Archive for May, 2009
Welcome to this Friday’s mailbag. There is a Tarzana, CA postmark on the first envelope dated Jan 8 1987, but no return address. Inside was this folded letter:
Dear Mr. Orange,
We regret to inform you that as of this Friday, we will be closing our doors to all business. After Friday, we will not respond to any business requests or items and, in fact, all correspondence will be disposed of without review. There will be no forwarding address.
That said, in view of your past business with us and your assistance in the locations of matters obscure, we would like to give you, as a parting gift, these few clues in our possession regarding items on your “want list”:
An complete and uncut print of The Magnificent Ambersons (complete with extended nude scene) is rumored to have been once shown in the basement of the science library at Indiana University. This is its only known appearance after the incident with Orson Welles and the parish council.
One hears whispers of a living pair of dodo birds, one male and one female, living on a deserted island in the South Atlantic. The island appears on no maps, but is fiercely protected by a brace of black submarines.
The last page of the diary of President John F. Kennedy is said to be hidden somewhere around the Lincoln Memorial. That is all we know regarding this item.
There are twelve confirmed fragments of the Tunguska meteorite–all of which reside in private collections under heavy guard and absolutely unattainable. The rumored thirteenth is said to be in the posession of retired Russian army officer living under an assumed identity on Kodiak Island. Some rumors say he is posing as a priest. Some rumors say he is posing as a nun.
The unpublished hand-written manuscript for “Teenage Lust” by Walt Whitman is thought to have been destroyed in a suspicious house fire in Cornwall during the late 1970s. Recent rumors suggest that prior to the mysterious fire, the manuscript was sold to a French biochemical research collective.
The jade carving of Noah’s Ark that you have repeatedly underlined in your requests does not exist.
After twenty-five years, we have still found no buyers for the bag of Cicero’s marbles. We suspect it is due to the difficulty in establishing its bona fides despite your personal reputation. We return these to you with regret.
Finally, after careful examination of the photographic evidence, you are quite correct in identifying Babbage’s prototype for his “automatic man” in the background of the sandcrawler scene in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope. It is not clear whether or not Mr. Lucas was aware of its significance, or if to him it was merely a piece of background prop. In either case, the place to start looking would be Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California.
It was nice doing business with you. Please do not reply.
Yrs sinc
Sheriff Psalter
Psalter’s Curiousity, Esoterica and Miscellania (closed)
Things seem to be moving along for my mysterious friends with the rag paper and crimson ink. I doubt one could say it was moving in a positive direction, but then again I don’t know who I should be rooting for.
Sirs,
The adversary has been routed, but we cannot claim a total victory. In battle, agents of the adversary took note of our number and summoned aid. While their aid ended up consuming them rather than saving them, that same aid has now taken up their cause and we find ourselves with a new adversary much like our previous one…but hungrier and more wild.
Please review the situation and get back to us.
(unsigned)
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It’s been a busy week, but a productive one. A number of projects hit completion and hit the printers. A few others have gotten that much closer to the printer. And new jobs get started. It’s all good. The weekend doth approach, and all in all I’m hoping for a relaxing one. Maybe even take an opportunity to sleep late here or there. I think I have it coming.
So straight on to today’s link so I can finish up today’s work nice and early.
Today’s link takes you to the infamous, Hugo-award winning fanzine site Ansible by David Langford. All the news that’s fit to print… or unfit even…regarding the world of science fiction and fantasy literature and fandom. Look for features such as “As Others See Us” which gives often infuriating insight into how our fandom is perceived by people who should really know better; Thog’s Masterclass with examples of some of the more amusing turns of phrase to appear in works of fiction, outraged letters, changes of address, and other news.
And it’s free!
Check it out.
Filed under: Blogosphere, Letters, Writing | |No Comments
We continue on our path toward home ownership. The latest manifestation of that journey appeared last night in a meeting with the banker to sign a stack of forms so high we had to look around it to see each other. I was less concerned with the idea of signing my life to a standard 30 year mortgage than I was with the fact that my signature started to morph into something even I couldn’t recognize as my own. I comfort myself with the idea that this is a typical phenomenon and that the squad of bankers, lawyers, underwriters, bureaucratic demons, and inspectors will understand this.
