- “This will end us.” Oh, Cooks Source, you say that like it’s a bad thing. (That you say it with many, many typos is just sort of amusing.)
Seriously, though, had there not been scores of examples of Cooks Source being a copyright-theft-for-profit publication, and had each “apology” from Monica Griggs not smacked of arrogance and shifting of blame, I might be sympathetic. I might chalk it up to an honest mistake, crossed wires in communication, overly tired people saying things they later regret. But Cooks Source‘s actions and attitudes speak for themselves.
- Far be it from me to badmouth a fledgling genre magazine, but…Sci-Fi Short Story Magazine launches with impressive art and no pay.
In theory, I wish them really well. But seriously? $11.99 for 34 pages (that’s about 35 cents a page!), plus a site heavy with ads, and you can’t pass along any of the money to the writers and artists? I give next to nothing at Kaleidotrope — I recognize that what I’m able to offer is only a token payment — but I think it’s still important to offer it. And Kaleidotrope, it should be noted, does not turn a profit. If you’re charging twelve bucks and hosting lots of ads, and you’re still not making any money, maybe it’s time to rethink your business model. And if you are making money, I feel you have an obligation to share some of that money with the people who provide you with content.
- Physician, heal thyself! A newly elected Maryland Republican, who campaigned strongly for repealing Obamacare, wonders why he can’t have his government-paid health care right away. [via]
- Which lends itself immediately to this question for the Democrats: when it’s increasingly clear that your opposition is a walking Onion headline, why do you keep insisting on caving into them? It’s hard to argue with the position that “every time Republicans are on the opposite side of an issue from the public, it’s the Democrats who cave and talk about ‘compromise.'” [via]
- And finally, the big news today is that the Beatles are finally on iTunes. As Rob says, “Hopefully now The Beatles will finally get the publicity and sales they deserve.”
Month: November 2010
Monday is Wednesday, yet still Monday
I’m taking a four-day weekend starting this Thursday, so I tried to convince myself that today was actually Wednesday. The real Wednesday will be my Friday, so it’s almost, kind of true, but I just couldn’t get over the fact that it was still Monday.
Lots of work to do, which is both good and bad, but I think I’m at a spot with this current project where it’s mostly good. Just a lot of things to wrangle, while also continuing to work on unrelated projects. I spent a large part of the day consolidating reviews, weighing the necessity of sharing some of the comments with the authors — that kind of thing. I’ll probably do more of the same, only different, tomorrow.
Which I think I might have a little more luck convincing myself is Thursday, but we’ll see.
Song of the day
A little change of pace, with Frank Sinatra and “Young at Heart.”
Monday various
- J. Michael Straczynski quits writing monthly comics, declares future is in original graphic novels. Warren Ellis discusses some of the figures, the actual dollar amounts that might be driving Straczynski’s decision. Financially, it may be a smart decision. But Ellis also adds, not unkindly, the following question:
What I’m wondering is what happens the first time Joe writes an OGN that isn’t a new iteration of the biggest heritage brand in comics [Superman] with the concomitant press coverage and bookstore push.
It’s an interesting move on Straczynski’s part, and it will bear watching — both in reader reception of his future projects, and whether or not other monthly comics writers join him. But I think it’s too soon to call this a harbinger of things to come, no matter how troubled the monthly comic book might be as a format.
- A Canadian Jersey Shore? Can I nominate Red Green to play the role of Snooki?
- Attention, writers: whatever you do, do not sign a contract with this man. No, not John Scalzi, but that “prevaricating hustler” and “master of bullshit” James Frey, who Scalzi talks about further here. Seriously, there are some pretty terrible publishing contracts out there, vanity presses dressed up like real publishers or outright scams from which no book emerges, but this is still pretty egregious — and exactly the sort of thing MFA programs should be teaching their students how to avoid, not facilitating by offering those students up as Frey’s misguided recruits. [via]
- A typographic anatomy lesson [via]
- And finally, a haunting tour of the abandoned — and soon to be demolished — Six Flags New Orleans [via]
Third Satur…okay, Sunday
Not an especially exciting day here today, despite the once again obscenely nice weather. It cooled down considerably this evening, but for most of the day it was no-jacket-required.
Beyond finishing the Sunday crossword — a cakewalk compared to, say, Thursday’s puzzle — I didn’t do a whole lot. I joined my friend Maurice for our weekly writing group, although we managed to spend several hours actively not writing, but instead talking. We talked about writing some, which has got to count for something, but we also talked about television and plagiarism and all sorts of fun topics.
And that’s really about it for today. I have a short week starting tomorrow, working just Monday through Wednesday, and then I have the same thing the week after thanks to Thanksgiving. After that, I will have to go back to my regular work schedule for several weeks…until the last two weeks of December, which I’m taking off in their entirety.
Next year, maybe I’ll use my vacation days to go somewhere. This year, they’re pretty much just getting turned into long weekends and an extended end-of-the-year break.