The Travel Ban and the Steve Bannon Playbook

I didn’t go to the protest at BWI yesterday. If I’d found out about it two hours earlier, I might have; I didn’t have anything else happening yesterday. In the last twenty-four hours I’ve seen several writers note that the protests against Trump’s travel ban from seven Muslim countries are a feature, not a bug,Continue reading “The Travel Ban and the Steve Bannon Playbook”

John Hurt, a Reminisence

In the mid-90s I bought an audiobook read by John Hurt. The book was Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I found the cassette one day at Big Lots, along with some others (Ian Fleming’s “The Living Daylights,” read by Anthony Valentine; Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of theContinue reading “John Hurt, a Reminisence”

Thoughts on the “Rogue” Government Twitter Accounts

In the last week Twitter has exploded with “rogue” government Twitter accounts, accounts that purport to be “employees… disgruntled by moves the [Trump] administration has made to tamp down on these agency’s abilities to spread their messages… and have taken to Twitter to resist Trump’s authoritarianism.” There are even some (I know of three) thatContinue reading “Thoughts on the “Rogue” Government Twitter Accounts”

Photographing a Baltimore Church

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the Women’s March in Baltimore that I stopped along the way and took pictures of churches. It’s something of a hobby of mine. Sacred architecture speaks to the better angels of our nature, a monument to the human need for community that spans decades and centuries. Most of theContinue reading “Photographing a Baltimore Church”

Scenes from the Women’s March in Baltimore

Today I attended the Women’s March sister march in Baltimore. There isn’t much of a narrative here, and I’d struggle to stitch one together. I’ll give some brief background, an account of what I did and witnessed, pictures of what I saw, and some final remarks. This is going behind a link, as there areContinue reading “Scenes from the Women’s March in Baltimore”

Random Thoughts on Sherlock

What follows is a rambling post about “The Final Problem” and Sherlock overall that I made on Facebook. I don’t guarantee that it will make any sense. It’s a bit random. A coworker said to me this morning, “You either loved it or you hated it.” I didn’t hate it, but I’m not a fanContinue reading “Random Thoughts on Sherlock”

Things I’ve Been Reading: “Terror of the Cabinet Noir”

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Year Two #11-13 Titan Comics Written by Robbie Morrison Art by Mariano Laclaustra with Fer Centurion and Agus Calcagno This week, Titan Comics wrapped up a storyline in the twelfth Doctor comics, “Terror of the Cabinet Noir.” Paris, 1695. Cardinal Richelieu seems to be immortal, and there’s a darkness permeatingContinue reading “Things I’ve Been Reading: “Terror of the Cabinet Noir””

Into Syria with the Doctor aboard the TARDIS

I have easily a hundred ebooks on my Kindle that I’ve never read. Either they were freebies, or I made them from files off Project Gutenberg, or I got them as part of a bundle where I was interesting in only two or three specific titles, or I bought them cheaply from one of theContinue reading “Into Syria with the Doctor aboard the TARDIS”

Reporting to the Head Beagle on 2016

I received an urgent request to fill out an annual report to the Head Beagle. I think this urgent request may have come to me by accident — unlike Snoopy I am not a beagle — but in the spirit of the New Year, herewith is my 2016 response to the annual survey. 1. HowContinue reading “Reporting to the Head Beagle on 2016”