John Platt

Cartoon sale! (kinda)

2008-05-13T16:52:10Z

Now this is fun -- I just sold a gag to the artist of one of my favorite daily comic strips. Sorry, I can't reveal which strip, but just know that I'm pretty darn happy right now.

Genial Gene Colan needs help

2008-05-12T16:09:28Z

The great comic artist Gene Colan is in the hospital suffering from liver failure -- and despite his positive attitude, there are fears that he may not make it. Meanwhile, his medical bills are climbing sky-high. How sad and wrong that a man who contributed so much to his field -- for more than 60 years -- can barely afford his medications.

There are a few ways to help at the link if you're so inclined.

Story sale and other updates!

2008-05-08T21:26:31Z

SALE! My story "Gone Fishin'" will appear soon in MONSTROUS, a Permuted Press anthology of giant-creature stories edited by Ryan C. Thomas. This promises to be a heck of a lot of fun. You can see the entire table of contents here.

WORK! Man, am I busy! I'm currently writing 10 feature articles, three newsletters and a bunch of press releases, on top of my usual daily Extinction Blog articles and three-times-a-week Green Tech columns. I don't think I have ever had quite so many assignments at the same time.

GIVING! I'm also working on projects for the local Rotary Club and Lions Club, and I just joined the board of trustees of my local library. No wonder I'm always tired!

ART and COMMERCE! I've started selling a few of my drawings on Etsy (okay, there are only two there now, but I'll scan a few more this weekend), and I just added a few new products to the Plattitudes store. Check 'em out!

NO NAPS! Every person and animal in my house in currently napping -- except for me. I've got too much to do!

Later...

New article: SF writers on innovation

2008-05-06T13:44:54Z

I interviewed Robert J. Sawyer, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Mike Resnick, Paul Barnett and Lawrence Watt-Evans for an article in this month's issue of Today's Engineer magazine. It's now available online here. I hope you'll check it out!

Me in Mexico

2008-05-01T16:01:22Z

Cool in the sun, originally uploaded by JohnPlatt.

Man, I love that hat.

Tons more awesome Mexico photos

2008-04-30T18:20:08Z

Check 'em out!

Santo Starbucks - Patron Saint of Coffee!

2008-04-29T15:34:05Z

Santo Starbucks - Patron Saint of Coffee!, originally uploaded by JohnPlatt.

Right off the main square in San Miguel -- religious statue in the corner of the building, Starbucks logos to either side!

First dozen photos from Mexico

2008-04-28T19:08:41Z

Check out the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende and the incredible Artisans' Alley.

Expect another dozen or so photos tomorrow.

Vacation photos, Part 1

2008-04-25T13:48:03Z

Here are a few shots from the lovely town of Ojai, California.

Tons of photos of Mexico coming next week!

San Miguel de Allende

2008-04-24T19:42:22Z

Hey look, my first YouTube video!

I am returned!

2008-04-23T13:30:19Z

After two weeks of globe-trotting adventures, I am home with a ton of incredible stories to tell.

Unfortunately, they're going to have to wait until I wade through my 527 new emails and get started on a few assignments that are already due.

Until then, catch me up! What did I miss in the last two weeks? What's going on? What adventures did you have? Tell me all!

Who knew the Japanese celebrated April Fool's Day?

2008-04-01T17:25:52Z

Oops! I actually fell for this news story about an "extinct bird" rediscovered in Japan after eight centuries. I even started writing it up for Extinction Blog before I found out it was a gag. Good thing I figured it out before it was too late!

On Monday, a Yamato hinotori (Latin name: Oyacou domburicus), believed to be the first to set foot in Japan in nearly eight centuries, was unveiled to the media at the government's Alien Wildlife Quarantine Shelter in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Long thought extinct, the bird is nevertheless a familiar sight to almost every Japanese, as its image, since November 2004, has appeared on the reverse side of the nation's ¥10,000 note.

It's a pretty darn convincing fake news story -- even going so far as to say the bird was smuggled out of secretive North Korea, and documenting an 1,100 year history for the species.

Turns out the Yamato hinotori is a pop-culture icon in Japan -- a figment of the imagination of Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka. I guess if I read more Japanese comics, I might have known that!

