Not Yet Overused in Urban Fantasy
These have been used (and perhaps overused) in other kinds of spec-fic. However, if they've been used in urban fantasy, they haven't reached the "Oh no -- not another ___ story!" level.
1. Once there was an evil race which terrorized the universe/multiverse. They were defeated, but:
a. A few survived on a planet they call Earth (Michael Shaara, "All the Way Back.")
b. They were imprisoned in a space with only three spatial dimensions (Colin Kapp, Transfinite Man.)
2. Organizations which can accurately predict the future compete with each other to shape it.
3. All the technology we think is science-based is really magical.
4. Devils are actually the Good Guys. William Blake seems to have believed this, at least part of the time. (Note: If you want believable characters, don't write William Blake into your story.)
5. After a catastrophe, the only people left alive are a man called Adam and a woman called Eve. This one was overused in science fiction by 1950, if not before; I suspect it's not very salable in any related genre.
6. Men and women belong to different species.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/22/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Sunday September 22, 2013 First day of Fall.
***From the New York Times:
Mexico, whose economic woes have pushed millions of people north, is increasingly becoming an immigrant destination. The country’s documented foreign-born population nearly doubled between 2000 and 2010, and officials now say the pace is accelerating as broad changes in the global economy create new dynamics of migration.
....
The shift with Mexico’s northern neighbor is especially stark. Americans now make up more than three-quarters of Mexico’s roughly one million documented foreigners, up from around two-thirds in 2000, leading to a historic milestone: more Americans have been added to the population of Mexico over the past few years than Mexicans have been added to the population of the United States, according to government data in both nations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/americas/for-migrants-new-land-of-opportunity-is-mexico.html?ref=business&_r=1&pagewanted=all&
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
NFL Week 3 Highlights: We bite into the first honey crisps of fall & our mouths fill with ash. No one has seen the moon for weeks.
bat020 @bat020
ever wondered what Proto-Indo-European sounded like? here's some recent attempts to reconstruct it: http://bit.ly/15jHQK1 // via @StanCarey
Retweeted by Moonbootica
Sunday September 22, 2013 First day of Fall.
***From the New York Times:
Mexico, whose economic woes have pushed millions of people north, is increasingly becoming an immigrant destination. The country’s documented foreign-born population nearly doubled between 2000 and 2010, and officials now say the pace is accelerating as broad changes in the global economy create new dynamics of migration.
....
The shift with Mexico’s northern neighbor is especially stark. Americans now make up more than three-quarters of Mexico’s roughly one million documented foreigners, up from around two-thirds in 2000, leading to a historic milestone: more Americans have been added to the population of Mexico over the past few years than Mexicans have been added to the population of the United States, according to government data in both nations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/americas/for-migrants-new-land-of-opportunity-is-mexico.html?ref=business&_r=1&pagewanted=all&
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
NFL Week 3 Highlights: We bite into the first honey crisps of fall & our mouths fill with ash. No one has seen the moon for weeks.
bat020 @bat020
ever wondered what Proto-Indo-European sounded like? here's some recent attempts to reconstruct it: http://bit.ly/15jHQK1 // via @StanCarey
Retweeted by Moonbootica
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/21/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Saturday September 21, 2013 Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers
"Ask the Astrophysicist
"Lucy Fortson has been a professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota since 2010. She studies galaxy evolution and is involved with Zooniverse, a project that lets regular people help scientists with large data sets. Come to ask her everything you ever wanted to know about outer space, but were afraid to ask!"
I had one question answered without having to ask it. The term "normal matter" (as distinguished from dark matter) seemed ripe for replacement, now that our kind of matter turns out to be a very small part of the universe. Turns out the current preferred term is "baryonic matter."
At one time, galaxies outside ours were called "island universes." If there's strong evidence that our universe is actually part of what's now called a multiverse, I expect there will be another change in terminology.
Cosmology is getting strange these days.
***Bought vitamin A at the Wedge Coop.
Years ago, I realized I need large amounts of vitamin A and at least some of the B vitamins. I could get what I needed from liver -- but I can't eat liver every day.
***Mnstf meeting at Scott and Irene Raun's. Enjoyed.
Saturday September 21, 2013 Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers
"Ask the Astrophysicist
"Lucy Fortson has been a professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota since 2010. She studies galaxy evolution and is involved with Zooniverse, a project that lets regular people help scientists with large data sets. Come to ask her everything you ever wanted to know about outer space, but were afraid to ask!"
