Gladiator in England

Ridley Scott took a shot at Robin Hood with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in the lead roles. Don't know what to think about this.

FACT:

"Bret McKenzie appeared as an unnamed elf in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". The Lord of the Rings fanbase dubbed the elf Figwit. McKenzie returned for a small speaking role in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as the same elf of Rivendell, now named "Elf Escort".^[21] He informs Arwen that she 'cannot delay' after she has a brief vision of her future with Aragorn and their son."

Thanks, Wikipedia!

Also, thanks YouTube!

Christmas Present Idea for JB?

http://www9.printwarcraft.com/homepage.html

Do we make him a level 97 Ice Wizard or level 1 fisherman?

Nick?

you have a tough act to beat at the next competition:

Behold, the powers of prog!

The Secret of Science:



But don't get caught in a Floyd!

Gathering Storm

I've said my piece before on Robert Jordan; here's a review of mostly praise for Sanderson's first attempt to tie up the series. Sounds promising. Think I can just read that book without having to go back and start over? (I never read 8-11.)

Re: Synth Ninja

I really wish I was that good on the sonic keys. Alas... I am not.

Re: Synth Ninja

Nick, don't try to pretend that's not you.

If things don't work out with flute girl...

... there's always Synth Ninja. Pretty sure he's available.

SLAPS I CALL DIBS

My future wife?

Facebook ad for Nick

Carlo says WIN $10k

Do you have what it takes to be the leader of the Carlo Rossi Posse? Enter and you could take home $10k!

Like

This made me chuckle

Two Papers in One!

• "The argument against unions--that they unduly burden employers with unreasonable demands--is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad. . . . The real issue is whether enhanced unionizing would worsen the recession, and there is no evidence that it would. There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important."--editorial, New York Times, Dec. 29, 2008
• "The New York Times News Service will lay off at least 25 editorial employees next year and will move the editing of the service to a Florida newspaper owned by The New York Times Company. . . . The plan for the news service calls for The Gainesville Sun, whose newsroom is not unionized and has lower salaries, to take over editing and page design."--news story, New York Times, Nov. 13, 2009

From James Taranto at WSJOnline yesterday.

Don't say I didn't warn you

As anyone who has watched their precious supply depots rendered ashes by a swift night attack knows, you simply cannot trust Lord Cao. "I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me." Indeed, Cao. Indeed.

Same as before...

You signed the contract, so the video game can send you to fight aliens, or suit you up to play QB, or force your likeness to ventriloquize other people's songs. Whine more, No Doubt.

Yeah, that's awesome but...

...Cartman really commits to the song:



Edited to put in a video that actually works.

Halloween Hangover Cure

Happy belated Halloween

I have a new Halloween tradition that involves watching this:

Mega-shark vs. SuperCrazyRoboMega-Shark

I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories--whether in the news, in a paperback, or on Sci-Fi.

Kinda sad...

... when your area is so economically depressed that a university wins business of the year. A state university, no less. Talk about defining business down.

Wallace Stevens

I had not read any Stevens until I read the article you posted, Nick. One of the things I love about the New Criterion is that I always get to read about some decent writers I haven't heard of or I have only a mere recognition. It helps me expand my literary education which would otherwise tend to stagnate because of my laziness.

I briefly perused some Stevens and tried to find the poems mentioned in the article. I can see in the few poems I read how both you and the author came to your conclusions. There was a lot of nonsense in the poems I read. I also enjoyed the line you quoted from the article. The New Criterion finds some decent critics and writers. I especially like Terry Teachout. From Wallace, I did enjoy The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad and The Snow Man. Especially The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad. I thought this a very nice stanza:

The time of year has grown indifferent.
Mildew of summer and the deepening snow
Are both alike in the routine i know.
I am too dumbly in my being pent.

Whitman I might revisit some day, but I remember having to wade through quite a bit of sillyness there as well to find anything I liked. It makes me wonder what a writer does with his bad or lesser material. I'd be inclined to toss it or at least not publish it, but I suppose it must be shared for the sake of improving yourself through someone else's criticism. Of couse some writers may not think they have lesser material. When I write I'm inclined to think the opposite and am loath to share.