On the State of Blogging

I’ve been thinking recently about blogging. Not my blogging, but blogging in general. I’ve noticed, from completely unscientific personal observations, that blogging is on the decline. Eight years ago, when I started up this website, it seemed like the rage. A journal… online! There was no reason I couldn’t have done that before; software (namelyContinue reading “On the State of Blogging”

On Writing to Soundtracks

To an outside observer, my last.fm profile has gone wonky this week. I’m in soundtrack mode. Specifically, Lord of the Rings soundtrack mode. I discovered a few days ago that the soundtrack to The Hunt for Gollum, a fanfilm that dramatizes Aragorn’s search for Gollum during the early part of The Fellowship of the Ring,Continue reading “On Writing to Soundtracks”

On Cosmic Thoughts

Seeing a picture of a planet, orbiting a star hundreds of light years away, puts things into perspective — the universe is vast, unknowable, unimaginable. I mention this, because the Gemini Observatory has released a telescopic photograph of an extrasolar planet. A planet! Orbiting another sun! We’ve known for two decades that they exist, butContinue reading “On Cosmic Thoughts”

On My 2010 Shore Leave Schedule

Shore Leave! It’s the media science-fiction convention held in Hunt Valley, Maryland every mid-July. This year, it falls on the calendar from July 9th through 11th. :spock: This year, barring any unforeseen happenings, I will again be attending the convention as a guest. My schedule for panels looks like: Friday Meet the ProsHunt/Valley Hallway —Continue reading “On My 2010 Shore Leave Schedule”

On Glastonbury and Robert Byrd

First, fun. Matt Smith’s appearance at Glastonbury last night with Orbital as they performed the Doctor Who theme: I’ve seen other videos of this performance, but this one is, by far, the best quality. In other news, Robert Byrd, the senior Senator from West Virginia, passed away. The longest serving Senator in history — fifty-oneContinue reading “On Glastonbury and Robert Byrd”

On Zombies and the Beatles

I don’t get the current fascination with zombies. I really don’t. Just Saturday, I saw at Barnes & Noble Shakespeare Undead, a zombie Shakespeare novel. I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was amusing, but I liked Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, with no zombies but lots of steampunk, so much more. ThenContinue reading “On Zombies and the Beatles”

On Living Through “The Big Bang”

Doctor Who. “The Big Bang.” My before-the-spoiler-cut review (because there may be people reading this who watch on the North American schedule) — I laughed. I got weepy. I was shocked — and amazed — at the audacity. The Doctor got bloody damn lucky. (I’ll explain later.) Overall, I think Steven Moffat played fair withContinue reading “On Living Through “The Big Bang””

On Gandalf and the Vuvuzela

How many times have I watched this? I don’t know, because each time I do I start rolling on the floor laughing. What happens when the World Cup is held in Middle-Earth? That provocative question is answered in… The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Vuvuzela. Not coming to a theater near you.Continue reading “On Gandalf and the Vuvuzela”