I had one question answered without having to ask it. The term "normal matter" (as distinguished from dark matter) seemed ripe for replacement, now that our kind of matter turns out to be a very small part of the universe. Turns out the current preferred term is "baryonic matter."
At one time, galaxies outside ours were called "island universes." If there's strong evidence that our universe is actually part of what's now called a multiverse, I expect there will be another change in terminology.
Cosmology is getting strange these days.
***Bought vitamin A at the Wedge Coop.
Years ago, I realized I need large amounts of vitamin A and at least some of the B vitamins. I could get what I needed from liver -- but I can't eat liver every day.
***Mnstf meeting at Scott and Irene Raun's. Enjoyed.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/18/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Wednesday September 18, 2013 Citation: Padhraig Higgins. Review of David Ryan, _Blasphemers &
Blackguards: The Irish Hellfire Clubs_. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews.
September, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=39955
***From Twitter:
Tablet Magazine @tabletmag
Germany's Bauer Media Group to stop publishing pro-Nazi pulp mag 'Der Landser' http://po.st/c7NgNQ @simonwiesenthal #goodnews
Retweeted by Lillian Cohen-Moore
GuardianUS @GuardianUS
Science! That's the latest tool to help you pick women up: http://trib.al/bhTr7vg
Not entirely serious, as this excerpt from the article might suggest:
The skinner
Named for the discoverer of operant conditioning, this potentially-sinister-sounding technique involves providing a reward whenever a woman you find attractive displays positive behaviour towards you. This will cause her to associate this behaviour with reward, and engage in it more often, thus increasing her favourable actions toward you.
Typically, the reward you use should be a pleasant foodstuff such as sweets or chocolate. However, you shouldn't make your actions too obvious, or any positive association could be neutralised by suspicion or doubt. To prevent this, you should visibly provide these positive rewards to others. Ideally, do this with children, to demonstrate your willingness to engage with infants and triggering further positive associations with you via the female caring instinct. You will need to keep a large supply of rewards on your person, so a large coat with many pockets is advised.
It's well known that if there's one thing women can't resist, it's a man in a long coat offering sweets to children he doesn't know.
***From Google Plus:
http://flowingdata.com/2013/09/18/dialect-quiz-shows-where-others-talk-like-you-do/
***From Facebook:
http://www.damninteresting.com/retired/the-great-taste-of-human-flesh-without-the-guilt/
Wednesday September 18, 2013 Citation: Padhraig Higgins. Review of David Ryan, _Blasphemers &
Blackguards: The Irish Hellfire Clubs_. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews.
September, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=39955
***From Twitter:
Tablet Magazine @tabletmag
Germany's Bauer Media Group to stop publishing pro-Nazi pulp mag 'Der Landser' http://po.st/c7NgNQ @simonwiesenthal #goodnews
Retweeted by Lillian Cohen-Moore
GuardianUS @GuardianUS
Science! That's the latest tool to help you pick women up: http://trib.al/bhTr7vg
Not entirely serious, as this excerpt from the article might suggest:
The skinner
Named for the discoverer of operant conditioning, this potentially-sinister-sounding technique involves providing a reward whenever a woman you find attractive displays positive behaviour towards you. This will cause her to associate this behaviour with reward, and engage in it more often, thus increasing her favourable actions toward you.
Typically, the reward you use should be a pleasant foodstuff such as sweets or chocolate. However, you shouldn't make your actions too obvious, or any positive association could be neutralised by suspicion or doubt. To prevent this, you should visibly provide these positive rewards to others. Ideally, do this with children, to demonstrate your willingness to engage with infants and triggering further positive associations with you via the female caring instinct. You will need to keep a large supply of rewards on your person, so a large coat with many pockets is advised.
It's well known that if there's one thing women can't resist, it's a man in a long coat offering sweets to children he doesn't know.
***From Google Plus:
http://flowingdata.com/2013/09/18/dialect-quiz-shows-where-others-talk-like-you-do/
***From Facebook:
http://www.damninteresting.com/retired/the-great-taste-of-human-flesh-without-the-guilt/
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/17/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Tuesday September 17, 2013 "Minnesota is the only place where you can have four seasons a week."
Fall weather today. Summer weather predicted for tomorrow.
Met with my Adult Children Anonymous sponsor/fellow traveler.
