A Sunday Review

Mostly concerned with the Olympics again, but there's a little TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters International: "The Legend of Rose Hall" - The adventure starts in Costa Rica, at a TB Hospital. Many of these haunted places are sanitoriums for TB sufferers. This one isn't completely abandoned, though, like a lot of them. As for what they found... lens flare, static, and bugs. I'm not really impressed. Even that last picture just wasn't enough. Next up is Jamaica. Fun! The legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall. I love the amount of debunking they did. The photo debunking was particularly nice. Why are they so good at debunking in the second half, but so willing to see pattern in nothing in the first?

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Fortean Times #257, February 2010. This issue came on time, and sure enough, I've already got issue #258. I haven't opened it yet. I want to finish the review of this one before I read another one. Oddly, I checked the website of the distributor, and they claim the current issue is #260. If that's the case, I'm two issues behind. But if I go to the Fortean Times Website, they are still on #259... making the distributor ahead - and me about right on target for someone getting a subscription overseas. Um, I think I've managed to confuse myself.

Right, the issue itself! The cover story is on Dracula. Joy. Like I need more vampires sucking away. The article itself isn't bad. It's about the evolution of the vampire story from undead peasants to the suave and sophisticated charmer through the processes in pop culture, starting with Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's a good solid look at the history of Dracula, but limited by being an article in a magazine. I get the feeling that this information could easily fill out a book or two.

Moving back to the start of the book, we get a chilling tale out of Peru about gangs that killed people to gather human fat. I really hope that one isn't true. More Strangedays include objects falling from the sky and medical mysteries. The Science article looks at the real history behind The Men Who Stare At Goats, and in particular the way people truly die because of curses. The Archaeology section shows off a bone flute found in Germany that is the world's oldest musical instrument.

The UFO files has an A-Z of UFO Theories, part one, that gets up to M in this issue. I like the theories... most of them. I always figure most of the mysterious that we see out in the world has a mix of causes and that trying to constantly pigeonhole things into a single meaning is one reason we don't understand the world around us.

There are a few more articles that are good but too much to mention at the moment. The reviews again got me to put books on my lists. The letters pages include a picture of the Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids, which I'm very familiar with thanks to a commenter on my Aquaman page. There is a disgusting letter from a climate-change denier who clearly needs someone to fact-check him before he sends letters. Ah well, it's still a good magazine, even if I had trouble reading through one single letter to the editor. Overall, great stuff.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

There's a Reason I Don't Do Tech Support

Via Boing Boing, which has some pithy comments about the kind of person who pulls this on people who know a little tech.

Glad You're Not Dead - Cheyenne Wright

Cheyenne Reports on his LiveJournal:

Hello my most surprising internet friends

As many of you may know, On Tues, February 23rd I became so ill that I was hospitalized. My feet legs and midsection were swelling with water. A nagging cough that had been hanging on for a month turned into a relentless dry hacking and I lost the ability to travel even short distances without needing to sit down to calm my breathing

after 3 days of observation I have been sent home with an Easter basket of medications. Looking over them all It's hard to say what they think I got. No doctor ever came forward and said "THIS one thing" was the culprit. We know my heart is big and floppy, possibly from years of stress deadlines and High Blood pressure, or just as likely for a guy my age - it's a virus. They don't know.

Now at home the swelling is down, but is still being controlled with "water pills" that are supposed to make me pee like a race horse. The Dry hacking cough has turned "flemmy" which I prefer -- get the stuff out of me I say -- but it's also more painful. I have a basket of Meds for Blood pressure, Cholesterol, Borderline Diabetes, and Antibotics, flu shots, N1H1. I got it all. Maybe one will do the trick -- if not back to the hospital I go. I guess.

<SOAP BOX>There is no union for a guy like me, A freelance artist. There is no easy 401K, no dental, no health care. All Eli and I have is our diligent scrimping and saving of every dime to plan for a future.

This one stumble could undo all of our hard work. Why? Because how the American system has chosen to take care of each other in this country is so fundamentally broken, it's like a Greek tragedy. Call/Write to your Senator or Congress Person and tell them that we can not continue to live this way. What is the United States of America if not the largest trade union on the planet? WE the people need that bargaining power. -- Universal Health Care - for all.</SOAP BOX>

NOW THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY....
What I wanted to talk about was you guys. Oh my god. the outpouring of love and support I have received in the past three days has me on the verge of tears. You are all such beautiful awesome people, and I can not thank you enough. Money has been coming in from the Donation Link that the Foglios set up. Which will go a long way to prevent my total financial collapse. I truly feel like George Baily at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" surrounded by so many friends. It's a lonsome life as a freelance artist. And you seldom get a chance to see what kind of an effect you have on other peoples lives. Thank you all so much

Cheyenne

If you want to contribute to help Cheyenne avoid bankruptcy when the medical bills come, you can donate through Paypal at arcanetimes at gmail.com.

