tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80882902047105846512011-08-27T11:20:46.122-07:00Eldrad must live!David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.comBlogger1131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-11036943990818734302010-03-26T16:14:00.000-07:002010-03-26T16:22:20.237-07:00

This historic document came into my possession many years ago.  Note item four!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-8227666177709500152010-03-01T10:39:00.000-08:002010-03-01T11:39:31.470-08:00

I can finally announce that I will be writing the fourth and final episode of Big Finish Productions' latest Gallifrey series of audio dramas.  "Gallifrey" is a "Doctor Who" spin-off, and it's basically "The West Wing" with Timelords.  The series features three of my favorite classic companions: Romana (Lala Ward), the only Timelord ever to travel with the Doctor, and Leela (Louise Jameson),

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-39184728513449956752010-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:002010-02-24T23:48:16.481-08:00

This weekend Audry and I will be all over GALLIFREY ONE, the legendary Doctor Who convention, at the L.A. Airport Marriott.  If you're attending, please look us up!  See the comments for our schedule. DAVID'S PANELS: Saturday, 1 PM, Programming Room 3: It's The End, But the Moment Has Been Prepared For: Fan Reactions to Character Deaths. Saturday, 2 PM: Programming Room 3: Star Trek in the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-1143121298828854792010-01-10T11:11:00.000-08:002010-01-10T23:21:05.902-08:00

I started writing professionally in 1972, which meant I wrote on a typewriter.  My weapon of choice was the IBM Selectric -- simply the greatest typewriter ever made, with a beautiful, ergonomic keyboard that rewarded you with silky-smooth action and supple tactile feedback every time you pressed a key. Eventually I switched to a dedicated word processer made by IBM, so of course the keyboard

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-5038892328710426462010-01-07T00:15:00.000-08:002010-01-08T00:43:25.213-08:00

I don't remember how I first met Samuel R. Delany, the science fiction writer known as Chip to his friends.  I think my parents had something to do with it.  I know I proselytized endlessly to them about Chip and other writers of SF's New Wave, which was then at its cusp.  And my parents knew another SF writer, Tom Disch (though again, I have no idea how), so I suspect it was through Tom's

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-487883074467578072010-01-01T13:24:00.000-08:002010-01-01T13:25:39.061-08:00

This is for Bryce Malek and anyone else who was a computer gearhead way back when.  A piece from a Bay Area public television station about the revolutionary new IBM PS/2 personal computer, from 1987.  Is it the biggest innovation in computing since the original PS, six years earlier?  Will users go for the hi-res 1024×768 screen resolution?  Will OS2 at last bring true multitasking to home

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-52071103710464813082009-11-26T22:06:00.000-08:002009-11-26T22:06:59.832-08:00

If you'd like to hear me being grilled for an hour by a pair of fans from the UK about Transformers, TMNT, Star Trek, and other exciting chitchat and behind-the-scenes stuff, click here.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-21868291519232538462009-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:002009-11-26T12:46:16.203-08:00

If you've ever wondered what an auditorium full of girls sounds like when a newly-buff werewolf peels his shirt off, this is your lucky day: As you might guess, Audry and I went to see Twilight: New Moon last night. It was the 7:00 showing, so the theater was filled to bursting with girls aged 9 to 19, and they put on quite a show. As for the movie itself (what I could hear of it, anyway),

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-73191693364901272602009-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:002010-01-07T11:47:52.574-08:00

There is a palpable nostalgia these days, shared by me, for those long-lost Lp covers of yore.  The art of the album cover flourished from the advent of the Lp in the mid-50's and died in the mid-80's, when the rise of the 5" by 5" CD reduced the canvas on which graphic designers plied their craft to a sub-postcard size.  Ever since I spent a sunny afternoon in May 1967 poring over the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-78057061316600914922009-11-13T00:40:00.000-08:002009-11-13T00:41:12.297-08:00

The  cover copy of the Chinese edition of Liz Lemon's Dealbreakers book:  "The book for you, man no good, by Lesbian Flower Sour Fruit."

