Discworld - Watching Equality Among Races

While I was still reading Reaper Man, I came across this article on the web.  Once again Pratchett knew things before any of us.  The man mined information more than any author I've come across.

Men at Arms is a favorite (yes, I know, but they're almost all favorites) because it introduces Angua, brings back Detritus, and plays on old themes.  When Cuddy is trying to teach the Dwarven Gold Song (which is made up of only the word "gold") to Detritus (who he then keeps berating for getting the song wrong) you can't help but laugh.  And yes, this fantasy world has gunpowder (Black Powder #1), but the book is all about why and why not.

The Guards books are Pratchett's writings of mysteries and police procedural, but at the same time he addresses other issues.  Dwarves and Trolls hate each other, but humans have their own feelings towards them.  Trolls appear stupid so they are marginalized.  Dwarves are subtly discriminated again because "everyone knows what Dwarves are like."  Everyone but Dwarves of course.

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Appearing in this book:

“Do deformed rabbit, it’s my favorite”

“Millennium hand and shrimp"
"Personal is not the same as important."

“The world is your mollusk”

Ankh-Morpork

Bearhugger's Very Fine Whiskey

Beggars guild

Bells of Ankh-Morpork

Bloody Stupid Johnson/UU Organ

Captain "Mayonaise" Quirk

Captain Vimes

Chalky the Troll

Chrysoprase, the Troll

Coalface the Troll

Corporal C. W. St. J Nobbs

Corporal Carrot Ironfounderson

Cumbling Michael
Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Done-It Duncan
Doughnut Jimmy
Dr. Cruces, Assassins’ Guild

Dragon attack

Dried Frog Pills
Drumknott, Secretary

Dwarf bread

Dwarf Bread Museum - Rime Street

Dwarf delicatessen (Gimlet’s)

Dwarven Gold song

Elm Street

Fingers Mazda
Flint the Troll

Foul Ole Ron

Gaspode

Gerhardt Sock, Butchers’ Guild

Grabpot Thundergust the Dwarf

Hi ho song

Koom Valley

Lady Selachii

Lady Sybil Ramkin

Lance-Constable Angua

Lance-Constable Cuddy

Lance-Constable Detritus

Leonard da Quirm

Lord Downey, Assassins’ Guild

Lord Havelock Vetinari, The Patrician

Lord Rust

Lord Venturii

Ludmilla Cake

Mad Lord Snapcase, former Patrician

Moraine the Troll

Mr. (Arthur) Winkins

Mr. Hong and the Three Jolly Luck Take-Away Fish Bar on Dagon Street opening on the Winter Solstice under a Full Moon

Mr. Ixiolite, the Banshee

Mr. Morecombe, Vampire Lawyer

Mr. Whiteface, Fool’s Guild

Mrs. Cake

Mrs. Drull, the Ghoul

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor
Old Stoneface (Vimes)

Quantum Weather Butterfly

Queen Molly of the Beggars’ Guild

Reg Shoe

Ruby

Sargent Colon

Sendivoge, Alchemists’ Guild

Sham Harga/Harga's House of Ribs
Silas Cumberbatch, Town-Crier

Silicon Anti-Defamation League

Silverfish, Alchemist’s Guild
Slice (Mountain)

Stronginthearm the Dwarf

The Assassins' Guild

The Brass bridge

The Bucket on Gleam Street

The Bursar
The Dean
The Fools' Guild

The High-Energy Magic Building

The Librarian

The Librarian

The Mona Ogg

The Opera House

The Pork Futures Warehouse

The Ramtops/Copperhead

The Royal Mail/The Post Office

The Thieves' Guild

The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

The Unreal Estate

Twurp's Peerage

Unseen University

Wilikins, Butler
Wolf pack leader like Carrot

Discworld - A Little Murder

"Theater of Cruelty" is another short story set on the Discworld, specifically in Ankh-Morpork.

I don't know why this took me two readings to really understand what was going on.  I think I just wasn't up on the "real" story of Punch and Judy when I first read it.  But now, it's a favorite.

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Appearing in this book:

Ankh-Morpork
Captain Vimes
Corporal Carrot Ironfounderson
Corporal Nobbs
Death
Gnomes
Sargeant Colon

Discworld - All Just a Dream

So take "A Midsummer Night's Dream", then interleave a reverse of "The Taming of the Shrew", then add in the characters of the Discworld, and look at things through the lens of Pratchett's mind.  That is Lord and Ladies.

I can remember buying this book and the next one (Men at Arms) at Tower books.  And they were expensive, because they were the version from England.  In a mass-market paperback size, they were $10 or $11 each.  And this was in 1993.

But they were so worth the price.  I got so much pleasure reading them and getting the next installment of both the Witches and the Watch.

This is a pretty big "crossover" kind of book with known characters from Unseen University meeting the people of Lancre.  And lots of little bits get mentioned in conversations.  Again it's refreshing that characters have memories and history.  Up until reading this, the only shared universe in fiction that I read was in comics.  Sure I read Larry Niven, but his main characters came from such different time periods that they hardly ever met.

