Who's your bad ass daddy? Mario here:


What I'm reading. The Coldest War, by Ian Tregillis.











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The East Coast is about to get pounded by the Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, which in a weird way. gives us a bit of respite from all the campaign hollering.

So to continue giving you a break, let's talk about bad ass characters. What made me think this was this clip I stumbled across from Rocky III, featuring the villain, Clubber Lang. Over the years, Mr. T devolved into a parody, but if you watch this video, you'll see what a bad ass he could play.


Cable TV has also given us a great crop of bad asses, especially Breaking Bad. 


Starting with, Walter White (Bryan Cranston).








The sketchy and scary, the chief goon Mike Ehrmantraut (Johnathan Banks).







The icy and manipulative king pin, Gustavo "Gus" Fring (Giancarlo Esposito).







And no doubt, the baddest ass cop since Dirty Harry, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris).









 Fans of True Blood and Walking Dead have their faves, so chime in.
Only a few more days to the end of the Lego Ghost Train Contest sponsored by the University of Doom. It's an easy way to snag a great present and take the burden off St. Nick's wallet.

Labels: bad ass, Breaking Bad, Clubber Lang, Ian Tregillis, Writers Online Classes

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:59 PM  0 comments

  Two Lessons Mario here:

I'm just back from Bubonicon 44, another winning con. It's my favorite of the smaller cons as you get to rub shoulders with some of the biggies in today's sci-fi/fantasy literary fields like George RR Martin.

Every con has a certain vibe to it and if I had to choose one for this con, it had to be humility.

Lesson One: Delivered by none other than the ever-witty Connie Willis. She knocked 'em dead as moderator at our presentation, "Worst Panel Ever" which included staged examples of bad panelist behavior. I did my best to be the snarkiest panelist, which was difficult to do, considering Willis' rapid-fire bon mots.

Lesson Two: Warren Hammond and I sat next to each other in the Author Signing room and we renamed our tables Humility Row because we sat beside the long line formed for George RR Martin and the Guest of Honor Author, Brandon Sanderson. It can be dispiriting to see fans carrying milk crates stacked with books for Martin or Sanderson while the rest of us sell onesies and twosies.

Brandon Sanderson took over the Wheel of Times series from the late Robert Jordan and has continued to keep up the momentum for the series' success. He was a great GOH and extraordinarily generous with what he's learned as a professional writer.







Besides the above lessons, I didn't leave the con empty-handed. Some back story needed here. I constantly run into wanna-be writers who talk about their work and most of the time I nod agreeably and walk on. Two years ago I heard how the locals spoke highly of Ian Tregillis so I attended his reading of a work-in-progress and was blown away. I said to myself, "Damn, this Ian can write." So this time around I bought copy of his book, The Coldest War. Check out his ultra-cool website: Ian Tregillis.

Another book I've been waiting to get my mitts on is After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. She has a wonderful way of twisting conventions and creating immensely satisfying characters. This is her take on super heroes and their families. Ever wonder what it must be like to be Lois Lane and suffer the attentions of evil super-geniuses? This book should provide an insight.

Labels: Brandon Sanderson, Bubonicon 44, Carrie Vaughn, Connie Willis, George RR Martin, Ian Tregillis

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:11 PM  3 comments