Links and Stuff

Yes, I know, it’s been a few weeks, but I’m back. We moved into the new house at the beginning of the month, and while we’re still unpacking boxes, we’re beginning to get settled in. My office is just about organized–for now. Here’s what it looked like before we moved in:

And here’s what it looks like now:

There’s more to the room than the picture shows, but that gives a glimpse into what’s been going on. The wall that used to open out onto the room next door is now all solid wall with bookcases in front. I have more bookcases behind me, and still there are books going into other rooms. The most time consuming aspect of all this has been sorting through boxes of accumulated stuff and deciding what to keep, what needs to be in my office, and what I need to trash. I’m a bit of a pack rat, and liable to keep letters, postcards, and kid scribbles for nostalgia. My wife once found an empty envelope in one of my “stuff” boxes. I still recall her holding it up with a deep, questioning look on her face. I conceded that was probably over-the-top, especially since I had no idea why I was keeping it. I’m more willing to part with stuff now, and I’m learning to ask myself, “Seriously, Colin, when will you ever need this again? Who’s really going to care if you still have this? You haven’t looked at this in 20 years–what does that tell you?” Moving to the States nearly 25 years ago helped me purge a lot of stuff. This move comes after 13 years living in the same place and, of course, re-accumulating stuff. So it’s probably about time.

Now to some links! First up, this interesting little chart from PrinterInks showing how long it took to write some famous books. If you think George R. R. Martin is taking his merry time with the latest installment of his series, check out some of these. From a few days to sixteen years!

Next up, this report from Ars Technica. It seems the estate of Dr. Seuss is suing ComicMix for selling a book called OH THE PLACES YOU’LL BOLDLY GO!–a parody mash-up of Star Trek and Dr. Seuss’s famous work, OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! From the sample pages, it seems pretty clear ComicMix are not trying to hide any similarities with the Seuss book. In fact, they contend that their work is meant as parody, and they believe it falls under fair use. The Seuss Estate believe they have copied too much such that it falls under copyright infringement, and are seeking up to $150,000 in damages. The legal folks will battle this one out, but I’m inclined to side with ComicMix, even as a writer who feels very strongly about plagiarism and related issues. This parody is not intended to mock or denigrate the original Seuss book, and the content would not deter someone from purchasing the Seuss book, so what’s the problem? In fact, I can imagine people buying copies of both to compare! I haven’t heard of the Roddenberry estate suing, so clearly they understand parody. What do you think?

Finally, it was reported a few weeks ago that actor Robert Vaughn has died, aged 83. Vaughn was probably best known for his leading role in the 60s TV show, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” but he had been in plenty of other things too, not least a few episodes of “Columbo.” My wife loves the sound of Robert Vaughn’s voice, so she was particularly saddened to hear of his passing.

That’s all from me for this week. Now it’s your turn–share your thoughts on today’s links! The comments are open… 🙂