It surprises people, when they know my lack of religious inclinations, that I enjoy listening to Christmas music. Indeed, I listen to Christmas music pretty much year ’round. And it’s not even purely secular Christmas music I listen to. Yes, I have Fleming & John’s “Winter Wonderland,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” done in theContinue reading “On Christmas Music”
Author Archives: Allyn
On Things I Don’t Remember
Baltimore has two daily newspapers. There’s the Baltimore Sun, the venerable institution, a pretty-much down-the-middle newspaper politically. And then there’s the free daily, the Baltimore Examiner, which is well to the right. I bring this up, because I discovered, through an Internet search, that I’d written a letter to the Examiner, back in March. AndContinue reading “On Things I Don’t Remember”
On Christmas — Led Zeppelin Style
I wrote about this, about a year ago, but with Christmas on the horizon I thought I’d mention it again for new readers in the audience. 🙂 There’s a musicial duo — Fleming & John — that does a version of the classic song, “Winter Wonderland,” in the style of Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop.”Continue reading “On Christmas — Led Zeppelin Style”
On Nerd-dom
So, there I was, writing a Doctor Who product description for the next catalog, and I typed “Moxx of Bollhoon.” And I knew, as soon as I typed it, that it was wrong. Oh, “Moxx” was right, but I knew I’d mangled “Bollhoon.” I’d mangled an alien name. I was in the right ballpark, IContinue reading “On Nerd-dom”
On Wars of Attrition
Every inch of ground I gained on that island was stained with the blood of my armies. Much like my recent battles in the Caribbean, I met Marie Louise and Catherine the Great amidst islands, but these were snow-covered islands far to the north. The islands were small, they were low on resources, but theContinue reading “On Wars of Attrition”
On Things I’d Like to Hear
I caught the last few minutes of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas before Pushing Daisies, and I had the strangest thought. I wondered how Bob Dylan would approach adapting The Grinch to song. Dylan Hears a Who is well-nigh perfect. But it doesn’t have Grinch. Bob Dylan. He’s such a nutter.
On Stupid Spammer Morons
I received a report via e-mail. 404 errors. A lot of 404 errors. What’s a 404 error? Chances are you’ve seen one. You may not realize what it is, though. What a 404 error means is that the page you’re looking for can’t be found. Doesn’t exist. It’s that simple. Or, it could be thatContinue reading “On Stupid Spammer Morons”
On Recent Episodes of The Simpsons
After a fallow period that lasted several years, I find that I’m enjoying The Simpsons a great deal more than I did, say, five years ago. Take for instance, Alan Moore’s recent appearance. Or rather, Watchmen Babies. Because, I don’t know about you, but Watchmen Babies needs to happen. I can’t imagine what DC wouldContinue reading “On Recent Episodes of The Simpsons”
On Happiness is a Warm Blanket Day
My friend Terri suggested this about two months ago, and I couldn’t fault her thinking. I’ll let her words speak for themselves: Sleeping cuddled up with a nice warm blanket and a big cuddly cat is fun, too, but we don’t set aside a day for it. Perhaps we should. I am hereby starting aContinue reading “On Happiness is a Warm Blanket Day”
On Holding the Narrows
We met in battle in the Caribbean. I had as my ally Frederick the Great. On another island in the archipelago were Maurice of Nassau and Henry the Navigator. Early control of the water — particularly the narrow straight between my island and my opponent’s island — would determine the outcome. My strategy was straightforwardContinue reading “On Holding the Narrows”