***Via Sean A. Day on Facebook:
Continuing our Four Questions With Maria Ivanova talk on synesthesia with Sean A. Day, PhD, President of the American Synesthesia Association, let’s take a special look at the differences between congenital and drug-induced synesthesia.
http://welcometomentalward.tumblr.com/post/61487342874/synesthesia-congenital-vs-drug-induced
My personal experience: I have synesthesia only when I'm not high. (Or did.)
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
Ah, the first snow of summer. The first lava flow of fall. The first plague of winter. The first gentle bite in the darkness of spring.
Tuesday September 17, 2013 "Minnesota is the only place where you can have four seasons a week."
Fall weather today. Summer weather predicted for tomorrow.
Met with my Adult Children Anonymous sponsor/fellow traveler.
***Via Sean A. Day on Facebook:
Continuing our Four Questions With Maria Ivanova talk on synesthesia with Sean A. Day, PhD, President of the American Synesthesia Association, let’s take a special look at the differences between congenital and drug-induced synesthesia.
http://welcometomentalward.tumblr.com/post/61487342874/synesthesia-congenital-vs-drug-induced
My personal experience: I have synesthesia only when I'm not high. (Or did.)
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
Ah, the first snow of summer. The first lava flow of fall. The first plague of winter. The first gentle bite in the darkness of spring.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/16/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Monday September 16, 2013 Hometown news. (Sort of; I grew up between Kerhonkson and Accord.) From the Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston NY):
Kerhonkson Synagogue wins listing on historic registersGodzilla, Warrior Princess 9/13/13-9/14/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Published: Sunday, September 15, 2013
....
"The Kerhonkson Synagogue’s spiritual leader, Sally Shore-Wittenberg, known to the congregation as 'Reb Sally,' said there indeed is something special about the building.
.....
"The Kerhonkson Synagogue, which is not affiliated with a denomination, just marked the Jewish High Holy Days and drew about 60 people to the Rosh Hashana service alone."
When I was growing up in the 1950s, there wouldn't have been a female rabbi. And if I recall correctly, back then it was officially an Orthodox synagogue.
***"Afshordi and his colleagues [suggest that] our three-dimensional (3D) Universe is a membrane, or brane, that floats through a ‘bulk universe’ that has four spatial dimensions.
"Ashfordi's team realized that if the bulk universe contained its own four-dimensional (4D) stars, some of them could collapse, forming 4D black holes in the same way that massive stars in our Universe do: they explode as supernovae, violently ejecting their outer layers, while their inner layers collapse into a black hole."
http://io9.com/was-our-universe-created-by-a-four-dimensional-black-ho-1320660418
Where did the parent universe come from? Perhaps from a black hole in a universe with five spatial dimensions. Which might have come from.... "It's black holes all the way down."
***From Google Plus:
"What would a sane human being be like?"
Tyler Tork replied 9/15/13
If I meet one I'll let you know.
From Facebook:
Matthew B. Tepper replied
Fred Rogers?
***Via Twitter:
"By 2010 personal transportation devices will be all the rage and electric shoes with built-in roller-skates will be gaining much of the attention. After nine years of heavy media coverage, the Segway Human Transporter will begin to gain serious market share.
"By 2015 traditional gas-powered autos will start to decline with electric automobiles and hybrids taking up most of the slack.
"By 2020 we will see an industry being built up around self-illuminating highways – highways that glow in the dark. 'Glow Roads' will dramatically change the night-time aesthetics of major cities and will be shown to improve driving safety at night and reduce the need for streetlights.
"By 2025 a first attempt at launching the space elevator will fail, setting the industry back a decade."
"The flying car era will really begin around 2015 with flying drones."
http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2008/05/2050-and-the-future-of-transportation/
An older prediction: Over cities....the aerial sentry or policeman will be found. A thousand aeroplanes flying to the opera must be kept in line and each allowed to alight upon the roof of the auditorium in its proper turn. Waldemar Kaempfert (Managing Editor of Scientific American and author of The New Art of Flying), "Aircraft and the Future," Outlook, June 28, 1913. P. 240, Christopher Cerf & Victor Navasky, The Experts Speak.
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
If you weren't able to get tickets to the sold out Night Vale SF show, simply build a time machine out of parts around the home & try again.
