Tag: humor

Bless me, Father Rhysling, for I have sinned…

By Edward Willett in Blog
May 30, 2011
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Inspired by the column about science fiction poetry I wrote today for the next issue of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild‘s magazine Freelance, I have done something I rarely do, and committed the act of poetry; specifically, the act of science fiction limerick. An unpublished writer of rhyme Travelled three hundred years back in time. He …

From Squid to Eternity

By Edward Willett in Blog
February 17, 2011
3 mins to read
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Margaret Atwood (in)famously referred to science fiction as “talking squids in outer space,” a remark to which I would take great umbrage if not for the fact that my DAW novel Lost in Translation contains a character, Karak, master of the Guild of Translators, described thusly: Free of the watersuit and its exoskeleton, his shape was nothing …

Steamed-Rice Mommy’s Coming to Town

By Edward Willett in Blog
February 16, 2011
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While looking for something entirely different in my computer files (The Mixed-Up Files of Edward C. Willett, which would be a great title for a book if someone hadn’t already kind of gotten there first), I came across this audio recording from a couple of years ago, when my daughter was seven. Ladies and gentlemen, …

What’s in a name, continued

By Edward Willett in Blog
January 12, 2011
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Well, the final bio for my alter ego, Lee Arthur Chane, is rather staid compared to the fanciful flights of fancy I could have indulged in. In fact, it’s my own bio, just tweaked a little to emphasize the fact that Chane is going to be known (hopefully) as a fantasy writer: Born in the …

The conspiracy of inanimate objects

By Edward Willett in Blog
January 10, 2011
3 mins to read
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I have come to the inescapable conclusion, over my half-century of life, that there exists, within the world of inanimate objects, a conspiracy; a conspiracy to make my life as inconvenient as possible. Let is examine the evidence. Cables tangle when I’m around, and wrap themselves around other objects that fly off shelves or out …

The 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
October 7, 2009
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[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/10/Ig-Nobels-2009.mp3[/podcast] The 2009 Ig Nobel Awards for “research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think,” given by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research, were presented last Thursday at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. And I think I must begin with the Public Health Prize, which went to Elena N. Bodnar, Raphael C. …

Be safe out there!

By Edward Willett in Blog
May 5, 2009
1 mins to read
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It’s Terra Insegura launch day. Please don’t get trampled in the mad rush by thousands of screaming fans into bookstores in search of a copy. Oh, wait. I’m confusing myself with Stephanie Meyer again.

The album cover meme

By Edward Willett in Blog
February 26, 2009
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This fun little exercise popped up on Facebook, but I decided to do it here (and leave off the “tag everyone you’ve ever met” or similar instructions; I don’t tag). But feel free if you think it looks like fun. To make your band’s album cover, do the following: 1 – To get the name …

The hazards of bad jokes

By Edward Willett in Science Columns
February 17, 2009
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How often have you heard someone say, “I just can’t tell a joke?” How often have you then heard the person who made that self-deprecating claim attempt to do just that? According to recent research, if you truly believe the former, you should stick to your guns, because telling a bad joke in a social …

A silly Google game…

By Edward Willett in Blog
February 13, 2009
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Type your first name and “likes to” in quotation marks into Google and post the first 10 things that come up. So (with judicious editing, because among the things that come up are other people playing the same game)… “Edward likes to”… …get out into the countryside to blast the cobwebs away. …pose. …pick his …

"Please forgive me for not accepting your rejection letter…"

By Edward Willett in Blog
December 12, 2008
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From a long (and well-worth reading in its entirety) article by Brian Doyle in the Kenyon Review ruminating on rejection letters, comes this example of an author’s (Stefan Merkan’s) response to a rejection–a response that speaks for every author ever stung by one: “Please forgive me for not accepting your rejection letter. At this time …

Novels ending badly

By Edward Willett in Blog
November 27, 2008
3 mins to read
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I’ve occasionally posted about the annual Bulwer-Lytton contest for the worst beginnings for novels. Now the Washington Post has inverted that and run a contest for the worst possible endings to novels. (Via Scott Edelman.) The winner: As the wail of the nearing sirens shook him awake, Todd rose from the charred remains of Rensfield …