SF Signal: Interview: James Morrow on 'Shambling Towards Hiroshima'

I love James Morrow, and have been reading many interviews about his new book coming across my feed lately. I figure I'd link to one, so other folks can hear more about his latest book.
Granted, I have Godzilla on the brain a bit, but still, it's fascinating to see the real social commentary that emerges from a study of 1950s atomic horror SF and the contrasting wacko stuff that came out of the nuclear-apocalypse 80s.  (Red Dawn, anyone?)

Also, I have never seen the 1954 Gojira.  Is it hard to find? I shall have to check my libraries.

So last night I intended to do some work (aside from my daily illustration challenge, of course) but I ended up sitting around reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother from the point of the attack that starts the serious action all the way to the end and the Afterwords. It was amazing. And chilling. Not quite post-apocalyptic, but certainly a disturbing and all too plausible near-future extrapolation of a police state in America after a terrorist attack.

Highly recommended. Plus the two Afterword sections about security and the internet are great, too. Check the web link above for free downloads of this book and others, plus other nifty extras.

I have liked reading Cory's blog and I have several of his other books on the TBR, but this is the first one that I have actually opened.
I feel like I've hit the mother lode of fabulous books, or perhaps I have just emerged from my non-reading period now that it's summer. I have been reading and finishing novels at a decent pace ever since Old Man's War. Yay!

SciFi Dept: A Children's Guide to the Apocalypse:

The definitive instructional video for children on how to survive with minimal death and dismemberment in a post-apocalyptic future.

eat, drink, and be merry
for tomorrow we die.

Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike a Key Option, NATO Told

Most boots are made for walkin'. Zephre's boots ain't that merciful.


Zephre's pulse is measured on the richter scale.


Zephre once rode a nine foot grizzly bear through an automatic car wash, instead of taking a shower.


When Zephre goes to out to eat, she orders a whole chicken, but she only eats its soul.


Once a cobra bit Zephre's leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.


Zephre can taste lies.

Staring at Zephre for extended periods of time without proper eye protection will cause blindess, and possibly foot sized bruises on the face.


Lightning never strikes twice in one place because Zephre is looking for it.


If you can see Zephre, she can see you. If you can't see Zephre you may be only seconds away from death.


In ancient China there is a legend that one day a child will be born from a dragon, grow to be a woman, and vanquish evil from the land. That woman is not Zephre, because Zephre killed that woman.

Get your own.

Madeleine Robins, a lady after me own heart:

Sure, I love the End of the World: what’s not to love?

Well, it really did come down hard on us. The University police released the lock-down at about 1:30pm as the waters drained, but there was another set of storms on the way in. So all non-essential University personnel were sent home. I left just after 3pm and got home just before 4pm, to find the neighborhood floods had drained enough for me to drive home. Everybody made it home okay, I was the last to arrive.
The house is ok, although there was apparently about an inch of water in our kitchen during the height of the rain. It's now raining again, of course. Not as much thunder this time, but still the rain comes down.

The campus police have closed down all the exits to campus and have recommended that everyone stay where we are until further notice.  Our consultants are supposed to catch a 7pm flight so who knows what will happen with them if they can't leave in time to go to the airport.
Highway 288 is underwater.  So is most of University Blvd.  And apparently, another wave of storms is set to move over the city at 3:00. 
I wonder if my house is flooded yet?

In the middle of our software Q&A with the out-of-town consultants, the thunder was shaking the walls of the building.  The rain is now sheeting down and threatening the power in the building.  Flash floods are filling the streets.  I feel bad for our consultants, who are supposed to be catching a plane later today across town.  Getting to the airport will be fun.  Not.
I don't really want to drive in this, either.  The streets are hazardous, and visibility is down to nothing even when you're standing still. 
Hopefully our building won't wash down to the bayou or anything.  What a terribly Ozian story that would be. 

Been mostly buried in nonproductive habits for the last few days.  Lots of good intentions paving my particular road, but where it leads is nowhere healthy. 
Had my super-duper apocalypse moment on Sunday when Mom and I watched Children of Men.  Talk about bloodbaths.  Great flick, though.  I mean, wow.  Totally skewers your gut and doesn't let go.  I was on the edge of my seat for a while there.  I was Super Girl on Saturday, helping Dad clear the overgrowth around the house.  We laid siege to Sleeping Beauty's castle, eventually slaying most of the (really, really vicious) rosebush, then took down a bunch of out of control junk trees.  Dad chainsawed, I cleared to the curb.
We discovered an excellent creepy-crawly colony of snails living under one of the shrubs that was being choked out by some kind of blooming ivy.  I spent some time observing the snails, as their movement patterns are totally fascinating in a hypnotic sort of way. 
I didn't take any photos.  Haven't even turned my camera on in days, which is a shame.  Maybe later this week.

I have to break out of some of my funk by tomorrow, though, because I'm going to a meeting of the Vassar Club of Houston (such as it is).  And then next week starts the month's round of Meet-ups.  Time to turn off the mindless reading (at least part of the time) and get some things done.

