Sabotage

July 3, 2008 – 2:47 pm

All this weariness of doing nothing amongst nothings.

I think in motion; so much so that when my mind is silent my arms will move. Palm on neck, elbow near eye, knuckles on lips, and toes curlt out of shoe. The nothings stack endlessly through days until I’ve no room for thought, and consideration cannot be given to anyone. Dreams persist but I’m sluggish. Still, I find my heart beating faster than it has any right, so I take deep breaths and hold until the drums slow and I force sleep… all the while knowing that I should be running.

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Trailer: Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog

June 25, 2008 – 10:35 pm

Whedon’s new batch of Awesomeness.


Teaser from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

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Kevin Craig on Missouri Viewpoints

June 19, 2008 – 3:06 pm

Kevin Craig, current Libertarian candidate for Missouri House 7th District and a friendly colleague from my Springfield years, was recently interviewed by Missouri Viewpoints. Kevin is a Christian and a political anarchist with very thoroughly considered ideas. I’ve yet to read all of what he has written on his extensive website!

Another fun tidbit for me is that the Missouri Viewpoints program is affiliated with the Hard Bean Cafe in the Kansas City metropolis - the Bean is a fabulously fun and stylish cafe in southern KC… and if you stop by any time soon, my friend Katherine might serve your iced caramel mocha!

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Democrats Want to Nationalize U.S. Oil Companies

June 19, 2008 – 1:56 pm

Absolutely, positively depressing. History has shown that governments are neither more effective nor more fair when in control of a market resource. Logical consideration of economic principles indicate that nationalization is always a bad idea.

Cavuto is asking the right questions in the following clip… and the cautious “are you insane?!” tone of his voice rather echoes my thoughts. I think I need to move to Ireland.

Link: sevenload.com

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Irish Sovereignty: Rejection of the Lisbon Treaty

June 13, 2008 – 10:39 am

Excellent news from Ireland today… election results indicate that the referendum in the Republic of Ireland to approve or disapprove the Lisbon Treaty has resulted in a “no” vote: Ireland has rejected the treaty.

Various articles both today and leading up to the referendum have included warnings that a “no” vote would “[trigger] a political crisis” which would lead to “much infighting and bickering across Europe”. Lobbyists for the Lisbon Treaty attempted to invoke poetic guilt by claiming that a denial of the treaty would transform Ireland “from grateful recipient to begrudger”. The question remains: what justification exists for Ireland to be a mere “grateful recipient”?

Read More »

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Mafioso Gesture Tourette Syndrome

November 25, 2007 – 3:01 pm

The Telegraph features an article by Casilda Grigg in which she is taught flirting techniques by a Sicilian. 

Somehow I cannot picture Henry Tilney wiggling his fingers about in an invitation for caffeine. If Tilney cannot be seen doing such a thing, then surely the gesture is unnecessary for the rest of British men.

The video is offered on the Telegraph's website.

Creepy. 

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Glutton for Punishment

May 23, 2007 – 9:33 pm

I am a fool. A smart fool, but a fool nonetheless. I have willingly signed up for more classes.

My GPA is right on the border. 3.745. If I take just one more class, I'm bumped up to Magna CL in the U.S., and firmly upper Second Class in the U.K. I was fine with settling with a 3.74 in order to JUST BE DONE. Until I was looking at my transcript and thinking, but, but, that 3.75 would be awfully pretty… so I decided, okay. One more class. Then I thought, hmm. If I take two more classes, then I can receive most of my normal scholarships and grants and so on. That'd be an extra $1800 in the bank! Just for taking another class!

Well, you can imagine my decision.

So I'm now registered for two Fall classes this year. Rather than graduating in two months, I'll graduate in December. That sounds dreadfully depressing, but a) $1800 extra in my bank (and living in a country where I can live for $30 a month… just buying DVDs and diet pepsi…), and b) a 3.755 as opposed to a 3.745? MSU's online course selection is pitiful. It's mostly accounting classes and How To Run A Farm classes, and all of the interesting courses (historical costuming) have umpteen prerequisites.

Here are the two courses for which I've registered.

English 287: Life Stages in Literature. Read 8 books, write about said 8 books. Artsy-fartsy literature BS, at which I'm pretty good. Even if the books are rubbish. 

Media 300: Film Analysis. Learn about the history of film criticism. Critique movies. Yes, I can cope. Also, the $100 textbook is on sale at Amazon for $11. That always makes me happy.

There you go. Graduation is postponed for fluff classes, for extra scholarship cash and cheap (okay, at $774 per class it's not cheap) GPA inflation. Besides - I can use a little fluff now and then. If only Shakespeare II were taught online!

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I Haven’t Got Time…

May 23, 2007 – 12:09 pm

I will have to buy this stamp for future use in grading students' essays.

 

Ink Stamp

 

 

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The Queen and the TARDIS

May 23, 2007 – 11:46 am

According to Outpost Gallifrey, the Chelsea Flower Show in the U.K. is featuring a display of the “Garden in Time”, created by a Cardiff landscaper. In the display, two separate gardens, one in the style of the 1960s and one in a modern design, are separated by a TARDIS. Queen Elizabeth II was touring the show and asked her guide, “Why is there a TARDIS there?”

Reasons for Loving this Story:

  • The Queen is familiar with the TARDIS!
  • I wonder if she knows that in the Doctor’s universe, Queen Victoria was infected by a werewolf, and that the trait has been passed on genetically to her descendants - Elizabeth II included?
  • Two other English monarchs, Elizabeth I and Victoria, have exiled the Doctor from England and have threatened him with death. I now very much want to see Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II meeting and conflicting with the Doctor. I can’t think of many other things that I want to see quite as badly on television. Even better, we’ve not yet seen what the Doctor does to annoy Elizabeth I. Elizabeth II could travel to the 16th century in the TARDIS! Mirren could play them both again! What a treat it’d be!
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The British-Butt Spider

May 22, 2007 – 3:24 pm

Nicholas came running up to the third floor yesterday to pant, "Lorien! Where's your camera?! There's a spider with the British flag on its butt!"

That's a statement that'll get me running down the stairs. After, of course, I ask whether or not it's yet been killed. "Not until we've got photographic evidence!", Nicholas replied.

The spider didn't quite have a Union Jack plastered across its bum, but I can see just what Nicholas was going on about:

 

 

Google says that it's a type of Redback spider, which is related to the Brown and Black Widows. Highly venomous, with bites ranging from mild to death (without antivenom). Only the females bite, and based on size (inch? inch and a half?) this was definitely a female. The kids say that although this is the first of the British-Butt Spiders they've seen, we do have many, many of the more traditional single-stripe redbacks.

Charming! 

 

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