QUOTE OF THE DAY (courtesy some girl)

In the London Guardian, retired General William Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, characterized the tension between the Bush administration and the senior military officers over Iraqi as worse than any he has ever seen with any previous government, including Vietnam. "I've never seen it so bad between the office of the secretary of defense and the military. There's a significant majority believing this is a disaster. The two parties whose interests have been advanced have been the Iranians and al-Qaida. Bin Laden could argue with some cogency that our going into Iraq was the equivalent of the Germans in Stalingrad. They defeated themselves by pouring more in there. Tragic."

SAN FRANCISCO!!!!!!
Sunday, September 19th at 4 PM. Mick Farren reading and signing KINDLING at Borderlands Books, 866 Valencia Street (at 19th.) 888 893 4008 (see Tuesday’s post)

QUOTES OF THE DAY, BOTH FROM THE LOVELY MAUREEN DOWD (sigh)
The Democratic paranoia is a measure of the intimidation the West Wing is wielding in a race where John Kerry can't seem to take advantage of any of the Bush administration's increasingly calamitous blunders. The administration has been so dazzling in misleading the public with audacious, mendacious malarkey that the Democrats fear the Bushies are capable of any level of deceit. Iraq is a vision of hell, and the Republicans act as if it's a model kitchen. The president and vice president brag about liberating Iraqis and reassure us that they are stopping terrorist violence at its source and inspiring democracy in the region by bringing it to blood-drenched Iraq.

Unlike the president, the young men and women trying to stay alive in the unraveling chaos of Iraq can't count on their daddies to get them out of the line of fire.

SOUND OF OWN HORN BLOWING
Exceeding fab review of Kindling in the Journal of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society.
http://www.netaxs.com/~hlazar/sf.htm

MO’ LINKS, AYE?
Fightin’ radical librarians
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64945,00.html

George Bush's United States is clearly in a proto-fascist condition. http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=17771&mode=nested&order=0
The Al Qaeda franchise
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6884.htm

Hurricane Ivan
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64952,00.html
Zippy the Pinhead
www.zippythepinhead.com

THIS JUST IN
The state of California has outlawed necrophilia, which I guess puts a new spin on the phrase "drop dead gorgeous."

SQUIRMING LIKE A TOAD
Today my TV seems burdened down by Bush spokesclones telling me that the only thing wrong with the war in Iraq is the negative reporting of a irresponsible free press. Seems like I heard the same shit in 1969, except Nixon’s VPSpiro Agnew had a neater line in alliteration – "nattering nabobs of negativism" – and, of course, The Doors were playing in the background. Think I’ll go and put on Strange Days.

CRYPTIQUE – Nothing giant killer robots wouldn’t cure.

GABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABA
Johnny Ramone RIP
GABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABAGABA

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SAN FRANCISCO

Sunday, September 19th at 4 PM. Mick Farren reading and signing KINDLING at Borderlands Books, 866 Valencia Street in San Francisco (at 19th.) 888 893 4008
(see below)

FOUND OBJECT


Jezebel


Which bad girl of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

OUR GLORIOUS LEADER CONTINUES TO SCREW THE POOCH
Key U.S. general criticizes Fallujah attack – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5983400/

Also a few folks have questioned the Caligula ref in a recent post about Oprah’s car giveaway. I was thinking of how, during the classic "bread and circuses" phase of Rome's decline, it was common to hurl free stuff to the mob to keep them quiet.

Q -- If Bush made his horse a senator would anyone notice?

I HEARD THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY...
So Martha Stewart wants to serve her time right now so she can be out before the spring crocuses bloom, and do the bit in Danbury, Conn so she can be close to home. Like the Fonz used to say, "whoa!"

CRYPTIQUE – From the perspective of the rats and albino alligators, the road we travel is only the roof of a sewer.

SAN FRANCISCO!!!!!!

Sunday, September 19th at 4 PM. Mick Farren reading and signing KINDLING at Borderlands Books, 866 Valencia Street (at 19th.) 888 893 4008

"In his long and interesting career, Mick Farren has been a journalist, poet, author (23 novels and 11 works of non-fiction -- including four on Elvis!), and a founding member of the band The Deviants. His works include the cult sci-fi classic DNA COWBOYS TRILOGY, and the vampire saga THE RENQUIST QUARTET. Mick's latest novel, KINDLING, is an alternate history set in a world in which the Crusades never happened, changing the spread of religion, scientific progress, and the birth of America. Don't miss this chance to meet Mick Farren! Following the reading, Mick will discuss KINDLING with the Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club. Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com for more information."

(I may also have some free time Saturday night, so if anyone in the Bay Area wants to grab a beer, email me – byron4d@msn.com)

OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS WOULDN’T BE HAPPENING IF I DIDN’T HAVE DSL.

HCB has been sending me stuff about the singularity movement in science fiction. Seems like it’s the hottest new flavor since cyber-punk, aye?
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.09/view.html?pg=4?tw=wn_tophead_8

I’m not a big Garrison Keillor fan, but this has a ring to it...
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/979

As does this piece on legalizing prostitution from The Economist
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3151258

Email = byron4d@msn.com

And meanwhile Oprah gives away a free car to every single member of her studio audience. I mean, it’s some new piece o’shit GM promotion, but isn’t this all getting a trifle Caligula?

CRYPTIQUE – We can track you down.

What is this?

Am I the only one who’s noticed that Iraq has been literally falling apart for the last few days, not mention the North Koreans blowing up mountains, while the President is looking for his spare copy of My Pet Goat?

I want a bloody cigarette!!!

On the new theory of fast and loose wit’ I will just slap it down crucial new snippets without any production. Like when the weekly hurricane slams into Florida and no one mentions that maybe all is not right with the world...

QUOTE – "In 2003, The UN's World Meteorological Organization reported unprecedented levels of extreme weather and climate occurrences all over the world. The report emphasized an alarming increase in global warming and pointed to the impact of human activity. The significance of this particular report is that the highly respected UN organization is known for its normally conservative predictions and statements."

I have to thank everyone who emailed me while I went missing, asking if I was both well and sane. I was neither for a little while, but seem to be improving in both areas. I am also in the process of giving up cigarettes.

The Japanese have a word...karoshi, or "death from overwork."

Then again, it’s always possible I have been hosed down with microwaves in the 450mhz range by NSA/FEMA and am a completely different person.

As Fast Eddie Felson once remarked...
I'M BACK

The first explanation of why I’ve been out of circulation so long is that it all started to get a little much for me. I became less and less clear exactly what I was doing. It was rather as though I’d embarked on my own little daily magazine and it was taking too much time, too much energy, and I was starting to worry about it in the most unhealthy way. I clearly had to step back and take stock.

Having stepped back, I found it very hard to step back in.

I finally realized that a blog is not a magazine at all. It is not even a web site. Much more informal. I should come to the process for shorter and more casual – but maybe more frequent visits. More free, more spontaneous, and less to worry about.

Also I had this new book to commence, and had to go through the literary equivalent of kneeling naked in some freezing chapel, praying over my armor on the eve of battle. That is all history now, however. The book is called Conflagration, it is the sequel to Kindling, (out now) I am some seventy pages in, and Cordelia finds herself attracted to the idea of torturing prisoners.

In the meantime, here's a flourish on heavy metal from LA CityBeat...
http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1225&IssueNum=66

Well...the Doc is back (he said tentatively). It has been a long time, and all -- or at least some -- will be explained in due course.