Deep Thought

I got caught passing a note in school only once. This was generally because I didn't pass notes. The teacher took the note, which was from me to the student in front of me, and was about to read it in front of the class. But she scanned it, laughed, then went on with the lesson. I was not disciplined. The note read, "Please don't give me notes, I'm trying to pay attention!"

Update on Cheyenne Wright

From Kaja Foglio:

Update! They're letting Cheyenne out of the hospital tonight. The doctors are now pretty sure that even though what he's got OMG LOOKS JUST LIKE CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE AAAUGH!… it's actually… a virus that mimics the symptoms. So we're all breathing a big sigh of relief. Until the bills come, then we'll all freak out again. We'll be running a couple of charity auctions and some wallpaper donations to help with the bills, so stay tuned. (I'd have it all ready, but frankly, I'm not at my best at the moment either. Then again, I'm not in the hospital. So I'm good.) --Kaja

Today's Walk

Today's walk was an interesting one. Now that I have a working GPS, I decided to contribute a little to OpenStreetMap. OpenStreetMap is an open source mapping project. See, the problem with most maps is that they are proprietary, owned by someone or another. And most of these proprietary maps even have intentional errors that prove if someone steals their data. The goal of OpenStreetMap is to collect real data and provide it free of charge to anyone who needs it.

What good is this? Well, the experienced mappers who have been working on this project for years jumped in when a couple of companies provided high quality satellite images of Haiti, and mapped the disaster area quickly with data good for the GPS units of rescue workers on the ground. The result was lives saved.

On a less dramatic level, mappers in Europe have put in local restaurants and other points of interest so that people can find their way around. Some places are so detailed that they even include the location of streetlights. Other people have mapped hiking trails and riding trails, giving people good information on where they can safely wander. In short, the maps are useful to lots of people, free to use, and can be quickly updated by users on the ground if there is a mistake.

The hardcore mappers all have GPS devices that connect to their computers and can upload tracks of their progress. My GPS doesn't connect, I can only get location information and enter it manually. But they've made it possible to enter information even if you can't upload, using a Flash application. The learning curve isn't exactly simple, but I played with it for awhile and figured it out. In fact, if I have one complaint about the project in general, it's that all the information is focused on people who have a GPS unit that can upload. But you don't need a GPS to contribute. Street name correction and adding of local points of interest is needed for just about every town. Just as long as you only add data you confirm, not information from other maps. If you have a GPS, you can contribute a lot more, including exact locations of roadways and intersections.

In the United States, there is a whole bunch of information already added. The data is from the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system (TIGER) which is used by the US Census Bureau to find homes. It's public domain, but it's also full of errors. So one of my tasks is to go through and check the TIGER data against what I see while walking around. The TIGER data is also a bit out-of-date, so I plan to add new roads. And adding the rest of the Stepford Neighborhood I live in was today's walk.

I walked zigzag through the streets of the newer half of Stepford Neighborhood, and the GPS tells me that I walked 1.18 miles with an average speed of 2.9 miles an hour. I suspect I actually walked faster than that, however, because I stopped repeatedly to take GPS coordinates and it takes a few seconds for the GPS to register that I've stopped. Gmaps Pedometer tells me that I walked 1.19 miles, which is close enough to the GPS data that I'm less worried. Tomorrow I plan on adding a pedestrian shortcut that I found but didn't mark on my walk today (because I didn't take it). And after that I'll try to find one piece of data to check or confirm each day.

It's a better goal than going to a store and spending money, particularly on food.

Cheyenne Wright

My friend Cheyenne Wright, who is the colorist on Girl Genius, is in the hospital. He's a freelance artist, so he has no health insurance. While the Foglios are going to run some special wallpapers to raise money, the need is probably going to be pretty high. If you've got a few bucks to spare, send them his way through Paypal at arcanetimes at gmail.com. Cheyenne was one of the first people to give me an Aquaman Sketch.

Walkies!

Awhile ago, hubby-Eric's father gave us a GPS to play with. He said it doesn't work indoors, or under trees, or when it's particularly overcast... which made it a bad fit for Seattle. But out here in Churchville there are almost no trees and the weather is generally nice. So today I went online and hunted up a user manual for the thing, and then took it along on my walk to find out how far it thinks I went versus what Gmaps Pedometer thinks.