This month's "Extinction Blog" stories

2008-03-31T19:56:26Z

This month's stories bring good news, awful news, and not much in between:

Endangered species: The new "blood diamonds"

Whale watch

Kenya: No tourism = no wildlife

The woes of the wandering wolverine

Six wins for endangered species

The economics of endangered species

Six losses for endangered species

Tiger populations plummet -- down 50% in 25 years

Study: Endangered chimps are no laughing matter

Reintroducing one of the world's rarest insects

The sad saga of the saiga

Fish recovery plan sets a precedent in Canada

CITES takes action against Nigeria's trade in endangered species

Group sues to protect 681 endangered species

China turns to "sexercise" to encourage panda breeding

Japan takes quick action to protect rare beetle

Wolves lose protected status today

Man meddles, nature suffers

Ugh

2008-03-31T16:02:24Z

A work crew is finally here, tearing up the moldy drywall and wood that have been damaged by years of floods and poor maintenance at our townhouse. It's good that they're working, but they're stirring up all kinds of dust and mold in the process, which have my allergies so far out of control I can barely think. And lucky me, I have two big deadlines by the end of the day.

Must go scrub my itching skin with a brillo pad now.

Super decision

2008-03-29T13:19:20Z

Ruling Gives Heirs a Share of Superman Copyright

Wow.

Weird week

2008-03-28T13:14:24Z

After enjoying 47 degree weather on Wednesday, I woke up this morning to two find inches of snow on the ground. With more still falling.

Here are a few other weird things that happened this week:

I found myself reading books by Annabelle Gurwitch (Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized and Dismissed) and Nicholas Gurewitch (The Perry Bible Fellowship). (Both books are hilarious and well worth reading, by the way.)

I had a doctor appointment on Tuesday, but I wrote the time down wrong on my calendar. I showed up an hour early -- but I didn't have to wait!

I did a load of laundry on Wednesday, and yes, I mixed colors and whites. The weird thing is that one white sock came out with pink stains -- but no other whites were affected!

I called a client about a late payment -- and he actually paid me!

An interview subject really bristled at one of my questions -- while another interviewee thought the same question was the best question I asked!

Other than that, it's been a pretty boring week. But the weekend is just 15 hours away!

Darth & Taxes

2008-03-20T18:05:39Z

My tax payments went out in the mail today. I thought I was being clever by using Captain America stamps on everything, but the postmistress told me that people here are taking a slightly different tact: they're using Darth Vader stamps to send their taxes to the IRS.

Genius.

Catching up

2008-03-18T16:18:10Z

Allergies are out of control after last week's flood. Luckily, our landlord is awesome, and contractors will be here tomorrow to start ripping up rotten wood, replacing damaged sheet rock, and start treating for mold. A massive new dehumidifier will also soon arrive, courtesy of said awesome landlord.

Meanwhile, our new vacuum and bread maker have arrived. Glory!

Also arriving last week, my contributor's copies of BOUND FOR EVIL, the new anthology from Dead Letter Press, containing my short story "Flames in the Night." Man, this is a beautiful book! I'm proud to be included in its pages.

The mail also brought a great rhino drawing I commissioned from cartoonist Pat Lewis (lunchbreak_pat). I've been holding off on buying much art since going freelance, but adding this to my collection makes up for it.

In writing news, last week brought news that one of my regular clients wasn't going to use me any more, but they were quickly replaced by another client, offering more money and a contract for eight feature-length articles. So that worked out nicely!

My Green Tech column at RiverWired.com is off to a good start. It's getting lots of Diggs and a few comments. Extinction Blog is also heating up, with last week's post on chimpanzees in entertainment generating lots of email. I really, really like that some of my work helps to make a difference.

New fiction is going slow, dammit. The flood messed with my mojo, and now the allergies are making my joints ache like they're made out of barbed wire. Hopefully I'll get one or two more stories finished soon so I can announce the secret project I've been working on.

I haven't been drawing any new cartoons, either, because my hands hurt too much to hold a pen for long enough to finish a drawing. But in good news, the webcomic will break 2,000 page views in the next few days. I have enough finished cartoons to keep it going through March; after that, we'll see.

