While looking at the Wikipedia entry for one of my favourite Latin phrases, sic transit gloria mundi, I found a link to a New York Daily News story mentioning what has to be the all-time greatest headline pun that actually ever saw print. (Some of the ones in Fletch were pretty good, too, but they don’t count.) Apparently there was… Read more →
Author: Mr. McLaren
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 2
Well, while my first thought is of Brust, when the urge hit me to seek out some Lucifer literature this weekend, I knew I wouldn’t be buying yet another copy of his novel. It would be tricky to justify given I alread own two copies. Instead, I turned to Milton himself. While it is certainly true that a little bit… Read more →
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 1
So, if you say “proud and unrepentant figures of literature” what pops into your head? If you’re me (and I suspect a lot of other people) the answer is “Lucifer”. Unlike many people who would answer that way though, my first exposure to the idea of Lucifer as a sympathetic character didn’t come from Milton, it came from Brust. I… Read more →
A Bit Of Context
Right, so let me explain. I’ve been down in Boston since Tuesday, for work. Yes, I have been travelling a lot for work lately. Yes, I am not best pleased about this. On this particular trip my preferred hotel was full, so I once again had to stay across the street in the castle. Normally, this doesn’t really mean much… Read more →
Feeling Contrary
The church ladies are getting to me. I’m going to have to do some reading about the devil. Read more →
That damn paper clip
“My theory was that [the readers] just thought they cared about the action; but really, although they didnt know it, they cared very little about the action. The things that they really cared about, and that I cared about, were the creation of emotion through dialogue and description; the things they remembered, that haunted them, were not for example that… Read more →
So It Goes
The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different… Read more →
A 5 inch circle full of awesome
Yes, Danny Michel has a DVD (with bonus CD… or vinyl, or 8-track, or download) coming out May 1. The bit of YouTubery above is about 4 minutes of samples from the show. Full details at dannymichel.com. Also available there: FOUR FREE DOWNLOADABLE SONGS from the bonus album. “At last, Danny Michel‘s fun, spontaneous and captivating live show —his most… Read more →
Rats In The Casino Of Life
I spent a fair bit of time this weekend, in scattered chunks, working my way through the essay Micheal Allen (a.k.a. the Grumpy Old Bookman) published back in February, Rats In The Slushpile. The piece, which is available as a free PDF, is described as: Book-world commentator Michael Allen has a reputation for revealing the painful truth about writing and… Read more →
Lazy Sunday Links
So, last night we had a ridiculously out of season snowstorm, which dropped almost a foot of snow on us over night. Yes, I am writing this on Easter weekend. Yes, it is April. And yet still I saw this when I looked out the window this morning: The one upside of this is that I got to go out… Read more →
Oh, and since I mentioned Pullman…
Kidman as Mrs. Coulter seems like good casting to me. And SAM ELLIOTT! I know it’s standard Hollywood, but Weitz claiming to be the writer in a promo piece that doesn’t ever mention Pullman seems kind of dirty to me. (Insert here standard rant about adaptations. Then the standard rant about how visuals from movies colonise your mind like a… Read more →
Good Friday, Part 6
Here’s a quotation from a new story published on March 31st in the Globe & Mail: Mr. Trottier, 24, and his colleague were hanging posters Tuesday night announcing a lecture by Victor Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis, when they were approached by two men. The men asked for a copy of the poster, mumbled under their breath and… Read more →
Some Eostre Listening
You can now listen to the recent Oxford/Cambridge-style formal debate on the proposition “We’d be better off without religion”, thanks to the Time Online. (Note that this is explicitly not the same proposition as “God doesn’t exist”, etc.) The debate was organized by Intelligence Squared, and had the following participants: Pro: Professor Richard Dawkins Professor A.C. Grayling Christopher Hitchens Con:… Read more →
Good Friday, Part 5
Here’s some irony for you: an article about Fred Phelps cheered me up today. If you don’t know who Fred Phelps is, you can do a little Googling. If I were feeling really snarky, I would list some quotes from Phelp’s church to illustrate the beauty and majesty of religion, but I’d feel dirty linking to him, or his charmingly… Read more →
Attention All Humans
OK, look, it’s been almost two years since I felt compelled to give all humanity a command, but this one has really been building up. Here’s the core of it: an escalator is not a ride. This is not an amusement park, it’s a tool to speed traffic between different levels. You don’t just stand there–your legs still work. Maybe…… Read more →