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-40706782737716488202009-11-05T11:18:00.000-08:002010-12-28T21:08:31.207-08:00

It was the spring of 2001, and Audry and I were looking at wedding dresses at various boutiques on Ventura Boulevard. There was one in particular that Liz Sage (who had diabolically tricked me into becoming engaged and who would end up marrying us) had recommended. When I saw it in the window, my reaction was the same as Audry's had been: Ugh. On the blank mannequin, it looked Victorian and

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-65351452501572463722009-10-29T22:12:00.000-07:002009-10-29T22:12:40.675-07:00

Tracy: "This is going to be the scariest Princeton parents' weekend ever!" (Bonus cultural references from Yours Truly: Jenna says "Cowabunga" and there is a woman dressed as Optimus Prime at the gay Halloween party.)

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-54878987577263438182009-10-23T23:59:00.000-07:002010-08-29T15:52:01.112-07:00

Ask the average person who Harry Nilsson is, and if they're of a certain age they'll probably scrunch up their face and say, "The name sounds familiar..." and if they're under 40 they probably won't have the faintest idea. But mention "Me and My Arrow," or "Without You" or "Everybody's Talkin'" or say "Put de lime in de coconut," and odds are good that no matter their age, their eyes will light

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-72987445966990104172009-10-23T17:33:00.000-07:002009-10-23T17:47:17.631-07:00

Ever wonder whatever happened to the old Johnson-Smith Catalog? You know, the one with the X-ray specs and fake dog poop? It grew up and mutated into this unbelievably awesome website, where you can buy handerpants and yodelling pickles and paintings of squirrels in their underwear! Check it out!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-60355502352466081942009-10-12T21:19:00.000-07:002009-10-14T17:39:58.956-07:00

In reading Chip Delany's About Writing, I came across the following provocative sentence:"One way or the other, directly or indirectly, good fiction tends to be about money."I think (hope?) what Chip is referring to is not money per se, but its effects on people -- in their circumstances, in having or not having it, in the pursuit of it, and in the effects it has on peoples' emotions.It's a great

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-47574085133219569852009-10-05T20:57:00.000-07:002009-10-05T22:05:02.557-07:00

From an unpublished novella called "Wonderland," which I finished in 1999:"Her words seemed to thaw out some sort of ice dam inside of me..."From Richard Russo's That Old Cape Magic, published this year:"[He] felt some ice dam in his heart break apart..."Okay, maybe he says it better than me, but still... Get out of my head, Russo!I won't say my story's better, but it does have lots more

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-71896081315485428062009-09-28T13:20:00.000-07:002009-09-28T13:25:47.323-07:00

And some are born stupid with a cell phone in their pocket.This is what you get for messing with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman while they're working:Other than their convenience and usefulness in an emergency, is there any worse invention in recent memory than the mobile phone?

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-27246330458468386012009-09-27T09:44:00.000-07:002009-09-27T10:00:03.827-07:00

So this is what the Beatles look like in the new Rockband game -- Four lifeless, soul-less marionettes:Jeeze! They looked way better in the old Saturday morning cartoon! God save us from CG.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-73099076502978922422009-09-25T10:17:00.001-07:002009-10-14T17:42:13.240-07:00

I just received an email from Foyles Bookstore (the place where we bought all those books when we were in London), and among the new-release announcements was a list of the chain's top ten bestselling books. At the top was that new Dan Brown thing, of course, but I was surprised to see the great Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities at number nine. Wow -- a 35-year-old structuralist postmodern

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-43799862586957685162009-09-24T11:32:00.000-07:002009-10-01T22:48:25.453-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times ran a review of a new DVD edition of three Toho films: The H-Man, The Battle in Outer Space, and Mothra. The piece was insightful, largely favorable, and nearly a page long. (You can read it here.)Schnikey! How the Times have changed! In 1956, NYT critic Bosley Crowther called the original Godzilla "an incredibly awful film" and derided everything

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-23771128426536888522009-09-23T11:11:00.000-07:002009-09-23T11:22:28.814-07:00

So the Dalai Lama went to Memphis... (Note: Raw video, good stuff is all in the first minute.)

