The trouble with Sunday night’s Downton Abbey is that virtually nothing happened — until a scene that one will never forget. Downton is like that. I couldn’t tell you anything else about the episode were Sybil dies. Or the episode where Lavinia Swire dies. Or the episode where Matthew dies. Of course, those were yearsContinue reading “Downton Abbey: Explosively Meh”
Author Archives: Allyn
Farpoint 2016 — My Schedule
Two weeks ago I wrote that I’ll be a guest at Farpoint this year. Farpoint, I should note, is a science-fiction convention held near Baltimore every February, and the headlining guests are writer David Gerrold and Firefly actor Sean Maher. Before the weekend, I received my schedule for the convention, but I haven’t had aContinue reading “Farpoint 2016 — My Schedule”
Lucifer: The Pilot
Monday night I watched the pilot episode of Lucifer on FOX. Ever since I read Milton in high school I’ve been sympathetic to Lucifer, the tragic anti-hero of Christian mythology. And I’ve read about half of the Mike Carey/Peter Gross comic book series on which the new television series was ostensibly based. I say “ostensibly”Continue reading “Lucifer: The Pilot”
Downton Abbey: Enter, Ozymandias!
In Zack Snyder’s 2009 film Watchmen, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Matthew Goode played Adrian Veidt, the world’s smartest man, someone who had honed his mind and body through sheer willpower and discipline to absolute perfection and operated, for a time, as the super-hero Ozymandias. I bring this up,Continue reading “Downton Abbey: Enter, Ozymandias!”
The Marvelous Adventure of the Big Dig
At midnight, I went outside. The snow had stopped at last, the sky had cleared, off, and an almost full moon was high overhead. It was peaceful. There was almost no sound. No cars moving on the roads in the distance. As the snow fell last night, piling up against a lamppost near my apartment,Continue reading “The Marvelous Adventure of the Big Dig”
Dispatches from Narnia
You might have heard, the East Coast has been blanketed by a massive snow storm since yesterday. As I write this, despite the insistence of my phone that current weather conditions are “Fog,” snow still falls on Pennsylvania. There’s roughly 20 inches of snow on the ground, possibly more. The office closed yesterday at 3Continue reading “Dispatches from Narnia”
Steven Moffat, Leaving Doctor Who in 2017
Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who. A Doctor Who Christmas Special, starring Peter Capaldi, will air in December 2016, followed by Moffat’s final series as producer, also starring Capaldi, in the spring of 2017. Then, Chris Chibnall, formerly of Law & Order UK, Torchwood, and Broadchurch, will take over for Steven Moffat for 2018. MyContinue reading “Steven Moffat, Leaving Doctor Who in 2017”
Meaning in Life and What Atheism Is Not
An article on NPR’s website — “An Unkillable Myth About Atheists” — brings up a criticism of atheism that I encounter every so often — without god, where does the meaning and purpose of life come from? I’ve seen it described as the question atheism can’t answer. The thing is, the question is answerable, justContinue reading “Meaning in Life and What Atheism Is Not”
The Aggrievement of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump
James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is more coherent than Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump yesterday in Iowa. I made a valiant effort at listening to it. It was difficult. Palin’s voice was a high-pitched screech with the speed and fury of a gale behind it, a freestyle ramble of slights, real and imagined by theContinue reading “The Aggrievement of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump”
Bernie Sanders, Renowned Tormenter of Windmills
Although my policy preferences more closely match Bernie Sanders than any other candidate — an unscientific Facebook survey put me something like 96% in line with Sanders — I’m not excited by his presidential candidacy. I have given him five dollars (as I also gave to Martin O’Malley and Hillary Clinton) to get on hisContinue reading “Bernie Sanders, Renowned Tormenter of Windmills”