Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 226
March 1, 2010
Reviews Too Late: Princess Tutu
Knowing my strange fascination with girly anime, Jane Lindskold told me I'd like this one. She was right.I liked Princess Tutu not only for itself, but for the fact that it constantly references Revolutionary Girl Utena, which--- as we all know--- is the Greatest TV Series of All Time. Tutu is a post-Utena artifact, the first that I've seen. The backstory is rather complex, and begins with a
History Channel
What the hell happened to the History Channel? It's all Pawn Stars, Tougher in Alaska, American Pickers, Ax Men . . . all reality TV! Where's my freakin' history?I guess it went to the same place as all the learning on the Learning Channel.
February 28, 2010
Matters Quotidian
The Winter Olympics at least provided a pleasing distraction as I was preparing my taxes for the accountant. Hundreds of check stubs, hundreds of little receipts with cryptic scrawls on them. (What is "sprawk?" Is it deductible? Does it go on Schedule C?) And then I look up, and Canucks and Austrians and Chinese Communists are gracefully doing weird aerial stunts on ski slopes. And tonight there
February 27, 2010
Lift Those Pale, Puny Arms to the Light of the Stars!
Healthy lifestyles for all the Goths in your life.[via Louy:]
Life Those Pale, Puny Arms to the Light of the Stars!
Healthy lifestyles for all the Goths in your life.[via Louy:]
February 25, 2010
The Condition of Atemporality
Y'know, Bruce Sterling thinks about this shit real hard. And a couple weeks ago he delivered a speech that shows how far ahead of us he really is. Now let me tell you how the atemporal Richard Feynman approaches this. The atemporal Richard Feynman is not very paper-friendly, because he lives in a network culture. So it occurs to the atemporal Feynman that he may, or may not, have a problem. '
28 Views to a Job
Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Writing Fiction, the Guardian asked 27 other writers for their own contributions. The result is overlong, contradictory, but intermittently fascinating. I'll reproduce some of the advice here, but only the bits I agree with. Using adverbs is a mortal sinNever use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . . he admonished gravely.Avoid prologues: they can
Fish-Faced Enemy of the Empire
A few years ago, the University of Mississippi canned their mascot, Colonel Reb, because, well, he looked like a stereotypical slave-owning plutocrat, and even Ole Miss is committed to diversity these days.But where to look for a new mascot? Especially if your team is called the Rebels?You look to a galaxy far, far away. Yes, there's a movement on campus to replace Colonel Reb with Admiral Ackbar
February 24, 2010
Das Energi
Two notes from the world of energy:Bloomenergy today rolled out its Bloom Boxes, new-generation fuel cells that can generate electricity in the home (or the factory, or the server farm, or wherever). The cells take in oxygen from one direction, natural gas (or biogas) from another, and produce kilowatts in exchange. The industrial-sized cells weigh ten tons; the home-sized ones are about the
February 20, 2010
This Is America!
Fast food, homicidal clowns, and there's a logo on everything.Yeah, that's home.[via Lucius Shephard:]
