Many states are going to the polls today. Dick Lugar’s career is likely to end today in Indiana as the crazy wing of the Republican Party turns him out in a primary. And North Carolina votes on Amendment One. Yesterday, I was invited to an after-election party in Raleigh by one of the anti-Amendment OneContinue reading “On North Carolina’s Amendment One”
On Musing about Beowulf and Its Culture
This morning, while I was listening to Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend Edition and waiting for the coffee to kick in, I saw that a friend posted a question on Facebook about Beowulf. No, not the Robert Zemekis film. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem on which the Zemekis film was based. What, he wanted to know,Continue reading “On Musing about Beowulf and Its Culture”
Van Helsing Revisited
Last year I found at Big Lots the collector’s edition DVD of Van Helsing. Came in a brown box, had a couple of extra discs that included some of the original Universal Monsters movies. It was, I think, five dollars, and since I hadn’t seen Van Helsing since the weekend it came out, I pickedContinue reading “Van Helsing Revisited”
On Coding a Podcast Feed
I returned today to a long-term project — my new website. On the train this morning, after writing out my daily office to-do list, I wrote down a list of the things that I had left to do for the site. Design a logo here, design a graphic there, review content.php, et cetera and soContinue reading “On Coding a Podcast Feed”
On the Demise of a Band I Liked
Sunday evening I learned a band I liked had broken up. The band is Aerials Up. Unsurprisingly, they’re from Scotland. When I wrote about Aerials Up originally, I wrote that “there’s a certain similarity to Arcade Fire in the sound of Aerials Up; there’s a similar instrumentation, a similar mixture of male and female voices.Continue reading “On the Demise of a Band I Liked”
On the Sunday Feeling
Today I felt unnerved, even apprehensive. I couldn’t figure out why. I posted on Twitter that I felt “lonely,” but that couldn’t be it, surely? Then I realized that I hadn’t had a meaningful conversation with anyone in a day and a half. See, I don’t handle solitude well. It’s a weird personality quirk ofContinue reading “On the Sunday Feeling”
On Receiving E-Mail from Monty Python
Yesterday morning I received an urgent e-mail from Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. Since he didn’t ask for any confidentiality in our correspondence, I’m going to share it with you all. 🙂 TERRY GILLIAM South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall London E14 9SR I am Terry Gilliam, British citizen and Principal assurance manager for the HSBCContinue reading “On Receiving E-Mail from Monty Python”
On Allyn’s Second Adventure in New York
A few days ago, I went to New York City. I had it all planned out. I was going to go to The Cloisters, I was going to see their exhibition of the Lewis Chessmen, and… well, that really was all I had planned. Which caused problems when I discovered upon arriving there, due toContinue reading “On Allyn’s Second Adventure in New York”
On Being Noticed by Rachel Maddow’s Producer
How’s this for fun? I got noticed by one of Rachel Maddow’s writers and producers on Twitter this afternoon. 🙂 A few months ago, Maddow hired Steve Benen, formerly of Washington Monthly, to work on MaddowBlog. I’d followed Benen’s work on WM‘s “Political Animal” blog for a number of years, and when Maddow hired himContinue reading “On Being Noticed by Rachel Maddow’s Producer”
On Looking Ahead to Shore Leave
Shore Leave is four months away, and yesterday I started to brainstorm panel ideas for the convention. I scribbled fifteen ideas on a notepad — it was either that or pay attention to a discussion by Baltimore’s methheads about how a woman’s pelvis is made of sponge — and last night I pared the listContinue reading “On Looking Ahead to Shore Leave”