Archive for 'Yarns'

ENSIGN CRUNCH

ENSIGN CRUNCH

Ten years ago, now, I had a weekly column on Comic Book Resources called “Loose Cannon.” I know that some writers look back at their early stuff and blanch, but I look back on the stuff I once wrote and marvel how good it came out given the resources and abilities I had available to me at the time.

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MERIDIAN GATE

MERIDIAN GATE

This one’ll be a rollickin’ fun chase-caper with a sense of suspense and excitement that made flicks like THE MALTESE FALCON and THE ITALIAN JOB classics, along with a little modern CHARLIE’S ANGELS/BOURNE IDENTITY flavor.

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Living on $2 a day

Living on $2 a day

A colleague of mine, Nelson Cheng, participated in “Below the Line” last week. If you haven’t heard about this campaign from Hugh Jackman’s media blitz on CNN and The Today Show and all:

http://www.livebelowtheline.com.au/community/videos/303762/#post-342

…or haven’t seen it on Facebook and Twitter, it’s a campaign to help raise money and awareness for the 1.4 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the world. Last week, Nelson lived for five days on ten Australian dollars.

Two dollars. A day.

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FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

We have a little boy who is very curious, and one of the best things I get to do is answer his questions. He’s learning the days of the week now, and has sorted them into “school days” and “Mommy and Daddy days.” So he told me that Sunday was named after the sun, and Monday was named after the moon. I had already told him Thursday was named after Thor, because he’s pretty well-versed in the pantheon of Marvel heroes and DC Super Friends already, but he wanted to know about Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. And I hadn’t really thought about that for forty years, I’m guessing. I’m sure at one time I had looked it up in the Funk and Wagnall’s, because I had a thought that Wednesday was named after Odin, but I blanked on the rest.

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OUR HOUSE IS A VERY VERY FINE HOUSE

OUR HOUSE IS A VERY VERY FINE HOUSE

It may come as no surprise to those who know me well that I am a big ol’ romantic sap. I will take hearts and flowers over broads and bullets any day, no matter how much I may personally enjoy the action and the adventure. Those who nod sagely at this “Dichotomy of Lar” may well remember the story I did in Proof of Concept called “Zombie Dinosaur.” Now, clearly, given my proclivities, a story with “zombie” and “dinosaur” in the title (and even right next to each other) puts an undeniable taste on the audience’s tongue. And, yes, because I deliver as promised, there were undead T-Rex’s rampaging about the landscape. But the main point of the story (to me at least) was the main scientist asking the main soldier about the wedding ring he took and put on a chain around his neck every time he made a drop.

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SCARAMOUCH, SCARAMOUCH, WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO

SCARAMOUCH, SCARAMOUCH, WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO

So I went to get my driver’s license renewed and they said I’ve had my license suspended since 1995 in Massachusetts, even though I haven’t lived there since 1992 and have had three different California licenses issued since then. What’s the problem? Nobody knows. I have to call Massachusetts and straighten it out. After, no [...]

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TWO GUYS SITTING AROUND EMAILING EACH OTHER ABOUT AVATAR

TWO GUYS SITTING AROUND EMAILING EACH OTHER ABOUT AVATAR

three words
very expensive garbage
“little big man” / “dances with wolves” in “jurassic park” meet luke, han and the death star on 9-11.
derivative much?
script writer had the easiest job in hollywood, write bathroom sounds for pages on end.

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