I’m back in Boston for week three of “Don’t-see-my-family-April”, and today work got me incredibly down. However, as it is (or, as midnight just clicked over, was) International Pixel-Stained Peasant Day, I have lots of free fun stuff to read and cheer me tonight. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you need to first see this, then read… Read more →
Year: 2007
Politics + Nerdery: Two great tastes…
Not subtle, but pretty funny. I especially like Cheney stalking out of Iraq with the sacks full of money. Oh, and Rove’s fear checklist. More information here. Read more →
Fellow pedants rejoice!
Here’s the thing: precision of language allows for both more elegant and more useful communication. I love that English has this dizzying variety of words, many of which are similar in meaning, but with a difference of connotation that allows us to increase our precision. However, I am also a pedant, so the flip side of my love of precise… Read more →
There was at least one moment of true genius.
I see that Brant Parker has died. I take this moment to claim (again) that mixed in with the years of formulaic and unfunny, there was at least one Wizard of Id strip that was pure comedy gold. I know you don’t believe me, but you’re all wrong. It occurs to me that this is funny for exactly the same… Read more →
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 3
So, our discussions of the proud and unrepentant brings us to my personal favourite: the Lucifer of George Santayana. Santayana‘s book-length poem/five-act play, Lucifer: A Theological Tragedy, was one of his early works, and I think it’s fair to say is it’s pretty obscure. Santayana is well-known for his contributions to philosophy, perhaps most notably in the field of aesthetics,… Read more →
QOTD
Another quick aside, this time for the definite quote of the day, as Danny explains the real secret of art for art’s sake in an interview: Once you learn to be poor, you can do anything and no one can stop you. —Danny Michel (Or, as Terence put it “Pecuniam in loco negligere maximum est lucrum“.) Read more →
An aside on puns and headlines
While looking at the Wikipedia entry for one of my favourite Latin phrases, sic transit gloria mundi, I found a link to a New York Daily News story mentioning what has to be the all-time greatest headline pun that actually ever saw print. (Some of the ones in Fletch were pretty good, too, but they don’t count.) Apparently there was… Read more →
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 2
Well, while my first thought is of Brust, when the urge hit me to seek out some Lucifer literature this weekend, I knew I wouldn’t be buying yet another copy of his novel. It would be tricky to justify given I alread own two copies. Instead, I turned to Milton himself. While it is certainly true that a little bit… Read more →
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 1
So, if you say “proud and unrepentant figures of literature” what pops into your head? If you’re me (and I suspect a lot of other people) the answer is “Lucifer”. Unlike many people who would answer that way though, my first exposure to the idea of Lucifer as a sympathetic character didn’t come from Milton, it came from Brust. I… Read more →
A Bit Of Context
Right, so let me explain. I’ve been down in Boston since Tuesday, for work. Yes, I have been travelling a lot for work lately. Yes, I am not best pleased about this. On this particular trip my preferred hotel was full, so I once again had to stay across the street in the castle. Normally, this doesn’t really mean much… Read more →
Feeling Contrary
The church ladies are getting to me. I’m going to have to do some reading about the devil. Read more →
That damn paper clip
“My theory was that [the readers] just thought they cared about the action; but really, although they didnt know it, they cared very little about the action. The things that they really cared about, and that I cared about, were the creation of emotion through dialogue and description; the things they remembered, that haunted them, were not for example that… Read more →
So It Goes
The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different… Read more →
A 5 inch circle full of awesome
Yes, Danny Michel has a DVD (with bonus CD… or vinyl, or 8-track, or download) coming out May 1. The bit of YouTubery above is about 4 minutes of samples from the show. Full details at dannymichel.com. Also available there: FOUR FREE DOWNLOADABLE SONGS from the bonus album. “At last, Danny Michel‘s fun, spontaneous and captivating live show —his most… Read more →
Rats In The Casino Of Life
I spent a fair bit of time this weekend, in scattered chunks, working my way through the essay Micheal Allen (a.k.a. the Grumpy Old Bookman) published back in February, Rats In The Slushpile. The piece, which is available as a free PDF, is described as: Book-world commentator Michael Allen has a reputation for revealing the painful truth about writing and… Read more →
