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 attend, but […]

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 […]

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.

This was the scene that awaited me this morning.  A very quiet, pleasant snowfall that lasted into the afternoon, after which it all began to melt. This is building into a big storm, though, so if you live in Texas or parts of the midwest, you might be on the alert for something less tranquil […]