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-82653411045971913962009-09-21T11:11:00.000-07:002009-09-21T11:13:13.583-07:00

It was only a matter of time.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-56544362637479360092009-09-06T19:37:00.001-07:002009-09-08T18:47:38.124-07:00

Recently: Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher. (Research.) The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kaddath by H.P. Lovecraft. (The old Ballantine Adult Fantasy edition from 1970 – and it’s the first time I’ve read it!) The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas.Gothic! (YA short-story collections; more research and a MAJOR slog.)The Writer’s Tale by Russell T. Davies. The Doctor Who writing process, by a genius

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-69434058578202433812009-09-06T15:26:00.000-07:002009-09-06T15:31:45.061-07:00

They've sighted and tagged several great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-53408585558695517602009-08-31T14:03:00.000-07:002009-08-31T14:07:45.295-07:00

You may have heard we've got a little fire going here in L.A. Here it is in timelapse:Thanks to "Doodles" Cuden for the heads-up.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-90287356991018146812009-08-29T14:44:00.000-07:002009-08-29T14:47:33.078-07:00

Bugs Bunny in "Glen or Glenda"

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-79053306345071873492009-08-22T11:05:00.000-07:002009-08-22T16:47:07.995-07:00

We went to two movies this week. The first was "District 9," and I liked it a lot without quite loving it. As we came out of the theater, I commented to Audry that I wished some of the key sequences had a little more "Speilberg" to them. I was speaking about cinematic technique, but on terms of story, it actually does have some Speilberg in it. Because the dirty little secret at the heart of

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-39288180747152855192009-08-19T16:22:00.000-07:002009-08-19T16:37:36.769-07:00

Okay, it's kinda funny, but if I were a woman I would be so offended by this.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-67463902002296369902009-08-05T16:17:00.000-07:002010-01-17T11:34:56.101-08:00

...Aside, that is, from putting the phrase "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" into virtually every TV series  I've written since 1978* and having a bunch of Decepticons running around screaming "Exterminate!" in an episode of Transformers. According to this entry in the Transformers Wiki, the BBC sound effect for the Dalek control room was used in one of my Transformers episodes! I'm

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-2783205284901462932009-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:002009-08-04T21:40:38.298-07:00

Here's the mind-bender of the month: the Geo 600 Gravitational Wave Detector recently began picking up noise believed to be made by the breakdown of the space-time continuum. If true, this would prove that the entire universe is merely a blurry holographic projection of a two-dimensional reality at the boundary of space-time.And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go lie down...

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-14250320594384659552009-07-29T19:54:00.000-07:002009-07-29T20:07:07.832-07:00

are so bloody boring. Which is why I decided that none of the videos of our June trip would be more than ten minutes long. So grab a glass of schnapps, strap yourself in, and enjoy our week in Germany and Austria in under six minutes.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-30756678462741196672009-07-22T00:40:00.000-07:002009-07-22T00:50:06.581-07:00

Just stumbled across this. I guess Mom must have given them his papers. They also have an audio interview with him from 1971. No idea who interviewed him. (They also have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the Smithsonian, so I guess there's a little piece of me in there as well.)His original Cleveland gallery, of which I have virtually no memory:

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-80784430947384821282009-07-18T00:20:00.000-07:002009-07-26T13:47:52.612-07:00

...during the filming of the Season Two opening episode of Star Trek, "Amok Time." And with a mischievous grin he tells her a line that's been going around the soundstage:You have to pay T'Pauto prongT'Pring.Unfortunately, I shut off Audry's little Flip Mino camcorder an instant before Dorothy herself told this anecdote, but I did manage to capture most of the highlights of this historic

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-62297019859727251062009-07-17T15:25:00.000-07:002009-07-17T15:28:18.027-07:00

"Please, this is my chance to be kicked to death in a movie!" Now with Emmy-nominated extra goodness.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-64955707779736430102009-07-14T12:14:00.000-07:002009-07-14T12:23:55.840-07:00

From Steve (I wish he was a monkey) Cuden comes this astounding little clip. You may have already seen it, but it's worth a repeat.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-63196244787236381042009-07-03T15:12:00.000-07:002009-07-03T15:16:31.031-07:00

The June 12th eruption of the Sarychev Volcano off the coast of Japan, as seen from the International Space Station:

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-27727047125987068352009-07-02T17:54:00.001-07:002009-07-02T17:57:19.046-07:00

was a block down Sixth, at Joe Jr’s, one of those authentic NYC diners (run by Greeks, of course) that serves nothing but great food. Even the fruit cocktail is awesome, as you shall see.Now I’m back – with a stomach virus, or shellfish poisoning, or something. Blurg.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-78588576150608771082009-06-25T07:59:00.001-07:002009-06-25T07:59:43.081-07:00

Six days of nearly continuous clouds and rain.  I’ve been amusing myself by writing a Lovecraft pastiche about a rainstorm that never ends and a high tide that refuses to go out.  Our house has no heating other than fireplaces, and over the weekend it was so cold that Audry and I had to run down to Eastham for some portable heaters.  Audry bought an adorable knit wool fisherman’s cap, and now she

