KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life

Spent the two days following the end of the Baltimore Comic-Con taking some mental health time out of town, which was fantastic on several levels. Besides getting to watch both the Yankees and Phillies complete their ALDS sweeps of the Twins and Rockies, respectively, I got to go bowling, and also check out some bookstores.

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Anyhow, I'm back home now -- off to the dojo tonight for regular class, fighting class, and a black-belt promotion review class. Vootie....

While at a B&N in Exton, Pennsylvania yesterday, I found books by two friends that I'd been meaning to pick up. The first is Flesh and Fire, the first of Laura Anne Gilman's (suricattus) "Vineart War" series, which is just out this week in hardcover from Simon & Schuster. This is fantasy with an oenophilic twist, taking advantage of the author's love for wine, and quite a departure from Laura Anne's "Retrievers" series of urban fantasy novels. Do check it out.

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The other book is Robert Greenberger's Iron Man: Femmes Fatales, which takes place in a slightly alternate Marvel universe, and involves SHIELD, Hydra, and the Maggia -- all longtime foes of ShellHead in the comics.

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I'm eagerly looking forward to these two books, and not just because friends of mine wrote them. Well, in the former case, it's kind of true, because I heard a lot about F&F while Laura Anne was writing it, but that just increased my enthusiasm for reading it when it finally was published. Now's my chance.....

Mystery writer Stuart Kaminsky died at the age of 75. He had Hepatitis C, and was awaiting a liver transplant, only to suffer a stroke and become ineligible.

He was an Edgar Award winner for A Cold Red Sunrise in 1989, and was also the writer of the first three CSI: NY novels. I wrote the fourth, and first made contact with him, then. He was gracious and professional and a very nice guy. I'm sorry I didn't get to know him better.

*raises glass*

"Growing up on the Klingon starbase Morska, it was no problem for Klenginem - whose real name is Quvar muHwI' valer - to receive the most different kinds of communication waves, among which also the terran rap-music.

"As a communications officer, it was no problem for him to adapt the songs to the Klingon music, and then he presented his first try to the warriors of the Dark Vengeance Fleet. To make his pseudonym, he used the name of a famous Terran rap-singer, from the 'Klingon Eminem' he got the name 'Klenginem.'

"As the response was larger than expected, having fans up til high command, Klenginem made several new songs. To reach a larger audience, and become famous throughout the galaxy, some of the songs were also sung in federation standard, and some terran and Klingon melodies folksongs were included into Klenginem's repertoire.

"Now, with his third album, Hard Rock for Klingons, Klenginem now dares a complete Heavy-Metal-only album. It includes a few known titles, but also some completely new pieces.

You can't make this shit up. *laughs* Thanks to wrenn for the link....