On The Beatles’ The Lord of the Rings

In 1963, when the Beatles agreed to make A Hard Day’s Night, the film, they signed a three-picture deal with United Artists. In 1964, they made A Hard Day’s Night. In 1965, Help! By and large, though, they didn’t like making films. Too much work. And so, when the idea was floated of an animatedContinue reading “On The Beatles’ The Lord of the Rings”

On Turning WordPress Posts Into Pages

I’ve been using WordPress for over six years. When I began using WordPress, with version 1.2, it was a blogging platform and nothing more. With version 1.5 WordPress added a new wrinkle; it could still be used for blogging and creating blog posts, but it could also be used as a CMS-lite, with static pagesContinue reading “On Turning WordPress Posts Into Pages”

On Things I’ve Been Reading

“The Professor, the Queen, and the Bookshop” Doctor Who Magazine #429 Panini UK Written by Jonathan Morris Art by Rob Davis One winter’s day, during the height of the Blitz, two young children — Amelia and Rory — run through London’s streets, en route to a nearby train station to meet Amelia’s aunt. Amelia spiesContinue reading “On Things I’ve Been Reading”

On Republican Policies and their Impacts

Like millions of Americans, I paid some attention last night to the State of the Union address and the two Republican responses, one from Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (who, much to my chagrin, did not mention the Fantastic Four at all), the other from Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Abler commentators than I have parsed andContinue reading “On Republican Policies and their Impacts”

On The Beatles’ Movie Medley

Yesterday, I happened to be in Barnes & Noble. I was searching for Doctor Who Magazine #429, which I’d ordered at work, only for whatever reason I never received it. They didn’t have DWM, unfortunately, and so I browsed. I found Dayton Ward’s Paths of Disharmony, his new Star Trek novel, and then I found,Continue reading “On The Beatles’ Movie Medley”

On 25 Years Since Voyager 2’s Uranus Encounter

Friday evening, I received a press release from NASA. The reason? The twenty-fifty anniversary of Voyager 2’s closest encounter to Uranus. Voyager Celebrates 25 Years Since Uranus Visit Jet Propulsion Laboratory January 21, 2011 As NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made the only close approach to date of our mysterious seventh planet Uranus 25 years ago,Continue reading “On 25 Years Since Voyager 2’s Uranus Encounter”

On Writing, Morning and Noon and Night

I wish I could draw. I can't. Oh, I'm sure that I could, if only I would pick up a pencil, put it to paper, and practice day after day after day. Except that I don't think that, even with practice, that I would be able to etch out something that looked like anything. IContinue reading “On Writing, Morning and Noon and Night”

On a Month Until Farpoint

I realized today that we’re a month away from Farpoint. Farpoint is a science-fiction convention held north of Baltimore every February (right next to the building where I work, actually), usually right around Valentine’s Day. This year it falls the weekend after, beginning on February the 18th. I’ve been attending Farpoint since 2006, and thisContinue reading “On a Month Until Farpoint”

On the Repeal of Health Care Reform

Today, the House of Representatives will be voting on the “Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Law Act.” This bill, written by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was passed by the last Congress, and, despite some requests that, in the wake of the Tuscon shootingsContinue reading “On the Repeal of Health Care Reform”