Moe Lane's Blog, page 829
November 22, 2020
Kind of busy weekend this weekend.
A combination of getting Backerkit ready and trying to catch up on all the first edits for TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION. And Thanksgiving week is gonna be weird this year, because I don’t know how much stuff the teachers are going to make the kids do before their half-days are over. If it was a normal month, I’d expect them not to be doing anything. As it is… :shrug:
But we go on. Have a good week this week, folks. Even if it gets aggravating. Things do continue on.
Day 22, TINSEL RAIN NaNoWriMo: 45293/60000
I have no shame.
Patreon!The first hint we got that something was wrong was when Estela put her key in the door… and the door promptly fell over, revealing the disarray within. The cop who had come up with us had her shortsword out at that just as quickly as I had slipped on my brass knuckles. We didn’t know what was going on here, but something obviously had happened. And maybe it was still happening?
Well, that we could resolve in the first few minutes: the apartment was abandoned. And in an absolute state. The place had been thoroughly trashed: furniture overturned, dressers opened, wreckage everywhere. I’ve seen bar brawls that didn’t have this much aftermath.
Estela looked around, shook her head, and said, “I don’t need to tell you this isn’t normal, surely?”
“No, ma’am, you don’t,” said the cop as she checked closets and cabinets for… I don’t know. Corpses, clues, the Treasure of the Rodeo Drive? A minute later, the cop leaned over and whispered to me, “How did she know my name, Shamus?”
I bit back a smile, and just shrugged.
Patreon Microfiction: ‘And Yet, Here It Is.’
Personally, if I was in the ‘And Yet, Here It Is’ universe I wouldn’t want the MacGuffin. It just doesn’t seem safe, you know what I mean? You just wouldn’t know what it might do.
Patreon!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.
