McDonald's intentionally pisses off religious nut jobs?

Saw THIS little gem over on the Huffington Post. Love the HP (although this great piece comes from Chris Kelly). The quotes are really a "must read" - I genuinely wonder if any of these people decrying the "homos" have even read the effing bible.

Money quote:

I just had a thought -- honest to God, I swear this wasn't where I was heading with this thing; I was just going to make a lot of snotty remarks about reductio ad absurdum and the McFaddin Family's feet -- but it occurs to me that McDonald's has done something brilliant:

They've deliberately offended a demographic they don't want.

For just $20,000, they've chased off all the crazy people who hang McDonald's sputtering and ranting and making me not want to eat there.

It's genius.

Now, if they'd just bring back the McRib.

Book Update: Things are looking up!

Just heard from Paula at Juno... they're asking me to update my bio so that means the release date for Nights of Sin is imminent! Amazon has a release date of Sept. 3, which jibes with what I've heard, although they still don't have a cover illustration posted, which is disturbing. Last time, they had one several months in advance...

Now for a favor: I'm hearing from Paula that Juno will likely *not* do a large second printing of Book 1 (Blood Magic), "unless large chain store orders warrant it". That means that it's likely that places like Barnes and Nobles will *not* have large numbers of Blood Magic to display next to Nights of Sin. I worry because I'm the kind of guy that if he sees a Book 2 of a series that looks good, but Book 1 isn't sitting right there, I'll generally pass on purchasing it.

I hear you ask: "how can I help"? Thrilled you asked. By going to your local bookseller and asking them why they don't have a copy on the shelves! I'm not goig to ask anyone to purchase a second (or third, or fourth) copy of Book 1, even though they do, y'know, make excellent gifts, but maybe just asking might inspire them to order a few more copies.

Last, things are most definitely looking up for me personally. For those that don't know (read as: you haven't been reading this site over the past few months), I've had a bit of personal turmoil lately, but all that seems to be clearing up. But don't worry - I don't begrudge the bad times. They're like stormy nights in the summer here in Ohio: tumultuous and scary and dramatic, what with all the midnight tornado sirens wailing like banshees in the night, but soon enough those squalls blow past, revealing a freshly-scrubbed, rain-drenched landscape ripe for new, growing things.

(This concludes the metaphor/simile portion of today's blog post - thank you for flying with us.)

If you're one of the people that have been helping me out, both personally and professionally (and you know who you are) then I say "thank you" a thousand, thousand times. I'll always appreciate the things you've done for me, and I can't wait to repay the favor - I know you're going through your own crap. Keep your chins up, the smiles on your faces and never let the petty asswipes get you down. You will triumph.

Floating cities are just COOL...

If there's an "up-side" to all the recent weather- and environment-related chaos, it's that people are spending lots of time and resources dreaming up things like THIS.




From the linked site:

Each of these floating cities are designed to hold approximately around 50,000 people. A mixed terrain man-made landscape, provided by an artificial lagoon and three ridges, create a diverse environment for the inhabitants. Each Lilypad is intended to be either near a coast, or floating around in the ocean, traveling from the equator to the northern seas, according to where the gulf stream takes it.

That's simply amazing. And, if built properly, it's self-sustaining, getting all its energy from wind, tide and bio power. Oh, yeah, and it actually absorbs CO2, like the water lily that it resembles.

Science fiction? I think not...

Another first - I just volunteered for the Obama campaign.

Wow... I just filled out a volunteer form for the Obama campaign.

This is a first for me - while I've always considered myself more involved than the usual person and always made a point to vote, this is the first time in my 40 years of life that I've actually been excited about the process. I really think that whoever wins, this is going to be an election against which many, many others are measured. Assuming, of course, that the two main candidates can resist the almost black hole-like gravity of their respective parties and can manage to conduct truly debate-driven campaigns. Here's to hoping that they will.

Wish me luck - I have no idea what to expect from this. My mental picture is of hordes of bustling teen-aged volunteers, most of all of which will make me feel like a dinosaur. Hopefully that won't be the case, and even if it is, well, so what? Nothing wrong with a little old-fashioned idealism. I used to have lots of it - maybe I can get some back.

Retro is NOT always cool...

What's really weird is that I actually remember when stuff like THIS was normal looking. Well, some of it anyway. Man the 70's were a creepy time, but I still remember all the kick-ass toys. Although, looking at this Toys 'R Us Star Trek flyer ad, is it just me, or does the saucer section of the Enterprise here look totally like a boob???

Frea-kay.

Someone shoot me now...

I (Heart) Wil Wheaton

I like Wil Wheaton's blog site... He just seems like a guy I'd like to sit and chat with, and not (just) because he was on ST:TNG.

In THIS POST, he talks about a book creating a bridge with his teen-aged son. It's a solid, human peice like all his work, but as a parent, this line really nailed it for me:

I don't know what it's like for other parents of teenagers out there, but getting Nolan to pick up a book for more than three pages has been nearly impossible for the last eighteen months or so. He used to love reading, but . . . well, there are new friends at school this year. 'nuff said.

I don't have scientific data to back me up, but I've anecdotally witnessed a direct relationship between someone's willingness to read and their level of education, success, expectations for themselves, and general, uh, interestingness they bring to the table. I guess that makes me one of those "elitists" we keep hearing about, but with that in mind, you may understand why it's been pretty damn important to me that I instill a love of reading in my kids. (Emphasis mine)

Bullshot...

Once again, the Onion totally nails it.