Our Alien Brothers

(May 15, 2008) - This is big stuff. Big Bang stuff.

It's one thing for Pope John Paul II to admit in 1992 that the persecution of Galileo back in the 17th century was an "error." But in an interview Tuesday, the Vatican's chief astronomer went where no Roman Catholic official has gone before.

He said there could be life out there. Continue

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Taco Hell

(April 26, 2008) - I've been much less dedicated to "Repubblica" than I should be, and for the happy few of you reading it, I apologize. I've got more stories rumbling around in my brain than I've got time to write, and some of them lately have been taking away from this one. Plus I've been putting the finishing touches on a spec script I've written, "The Annetteology," trying to get that ready for a couple of competitions that are coming up.

That's a winding way of saying I've finally posted Chapter VIIII of "Repubblica." It picks up right where Chapter VIII left off, with Tom outside the taco truck right after the thief held it up. Before he can finish his taco, Tom encounters a truckload of vigilantes and a bike messenger who's got something for him. Can you stand the suspense?

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You Have No Internet

(April 25, 2008) -- Okay, so a month between posts really is pretty ridiculous, even for this site. And, this isn't even really a post. But, this is a great South Park clip:

 

For a show that started out as one big joke, well, it's still one big joke. But it's a really funny one.

But don't think it's too crazy to happen. The Internet is just a system, after all, and systems can crash. Ironically, AT&T said just think week that without substantial investments, the Internet could get saturated by 2010 - and crash. Some say the company's just using scare tactics to ram through its plan to charge for bandwidth. Maybe, but I'm too old now to go back to a world without the World Wide Web.

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There's A Moon Out Tonight

(March 23, 2008) -- I'm not trying to make this sit any geekier than it already is, but last night I brought my new telescope out onto the front yard for the first time, to view the one-day past full moon. It was spectacular.

The moon was rising in the east, sitting low and (one-day past) full over the horizon. Now, it took me some time to finally see it through the telescope. You see, like I said, this was my first time using it; my first time using any telescope for that matter. I literally did not know which end was the front. The manual didn't tell you, and it wasn't completely obvious to me.

Perpetual Motion

(March 20, 2008) -- You can win a bar bet with this one. You pick up a bottle of beer, say that's resting on a coaster, take a sip, and place it back on the coaster. Is it in the same spot?

Or how about this: You take a book off the shelf to read. When you're done you put it back on the shelf. Is it in the same space? Continue

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 A New Chapter

(March 6, 2008) -- I've published Chapter VIII of "Repubblica." This chapter relates a critical moment in Burke's life, where he nearly gets himself killed over a taco.

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Chapter VII

(Feb. 10, 2008) -- So I've finally gotten around to publishing Chapter VII of "Repubblica." Between work, the holidays, and the Giants' Super Bowl run, I haven't spent much time writing. Actually, between work, the holidays and the Giants' Super Bowl run, I haven't spent any time writing.

But I've haven't forgotten the story, and I'm busy now editing the first six chapters, while I develop and write subsequent chapters. "Repubblica" is something I'm publishing as I write, more or less live, so you can expect as time goes on I'll be reworking the story in both big and small ways.

Personally, I think this is a fascinating way to write a story, although I'm not sure how much non-writers will appreciate watching the lump of clay getting molded. I hope, however, that you, dear reader, do find it interesting, and will keep coming back to see how the story changes and develops. Feel free, too, to write with comments, criticisms, or ideas.

- Paul Vigna

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A Giant Book

(Feb. 9, 2008) -- Someday, somebody's going to write a great book, not a good book, but a great book about Super Bowl XLII. It was a great game, and as the years pass and its mythology grows, somebody will commit it to paper. If I'm still around, maybe I'll do it. Continue

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Capa's Cache

(Jan. 27, 2008) -- Amazing story in today's New York Times about three boxes of almost mythical lost negatives belonging to the photographer Robert Capa that were thought to have been lost when he fled Europe toward the end of the Spanish Civil War.

Capa's most famous for his photograph, left, of a soldier taken at the exact moment he was shot. After being rediscovered in a closet in Mexico City, they've found a home at the Intenational Center of Photography in Manhattan. Continue

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 A Really Old Idea

(Jan. 24, 2008) -- Charles Dickens got paid by the word.

I remember reading that years ago, while I was struggling to get through one of his brick-like books, and it infuriated me. That swindler! This guy's rambling on and on, secondary characters and tertiary characters, and plots and subplots and on and on, and then to learn that they were so long because he was getting paid by the word - by the word! - it just killed me.

Now, apparently, this wasn't entirely true. He was paid by the installment. Learning that what I once learned and thought was true wasn't the truth, I should give him a second chance, although I have yet to do so.

But that part about the installments always stayed with me, and came back to me recently when I was thinking about this website and what to publish here. Continue

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Updates

As I keep writing, I expect to keep updating older chapters as well as publishing new ones. Chapter 7 should be coming very quickly, which sees Tom risk his life for just a taco. Chapter I Chapter II

- Paul Vigna

Fiction
Repubblica