Monday September 16, 2013 Hometown news. (Sort of; I grew up between Kerhonkson and Accord.) From the Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston NY):
Kerhonkson Synagogue wins listing on historic registersGodzilla, Warrior Princess 9/13/13-9/14/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Published: Sunday, September 15, 2013
....
"The Kerhonkson Synagogue’s spiritual leader, Sally Shore-Wittenberg, known to the congregation as 'Reb Sally,' said there indeed is something special about the building.
.....
"The Kerhonkson Synagogue, which is not affiliated with a denomination, just marked the Jewish High Holy Days and drew about 60 people to the Rosh Hashana service alone."
When I was growing up in the 1950s, there wouldn't have been a female rabbi. And if I recall correctly, back then it was officially an Orthodox synagogue.
***"Afshordi and his colleagues [suggest that] our three-dimensional (3D) Universe is a membrane, or brane, that floats through a ‘bulk universe’ that has four spatial dimensions.
"Ashfordi's team realized that if the bulk universe contained its own four-dimensional (4D) stars, some of them could collapse, forming 4D black holes in the same way that massive stars in our Universe do: they explode as supernovae, violently ejecting their outer layers, while their inner layers collapse into a black hole."
http://io9.com/was-our-universe-created-by-a-four-dimensional-black-ho-1320660418
Where did the parent universe come from? Perhaps from a black hole in a universe with five spatial dimensions. Which might have come from.... "It's black holes all the way down."
***From Google Plus:
"What would a sane human being be like?"
Tyler Tork replied 9/15/13
If I meet one I'll let you know.
From Facebook:
Matthew B. Tepper replied
Fred Rogers?
***Via Twitter:
"By 2010 personal transportation devices will be all the rage and electric shoes with built-in roller-skates will be gaining much of the attention. After nine years of heavy media coverage, the Segway Human Transporter will begin to gain serious market share.
"By 2015 traditional gas-powered autos will start to decline with electric automobiles and hybrids taking up most of the slack.
"By 2020 we will see an industry being built up around self-illuminating highways – highways that glow in the dark. 'Glow Roads' will dramatically change the night-time aesthetics of major cities and will be shown to improve driving safety at night and reduce the need for streetlights.
"By 2025 a first attempt at launching the space elevator will fail, setting the industry back a decade."
"The flying car era will really begin around 2015 with flying drones."
http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2008/05/2050-and-the-future-of-transportation/
An older prediction: Over cities....the aerial sentry or policeman will be found. A thousand aeroplanes flying to the opera must be kept in line and each allowed to alight upon the roof of the auditorium in its proper turn. Waldemar Kaempfert (Managing Editor of Scientific American and author of The New Art of Flying), "Aircraft and the Future," Outlook, June 28, 1913. P. 240, Christopher Cerf & Victor Navasky, The Experts Speak.
***From Twitter:
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
If you weren't able to get tickets to the sold out Night Vale SF show, simply build a time machine out of parts around the home & try again.
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/15/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Sunday September 15, 2013 Temperatures low enough that I wore a long-sleeved shirt. And for parts of the day, a sweater.
***Como Cookout at Van Cleve Park. Among the children's events was a quidditch match (not completely authentic.)
I didn't stay long. Headed for the Lake Harriet Bandshell, where the Minnesota Orchestra's musicians were giving a concert.
The musicians have been locked out for eleven months. Management thought it would be reasonable for them to take a 25 percent pay cut, and agree to a few other cost-saving measures.
The Orchestra spent a whole lot of money on its new auditorium, and ended up in poor financial shape.
A few years back, the Minneapolis library system replaced its central library with a new one -- and ended up broke. Hennepin County Libraries took them over. However, there isn't a Hennepin County Orchestra.
Music: Something by Weber, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.
There were five people I knew in the audience, and I'd recently met one member of the orchestra. There were also a number of dogs, one of whom joined in the applause at the end. I did not know any of the dogs.
Sunday September 15, 2013 Temperatures low enough that I wore a long-sleeved shirt. And for parts of the day, a sweater.
***Como Cookout at Van Cleve Park. Among the children's events was a quidditch match (not completely authentic.)
I didn't stay long. Headed for the Lake Harriet Bandshell, where the Minnesota Orchestra's musicians were giving a concert.
The musicians have been locked out for eleven months. Management thought it would be reasonable for them to take a 25 percent pay cut, and agree to a few other cost-saving measures.
The Orchestra spent a whole lot of money on its new auditorium, and ended up in poor financial shape.
