Can things get any dumber? Don’t answer that question.
 “There are millions of people around this world praying to their God – whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah — that [McCain’s] opponent wins for a variety of reasons,” Pastor Arnold Conrad said. “And, Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they’re going to […]

Posted in Current events, News, Politics, religion 1 Comment »

Oh dear. Yesterday the Archbishops of Canterbury and York condemned London-based brokers who indulged in short selling as “bank robbers and asset strippers” and accused them of “generating unimaginable wealth … by equally unimaginable levels of fiction”.
But now it turns out that the Church of England has been quite willing to sell short and hedge […]

Posted in Current events, Europe, News, Politics No Comments »

Well, not too far beyond, we hope.
 I’ll sure be watching this on the lunchtime news…
(ETA:   Postponed to Sept. 26 due to cloud / bad weather in France.)

Posted in Current events, Europe, News, Science, Technogeekery, Travel 1 Comment »

Finally…

After four months of deliberating, Judge Robert Patterson has ruled that the H.P. Lexicon infringes J.K. Rowling’s copyright in the Harry Potter series.

The decision proper is here (.PDF file).
Briefly: yay.
 
 
Tags: J.+K., JK, J.K., Rowling, RDR, Books, Judge, Robert+Patterson, Harry+Potter, Lexicon

Posted in Current events, Fantasy and science fiction, News No Comments »

By Harvey Nichols, yet.
 
Tags: Wallace, Gromit, makeover, Harvey+Nichols, Harvey+Nicks, clothes, fashion, Lady+Campanula, Tottington

Posted in Media, News, Online life No Comments »

Here, try this on for size.
Random House Children’s Books has agreed to remove a four-letter swearword from a popular book by Dame Jacqueline Wilson after complaints from Anne Dixon, who insists she is standing up for values of common decency.
The 55-year-old said she was horrified when she came across the expletive in the best-selling book […]

Posted in Current events, News, Writing No Comments »

Here’s the announcement via MarketWatch.
Warner Bros. says they’re rescheduling “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” because summer releases are better for family-oriented “tentpole” projects, and because the Writers’ Guild strike of late ‘07 / early ‘08 has unpredictably changed the pattern of other studios’ film releases for ‘08 / ’09.
While those are both believable claims, you […]

Posted in Fantasy and science fiction, Film and TV, Media, News 1 Comment »

For those of you who’re interested: Peter and I both have stories out in DAW Books’ new fantasy anthology Enchantment Place. (There’s a lot of good company in the anthology, BTW: Jody Lynn Nye, Esther Friesner, Laura Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rausch, and numerous others.)
The anthology’s stories center around a shopping mall located in an alternate-Earth version of Chicago. This […]

Posted in Fantasy and science fiction, Food, restaurants and cooking, News, Writing 1 Comment »

Yesterday, [his attorney] said his client asked for a copy of [Josepha Sherman’s and Susan Shwartz’s] Star Trek novel “Vulcan’s Forge.”
Tags: Star+Trek, Vulcan’s+Forge, Clark+Rockefeller, Christian+Gerhartsreiter

Posted in Current events, Fantasy and science fiction, News No Comments »

(EDIT: Scroll down to the bottom of the posting for video of the August 11 press conference with Rockefeller / Gerhartsreiter’s attorney.)
I’ve continued to follow the “Clark Rockefeller” / Christian Gerhartsreiter story over the past few days as it just keeps getting more convoluted, and as the subject’s apparent/alleged pathway between Germany and the USA starts […]

Posted in Current events, Europe, Media, Medicine, nursing, health, News, Psychology / psychiatry 1 Comment »

A one-Euro coin with Homer Simpson’s face on it has turned up in Spain.
No, really. (more here and here)
 
By rights, though, it should have turned up in Greece. (Just sayin’…)
Tags: Homer+Simpson, Euro, coin, forgery, hilarious, Simpsons, counterfeit, defacement

Posted in Animation, Cartoons, Current events, Europe, Humor, News No Comments »

Some days ago the thought occurred to me that the original story got very viral very quickly. Well, maybe there was a reason for that. Gawker puts forward their theory here…
Myself, I’ve been chuckling over the whole business since it started, as I have my own referent for monsters off Montauk. …For certain values of […]

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