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-66083520958905888302009-06-19T07:27:00.000-07:002009-08-05T18:04:38.632-07:00

One thing that seems to have followed us from Germany to London to Cape Cod is bad weather. All the way up on the drive from New York to Wellfleet people kept saying to us "Sorry about the rain." Rain? What rain?Oh, that rain. A week of it. At least. Everything is gray and damp.Here's a non-sunny view of the Breuer House, going out to my main man Bob Crais:Still, gray days on Cape Cod have

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-50723732946928806402009-06-19T06:54:00.000-07:002009-09-25T11:28:08.028-07:00

Walking around London on our last day here, I couldn't help but notice the "Transformers" and "Star Trek" posters on virtually every bright red double-decker bus.All that was needed was a new TMNT movie, and I'd have had a perfect hat-trick. It got me thinking about the influence I've had on culture, and my strange place in it. I have been involved in myth-making and character creation for some

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-7920640523307748552009-06-14T14:46:00.001-07:002009-09-28T13:31:52.632-07:00

Today we went walking in Hyde Park, through to the adjacent Kensington Gardens. We walked along the Serpentine and watched the ducks and swans, all of whom are extremely good at begging for food.Kensington Gardens is home to the famous statue of Peter Pan. The park has many connections to Peter; J.M. Barrie lived across the street from the park, conceived his idea of a story for a boy who

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-615193278297919812009-06-14T13:55:00.000-07:002010-01-19T14:36:48.645-08:00

Yesterday, Audry and I took a high-speed train from Paddington to Cardiff. At the end of the two-hour trip, we made an immediate beeline for the Red Dragon Centre, which is sort of like a mall, only more entertainment-oriented (restaurants, arcades, a multiplex). It also seems to play host to a swap meet. Our destination, however, was the massive Doctor Who exhibition in the middle of the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-3019323363693633502009-06-13T15:58:00.000-07:002009-06-13T16:00:56.537-07:00

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-59376416880191255622009-06-13T14:53:00.001-07:002009-09-25T11:29:04.679-07:00

The other day we were out and about in London. We got caught up in the midst of the Palace Horse Guard for the second day in a row......And encountered the gayest cab in all of London.We soon found ourselves on the fringe of the West End...and street after street of little antiquarian bookshops.Hey, look! They have Tintin! And P.G. Wodehouse!Evidently Daleks are bibliophiles. (This is an

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-74270837326492809612009-06-13T13:36:00.000-07:002009-09-25T11:29:23.822-07:00

So Audry and I went to a church in London called St. Martins-in-the-Fields. I have been aware of this place for decades, as it is the home base of the Academy of St. Martins-in-the-Fields, my favorite chamber orchestra. (You've heard them. They played most of the music in "Amadeus.")What I didn't know was that St. Martin's is in the heart of London, right next to Trafalgar Square. Because of

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-33795656659572772642009-06-12T15:03:00.001-07:002009-06-12T15:16:37.156-07:00

I went with Audry to Hampton Court, outside of London, where Henry VIII held many of his revels. This shot is looking down the great hall from where Harry sat. Now you know what it feels like to be Henry VIII. Don't thank me all at once.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-35147116258695516192009-06-11T12:03:00.000-07:002009-09-25T11:29:54.550-07:00

We're staying at the Cumberland, across from the Marble Arch at Hyde Park. It's an older hotel that has been ruthlessly modernized. The fine line between clever and stupid, which David St. Hubbins spoke of in "This is Spinal Tap," is razor-thin here, and I'm inclined to think the whole place falls on the far side of stupid.The lobby lights are blue here, but they change color throughout the day

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-50152782775034688682009-06-11T11:58:00.000-07:002009-09-25T11:30:19.411-07:00

Later that day, we arrived in London, and had dinner with our dear friend Rob Shearman (writer of the superb Doctor Who episode, "Dalek.") Afterward, we went to a pub for a pint of nice, rich Badger Ale. Very good to be in London, with such good company.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-45820638762562018402009-06-11T11:47:00.000-07:002009-06-11T11:52:07.061-07:00

Our four days of touring at an end, we left for the Stuttgart airport -- on the Autobahn, at 145 miles an hour.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-49737442741928731082009-06-11T11:41:00.000-07:002009-06-11T11:47:14.844-07:00