Last night I sat around in the living room with my laptop futilely refreshing LJ, watching DVDs because my parents are off on a trip to the Hill Country so I get the TV to myself.  Peter and Hillary played WoW from two computers on opposite sides of the house - every so often she'd come marching through to berate him about some in-game choice.  I swear, they argue about Guilds this and coins that and pairs of somethings that they have to acquire and it always takes me a minute to realize they're talking about the game.
So I watched Kingdom of Heaven which was beautiful and had lots of beautiful people in it but kind of made no sense.  I felt like I would rather have read Judith Tarr's version of events.  Although I loved King Baldwin.  Love love love.  
And then I watched Willow which was pretty darn awesome (and had some cutting-edge Oscar-nominated visual effects for 1988 - I watched a great documentary about it once). 
Next up: Reign of Fire, which I totally didn't realize was set in the future rather than some fantasy world.  Cool.  Dragons, Apocalypse, Christian Bale - what's not to love?
I may not be able to mightily resist Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire if it's still available On Demand, either.  Maybe it's time to start collecting those films, now that I've begun acquiring DVDs again.
[Edited to fix the HTML, which I always plug into the wrong tab on Deepest Sender.]

Last night I dreamed that I was playing a game with friends, a brand-spanking-new game out of a box, that was kind of interesting in its structure - not really a board game, not quite a true RPG...  And then I thought to myself, "Didn't I play this in college?  But that can't be, it's brand new!"  And then I realized that it was a game that Frisbee Dave and John made up at Vassar, and they were now on the board of some great games company, churning out clones of their old college entertainment.  And you probably wouldn't even need drugs or alcohol for the full effect!
So I ended up reading the fine print on the bottom of the box and going on a quest to find their corporate offices, which turned into a very different sort of dream, but I don't remember that part as well.  Just a sense of mass, and height, and an elevator shaft into infinity... 
Very strange. 

In other news, it's 9:17am and it's already been a trying Thursday.  Any minute now, the Vogons are going to come screaming through the atmosphere... 

my daily tag: zephre , Fangirl of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Apocalypse (it's a different apocalypse whenever I feel like changing it)
shogunsquirrel : I wish you were a basketball fan because you could completely be Fangirl of the Apocalyptic Basketball, because it WAS!
me: did anything explode/implode/disintegrate/suffer complete protonic reversal?
shogunsquirrel : if I say "yes" I mean it in a basketball sort of way.
me: i would be very interested to see what the "basketball sort" of complete protonic reversal looks like.
shogunsquirrel : it looks like Pat Summitt
shogunsquirrel : she turns purple during the games!
me: wow. ok, that sounds a bit apocalyptic. certainly could get a vote for cataclysmic.
shogunsquirrel : "Is It Apocalyptic?" new game show with Reverend Keri?
me: muahahahaha!
me: what would be the prizes for winning? All-expenses paid trip to a luxury fallout shelter?
shogunsquirrel : ::snarf:: ::sneezing coffee::
me: that's definitely cataclysmic, right there.

Clock Timeline | The Bulletin Online:

IT IS 5 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
2007 — The world stands at the brink of a second nuclear age.

As in past deliberations, we have examined other human-made threats to civilization. We have concluded that the dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons. The effects may be less dramatic in the short term than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades climate change could cause drastic harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.

This deteriorating state of global affairs leads the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists--in consultation with a Board of Sponsors that includes 18 Nobel laureates--to move the minute hand of the “Doomsday Clock” from seven to five minutes to midnight.

Of course, they don't say anything about the feuding forces of ninja zombies.

The current discussion question at On Faith is about the Apocalypse! Check it out!

OK, this post of recaps from the Zombie Discussion on Making Light has led me to the Plush Zombie Bear (with removable intestines!).
Yay zombies! I totally need a zombie warning chart for my office.

Today I went to be my Vassar Alumna persona (in pirate boots!) for an Admissions Interview. While I was chatting about Vassar sports with my student a couple at another table overheard us and came over. The girl there had gone to Vassar and played soccer. Small world, and a freaky one, at times.
Mom had come along to go to Half-Price Books where a friend of hers works, so after I finished up with my student I went to meet her there... and we browsed. And browsed. And eventually left. With books.
We went to see Pan's Labyrinth at last, and wow, it was wonderful and lovely and melancholy and depressing.
Then we came home and watched An Inconvenient Truth and wow, it was frightening and inspiring and melancholy and depressing.
It was An Inconvenient Truth, though, that moved us near to tears. Which is not to say that Pan's Labyrinth wasn't emotionally gripping, but man - climate crisis. Scary. Sad. Devastating. Completely reversible if we can get ourselves and our politicians to act instead of argue.
I had to come in here and futz around on the internet and look at my pile of cheesy!awesome!Valentines to get over it.

Nobody else is talking about it, but as usual Keith Olbermann addresses the monstrous violation of our Constitution with his usual sharp and affecting commentary.
Thanks, YouTube.

And as we appreciate YouTube and the great information and clips we find there, let's protect our ability to get that information anytime we want, no matter what our ISP. Protect Net Neutrality from the monopolisic interests of big media conglomerates. Or do it here.

I am putting all of this behind a tag because a) it's long, b) it's introspection, and c) it's depressing. (And apocalyptic, and we all know how much the theoretical ones bother my (sparse) readership. ) But it has a bit of an uplifting twist at the end, at least.

( catastrophe reactions )

I watched The Day After Tomorrow, finally.
I am astonished at these movie scripts lately. They cater to the lowest common denominator to such an extent that I sat there with Jeanne and tagged the "Theme Scenes".
"Thank you for giving us the High Personal Stakes in plain dialogue, oh screenwriters."
"Ah, yes, once again, it's time to have the Theme Review for those of us who weren't paying attention."
Those writerly nitpicks aside, it was a really cute movie, and I enjoyed it. You know me, I love a good apocalypse.
As someone who really is not a fan of winter, though, this one was especially shudder-worthy.
At the end, I entertained Jeanne with my, "Yeah, that's right! Go New York! We know how to burn all the office files to stay alive through the Super Blizzard!"
Yeah, I know.