NPR’s 5 part program “The New Canterbury Tales” is excellent, catching up on them at The New Canterbury Tales : NPR. Long ago I studied Chaucer’s long travelogue in the original Middle English, and the reading I heard today was so familiar. I actually had memorized the opening lines, years ago, because Mom boasted that she could still recite the Prologue some 50 years or so after graduating high school. So I had to give it a shot just so I could come home from my fancy college education one spring break and spout off about I can get as…
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Today’s episode of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me! was previewed by @WBEZ as one where a bunch of people had their knitting needles out for Mo Rocca, right in the front row. It may be possible to hear the clicking as they knit (not all that angrily, really). Chicago Public Radio Blog » Backstage Buzz at Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! | News and Notes from WBEZ A couple of weeks ago, Mo Rocca made an off-hand comment that handmade sweaters were “itchy.†A fairly innocuous thing to say one would think. Following the broadcast, Mo received tons of angry emails…
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My husband @fallingrock is into Linux, we’re geeks, and @wilw will be there too… very tempting! Penguicon: the free software and science fiction con in southeast Michigan, May 1-3 – Boing Boing “The weekend of May 1 through 3, Penguicon brings together science fiction, open source software, and other geek interests in southeast Michigan. In its seventh year, the attendance target for the convention is one thousand, three hundred and thirty seven. Guests of Honor are ubergeek Wil Wheaton, alternate reality game creator Jane McGonigal, Rasmus Lerdorf of PHP, steampunk author Sarah Hoyt, and John ‘maddog’ Hall of Linux International.…
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We were both saddened yesterday to read of the death of Andy Hallett, who played lounge-lizard and demon host Lorne. Id always assumed his last name was Green; his character had the gift of sensing the destiny of anyone, so long as they sang something. He was so young, only 33… can that be right? I always thought his character was a metephor for living your life on your own terms, and even as an icon for inclusivity and acceptance. He was hip, he was retro-cool, he was green; Lorne was an unforgettable character. Godspeed, Andy. You’re singin’ with the…
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This cartoon via Salon by Keith Knight covers all the essential points about what makes Utah (specifically Salt Lake) “Funique.” Weird liquor laws (which are going away July 1), extremely rowdy, drunk crowds in bars due to either weird liquor laws or everybody acting out to spite the Majority Religion, and FRY SAUCE! Some long-delayed props to Salt Lake by the K Chronicles.
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Has your cat been flirting with Firefox while tweeting on #meowmonday? This is the result!! see more Lolcats and funny pictures
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We returned home from Kona to Chicago yesterday, taking an overnight flight so that we arrived yesterday morning at about 530AM. The last time I took a red-eye, I went straight to bed and was wide awake all night, so David advised me to stay up all day and not even nap until 9PM. Well, I made it to about noon, kept sliding sideways on the couch, and finally gave up and went upstairs. I did turn on the radio, though, thinking that I’d only “nap” for a couple of hours and “listen” to WBEZ’s Sunday programming. Hah. Well, I…
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We went on Captain Andy’s Na Pali Adventure cruise yesterday – billed as a snorkel trip, but too rough to actually go in. But we were happy to see all the dolphins (spinner and bottlenose) and whales. I didn’t get very many good fluke shots, but I’m happy with this one. I have another one that’s more suitable for researchers who identify individual whales by the unique patterns on the undersides of their tails. The day started VERY early, but not horribly early. We just had to be about 30 minutes down the road before 7:15 am, which is not…
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I started reading this book, but set it aside a while back. Now I need to get back into it, because we’re starting to get to some meaty stuff in the Adult Forum group I’m in at church. We’re discussing Evolution, Creationism Intelligent Design, and whether science and religion are as incompatible as some say. It’s a pretty free-ranging discussion group, as one member studied philosophy, another is a scholarly Jewish guy who runs the program, and the rest of us bring our own take to the party. For instance, I have a background or interest in evolution, paleontology, anthropology,…
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The Washington Memorial, from a trip last May.