The day before we went to Neuschwanstein, Audry's dad took us to this church. Not bad on the outside...But on the inside -- holy schnitzle!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-68586819156182702552009-06-11T10:52:00.000-07:002009-06-11T11:40:02.427-07:00

Once upon a time, a young man dreamed a dream. Even though the age of knighthood was long past, and kings and princes had been reduced to figureheads, and the centers of power had moved from palaces to office buildings, the young man dreamed of castles in the clouds where fairytale dreams really could come true if you wished upon a star.That young man's name was Ludwig II of Bavaria.During the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-3732801716731733592009-06-11T07:50:00.000-07:002009-06-11T08:14:59.375-07:00

On Friday morning we set off for Austria in general and Salzburg in particular. Salzburg is a quaint town. Very quaint. Highly quaint. Full of quaintiosity.Quite quaint. I mean like, really quaint.If this all seems a bit Fantasyland to you, well, I'm sure that's what the Disney designers thought when they came here in the early 1950's.Here is a typical Salzburg shop. How many things can you

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-52791999563973267882009-06-10T13:32:00.000-07:002009-06-10T14:00:55.314-07:00

Audry's dad met us at the Frankfurt Airport, and after the two-hour drive to their house in the Black Forest, immediately scooped up his wife and Audry's brother Clarke and whisked us all off for a FOUR hour drive to the Edelweiss Lodge & Resort in Garmusch, in the foothills of the Alps near Berchtesgaten. The Edelweiss is an Armed Forces Recreation Center, and Audry, Clarke and I were among the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-24472267013087042422009-06-10T13:20:00.000-07:002009-06-12T08:41:16.768-07:00

Here is Audry at LAX, waiting for the first leg of our flight, from L.A. to Chicago, with a change of planes before flying to Germany. Naturally, she looks better in my hat than I do.And here is Audry, 24 hours later, at the restaurant of the Airport Hyatt in Chicago, where we spent the night because our flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was cancelled. Oh, boy. It's gonna be one of those trips.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-33728556823025063742009-06-10T12:08:00.000-07:002009-06-10T13:17:27.242-07:00

Behold the wonders of a tiny Flip HD camera and in-room internet access.I'll be posting later about the past week. Stay tuned.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-90668791707067263782009-05-30T22:46:00.000-07:002009-05-30T23:02:34.672-07:00

I'll be on a panel of Transformers writers at Botcon tomorrow (Sunday the 31st) in Pasadena along with my good friend Bryce Malek, and my archenemy Flint Dille. (Actually, Flint's a friend too; I just always wanted to have an archenemy.) I probably should have posted that exciting news a few days ago. I post it now in order to drive the blog entry directly below a little closer to oblivion.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-91525477306435512772009-05-30T17:16:00.000-07:002009-05-30T17:22:02.319-07:00

Every now and then I see something that makes me feel like I'm living on the wrong planet. A Hallmark card that said "Congratulations On Your New Piercing" was one. This is another. And yes, it really is from Gilette.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-43257794814514605872009-05-28T13:17:00.000-07:002009-05-28T13:24:36.281-07:00

Audry was up at 5 in the morning today, and the song of the birds in the front yard so impressed her that she whipped out her Flip HD and shot this.Meanwhile, I was upstairs, sound asleep, dreaming of -- Dan Quayle? Yaaaaugghhh! No more MSNBC before bed!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-37727202950672902532009-05-27T15:04:00.000-07:002009-05-28T13:51:19.945-07:00

In the field of intelligence analysis, the CIA has a concept called mirror imaging: the belief that your opponent will think and behave and hold the same values as you do. It is not far-removed from the psychological notion of projection.What follows is the most graphic showcase of mirror-imaging one could ask for:Yeah, Beck -- maybe it is just you.For the record, the quote they're all freaking

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-87977780022690347532009-05-26T12:22:00.000-07:002009-05-26T12:31:17.673-07:00

Great artists such as Saul Steinberg and James Thurber have drawn covers for the New Yorker. This week, the cover was made on an Iphone.It's all courtesy of an app called Brushes, and the talented fingers of Jorge Colombo.You can read more about it here.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-25605124442119999772009-05-25T23:45:00.000-07:002009-05-27T10:42:49.085-07:00

