Moe Lane's Blog, page 836
November 10, 2020
Day 10, TINSEL RAIN NaNoWriMo: 23387/60000.
Had to redo the outline. It makes everything easier, dammit.
Patreon!Everybody knows the Hombre. He’s been around so long some people think he’s a golem or something, but that’s not true. I’ve seen him eat. And drink. Man, have I seen him drink. Then again, I’ve known him for years and he don’t change much, so maybe he’s a spirit, slumming around with a body whenever he feels like it. Or maybe he’s just the Hombre. Either way, he knows stuff other people doesn’t, sometimes. Often enough it’s worth looking him up.
The Hombre was in the third spot I visited, which is about what I expected; he gets around a bit. He was just finishing up lunch when found him, and he made that half-cynical, half-pleased face he saves for when I’m coming around. “Hola, Tom! You’re gonna need to butter me up a little first.”
“You wound me, Hombre,” I said as I grabbed a seat and waved for the waitress. “I penciled in a full hour for cadging information out of you. Because I’m nice like that.”
“Ain’t you a humanitarian. And did I say you could sit?”
“Nope!” I said, happily. “You also didn’t say you wanted a boilermaker and for me to run a tab, either.”
“Dammit,” the Hombre said mildly. “You got me on that one.”
Happy Birthday, USMC!
I get that it’s not actually like that, but it’s a great scene anyway.
November 9, 2020
Tweet of the Day, I Am A Knight Without Armor In A Savage Land edition.
I see that map, and I see… madness. Madness, and discordance, and a world where people inexplicably think turkey gravy is its own side dish.
God help me. God help us all.
Green bean casserole is, in fact, the greatest Thanksgiving side. pic.twitter.com/7Z7UZMgI5m
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 9, 2020
11/09/20 Update, TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION Kickstarter.
Nine days to go! And the stories are getting all edited up, too. The TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION Kickstarter is definitely on track!
Day 9, TINSEL RAIN NaNoWriMo: 21088/60000.
Some scenes today. I need to revisit the plot, then align everything properly. I had better: I hit 33% of wordcount today.
Patreon!I liked Bishop Cooper, though. Although I didn’t know him too well; Shamuses handle tough Cases, and the Mormons preferred to deal with their problems themselves, so for the longest time I only dealt with him when dealing with something else. Those times he was alway polite and civil, but in a formal way. But a couple of years ago I had done somebody up north a pretty big favor, and I guess the word had come south that I was a soft touch, or something. Ever since then, every so often I’d get a Mormon client come in for help. Never quite made the level of Cases, but you want those to be rare anyway.
Still, getting called in like this was something special. Which probably meant it’d be complicated, and would bite me on the ass just when I wouldn’t expect it. In other words, it was Tuesday.
“There was a young man in my ward,” Bishop Cooper said. He had a preacher’s voice, but I was trying not to hold that against him. “Well, we have many young men, but this one was wilder than most. His name is Brigham, and he ran off to the city about a year ago.”
I shrugged. “Lots of kids do. What happened? He stop sending money?”
“Yes,” said Bishop Cooper simply.
The cautiously, tentatively promising MOSUL Netflix trailer.
MOSUL doesn’t look too bad.
I mean, I’m always up for a campaign against a bunch of murderous death cultists. Although I suppose Netflix toned down the human sacrifices and whatnot that ISIS was fond of. After all, kids might be watching.
Moe Lane
PS: Indeed, it might suck. But it might not?
Pfizer announces their vaccine is 90% effective.
They were hoping for 60%, so this is extra-welcome news:
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 among those without evidence of prior infection, hailing the development as “a great day for science and humanity.”
“I think we can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Meg Tirell on “Squawk Box.” “I believe this is likely the most significant medical advance in the last 100 years, if you count the impact this will have in public health, global economy.”
Okay, that’s hyperbole – the most significant medical advance in the last hundred years was the elimination of smallpox and/or the invention of penicillin – but when you’re on the verge of bringing out an effective pandemic vaccine within two weeks you get to peacock a little. They’re still waiting to see if 50% of the folks that took it are OK two months after taking it before they ask the FDA to expedite distribution, but things are looking good. The phrase ‘yeoman effort’ is even appropriate here.
For that matter: kudos to the government, from President Trump on down, for their work helping to get multiple vaccines up and well on the way to release. This is not an easy virus to vaccinate against (there’s still a real chance that Pfizer’s vaccine will not make it past the last safety checkpoint, in fact). But we are in a remarkably good place right now – and, as I understand it, cracking the code on this virus will pay dividends when it comes to other diseases. Well done.
