Really? Do you think Steve Jobs would let them quietly announce a streaming cloud-based iTunes storage solution? No, as much as I love Apple’s products, Steve Jobs held a keynote to announce a speaker as if it were the second coming. iTunes music raining down from the cloud would have been a game changer, not the kind of thing they announce on the web page without a big press party.

If you want to know why Apple made fanboy-squee noises and acted like the news was the biggest thing since Paul McCartney finally killed Wings, you don’t need to look any further than the name of the company. Apple Corp. (nee Apple Computer) was named after the Beatles’ record label because Jobs is a Beatles fanboy. Tuesday, November 16th, is the final nail in the coffin of a long and complicated legal battle between the two Apples. It’s done. This was Armistice Day, the reconciliation of Steve Jobs’ love for the Fab Four and his need to protect the company he built.

It doesn’t matter that “most” Beatles fans already have their music (I do, so I’m not exactly the target audience to buy it on iTunes), it doesn’t matter that the marketing team perhaps oversold the announcement (though to be fair, the message was a reference to a line from a Paul McCartney song, “Another Day,” and a reference to a line from a Beatles song, “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” and the clocks were set up like the cover to “Help!”)… It’s that important to Apple, and it’s the first time the Beatles have been available legally on a digital service. Sure, you could buy the apple-shaped USB drive last year, but you couldn’t pick up a few songs here and there, legally. It’s not for everyone, but its not a bad thing. Just because you or I have their albums (or don’t care to have the albums), why begrudge someone else the choice of buying it from iTunes?

Too often, “it doesn’t matter to me,” becomes “it doesn’t matter.”

Now, as Chuck Wendig pointed out over on Terribleminds in his latest Painting With Shotguns, the other part of the nerdrage and disappointment is the assertion that “teh Beatles suck!”

As he said, “I don’t like it,” is not necessarily the same thing as “it sucks.” Are the Beatles as complicated or as (over)produced as modern music? Nope. Are they as deep lyrically as some modern musicians? Not always, though I’d argue that even “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is deeper than some of the popular music on the radio these days. Do they need to be? No.

Here’s the thing. The musicians you love today wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the Beatles, at least not in the same configuration. John Lennon “invented” distortion. They directly influenced the fundamental creation of rock ‘n roll. The Beatles ignited a fever across the world. Musicians like the Who, Rush and Jimi Hendrix were born from that febrile inspiration. They, in turn inspired bands who inspired bands who… Listen to the Beatles rawer stuff, and you can hear the nascent strains of punk acts like the Ramones, the shrill and jangly birth of bands like Aerosmith. Listen to the lyrics and you can hear the echo of the light and yet somehow terribly dark poetry of the Smiths (“She’s Dressed In Black,” or “Eleanor Rigby” are dark, dark songs).

Trust me. Your favorite band was influenced by the Beatles. They’re one of the most important building blocks of modern music. You don’t have to like them, but you should respect them.

Well, duh.

Beyond the normal implication that yes, you are indeed putting the writer in an untenable position with regards to their ability to create things… Seriously, you wouldn’t be contacting this particular writer if you didn’t value their abilities, so why would you want to slap creative shackles around their wrists? If they do anything remotely related to the thing you’ve sent them, something even tangentially related… They do it in the shadow of a potential lawsuit. Yes, you’re a fan. Yes, you would never do anything to hurt your hero – except you already have, and they have no idea how you’ll react when you see their name on a book exploring ideas similar to the ones you sent them. A book that may have been in process for two years before you hit send and heard the little whooshing sound on your mac’s Mail.app. Of course you’re not going to believe “I already thought of that,” even if it’s the logical next step for the characters or the universe.

And here, I could tell give an example of where I’d like to see Scalzi’s Old Man’s War universe go, but I’d rather not guarantee that it doesn’t go there, should he come across this post.

Anyway… Here’s the big thing… Beyond that implication, and I’m sorry to have to say this, but… Who the hell are you? What makes you think you’re important or amazing enough that you should bypass the proper channels and get another writer to put his neck on the line and spend some (or all!) of his cred with his contacts to give you a leg up? If you’re as awesome as you think, you can make it through the gauntlet. If you’re as awesome as you think, you’re better served by following one big rule… Don’t be a douche.

I’m a writer. I have writer friends. We all give each other a head’s up when we can, or cheerlead for one another when something needs doing. I am blessed to have intensely talented and creative friends of all stripes and colors. In fact, I’m blessed to be able to consider one of my absolute favorite writers – someone I admire and look up to, someone whose writing amazes and delights me endlessly – to be a friend. And you know what I’ve never done to her? I would never ask her to slip a story of mine to her agent, or her publisher. I’ve never even asked her to critique something I’ve written before it’s been published.

If you look on my Twitter, I’ve asked for feedback from certain of my other writer friends (Eddy and crew), and I know you’re thinking “the Dude abides, and he sees your hypocrisy.” But it’s not the same. In Eddy’s case, we already have an editorial relationship, and I’d like to think we have that level of trust. That bridge is already there. Of course, if he said he felt uncomfortable with it, I’d have completely understood. Otherwise, it’s an open call for people willing to read it and let me know what I need to fix. I’m not putting anyone on the line who doesn’t volunteer their services.

Back to the point… I know these people and I’m wary of pushing my work on them. What makes it cool to do that to people you don’t even know?

I love working these things. This will be my eighth year at the park, so in a way, it’s like visiting family. Our crew from After Hours was scattered all over the park in new houses and old, but I still got to see and spend time with a lot of friends last night.

I’ve retired my club kid glowboy character, Adam, from After Hours. He probably escaped when Club Muse was raided by the police, and apparently I didn’t. My new part is an inmate on death row. I stand on the gallows, waiting to stretch. What is wrong with you? How can you just walk by and let me die? And they gave me a microphone. This should be fun.

Machine Age Productions: Terminus Est — David A. Hill, Jr. is in the process of building a new open source (Creative Commons) RPG that looks like it’ll be a lot of fun.

The Infi-Net Revolution – Martin C. Henley and Chuck Wendig explore the concept that by their nature, heroes are stupid. As in, a few whores short of a bordello. Also, it’s hilarious.

The Whitechapel Project – Eddy Webb crafts some democratized serial fiction about a man named VI (that’s six, not vee. Please, don’t be difficult, I’d like to get back to work). You can vote to guide the story, which means you can also vote to make life easier for VI or harder for Eddy, whatever floats your boat.

The Red Tree – It’s been out a little over a month now, so you have picked up Caitlín R. Kiernan’s newest novel, right? If you have, and you’re not fond of the cover, you’ll find an alternate cover I designed on her site that you can print out and paste onto your copy. If you haven’t, what the hell? Get out there and feed the tree, people.

Languidly, the current of the stream pulls her along, over silt, stone, and shining fish to places she never saw when she was alive. Tree branches reach out with grasping hands as she passes, but the river has her.

Her journey continues.

Something I wrote a few years back. It’s on my LJ, but I wanted to dredge it up and get it on Fragments of Shadow, just ’cause.