Is there a less useful form of grammar than the present tense? The question should not be dismissed lightly. The present tense has its place in technical writing -- instruction manuals, textbooks, and such -- in specialized writing such as screenplays, and, I must admit, in blogs such as this one. But in everyday conversation about the only time you use it is when you're talking on a cell

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-68500521206313005422009-05-24T23:52:00.000-07:002009-05-25T09:41:45.846-07:00

The other night I dreamed I met Barak Obama. He was having lunch at the food court of our local mall, with some advisers and a bunch of Secret Service guys. For some reason I had to return his phone book to him. Afterword, I wondered how I would talk about this. After all, it's a pretty big deal, meeting the President of the United States. In my dream, as I left the mall, I started mentally

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-3395805974267427932009-05-24T21:35:00.000-07:002009-05-25T00:31:16.842-07:00

As someone who has left his grubby fingerprints on the "Star Trek" franchise, I figured I'd chime in on the new J.J. Abrams reboot. Even before it opened, the film had my heart for casting Simon Pegg as Scottie, but the rest of the cast is note-perfect as well. I love the redesign of the Enterprise, inside and out, and in fact I wish they'd slowed down a little to let us see more of it. As

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-39815748639556730482009-05-20T23:19:00.000-07:002009-06-13T15:42:31.642-07:00

My belated discovery that H.P. Lovecraft has joined the ranks of the immortals in the Penguin Classics series got me thinking about Penguin books in general, and this book in particular:I've always been fond of a well-designed book (I'm particularly partial to almost any hardbound from Knopf in the 70's, and similarly vintaged Vintage paperbacks), but there is only one publishing company whose

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-39414478263831338252009-05-20T21:50:00.000-07:002009-06-13T15:44:06.489-07:00

Holy Schnitzel! Somewhere out there, there's a geek after my own heart who's a Germano Facetti fan!You can see more of his Penguin Classic videogame covers here.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-52366793496797339482009-05-14T14:52:00.000-07:002009-05-14T14:57:41.157-07:00

So the Pfizer drug company has offered to give free supplies of such drugs as Lipitor and Viagra to people who've recently lost their jobs and health insurance, which prompted this front page headline on the Huffington Post:My wife thinks it's hilarious.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-81990523876577334022009-05-13T19:06:00.000-07:002009-05-13T19:08:46.486-07:00

Dude!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-78681363861326849532009-05-07T10:31:00.000-07:002009-05-07T10:40:53.324-07:00

Last night I dreamed I was discussing the work of Michael Moorcock with Richard Nixon. The disgraced former President said: "We all face times in life when our decisions can alter our very destiny. I call these 'Moorcock moments.'"Clearly, I have to stop watching Chris Matthews before I go to bed.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-15603654128023371072009-05-05T22:05:00.000-07:002009-05-05T22:14:19.546-07:00

Make way for the Amazing Flying Cheese Wedge!Actually, it's a Ferrari concept car from 1970. Click for a large view.(You can finds a lot more of Ron Reznick's amazing photos from the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance here.)

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-54102320635169927542009-05-04T13:47:00.001-07:002009-05-04T13:50:42.655-07:00

I am so going to see this.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-59806802846429756522009-05-03T22:32:00.000-07:002009-06-13T15:43:36.731-07:00

So I have been re-reading H.P. Lovecraft, mainly because I haven't read him lately, but also because I felt it was time to upgrade my tattered old Lancer paperback collections from the 60's with the spiffy collections from Penguin that feature copious annotation by HPL expert S.T. Joshi. So eager was I to jump into the lair of the Elder Gods that I only just now noticed two little words on the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-32082957424704375562009-05-03T10:47:00.000-07:002009-05-31T22:16:32.414-07:00

"I went to live in Scotland for five years and studied as an engineer. I'm that Method."

