Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 181 entries, all of them here in full.
December 31, 2013 · 962 words
Reviews in the Nick of Time: American Hustle
Just check out the star power in American Hustle: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Brad Cooper, and an uncredited Robert de Niro. Holy cripes! And let’s just say that it wasn’t a second-rate script that attracted all these megawatt actors. It was the chance to fucking act! And ac
Read entry →December 28, 2013 · 721 words
True Tale of Christmas Terror!
You know, when I was small, there were two things that really scared me. One was the threat of nuclear war, and the other was . . . Christmas trees. I’d like to think that the fear of nuclear war is self-explanatory. I was raised with air-raid drills and little public-service films, shown to us by […]
Read entry →December 25, 2013 · 56 words
Sentimental
It’s the time of year when, full of tamales, posole, and eggnog, I tend to get a little sentimental. So here’s a sentimental holiday video for you all. By which I mean to say: Happy birthday, Shane MacGowan! And a tip of the hat to you, Jimmy McNulty, wherever you are . . .
Read entry →December 24, 2013 · 114 words
Mad Clown
I’ve been occupied with holiday-type stuff over the last week, visiting with friends who’ve come to town, etc., and I haven’t been doing much posting. (Well, actually, none.) So in lieu of the clever essay I intended to write, please enjoy this photo of an anemone fish, or clownfish, defending its home. These little gu
Read entry →December 18, 2013 · 705 words
Reviews in the Nick of Time: The Everlastion of Smaug
This afternoon I saw the second Hobbit movie, the second of three based on a modestly-sized children’s book by JRR Tolkien. Not surprisingly, there is middle-of-the-trilogy syndrome. The first part set up the characters and situation, and all will be resolved in the third movie; the middle begins no place in particular
Read entry →December 16, 2013 · 117 words
Nag Your Friends Day
It’s Nag Your Friends Day— if, that is, y0u have any friends who would benefit from attending Taos Toolbox, next year’s master class for science fiction and fantasy. During its six years, Taos Toolbox has generated no less than six Hugo nominations for its graduates. We don’t promise you a Hugo award if you atten
Read entry →December 10, 2013 · 959 words
Reviews Too Late: This and That
Flying twice across the Pacific, I had little to do but watch movies and eat peanuts. So I saw a lot of movies, many of them last summer’s blockbusters. These are the ones I remember. Red2: A by-the-numbers action film, with none of the wit and spark of the original. The heroes chase plot coupons for […]
Read entry →December 9, 2013 · 53 words
Hippocampus Denise
This— the brighter red thing— is a pygmy seahorse, Hippicampus denise, hiding on a piece of fan coral. The seahorse is very well camouflaged, as you might gather. It’s also less than a centimeter long, which makes it rather hard to find. I have not yet met Denise, after whom it was named.
Read entry →December 7, 2013 · 50 words
The Last Great Hero
Nelson Mandela, the last of my great heroes, has passed away. There’s little I can do to add to the long list of Mandela tributes pouring forth from across the world, save to add this: he led his country through profound revolutionary change, and he did it without a bloodbath.
Read entry →December 6, 2013 · 727 words
God and Mammon
More notes from my trip to Indonesia, demonstrating I hope that I was actually paying attention to more than just the fish. Indonesia has more Muslims than any country in the world, but the part of Northeast Sulawesi I visited was strongly Christian, something I hadn’t known until I got there. Even the smaller villages
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