A few years back, the Minneapolis library system replaced its central library with a new one -- and ended up broke. Hennepin County Libraries took them over. However, there isn't a Hennepin County Orchestra.
Music: Something by Weber, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.
There were five people I knew in the audience, and I'd recently met one member of the orchestra. There were also a number of dogs, one of whom joined in the applause at the end. I did not know any of the dogs.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/13/13-9/14/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Friday September 13, 2013. From Joel Berson, on the American Dialect Society mailing list:
"Custom • Wedding • Repair • Classes"
"Sign on a shop in Belmont, Mass., called 'Karenna Maraj Jewelry Collection'. (The advertised services must be a sideline.)"
Saturday September 14, 2013 seawasp (seawasp) replied to your LiveJournal post...in which you said:
> What would a sane human being be like?
Their reply was:
Like ME, obviously.
***From Twitter:
Lynn(e) Schmidt @LynneSchmidt
'I promise to bail you out of jail, help you hide a body, and take care of our pets' #FutureWeddingVows
Retweeted by Lillian Cohen-Moore
***From Facebook:
Sal Towse shared Dinty W Moore's status update.
Dinty W Moore
“If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered.” ~ Stephen King
Friday September 13, 2013. From Joel Berson, on the American Dialect Society mailing list:
"Custom • Wedding • Repair • Classes"
"Sign on a shop in Belmont, Mass., called 'Karenna Maraj Jewelry Collection'. (The advertised services must be a sideline.)"
Saturday September 14, 2013 seawasp (seawasp) replied to your LiveJournal post...in which you said:
> What would a sane human being be like?
Their reply was:
Like ME, obviously.
***From Twitter:
Lynn(e) Schmidt @LynneSchmidt
'I promise to bail you out of jail, help you hide a body, and take care of our pets' #FutureWeddingVows
Retweeted by Lillian Cohen-Moore
***From Facebook:
Sal Towse shared Dinty W Moore's status update.
Dinty W Moore
“If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered.” ~ Stephen King
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/11/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Wednesday September 11, 2013 9/11 anniversary
Seen: Motorcyclist with sweatshirt saying "GOD'S DEMONS."
***To Waite House, for NAPS food and produce distribution.
Got my number for the produce distribution. Then went to this month's presentation, on teen sex.
The produce included generous amounts of vine-on tomatoes.
Picked up the NAPS food. Set out what I was unlikely to use for other people to take.
Shopped at the Wedge Coop.
***From Twitter:
Gregory Koger @GregoryKoger
From a book of Senate precedents: "Milk While Speaking: Senate rules do not prohibit a Senator from sipping milk during his speech."
Retweeted by The Monkey Cage
PLOS ONE @PLOSONE
Were Rivers Flowing across the Sahara During the Last Interglacial? Implications for Human Migration through Africa http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074834 …
Retweeted by Adam Van Arsdale
Wednesday September 11, 2013 9/11 anniversary
Seen: Motorcyclist with sweatshirt saying "GOD'S DEMONS."
***To Waite House, for NAPS food and produce distribution.
Got my number for the produce distribution. Then went to this month's presentation, on teen sex.
The produce included generous amounts of vine-on tomatoes.
Picked up the NAPS food. Set out what I was unlikely to use for other people to take.
Shopped at the Wedge Coop.
***From Twitter:
Gregory Koger @GregoryKoger
From a book of Senate precedents: "Milk While Speaking: Senate rules do not prohibit a Senator from sipping milk during his speech."
Retweeted by The Monkey Cage
PLOS ONE @PLOSONE
Were Rivers Flowing across the Sahara During the Last Interglacial? Implications for Human Migration through Africa http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074834 …
Retweeted by Adam Van Arsdale
Godzilla, Warrior Princess 9/10/13 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. 612-298-2354
Tuesday September 10, 2013 "Harry is using this magic for good," 18-year-old Brynne Larson explains in video posted by the Daily Mail on Monday. "So here we have the dangerous idea that you can use this magic for good or bad. When in reality, all magic is bad ’cause you’re getting your power from Satan."
