A zillion comments in, but I hope you get to read this: When I was in college I actually took a class on Sci-Fi literature. One of the books we read was by Gregory Benford, and the professor got Mr. Benford to come in and talk about the book. We had spent a week going over all of the political references and discussion of social systems that goes on in the book, so of course the professor asked him about it. Mr. Benford asked us all to turn to a certain page in the book, and he asked a student he picked out to read a sentance that started in the middle of that page. It turns out that this sentance goes for nearly 3 pages - and is astonishing. After the passage was finished, Mr. Benford said, "I wrote this book to see if I could write a sentance like that." Of course, the class bursts out laughing and the professor turns beet-red. Mr. Benford then continued to defend that choice for the rest of the lecture. After Mr. Benford left, our professor took a moment to regain his composure and then said, "But here is what Mr. Benford REALLY meant..." I have never forgotten that and from that moment on have always brought my own interpretation to everything I read. As a result of this I re-read books often, not because the book is different but because I am.

All win. And although I love the shirt, I would love to see this photo with a different T-shirt. Specifically, one of those recursive ones from Basic Instructions. Recursive Wheaton, collating paper.

The same is true with songwriting. You never know when that little snippet you came up with 10 years ago will suddenly become the bridge to that new song you didn't have quite right. I haven't thrown away a scrap of anything I've written in 30 years.

She stayed up for the whole show. The finale was pretty raucus (which coincidentally is the name of my Tubes cover band).

Clash of the Geeks is the name of my w00tstock 2.5.1 tribute act. Friday's show was hilarious - I laughed so hard it hurt. And yes, my daughter loved it too (you guys kept apologizing for swearing in front of her, which was cute if mildly misguided - after all, we brought her...). Downloaded and donated. I have a friend with this disease. Thanks for the work.

Wil, You will be happy to know that me, the geek wifey, the geek son and geek daughter, all now have tickets to the show on the 17th. The geek son may even write up a report on it for school. I missed it the first time it came to town so I am so glad you're back!

I published my novel! http://www.lulu.com/product/download/senses/6015399 Warning - contains sex and other things that people do.

Thanks for getting me off of my ass there Wil. I released an album a year ago that has done fairly well but has only been available in digital format (iTunes, Amazon, etc.). Thanks to your prodding it is now available in physical format - and for cheaper than a digital download. http://www.lulu.com/content/compact-disc/eleveneleven/7941494 Thanks for the kick. I needed it.

Just remember not to play that bunny card...

Hey Jeanette! Okay, this is hilarious. I know the previous poster personally (and have gamed with her). I have these books. I used them to teach my son how to game...

I would **totally** pay money to hear you do this through a guitar vox squawk box gods teeth - you can tell I was born in th' Valley too... sigh

Wil: I don't know if you ever make it this far down in the comments, but you should consider something - if you do an audiobook of various chapters of "Memories...", you should consider doing it as a live album. With an audience. One of my favorite recordings of you is that performance you gave at the thing. You know, the one with the, uh... stuff. Can't remember. The point is, you feed well off of a good audience, and they feed well off of you. You need a live album, man.

The Seldon Plan... what a freakin' GREAT name for a band! Thanks for exposing us to that. Podcast was great too.

A good friend of mine was there. She was nearly killed. She showed me (and a number of our friends) the shoe she was wearing that a tank crushed - it had slipped off her foot 3 steps earlier. I have no clue how she got it out of the country Are you familiar with the Roger Waters song "Watching TV"? You should give it a listen (and ignore the endless Pink Floyd vs. Waters debate below it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tBaz9jv6k&feature=player_embedded

Wil: My wife missed your Criminal Minds episode the first time around, so we were both pleased to see it re-run last night. She's a big fan of the show and I happen to be a fan(boy) of yours. After noting surprise at the lack of an "L" in your name (the wifey didn't know) we settled in to watch. The verdict? My wife said, "you were convincingly creepy and it was a good death at the end. I especially like the look of surprise on the character's face as he realized he was about to die - the sheer disbelief of it." We tend to be overly ctitical of acting performances in our family, having a couple of actors in the family (including a name you'd know). The performance was well done. Thank you.

