Order of the PenTriagon is the first of two books about the peaceful aftermath of an alien presence on earth, two youngins damaged by the vaccine deployed worldwide to combat the disease the aliens brought with them, and a prophecy of a future warrior to battle said aliens (I think I got all of that … Book Review: Order of the PenTriagon by Jill Domschot
That title says “Static Index Page” in Spanish, in honor of it being the Day of the Dead, of Jill getting her blog back up, and of me starting to read her new book. She often posts Mexican music and language, and is Catholic, so it seems like all of these things are related. The … Página de Índice Estático
From the article “Tech Workers Rebel Against a Lame-Ass Internet by Bringing Back ‘Geocities-Style’ Webrings“: Take Linvega’s LowTech WebRing as an example. A given site connects to two other sites, which connect to two more sites, forming a closed-loop: a ring. Users tout the format as something more like wandering through a neighborhood, reinfusing cyberspace … Decentralize Your Internet
Here’s a bunch of photos of the haul from my friend Chris Francz, my half of the book trade we did. I wrote for his zine, Crucial Times, a while back, and I’ve always liked his art and writing. His Etsy store is here. I’ve only skimmed these for now, but I’ll dive into these … Photos: Chris Francz Books
I left this comment on a recent post over at Jill’s blog: I have a theory* that we’re not really designed to hold opinions on large-scale events and the players involved. It has nothing to do with level of intelligence, it’s really a curse of information technology (starting with the telegraph) combined with our natural … It’s Entertainment All the Way Down
The Minäverse is free on Kindle (for now) Internet friend and fellow author Jill Domschot put up her newest book on Amazon for free, until April 10. Also, my two books are always free over at Smashwords, but go get you some Minäverse first. Predator Helicopter Scene – Long Tall Sally It’s a movie, sure, … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 33
I had a different post scheduled, but this matter is heavily time sensitive. Jill’s The Minäverse is on sale now on Amazon for 99¢, until the end of July. A few facts: 1. The HTML entity for the cents symbol is ¢. 2. I had to Google whether the cent symbol came before or after … The Minäverse On Sale for 99 Cents
I hate writing book reviews, but this one may prove to be useful, and perhaps important, in the future. The last time I read The Minäverse, I compared it favorably to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This was a mistake, not because neither were favorable, but because it bears little to Hitchhiker’s except for … Book Review: The Minäverse by Jill Domschot
I think Jill took it down (or it takes itself down after a while), but she mentioned me in one of her Periscope broadcasts. Thank ye! Top 10 Science Fiction Films of All Time Pretty good list. I personally would take Contact out—I like the movie but the tropey characterizations were almost unwatchable—and Prestige, since … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 23
Jill has decided to serialize her new book, The Minäverse, and you can read the first chapter here. Jill was kind enough to send me an ARC* and it’s definitely a good ‘un if you like absurdist sci-fi, a la Douglas Adams and that other author of that one book I can’t recall right now. … The Minäverse by Jill Domschot
Shut Up About ‘Whitewashing’ in Ghost in the Shell 2017 Good idea, since “cultural appropriation” is usually a one-way criticism. I didn’t like the idea of Motoko played by an Anglo actress for different reasons, but the narrator makes a decent case against it. A related video. A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 20
Stop Saying “Whilst” “Stop Crying” subreddit – That link doesn’t go anywhere because the subreddit doesn’t exist. Someone needs to start it, though, kind of like the “I Am Very Smart” or “Le Wrong Generation” subreddits, to highlight all the people who comment on Facebook images or Youtube videos of overtly sentimental subject matter with … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 19
This stuff can be hard to write this kind of subtlety. There’s few who can pull it off well. Bradbury was one of them, as is Jill Domschot. Scott Adams went overboard in a fine way, in this regard; you could tell he was trying to drive the jokes home with an elephant gun. Forster … E.M. Forster’s Humor
Feminism As Mental Illness – Jill throws down a gauntlet. And another one Reviewing Darkness 03 – Ed throws down a gauntlet, too: “So no one should be surprised if we suggest that the major flaw with Western Christian religion in all its forms is the insistence on subjecting faith to human reason.” The Christian … Links of Possible Relevance, Part 16
I don’t pay attention to literary awards, so the Hugos are off my radar unless someone I listen to already sends a signal through. Hence, Jill on the 2016 Short Story winner, “Cat Pictures Please,” about a self-aware search engine that tries to help people with their problems: See, the AI helps people by meddling … Zero Cat Pictures, Please
I finally got around to reading Jill Domschot’s The Jaybird’s Nest and other stories (disclaimer: Jill is an Internet acquaintance of mine and has been my editor in the past). The seems ordinary but the stories are not: they are mostly absurdist sci-fi and fantasy, and there’s plenty of humor, mostly subtle or satirical, in … Book Review: The Jaybird’s Nest and other stories
Jill asked me in a comment to describe my ideal state. I obliged: You know, I don’t think anyone has asked me that directly. I don’t know what the ideal state is, but it probably isn’t a state. I can’t really decide for other people under what rulership they should be living–deciding for other people … The Ideal State
The Ghost Box is Mike Duran’s third full novel, about Reagan Moon, a journalist of the paranormal who gets caught up, to put it mildly, in some otherwordly happenings in SoCal. I don’t dabble too much in modern science fiction or paranormal (see below), so I can only really competently comment on Moon’s first person … Book Review: The Ghost Box
I am currently on the first draft stage of Retardo Montalbán, and I have onboarded Jill Domschot as the semi-formal editor of the project. We have a verbal agreement for services and payment, where I will remite payment at the end of her editing duties. So this public post carries with it the accountability factor—mostly … An Update on the Works In Progress
Jill’s post about the simpy interpretation of this survey of the hierarchy of values among religious people gave me agita—not anything Jill said but the fact that a self-styled smartypants can’t process the inapplication of the simplicity of surveys*. This is a roundabout way of saying people and their belief systems are too complex for … The Paradox of Obedience