Gurglings of a Putrid Stream

1. Officially calling Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick a DNF. It's about time-traveling scientists studying dinosaurs, mixing in aliens (didn't get that far) and a love affair that spans millennia. It features characters from the "present" and the "future." The blurb focused on the dinos and going into the past; I didn't know I was in for multiple timelines and dull characters.

2. Lost my damn Star Wars book. This is the one written by George Lucas, back when Star Wars was Star Wars, not A New Hope. You know, back when it mattered. I've had the thing for nearly 40 years. It's just possible it got mixed up with some papers that got thrown away. After searching for it for days, I took a shot and went to Half-Price. And damn if they didn't have it. Exactly one copy, just for me. It ain't the same, but it'll do.

3. Finally -- finally -- read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. My advice: don't be like me. Read it now.

4. Who has any thoughts on Idris Elba possibly becoming the next James Bond? Cause, you know, he's black and stuff. I might care about that -- I really might; I mean, us white guys deserve our fantasy figures, too -- if the movies were worth even half their budgets. I'll tell you what, though: I could go for a Jane Bond. That might force the producers to re-think a number of things, leading to a vast improvement in the franchise. I don't think it would, but I'd rather take that chance than the other. Because you know that in a world where skin color isn't supposed to matter, Elba would be just like Craig and Brosnan and Dalton and all the rest.

5. I thought Unbreakable was kind of a weird movie, being only half a movie, until I saw Left Behind, which is a "precipitating event" stretched out to 90 minutes. The precipitating event is, of course...well, you know when the shark eats the skinny-dipper at the beginning of Jaws? Imagine if that segment had been stretched to feature length. That's what Left Behind is. I don't know if it's a faithful adaptation of the book (I kinda think it is), but talk about a perfect opportunity to improve on the source material. The Biblical apocalypse, taken literally, is one hell of a hook. Could have been a terrific movie.