Larson and friends Tess and Savannah Scherkenback will be profiled in a BBC special on Friday discussing both their longtime friendship and their training by Larson’s father, Rev. Bob Larson, who claims to have performed 15,000 exorcisms. The BBC reported that Bob Larson asks for donations of $200 for each exorcism.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/09/young-arizona-exorcists-set-out-to-save-england-from-harry-potter/
***From Twitter:
Community Progress @CProgressNews
"#Detroit has an opportunity, 20, 30 yrs from now, to really be a leader in food production." @DETFutureCity #rvp2013
Retweeted by Next City
R.L. Ripples @TweetsofOld
George Kimmel's mother insists that the man claiming to be her son is an impostor hired by the insurance company. IL1912
Kas Thomas @kasthomas
"Trust us, we can add up to 10,000 twitter followerz for you today !! " -- actually tweeted just now by someone who has 1151 followers
***At Southeast Library, picked up two books being held. The Lonely Planet Guide to Canada was sort of okay. Austenland by Shannon Hale looks more promising.
Tuesday September 10, 2013 "Harry is using this magic for good," 18-year-old Brynne Larson explains in video posted by the Daily Mail on Monday. "So here we have the dangerous idea that you can use this magic for good or bad. When in reality, all magic is bad ’cause you’re getting your power from Satan."
Larson and friends Tess and Savannah Scherkenback will be profiled in a BBC special on Friday discussing both their longtime friendship and their training by Larson’s father, Rev. Bob Larson, who claims to have performed 15,000 exorcisms. The BBC reported that Bob Larson asks for donations of $200 for each exorcism.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/09/young-arizona-exorcists-set-out-to-save-england-from-harry-potter/
***From Twitter:
Community Progress @CProgressNews
"#Detroit has an opportunity, 20, 30 yrs from now, to really be a leader in food production." @DETFutureCity #rvp2013
Retweeted by Next City
R.L. Ripples @TweetsofOld
George Kimmel's mother insists that the man claiming to be her son is an impostor hired by the insurance company. IL1912
Kas Thomas @kasthomas
"Trust us, we can add up to 10,000 twitter followerz for you today !! " -- actually tweeted just now by someone who has 1151 followers
***At Southeast Library, picked up two books being held. The Lonely Planet Guide to Canada was sort of okay. Austenland by Shannon Hale looks more promising.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Saturday September 7, 2013 New York Times online, Real Estate section: If you want a relatively cheap home in New York City, Manhattan is not the best place to look.
If this is news to you, and you're a fiction writer, I recommend against setting stories in NYC.
***From Twitter:
Techmeme Heds @nottechmeme
This Startup, The Plorker Of Grillerps, Gets $6B To Be Your Fuzznuckle
Retweeted by Christopher Mims
Disalmanac @Disalmanac
Today in 1921, the first Miss America pageant was held. Women were not yet allowed to participate, so the winner was William Howard Taft.
***Mnstf meeting at Linda Lounsbury's.
Books, floppy disks, and a few other things being given away. I took a two-volume work: Common Legal Principles, published in 1929.
American law has undergone a few changes since then.
"The well known general doctrine of the common law is that when a wrong is committed against the person of the wife during coverture, as by beating her, slandering her reputation, or by malicious prosecution, she cannot sue alone."
"The general rule of the common law is that the husband is liable for the torts of the wife. When the tort or crime is committed by the wife alone, and without the presence or direction of her husband she may be held liable, civilly and criminally. In such cases, the civil action must be against both the husband and wife."
There was a proposed Constitutional amendment authorizing Congress to make laws concerning child labor. It failed; and it remained unconstitutional for Congress to pass such laws. Until the Supreme Court ruled it wasn't against the Constitution.
Probably not changed: The illustrative case I found most interesting concerned a district attorney who felt he'd been unfairly dumped from his position. The Massachusetts supreme court's ruling included juicy details of a blackmail scheme. The court considered this reasonable grounds for firing.
If this is news to you, and you're a fiction writer, I recommend against setting stories in NYC.
***From Twitter:
Techmeme Heds @nottechmeme
This Startup, The Plorker Of Grillerps, Gets $6B To Be Your Fuzznuckle
Retweeted by Christopher Mims
Disalmanac @Disalmanac
Today in 1921, the first Miss America pageant was held. Women were not yet allowed to participate, so the winner was William Howard Taft.
***Mnstf meeting at Linda Lounsbury's.
Books, floppy disks, and a few other things being given away. I took a two-volume work: Common Legal Principles, published in 1929.
American law has undergone a few changes since then.
