A week from today, Paul McCartney’s new album, Kisses on the Bottom, comes out. When it was first announced a few months ago, it was described as an album of standards, the songs that McCartney grew up with in the 1950s that inspired him and John Lennon as they were forming the Quarry Men andContinue reading “On Paul McCartney’s Album of Standards”
Monthly Archives: January 2012
On Writing a Podcast Script
Today I wrote my first podcast script. I mentioned about two months ago that I was considering starting a podcast when I relaunch my website in the coming months. (By the way, there’s nothing wrong with my website that requires a relaunch, except that I have to move it to another server, so why notContinue reading “On Writing a Podcast Script”
On the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
Dayton Ward reminds us today that, twenty-six years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off, killing all seven members of her crew. In my brother’s attic is, I assume, a box filled with newspapers I collected at the time, articles on the crew, articles on the disaster itself, articles on the investigation,Continue reading “On the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster”
On Writing with the WordPress Android App
Yesterday’s blog post I wrote on my phone. I didn’t plan that. It’s just how it happened. I knew what I wanted to blog about yesterday morning — a vacation in March, to see the Lewis chessmen in New York — and on the subway train I pulled out my notepad and started writing downContinue reading “On Writing with the WordPress Android App”
On the Lewis Chessmen
For March I’m planning a trip to New York City. I put my vacation request in yesterday for a few days in the middle of the month. The Lewis Chessmen are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through early April, and they’re something I would very much like to see while they’re onContinue reading “On the Lewis Chessmen”
On Sherlock the Ratiocinative Android
Today I realized how entirely appropriate it was that Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss cast Martin Freeman as John H. Watson in the BBC’s Sherlock. No, it’s not Freeman’s unbridled everyman-neess nor his stolid Britishness. Rather, it’s the obvious fact that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes is clearly the latest product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.Continue reading “On Sherlock the Ratiocinative Android”
On Stephen Colbert’s Poll Numbers
Last week, comedian Stephen Colbert shocked the media by announcing his intention to explore the possibility of running for President of the United States of South Carolina. Or somesuch like that. Because pollsters need something to fill the endless hours between now and November, Public Policy Polling decided to put the question to a testContinue reading “On Stephen Colbert’s Poll Numbers”
On a Choice of Rallies
Oh, to have First World problems…! On a single day in March — Saturday the 24th — there are two happenings in Washington, DC that I want to attend, but I have time for only one. :-/ The first? Shamrock Fest, a day-long Celtic rock/punk festival at RFK Stadium. I went last year, saw bandsContinue reading “On a Choice of Rallies”
On the Coding Itch
Over the weekend, I devoted some time and energy to thinking about what I want to do with my next website. I’ve been working at the code off and on since August, going so far as to code two fully-functional blog themes that I’ll never use. And then, just as I felt really happy withContinue reading “On the Coding Itch”
On Annivesaries and Convention Panel Ideas
Recently I’ve had anniversaries on the brain. It started with this blog post by Dayton Ward, where he ran through a list of film anniversaries — twentieth, twenty-fifth, right on up — that are being celebrated this year. You look at the list for 1982, the year that many critics consider to be filmed scienceContinue reading “On Annivesaries and Convention Panel Ideas”