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”
On Doctor Who’s Forthcoming Season
The sixth season of the new Doctor Who will be split in two; seven episodes airing from Easter, with the final six episodes airing later in the fall. According to the BBC’s press release: The split transmission is the result of a request from Steven Moffat to write a new Doctor Who story arc whichContinue reading “On Doctor Who’s Forthcoming Season”
On Publishing Tweets in the Newspaper
Two days in a row this week — Thursday and Friday — I had Tweets published in b, the local free daily paper. Actual conversation from yesterday: ME: Guess what! Guess what! I had another Tweet published in b. That’s two days in a row! Two days! COWORKER: What? ME: Yesterday, they published my TweetContinue reading “On Publishing Tweets in the Newspaper”
On Writing a Merlin Drabble
Last night, I had an idea for a drabble. Well, that’s not quite right. It might be more accurate to say that an idea for a drabble that had been kicking around in the recesses of the mind finally announced itself as being ready. I like writing drabbles — a short story of 100 words,Continue reading “On Writing a Merlin Drabble”