I took a MUCH shorter walk today, figuring that after going over three miles in the last two days I should vary my routine just a little. So I went on a walk around the neighborhood that Gmaps Ped says is about 0.51 miles. That's half a mile, not bad.

The GPS told me that I was on a perfectly flat surface, that I was averaging 3 miles an hour, and that I went a total of 0.48 miles. Hrm. Not a horribly dramatic difference, but a difference nonetheless. I think I'll have to take the GPS along on some other walks and see what the difference is. I've been relying on Gmaps Ped for a long time and never expected it to be totally accurate. But if it's way off on the longer distances, I might end up a little concerned.

By the way, the GPS says that the elevation at the foot of my driveway is 692 ft. Fun.

Prepping For Emerald City Comicon

I have to get in shape after a very bad winter for me. I really let myself go, eating poorly and too much and not getting nearly enough exercise. I've gained nearly 10 pounds, which I'd like to re-lose (At least that's nowhere near the 120 pounds I've lost in the last few years...).

So I've set myself a goal of preparing for Emerald City Comicon by walking or biking every day in addition to at least one small Wii Fit workout. I plan to do this right up until Friday March 12th. Then after ECCC, I will transfer my goal to the Winkie Convention (Facebook page), which is July 23rd to July 25th, not including travel time.

Today is day one of the Pre-ECCC Training and Prep. This morning I did a Wii Fit workout, short but sweet. Then just before lunch today I walked to Ace Hardware and back (2.1 miles). It was a little longer walk than I had planned for my first solo jaunt, but I survived. My heartbeat took way too long to slow to normal, and I hurt a toe where my shoe jammed it into its neighbor's uncut nail. My toenails are now neatly trimmed, so that shouldn't happen again.

Yesterday hubby-Eric and I did a 1.3 mile walk, so I got a good start. But I'm relying on you, my dear readers, to help keep me honest with comments of encouragement here or on Facebook. Your help was vital in my previous weight loss efforts (every single comment meant the world to me), so I hope you all don't let me down in this effort.

Update: Someone just asked privately how I get my precise distance data, if I have a GPS or Pedometer. No, I use Gmaps Pedometer to check out my route when I get home. I can't say enough positive about this site, and I'm beginning to think I should support them somehow. Maybe I'll have to buy a shirt sometime.

Someone Doesn't Like Our Newspaper

A Sunday Review

The Olympics have taken over my TV, and although I have at least one show I tend to review sitting on the DVR, I haven't watched it yet because I've been watching Curling, Hockey, Ski Jumping, Alpine Skiing, Biathalon, Speed Skating, and other events.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived this week, of books originally released February 3rd and 10th:

• Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 - Wow. Wowow. I'm not entirely certain what Mera and Diana were talking about, but I have a little notion based on the "I never wanted children" comment in a previous Blackest Night book. I have this feeling that I'm not going to enjoy some of what happens in Brightest Day.
• Justice Society of America Annual #2 - My order of reading got jumbled, and I read JSA All-Stars before this one. Good thing! This follows directly on from the end of All-Stars despite coming out the week before. I'd be REALLY annoyed if I had read them in the order they came out. As for the book itself, I'm seeing shades of Kingdom Come.
• Demo V2 #1 - Hrm. Not the most thrilling start to a new series of Demo, but as usual a very intriguing story. You are left to wonder, "what next?" and that is the strength and weakness of the book. I'm scared of the next issue based on the preview.
• Doctor Who #8 - Not sure about the artwork in this one. The story seems to be shaping up nicely, but the art is distracting.
• Sarah Winchester #1 - I bought this book on the strength of my love of the Sarah Winchester story, and as it turns out, I adored this alternate history horror version and really really hope we get more issues. Good stuff. If you like horror, this might be something you want to check out.


• JSA All-Stars #3 - As I've already mentioned, this one leads up to the annual as Magog and Power Girl work out their differences. Still enjoying the back-up story as well.
• Super Friends #24 - Lots and lots of villains in this one! Yay!
• DMZ #50 - A series of vignettes about the DMZ, some going into full stories but some more day-in-the-life than anything else.
• Legendary Talespinners #1 - We got this book on the strength of the flying monkeys on the cover. And it's starting out fairly interesting. I'm hoping for some Oz content in the second issue, but if not at least it's a slightly compelling story.

