Ancient Layered Hills on Mars — APOD takes us by the shores of a dead, red sea...
A hex on Saturn (again)! — Bad Astronomy with some more on the hexagonal structure at Saturn's north pole.
A universe optimized for starships?
Bacteria Pick Prime Human Body Parts — Learning how our personal microbial communities live could help solve skin disorders. Huh.
Nazi angel of death Josef Mengele 'created twin town in Brazil' — Huh... (Or not, if you follow up some related links.)
?otD: How weird is your science?
12/10/2009 Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride (long walk planned later) Hours slept: 9.5 This morning's weigh-in: 229.0 Currently reading: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
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The Clockwork Jungle Book is out!
Shimmer author spotlight on me — Including a podcast of me reading my story from Clockwork Jungle Book, "Shedding Skin: Or How the World Came to Be".
Jay Lake's Get Well Audio Fiction — A full cast reading of two of my stories at Orycon by Jeff Soesbe, M. K. Hobbson, Dave Goldman, David D. Levine, Camille Alexa, and Mary Robinette Kowal. Thank you so much, guys.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) elfs on characters and the monkeysphere — I appear to have an elevated Dunbar number. And more on Dunbar numbers, via writerjeremy on Facebook.
Skxawng! — On created languages. (Thanks to wllyumtx.)
?otD: Where have you guys been, anyway?
12/9/2009 Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride (long walk planned later) Hours slept: 8.75 This morning's weigh-in: 230.2 Currently reading: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
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| 2009-11-23 05:41 |
| [links] Link salad stares down the barrel of a difficult week |
| Public |
| books, cool, culture, green, links, nature, personal, photos, politics, reviews, science |
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The Torque Control post on my book Green has spawned a fascinating coments section — Go check it out. I'm not saying anything there for obvious reasons, but I'm pleased and a bit amazed at some of the careful consideration of my book going on.
Company Wants To Drill For Whiskey Lost In Arctic — (Via @GreatDismal.)
The Secret World of Naked Snakes — Fun wih nature.
A closeup of Enceladus' icescape — Wow. Wow. Wow.
On the Anniversary of Kennedy's Death, Extremism Lives On — the paranoid strain in the American polity has reasserted itself — that strain which ascribes the worst possible motives to one's political opponents, and where lies abound and violence becomes possible Hello, GOP.
?otD: How manic is your Monday?
11/23/2009 Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 6.25 This morning's weigh-in: 236.2 (!?) Currently reading: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
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jaborwhalky with Jay Lake Dorito noodle doom mac and cheese — A recipe in honor of my cancers.
Charles A. Tan with a takedown of International Science Fiction Reshelving day — What he said. (Via Andrew Wheeler.)
Superconductors to Wire a Smarter Grid — More than you probably wanted to know about the US power infrastructure. Still, cool stuff.
Bad Science on the Iraqi bomb detection wands — This is as insane, and in its way deadly, as Thabo Mbeki's AIDS denialism. US conservatism have their global warming denial and evolution psychoses, liberals have their antivaxers, but it's nice to know that antiscience lunacy is not just for Americans.
China's fear of a black president
?otD: Which way to Pismo Beach?
11/15/2009 Body movement: Not yet, but upcoming 60 minute urban walk (San Francisco hills!) Hours slept: 5.75 This morning's weigh-in: 236.5 (!?) Currently reading: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
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I am interviewed by Michael Ventrella
calendula_witch on why we blog
scarlettina documents, among other things, my remarkable forebearance at Imaginary WFC 2009
Greenland's ice sheet lost 1500 gigatons of mass from 2000 to 2008 — Another liberal traitor in the global warming conspiracy.
NASA finds reservoir of water ice on the Moon! — In case you missed this. Big news!
Sunrise over DIA — A nice image from APOD.
?otD: How much up would an woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could chuck upchuck up?
11/14/2009 Body movement: 60 minute urban walk (San Francisco hills!) Hours slept: 7.5 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (forgot) Currently reading: Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
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| 2009-11-13 02:46 |
| [links] Link salad flies transcontinental |
| Public |
| art, books, cancer, culture, green, links, personal, photos, politics, reviews, science |
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Call for masks — A way of sticking it to my cancer.
Strange Horizons reviews Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Borders ] — Not so much with the liking of the book. No, no, not at all. In great detail, at length with the not liking.
Mercado de San Marcos: 1890s
The Speed of Online Conversation — The Web, Twitter, and you.
Rosetta takes home some pictures — Bad Astronomy with some serious wow factor.
Backward star ain't from around here — Fun with astrography. (Snurched from the Twitter feed of @jstephenyork.)
