(1) NIXING BREXIT. In a letter to The Guardian, “John le Carré and Neil Gaiman join writers warning Brexit is ‘choosing to lose’”. Dozens of writers have put their names to a letter to the Guardian that urges UK voters … Continue reading
(1) CORE FOR RAVENCLAWS. At BookRiot, Rachel Brittain offers “A Hogwarts House Reading List: 20 Books for Ravenclaws”. It’s also about creativity and individuality, originality and acceptance. All Ravenclaws value learning and curiosity, but not all Ravenclaws are traditionally book … Continue reading
[First published in 2002.] By Mike Glyer: Early in Ian Fleming’s novel Moonraker James Bond is driving at night and spots an ominous neon sign flashing the message HELL IS HERE over and over. He rounds a hillock and once … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: William Shatner, the iconic actor who first sailed the Star Ship Enterprise through three intergalactic seasons on NBC Television beginning September 8th, 1966, and starred in six Star Trek feature-length motion pictures, turned eighty-six years young recently. … Continue reading
(1) POETRY DESTROYED. A sampling of Stoic Cynic’s satirical genius. A fragmented excerpt from The Filer and the Astronaut by Louise Carol: ‘The time has come,’ the Filer said, ‘To talk of many things: Of pups — and picks — and … Continue reading
(1) Randall Munroe has a piece on The New Yorker blog called “The Space Doctor’s Big Idea”. He’s explaining Einstein and relativity, but doing it with his cartoons and quirky humor. The first idea is called the special idea, because … Continue reading
(1) The UCLA Library’s Special Collections include the Gene Roddenberry Star Trek collection and the Robert Justman Papers. A year ago the Special Collections’ blog posted Justman’s memo to Roddenberry about some wigs and hairpieces that had gone missing. The Captain of … Continue reading
(1) Anne and Jared at Pornokitsch advise air travelers about the 5 Best Airport Snacks. Anne trends toward the practical and healthy. Jared picks stuff I would eat…. Anne says: Edamame. Honestly, you’ll probably find somewhere that does sushi. Skip … Continue reading
Ned Brooks: subjective obituary By Tim Marion: I can’t believe it. This must surely be a hoax, ’cause Ned just loved hoaxes. He even liked death hoaxes, as long as they weren’t carried too far. Just got news on Facebook … Continue reading
When I read that nearly three dozen extrasolar planets have been found, “some just five times the mass of Earth and others five times heftier than giant Jupiter” I had the random thought that one of them might become the … Continue reading