But we’re that much closer. We’d have been finished by now if the house itself wasn’t a flip and current law requires 90 days between original purchase and sale. Despite all the horror stories about flipped houses that have been in the news lately, this doesn’t appear to be one of them. The home inspector gave the place a very good review, and what minor things still needed attending, the seller is taking care of prior to closing, and our avenging angel of a real estate angel is on this like a pitbull after a baby carriage. (Too far? Should I reel that one back in? Seriously, I need to know.)
So far…so good. Moving is still going to be a huge undertaking for us packrats. Still much purging to do. Still much packing. Switching utilities. Post office notifications. Etc. But in the end, we’ll have a little place to call our own and I’ll have an enclosed back porch I can sip coffee from in the wee hours of the morning before descending into my “man cave” to work.
It’s the American dream.
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Work seems to be progressing pretty well, and only a little bit behind schedule. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have taken Monday off like the rest of the country, but then again–I think I deserved it. If I keep nose to the grindstone today and maybe pull some extra work in over the weekend, I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be sitting well come Monday. As it is, I’ve gotten some projects out the door. Character Kings officially went to the printer yesterday as expected. I also delivered to the printer the June issue of the medical journal, and today will likely be sending to the printer the 2nd edition of the Agatha Award winning book Private Eyelashes: Radio’s Lady Detectives by Jack French.
The Design Integrations book will go out on another proof this afternoon–most likely its last. The same with the Van Alexander book. The SFWA Bulletin will be getting closer to publication. Rogue Satellite Comics also. All today. Should be a good day.
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Today’s link goes to a now-defunct online comic by Christopher Baldwin called Bruno. There are several years worth of archives here telling the story of a young woman (Bruno) and her journey through life looking for philosphical answers and psychological peace with self. Bruno reminds me of several folks I knew back in college days, which may be why I have such a soft spot for it even tho she sometimes descends into a maddening inability to make any real decisions about things.
But it’s a “thinking person’s” comic, and a bit different from the typical webcomic of today. There is some talented writing and artwork here, and while Baldwin has done a number of other comic projects since Bruno, this still remains my favorite of his. It’s worth checking out.
Cheers!
Filed under: Home ownership, Layouts, Uncategorized, Webcomics | |No Comments
It’s been a pretty good week for the Irish tunes. Sunday night was that real killer session at Ward’s Pub where everyone just clicked and got into the groove. Then last night was the first session at Patrick’s Pub at the new 7pm starting time. As is typical for a Patrick’s Pub session, the first half hour or so were basic tunes for beginner players–something that really helped me out a lot when I was starting, and then it progressed a bit up through some of the more intermediate standard tunes which is where I tend to sit at the moment. By the time I had to leave, the advanced tunes started rolling out as more advanced players arrived.
Something for everyone. And the crowd was very receptive the entire time. I like the earlier start time as it works better with my schedule. I think that was the point in that weeknight sessions can run kind of late for people who get up at 3:30 in the morning to start work. It’s also pretty close to me right now. I could take a bus there and back if I needed to. In a few months, after the Big Move, it won’t be so easy, but for now it works out pretty well.
Now I just need to learn some new tunes. Well, new to me. Old standards to most. One of these days I really need to get “Kid on the Mountain” down. It’s embarrassing that I don’t have this in my repertoire yet. Then again, it took me over a year to get “The Earl’s Chair” down. Weird how some tunes get blocked.
My bodhran playing is getting better. I’m even getting compliments on that…and if you know bodhran players–you know that’s a rare event.
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Character Kings by Scott Voison heads off to the printer this morning. I love seeing jobs head out the door. This is a particularly fun book of interviews with Hollywood faces you know–but might not recognize the names of. Tobin Bell, Ronny Cox, Jeffrey Combs, Keith David, Daniel Roebuck, and more. Trust me. You know these faces. It’s a fun book on acting and the acting biz.
