"Undun" by the Guess Who seems an on the nose choice in several respects for the featured song in the 3rd episode of #StarCity.

Excited this story is going out into the world soon!

And I just finished some (very light) edits this morning! I'm very excited to publish this and the other great stories in Bullet Points 14! Cover reveal soon, with stories from @catrambo.bsky.social, @mlmat.bsky.social, @tomdoyle.bsky.social, @underpope.com, @aggie-novak.bsky.social, and more!

As both Beelzebub in #GoodOmens Season 1 and as Raskova in #StarCity, Anna Maxwell Martin uses her voice to convey someone who's not posh yet dangerously intelligent.

Holy crap, first episode of #StarCity is quite good. Much more intensity than the 1st episode of this season of #ForAllMankind.

@andrian6.bsky.social Thanks for bringing up the use of prophecy as propaganda and the Bene Gesserit at last night's panel. A thing I didn't recall until this morning was how in the real world the vague quatrains of Nostradamus were repeatedly used as propaganda as well.

Here's my www.Balticon.org program! Friday, May 22, 2026 5:30 PM How to Subjugate Nations and Dominate the World Saturday, May 23, 2026 8:30 PM Author Reading 10:00 PM Fate or Free Will Sunday, May 24, 2026 5:30 PM Fantasy Beyond the Castles 7:00 PM 75 Years After I, Robot

Watching Around the World in 80 Days on PBS--if it does nothing more than introduce me to the real historical person Jane Digby, then I'll call it a success.

I wrote about our would-be autocrat as Napoleon III back in 2016, and now Andy Borowitz writes how he's fulfilled expectations. But the comparison may be unfair-- Napoleon III took significant actions for the poor, for which he faced criticism from the better-off. www.facebook.com/share/p/1CN2...

Some interesting cinephile news--The Devils restored, and a limited theatrical release! www.inverse.com/entertainmen...

On sale! The kindle edition of War & Craft (the final book of my American Craftsmen trilogy) is on sale for just $2.99. So read the grand finale or get the whole trilogy while the price is right for this part. www.amazon.com/War-Craft-No...

Currently re-reading SF/F works from around 75 years ago as prep for a possible panel. I'd completely forgotten the eerie harbinger of doom in the opening stories of The Martian Chronicles--the Martians start singing songs from classic English poems. (I read before I could appreciate the refs.)

This is my forever derby: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVp...

Don't forget that today (May 2) is Free Comic Book Day. Head over to your local comic shop for goodies and throw some support their way. (There's a store locator at the link if you don't know where your LCS is). freecomicbookday.com

"Who in your merry merry month of may Who by very slow decay And who shall I say is calling?"

Long past time for a spring clean for the May queen.

Happy Hitler goes to Hell Day! On this day in 1945, Hitler killed himself in his fancy bunker. Sic semper tyrannis.

I was still so out of it post-cancer in late 2014 that I'm not sure I read the full-length version of @sarahavery.bsky.social's review of American Craftsmen. Certainly joy for me to read it now. Thank you again for your support, Sarah! www.blackgate.com/2014/12/30/t...

I live less than a 1/2 mile from the Hilton--lots of helicopter noise in the air, and besides the usual sirens some strange ones.

More and more, this is like a production of The Producers on a national scale, complete with the grand financial scams that failure allows, and a repellent ideology highlighted at its center. Sure, our show has humor as well, but it's like the jokes of the Troubles and other dark times.

A spit-ball theory that relies on 2 speculative premises: 1) CPAC was receiving Russian funding through Orban's Hungary and 2) CPAC has been a notorious bonanza for local sex workers. So, what was Russia getting with that money besides a vague amount of influence? Answer: a kompromat machine

Noticing that at least some of national TV news is increasingly focused on local/human interest stories, because other than a couple of national/international items they don't think it's worth the struggle to get into the main issues of our time (to extent they aren't already completely captured).

A perfect hoot: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZYR...

Never get in a war that's so long you only end up teaching your enemy how to fight you. (See e.g. Pyrrhus and Rome.)

