Origami Unicorn

Pibgorn: A Note

It's seems the cartoonist is capable of taking care of a certain amount of business. To your right, his e-note to his online community of readers: Pibgorn is a net strip, with no print outlets. McEldowney's other cartoon, 9 Chickweed Lane, is likely to continue uninterupted, since newspaper syndicates normally demand a backlog of several weeks of material and sometimes expect a final strip to be kept on file, in the event of misadventure. Click on the picture to see the sketch drawings in detail and read the note.

Pibgorn Pauses

Cartoonist Brooke McEldowney has had his gall bladder removed and it will be a few more days before he is up to resuming the strip. He's too sore to sit at the drawing board but doing fine.

"...But You Don't know What It Is, Do You, Mr. Jones."

Wired has an interactive chart up about what happens to a blog post, once it is posted. This may not interest readers, except insofar as it tells them how they find what they are interested in, but if you watch the data stats for a blog, it is a simple presentation of an invisible world. "Something's happening, but you don't know what it is..."

The Aurealis Awards

This past weekend, Australia's premier awards: the Aurealis Awards. Of considerable interest is the posting of the judges' reports, essentially "the state of the field in x form," including this quote for the science fiction novels: "... many of the novels could have demonstrated a better final edit. It seemed that some had been rushed out into the world without their coat and tie, and, in some cases, their trousers." One gathers none of these made the final round.

Ebooks: Are We There Yet?

I was going to do an article on ebooks. What reader, shelves groaning with volumes, isn't attracted by the idea of having lots of books in a compact device you can take with you? Amazon has rolled out Kindle with considerable fanfare—and no stock on hand right now—but other devices have been around for a while. Here's a site comparing most of the readily-available ones: ebook88. Basic problems remain. The devices are expensive and still too large to carry as one does a phone—although some phones can be used for reading. Most of them try to restrict whose ebooks you can read and some charge for material available on free sites like Project Gutenberg. None display illustrations well and most still have problem producing high contrast large-size text for those who prefer or need it. So paper is going to be with us for a while, and the thing that's displacing some of it is not a dedicated reader but your computer. Which is where you're reading this.

50th Anniversary of Lego

Yes, Virginia, there once was a time when there were no Legos. But it was a very long time ago, as this archival film demonstrates:

On the other hand, maybe not: 'tis a silly film.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

From Yellow Submarine:

Yellow Submarine is one of the few semi-permanent artifacts of a very visual era, when light shows were unique, one-time experiences; posters and publications bloomed one day and were gone the next; and no one dressed like anyone else. All you needed was love. Or so The Beatles said.

The Unicorn in the Garden

A short film based on James Thurber's famous short story, done in 1953, when some animators were trying styles other than cute or realistic. Thurber's artwork, spare and evocative, was well-served by the new minimalism.

And remember, "Don't count..."

Quebecor World Battle Underway

Creditors were not slow to close in on the still-breathing body of printer Quebecor World, as they maneuvered to protect their own interests. The Toronto Globe and Mail gives some of the details as of today. Bondholders are attempting to have their claims ranked with those of Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, the companies providing the one billion dollar refinance package. The bond market has reacted by taking prices still lower, even for long term debt. The company's own site now offers information on its restructuring; PFDs of letters to its employees, customers, and suppliers; plus a FAQ and links to court documents.

BSFA Short List

This year's BSFA short list has been announced. It is, as usual, a good checklist for your reading. Notably, there will be no nonfiction award this year. Among the artwork nominees, in thumbnail here, is Kenn Brown's "Metal Dragon Year" for Interzone 213. Click on the image for a larger version.