Moe Lane's Blog, page 808
November 22, 2020
In the Mail: The War of the Worlds (The Criterion Collection).
I think The War of the Worlds (The Criterion Collection) is my first Criterion Collection DVD. I normally don’t go for that sort of thing, but it was half off and this is the definitive 1950s version which I didn’t have. I’m also gonna subject my kids to it this week; although admittedly they did show some interest in the clips I found on the Internet, so ‘subjected’ may be too strong a term.
November 21, 2020
13 hours to go on the THE DEE SANCTTION Kickstarter.
THE DEE SANCTION: magical espionage RPG for Queen Elizabeth! There’s a final pledge goal that they’re pretty close to hitting. What is it? A mystery.
…I should remember that wheeze, huh?
PS: Not made with ChiCom slave labor, AFAICT.
Book (Short Story) of the Week: The Properties of Rooftop Air.
Come, I will conceal nothing from you: The Properties of Rooftop Air is too short to be anything except a short story or novella. But it’s by Tim Powers, and it draws on The Anubis Gates, and if you’ve never read the latter then do yourself a favor and go buy that first. That’s a Book of the Week all on its own.
Moe Lane
Day 21, TINSEL RAIN NaNoWriMo: 43260/60000
I’ll hit 50K before Thanksgiving, at this rate. Which is nice. Real nice.
Patreon!What was happening, according to Dr. Taboada, was a nightmare in slow motion. He didn’t get along with Dr. Campbell lately — he said that right away, probably because he figured we’d hear that anyway — and tonight had started with them yelling at each other during what was supposed to be a working dinner and ended with the victim getting murdered right in front of him. “He had left the restaurant, with some anger,” Taboada told me. “I was inclined at first to let him do so, but then I remembered my situation.”
“Situation, Doctor? – And what was the fight about, anyway?”
“It was a professional matter, Dete- Shamus. I would rather not say.”
I started rubbing the base of my nose. “Okay. Okay. Look, can we not do this?”
“Your pardon?” Taboada looked at me with confusion.
“Sorry. It’s just that I’ve done this dance before,” I explained. “There’s something you don’t want to tell me, because it’ll maybe get you in trouble. So you don’t tell me, and then you do get in trouble, only it’s gonna be even worse trouble. And when I finally find it out anyway, I get to turn to you and say ‘You should have told me this from the start!’” I glared at him. “So. Tell me from the start.”
:Yawn: St. Jude researchers may have pulled yet ANOTHER medical miracle out of their rears.
This time, with regard to COVID-19. I swear, sometimes it’s just like St. Jude is showing off:
Scientists at St. Jude may have figured out how COVID-19 kills, and more importantly, how to stop it.
[snip]
The team focused on cytokines, small proteins released in the body in response to inflammation. They concentrated on the most elevated cytokines in COVID-19 patients and found one duo that stood out.
Turns out, the drugs to treat these cytokine reactions, or cytokine storms, already exist.
When tried on mice, the medication protected them from COVID-19 death and from sepsis, a deadly infection of the blood.
Via Hot Air Headlines. More seriously: excellent news, but it’s early days yet and medicine is full of promising developments that never panned out. This is hopeful, nothing more. But even if it doesn’t immediately pan out it’s still very, very promising – and hope is an underrated emotion in our modern, cynical age.
November 20, 2020
Drank margaritas and watched THE MANDALORIAN…
…and that was probably a good idea on both fronts. Oh, and I started putting together the new Backerkit for the new Kickstarter. Because it’s been a long week and I needed to do some things that were just things.
In the Mail: Steven Spielberg Director’s Collection.
At twenty bucks the Steven Spielberg Director’s Collection is frankly a steal. I might have paid twenty just for the Blu-ray of DUEL; having that and E.T. and JAWS in one package was irresistible. Plus, this sale ain’t happening forever.
Day 20, TINSEL RAIN NaNoWriMo: 41246/60000
Went well, although I’m going to need that extra 20 grand in wordcount to make this book coherent when it’s done. Also: margaritas! I wrote before I drank, don’t worry. But the week I had more or less required a discreet amount of tequila.
Patreon!“I thought the bishop wasn’t involved in what Brigham was doing. He didn’t mention anything about a cellar.”
“That’s right, he didn’t,” I agreed as I started levering up the lid of a crate. “You remember the first Rule of the Shamus?”
Graciella started to reply, then burst out in a coughing fit. I looked back; the poor girl had managed to stir up a cloud of dust, and was starting to sneeze. There really was a lot of dust in the cellar, wasn’t there?
I turned my attention back to the crate. The nails were in there pretty good. “So, yeah, the first Rule of the Shamus: everybody lies. Sometimes it’s a lie of commission, like ‘Why, that strayed sheep Brigham ran off to the wicked big city all on his own!’ And then there’s a lie of omission, like – ah, here we go.” I levered open the crate, and found what I expected to find, all metallic and dully gleaming in the half-gloom.
Graciella wandered over, and whistled at all those sword blanks. “Yeah,” I said. “Then there’s the ‘Oh, Shamus, I completely forgot to tell you that Brigham was helping us run arms to the diehards.’”
