Plain Banter

Thomas M. Disch 1940-2008

Wed, 9 Jul 08 16:48:00 UT

Thomas M. Disch killed himself this past weekend. Way back in my NYU days, I took a science fiction course, and Disch was a guest speaker. Samuel L. Delaney was another. Disch wrote Camp Concentration, which was one of the books we studied in that college course, and I liked it quite a bit. Oddly enough, he also wrote The Brave Little Toaster. Horror novels and volumes of poetry, too. I remember he was pretty gruff and off-putting in his presentation to the class, and he certainly didn't inspire me to become a science fiction writer. That came a lot later. But he was a good writer whose work I enjoyed, and one of the first writers I've met in person. It's all grist for the mill, so I owe him a debt of gratitude.

Farewell, Mr. Disch.

WALL-E

Sat, 28 Jun 08 20:39:00 UT

Certainly appropriate for a blog of this sort, I saw the Pixar movie WALL-E today. It's more science fictional than most SF pictures, actually. Another winner from Pixar, who have yet to release a dud. I suppose I don't need to give a plot summary, as you can find that in all the usual movie review sites. But to add my two cents, I recommend this movie for adults and older kids. The very youngest kids, who you might expect to be the natural audience for cartoons may not really understand the SF conventions and post-apocalypse dystopia that's the setting for the first half of the movie. I pity the dad who sat in the row ahead of me with his two kids. They weren't getting it and kept asking if could they go home, and when would it be over? But all you older kids will love it.

One thing of note about this one: the movie almost looks photo-realistic for the first half, and you can easily forget that you're watching animation. But later in the movie, when some cartoonish-looking humans appear, it became more obvious it's animation. The robots look more real than the people in this world. But go see it. I'm already thinking that this movie will be a front-runner for next year's Nebula Awards. In fact, I think I'll put in a recommendation for it now.

Algis Budrys, 1931 - 2008

Tue, 10 Jun 08 19:46:00 UT

Algis Budrys died yesterday. He was a great writer and a good man. I knew him because he taught the Writers Of The Future workshop that I attended some 13 years ago. But I read and enjoyed his writing long before I met him.

It's sad, but I went to the much-lauded public library in my city today to see what books they had by Budrys. I was surprised to see that they had none in the entire systemwide catalog. None. How ephemeral is science fiction that none of the works of a writer of this stature have survived the annual shelf purges at an otherwise good library?

Perhaps my generation is the last that will read this stuff.

The Astronaut

Sun, 25 May 08 22:08:00 UT

Earlier this month, my short story "The Astronaut" from the May 2007 issue of Analog won that magazine's annual readers' poll, the Analytical Laboratory or "AnLab" awards, for best short story of 2007. This is the third time I've won the award. The other winning stories were "Lavender In Love" (2003) and "Already In Heaven (1997).

As if that's not enough, I've also learned that "The Astronaut" has received enough recommendations to put it on the preliminary ballot for next year's Nebula awards.

It makes me think I ought to be spending more time in the chair writing.

In The Sci-Fi World Of Tomorrow, No One Will Be Sick

Wed, 12 Mar 08 20:31:00 UT

I've been sick this week. Nothing terminal, just a bad cold. Not only am I not confined to bed, but I'm still working at my day job. My employer requires happy worker bees like me to carry company-owned laptops home every day, so we can keep grinding away 24x7, even if the office burns to the ground. And that means there are no sick days any more. There are, instead, WFH days. Work From Home.

Welcome to the future.

Farewell For A Friend

Tue, 4 Mar 08 20:34:00 UT

The Rumor Mill at Speculations is closed down. That was a popular online place where lots of genre fiction writers used to hang out and trade info. It's been a while since I posted anything there, but I used to check it out in lurk mode regularly.

There are plenty of other forums where the writers gather, and I'll see many of the denizens of the Rumor Mill elsewhere, but it still feels like I've lost a friend.

The Bandwidth Blues

Mon, 25 Feb 08 07:10:00 UT

My cable TV & Internet provider is test marketing a scheme to penalize customers who use lots of internet bandwidth. Of course, their high speed internet access is billed as an "all you can eat" unlimited plan, so there ought to be nothing at all wrong if a customer wants to max out his connection 24x7. That should be the cable company's problem to provide the service that they sold and their customers are paying for. And it's none of their business if a customer is just reading the occasional email or downloading massive torrent files of movies and music. That's what "unlimited" means.

