Update on 2/11/05: I took these down to conserve some web space and display some newer stuff. If you wanna see these let me know.

For anyone interested: An edition of Milton’s poem “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” appeared in 1923 (according to our Hughes book) with six illustrations by William Blake. These beautiful illustrations are:
The Descent of Peace
The Annunciation to the Shepherds
The Old Dragon
The Overthrow of Apollo and the Pagan Gods
The Flight of Moloch
The Night of Peace

Please appreciate these were kind of a pain in the ass to get on this site. Some people and sites don’t like to share, but since Blake has been dead for almost 180 years, and these are for academic use…well that screams public domain and fair use to me. So I stol…umm I mean I borrowed them for academic use. But in case some people disagree with me, hurry up and look at’em!

What is it with the Christian leaders in this country? Jerry Falwell thought Tinky-Winky was gay and that 9/11 was the result of God’s anger brought upon by, among other things, feminists and “pagans.” (It was Lewis Black that asked “Pagans? Aren’t they a motorcycle group?”) Now James Dobson apparently thinks Spongebob Squarepants is among those whose goal it is to destroy “moral values,” in America (I’d rather spend my time with an “immoral” gay couple than the pillar of morality Dobson anytime…but that’s just me). Spongebob appears in a video, with a ton of other popular children’s characters, that is designed for young children. Dobson apparently thinks the video is pro-gay (what does that even mean? anti-bigotry? anti-hetero? pro-QE?) Check out the story here. And if you have a fast connection or a lot of patience please watch the accompanying video clip from MSNBC News. The video in which Spongebob appears plays in full during the clip, and while I didn’t see anything resembling a gay relationship Steve Burns appears several times, and I find that guy offensive as hell.

Just an afterthought: I can’t wait until Dobson’s scandal comes out. I don’t know what it will be but I’m sure it will be entertaining. Perhaps a gambling problem a la William Bennett? Or maybe some sexual indiscretions just like my personal hero Jim Bakker? Or how about questionable financial contributions just like the hero of the pundits Armstrong Williams or Maggie Gallagher? Or maybe he’ll just turn into a fountain of entertainment like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. My vote? I’m hoping for a Robert Tilton-esque downfall.

I’m sure you’ve noticed, but in case you haven’t, at the top right of the screen there is a button that says “next blog.” Click on it, and you’ll be transported to a random person’s blog. Sometimes when I don’t have a lot going on (no sarcastic comments) I like to see what other people are writing about. Sometimes it’s mundane, sometimes it’s funny, but it’s always interesting what people are willing to reveal about themselves in such a public/anonymous way. I encourage you to peruse the other blogs out there, and to occasionally comment on ones you find particularly interesting. Personally speaking there is nothing more gratifying than knowing you have somehow gained the passing interest of a reader.
That said now a few words of caution: Some people apparently view the blog as a way of tricking people into clicking buttons for keyloggers, adware, or other evil programs. So, if while using the “next blog” button you encounter a small window that appears in the center of your browser, do not, I repeat in capital letters, DO NOT click on it in any way. No matter what the box says do not click on it. It is probably an active x box and you should not be fooled into messing with it. My advice? What I usually do will probably be viewed as a bit extreme, but in these times of identity theft and rampant worms and viruses I’ll take extreme over economic or computer damage any day. Simply depress CTRL-ALT-DELETE and end task on Internet Explorer. I know, I know, that closes IE immediately. Well, that’s the damn point. I close it, start it up again, go back to blogger and start looking. The “next blogger” button chooses blogs to show you at random so odds are you won’t hit that blog again.
That’s what I do. But I’m over cautious. You do what you want, I still think you should take a look at what other people are writing. It’s enlightening.

Just a quick thought: I think we (and by we I mean myself and the two other people who view this site) should be allowed to reclaim the word awful. No more shall it mean “extremely bad or unpleasant,” but we should strive to use the more logical, yet more archaic, definition of “filled with awe.”

Ya know, as a kid I remember Christmas quite fondly. Lots of playing with my two cousins, watching movies (Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story never get old), and sleeping. What the hell happened to that? Well, after a vacation that took my fiance and me all across Texas, and eventually to the west coast, I’m ready for some relaxing classes.

A couple of cool books that I either a) got for Christmas or b) found the time to read during said break: Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for the Food and I’m Just Here for More Food. I’ve always considered cooking to be something of an artistic endeavor, hence one that I am genetically stunted from achieving. Alton dispels that notion by illustrating in extremely entertaining prose and pictures how cooking is definitely a quantitative enterprise. Of course, The Joy of Cooking does as well, but it doesn’t make Spinal Tap references while instructing the reader.

One of the highlights of my Christmas break was meeting Penn Jillette and Teller after their Las Vegas show at the Rio (I say meet…we said hi, got our pics taken, and a few things signed and moved on…they’re busy people). For anyone who hasn’t read Penn’s novel SOCK would do well to pick it up and give it a try. Also, if you’ve never seen their show Bullshit!, run, don’t walk, to the nearest Best Buy and buy a copy. Yes, Teller talks in person. Quite a lot in fact. And Penn is as gracious in person as he is boisterous on TV.

One more quick thing. Anyone that’s actively followed this board will know that patent rights and intellectual property are subjects I find interesting (please don’t judge me…I don’t judge you), so for those of you who also find such nerdy things to your liking here is an interesting interview with Bill Gates.

FYI: DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. For the intents of the article it refers to the systemic protocol that Windows Media Player and other Windows programs utilize that prevents users from utilizing certain media (songs, video, certain files) in ways other than their immediate form. Eg. using a song in a slide show. Movie maker will not let you if the song has DRM that prevents it, even though you own the CD of the song, and have no intention of publicly screening said slide show.