The medical journal should be about ready to head out as well. I’l putting in the ads today and should have the okay for press in time for tomorrow morning. Then I can get started on the July issue. The Design Integrations book is nearly done. I just need to track down one of the authors for some updated photos. And there’s a new book called Lucky Stars that I recently finished the text layout on, and now have to get cracking on adjusting and placing over 100 photos.
Busy as the letter B if the letter B also had wings, a stinger, and made honey.
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In keeping with the first topic of Irish music sessions, today’s link goes to one I’ve put before you before: TheSession.org, a fine site for Irish session musicians featuring discussions, tips, tunes, and times and places for sessions all over the world. This really is one of the very best sites ever made for folk music–and it’s all user-created content. I’d love to see something like this for bluegrass players.
Anyway, check it out…whether beginner or advanced. You won’t regret it.
Cheers!
Filed under: Layouts, Music | |No Comments
Rumor has it… The cult-favorite TV childrens show from the 70s The Land of the Lost was a popular hit among Hollywood’s A-list. It was considered fashionable for certain stars to don a full-body Sleestak costume and make cameo appearances–usually under an assumed name. These included Roy Sheider, Mia Farrow, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, and on six different occasions–Dustin Hoffman.
Rumor has it… Quentin Tarantino’s break-out script for True Romance was originally set in Thailand and featured two brothers trying to make a difference in the lives of a group of Buddhist monks. It was Harvey Keitel who convinced him to alter the story to one about an American man and woman pulling a drug heist in Detroit.
Rumor has it… E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was originally just going to be titled E.T. It as during a preview screening at the White House that then-President Reagan suggested the full title because he didn’t understand the meaning of the initials and thought it too complicated for the American public.
Rumor has it… Disney’s Song of the South has not been permanently warehoused due to its racist content, but because of the five-minute nude scene toward the end.
Rumor has it… There have been five different attempts to bring the 2008 election story to the big screen. All failed before scripts could be completed due to the unbelievability of the plot and characters.
Rumor has it… In the movie Lawrence of Arabia there is not a single line spoken by a woman.
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Busy day. Busy week. Welcome to the tag end of a three-day weekend. Usually us self-employed types don’t take holidays off, but because I worked the last holiday, I decided to take this one off. We had a pretty decent weekend. On Sunday we visited the Westerly Virtu Art Festival. This is a yearly thing for us. We usually come home with some prints and this year was no diifferent (see link of the day). Lots of people out and about at Wilcox Park despite the occasional flashes of rain. That night I had a pretty killer evening at Ward’s Pub playing tunes. There were only three of us playing, but we had a fantastic crowd in attendance and we were all pretty much “on” that night. Yesterday we saw Margaret’s mother, and did some driving around. We had hoped to catch the Star Trek movie at the IMAX, but it’s no longer playing. Boo. Double-boo. Ah well. Maybe it’ll come back.
Good weekend. A mixture of activity and relaxation. And spent together. I can get behind that.
But now it’s time to get back to work.
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Today’s link takes you to the website of artist Greg Stones. This is the second year in a row we’ve bought works of his at the Virtu Art Festival. He does some finely surreal minimalist watercolors featuring penguins, zombies, flashers, UFOs, mermaids, robots, and more. Check his webpage out and check out his work. Prints are pretty cheap, as prints go. I recommend the collection Goodbye, Penguins. It’s a Very Special book.
Cheers!
Filed under: Blogosphere, Humor, Rumor, Writing | |No Comments
Ah…the Friday mailbag. Always something fun here. Fun…or disturbing. Aside from the usual note I receive each week (see 2nd entry), we have here an envelope coated in slightly damp dust with the logo of the Bleak Library of Bleak, Nebraska. The letter looks like it’s been torn in half, but it’s not hard to place the two pieces together and read its contents:
Dear Professor Throgapple,
We, the West Walnut Historical and Cribbage Society, are very excited about your upcoming lecture at our library concerning the history of the Bleak family and its subtle, but far-reaching influence into the politics of the day.