But the cable company doesn't see it that way. The underlying problem is bandwidth. Cable TV customers, in most cases, are still using the same copper coaxial cable that's been in use for the past 30 years. But in that time, added to the old analog cable TV signal, the cable companies now sell digital TV, high definition programming, multiple music-only "cable radio" channels, high-speed (sometimes) internet access, and digital phone service. The cable companies haven't upgraded the cable, and they've overloaded it with more and more services.

Now that they've hit the wall on bandwidth, instead of biting the bullet and upgrading the cable (maybe to fiber optic?) they point the finger back at the customer, claiming that some users are being selfish for making full use of the service they are paying for. And it's those damned internet users that are the problem, not the people with big new flat panel TVs who want more bandwidth-hogging high definition programming. You see, the high def business is a newer service that the cable folks are milking for more cash, while the folks who download their movies through their internet connections are bypassing the newest toll. So the internet folks must be bad and need to be punished.

The cable company hasn't imposed the download quota on my market yet. I may have to switch to DSL when they do. I'm already paying them way too much, and if they tell me I'm too selfish and must pay more, that would just be too much to take. As it is, my internet access has periods where the service goes out, and some TV channels get choppy on a regular basis. The cable folks have been in the house multiple times, changing wires and such, but it doesn't help. What they won't admit is that they don't have the capacity to reliably deliver what they sell. And that sounds like fraud to me.

Little Jokes Writers Play

Sat, 23 Feb 08 20:40:00 UT

I just saw the movie Vantage Point. It was OK, but I think I caught a little joke inserted by the scriptwriter. The movie presents the same set of events from several different viewpoints, with each retelling starting with a clock rewinding to 12:00. Halfway through the movie, I whispered to my wife, "This reminds me of Groundhog Day. So the little joke is that later in the movie, at a fairly crucial point, one character says to another, "I got you." That ought to ring a bell if you know Groundhog Day. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'd rather believe it was a little in-joke. Cracked me up, but I may have been the only one in that crowded theater making the connection.

The Sleeper Wakes

Fri, 22 Feb 08 08:38:00 UT

Just woke up from a, um, prolonged sleep. Man what a party last night! But why are my hair and fingernails so long? Jeez, I look like crap, even more than usual. What day is it? Click on that clock on the corner of my computer screen. February 22? It was October last night, dammit. 2008? What happened to 2006 and 2007? I'll have to start combing the internet to catch up on all the great stuff I must have missed in the past few years. I'm so jealous of you all. I'll bet it's been some Golden Age or something like that, right?

Did they invent my flying car, yet?

T-h-e V-e-r-y S-l-o-w B-l-o-g

Wed, 26 Oct 05 15:08:00 UT

Yeah, this one.

It's a pretty sorry blog when there's only one or two posts a month. Oh, there's been some news (Rich Horton recommended two of my stories in his year end summary; a Russian magazine, Esli, wants to buy reprint rights to a story and translate it) but I'm just losing interest in the blog. I started this thing in January 2004, and I just noticed that it's been about a year since I stopped doing my monthly articles for the website, supposedly to spend more time doing the blog. Well, I've been doing neither lately, so maybe it's time for a change.

I think I'll pull the plug on the blog for now. Just like a lot of the failing markets I submit stories to, I'm going on a "hiatus." Before I do, let me see if I can find an easy way to grab the old posts and comments to archive them somewhere. Maybe I'll start writing the monthly articles again (although I'm not promising anything yet). I might restart the blog at some later time (but don't hold your breath). Or, I might just cook up some new dumb stunt to keep myself (and maybe you) amused.

Wow, time to blow the dust off this website...

Another half glass, please...

Wed, 14 Sep 05 21:14:00 UT

Over on the Asimov's forum, Gardner Dozois mentioned my Analog story, "In The Loop," as one of the better stories of the year so far. Well, after someone prompting, that is. Gardner's initial list included no stories from Analog until someone (not me, I swear) prompted, "Nothing from Analog?" Gardner then added my story and a few others. It's fairly well known that he's not a big fan of Analog, so I suppose it's a bit of an honor that he's even familiar with my story.

Same old story

Wed, 17 Aug 05 14:20:00 UT

My usual market sent me another "semi-acceptance" for a story. Yes, they like it and want to buy it, but they're all bought up now and need to work off some inventory before buying this story. They say I'm free to shop it around, but please let them know ASAP if I sell it elsewhere before they get back to me.

I've heard this one before. Several times. And this market does always get back to me and buy the story a few months down the line, so I suppose I should be happy -- it's practically a sale. Eventually.