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My library book this week was Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The story at the core of this book is essential for people to understand. Education, particularly the education of girls, is the key to stopping many conflicts around the world. Specifically, if the United States had invested in fighting the Taliban by building schools and communities to counter the Saudi Madrassas prior to 9/11, we may have been able to prevent everything that happened in the lead up to the terrorist attacks. But only a handful of people understood the situation, and even fewer acted on it. Greg Mortenson is one who acted. In this overwrought retelling of Mortenson's life, we learn how and why he originally went to Pakistan, and the many many mistakes he made as he slowly learned that helping people to live a better life is the highest calling of any human being. Many readers will have trouble with the way Relin has decided to tell Mortenson's story, practically as a work of fiction, but the style does have some advantages. As we approach 2001 the reader feels the tension, knowing what is going to happen and seeing (probably for the first time) the building of Bid Laden's strength. You also see just how many Muslims despise the Taliban and what they stand for, but cannot fight the waves of ignorance alone. Like the dude in the bookstore, my first thought after finishing this book was a strong desire to go to Pakistan and pick up a hammer to help build a school myself. It may be more useful to just let people know about this book, about the Central Asia Institute and the effort to educate people away from extremism. Now if we could only fight the same level of ignorance in the United States... but we have to fight against apathy as well as poverty.

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Fortean Times #256, January 2010. So I got this before the December issue, but waited until I'd gotten and read the previous issue before I jumped into this one. Since then I've gotten #257, and have been slow about getting started on reading it. #258 will no doubt arrive before I finish the reviews of these two I've got in my possession!

Cover story is about Dennis Wheatley, a pulp paperback writer in the 1970s, and doesn't really do much for me. Oh, the whole occult thing is vaguely amusing for how much money he managed to get riding the wave and giving audiences what they expected, but the occult doesn't interest me except as boring people trying to spice up their lives by being what they perceive as "bad". Bleah. Give me science any day.

Strangedays starts out with coverage of balloon boy... *sigh*. There's a section on brains, and how some people manage to live without much of one, literally. Then there are a few pieces on hexed souvenirs. There's an article about holy relics of a French nun visiting the UK. The Archaeology section is about the Anglo-Saxon treasure discovered recently (cool!). Classical Corner is about witches, and Ghostwatch is about ghosts who steal things. There's also a report about a mythic Hindi bridge and the Ig Novel Prizes. The UFO files has more on chinese lanterns, including deaths of livestock from eating the wires and the fear of fire during a dry spell. There were also reported power outages when some lanterns hit an electricity station in Vietnam. So, they may be pretty but they are also dangerous and lead to UFO sightings.

The Blasts From The Past article is about a poltergeist mystery from 1922. There's a report on the UK Skeptics' 2009 Conference in Muncaster. There's a good long article about the 50th anniversary of The Twilight Zone that made me want to see some of those episodes again. The Dictionary section is about Psychic Photography, and I'm not particularly impressed with the tales of Ted Serios and his works.

The Forum has articles on Shark attacks (very timely) and the Dorak Affair. I'd heard bits and pieces about the Dorak Affair, but never the whole story, so the article was of great interest to me. Hoax or real, it's a strange mystery. The reviews are great, and a couple of them made me put the books on my "to find" list. The letter column this month was also pretty good, including a truly spooky "It happened to me..." about a girl who has memories of dying in a fire. All-in-all, another fun issue of one of the best magazines out there.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Gjovaag Face Plant

On February 5th, Hubby-Eric called me from school to tell me that he'd been hurt in a "teaching accident". Well, no, actually it was in a pep rally adventure in which teachers and student did some kind of race.

When he got home, I found that his injuries consisted of two skinned knees, one skinned elbow, a bruised nose, a cut lower lip, and a badly wrenched shoulder that still hasn't fully healed.

A few days later we learned that a student had recorded the fall, and Eric asked if he could have a copy of the video. She asked if it would be ok to post it to YouTube, and he agreed. So, finally, here it is!

The fall happens about a minute in (56 seconds). Eric is the one in tan/grey in the farthest pair from the camera. Unfortunately, the video ends before all the students realize how hurt he is and start chanting his name as he's led out of the gym.

You'll have to ask Eric what he's doing in that first part of the video. Eating something while his partner in the game chugs a cola, I think.

New Doctor Who Trailer

My thoughts: Didn't like it. The trailer. Nothing wrong with the actors, but the trailer is clearly made to look good in 3D, and in normal view it just looks silly. As a trailer it tells us very little about what to expect and doesn't get me interested in what's going to happen at all. The SleestakSilurian at the end is just horrid-looking. I'm not even slightly impressed.

SO Much to Talk About, Where Do I Start?

Well, there's been a few... developments... in the greater world that I feel I should address. So I'll ramble on a bit. Those of you who hate my opinions may as well stop reading now.

First up is Tiger Woods. I don't care. Period. That's all I have to say on the matter.