@petridishes.bsky.social Just did a viewing party with 3 other guys of Jupiter Ascending on your rec. We had a gas of giant proportions--thank you for that!

This is Hungary calling, this is Hungary calling, not the last remaining station, but the first of a new day.

Asha Bhosle has passed away. Here's a tribute to her that those of us of certain age may know well: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Bk... (I like both versions, but this is the one I danced to more often.)

Are autocratic personalities particularly vulnerable to the sunk cost fallacy, or is it just the usual limits on rolling the dice again on the Risk board are absent?

Wow, it's been 54 years since I've seen a moon mission.

Chuckling at the thought of someone who is definitely not holy, roman, or emperor getting into an argument with a pontiff.

Some favorite cuts from the music rattling in my head this weekend--soundtrack to Ben-Hur 1959: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dApI... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adv7... www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bE_... @listeningtofilm.net what do you make of this work?

Currently available for sale on our website: My Dear Hamilton. It's used, $8.49, and historical fiction about Alexander Hamilton. carpelibrumbaltimore.com/products/my-...

Very minor #ProjectHailMary spoiler below: * * * * I think a wall in the other ship may have been a parallel to the Pioneer-style plaque wall in the Mary--it had an orderly looking texture to it. Both of them had brought similar messages from home.

@hotgpod.bsky.social You've seen this?

Now listening to darylwriterguy.bsky.social When We Wear Real--a culmination of a tradition that begins at least w/ the Spanish Golden Age play Life Is a Dream, but flowering in a 100 different ways. Great SF & philosophical issue spotting, great characters, & plenty of humor amidst the existential.

Had a beautiful day for protest in DC!

@kierongillen.bsky.social Jesus K. LeChrist! Just read Die Loaded #5 and it was great to see all the LeGuin stuff in their (included her dead-on voice as genre self-critic).

Other have probably already noted that Punch is likely the latest avatar of Hanuman/Wukong, yes? (I know some have gone in the Planet of the Apes direction with this, but I'm going to keep Punch as my one optimistic thing.)

Hey folks, we've got this coming up next weekend! Check out the map on their site--there should be an event near most everyone in the country. www.nokings.org

Happy St. Patrick's! On this day, Yeats used to feature prominently for me, and this poem more than his others. It's about his realization that the arseholes were right. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43289/...

We may think we're special, but we'll never be #BarbraStreisand sings again in public (if only ever so briefly) in memory of us special.

The lesson of the Ides of March is don't spare Mark Anthony.

Finally have time to start listening to Lisa Peers's latest: Motor City Love Song--a story of indie-rock, romance, and changing times. Noting in particular for @sarahpinsker.bsky.social and @randeedawn.com--it's not SF/F, but related to your other literary/musical interests.

I have a panel tonight at #AwesomeCon at 6:30--Alternate Apollo: The Fictional Space Race Goes On. Panelists are Alan Smale (@alansmale.bsky.social), Rosemary Claire Smith (@rcwordsmith.bsky.social), and Andy Duncan (@andyduncansf.bsky.social). Hope to see you there! awesome-con.com/programming/...

My favorite podcast, History of the Germans (@hotgpod.bsky.social), thanked me for my support in today's episode! Every Thursday morning I wake up looking forward to the latest installment. Highly recommend. historyofthegermans.com

Um, I think I just stumbled on a very bad oracle indeed--something I'd forgotten from childhood because it wasn't important then. From the original table of contents/chronology for The Martian Chronicles: "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains."

Saw Michael Shannon's REM tribute band last night--the album for this tour is Life's Rich Pageant. Always loved this bit from "These Days"--maybe now more than ever: "All the people gather, fly to carry each his burden We are young despite the years We are concern, we are hope despite the times"

Morning thought: in the Star Wars films, we get lineages, not families--if it's a family, it gets killed or broken fairly quickly after appearing on screen.

All are invited to read my free weekly newsletter, Synthesizing Sense, which tries to put a sense of structure on the prior week's political chaos. davelelacheur.substack.com/p/synthesizi...

A military vet I know (he can claim the quote here if he wants) says that he/others used to be able to stop a lot of questionable plans by continually asking "And then what?"