Bugs and Homer in a Dead Heat

...and Colin Powell edges out God, in the write-in results from Duval County, Florida. Read on (all mistakes in original):

234 HILARY CLINTON
174 RON PAUL
23 NONE OF THE ABOVE
23 JESUS
21 MIKE HUCKABEE
14 MITT ROMNEY
8 COLIN POWELL
6 GOD
6 LEFT BLANK
5 UNDECIDED
4 AL GORE
4 BISHOP V.M. MCLAUGHLEN
4 FRED THOMPSON
4 OBAMA
4 RUDY GIULLIANI
4 STEVEN COLBERT
3 DONALD DUCK
3 DONALD FOY
3 MICKEY MOUSE
3 T. BOONE PICKENS
2 BILL COSBY
2 BILL McMILLON
2 BILL NYE
2 CHUCK NORRIS
2 CONDOLEEZA RICE
2 FRANK HARDEN
2 FRANKLIN GRAHAM
2 LOU DOBBS
2 PAGO POSSUM
2 SARAH PALIN
2 SEANATOR BROWNBACK
2 GARY BENZENBERG
2 GEORGE W BUSH
2 JOHN EDWARDS
2 LEE GODDARD
2 TIM TEBOW
Among those getting a single vote: Abstain, Against All, Alfred E. Newman, Bill Clinton, Bill O'Riely, Bill Richardson, Bobby Bowden, Bugs Bunny, May the best man win, Me, Morgan Freeman, Mr. Bill, Newt Gingwrich, None (Anarchy), Oprah, Pat Buchannan, Ralph Nader, Hilary Bush, Homer Simpson, Jay Plotkin, Jimmy Carter, Joe the Plumber, John Doe, Lieberman, Theodore Roosevelt, They Both Suck '08, Tiger Woods, Tommy Chong, Truman, Weird Al Yancovic, William Crosby and Willie Nelson.

(from WJXT in Jacksonville, via Ben Smith's Politico blog)

Web 2.0 SF Magazines?

A discussion is beginning at SF Signal on this topic. The original idea, from Jay Garmon, is here. Interesting ideas being batted around. Clearly something has to happen to the magazines. Now I'm wondering if I could pitch stories on my own site, or this blog, and start collecting moolah? Hmmmm. If only. The subscription model wasn't unusual in the 19th century; I know Tom Sawyer was sold on that basis at first, at least in the US, and I think Dickens went that route as well (?).

Apotheosis of the Headline Writer

This Newsweek article about urban chicken farming (there's a phrase you don't see every day) must have been the best thing that ever happened to whoever came up with the title "The New Coop de Ville."

In other news, Baghdad is building a subway and SF magazines are (still) having a hard time. (Subscribe! Subscribe!)

100 Sentences About the City of the Future: A Jeremiad

That's the name of a story I just sold to the perspicacious editorial tandem behind Postscripts, Pete Crowther and Nick Gevers. Feels good to be writing short stories again.

Breaking: SF Not Dying, Again

Or so the New Scientist would have us believe. Interesting comments at the end from "leading science fiction authors," among whom is listed Margaret Atwood. Maybe now the fen who still have a grudge about her saying thirty years ago that she wasn't a science fiction writer will let it go. Stan Robinson's comments are particularly worth noticing, especially in light of Charlie Stross's recent polemic about near-future SF.

Believe It or Not, I'm Walking on Air

This is just about too horribly good to be true. From the muchly enjoyable Hero Complex blog at the LA Times: "'Greatest American Hero' flies again? Believe it or not, yes"

Barack Obama, Nerd

At least judging by this list of fifty facts, from the Telegraph. I mean, Conan comics? Awesome.

But Do They Have Fiber-Optic Sea Sponges?

Hubble does it again: First direct image of extrasolar planets. I know you've seen this already, but I can't help myself:



And this one is equally awesome:



From Space.com.

Forbidden Planet International Interview (and Don't Forget the Contest!)

A Q&A I did with FPI's estimable Joe Gordon is now up on their website: "Alex Irvine Talks Us Through Our Case of Vertigo." It ranges over a number of topics, including the Vertigopedia and Daredevil Noir. And remember to enter the contest, linked below:

This Is the Kind of Thing that Keeps SF Writers Humble

Sea sponges that have evolved fiber optics. Who needs aliens?

