Earlier this week, Lance Parkin and Lars Pearson’s Unhistory, a chronology of the apocryphal (and sometimes impossible) Doctor Who stories, was released as an ebook. Like the previous Ahistory (a chronology of the “real” Doctor Who), Unhistory has essays on various topics that deserve greater exploration and insight. Notably, Unhistory has an essay titled “OldContinue reading “The Fourth Doctor and the Curator: What’s the Connection?”
Taken: Why Am I Even Watching This?
Why do I keep watching Taken, the NBC television series ostensibly inspired by the Taken film franchise? I use the words “ostensibly inspired” because I have absolutely no idea what this series has to do with Taken. Clive Standen can’t be playing a young Liam Neeson for the simple fact that the television series takesContinue reading “Taken: Why Am I Even Watching This?”
Writing My Congressman: The American Health Care Act
The Honorable Scott Perry United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. Office 1207 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Perry: Yesterday afternoon the Congressional Budget Office issued its report on the American Health Care Act. Their conclusions on the consequences of the AHCA are shocking — 24 million Americans will lose healthContinue reading “Writing My Congressman: The American Health Care Act”
Fifteen Influential Authors
I saw this on Facebook a few days ago, meant to answer it, and got sidetracked into other things. That happens. The rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 authors (poets and comic writers included) who have influenced you and who will always stick with you. List the first 15 youContinue reading “Fifteen Influential Authors”
Musings on a Water Tower
Last Saturday at Farpoint I went to dinner with some friends and their pre-school aged daughter. As we drove up York Road, the preschooler pointed to the west. “Look! A water tower! It’s so small!” I’ve worked in the area for the past ten years. Yet this was the first time I’d really noticed theContinue reading “Musings on a Water Tower”
Frank Delaney and Scott Simon: Their Epic Radio Friendship
After writing some words on the death of author Frank Delaney this morning, I was curious — I remembered his voice appearing on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday from time to time, so how many times did he appear? I turned to Google. The answer is six times. Stories by the Fire: Frank Delaney’s ‘Ireland’ –Continue reading “Frank Delaney and Scott Simon: Their Epic Radio Friendship”
Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence
The author Frank Delaney has died. He suffered a stroke at his home in Connecticut on Tuesday, and he died on Wednesday. He was 74. Delaney was an occasional guest on Scott Simon’s Weekend Edition Saturday, and that was where I first encountered him. Fifteen-ish years ago — ah, I’ve looked, it was merely twelveContinue reading “Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence”
Loving the World
I had to watch this video a few times before I really got it. It’s a short film, created The Climate Coaltion, a UK organization that fights climate change, that features Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, Jason Isaacs, and David Gyasi dramatically reciting a poem by Anthony Anaxagorou about the wonders of nature and the threatContinue reading “Loving the World”
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”
Fun With Lightbulb Replacement
Friday morning, my driver’s side headlight bulb blew on the way to work. I noticed, stopped on Shawan Road at the stoplight there that I didn’t have two headlight reflections in the bumper of the car in front of me. Just one. On the passenger side. Hum, I thought. Hum. At the office parking lot,Continue reading “Fun With Lightbulb Replacement”