Apparently I can no longer re-toast myself a signature half pastrami, half corned beef sandwich from Mamaleh's without spending the rest of the evening singing the same-named hit from a 1917 American Yiddish musical. The Folksbiene never seems to have revived it and if the rest of the score was as catchy, they really should. (I am charmed that the composer clearly found the nickel conceit tempting enough to revisit in a later show, but that line quoted about the First Lady, didn't I just ask the twentieth century to stay where we left it?)
At the other end of the musical spectrum, spatch maintains it is not American-normal to be able to sing the Holst setting of "In the Bleak Midwinter," which until last night I had assumed was just such seasonal wallpaper that I had absorbed it by unavoidable dint of Christmas—it's one of the carols I can't remember learning, unlike others which have identifiable vectors in generally movies, madrigals, or folk LPs. Opinions?
Thanks to lunisolar snapback, Hanukkah like every other holiday this year seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, but we managed to get hold of candles last night and tomorrow will engage in the mitzvah of last-minute cleaning the menorah.
P. S. I fell down a slight rabbit hole of Bruce Adler and now feel I have spent an evening at a Yiddish vaudeville house on the Lower East Side circa 1926.
Current Music: Bruce Adler & Joanne Borts, "Fifty-fifty"
I am not aware of any big name authors who got their start with a work published by Baen Books after 2006. If there are recent analogs of Bujold or Weber, I do not know of them.
Aside from Larry Correia, are there any big name Baen authors who debuted at Baen, after Jim Baen's death?
(So, Tim Powers wouldn't count because he debuted not at Baen and also long before JB died)
I got three names: Chuck Gannon, Jason Cordova and Mike Kupari. Gannon actually debuted at Baen in 1994 but only two (I think) short pieces, after which there was a long delay until his novels began appearing. I don't know the other two but SF is huge and it's perfectly possible for me to overlook BNAs. Still, granting all three, with LC that makes four... and in 2028, Toni Weisskopf will have been running Baen for as long as Jim Baen did.
This could, of course, be the natural consequence of the Del Monte approach.
Little Known Galaxy is a farming sim IN SPACE I ended up with an extra key for in a bundle. I have played a little and it didn't grab me but it wasn't terrible and has good reviews. Mac and PC compatible.
At this point if I have a circadian rhythm it seems to be measured in days, but last night after two doctor's appointments and an evening of virtual seminars through the euphemistically designated career center, I fell over for something like a cumulative thirteen hours and still got through this afternoon's calendar of calling more doctors and the next stage of the career center in time to run out into a cold pastel sunset out of which the occasional flake of snow drifted with insulting singularity. I am delighted by the rediscovery of silent Holmes and also by my camera's cooperation when trying again for the beautiful fungi I had spotted on an earlier walk, clustered on the stump of what used to be a sidewalk tree and has now pivoted to Richard Dadd. I dreamed intensely and have no idea what Alex Horne was doing in there.
The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) Board of Directors is saddened to announce that Erica Frank and Kathryn Soderholm have resigned from their roles as Board Directors for personal reasons. Their resignations are effective as of December 11, 2025.
Erica was elected to her seat in 2024, and her term was set to end in 2027; her seat will be filled in the upcoming election as a one-year term. Kathryn was elected to her seat in 2023, and was already scheduled to be replaced in the upcoming election. In the meantime, both of their seats will remain vacant.
We would like to thank Erica and Kathryn for their service as members of the Board and for their years as OTW volunteers. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
As the title indicates, "Threnody for Five Actors" is a ghost poem for its subjects and its inclusion in On Actors and Acting: Essays by Alexander Knox (ed. Anthony Slide, 1998) is maddening because it is accompanied only by the note, "This poem is from an unpublished manuscript titled Screams and Speeches. The five actors named here were all victims of the Blacklist." First of all, you can't drop the existence of an entire manuscript at the very end of a slim selected works and expect the interested reader not to scream, especially when the only copy the internet feels like telling me about seems to be held in a collection in the Library and Archives of Canada, which feels currently even less accessible than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Secondly, and speaking as a person who has been called out for the density of allusion in their stories and poetry, this poem could have done with some notes. The editor was obviously concerned enough about name recognition to parenthesize Julie Garfield as John and Bud Bohnen as Roman, but then why not list their dates so that the reader can see for themselves that all five actors died between 1949 and 1952, mostly of heart ailments, stressed by the hounding of the FBI and HUAC, at the grandly superannuated ages between 39 and 59? If you don't know that Mady Christians originated the title role of John Van Druten's I Remember Mama (1944), then her verse will make much less sense, but catching that one makes me wonder what other references I may be missing, such as in the stage work of Canada Lee or J. Edward Bromberg. Lastly, since it's the only poem I have ever read by Alexander Knox—instantaneously in October, but it's been a rough fall—if he wrote any others I'd like to be able to read them, even if just for comparison. Slide mentions his wicked limericks in the introduction, but unforgivably includes none.
With this one example to go by, he was a better playwright than poet, but except for the self-deprecation which should definitely have hit the cutting room floor, it's hard to want to edit much out of a poem with so much anger at the injustice of a country that wastes its artists in scapegoating xenophobia, besides which there's at least one good line per actor and sometimes more. He wouldn't even have been living in the United States by the time of its writing, having burned off the last of his contract with Columbia by the end of 1951. He hadn't burned off his anger. No reason he should have. I may be confused by the existence of his Hollywood career, but I'm still pissed about the politics that snapped it short. The twentieth century could stop coming around on the guitar any measure now. On Sunday, I'll be at the HFA.