At last week’s gathering, a few of us members were gathered about the punch bowl discussing the Bleaks and were hoping that you might address a few specific questions that crop up from time to time. To whit:
1. Was Mary Bleak ever found following the events of The Night of Knives?
2. Where do Henry Bleak’s coded correspondences with President Harrison now reside?
3. How many children were officially born of Constance Bleak and how many officially reached maturity?
4. Is it true that all of the members in the infamous painting of Washington Crossing the Potomac (save General Washington himself) are members of the Bleak family? Was the infamous British colonel John “Frothing Dog” Bleak related to the colonial Bleaks?
5. PT Barnum once had on display in the sideshow the tattooed skin of Witherspoon Bleak. Where does it now reside?
6. Horace Bleak once leased office space in Redchapel, this much we know to be true. He was a former surgeon, a rabid mysogynist, and suffered from delusions. We know he was interviewed by the London police. What proof got him removed from the list of suspects as Jack the Ripper?
7. Genevieve Bleak had three sons all named Genevieve who named all their sons Genevieve. No Genevieve of any generation died of natural causes. Was this some kind of tax dodge, or were they trying to hide something in that certain branch of the family?
8. The naming and appearance of Charles Lindburg Bleak seems coincidental. It’s not really, is it?
You can tell us.
We look forward to your talk. Please remember that the light to the rear entry to the library flickers, and that the stone steps are a little loose. Use caution. And come alone.
Your servants,
The West Walnut Historical and Cribbage Society
Bleak, Nebraska
The Bleaks, are of course, well known. In short, the answers to the above questions are obviously (in no particular order): No, Yes, Falstaff, Seven, Both, a Feather, Kiev, and “depending on how you define the terms.”
This week we also received the usual rag-pressed paper with crimson ink. It seems things are finally afoot:
Dear sirs,
The hunt is on!
(You know what we mean.)
At last. At last. At last!
(unsigned)
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It’s been a good week. I love it when a week comes together and all my little projects remain on schedule. Without going into all the gory details as I do each day, suffice it to say that some items are indeed headaing to the printer. Others to authors. I have some correspondence to catch up on. Some loose ends to track down and tie up, but for the most part–it’s been a nicely productive week.
I’m going to devote some time today to make sure my TumbleTap projects are all in good order. They are, for the most part, but I need to work on some covers. And follow up on some other small details, all of which make up the devil–so to speak.
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Brian Gari had posted a photo on Facebook of him with some folks including Alison Arngrim, the actress who played Nellie Olsen on Little House On the Prairie. I had commented on the photo how neat I thought that was, as I had had a little crush on her when I was a kid. Something about those eyes, I think–because Nellie herself was a horror. Anyway. Imagine my surprise when I check my mail this morning and find that my comment made its way back to Ms. Arngrim who has added me as a friend on facebook.
How cool is that?
So today’s link is in her honor, it’s the The Official Alison Arngrim: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch - Nellie Olsen Website. It’s a very up-to-date webpage with all the latest news on Alison Arngrim’s appearances and activities. Plus there’s a pretty cool photo gallery.
Well worth checking out–especially if you had a secret crush on her too. (I know I wasn’t the only one.)
Cheers!
Filed under: Blogosphere, Letters, Writing | Arngrim, Nellie|No Comments
A few years ago I decided to stop the madness and stop feeling guilty for being a good old-fashioned Yankee liberal snob. During the dark Bush years, there was a national attitude that liberals who did such untrustworthy things as read and question authority were a blight on society. Too smart for their own good. Un-American. Rather than rise to intellectual challenge, the red staters preferred to drag you down to their level of ignorance and sloppy, sloganeering thought.
Then I caught on to the scam and embraced who I am. The problem wasn’t me. It was them.
Now I’m not saying there are no smart conservatives. There are, but precious few. It’s times like this when I miss George Will. Instead, the conservatives get represented by lunatics like Coulter and Limbaugh. Thank goodness for P.J. O’Rourke.
