Mark A. Rayner's Blog: Mark A. Rayner's Goodreads Blog, page 142
October 30, 2009
Alternate History Fridays: Remember, Remember the Fifth of November
Thomas Cadwell watched as the children danced around the bonfire, singing:
A penny loaf to feed the Pope.
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A fagot of sticks to burn him.
He marked the fifth of November — as all in England did — though it was a strange kind of celebration. But he was old enough to actually remember the events they all sang about. He'd been in London when it happened; he had been just a boy, no more than five or six, visiting relatives for...
October 29, 2009
The History Of Medicine In A Nutshell
2000 BC Here, eat this root.
1000 AD That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 AD That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 AD That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 AD That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2000 AD That antibiotic doesn't work anymore. Here, eat this root.
2009 AD Swine flu! Panic!
From How Isaac Newton Lost His Marbles (Drs. Jim Leavesley and George Biro), with obvious adaptations.
October 27, 2009
Go Tuck (erize) Yourself — The Tuckerization
There's only a few days left to enter this contest, which includes a draw for:
a chance to appear in a walk-on role in my next book
a chance to win one of ten copies of Marvellous Hairy, a novel in five fractals
a "mystery" item from my desk.
Now, if you've entered, or think you will, this is an excellent time to start thinking about how you would like to appear in my next book. Actually, to say next book is to narrow it down too much. I'm currently at work on two books; both are satires...
Thrashing awesome etiquette!
Tuesdays is cheap movie night again. (I'm not sure how long it has been so, but I was surprised this summer to discover this quaint tradition has returned.)
Now, in case you plan on wading through the crowds to see some fine cinematic entertainment. (Your odds are low, actually, to see something fine, though if you lower your expectations enough, you may leave entertained. Recently, some movies have dropped below even the lowest of thresholds, leading some to posit the Fallacy of Lowered...
October 26, 2009
Let's Squish Our Fruits Together
I sincerely hope that ImprovEverywhere isn't hitting Dr. Tundra's mini-mart any time soon. This is the kind of thing that could seriously unhinge him for the entire day, and depending on what kind of breakfast he's had, result in bloodshed.
That said, I think I might really like musical numbers while I shop for fruit, fill up the car, and wait in the line for coffee at school.
BTW, is that Serpico at the end, explaining what just happened?
Click here to view the embedded video.
Try this if...
October 23, 2009
The Creative Mind of Dr. Ronald Chevalier
You may not have had a chance to read any of Chevalier's works, and if you have I am sorry for you. It's brilliant stuff, particularly his Cyborg Harpies books. (I believe there are three or four trilogies now.)
At any rate, he has joined the league of authors using new media to promote his work, and you can find an excellent excerpt from his latest book in the Cyborg Harpies series: The 8th Chronicle, Bio Wars: A Harpy's Perspective at his website.
Here is a short excerpt, but please, go c...
October 22, 2009
Dr. Tundra versus the flashmob zombies
Dr. Maximilian Tundra had never felt so paranoid.
Earlier that day he'd lost his medical license; luckily, he also had a PhD in biochemistry, so he would still get everyone call him "doctor". But it was the loss of easy access to pharmaceuticals that was the problem.
No, he had to be honest with himself: the problem was the special Halloween pumpkin-and-peyote-extract milkshake he'd had at breakfast, a couple hours before the hearing.
Four hours later the anxiety and fear were at their highest. ...
October 21, 2009
Playzombie Centerfold Believes in Intelligent Design (and Astrology)
Name: Jillian Venusilla
Stats: 36-24-36
Death Date: Oct. 20, 2009 (fresh!)
Turn-Ons: Astrology, Intelligent Design and guys with big (juicy) brains!
Turn-Offs: Evolution and anything requiring coordination or coherent thought.
Ambition: To one day star in a major Hollywood … unnn … brains! brains!
Inspired by:
Zombie pinup girls | The London (ON) Zombie Walk! | Photo by weaponofchoice_camera
Alltop and humor-blogs.com shuffle and moan too.
October 20, 2009
Ask General Kang: Why don't you ever mention robots?
Oh, you silly humans and your fascination with robots! And I don't mean the kind of useful robots that actually exist, like the ones in factories. I assume that by "robot", you're interested in the sentient "danger Will Robinson, danger!" or "I'll be back" kind of robot.
I never mention robots because on my homeworld, we long ago discovered that when you try to create such a robot, two things are going to happen:
1) they won't work
2) they run amok.
Let's deal with the first. How well does...
October 19, 2009
New poll shows Canadian voters not apathetic, but in existential crisis
TORONTO (The Skwib) — They may wear toques instead of berets and scarf down high-octane Tim Horton's coffee instead of smoking Turkish cigarettes, but a new poll shows 79 percent of Canadians are in as serious an existential crisis as most French novelists about to write a bleak philosophical roman ennui.
"A bit of uncertainty is healthy, but a crippling lack of meaning and purpose can really screw up your political system," says Martin Angst, Director of the Void Institute for Philosophical ...
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