Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 218

Figures From the Past

As most of you probably know, I began my career as an author of historical fiction. Those books are long out of print and, I assumed, long forgotten.I'm pleased to report that one reader hasn't forgotten. Reader/modeler Dan Thompson has created a miniature of my character Captain Favian Markham, USN, standing on the deck of his captured British frigate Macedonian. The process of creating the

Brokeback Canal

Via Gio, an ad for French cable channel Canal+, featuring a tale of tragic love on Brokeback Mountain.

Premake

Via Gardner, it's the trailer for the 1950 version of The Empire Strikes Back!In 3-Dimension!

Premature Burial

A few days ago, all Twitter was aglow with the information that Harlan Ellison had died.Last night, I received email that Normal Spinrad had died during an operation.As it happens, Harlan is very much alive, and Norman survived his operation perfectly well.So there seems to be a "prankster" working the science fiction social networks. I put "prankster" in quotes because, speaking only for myself

Six Weeks to Under Four Minutes

From Air & Space magazine, a time lapse photograph showing the six weeks' preparation necessary for launching the Discovery cut down to just under four minutes.[via Bob:]

Erased

Via Gio, the winner of the 19th Century Darwin Awards.

Daring to Ask: Post-Katrina

The Daring to Ask Blog has dared to ask me some very comprehensive questions about my novel, The Rift. The book was published in 1999, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it.

Gaining Altitude

Me and my friend here, Iron Chef Walter, are off to Taos for a week. My appearances are likely to be intermittent for the next seven days or so. In fact I make not make it back if I'm hanging out with this guy. As you can see, he can really put it away.

Somewhere Clint Eastwood Is Smiling

With the environment under threat, and the so-called "experts" failing to come up with a solution, the President makes a wild call, and a rag-tag band of mavericks steps up to the plate and jury-rigs a solution that saves the day . . . No, this isn't the movie Armageddon. This is real life. With PB unable to stop its gusher on the floor of the Gulf, Obama has now called in his own team. I note

Your Daily Dose of Paranoia

It's been a week since Wall Street's flash crash, when runamuck automated selling wiped out a tenth of my retirement fund--- and, somewhat less importantly, a trillion dollars of assets worldwide. The stocks have come back, but what I find interesting is that no one's actually found what triggered the manic selling. They seem to have ruled out mistakes by traders, so the whole "fat finger