Sensing that they need change, the Republicans are looking for new strategies–in a ham-handed sort of way. Their most recent attempt is to adopt a radical stance against marriage. We’ve seen this already in their general opposition to gay marriage. It’s now been taken up a notch as RNC chairman Michael Steele announces that one of the many things they are looking at, as a political party, is to oppose gay marriage on economic grounds–claiming it would be a burden to small business as once-single employees will now be claiming spousal status in regards to joining family health plans on the companies dime.
What about all the current single “straight” employees who will be doing just that when they get married? I can only assume this means the Republicans view any marriage as a burden to small business. Maybe the Republicans don’t understand how most employee health plans work. When a spouse is added, the worker contribution goes way up. I’ve know some couples for whom one spouse’s job took such a chunk out of their own paycheck in order to cover their spouse for insurance–that the job was pretty much only because of said insurance. Worse if there were kids involved. Republicans may even want to consider that statistically, gay marriages will include fewer children in health plans, so would actually be a bit of a relief to small business–by their logic.
And it’s already been pointed out in some avenues that the RNC is overlooking the tremendous economic boon gay marriage would have in the economy via the wedding industry. As anyone reading this who has been married can attest–marriage costs money. Hall rentals. Formal wear. Honeymoons. Gifts. Catering. Invitations. Travel. Wedding rings. (All just to name a few.) Even a no-frills wedding still requires registration fees.
I, for one, am pleased with the RNC’s new strategy. It will only further isolate them as a political party mired in the past. If we are going to move forward as a society, we don’t need their muddy thinking to slow us down.
I was particularly amused by another statement made by RNC chairman Steele in which he talked about how the Republicans have to adopt a forward-looking attitude and not dwell in the past. then he immediately began invoking the spirit of Ronald Reagan–not only a past president, but one who himself was devoted to turning back the clock to “simpler” times. (Like the 50s with its racism, red scares, sexism, fear of nuclear annihilation, rampant spousal and child abuse, religious oppression, and such.)
Way to go, guys. Good luck with that.
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It’s been a pretty good week, production-wise. I’ve just finished a few tweaks to the Doris Day book and that will likely be heading to the printer by the end of the day or first thing tomorrow morning. The first draft of the Beverly Washburn book is just about complete. I expect I’ll be turning that in today as well. I have the edits in hand now for the Van Alexander book. And Character Kings will likely be heading to press soon as well. I have a couple of new books on deck.
It’s all moving forward. I like moving forward.
I just need to get some more writing done.
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Today’s link takes you to an interesting little blog by Ed Brayton called Dispatches From the Culture Wars: Thoughts From the Interface of Science, Religion, Law and Culture. I think Brayton has some Libertarian leanings, but I won’t hold that against him. His “dispatches” seem to be pretty fair across the board.
Filed under: Layouts, Writing | political, rant|No Comments
Good morning!
Okay, afternoon. And welcome to it.
I woke up later than usual this morning, and had a full day ahead of me, so rather than my usual routine of writing my journal entry in the morning, then attacking the day–I just jumped right into it.
I still prefer my usual schedule, but we spent part of yesterday larking about in a playground, so I guess my body decided that physical exertion of that sort means needing more sleep in one shot rather than my usual sleeping in two 3-hour shifts. Silly body.
But I got a lot of work done today. The Beverly Washburn book is nearly finished. I think the Doris Day book is going to be good to go to the printer this weekend. I’m checking files for an upcoming script book for Dracula’s Daughter, sent off a postcard file, and a few other chores. In addition I’ve packed four more boxes for our (hopefully) impending move to new digs next month. And did a few other household chores.
A full day. I still have to run some errands a little later. Run to the post office. Find more boxes for packing. Haul out some more trash. But I have my rewards. I’m slowly running through my Rumpole DVDs and have planned a quiet viewing of Neverwhere from the Netflix “Watch Now” program.
In other news, the new and revised editions of TumbleTap Presents: 2009 arrived from the printer yesterday, so I’ll be giving copies to the artists and writers in order to get the promotion ball rolling. I’m also working on some proposal packages for other graphic novel projects I’d like to acquire for the next print schedule.
So good, full days.
