The Year In Review

I remembered Hard Boiled (John Woo's last Hong Kong film) as starting with the shootout in the birdcage-Dim Sum restaurant; instead, it begins with Chow Yun Fat playing a clarinet solo over the credits. First, a little heresy. Right after Christmas I bought a small shelf for DVDs. Who'll be next? Or, "Inside Edition: The Nebulas!" Assembly reports are often problematic; those who were in attendance often read such reports only to see if they are mentioned, and those who were not are seeking the sort of gossip and low talk which no self-respecting chronicler would call attention to in a public forum. This is what I've been doing lately, plowing through the revisions of Superpowers, doing mucho research for a couple of new short stories and gearing up for final revisions on a couple of older ones. The latest Strange Horizons has a fascinating (if all-too-brief) interview/conversation between/with Japanese translator/reviewer/editor/writer Yoshio Kobayashi and temporary expat wunderkind Christopher Barzak. My story "Virginie and the Fool" is now live at Ideomancer. I know it sucks, but I've had to enable that bullshit "Word Verification for Comments." I love everyone. You will too.