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Recent Posts
- Aliens Among Us: Probing Hillbillies and Freaking Shut-ins, How Netflix’s “Encounters” and Hulu’s “No One Will Save You” Prep Us for the Coming Alien Apocalypse, Kind of
- My Life as a Bob Odenkirk Character: On How Watching Netflix’s Black Mirror episode “Joan Is Awful” Mimicked My Experience of Watching the AMC series Lucky Hank
- “Bobcats, Bobcats, Bobcats”: Animal Life and a Tribute to “Modern Family”
- “The North Water”: This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Moby Dick
- Day 25: On David Quammen's "Spillover": Terrific Book That Foretold Our Pandemic, Kind of
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Category Archives: Weird Science
Update on "Contagion" Post and Fears of a Bird Flu Pandemic: Researchers Have Cooked Up Super Bird-Flu in a Lab!
So after mentioning that I had watched Contagion recently and posting some musings about pandemic/bird flu fears, which is in the background of my new novel, The Bird Saviors, I was slightly taken aback by the recent news that two … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, Weird Science
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On "Contagion": The World Is Ending Because Gwyneth Paltrow Cheated on Her Husband
So I finally got around to watching Contagion last night, which I’ve been mildly curious about since there’s a hardcore virus epidemic at the core of the story, and in my new novel there’s a flu epidemic angle as well. … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Film, Weird Science
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A New and Suspiciously Warm Year
So after three weeks of offline holiday fun in the snowclad confines of southern Colorado, I’m back in Pennsylvania and noticing what a strange (don’t know about brave) new world it is—one without much of a winter. The excellent website … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Weird Science
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Reading Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows" Offline, amidst a White Christmas
So between wrapping zebra puppets and trees with colored lights, I’ve been reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows while living offline, which is an interesting contrast. He basically argues that our internet use is changing the way our brains work, and … Continue reading
Posted in books, Social Networking, Weird Science
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On Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains"
So in between dressing up stuffed animal rabbits as Rapunzel and noticing that leopard-skin tights, boots, and earmuffs seem to be popular among mallrats, I’m reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (2010). It’s … Continue reading
Posted in books, Education, Weird Science, writing
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On the New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology: Attack of the Dinner Party Zombies!
So I’ve been swamped with work the last few days, not to mention trying to decide what Christmas presents to give family members who fall into the Seriously Irritating category (Ah, festive cheer!), but I have managed to review The … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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Oil Reserves Drop by 90% and Electric Cars Throb: Is That Peak Oil or Are You Just Glad to See Me?
I’m a fan of the concept of Peak Oil, even if I don’t know how valid the actuality of it is: In a nutshell, it makes sense to me that oil will eventually reach it’s peak, that is, the halfway … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Weird Science
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On Dave Eggers's "Zeitoun" & the Odd Feel of Finishing a Book via Kindle: the Latex Comes Between Us
So I’ve just finished reading Dave Eggers’s Zeitoun, and here’s an easy reaction: It’s certainly a good addition to the many books written about the Katrina disaster. It makes you feel ashamed of our government’s disaster preparedness and, in particular, … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science, writing
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On Leslie Kean's "UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record": We Are Not Alone, and the Visitors Have Some Awesome Toys
So I’m a sucker for UFO stories, though I remain a fairly strong skeptic. For instance, the more I’ve learned about the much-vaunted Roswell Incident the more I lean toward it being a rather complicated story of interstellar hooey. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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On Heather Sellers' "You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know," Ken Kesey, & Those Amazing Miners
First off, on this day of all happy days, how can you not be thrilled and chilled by the rescue of the Chilean miners. Like everybody else, I watched on TV and on websites. I was even made proud to … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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