There are 11 days left. I’m so excited to get this game into your hands soon!
One of the special tiers I’m offering is a custom collage made out of the prototype game cards. Since that’s a bit hard to visualize, I made a little video demonstrating the process:
Each collage will be unique — assembled from whatever frame and cards I have on hand. I think they’ll turn out pretty cool!
Bonus Cards
I also want to share a little about the 3bonus cards that are available to backers.
While the game will presumably be available in my online store* next year, these bonus cards won’t be — they’re exclusive to the launch (and subsequent pledge manager).
These are all “Patron” cards, meaning, they’re objectives you can meet in the game to earn points. Each Patron has a “pattern” they’re looking for, and they’ll pay you if you can fulfill their request with the creature you’re building.
The Gax card is a bit of a tricky one to claim because there are only 12 blank parts in the entire game (blank parts are customizable parts that can become heads, hands, feet, etc.). For this reason, I downgraded the requirement from 4 parts to 3 after the last round of playtesting.
But Gax, as longtime readers know, is a shapeshifter — so it seems appropriate that he’s most interested in parts that can change their form and type.
The Gax card was a free bonus for the very earliest backers of the first campaign! For everyone else, it’s available à la carte (as an add-on) for a nominal fee.
The Piranhamoose card is the only card that actually changes the shape of your creature when you claim it — because the Piranhamoose actually eats the parts! (As it is well-known to do.)
The Piranhamoose card is a free bonus for all repeat backers — i.e., you’ve backed any of my previous projects on Kickstarter or BackerKit. Just DM me on Kickstarter and say “Hey, it’s me again!” and I’ll add it to your order! (OG repeat backers who backed the spring campaign are already logged.)
If you aren’t a repeat backer, no worries, this card is also available as an add-on. (And you’ll be a repeat backer on the next project!)
The Norbert card also has some unique qualities. Norbert, of course, is from the classic “sick elephant” saga.
As you know if you’ve read that storyline, Norbert is not obscenely wealthy. So his reward can be as little as 1 single point. He also does not carry one of the Royal Keys that bring you closer to the end of the game.
But he allows for big bonuses because his condition has no upper limit. You can bankrupt that elephant!
The Norbert card is available free to everyone on any paid Patreon tier. You still have to DM me (either Kickstarter or Patreon works) to claim it. This card is not available as an add-on — only via Patreon. Whether you backed the game on BackerKit or now on Kickstarter, if you’re also on Patreon, I’d like to send you this free card!
Note: This card is also available to people on Patreon who don’t even back the game. Why would you want just one card but no game? That is a question for you to contemplate on your own.
Once this game project is done, I’m anticipating a big refocus on new comics and more Patreon bonuses next year, so consider this a nudge to join at any paid tier! (Patreon members already get to see every new comic early.)
One of the MOST fun things I’ve been doing with this game is streaming the game live with my friends! Such as this session with Sara McHenry, Tom McHenry, Jess Fink, and Eric Colossal:
Here is an updated schedule of more upcoming streams:
Tue Dec 9 • 6pm Pacific • Audio Heroes Block Molly Lewis (Mollylele) Seth Boyer (Skulltenders) Jordan Morris (Jordan Jesse Go, Youth Group)
Wed Dec 10 • 1:15pm Pacific • Atlantic Coast Block Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content) Colleen AF Venable (Kiss Number 8, Katie the Catsitter) Jon Rosenberg (Goats, Scenes From a Multiverse)
Thu Dec 11 • 12:15pm Pacific • Super Stylish Block Dylan Meconis (Queen of the Sea) Kaylee Rowena (Haunts) Kendra P. (Fairmeadow)
Fri Dec 12 • 1:15pm Pacific • Rad Artists Block Scott C. (Great Showdowns, Cabin Head and Tree Head) Shing Yin Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po) Cat Farris (My Boyfriend is a Bear)
Sun Dec 14 • 4:15pm Pacific • Autodidact Block Zach Weinersmith (SMBC) Senna Diaz (Dresden Codak) Kevin McShane (Kevin Comics, Buzzfeed)
Mon Dec 15 • 2pm Pacific • Creator Plays Solo Mode David Malki ! (The creator of this game) Assisted & observed bySam Logan (Sam & Fuzzy)
A depowered witch discovers she is just one zany scheme away from regaining her power... provided her estranged mentor does not intervene. Which of course he will.
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Molly Lewis (Mollylele)
Seth Boyer (Skulltenders)
Jordan Morris (Jordan Jesse Go, Youth Group)
Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content)
Colleen AF Venable (Kiss Number 8, Katie the Catsitter)
Jon Rosenberg (Goats, Scenes From a Multiverse)
Dylan Meconis (Queen of the Sea)
Kaylee Rowena (Haunts)
Kendra P. (Fairmeadow)
Scott C. (Great Showdowns, Cabin Head and Tree Head)
Shing Yin Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po)
Cat Farris (My Boyfriend is a Bear)
Zach Weinersmith (SMBC)
Senna Diaz (Dresden Codak)
Kevin McShane (Kevin Comics, Buzzfeed)
David Malki ! (The creator of this game)
Sam Logan (Sam & Fuzzy)