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-9310296367745927422009-04-29T00:36:00.000-07:002009-04-29T10:11:17.977-07:00

In the first quarter of 2009, one in every six books sold in the U.S. was written by Stephenie Meyer.More proof, as if any was needed, that 14-year-old girls run the universe.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-48029375713044952162009-04-27T12:12:00.000-07:002009-04-27T12:16:20.365-07:00

Because nothing stimulates economic activity like a flu pandemic.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-45527559265547300772009-04-26T20:32:00.000-07:002009-04-26T23:00:33.915-07:00

So between the campus parking and the Festival of Books, we came across a sculpture garden by the UCLA art department. By far the most interesting piece was T.E.U.C.L.A. ("Torqued Ellipse UCLA"),a smaller work by Richard Serra -- and by "small," I mean it was only 18 feet wide and 10 feet tall.Serra's works frequently deceive the eye and change your perception as you walk around (and inside)

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-16530426550353808872009-04-26T16:22:00.000-07:002009-04-26T21:51:03.530-07:00

Every year the Times sponsors this shindig on the UCLA campus, packing the grounds with tents containing publishers, booksellers, authors and others. Hadn't been to one since '05, when we went with my sister. Plus my friend Bob Crais was doing a panel, so off we set for Westwood. (As always, click on the images to see a larger view.)Audry sez: "I think it's that way!"You would never know the

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-40764713371963537432009-04-22T21:31:00.000-07:002009-04-22T23:45:33.052-07:00

During World War I, German naval artillery used rangefinders with a dual-image convergence system: when the two half-images were aligned, the target ship was in proper range of the ship's gun. The Royal Navy struggled to create a method of thwarting the accuracy of these rangefinders, and the solution came from a most unlikely source: British painter Norman Wilkinson who devised a unique form

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-12696928016412886082009-04-22T21:17:00.001-07:002009-04-22T21:20:45.750-07:00

No, not the "F" word. The part about torture being wrong.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-56340572745691538092009-04-21T18:25:00.000-07:002009-04-21T18:32:47.666-07:00

The Democratic party has made it easy to apologize to Rush Limbaugh.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-258010169415595722009-04-21T16:18:00.000-07:002009-04-21T16:22:19.590-07:00

"I want to see you get better," [Judge] McDermott told Frasure."You want to arm wrestle?" was Frasure's reply before being led from the courtroom by bailiffs.Read the whole story here.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-41048515813115005662009-04-20T00:21:00.000-07:002009-04-20T00:26:39.170-07:00

I stumbled across myself on the Internet Movie Database tonight (they actually list only about two-thirds of my credits, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to add info), and was fairly stunned to find this post.Kinda chokes me up.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-67168207744253429392009-04-19T11:17:00.000-07:002009-05-29T09:21:20.569-07:00

Zowie! Check out these images from the Hubble! (Click to enlarge.)Two mighty spacefleets clashing? No, it's the Ant Nebula.The Sombrero Galaxy:The Cat's Eye Nebula:The Glowing Eyes. (I'm convinced this is where Cthulhu comes from.)And of course, the Eye of Sauron, unblinking, eternally evil...

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-69102842341891411242009-04-17T23:13:00.001-07:002009-04-17T23:31:11.453-07:00

...probably the only person reading this blog who -- well, probably the only person reading this blog, but even more probably the only person reading this blog who will get the following. It's a Tweet I somehow ran across this morning (dear God don't ask me how) by Curt Smith, who is half of the band Tears for Fears.Here's the link, if you must.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-10732505191365775752009-04-16T21:45:00.000-07:002009-04-16T21:58:59.861-07:00

Eight Scottish cops have claimed Jedi as their religion.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-20451515189455643812009-04-15T19:31:00.000-07:002009-04-16T09:21:25.148-07:00

There was a time, between 1981 and 1984, when 11:30 on a Friday evening meant just one thing for me and thousands of other obsessed fanatics: SCTV was on the air! This most brilliant of all sketch comedy shows was made with no budget, no frills, just awesome talents of a group of performers and writers -- among them John Candy, Rick Moranis, Harold Ramis, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Andrea

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-30360901755183410332009-04-13T21:09:00.000-07:002009-04-13T21:11:02.766-07:00

Liz: "Don't worry. I have some Trix up my sleeve."

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-79641815050214964592009-04-13T13:58:00.000-07:002009-04-13T21:28:34.177-07:00

So like any good music freak, I keep a perpetually evolving list of Desert Island Discs in my head. I've been meaning to write it up for years, but when I finally sat down to do it for this blog, a little voice in my head -- correction, a big voice -- kept interrupting me. "There you go, with all the same predictable choices as a People Magazine Top 25 list. And you call yourself a music geek!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-23672007266300286852009-04-08T22:57:00.000-07:002009-04-09T10:43:15.055-07:00

So I mentioned my father's last years of senility to Rob Shearman the other day (god, I'm such a pathetic name-dropper), and it started me thinking I'd like to write something about him here.One.My dad ran a paint company until the early 1950's when, shortly after the death of both his father and his first wife, he sold the company and determined to devote his life to art. He attempted painting,

