As I was walking out of the theatre Saturday from seeing Spider-Man 3, I caught a few bars of the song that played across the film’s closing credits. I said to my sister, “Is that Snow Patrol? It sounds like Snow Patrol.” “I like it,” she said. “I don’t know who it is.” I couldn’tContinue reading “On Snow Patrol's "Signal Fire"”
Author Archives: Allyn
On Rediscovering Old Friends
I went through a box of CDs the other day, one I hadn’t opened since the move. And in the box… Badfinger CDs! I don’t know the last time I listened to these. Badfinger is one of those bands whose songs, when you hear them on the radio, you know instantly. But they’re a bandContinue reading “On Rediscovering Old Friends”
On Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and founder of Liberty University, passed away this morning. He was seventy-three. I met Falwell a few times over the years. Living in Lynchburg, his home town, will do that. Falwell and I would never have seen eye-to-eye on politics–I’m progressive, he was a conservative–nor religion–he wasContinue reading “On Jerry Falwell”
On the Blade Runner Ultimate Collection
Blade Runner. An Australian retailer posted information on the forthcoming Blade Runner Ulimate Collection DVD set. Five discs, five different versions of the film. Documentaries on the making of the film, on Philip K. Dick, and a pretty damn cool case. (Though I expect we’ll get a far less exciting cardboard case here in NorthContinue reading “On the Blade Runner Ultimate Collection”
On Putting Things In Order
Two weeks ago I turned in a short story for an anthology releasing next spring. The story, as I turned it in, is rather unconventional. The story I started writing, however, was anything but. The hardest part of writing sometimes is in trusting yourself and in trusting your instincts. I didn’t trust my instincts–they toldContinue reading “On Putting Things In Order”
On Across the Universe
Before Spider-Man 3 there was a trailer for a film I’d never heard of before–Across the Universe. The trailer started to unspool–a young man, shaggy hair, sitting on a beach, a wry smile on his face, singing a Beatles song. “Girl,” from Rubber Soul. I love that song. Five seconds. The trailer had me. “Girl.”Continue reading “On Across the Universe”
On Being Irish
St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and yet it’s never too late to ask, “So, how Irish am I…?” If you really must know, I don’t think I have any Irish blood in me, but I do love my Guinness and my Beamish (even if you can’t get Beamish in this country any more).Continue reading “On Being Irish”
On The Beatles in Doctor Who
I was browsing the forums at Outpost Gallifrey the other day and came across a thread that asked, “Should Doctor Who do a Beatles episode?” That caught my attention. 🙂 A clip of the Beatles appears in “The Chase” — and had the scheduling worked out the Beatles might’ve appeared in the story. Ian’s familiarContinue reading “On The Beatles in Doctor Who”
On Today's Weird Search Phrase
I am a stats fiend. I admit it, anyone who knows me knows I know numbers. Since I installed the Automattic Stats plug-in for WordPress I’ve been getting lots of really interesting data. It’s no trouble at all to just fire up the WordPress admin screens and take a look at how many hits I’veContinue reading “On Today's Weird Search Phrase”
On Mispronunciations
True story. When I read the first Harry Potter book, back in the dark days of the autumn of 1999, I had no idea how to pronounce Hermione’s name. What I came up with was… Hermey Own. Like Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Plus Own. HermeyContinue reading “On Mispronunciations”