Next up is the Haiti incident with the doofus missionaries: They are idiots. The children being brought out of Haiti had, for the most part, been in the process of being adopted for YEARS before the Earthquake. Waltzing in and thinking you can just take children off the street was ridiculous, if not actually evil. There's a reason the process takes a long time, and those missionaries deserved the punishment they got and more, and should be glad they are getting off easy. Twits. Morons like them make it more difficult for the legitimate adoption agencies to work.

Education: Big Brother is Watching You. This story makes me see red. The school claims the cameras were only turned on if the laptop was reported stolen, but if that's the case, why was the kid disciplined for "improper behavior" in his own home and NOT for falsely reporting his laptop stolen? I'm afraid that every school administrator involved in this act of spying should go to jail for some time and be forbidden to ever work with children again.

UPDATE 2/20: This article defines the improper behavior, "an official mistook a piece of candy for a pill and thought he was selling drugs." How exactly does that relate to a stolen laptop? Meanwhile, the school defends itself by contradicting the parents. They also contradicted themselves. They first claimed that the software had never been activated, and now say it's been used in 42 cases of stolen laptops.

Politics: I'm not sure why anyone is listening to that quitter Palin, the Democratic party needs a spine immediately, the stimulus DID create jobs and lower the job loss rate, and if health care isn't overhauled within the next year or so the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans will be one the hands of our congresscritters, who right now take so much money from the health insurance lobby that they might as well consider themselves paid assassins for health insurance. An aside: Republicans are great at winning elections, but lousy at actually running the country. Democrats are horrible at winning elections, but can't run the country without a supermajority. Ug.

Olympics: I don't care what anyone says, I love Curling. And the Simpsons got it so very wrong that I kind of wish they hadn't bothered (although the pin-collecting side plot was funny). I've also enjoyed watching the other sports, although the crashes have made me cringe and shudder more or less constantly. The weather conditions in Vancouver no more prove global climate change than the snow on the East Coast disproves it, but it sure is more evidence of something totally out of whack in our weather. I'm much more upset by NBC's decision to delay their coverage of the Games 3 hours for the West Coast, WHERE THE GAMES ARE HAPPENING, so we see all the results online before the events are shown on any local channel. NBC really screwed up this one.

Entertainment: I've got more to say about DC Comics than can fit in a summary, but I think the change in leadership is not a terrible thing, and will wait and see. I'm looking forward to Brightest Day because of the promised Aquaman content, but I expect to be disappointed. In other entertainment, can hardly wait for new Doctor Who to start up. And I'm still in training for Emerald City Comicon, which requires me to get lots of walking in.

I must give an annoyed shout out to Aaron Williams who directed me to this page of free downloads of the old Command and Conquer games. I'm utterly addicted to the original game, and I love just blowing up pixels. It's a lovely waste of time, but unfortunately I had more important things I should have been doing (if I'd had the brainpower to do them). Oh Aaron, you have hurt me so!

Um, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but this is more like a real blog post than anything I've done in months, so I'm signing off.

It's Not Where You're From, It's Where You're At...

I don't usually fall instantly in love with a song, but during these Olympics an ad has been playing that hit me in the gut and immediately had me Googling the lyrics to figure out what the song was, and as soon as I found out I went to iTunes and bought it. Which I *never* do. It was the first song I bought on iTunes.

The song is "Ali in the Jungle" by The Hours.

Chorus:
Like Ali in the jungle,
Like Nelson in jail,
Like Simpson on the mountain,
With odds like that, they were bound to fail!

Like Keller in the darkness,
Like Adams in the dock,
Like Ludwig Van, how I loved that man,
Well the guy went deaf and didn't give a ****, no...


Here's the ad ("Human Chain" by Nike):

Lyrics:
It's not how you start, it's how you finish,
And it's not where you're from, it's where you're at.

Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up?

Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?

And here's the video for the full song:



Also check out The Hours Website which has another video that's much more interesting and involves skeletons:

th-aitj from David Fraser on Vimeo.

Simon's Cat: Snow Business (complete)

Linkdump

Lots of links, mostly old and maybe a new one...

Photos of 1890's Camping Trip.

The 10 Coolest Keychains.

LEGO Icons.

Prediction that comes true, as a Mariner's fan, I loved this.

Sleep is required for memory. Is that why I keep forgetting stuff?

Superboy and Oz? Um, I don't think I got that quite right...

More on why I won't shop at Wal-Mart. Even to get a Wal-Mart exclusive Aquaman/Black Manta set. Sorry. I'll pass.

Talk Radio is dangerous.

LOLCat Theology.