Hoekstra Helps Al Qaeda — A Republican congressman gives aid and comfort to the enemy. Waiting for the media explosion... waiting... waiting... (Just as a thought experiment, imagine if Barney Frank had done this.)
?otD: How many dances can an angelhead pin?
11/13/2009 Body movement: n/a (airport walking) Hours slept: 6.25 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (traveling) Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-11-12 05:40 |
| [links] Link salad, mostly science edition |
| Public |
| art, books, calendula, cancer, cool, culture, green, links, movies, music, personal, reviews, sale, science, stories, tech, weird |
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Call for masks — A way of sticking it to my cancer.
Interzone 225 ToC announced — With a novelette by calendula_witch and me. Also, she and I have sold a flash piece to Electric Velocipede.
A reader reacts to Green — At the bottom of their summary of recent reading. Some very nice things said.
Early 1970s ad for After Six men's fashions — My eyes! My eyes! Augh!
Google and realtime search — "There were five exabytes of information generated from the dawn of mankind to the year 2003," he said. "That amount of information is now generated every two days." Wow.
Mimicking the Building Prowess of Nature — Scientists build new materials using inspiration from complex biological forms. Some wild photos, and really neat materials science here.
Humanoid dinosaurs? Maybe not so much. — Some arguments about evolutionary paths from Tetrapod Zoology.
Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months — Something to think about in these days of climate change risk.
Why did HAL sing "Daisy"? — Fascinating. (Snurched from the Twitter feed of @jstephenyork.)
?otD: Why was the band on the run?
11/12/2009 Body movement: 55 minute urban walk (airport infrastructure!) Hours slept: 5.75 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (traveling) Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-11-09 05:41 |
| [links] Link salad looks toward Philadelphia, blinks into the rising sun |
| Public |
| cool, culture, funny, links, personal, photos, politics, process, science, sex, tech, writing |
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Foob on writers — And our "temper mental" selves.
Lucy Knisley on memories of childhood sexuality — Oi. Quite something.
Another fabulous WPA poster on Vintagraph
Dieselpunk Bomber — Mmm.
Martian Landscapes — Boston.com's "The Big Picture" with a roundup of some of the recent, stunning Mars photography. (Via Bad Astronomy.)
A Tiny Revolution on Reagan and the Pakistani bomb — Yep, those Republicans, always looking out for national security. And principled, too! Nothing to see here, citizen, move along.
Unclear on the concept of separation of church and state — Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes. Nice to know that there are some Democrats who hold Constitutional principles in as high regard as their GOP colleagues.
Paranoia Strikes Deep — Paul Krugman on the American Right. He says something I've been saying for years, albeit far more elegantly, in the money shot: ...the G.O.P. has been taken over by the people it used to exploit.
?otD: How many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
11/9/2009 Body movement: 15 minutes of stretching and meditation, 30 minutes on stationary bike Hours slept: 5.25 This morning's weigh-in: 233.0 Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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Mitchell Hooks’ Fabulous 50’s Paperback Covers — Very nice stuff linked through from this post on Drawn!
Little but fierce — Ah, Criggo, thy clippings make me laugh until my bladder threatens.
A Common Nomenclature for Lego Families — An interesting article about how children name things. (Via Language Log.)
You Sir, Have Offended My Honor — Ta-Nehisi Coates on bigotry, with sourcing from Brian Chase.
64 Democrats on the Wrong Side of Stupak-Pitts — I expect Republicans to vote in favor of forced pregnancy and government intrusion in private life. Those are among the most cherished conservative principles. But Democrats? I'm sure you guys are proud of yourselves, and that just makes me even more ashamed.
?otD: Who will stop the rain?
11/8/2009 Body movement: 2 hour, 30 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 6.0 This morning's weigh-in: 232.4 Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-11-05 05:29 |
| [links] Link salad talks to the surgeon |
| Public |
| art, cool, culture, food, links, personal, photos, politics, science, sex, weird |
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Soviet War Paintings — Some very striking art here. (Snurched from Gurney Journey.)
Sex, then amnesia...and it's no soap opera — Weird. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget, I suppose. (Thanks to mikigarrison.)
Weird Stuff McDonalds Sells Around The World — A special investigative report from Dark Roasted Blend. In case you were wondering.
A Bell Helicopter lands on a Vermont Transit Flxible Clipper — Vintage weirdness. Some things happen simply because they can. Which may in fact explain much that goes on in my life.
Mars is sublime — Some seriously cool imaging.
