When I was younger, in those days before the Internet made mail order shopping so ridiculously easy, my family used to receive the NPR Shop catalog. And the Barnes & Noble catalog. I don’t know which catalog I saw it in, but I’m sure it was one of those two — the NPR radio dramatizationContinue reading “On NPR’s Lord of the Rings Audio Drama”
On the Medal of Honor Controversy
We live in an age of artificial controversies and manufactured indignation. How else to explain the kerfuffle over the new Medal of Honor video game? Medal of Honor has, for a decade now, been one of the top military first-person shooters, all set around World War II. The first game was loosely based on SavingContinue reading “On the Medal of Honor Controversy”
On the Sarah Palin/Larry King Interviews
About two months ago, the Internet was abuzz with a computer-generated video of a feline-woman who went into a story to buy an iPhone 4, even though she had no idea what it was. Having worked in retail for more years than I would like to mention, I can tell you that these conversations happenContinue reading “On the Sarah Palin/Larry King Interviews”
On Merlin’s Upcoming Season
The third season of Merlin begins this coming Saturday on BBC1. Here are the BBC’s two teaser trailers: So, the Great Dragon is back. Morgana is back. Morgause is back. And Arthur fights skeleton men! Merlin looks awfully gaunt. They must not be feeding him in the castle. Also, there’s not enough Gwen shown. Actually,Continue reading “On Merlin’s Upcoming Season”
On Economic Choices and Political Outcomes
After two days of political prognostication and analysis, I turn my attention to matters economic. The economy is in pretty dire shape — and has been since mid-2008. In President Obama’s first months in office, an economic stimulus bill was passed to inject some energy back into the economy. At the time, economists believed thatContinue reading “On Economic Choices and Political Outcomes”
On Counterfactuals, Tantrums, and the Expensive Orgy
Two political op-eds have captured my attention in the past day. They cover similar ground — the struggles of the Democrats this election cycle — in profoundly different ways. The Washington Post‘s Eugene Robinson, he writes in “The Spoiled-Brat American Electorate” that “registered voters say they intend to vote for Republicans over Democrats by anContinue reading “On Counterfactuals, Tantrums, and the Expensive Orgy”
On What’s At Stake In November’s Elections
Forty-five years ago Alabama governor George Wallace declared in his inaugural address a policy of “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Opposed to the Civil Rights movement, rejecting federal authority, Wallace, an ardent racist and state’s rights advocate, sought to turn back the clock to an earlier era, but the genie of Civil Rights wasContinue reading “On What’s At Stake In November’s Elections”
On Speculations About Doctor Who’s Game-Changer
As I wrote about a few days ago, the upcoming episodes of Doctor Who will be split into two seasons — season six (7 episodes) at Easter, season seven (6 episodes) in the autumn. Showrunner Steven Moffat is quoted in The Guardian as saying that the sixth season (that being spring) will end with “anContinue reading “On Speculations About Doctor Who’s Game-Changer”
On Curiosity About Parking Garages
I decided this morning to park the Beetle on the sixth level of the parking garage at the subway station. I had parked on the fourth level. Recently I changed to the fifth — I could park closer to the stairwell on the fifth, thus cutting down on walking time, even though it was anotherContinue reading “On Curiosity About Parking Garages”
On Conversations on the Train
On the train tonight, I talked to a homeless man. To my luck, I caught the slightly earlier train, despite leaving the office at my usual time. (In a span of about fifteen minutes, there are southbound trains terminating at Cromwell, BWI, and North Avenue, in that order. I normally catch the BWI train atContinue reading “On Conversations on the Train”