A British man built a castle. Turned down for several building permits, he went ahead and built it anyway, hiding it behind a wall of hay bales. He was hoping to take advantage of a legal loophole. It looks like that argument may not fly. It’s unfortunate. It looks like a pretty nice castle. IContinue reading “On an Illegal Castle”
Author Archives: Allyn
On Daniel Craig and James Bond
Yesterday EON Productions announced the title for the next James Bond film, the second starring Daniel Craig. “Quantum of Solace.” Speculation for months had been that EON was going to use a Fleming title from the film. Perhaps “The Hildebrand Rarity.” Or even “The Property of a Lady” (even though the bulk of that storyContinue reading “On Daniel Craig and James Bond”
On a Lankhmar Roguelike
When I was in high school, I discovered a game for MS-DOS entitled “Hack.” The concept of Hack was quite simple — you were an adventurer, you had a dog, you went down into a dungeon in search of pillage and plunder, and you fought all sorts of monsters along the way. It was aContinue reading “On a Lankhmar Roguelike”
On a Beatles Meme
Laying in bed this morning, staring at the ceiling, I realized something. Something very profound. And then I lost it. No, just kidding! 😉 What I realized is that while I’ve seen a fair number of music-based memes passed around the LJ-blogosphere, I’ve not seen a Beatles-specific music meme. The Beatles are so… big thatContinue reading “On a Beatles Meme”
On Recent GameStop Searches
A few days ago it was “pitchers.” Now, it’s GameStop and EB Games that are clogging up the search engines on the readers’ way to here. Sadly, no fun searches. Nothing humorous like “pitchers of David Tennant.” No, these are generally serious questions. People trying to figure out something, perhaps to understand something. “GameStop Trade-InContinue reading “On Recent GameStop Searches”
On Blackadder Vocabulary
It is no secret that one of my all-time favorite television series is Blackadder. I go back and forth. Sometimes Blackadder II (that being the Elizabethean Blackadder) is tops. But usually, it’s Blackadder the Third (that being the Regency Blackadder). And my top three episodes — though all six are simply sublime — would be:Continue reading “On Blackadder Vocabulary”
On Christopher Eccleston and Who Tenures
I’ve long thought that the reason Doctor Who ended in 1989 was because of a decision Peter Davison made way back in 1983 — that he was going to do three seasons and only three seasons of Doctor Who. What’s this? Six years and two Doctors later the series ended, and it’s Davison’s fault? MyContinue reading “On Christopher Eccleston and Who Tenures”
On Idiots Lose on the ‘Net
Our tale begins with Google, as many such tales do. It began with someone, perhaps much like yourself, in search of information about strange and unique subjects. Was it curiosity that motivated the intrepid searcher? Was it the need to complete an assignment for school? We cannot question the motives; we lack the capacity toContinue reading “On Idiots Lose on the ‘Net”
On Super-Hero Movie Casting
At work this week, for obvious reasons, we’ve been talking Justice League. Warners pulled the plug on the film, and I think comic fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, this led to the suggestion that maybe a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold film would be a good idea. Two largely unknown characters, done inexpensively. Naturally,Continue reading “On Super-Hero Movie Casting”
On Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer, the American chess prodigy and grandmaster, has died in Reykjavik, Iceland. He was sixty-four. Fischer is perhaps better known today for his… eccentricities. That’s probably the most polite word I can think of. That old Buffalo Springfield lyric comes quickly to mind — “Paranoia strikes deep / Into your life it will creep.”Continue reading “On Bobby Fischer”