Some Real Mature Women, And Some More Of They Friends... — Ta-Nehisi Coates on the myth of the Golden Age. Money shot: This is a theme residing in the conservative soul--a professed, thinly-reasoned skepticism of the fucked-up now, contrasted against a blind, unquestioning acceptance of the hypermoral past.
?otD: How many lungs does one man need, anyway?
11/5/2009 Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 6.5 This morning's weigh-in: 234.6 Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-11-04 05:01 |
| [links] Link salad sports a metaphor or two |
| Public |
| books, conventions, cool, culture, funny, links, personal, photos, politics, science, trains, videos, weird |
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Yokimo the Goat gets around — World Fantasy Convention from the caprine perspective.
Two Lumps takes on NaNoWriMo — With a sideswipe at Stephenie Meyer.
Bullet train patent design — Mmmm.
The Adventures of Lil' Cthulhu — Want a child-friendly way to introduce your little one to the traditions of the Old Cult? Meet little Cthulhu, who lives in the magic city of R'lyeh with all his friends, as you and your child embark on a fun and educational journey through the world of the Great Old Ones (Thanks to willyumtx.)
RearGear — The ultimate in repressed Americana. Weird. (Thanks to ginastonge.)
Glacier Man — This is very cool.
Why does driving bring out the worst in people? — I've asked this exact question a number of times. The same person who will hold the door for you at the bank will viciously run you to the shoulder in traffic.
CNBC's Darren Rovell: NYC marathon winner not a real American since he's originally from Africa — Best smackdown of Nativism EVAR. And what did you do, Darren, to become an American? You were born here to American parents - that must have been real hard work fighting your way through your mother's birth canal. I'm sure childbirth taught you a lot more about liberty and freedom than a guy who escaped a civil war to come to a land where he could be free.
Making Light with a lot more on the Meb Keflezighi story referenced above — I was struck by Abi Sutherland's comments that "Leaving the US is apparently very unpatriotic; learning about other cultures is suspect, and moving abroad all but treason". I have that problem, too, to a smaller degree. Because of where I was born and how I was raised I don't have a "home town", I'm not "from" anywhere in the usual sense of that phrase. A (former) friend back in Texas used to insist I couldn't possibly be Texan, despite six generations of ancestors there, because I wasn't born in Texas, like she was. To her logic, I'm not even American. Um, no.
?otD: Why is a strike good in bowling but bad in baseball?
11/4/2009 Body movement: 15 minutes of meditation and stretching, 30 minute stationary bicycle ride Hours slept: 6.5 This morning's weigh-in: 233.0 Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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calendula_witch is a birthday girl today
kenscholes on WFC, with an appreciation of me
Wondermark with an incredible (and funny) list of counting terms — Along the lines of "a murder of crows".
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business — Uh huh. (Thanks to willyumtx.)
?otD: Whose birthday is it today?
10/31/2009 Body movement: 50 minute urban walk Hours slept: 4.5 This morning's weigh-in: n/a Currently reading: The Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
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Your Saturday moment of zen.
Photographed by me at the old car picnic in San Francisco. © 2009 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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Lucy Knisley is freaky funny with a 1980s casting of Harry Potter
Will there be snow in Moscow this winter? — Freakonomics looks at weather engineering.
The best gay marriage protest sign EVAR
Cutting Pay, Wall St. vs Main St. — Some very good questions about payouts.
?otD: Do you like to head steam?
10/24/2009 Body movement: 50 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 7.0 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (traveling) Currently reading: Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-10-23 04:44 |
| [links] Link salad has no bananas today |
| Public |
| art, cool, culture, funny, links, personal, photos, politics, science, videos, weird |
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Moebius and Miyazaki — A short video courtesy of art writing guru James Gurney.
Anatomy of Japanese Folk Monsters
Stop and get your free fag bag — A WWII poster illustrating, among other things, language change.
A Galilean Night — Very nice image from APOD.
Naming the exoplanets — An interesting problem.
Happy Birthday, Earth! — Andrew Wheeler notes the birthday of the world, for the Biblically literal, intellectually stunted among us.
Fox News, the White House and Conservative Hypocrisy — Money shot: And that's the whole point of the strategy, to get their followers to instinctively react to any news that is inconvenient for them by dismissing it as another example of liberal media bias. It's an inoculation against reality and it is very, very effective. Hearing conservatives whine about media bashing is like hearing Paris Hilton whine about Lindsey Lohan being shallow.
?otD: How much appeal do bananas have, anyway?