For the in-laws: Frowning Pug, Cupcake Pug, and Sad Pug.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Heroes: "Brave New World" - I really hate triplicate guy, and it's even worse when he's more than three. But hey, more Hiro, and most of the loose ends are tied up fairly nicely. Not a bad way for the show to end. *If* this is the end, which I kind of hope it is.
• Ghost Hunters International: "San Lucas Prison" - Costa Rica! That's an island that I wouldn't want to spend the night on, haunted or not. The animal life alone would scare me enough to keep me away. Ghosts are nothing compared to bats and snakes and spiders. And I think the wildlife really got to them on that trip. There wasn't a lot that I found convincing.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived last week, of books originally released Jan 20th and 27th:

• Green Lantern Corps #44 - Still not much of a fan of the Corps, but I like Mogo's appearance in this one.
• Power Girl #8 - *giggle* Oh, this one was good. This book is good. Nice mix of the humor and the serious.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13 - Bwah-ha-ha-ha! I'm not sure why the heroes felt they actually had to dress up as Batman, but it made for a fun story. I really liked Aqua-Batman.
• Tiny Titans #24 - Needs more Aqualad. But I really love seeing the Aqua-ohs continuing appearances. I love 'em. I want Aqua-ohs! I may have to make myself of box of Aqua-Ohs somehow.


• Green Lantern #50 - Mera's statement that she never wanted children almost fits continuity. Her pregnancy was very dangerous and I think she knew it would be. So children may have never been in her plans. As for the rest... eh. This crossover will end soon.
• Blackest Night JSA #2 - They got me, too. Yikes.
• Justice Society of America #35 - I really enjoyed Wildcat's box. Just give him a foe he can't punch his way through. Heh.
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #6 - Is this over yet?
• Justice League of America #41 - Ah, this was clearly meant to come out AFTER Blackest Night and Cry for Justice were over. Either that, or someone is teasing us. I'm not very happy that I read this before everything finished. Other than that, the story is the familiar tale of forming the Justice League... yet again. *sigh*
• Astro City: The Dark Age - Book Four #1 - Hammered home that the boys are no longer good guys (were they ever, really, though?). Looking forward to seeing how this ends.
• Northlanders #24 - The baddest guys always seem to survive, don't they?
• Marvelous Land of Oz #3 - Best. Cover. Ever. Love this one. Nicely true to Baum's original, and I bet a lot of folks don't have any idea about this incident in Oz history.

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My library book this week was The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. Despite my husband's retort that there is no such thing as a people who can love books too much, the title of this book is correct. It's the story of a thief who casually steals rare books, never once thinking that he's in the moral wrong. Bartlett delves into the motives of the man, and paints a very striking portrait of him. It's not a pleasant one. I'm with the booksellers who want him in jail, and really felt for them while reading the book. It's like someone who is a huge braggart trying to take center stage, but the folks around him are by far more interesting characters because the braggart is just, in the end, another self-absorbed liar. All-in-all, the book was a fascinating look into the world of rare books, with an obvious emphasis on the darker side. Certainly worth reading if you are a bibliophile, although the actions of the main character (and the author) will no doubt pain you.

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Fortean Times #255, December 2009. While the November issue came "on time", the December issue never came. In fact, I got issue 256 first, and realized I'd missed an issue. I contacted the distributor again and they actually got back to me quickly and sent out a replacement copy AND a new copy of 256, which was so badly damaged that I had to tear some pages to open it. So I'm less annoyed at them now. I confirmed that they have no control over the way the books are sent anymore, they supply the addresses to a clearing-house that then sends the magazines out. So appealing to them to bring back envelopes isn't going to work. Grrr. At least I eventually got my magazines in readable shape.

The cover is about Masonic London, and has an image that evokes the Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown thrillers. The cover story explores the idea of London as a city designed by Masons after the Great Fire... or what it would have been if they had their way. An ok article, nothing special. I suppose it'll resonate more with me if I ever get a chance to visit London.

Strangedays has the usual mix of fun, fantastic, weird, and silly. I liked the image pages, and the story of a cat that takes a bus daily. They also have the unexpected squirrel picture that went the rounds on the internet not long ago. They also have a number of man-sized creature reportings from all around the world, with a couple of vaguely interesting pictures. The Science column has a follow-up on Colony Collapse Disorder. The Archaeology column had a report of an intact witch bottle found and X-rayed. The Classical Corner is about Pompeii, and mentions Doctor Who only in passing. Ghostwatch is about physical interaction with ghosts. The UFO Files has more on the dangerous Chinese Lanterns, which are responsible for a lot of UFO sightings and are dangerous to livestock and dry fields. I've even started seeing local news reports about Chinese Lanterns, but that's for another write-up, I think.