In other news, Barack Obama's victory improves US chances to host the 2018 World Cup. Is there anything this guy can't do?

PW reviews the Vertigopedia

Peter Sanderson takes a look:

Here I must engage in full disclosure: I have done freelance work on several of DK’s books about comics, as well as comics encyclopedias for other publishers. So I know how monumental a task researching such books can be, and salute The Vertigo Encyclopedia’s author Alex Irvine, who, oddly, is credited on the cover but not on the book’s title page.

At least in the past, DK’s guides to comics characters like Batman and the X-Men were officially part of its Children’s Books division. The Vertigo Encyclopedia is most definitely not for kids: leafing through the book, I came across not only the F-word, but also an example of full frontal nudity and a reference to “pansexuality.” Irvine also takes a more sophisticated approach to the material, listing the credits of Vertigo creators, outlining major storylines, and even pointing out literary themes.

There's more, and Sanderson also reviews Robert Greenberger's Essential Batman Encyclopedia (which I have, and think is excellent).

Today's Dose of Nerdgasm

A flying car! Really!

But What If You're a Novelist *and* an Academic?

It's hard enough to offer a useful explanation of a book someone else wrote. Now, according to the Telegraph, I can't even explain myself, since apparently academic research doesn't measure up to fiction when it comes to addressing the intractable issues of the world. What am I to do? A provocative quote, from one Tom Clougherty of the Adam Smith Institute:

"There's a problem. Fiction works by appealing to people's emotions, not their intellect or rationality."

Hm. I had no idea this was true. I always thought the best fiction could appeal to both emotion and intellect. Many thanks to Clougherty for the clarification.

Literary Map of Maine, Sort of: A Rant

The Portland Press Herald's Literary Map of Maine is a pretty cool place to spend a few minutes. Sure would be nice if it included some contemporary writers who don't write autobiographical stuff about how hard it is to grow up in Maine. Also would be nice if it included writers who live in Maine but don't necessarily write about it. Not just me, either;* the woods up here are crawling with writers, but there seems to be some idea (at least on the Press Herald's part, or the part of the people who consulted on the construction of the map) that if you're not writing about lobstering or the history of Aroostook County, you're not Maine enough to be in Maine. Perhaps I am in Maine but not of Maine.

Also, how does Edwin Arlington Robinson not make the list? Winner of the first Pulitzer Prize in poetry, the Bard of Gardiner doesn't get on the map but...never mind. To name names would be churlish.

And what about Janwillem van de Wetering, who also set a few of his later books in Maine? But the list includes...never mind. Churlish.

Elaine Ford? Richard Ford? Heidi Julavits? Lew Robinson? John Crowley? Annie Proulx? Bern Porter? Nicholson Baker? Gerry Boyle? Betsy Sholl? et al.

You might look at the Waterboro Public Library's Maine Writers Index for a real sense of just how rich literary culture is up here Down East. (But they don't have me in their index, either. So the joke's on me in the end...even so, I have ranted, and feel better.)

*The Press Herald hates me because I used to write for the Phoenix and would mention it when they did things that were embarrassing to themselves and the profession of journalism.**

**I am half-joking.

This I Gotta See

If it ever happens, that is. A movie version of Midnight's Children? With Rushdie involved? Deepa Mehta (here talking to Vulture about this and other projects), don't let me down.

Flights of Martians Sing Thee to Thy Rest

Phoenix has keeled over due to lack of sunlight in the Martian arctic. Bummer. By spring, it will apparently be encased in a block of dry ice. Vale, most excellent lander!

Daredevil Noir Pages!

On Daredevil Noir

I said in a couple of interviews that it would debut in January, but I lied. It's actually going to be April.

Vertigopedia Contest at Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is having a contest to win copies of the Vertigopedia. Enter, why don't you?

Dixville Notch!

One of my favorite quirks of American politics is that this little burg gets its results in first. After a long stretch of backing the Republican (at least since the '80s), the Notch comes in for Obamanaia: 15-6, Our Savior* over McNasty.**

* This term used with what I hope will be recognizably maximal irony.

** The nickname borrowed not for purposes of the campaign, but from McCain's fellow students at the Naval Academy. Look it up.

Things That Make You Go 'Huh'

Why White Supremacists Support Barack Obama, from Esquire.

Whatever happens in this election, a whole lot of people are going to end up having had conversations they never thought they'd have.