I suppose if I were a bigger name, or the story a knock-your-socks-off must-have, that they'd buy it outright, instead of giving me the opportunity of shopping it around elsewhere. So, are they telling me they don't think I'll be able to sell it elsewhere, and aren't afraid of losing the story to another market? Or that it's no big deal if this one slips away? Neither one of these speculations is much of an ego-boost for me.

Should I wait for the first market or try it elsewhere? A lot of markets take three months or more for a reply, and if the first market comes back with a contract in two months, I'd have to tell the second market that I'm pulling the story because another magazine is buying it. This is a terrible thing to do -- editors don't want their time wasted, and usually expect that they are the only one looking at a particular story. Pulling a story could very likely rule out that second market and editor for any future sales.

I could try the story on one of the markets that I know has a fast turnaround time. I'd get a response from them before the first place gets back to me. But this particular story is somewhat of a sequel to a story that appeared in the first market, so it really ought to be there, where more of the readers will recognize the main character.

What to do?

English 101

Mon, 1 Aug 05 20:24:00 UT

While exploring a used bookstore this past weekend, I came across a collection of college English textbooks. It occured to me that my Hodges' Harbrace College Handbook, 7th ed. is the only text that I still have from my college days. And I still use it.

English grammar and usage doesn't change much from year to year, but it does change a little, and it's been a lot of years since I took my freshman English class. They're up to the 15th edition of my Harbrace Handbook now. Of course, if nothing changed, they wouldn't need to keep updating it, right? Well, actually, the frequent revisions to expensive college texts are a scam, to keep students buying new copies instead of recycling last year's edition, but that's another story.

So, I should be able to toss out my Harbrace Handbook now, right? Somehow, the red book has some sentimental baggage attached to it. I have plenty of grammer guides (New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style & Usage, Words Into Type, Elements Of Style) but this is the one I think of as my grammar book. Sigh. I'll have to keep both.

Throw another book on the pile.

New, Blue Cheer!

Wed, 13 Jul 05 22:04:00 UT

Same old laundry detergent, but in a spiffy new box.

OK, so we're calling the blog Plain Banter now instead of Brain Planet Days. Plain Banter was the name I had been using for my monthly essays, when I was still doing that, but since starting the blog I haven't done too many of the longer essays. Plain Banter is one of my favorite anagrams and it was sort of going to waste, so now it's the name of the blog. Which means I'll have to go change the name on all my web pages to point to Essays instead of the old Plain Banter name.

I also added an RSS link to the top of the blog page. If that doesn't mean anything to you, feel free to ignore it. It's a way to add these blog entries to news aggregators (like, say, your MyYahoo page) so you can tell when something is added to the blog without having to keep checking the blog site. If you are into RSS, that link is a 2.0 RSS feed. There are a bunch of different feeds you can grab at:

http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/rss/2.0/
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/rss.xml (another 2.0 feed)
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/index.xml (another 2.0 feed)
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/rss/1.0/
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/rdf.xml (another 1.0 feed)
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/index.rdf (another 1.0 feed)
http://www.journalscape.com/brainplanet/rss/0.91/

And I also changed the blog to a slightly different layout and a new color scheme, just to emphasize that it's All New and Improved! I'm sure you're suitably impressed.

It's not about the money

Sun, 3 Jul 05 15:10:00 UT

I saw some of the Live8 concerts yesterday on VH1 & MTV. The performances were a mixed bag but the TV coverage was abysmal. First off, while there were multiple concerts going off simultaneously in different cities, MTV and VH1 just showed the same feed. It could have been a good opportunity to cover the event better (like MTV covering the Philladelphia concert and letting VH1 doing London).

Worst of all was the direction: the coverage would break away in the middle of songs, have moronic hosts chatting about what act was on stage behind them instead of showing the performance, and endless commercials (but it's not about the money, we were constantly reminded). The most anticipated act on the bill was the reunified Pink Floyd, but they cut away during the solo in "Comfortably Numb." Stevie Wonder got no respect -- they cut away in the middle of one of his live songs to replay a bit of the Destiny's Child performance from hours earlier in the day!

It was so systematically bad that I can only speculate that they purposely sabotaged the broadcast so that people taping and using Tivo would have a bad recording -- so they can sell a DVD of the event at some later date. But it's not about the money.

OK, now here's the big question -- can the Live8 concerts have any real effect on the G8 conference, like Bob Geldof is hoping? Did George Bush channel-surf, stop on MTV and see the concert and say to himself, "Holy shit, Pink Floyd is back together -- we better forgive all that African debt!"