I actually got in a fight (verbal) with some numb-nut over this. The way I finished went something like this: One of your arguments is that gays will still have "same-sex unions" while straights will have "marriage". Gay, straight, that isn't the issue. What you're doing here is creating two classes of people under our state constitution. It doesn't matter if they have the same rights or not; they're different classes of people. And that's unconstitutional on any level and just plain wrong, so you hide it behind social fears and whispered thoughts like 12 year-old boys who've found their father's Playboys. Why do you feel the need to project your own mis-givings on other people? MY marriage is strong enough to handle this - are you so afraid that yours isn't that you need a law to protect it? (I tried to put in here a close soapbox tag, but typepad wouldn't let me) On another note, it occurs to me that one of the first marriages performed was for a couple here in San Francisco who had been together for over 50 years. Since their marriage, one of them has passed on. If this piece of shit passes do any of these people want to be the one who tells the surviving spouse that she's no longer a widow? We owe this woman a duty to never let this bill pass. VOTE!

I actually got in a fight (verbal) with some numb-nut over this. The way I finished went something like this: One of your arguments is that gays will still have "same-sex unions" while straights will have "marriage". Gay, straight, that isn't the issue. What you're doing here is creating two classes of people under our state constitution. It doesn't matter if they have the same rights or not; they're different classes of people. And that's unconstitutional on any level and just plain wrong, so you hide it behind social fears and whispered thoughts like 12 year-old boys who've found their father's Playboys. Why do you feel the need to project your own mis-givings on other people? MY marriage is strong enough to handle this - are you so afraid that yours isn't that you need a law to protect it? (I tried to put in here a close soapbox tag, but typepad wouldn't let me) On another note, it occurs to me that one of the first marriages performed was for a couple here in San Francisco who had been together for over 50 years. Since their marriage, one of them has passed on. If this piece of shit passes do any of these people want to be the one who tells the surviving spouse that she's no longer a widow? We owe this woman a duty to never let this bill pass. VOTE!

In one game I played we were riding a beast of burden with an incredibly loud roar. We passed through a large door to a cave full of stalectites, of which one was a switch to open a secret door on the other side somewhere. Upon discovering the amazing echo in the chamber we all went back to the entrance of the cave, dismantled the door and built an enormous megaphone out of them. We then had the beast of burden roar through the megaphone at ground shaking levels. Our completely confused GM asked, "And what is this going to accomplish?" To which I replied, "The real stalactites fall. The switch doesn't." -Animeraider I could also throw in the game that involved a warrior in bunny pajamas (with feet) clinging to a VCR going over a waterfall - but that's a tale for another time

In one game I played we were riding a beast of burden with an incredibly loud roar. We passed through a large door to a cave full of stalectites, of which one was a switch to open a secret door on the other side somewhere. Upon discovering the amazing echo in the chamber we all went back to the entrance of the cave, dismantled the door and built an enormous megaphone out of them. We then had the beast of burden roar through the megaphone at ground shaking levels. Our completely confused GM asked, "And what is this going to accomplish?" To which I replied, "The real stalactites fall. The switch doesn't." -Animeraider I could also throw in the game that involved a warrior in bunny pajamas (with feet) clinging to a VCR going over a waterfall - but that's a tale for another time

Wil, I know you love Scalzi, but don't postpone reading Dan Simmons' "The Terror" for too long. It's one hell of a book from a man who has written several "one hell of a books". Simmons is the man, after all, that Harlan Ellison once told, "I'm so sorry, but you're a writer." Many authors are storytellers; Simmons is a writer.

Wil, I know you love Scalzi, but don't postpone reading Dan Simmons' "The Terror" for too long. It's one hell of a book from a man who has written several "one hell of a books". Simmons is the man, after all, that Harlan Ellison once told, "I'm so sorry, but you're a writer." Many authors are storytellers; Simmons is a writer.

Am I missing something? Keith David is one hell of a hard working actor, and has appeared in an awful lot of films. I count 13 for 2008 releases alone. To me, that's a steadily working actor.

Am I missing something? Keith David is one hell of a hard working actor, and has appeared in an awful lot of films. I count 13 for 2008 releases alone. To me, that's a steadily working actor.

Am I the only person with a Three Dog Night song in his head now? /feeling old. must play guitar hero to regenerate.

Am I the only person with a Three Dog Night song in his head now? /feeling old. must play guitar hero to regenerate.