or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
April 16, 2005
What Is This?
Can you tell what this is a picture of? I'm not sure I could have guessed.
UPDATE: Okay, everyone except for me seemed able to guess immediately. But can you name the Isaac Asimov story about a photograph just like this, and what the characters in the story see?
thot there's a nukular 'sploshun. purty.
Posted by: stephen Angus at April 16, 2005 07:11 PMIs it so obvious? Perhaps I squandered all the time in my youth I should have been looking at pictures of nuclear explosions, because I thought it could potentially be all kinds of other things.
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at April 16, 2005 07:41 PMThat's a glurge spore.
Posted by: Harry at April 16, 2005 07:58 PMJoshua trees exploding.
Posted by: Pulaski at April 17, 2005 12:14 AMmy first thoughts:
1) pollen grain
2) piece of hail
3) H-Bomb explosion
the tiny sillouettes in the foreground then sold me on #3.
Posted by: steve at April 17, 2005 01:31 AMIt's da Bomb!
Since it's on (US) land it is a fission bomb. We popped all of our fusion bombs in the Pacific.
A certain surreal beauty about it.
Posted by: TwistTieCollector at April 17, 2005 06:32 AM"Hell Fire." They see the face of the devil.
I think I ought to get a free copy of "HOSS" for answering this one.
Posted by: Matthew Sullivan at April 17, 2005 08:37 AMMatthew,
Curse you for knowing that! I see the face of the devil IN YOUR COMMENT!
Seriously, though, you do deserve a free copy of HOSS. Send me some email so we can make sure that happens on that glorious day.
And... do you remember where you read "Hell Fire"? I think I saw it in an anthology of short short stories, all of them a page or two long -- ie, not an Asimov anthology.
(curse)
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at April 17, 2005 08:34 PME-mail it is.
And while I appreciate your generosity, I'd be happy to pay for the book... should it ever come out.
I'd even pay extra to have it signed (and extra-extra to have it signed in blood).
I read "Hell Fire" in an all-Asimov paperback called "Earth is Room Enough" that I was lucky to get cheaply at a curb sale.
If it makes you feel better, I didn't know that was an explosion. My first thought was actually "Maybe it's a Metroid." (I belong to a pretty weak generation for both politics and science fiction.)
Posted by: Matthew Sullivan at April 18, 2005 11:01 AMMatthew,
Actually, all copies will come signed in blood, whether you want them to or not.
And, thank you for your meteoroid admission. I think we can agree that if everyone made it their mission to make me feel better about everything, the world would be a better place.
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at April 19, 2005 07:34 AMIt looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy had a bit too many croissant rolls, while laying on his back and prairie doggin' it... Wait... no it's an explosion!!!
Posted by: Myron at April 19, 2005 01:22 PMOh, no-- it would've been understandable had I thought this was a "meteoroid." I was thinking of a "Metroid"-- the video-game monster that looks a little like a jellyfish.
It's things like this which keep me humble.
Posted by: Matthew Sullivan at April 19, 2005 04:38 PMWhere did you get the image file? It is remarkable.
Posted by: Justin at April 19, 2005 06:23 PM