In the Blasts From The Past column, we get a medical description of a man-fish. The poor guy suffered from ichthyosis and it sounds like it was a miserable state to be in. There is another article linking Masonic imagery to Western literature. Then we get an article on Manly P Hall. The Forum section has a two-page article on orang bati which was a cool look at how people see the mysterious. There is also an examination of how Western civilization used and perceived the Chinese Book of Changes. And then into the Reviews section, which was as strong as it usually is. Nothing jumped out as "must read", but I enjoyed the reviews. And the letters were greatly enjoyable as usual, too. So overall, a pretty good issue.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Valentine?

Classic Valentine Cards.

Valenpug.

Oh. My.

So, ReadWriteWeb has a lovely blog post about Facebook logins. And something very very strange happens. The comments start filling up with people who think that ReadWriteWeb *IS* Facebook, and who cannot figure out how to log in.

Apparently there are a number of people out there who (seriously) use a search engine to "find" Facebook every time they want to log in, and when they typed in "Facebook login" or something similar, they were taken to ReadWriteWeb because of the article. And assumed that Facebook had just changed again.

I honestly don't know what to say.

I always thought all those phishing scams were too obvious for anyone to fall for. I thought most people who use the internet had to be at least literate. After all, the web is made of words.

I was wrong.

The stupidity of people is ceaseless. I cannot imagine how the people who are writing comments on that blog article are even capable of functioning in the real world. It takes only one or two brain cells to realize that is an article *about* Facebook, not Facebook itself, even without the big bold warning paragraph that the article added after the first 50 or so comments. And yet these people still scroll down and add a comment that says, "All I want to do is log in, this sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1" or "I just want to log in to Facebook - what with the red color and all? LOLLLOLOL!!!!!111". What is wrong with these people? The regular commenters start chiming in, and find it to be hilarious. I find it to be one of the singularly most depressing things I have ever read in my entire life.

Then again, there's this: "This thread of responses is the single most awesome, tragicomic example of internet stupid I've ever been lucky to witness. It's like having Carrot Top pull my spleen out through my nostril." and this: "This thread reminds me of the time my grandfather typed his phone number into the microwave's keypad, then wondered why his kitchen was on fire. (Seriously, that happened.)"

Though this may be the winningest comment of all: "For the sake of humanity I hope that every idiot posting 'help' after page 3 is a troll. Please, oh please. Please. Don't be real."

Amen.

Linkdump

Some old, some new links:

Really Cool Homemade Costumes.

Comic Book Legends #225: Banned in Massachusetts, Disney Strike, and Erasing Kirby. Comic Book Legends #226: Drugs in Comics, Art Error storyline, and music video Deadman.

Pyrex isn't what it used to be.

Doesn't Turn Pink In The Can!

Monorail Squirrel Collision.

MIT Students Take Space Photos on $150 Budget. Way cool.

Hand-tinted photos of Russia in 1896.

How My Little Pony turned a little girl into a computer scientist.

Pug for the in-laws.

Ghost Hunters!

Beaker Rules

I Love The Internet

A Sunday Review

Just the TV shows this week. I read some comics, but haven't had the time and mental capacity to review them. And I'm only halfway through my next library book, and my next Agatha Christie is waiting on inter-library loan. So next week should be mildly more interesting.

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TV this week:

• Robin Hood: "Something Worth Fighting For, Part 2" - And... that's the end. NOT what I was expecting from this show, but then the introduction of "Byzantine Fire" made for a rather explosive finish. The news that Richard was captured and being held for ransom fits with the historical record. I know that a fourth season was originally planned, and I wonder if the ending was changed to fit it, or if that finish was the way it would happen all along? Ah well, it was a good show. Glad we watched it.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Tasmania Death Sentence" - Tasmania Supreme Courthouse. I'm very amused by them bringing up the guy from Port Arthur Pen that bothered one of the team. And then they hear a noise. Wonderful synchronicity. They really didn't find anything, and even debunked a little. Next up they went to Malaysia, to Kellie's Castle. The story behind the place was cool, if a little sad. And the tales of the locals were neat, too.
• Heroes: "The Wall" - Flashbacks to Noah's past, and Sylar's silent punishment. Lovely stuff. I need more Hiro though.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "A Bat Divided!" - Booster Gold in the opening, hilarious as usual. As for the main story, I wasn't really expecting Firestorm, but it makes perfect sense. The split Batman worked ok, although that idea is one that has been overused, I think.
• Numb3rs: "And The Winner Is..." - Nice take on awards shows. They'd be much more exciting if things like that happened more often. Not the murder-y bits, the smoke bombs and panic bits. Then again, panic is never that good in crowds. Still, it would make them very watchable. Right, I'll shut up now.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Another Linkdump!

38 years of Superbowl Commercials.