"The well known general doctrine of the common law is that when a wrong is committed against the person of the wife during coverture, as by beating her, slandering her reputation, or by malicious prosecution, she cannot sue alone."
"The general rule of the common law is that the husband is liable for the torts of the wife. When the tort or crime is committed by the wife alone, and without the presence or direction of her husband she may be held liable, civilly and criminally. In such cases, the civil action must be against both the husband and wife."
There was a proposed Constitutional amendment authorizing Congress to make laws concerning child labor. It failed; and it remained unconstitutional for Congress to pass such laws. Until the Supreme Court ruled it wasn't against the Constitution.
Probably not changed: The illustrative case I found most interesting concerned a district attorney who felt he'd been unfairly dumped from his position. The Massachusetts supreme court's ruling included juicy details of a blackmail scheme. The court considered this reasonable grounds for firing.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Monday September 2, 2013 Labor Day
I've been looking through the stuff thrown out by U of M students moving out. Today, got into conversation with a woman from outside the neighborhood. The stuff she didn't want to keep, she would donate for her church's sale.
I asked what church that was.
"Holy Cable."
Not a very traditional name for a church, I observed.
"It's not a very traditional church."
***The lone contrivance in my first book, “Faces of the Gone,” was that I had the protagonist dating the city editor, a hot brunette — and any journalist could tell you there has never been a hot city editor, male or female, in newspaper history.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/my-filthy-secret/?ref=opinion&_r=0
Tuesday September 2, 2013 Idea: Rural American werewolves known to their neighbors, and more or less getting along with them. If they didn't attack humans or domestic animals, people wouldn't be too concerned about them hunting game.
They wouldn't be entirely respectable, of course.
***The Minnesota Daily (U of M student paper) is being published again. I wish it was actually published daily, all year around. I consider it a better paper than the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press; and it's a good source of news about the area where I now live.
***Shopped at the Wedge Coop.
***From Twitter:
Dan Goodman @dsgood
"Before you go to 1957, you should research the 50s." "They had computers. I'll just google what I need when I'm there." #TemporalTuesday
Next City @NextCityOrg
New on Forefront: #Gentrification reaches NYC's projects. http://bit.ly/17Iv9hq (Subscribe at 15% off. Code: BACK2SCHOOL)
R.L. Ripples @TweetsofOld
An Ohio judge has ruled that a pretzel is not a dangerous weapon. IA1910
[When pretzels are outlawed, only outlaws will have pretzels.]
Tim O'Reilly @timoreilly
RT @beccarosen: Could the unique pattern of your heartbeat replace your passwords? http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/your-heartbeat-the-ultimate-in-password-protection/279296/ … (via @mearabai)
I've been looking through the stuff thrown out by U of M students moving out. Today, got into conversation with a woman from outside the neighborhood. The stuff she didn't want to keep, she would donate for her church's sale.
I asked what church that was.
"Holy Cable."
Not a very traditional name for a church, I observed.
"It's not a very traditional church."
***The lone contrivance in my first book, “Faces of the Gone,” was that I had the protagonist dating the city editor, a hot brunette — and any journalist could tell you there has never been a hot city editor, male or female, in newspaper history.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/my-filthy-secret/?ref=opinion&_r=0
Tuesday September 2, 2013 Idea: Rural American werewolves known to their neighbors, and more or less getting along with them. If they didn't attack humans or domestic animals, people wouldn't be too concerned about them hunting game.
They wouldn't be entirely respectable, of course.
***The Minnesota Daily (U of M student paper) is being published again. I wish it was actually published daily, all year around. I consider it a better paper than the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press; and it's a good source of news about the area where I now live.
***Shopped at the Wedge Coop.
***From Twitter:
Dan Goodman @dsgood
"Before you go to 1957, you should research the 50s." "They had computers. I'll just google what I need when I'm there." #TemporalTuesday
Next City @NextCityOrg
New on Forefront: #Gentrification reaches NYC's projects. http://bit.ly/17Iv9hq (Subscribe at 15% off. Code: BACK2SCHOOL)
R.L. Ripples @TweetsofOld
An Ohio judge has ruled that a pretzel is not a dangerous weapon. IA1910
[When pretzels are outlawed, only outlaws will have pretzels.]
Tim O'Reilly @timoreilly
RT @beccarosen: Could the unique pattern of your heartbeat replace your passwords? http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/your-heartbeat-the-ultimate-in-password-protection/279296/ … (via @mearabai)
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