So I’m happy to report that. But I’m off to go make a cup of coffee and have a cigarette on the porch and reflect upon the day.
Then it’s back to work.
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Today’s link takes you to the official pages for the Scrubs TV show. Yeah… I admit it. I’m a big lame-o. But the show has really grown on me since it’s been appearing on Comedy Central after Colbert. I’m not saying I’m a fanatic or anything, but it’s a fun show.
Funny thing is…it used to annoy the crap out of me. I do think that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy more than two episodes in a row.
Anyway, if you’ve not checked out the show, or it annoyed you too. Maybe it’s all right to give it a look and see what you think now.
Cheers!
Filed under: Home ownership, Layouts, Publishing | |No Comments
Rumor has it… all plants descend from a single genetic template called snopsia originalus. There is no known fossil record of this “first plant” but every known genetic plant profile points to one common root. Paleo-botonists believe it resembled flowering bamboo.
Rumor has it… Common English language grammar rules forbidding the splitting of infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions originate in Latin grammar rules. 19th century grammarians decided that if it could not be done in Latin, it shouldn’t be done in English.
Rumor has it… early cultures boiled coffee beans to keep away household pests and to color clay. Coffee was once considered a mild poison.
Rumor has it… It is commonly rumored that Michael Jackson once bid on the skeleton of Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man. A 2007 New Yorker article revealed that Merrick’s right-hand ring finger is actually owned by filmmaker David Lynch.
Rumor has it… wristwatches were once exclusively worn by women. Wearing watches on one’s wrist did not become a common practice until 1900 after the success of synchronized operations by British soldiers equipped with wristwatches turned the tide of the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.
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Tuesday is here and we’re doing pretty well, schedule-wise. The latest medical journal proof is back with the editor. I have some long-awaited materials to finish up the Van Alexander book and the Character Kings book, so those will be going to press soon. I have some changes to do to the Doris Day back cover, but that book looks like it’s nearly done as well. The SFWA Bulletin is out on proof, but I expect I’ll be seeing some of that coming back this week. TumbleTap projects continue forward and will still see publication in time for the San Diego ComicCon. There are some other projects in the works as well. Poetry subs. Fiction subs. Some other of my own writing projects.
It’s good to be busy. Now if we can get the money rolling in…
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Today’s links go to a couple of recent posts I’ve made elsewhere in Internet 2.0. First up is my latest review column at Forces of Geek in which I review Kurt Vonnegut’s Armageddon In Retrospect and 40 Hour Man by Stephen Beaupre and Steve Lafler. Also up is my most recent entry at Charge of the Write Brigade in which I discuss the hazards of imitating other writers’ styles.
Check ‘em out.
Cheers!
Filed under: Humor, Layouts, Publishing, Reviews, Rumor | |No Comments
Quick entry today as it’s Monday and there’s a lot on my To Do list today…
We visited Margaret’s mother over the weekend, and along the way found ourselves at the cinema for the new Star Trek movie. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I’m an Original Series kind of dude, with DS-9 making a close second. As a ST:TOS fan, I admit I was a bit worried about the remake.
My mistake. Not a remake. A re-boot. And a very well done reboot at that. JJ Abrams managed to pull it off without negating or contradicting a single thing from the original series. I won’t say how. You either already know, or will find out when you see the movie yourself. But you fence-sitters who are afraid that the new Star Trek movie is going to piss all over your memories…trust me…it won’t.
My only two criticisms? A lot of fast, shaky camera movements which got a bit distracting…and annoying when you wanted to watch the action but didn’t have time to focus on exactly what was happening. And B.) no Klingons. I don’t count that as a spoiler. Just a warning. If you show up in your Klingon gear and start reciting the Klingon original play, Hamlet, you’ll be a little out of place.
But there is a lot of setup for future works. More movies? Maybe a shift to television? I’m sure there will be Klingons aplenty in due time.
Go see the movie. You won’t be disappointed.
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Lots of work. Little jobs where I’m tying up loose ends and getting projects ready to go off to the printer. Big jobs where I’m doing a bunch of photo layouts. Phone calls. Letters. Lots of stuff. A couple of writing projects due, too So I’m not hanging around here.