And more old links, I'm clearing out my cache of interesting stuff. Heck, some of this may be old enough to be interesting again.

The USB drive for me!

One hundred and thirty-six is MILLIONS! Be sure to read the comments on this one for more on the stats.

Ten Creative Doorstops.

Ever found a cool webcomic that you want to read from the beginning, but don't have time? Try Archive Binge, a service that allows you to set up a custom RSS feed for webcomics. I immediately signed up for five comics... if you know a webcomic creator, tell 'em to get their comic on this service!

Want.

The LEGO Renaissance.

How a train journey saved me from the Nazis.

Lightning Volcano Storm!

Pug for the in-laws.

Why Zuda Comics Still Sucks

• There is no RSS feed to let you know when an individual comic has updated.
• The format for each comic is clumsy and takes forever to load.
• The format of the entire website is clumsy and doesn't give you any real idea of what each comic is about.
• Even if you know what comic you are looking for, it can sometimes be difficult to find it on the site, especially with the slow load times.

I was willing to give it a chance, and even really enjoyed a couple of the comics it produced, but if I don't have an RSS feed to remind me, the webcomic might as well not exist. And so... Zuda is off my reading list.

Cameraphone Zen

Academy Award Nominations

Nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards

Best picture

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

I've seen Avatar. None of the others.

Best actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Best actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

I loved Carey Mulligan in Doctor Who: Blink, but I haven't seen this movie. Nor have I seen any of the others.

Best supporting actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best supporting actress

Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Best director

James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Best animated feature

"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

Yay, another movie I've seen! Coraline!

Best foreign language film

"Ajami" (Israel)
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Argentina)
"The Milk of Sorrow" (Peru)
"The Prophet" (France)
"The White Ribbon" (Germany)

Best screenplay (original)

"The Hurt Locker," written by Mark Boal
"Inglourious Basterds," written by Quentin Tarantino
"The Messenger," written by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
"A Serious Man," written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"Up," screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter; story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Best screenplay (adapted)

"District 9," written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
"An Education," screenplay by Nick Hornby
"In the Loop," screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
"Up in the Air," screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best music (original score)

"Avatar" James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker" Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes" Hans Zimmer
"Up" Michael Giacchino

Best music (original song)

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," music by Reinhardt Wagner and lyrics by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," music and lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best art direction

"Avatar" art direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; set decoration: Kim Sinclair
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith
"Nine" art direction: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim
"Sherlock Holmes" art direction: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Young Victoria" art direction: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Maggie Gray

Best cinematography

"Avatar" Mauro Fiore
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Bruno Delbonnel
"The Hurt Locker" Barry Ackroyd
"Inglourious Basterds" Robert Richardson
"The White Ribbon" Christian Berger

No, I haven't seen the latest Harry Potter movie.

Best costume design

"Bright Star" Janet Patterson
"Coco before Chanel" Catherine Leterrier
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Monique Prudhomme
"Nine" Colleen Atwood
"The Young Victoria" Sandy Powell

Best documentary (feature)

"Burma VJ" Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
"The Cove" Nominees to be determined
"Food, Inc." Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
"Which Way Home" Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary (short subject)

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province" Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
"Music by Prudence" Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
"Rabbit à la Berlin" Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best film editing

"Avatar" Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
"District 9" Julian Clarke
"The Hurt Locker" Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
"Inglourious Basterds" Sally Menke
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Joe Klotz

Best makeup

"Il Divo" Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
"Star Trek" Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
"The Young Victoria" Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Nope, haven't seen Star Trek, either.

Best short film (animated)

"French Roast" Fabrice O. Joubert
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)" Javier Recio Gracia
"Logorama" Nicolas Schmerkin
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" Nick Park

Best short film (live action)

"The Door" Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
"Instead of Abracadabra" Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
"Kavi" Gregg Helvey
"Miracle Fish" Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
"The New Tenants" Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best sound editing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson
"Inglourious Basterds" Wylie Stateman
"Star Trek" Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up" Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best sound mixing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
"Inglourious Basterds" Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
"Star Trek" Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Best visual effects

"Avatar" Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
"District 9" Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
"Star Trek" Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Wow, I've got pretty much nothing on this year. I've seen a total of two of the movies referenced. I'll probably not watch it, and I don't have any emotional investment in any of the nominees.

How About A LinkDump?

Haven't done one in way too long. Some of these links are half a year old!

Doctor Who and the Silver Spiral.

Cancer Genetic Code Cracked.

Ten Simple Science Tricks for Parties.

Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling.

The Space Needle on MetaFilter.

Almost History, how a hotel worker may have saved Teddy Kennedy's life.

Cake Wrecks Doctor Who.

The View From The Dinner Table