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-54263731236495509172009-04-06T16:05:00.001-07:002009-04-06T16:10:23.932-07:00

My friend Len Wein's house burned this morning. The good news is that Len and Christine and Michael are all okay. The bad news is is that they lost their dog, half their house, and who-knows-how-much of Len's priceless collection of comic book art. Holy fuck. I've called Len but, no surprise, have not heard back. Thinking about driving over there.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-28914903012067032102009-04-01T20:10:00.001-07:002009-04-01T20:19:17.586-07:00

At last, I can convert my old, obsolete Beta tapes to new, obsolete HD-DVDs!Okay, so it's really one of many great April Fool's jokes on ThinkGeek.com. My other favorite: The Kenner EZ-Bake Disc Drive!Thanks to Scott Sava for the heads-up.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-82748814124294747832009-04-01T09:41:00.001-07:002009-09-23T14:34:48.115-07:00

This aired on the BBC news show "Panorama" on April 1, 1957:And the punchline: when huge numbers of viewers wrote in wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees, the BBC replied: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."This is why I love the British.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-15116074857503358392009-03-30T10:30:00.000-07:002009-05-29T09:36:03.158-07:00

Bob Crais recently asked about the origin of the photo at the top of the blog. It's a digital photo Audry took last September of my family's summer house on Cape Cod. (Here is is again: click for a full-size version.)Here is a 1965 photo of the house I found online. The window directly under the TV antenna is the reflective window on the right side of Audry's shot.Oh, and that bicycle? That's

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-53891101680397539072009-03-29T22:36:00.000-07:002009-04-23T10:00:40.898-07:00

Observation on re-reading the short stories of J.D. Salinger and H.P. Lovecraft: Is it odd that I find Lovecraft's world more familiar and comfortable than Salinger's?Weird and disturbing:Ah, the old familiar haunts!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-69431558015999522122009-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:002009-04-23T09:59:29.936-07:00

Since I'm apparently feeling very cynical today, did you know that agriculture kills millions of animals annually through the preparation of land for farming and the harvesting of crops? Mainly mice, moles, gophers, and the like, not "higher" (well, taller) animals like cows and sheep. But the next time you sit down for a healthy, animal-free bowl of granola, do remember that a family of cute

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-35807688611477202792009-03-28T09:46:00.000-07:002009-03-28T10:17:29.940-07:00

From Reuters: Lights went out at Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event in which landmarks and homes go dark for an hour to highlight the threat from climate change. In Asia, lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines also dimmed as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts."It's been a great success,"

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-31251012080967281072009-03-26T23:02:00.000-07:002009-03-26T23:06:39.307-07:00

Dennis Duffey (Liz's sleazeball ex-boyfriend):"I was recently self-diagnosed as a sex addict."

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-83437053002895969072009-03-26T16:46:00.001-07:002009-03-26T23:07:10.919-07:00

So Audry, who is up in San Francisco at the Game Developers' Conference, has been keeping in touch with me via Twitter. (That's a link to her feed, if by some bizarre happenstance you're interested.) Anyway, apparently she hasn't had to pay for a meal -- or even open a door for herself -- since she got there. This is what being blonde and cute does for you. Some recent Tweets:#gdc reclining

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-15918483797806314532009-03-22T14:09:00.000-07:002009-03-22T14:12:15.311-07:00

They started in a Frank Lloyd Wright building, apparently.

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-74351825020512903782009-03-22T10:44:00.000-07:002009-03-22T14:01:52.262-07:00

Seems that James Crook, a professor in South Carolina, has come up with an algorhythm that solves any Sudoku puzzle, and he's going to publish it tomorrow. Fans of Sudoku are, needless to say, demanding his head on a pike. Crook himself dismisses Sudoku as "a trivial puzzle" and refuses to discuss the matter.It should be noted that Crook's pen-and-paper algorhythm takes about an hour to solve a

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088290204710584651.post-43243705367894378952009-03-20T10:05:00.000-07:002009-03-20T10:20:14.423-07:00

Why does this car look so goofy?Because it flies!Look for clogged skies and debris falling everywhere if this thing catches on. Still, George Jetson would be proud. Here's hoping it makes record time to Spacely Space Sprockets!

David Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17725497475477387280noreply@blogger.com2