[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends View]
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
| Time | Event |
| 1:05a | Oh, thank god (Not the election. I win either way with that) Fantasy readers get just as nervous over the future of their genre as SF readers do. " There is one thing that surprised me about the fantasy books on this list. With the exception of Harry Potter not one single fantasy book is less than 20 years old! We haven’t had a significant fantasy work in 20 years? What does this say about the genre? Is it a used up genre just swallowing itself in repetitions of the same old cliches?" And also a list, because if there's one thing people like, it's being kept on a short chain and told what to do. Wait, no, I meant to say "lists. People like lists." ( Read more... ) |
| 11:52a | The original SFBC list Here is the original version of that list I posted yesterday. The original is from the SFBC, which means at least I know who to ask if I have questions. ( Read more... ) |
| 12:02p | I see the terrorists won I hope you people know a lot of hard-working comedians wept themselves to sleep last night. It's not as bad as when you lot took away Dan Quayle and replaced him with Al Gore but it was still pretty inconsiderate. |
| 12:27p | From Sea to Shining Sea Apparently Nancy Pelosi used this phrase last night. This phrase has interesting associations for Canadians, because if you look at Canada's coat of Arms  you can see the phrase "A Mari Usque Ad Mare", which means from "sea to sea." This comes from the Psalm 72:8: "He shall have dominion from sea to sea," and this is where the term "Dominion came from, back in the days when Canada and several other post-colonial nations were refered to as Dominions. Unfortunately, Pelosi's use of the phrase is probably not a secret message to Parliament that the Americans have realised what a error 1776 was and they want us to send our soldier down to annex them. The odds favour that it is a reference to AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL by Katharine Lee Bates. Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. Oh beautiful, for pilgrims' feet Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw; Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law! Oh beautiful, for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, 'Til all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine! Oh beautiful, for patriot's dream That sees, beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea! [Added later: I've always prefered this song to Francis Scott Key's CALL THAT A ROCKET BARRAGE? I'VE GOT A BIGGER ROCKET BARRAGE! IN! MY! PANTS! (Crotch pointing optional) because ATB can actually be sung by humans without every dog within six blocks howling and also because I like the forward looking element of the song; it's about what the US has but also what it could have. Notice how I don't mention any anthem from Canada. That's because as a rule, Canadian attempts at this art form are usually whiny and nasal, and their lyrics involve standing still more often than one might expect from an assortment of songs. I do like ODE TO NEWFOUNDLAND but of course, Newfoundland was once an independent nation.] |
| 2:00p | In the spirit of the Inherent Unity of English Speakers I will henceforth refer to the core English-speaking nations as l'anglophonie. |
| 3:25p | Rumsfeld Out Robert Gates seems to be his replacement. I know very little about Gates and would like the context in which he said "I also enjoy cultivating shrubberies." |
| 7:42p | Significant I aksed Andrew what was meant by "significant" and got this answer (QWP): "Not exactly "best" and not exactly "most popular," but somewhere in the middle, with as much wiggle room as we could build in. Basically, they were books that we thought were important to the history of the field, for various reasons." |
| << Previous Day |
2006/11/08 [Calendar] |
Next Day >> |