Melinda Snodgrass - Science Fiction Author - Busted Flush - Edge of Reason - Star Trek - July 2009

The Daleks are Coming

Melinda — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Here is the best press release ever in the history of the world --

" We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,”

Let's see, they are developing predator drones that will make their won decisions about when to shoot. Now we've got robots that will feed on biomass to fuel themselves.

What could possibly go wrong?

I haven't had time to wrRead More...

Gutsy Guy

Melinda — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

A Congressman from New York threw down a gauntlet to the Republicans today. He said if they all thought "government health care was so bad" then they should have the courage of their convictions. He proposed an amendment to the health care bill to do away with Medicare.

I know you'll be shocked to read this but -- not a single Reblican was in favor of killing Medicare.

Guess Medicare and military health care aren't soooo bad. My ex-husband Read More...

Limit the Cast

Melinda — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Because of the dearth of science fiction novels I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy recently, and it’s not my preferred reading material. I prefer straight up science fiction. So I tried Night’s Dawn series by Peter Hamilton. (It’s a trilogy in Britain, but published as six volumes in the U.S.)

I have taken to just putting aside books I don’t enjoy and not finishing them. The fact I finished all six books says there was a lot toRead More...

More on Health Care

Melinda — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Paul Krugman has a fascinating column in the NYT's today. Here is a sample and read the entire article here.

"Reform, if it happens, will rest on four main pillars: regulation, mandates, subsidies and competition.

By regulation I mean the nationwide imposition of rules that would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on your medical history, or dropping your coverage when you get sick. This would stop insurers from gaming the system by covering only heRead More...

Harry Potter

Melinda — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Last week Ian and I went off to the Harry Potter movie. Despite the flaws and the letdown of the final book, I still really love this series. Hogwarts is a real place for me, and Harry, Ron and Hermione are equally real.

This movie did a very nice job with the character development part of the story. One of the real surprises and frankly, treat was the performance turned in by Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy.

In short I enjoyed the film right up to the endRead More...

Health Care

Melinda — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I've been watching this debate with desperate attention. I've been calling Congress and the White House. Because I'm one of those people with a pre-existing condition that means I'm an automatic deny for purchasing an individual policy.

It seems likely my taxes will go up, and that's okay because here's the financial breakdown with which I've been dealing.

Carl and I founded a two person company so we could qualify for "group" insurance. ThRead More...

Moon Landing

Melinda — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I meant to post yesterday, but life intruded. It was the fortieth anniversary of the Moon landing. For geeks like us it feels like a lost opportunity, but it was still one of the most profound experiences of my life.

I've only had two such moments brought to me courtesy of television. Moments when I could only sit and cry. One was Apollo 11, and the other was the night Obama won the presidency.

So what went wrong with NASA? Tom Wolfe had a really inteRead More...

Three Temples

Melinda — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

After leaving Bodrum we wound our way through the countryside in search of more great temples. Walter’s guide book described the temple to Zeus at Euromos as the one of the best preserved temples in Asia.

While we were driving down the narrow blacktop road we came upon a tiny donkey loaded down with olive branches. The pile of branches was literally taller than the donkey and twice as wide, and you could just barely make out it’s little head in a red cloth Read More...

Interview

Melinda — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I gave an interview to a gaming website. The proprietor, Randolf Carter, asked some very interesting questions, and I think you might find it interesting. He also interviewed Daniel Abraham, and Daniel is always incredibly thoughtful on issues of writing and creativity.

You can find the interview(s) here.

Movies Movies

Melinda — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I’ve seen a couple of films since the debacle that was Terminator. The Taking of Pelham 123, and last night I went and saw The Hangover. Both were quite good, but The Hangover wins. Pelham had good performances (how can you go wrong with Travolta and Denzel Washington), and thank god Tony Scott got his jiggle, shake cam out of his system during the opening credits.

But the script left the tracks (forgive the pun) when they decided to take the hRead More...

Horse Show

Melinda — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I spent the Fourth of July riding in a horse show down in Albuquerque. I hadn't shown a horse in four years. I'd taken some time off to really work on Intermediare II, and the three years ago my Steppi died.

I was really nervous, and I almost bailed out, but I realized I had this wonderful horse and I ought to be enjoying him outside of lessons. Well, it was a great show. I rode in three classes. I won all three, and each test my scores were higher. IRead More...