Mark A. Rayner's Blog: Mark A. Rayner's Goodreads Blog, page 52

Selected Media Fads Through the Ages

24,000-22,000 BC: chunky fertility goddess statues (pictured at right: notice the prominent and large brains.) 10,000 BC: cave painting 4,000 BC: ziggurat construction 3,000-1,250 BC: pyramid raising (later revived by Mesoamericans and I.M. Pei) 1480-1700: Witch burning 1500s: homoerotic sonnet … Continue reading →

How it all began, I mean, AFTER the nuclear explosion

[phone rings] Sumiko: Soto Noodle — you will want to suck them fast! Godzilla: So you serve noodles? Sumiko: Yes sir, we are noodle shop. Godzilla: Excellent, I’d like an order of noodles, shaken not stirred. [pause] Sumiko: I’m sorry … Continue reading →

Ask General Kang: As a world-conquering potentate, what is your policy regarding instant gratification?

Well, I’m totally against it. From what I can see there is too much instant gratification happening here on Terra; and this is at least some part of the reason why I am conquering this world soon. I’m a fan … Continue reading →

Teaser from The Fridgularity: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Fridgularity is a satire of Internet culture, so that means it’s rife with pop-culture references, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of them. I can’t tell you any more, as that would be a spoiler. But I … Continue reading →

Sadisucation

You sometimes think that certain teachers experience a certain glee because of the essential irrationality of English. Alltop write good. And funny.

How Landon, Ontario got its name

Here’s a little snippet that didn’t make it into The Fridgularity. I cut the description of Landon, Ontario’s founding because it doesn’t really add much to the story, though it’s fun for anyone who lives in the real place, London, … Continue reading →

How did English evolve?

Here’s a fun little video from TED about the evolution of English. This video describes the early days of English’s changes. Some of the more recent alterations are not included, such as the extensive use of pirate terms, robot machine … Continue reading →

Fonts of The Fridgularity

TYPOGRAPHY One of the ideas that I play with in The Fridgularity is that the entity Zathir — you know, the one that takes over the Internet and promptly locks all humans out of it — is actually a conglomeration … Continue reading →

Excerpt from The Fridgularity: a ski in the storm

Given the arrival of Winter here in Souwesto, I thought I’d put up an excerpt from the second half of The Fridgularity (A Cold Reboot), in which the lead character goes for a little cross-country ski, and things go awry. … Continue reading →

Last day to get the Kindle edition of The Fridgularity FREE

Today is the final day of my giveaway of The Fridgularity via Kindle. I hope you all remember to download it! Now, back to your regularly scheduled turkey coma. More details about The Fridgularity are available here or on the … Continue reading →