This afternoon I saw the second Hobbit movie, the second of three based on a modestly-sized children’s book by JRR Tolkien. Not surprisingly, there is middle-of-the-trilogy syndrome.  The first part set up the characters and situation, and all will be resolved in the third movie; the middle begins no place in particular, and ends on […]

It’s Nag Your Friends Day— if, that is, y0u have any friends who would benefit from attending Taos Toolbox, next year’s master class for science fiction and fantasy. During its six years, Taos Toolbox has generated no less than six Hugo nominations for its graduates.  We don’t promise you a Hugo award if you attend, but […]

Flying twice across the Pacific, I had little to do but watch movies and eat peanuts.  So I saw a lot of movies, many of them last summer’s blockbusters.  These are the ones I remember. Red2: A by-the-numbers action film, with none of the wit and spark of the original.  The heroes chase plot coupons for […]

Nelson Mandela, the last of my great heroes, has passed away. There’s little I can do to add to the long list of Mandela tributes pouring forth from across the world, save to add this: he led his country through profound revolutionary change, and he did it without a bloodbath.