Ursula K Le Guin, a science fiction author who has been writing for several decades with a great deal of success in the constricted genre, has had several of her books condensed and adapted for SciFi channel. Go here to read her disgust with the whole process, and to read her take on the authorial responsibility of co-opting voice and the dangers of ethnic imperialism.

I found this story on Slate (I was actually reading a review of Crichton’s new book). It’s interesting how his prediction of news transmittance is beginning to come to pass with the advent of the RSS feeds. This has been the first year the internet, and blogs in particular, have had any kind of impact on the political arena: Howard Dean’s internet campaign, the CBS debacle, Bush’s mysterious box. As the media becomes further homogenized it’s not hard to imagine people abandoning traditional means of recieving the news in search of a more personalized, and more accurate mode of revieving information.

Al Roker and repeats of $40 a Day were on, so here is my final paper from Dr. Lyons’ class. It’s in the PDF format.

Well, yeah. It’s pretty obvious, but let me say that I hate HTML. I really disliked the color and general layout of the template we were using before, but I hadn’t found a prefab-ed one that I liked better. So, I found one I disliked the least and began learning what little HTML I needed to fix it. I thought I had left the programming crap behind a loooong time ago.

Last month I had cited this story and noted my disgust. Well the people behind the web site, who are from San Antonio, will be appearing this week on my all-time favorite program The Daily Show. Samantha Bee will be interviewing them.

I also finished my paper on Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated. I’m actually quite pleased with it, which is amazing since I’m usually pretty hypercritical of myself. Just ask me about my Shakespeare paper and you’ll see what self-lothe really looks like. I’ll reformat the paper in PDF and post in here. Maybe tonight. Depends on what’s on TV.

older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.

The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.

Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves’ invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen into time.

He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas. His punishment was harsher.

Ho.
Ho.
Ho.

Neil Gaiman—Smoke and Mirrors

I looked up Dale Peck’s book and he is merciless in his criticisms. The funny part? Look at the praise for Everything Is Illuminated. Second page. “It is one of the best novels I’ve ever been fortunate enough to hold in my hands”–Dale Peck Huh. I’m also reasonably sure Peck works with JSF’s brother at the New Republic. Thanks for the link Deb. I’m using it in my paper.

You’ve gotta see this. I don’t even have words…just go look and marvel.

Every once in a while, something on the internet will come along that will make me pause. This is one of those things. Here’s a tip for the site: click on the picture to view the gallery and then click on one of the pictures that appears. Then use the “next” button to browse without the little thumbnails.

I hate theory. Well that may be a bit harsh, but I definitely do hate the majority of the prose that comprises literary theory. I read for a while, and then for some unexplainable reason I find myself organizing my CD collection. Confused, I force myself back to the books. A short time later I find myself peering over a boiling pot, apparently half-way through a pickle recipe, with no explanation as to why I thought I wanted to make pickles. Aggravated, I go back to the books. Then I find myself posting on the blog. Oh well. Here’s a funny story I found while I was supposed to be reading Spatial Form in Narrative. I highly recommend reading the linked story, and not so much the book.

Looks like Microsoft wants to compete with Blogger, which incidentally is owned by Google. Well, the behemoth as set its sights on another victim. It’s only a matter of time…

I fixed the time setting on the web site. The time it was showing before was actually two hours earlier than reality. That’s actually a little embarrassing if you had noticed the times I was posting. The changes are retro-active so all the posts have been changed.