January 1, 2017. Sometimes we hear about people’s death so late that to pay tribute seems kind of insulting. But tribute should be paid. Rod MacDonald, a great friend to SF books and movies had muscular dystrophy and had to rely on vocal software to write. He died in the spring of 2016. I will … [Read more…]
January 1, 2017. LIFE IS NOT LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES! So a week or two ago, in the afternoon, I attended a CLE at PLI (continuing legal education at the practicing law institute) and on the way over I passed by the tourist restaurant Bubba-Gump Shrimp Co, and it occurred to me that life … [Read more…]
May 16, 2017. On Friday I got the news – scientists have determined that our universe has around two trillion galaxies. You know, a trillion here, a trillion there, as the fellow said, and pretty soon, you’re talking about a lot of galaxies…. This is really staggering news. Our own galaxy has at least 100 … [Read more…]
Recently, during a trip to Vermont, I visited the home of Robert Lincoln, the only one of Abraham Lincoln’s children who survived to adulthood. After some dawdling around, a bit of government service, some brooding (which involved, among other things, committing his not-insane mother to an insane asylum), he moved to Chicago to run the … [Read more…]
I’m not going to talk about politics here, and if you are a Trump supporter or a Clinton supporter, or a member of the Communist Youth League, or whatever, I hope you read my books and enjoy them and tell your friends. But presidential language is interesting! Years ago, when a reporter asked candidate Bill … [Read more…]
My TV stopped working for a day then mysteriously came back to life tonight. I took the opportunity to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow with the family. Even my kids loved it, and they hate everything I like, just as a rule. Seems to me this holds up better than it did … [Read more…]
I am a gentleman of a certain age (ok, I am 51) and so I remember McDonald’s as a wholesome treat of childhood. I remember going to McDonald’s with the Thompson twins or the Adler twins (two sets of twins who lived on my street in 1969 – and yes, they were indeed twins named … [Read more…]
Reprinted from the New York Herald-Tribune – June 15, 1936 Our older readers may remember Watt O’Hugh the Third as the hero of various dime novels that circulated back in the 1870s, battered copies of which were still passed around among our less discerning lads as late as the 1890s. His more enthusiastic fanatics may … [Read more…]
One of the reviews of “You, Me and the Apocalypse” noted that for an English coproduction, the creators showed a shocking disregard for the “Oxford comma.” Here in America, adding “You” to the un-comma’ed title “Me and the Apocalypse” requires a comma after “You” but does not result in a second comma being placed after … [Read more…]
When I am not writing my Book 3, or working my day job, I have taken it upon myself to read only “good” books and to watch only “good” movies. Now that I am very nearly 51 years old, it has occurred to me that I am unlikely to write seven “Watt O’Hugh” books (so … [Read more…]