I’m really excited Inksucker has been shortlisted for an Aurealis Award in the YA Short Story category.  The story was originally published in Worlds Next Door, an anthology edited by Tehani Wessely.

It’s also great that a bunch of my fellow students (plus teachers) from Clarion South, along with some other writing friends, have been nominated as well.  It’s wonderful to be in the same company as the other nominated writers.  Just two years ago I attended the awards ceremony, as part of my time as Clarion.  Now to be a finalist is especially rewarding.

The complete list of the finalists.

http://www.aurealisawards.com/finalists2010.pdf

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2011 is the year of the rabbit.

So far, it has been one disruptive bunny.

Floods and cyclones in Australia, floods in Brazil, the earthquake in Christchurch, revolutions in the Middle East, civil war and foreign military intervention in Libya and the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan.

Even pandas have turned vicious: a panda attacked a zookeeper at San Diego Zoo.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/calosha-investigating-giant-panda-attack-on-keeper-at-san-diego-zoo.html

There is some amazing  footage of a car getting hit by the tsunami.  The driver managed to survive.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpt0WKZI9D8

People fleeing the tsunami turned around and helped others to escape its path.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxL36ngIJA8

A news crew barely escaped the tsunami and then were able to help other survivors to safety.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrv8EAUptp8

There is footage of the tsunami arriving at Sendai airport.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_6iDBoOvb0

Footage of the tsunami arriving at street level.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpuLlIrUYsI

Numerous reporters have commented on the general level of calm and the minimal level of looting occurring.  The response to supply evacuation centers with food and heating seems to be slow, but in some evacuation centers people are still taking part in their daily exercise routine.

Thousands of people were trapped at Tokyo Disneyland on the day of the quake when the trains stopped running.  Spending a night in Disneyland in those circumstances would be a surreal experience.

You can make donations for tsunami survivors at: http://www.redcross.org.au/japan2011.htm

I’ve been watching the footage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

I lived in Japan for 4 years and have travelled extensively around the country.  It always make an event more personal when you’ve been to the place where it’s happening and have friends there.

Most of my friends are in Osaka and Tokyo, and as far as I know they all seem to be okay.  Some of my friends in Tokyo had scary experiences when their office buildings shook violently and they were stranded at work when the trains stopped running.  Another friend has cracks in his apartment building.

The scale of the tsunami is amazing.  There’s a video showing its arrival.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12725646

And now there is the issue of the nuclear emergency.

The Big Picture: Quake Aftermath

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/japan_earthquake_aftermath.html

My review of Tor.com’s January stories is up at The Portal.

I feel as though I’m particularly qualified to comment on these two stories – one is set in Japan and the other features clowns and monkeys.

http://sffportal.net/2011/03/tor-com-january-2011/

Came across a site where someone had done character profiles for an online role-playing game.

One of the characters is called Aidan Doyle.

They chose to use Johnny Depp as the character portrait.

Needless to say the resemblance to my good self is startling.  (Except For the Part About the Wife and India)

http://www.greyskymorning.org/condemnations2/index.php?title=Aidan_Doyle

Personality
He’s weird. That’s the first impression drawn off of Aidan. He has a plethora of oddities that make him a unique individual. Very passionate about history and language alike, it’s the only time he comes across as anything remotely normal. He has a Professor’s persona and a socializing persona, though at first glance those images could be easily blurred together. Then, the subtle shift in his ways of conversation become more apparent. He’s random, off the wall, nonsensical, and likes to play devil’s advocate regardless of his own stance.

Likely due to the obscene amount of traveling he’s had in his life, his personality is a melting pot of all the places he’s been. When he was thirteen, his parents took him to see the Terracotta Soldiers and he was captivated with Asian culture one way or another from that day on. When he finds something he likes, he takes it and studies everything he possibly can about it. Somewhat of a workaholic in that sense, the only thing he was ever able to make time for was his wife. Otherwise, he’s kept few friends due to his restless nature. He kept work colleagues across the board and nothing more unless the other person was that persistent or that interesting.

He’s also incredibly candid. If he’s bored, you’ll know. He gets bored very easily, too. India was one of the few places to hold his interest for as long as it did, but has now left a bitter taste in his mouth. To those he cares about, he’s… strange, but loyal in his own way. He was also a romantic for his wife, but had a bizarre way of showing it. She was his other half, and they simply worked. He always thought he’d be lost without her, and now he’s fairly certain that he is in fact lost. He can ramble about any subject, regardless of the topic, just to be a nuisance. It comes with being a history Professor, and also because it’s the only thing he can do that keeps him still for very long. He has a piss poor attention span for most things.

And they even captured my ability to absorb solar radiation:

Hot knives – Aidan can absorb ambient heat and solar radiation, and release the absorbed energy from his fingertips as semi-solid energy projections called ‘hot knives’. His hot knives are pure thermal energy, hot as the surface of the sun. He can use these blade-shaped darts of pure heat as projectiles or occasionally as slashing weapons. He has excellent control of his knives, able to cause severe damage or use them just to stun.