Category Archives: sff

Napping in the Bookroom

Posted on June 3, 2023 by JE

Reuben Sandwich (PhD, DND, CBD, etc.) takes a brief respite from researching heroic fantasy.

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Don’t Put an Otch in My Nadder!

Posted on April 29, 2023 by JE

Apparently English notch arises from a word-division error due to the English movable n: it wasn’t originally a notch, it was an otch (cf. French oche “a notch”). So says the AHD and the tyrant OED. This is analogous to … Continue reading →

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Pointing Toward the End

Posted on April 29, 2023 by JE

Wearing my grading face (which strongly resembles Mung making the Sign of Mung).

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Further, Deponent Sayeth Not

Posted on April 2, 2023 by JE

The joke, such as it is, doesn’t really come off in English. But the Latin means something like “‘I am Spoke/I have spoke<n>,’ spoke Spoke.” Live long and prosper, Spoke.

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Sharp Dialogue

Posted on March 31, 2023 by JE

I was watching an old video where John Sharp, the British actor appeared. I always think of him as the outstandingly creepy Number Two in the Prisoner episode “Change of Mind”. Then I wondered if the actor’s name had anything … Continue reading →

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Rocktrek Files

Posted on March 8, 2023 by JE

Some people say that Everything Is Star Trek. Some people say not. Some aren’t sure. But the evidence speaks for itself. In the upper left panel we see the Incredible Salt Vampire threatening Lt. Uhura in the guise of a … Continue reading →

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Swords Against Smog: SWORDS IN THE MIST by Fritz Leiber

Posted on March 5, 2023 by JE

In summary: This late-60s collection includes what many consider to be the two best stories about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, as well as the earliest complete story about the Mighty Twain. As such it’s essential reading for the sword-and-sorcery … Continue reading →

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More Morlock

Posted on March 2, 2023 by JE

I made a couple of sales in February: “The Venomous Sands of Amas Lamaar” to Tales from the Magician’s Skull (slated for issue 13) and “Evil Honey” to Old Moon Quarterly (slated for issue 3).

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The Tedium of Infinity

Posted on February 24, 2023 by JE

Maybe the suits at Marvel should have read Niven’s “All the Myriad Ways” before going all-in on the Multiverse. It’s not as if you can’t make a good movie with the concept (e.g. INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE), but it does have … Continue reading →

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Invasion of the Stochastic Parrots

Posted on February 20, 2023 by JE

Apparently enough fatheads were taken in by the chatbot hype this winter to flood electronic submission portals with chatbot-written fiction. At last there’s an option for the person who’s too dumb or lazy to read but who thinks they can … Continue reading →

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