Anyone who knows my views on the subject knows I'm a big
supporter of Copyright. I think it's an important part of the
artistic process in these modern times, in that it enables
artists to make a living from their art.

However, the Entertainment Corporations tactics in attempting
to control copyright have gone beyond "extreme" and well into
"deranged".

Off to Eilat for the weekend. Here's hoping the hot and dry
weather allows me to finally get well. This cold has been
going on for almost two weeks, and it's getting ridicolous.

Hey, I'm a Jedi Master. Should I change the name of this site
to DarthEstablishment.org?

I got a bit of criticism in the forum over the Star Wars
satire. Anyone who found that offensive may wish to
steer clear of SNITCH, the Strategic Network of Intelligence
on Terrorism in our Communities and Homeland. Link via
Charlie Stross.

Neil Gaiman exhibits surprise at American Gods' Mythopoetic
Award nomination. Did he not get the memo? You know, the
one that said AG MUST be nominated for ALL genre awards
this year?

Teresa Nielsen Hayden links to this wonderful footage of
water balloons being burst in Zero-G. Beautiful.

"We lost our innocence that day," reflected one mourner. "I guess we thought we
were immune from the kind of violence that happens in other galaxies. We were wrong."

"I lost hundreds of buddies that day," said one teary-eyed Stormtrooper. "Guys
whose only crime was trying make the Universe a safer place."

One sample of this timely bit of writing from Slashdot.
Link via Boing Boing.

Bruce Sterling, insightful as ever gives us his views on the
Star Wars Saga.

The Guardian sent reporters to several large bookstores,
for a little quality of service test. Here are the results.
Link via Gary Farber at Amygdala.

Sick as a dog. Coughing my guts out. Very unpleasant.
Drank more tea in the last three days than I ever thought
imaginable.

As most of you know, my translation of George RR Martin's
A Storm of Swords, will be published quite soon by my former
employers at Opus Press. It's an astoundingly excellent book,
which lifts an already excellent series into lofty hights indeed.
I hope my translation of it will turn out to have been equal
to the task. You can sample the translation by reading the
prologue at Bli Panika, and reading the first episode at the
ISSFF website.

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can
read my review of the Song of Ice and Fire series, and
visit the amazing Westeros.org for loads of information.

Posted a new review today - my take on the The Dark Knight Returns, a
watershed in the history of comics. My views on the book are, to say
the least, mixed.

Seatle Times put up this article, justly described by Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing
as being "hysterical", all about the horror of pirated "Attack of the Clones"
DivX files floating about online.

When Spiderman premiered, there was a plethora of pirated versions of it
online. It has already smash several box office records, and appears to
be en route to smashing several others. So who, exactly, is being hurt
by this?

Harry potter is the devil's messenger - now in comics form. Link
via Boing Boing.

Here's a tradition I'd love to see Israeli fandom imitate - DUFF,
the Down Under Fan Fund, which sends a fan to worldcon
every year. There's also the european equivalent, TAFF, the
Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund.

The first review of Douglas Adams' Salmon of Doubt is out.
And the verdict is - uneven, but the title story, which is
85 pages long, is vintage Adams, and well worth our
time!

Neil Gaiman reports that the "coming soon" website for Coraline
is finally up. That's a hell of a blurb from Dianne Wynn Jones.

Frank Hughes, over at espn.com, says that Tim Duncan is
a hero for going back to work a few days after losing his
father. Why? What the hell is so damn heroic about it?

I'm not criticizing Duncan, mind you. I think his choice is
a valid one. But, to my mind, it is no more heroic than staying
at home with his friends and family, and mourning.

Patrick Nielsen Haydn points out that petitiononline.com is running
a petition to change the title of "The Two Towers" because "The title
is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center."

I guess we could have (or should have) seen it coming.

Of course, in this petition eats petition world, someone has already
started a petition to stop the afore mention petition.

Oh, brother.

Finished reading Kelly Link's "Stranger Things Happen" a couple
of hours ago. My review has just been posted. Suffice to say,
it is a fucking brilliant book, with lovely, glittering stories, that
are like nothing else you're likely to read. Off to bed now.

Just did a which muppet are you quiz. Turns out I'm Kermit:

	You are Kermit! Though you're technically the star, you're pretty mellow and don't mind letting others share the spotlight. You are also something of a dreamer.

While, as we all know, it ain't easy being green, I still have to say: Yay me.

As is my habit on the first day of the month, I took the day off.
I did, however, sally forth to the estimable Pikarski literary
agency, and came back with several intriguing books. Most
anticipated of these was Carey's Kushiel's Chosen. Some of you
will recall how much I liked its predecessor, Kushiel's Dart.

Also of note is the fact that I got my greedy hands on Perdido
Street Station again, thus insuring that The Scar will come my
way soon. As soon as my department can handle a book of its
size, I am SO publishing PSS.

Other than that, not much of note. Am very much looking
forward to watching the Oz season opener. Those are always
good.

Let's start off with some essential weblog links:
Patrick Neilsen Hayden's Weblog
PNH is who I want to be when I grow up. He's a senior editor
at TOR, and a wise man.

Neil Gaiman's Blog is pretty much the coolest thing
ever for people like me, who are fans of The Neil.

Schism Matrix is where Bruce Sterling posts links daily.
I mean, he's Bruce fuckin' Sterling!

Well, gooly gee, it's a weblog. Sure aren't enough of those around huh?
And it's in English, because most of the content I'll be linking to is in
English, and because Blogger is easier to use in English. This weblog
will not deal solely with SF and Fantasy related stuff. It's here for whatever
I feel like saying, on whatever topic. Could be sports, film, tv. Could even
be (shudder) politics.

No guarantees on how often I'll be updating this. I actually started this
weblog over a year ago, and abandoned before going public with it. So
we'll see how it goes.