Okay, time to take a break from the computer. New breadmaker = homemade bread = great-tasting sandwiches!

Crapped out

2008-03-12T18:29:04Z

It's been a rough week on our appliances:

Our beloved 17-year-old bread maker sighed loudly this weekend and gave up the ghost. We make all of our own bread, so until a new one arrives, we have to settle for store-bought loaves. Blech.
While getting ready to clean up after last weekend's flood, our vacuum decided it was too big a job for it and promptly burst into flames. Well, burst into smoke, to be accurate. Lots of smoke and nasty smells. To the dump it goes.
The flood also pushed both of our aging dehumidifiers over the hump into retirement. They make a lot of noise and heat -- as if they are working -- but don't suck a single drop of moisture out of the air. They each saw service in the war against the Fortress of Fungus (where we lived -- and nearly died -- a few years ago), so they'll get heroes' burials before being replaced.

Good-bye, little tin soldiers.

Lunching

2008-03-10T16:31:44Z

Amy's Organic-brand soups, where have you been all of my life?

Totally yummy, and totally organic! I couldn't ask for more.

Well, okay, I could go for a second bowl...

When it rains, it floods

2008-03-09T18:43:46Z

Way back during my one year in the Boy Scouts, I learned an important phrase that has had a life-long impact on the way I do things: "Prior planning prevents poor performance."

The people who build our townhouse complex were obviously not Boy Scouts.

We live on a pretty steep incline, and every time it rains, the water turns into a half-dozen little rivers running straight down the hill. Back when this was undeveloped land, that water could travel, unimpeded, until it splashed into the ocean. Now, there are these big square buildings in the way, but the water sill wants to go where it always went before. And so, it tends to go right through us.

Which led to my lovely discovery last night at 9pm that our downstairs had an inch of water on the floor, with more pouring in every second.

I ran outside, turned the corner into our back yard, and found a nice-sized lake waiting for me. So, shovel in hand, and with more rain falling and soaking me to the bone, I proceeded to dig a new trench around the building so the water had someplace else to go. And boy, did it flow. It would have made excellent white-water rafting for a crew of intrepid mice or squirrels, but they were smart, and stayed hidden in their nice, dry dens.

With the mini-lake draining, then began the long process of cleaning out the inside of the house and the garage.

Now, there are supposed to be several drainage devices around the building to prevent floods like this, but from what I've been told, they have never worked properly. Considering that this is our third major flood in less than a year and a half, so I can't say I'm surprised by this bit of history.

Luckily, not too much was lost. We'll have to throw out a cheap rug we had in the foyer, and spend some time going through boxes in the garage to see if anything needs to be saved or disposed of, but all the same, this was most definitely not my idea of a fun Saturday night.

Sigh...

Report from the ice palace

2008-03-05T18:14:04Z

It's cold and damp and ice is falling from the sky. Which seems like a perfect occasion to showcase today's cartoon:

Meanwhile, my second "Green Tech" column is now online. Which has nothing to do with snow and ice, but I figured I'd hype it anyway.

New column: Green Tech

2008-03-03T18:44:11Z

My new column about "green" technology launches today at RiverWired.com. You can find it here. I hope you'll check it out!

My new author photo

2008-03-01T18:46:41Z

That's one big damn flower, originally uploaded by JohnPlatt.

This month's Extinction Blog news stories

2008-02-29T16:56:19Z

An interesting month, full of controversy, anger, debate, victory, failure, and ever-present change.

"Sexual harassment" endangers rare Mexican fish

Save an endangered species by domesticating it?

Too many endangered species, too little time

A win for whales

Homeowners vs. endangered species

Twists and turns in polar bear protection saga

Flying free

Warming worries for wildlife

Yes, no, maybe

Food or bait?

Shark fin soup: extinction in a bowl

Endangered species news updates

One tiny, tiny, tiny step for endangered species

Anyone know how to make bulletproof vests for wolves?

Brazilian state aims for "Zero Extinctions"

Can a species be "evil"?

Can one man save the world's smallest snail?

Elephant conservation too successful, culling to begin

England protects voles, other endangered species

End-of-the-month endangered species news wrap-up