10/23/2009 Body movement: n/a (schedule issues) Hours slept: 6.0 This morning's weigh-in: 233.4 Currently reading: Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox
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| 2009-10-16 04:58 |
| [links] Link salad calls him Jimmy the Saint |
| Public |
| cool, culture, funny, links, movies, personal, politics, publishing, reviews, science, trains, weird |
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The Washington Post reviews the film adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are" — Money shot: This isn't to say that "Where the Wild Things Are" isn't suitable for children; it's just that it will probably be most enjoyable to children with a working knowledge of Bruno Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment" and psychoanalytic theory.
Scrivener's Error with more bits and pieces on the Google Books Settlement — Including a link to a truly bizarre statement from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, in which Brin appears never to have heard of the Internet, or interlibrary loan, or abebooks.com.
Ragsdale Pioneer Zephyr Train — Mmm. Streamliner.
Soaked — About the great Chicago underground flood. I had forgotten this. Fascinating urban history. (Via Freakonomics.)
When saints collide — More astronomy humor from Ellis Nadler.
A Headline That Will Make Global-Warming Activists Apoplectic — Hmm. Maybe that liberal bias in reality isn't so liberal? Interesting. Though I suspect the data as a whole (ie, ice coverage etc.) will swiftly overturn this finding. It would be a fine thing if I were wrong.
Bush Preemptive Strike Doctrine Under Review, May Be Discarded — The international environment is "more complex" than when President George W. Bush announced the policy in 2002 Actually, the domestic environment is "more sane" than when President George W. Bush announced the policy in 2002.
?otD: How much is that dogie in the window? The one with the beautiful moo?
10/16/2009 Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride Hours slept: 6.75 This morning's weigh-in: 229.8 Currently reading: Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox; Demonhead by Shannon Page
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| 2009-10-14 05:48 |
| [links] Link salad has 99 problems |
| Public |
| cool, culture, funny, links, personal, publishing, science, stories, tech, trains, weird |
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Part II of my clockpunk astronaut novella, "Chain of Stars", is now live at Subterranean
Our Marketing Plan — Publishing humor from The New Yorker. (Via a mailing list I'm on.)
The Collider, the Particle and a Theory About Fate — Weird doings at the LHC. (Thanks to my dad.)
Introducing the Book of Odds — Oh, cool!
Merging video with maps — How you spell "convergence"?
Electric locomotive patent: 1950 — I love this drawing.
?otD: To converge or not to converge, that is the question.
10/14/2009 Body movement: 45 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 6.0 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (traveling) Currently reading: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
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circle23 with a portrait of me — Rocking the steampunk....
Edible steampunk — (Thanks to lt260.)
How many ethnic groups? — Language Log on languages and ethnic groups.
A test for exotic propulsion? — Centauri Dreams with more on interstellar travel, specifically, a novel form of relativistic propulsion.
?otD: How many for Tuesday?
10/13/2009 Body movement: 45 minute suburban walk Hours slept: 6.0 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (traveling) Currently reading: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
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| 2009-10-12 05:51 |
| [links] Link salad heads for LA |
| Public |
| art, books, culture, food, funny, links, mainspring, personal, photos, politics, science, travel, weird |
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Join me for an open dinner tonight (Monday 10/12) in Torrance, CA (LA area) at 7 pm, details here: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
A Thom Tenery airship illustration from x-planes — This could be an illustration for Mainspring and its sequels. Very nice.
A true classic from FAIL Blog — A photo of the entrance to the offices of the National Association of Telemarketers.
Vintage ad for bullet bras, featuring a perv with a telescope — Weird. Just freaking weird.
Night sky over Easter Island
White House: Fox News Is 'A Wing Of The Republican Party' — I'm glad someone in politics has finally found the nerve to acknowledge that Emperor Fox has never had any clothes.
?otD: Rainy days or Mondays?
10/12/2009 Body movement: 60 minute urban walk (hills!) Hours slept: 5.75 This morning's weigh-in: 231.5 Currently reading: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
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Join me for an open dinner in Torrance, CA, tomorrow Monday, 10/12 at 7 pm, details here: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
Does Posting a Calorie Count Change How People Eat?
The awesome graffiti of Tenerife — (Via Dark Roasted Blend.)
The New Plutoid — Not sure what this means, but it's an interesting piece of astronomical art. From Ellis Nadler.
GOP candidate target shoots stand-in for Democratic incumbent — Stay classy, conservative America. It's why we love you.
?otD: Will it make you feel much better?
10/11/2009 Body movement: n/a (will be doing an hour of urban walking later today) Hours slept: 6.5 This morning's weigh-in: n/a (not yet) Currently reading: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman; Unseen Academics by Terry Pratchett
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