shanties of Innsmouth. Lots of fun if you know the originals. Hopefully lots of fun if you don’t. And, by all means, pick up the monograph, too. In fact, buy them both.Paul Clayton: Sailing And Whaling Songs Of The 19th Century. Okay, this is one of the serious ones. Melancholy and somber, but it’s good for a foundation in the genre.The Pyrates Royale: just keep buying. Shanties, piratical songs, nautical songs, a lot of songs about booze.Stan Rogers: various. Not many shanties, strictly, but… you really don’t have a bunch of Stan Rogers already? REALLY? Well, fix that.The Revels: Homeward Bound: Sea Songs, Ballads, and Chanteys. Adapted for a theatrical performance, but a couple of songs on here I listen to regularly. You will not find a better “Drake’s Drum,” and I’ve looked.
