Despite this being a story about news coverage rather than actual news, it’s worth mentioning. I give full kudos to MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski for refusing—several times—to read the lead story she was given:
(And that’s the closest I’m going to get to mentioning the subject of the actual alleged news item here, ever.)
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon’d be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
I was a little surprised to score 9/10 on CBC.ca’s recent comics-to-film quiz, missing only the question on Constantine (which I didn’t see, nor did I even realize it was an adaptation).
I’ve seen nine of the twenty-five films (not all comic-based) that are mentioned in the quiz. The majority of those nine are definitely below my watch-again threshold, and I’ve no interest in a first viewing of many of the others. Of those I would see a second time, only two are comic-based, and one of those I own. (No, it isn’t Barb Wire… but it does have some similar elements.)
I saw the Musical Age of Majority at Paul Gorbould’s blog and thought, hey, what the heck. For those not familiar with it:
Feel free to skip the last step (as Paul and his source did).
As I look over the Milli Vanilli-New Kids on the Block-Guns N Roses wasteland that was popular music in 1989, though, I find it hard to identify a large number of the songs, and even some of the acts. (Teddy Riley Featuring Guy? Johnny Kemp?) Of the tunes I do recognize, there aren’t five I feel particularly attached to—I own copies of only two of the CDs on which any of the songs appear. And although I’ve come to know (and sometimes even like) some of the songs since the year I turned 18, that’s not what this particular meme is about.
It’s not like I wasn’t listening to popular music in 1989, it’s just that none of it is represented there. So I’ve got to pass on this one. Perhaps some of you others out there will have better luck.
Lawrence, Kansas is the sixth-largest city in Kansas, with a population of approximately 80,000. It is located about 66km west of Kansas City, Missouri, population approximately 445,000.
London, Ontario is the sixth-largest city in Ontario, with a population of approximately 350,000. It is located about 100km southwest of the metropolitan area of Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, population approximately 450,000.
LJWorld.com and Lawrence.com are the primary websites maintained by the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper (part of The World Company, an organization of about 600 people).
LFPress.ca is the primary website maintained by the London Free Press newspaper (part of 7000-employee Sun Media, itself a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., one of Canada’s largest media companies
with over 47,000 employees).
I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’, y’know?
Didn’t you always just know that this is the way the corporate music industry works?
A while back I heard (from either Mike or one of the 200-odd blogs I read) about custom printing company MOO. Never really had any reason to take advantage of their service until today, when I realized their mini-cards would be perfect for an event I’m planning. And so far I’m impressed!
About two hours ago I started designing the series of cards using my local photo archive. I started with eight different photos, scaled, cropped, and resized to my little heart’s delight, then narrowed the selection to five favourites… and as of half an hour ago they’ve been ordered. Almost everything went as smooth as silk: the only glitch was that the templates they provide are at a different resolution than what the website says, but they’ve both got the same aspect ratio so everything worked out. $DEITY willing and the creeks don’t rise, they should be here within a couple of weeks… which’ll be just in time.
As I opined to a (very patient) young woman tonight, I’ve often wondered why there’s never been an equivalent version of The Right Stuff for the Russian space program. In a lot of ways it was the more interesting half of the race: as well as all of their firsts, there’s controversy, romance and intrigue, the threat of war, and action, specifically the amazing fact that cosmonauts ejected from their capsules after re-entry and parachuted to the ground.
Upon reflection, though, I can think of two reasons it hasn’t been done: secrecy, in that (as I understand it) most of the Russian records from that time remain confidential; and pride, mainly from Hollywood, which wouldn’t want to risk appearing anti-American by showing an enemy state (even a former one) in a positive light. Then again, I know NASA has had a presence at Star City for some time now, and we’ve recently seen the release of Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie that wouldn’t have been greenlit five years ago let alone twenty-five, so perhaps there’s some hope after all.