Time to crack the self-employment whip.
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Hell…while I’m gushing about the new Star Trek movie, have a link to StarTrek.com, the official Star Trek website.
So much Star Trek stuff here, you’ll plotz.
That’s Klingon meaning “to smile quietly to oneself.”
Cheers!
Filed under: Uncategorized | |No Comments
Welcome to this Friday’s mailbag.
First up is this undated letter which comes addressed to a Philip Kilkenny of Ohio. It arrived in a yellow business envelope with an uncanceled airmail stamp…
Dear Mr. Kilkelly,
We are pleased to report that your nephew has made some wonderful progress over the past few weeks. Through intense rounds of therapy, both group and one-on-one, he has come to accept that he is not Caesar, Napoleon, nor Lincoln. While still nervous and tense while in the presence of the color purple and hamsters, your nephew no longer suffers a catatonic state. His once too-frequent screams of “Is that you, Bailey?” in the middle of the night have reduced, instead, to quite Latin mumblings. Most importantly, the other patients have become more at ease in your nephew’s presence and no longer flee in tears.
All very positive changes, as I’m sure you’ll agree.
He does still refer to everyone as Betty, and he still blinks far too rapidly than one would deem healthy, but a consulting eye specialist assures us that it is not for physical reasons.
So obviously there is still some work ahead of us before we would feel confident in releasing your nephew back into the business world.
Actually, to be honest, we fear that the entire process may take a little longer than initially anticipated. Yes, there has been progress, but a few new quirks have appeared since your last visit to the sanitarium. Your nephew refuses to eat anything not stuffed into a sausage casing. Three times in the last week we have removed up to a dozen frogs from his bedding. And, perhaps most alarming, he has been asking to speak to the press.
In regards to your upcoming scheduled visit, we still recommend you arrived attired and made up, as last time, as Blind Pew from Treasure Island.
Our methods may seem unusual, but they eventually get results, so our two hundred-plus year history demonstrates.
Thank you, and we look forward to your visit.
Dr. Onan Gupta
Serenity Isle Sanitarium
Bermuda
Enclosed in the letter is a map of a beach with two trees circled in red. What one has to do with the other is a mystery.
This week there are two missives on rag paper with crimson ink. In what order they are to be read is unclear as neither have dates nor any other clues to indicate order of delivery.
First:
Dear sirs,
Under the black oak, a man swings above fresh mandrake root.
All is now well and the status quo has been restored.
(unsigned)
Next:
Dear sirs,
Henry (not his real name) claims to have seen the signal, but at the wrong window, in the wrong color, and at the wrong frequency. Normally we would not seek a clarification–instead interpreting this as no signal of any sort, but given recent events, confusions, misunderstandings, and other security concerns, we feel clarification of signals is in order.
Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, as it were.
We’ll appreciate your patience if you’ll appreciate ours.
The time grows near.
(unsigned)
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The old work schedule has a little bit of a hiccup this week as some deadlines got shifted around, but we’re achieving equilibrium of sorts and I should be able to finish up this week on decent footing. Three books have all had completed revisions turned in. We have a new cover for the Van Alexander book which, it has been revealed unto me, is cheerfully approved by the author. Today is going to be spent mostly on the SFWA Bulletin and working over some photos.
Project Big Move continues as I’ve scored some decent boxes from the local Petco and Walgreens. I’ve managed to keep up a daily purge of two extra large contractor bags a day of stuff we are not moving with. Not just trash, but stuff that has not been looked at or moved in over three years and that has no sentimental value. I’m pulling some old books aside to give to others.
Progress. It’s all a careful planning as I intend to make sure my work schedule remains uninterrupted during the move next month.
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Today’s link takes you to The Red Green Show page at CBC Television. Check out Harold’s photo gallery, some video clips from the 15th, final season, and schedules and links.
This is one of my most favorite shows ever. For those in the US, check out your local public television station listings. Or get the DVDs. You won’t be sorry.
Cheers!
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