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Appearing in this book:

"A Wizards Staff Has a Knob on the End"
"Millennium Hand and Shrimp"
"Pull the other one..."

"The Hedgehog Song"

Agnes "Perdita" Nitt

Ankh-Morpork

Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully
Archchancellor (Galder) Weatherwax
Archchancellor (Greyhald) "Tudgy" Spold

Baker the Weaver

Bestiality Carter

Black Aliss

Bows and Ammo
Cabbages

Carpenter the Poacher

Carter the Baker

Casanunda

Dried Frog Pills

Elves

Eyes like Gimlet

Genghiz Cohen
Granny Esmerelda Weatherwax

Granny's Rag Rug from the Smith in Bad Ass

Greebo

Herne the Hunted

High Energy Magic Building

Hodgesaargh

Hwel, Tomjon, and Vittoler's men - The Dysk

Ironfounderson the Dwarf

Jason Ogg

King Verence II

Lancre

Lucy "Diamanda" Tockley

Magrat Garlick

Millie Chillum

Millie Hopwood
Mr. Brooks the Beekeeper

Mr. Ixiolite the Banshee
Mr. Spriggins the Butler

Mrs. Scorbic the Cook

Nanny Gytha Ogg
Nanny Gripes

Nanny's Still

Obidiah Carpenter the Tailor

Octarine Grass Country

Old Poorchick and his cow
Oggham
"Personal isn't the same as important."

Pewsey Ogg

Ponder Stibbons - The Reader in Invisible Writings

Quantum

Queen Ynci
Scumble

Sean Ogg

Slice and the Place Where the Sun Doesn't Shine
Scumble

Sto Helit

Sto Lat

Strict Offlians (Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God)

Tailor the Other Weaver

Thatcher the Carter

The Archchancellor's Hat
The Bursar

The Dean

The Green-Purple Wobbly Bit
The Hi Ho Song
The Lancre Morris Dancers

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Queen of the Elves (Fairies)

The Single Standing Stone
The Stick and Bucket Dance

The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

The Tooth Fairy

The Trousers of Time

The Vampire Queen of Lancre
Tinker the Tinker

Twurp's Peerage

Unseen University

Violet Frottidge
Weaver the Thatcher

Continued Learning

Last Saturday, San Pablo Avenue was closed from Ashby Avenue to Stanford Avenue for about 8 hours for a "Love Your Neighborhood" event.  the point is to help people realize that San Pablo Avenue is not just a substitute for Interstate 80, but a road that goes by lots of residences and small businesses.

It had lots of booths for local community businesses and such/

One of the booths was for Biketopia which is up Alcatraz Avenue by Adeline Street.  It was just one guy (Hiro) who was doing bike inspections and minor repairs.  He looked over my chain, and suggested it was pretty worn and should be replaced.

So, yesterday, after stopping off to cool down at home, I rode back up and got my chain replaced.

By me.

Biketopia is one of many shops around that is volunteer run, and teaches a bike owner how to do their own repairs.  I learned in my first year from another shop how to change inner tubes for flat tires.  This time, I learned (from Reaux) how to disassemble and clean the derailleur, and change the chain.  Now my gears are clean, the derailleur is gunk free, and my chain is shiny and silver.  It was one that was pre-waxed, so it shouldn't need to be oiled for about a week.  I also got a briefing on bicycle disc brakes.  I'm going to need to replace the pads on mine soon, but with the instruction Hiro gave me, I learned how easy it is to change them out.

Discworld - The True Power of Belief

Small Gods is probably Pratchett's most thought provoking book.

It's not just his continuing theme that Belief creates Gods.  This is another book that is full of great lines and phrases, but one of the best is that people die for lies, but they should live for a truth.

I've known people like Vorbis who are so closed in their minds that what they think are the word of God are really just heir thoughts being reflected back to them.

This is another book that I think should be taught and studied in schools for its concepts.

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Appearing in this book:

"The World is Your Mollusk..."

Abbys, The Prophet
Ankh-Morpork

Belief Creates Gods

Bibulous, god of wine
Binky

Blind Io
Bonsai Mountains

Cena,The Prophet
Chaos Butterfly

Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah

Death

Didactylos
Djelibeybi

Do Deformed Rabbit

Ephebe

Ibid

Lu-Tze

Patina, goddess of wisdom
Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Ossory, The Prophet

Simony, Sergeant
St. Ungulant

The Brown Islands

The Desert after Death

The Great God Om

The History Monks

The Librarian

The Million to One Chance

The Ramtops

Tsort

Unseen University

Xeno

Conspiracy of Frustration

I know I've ranted before over my frustration over the changes that happened about 4 years ago at DC Comics.  And that I can't seem to let it go (No Singing!).  Apparently I'm not the only one.

Friday I came across this article at Bleeding Cool.  I think it sums it up very well.

Now, my friend John and I rarely saw eye to eye on comics.  But something he said about the original Crisis on Infinite Earths seems more fitting even now than when he first mentioned it.  He said that after the Crisis DC should have started over at that point with all of the books.  Now that may be what they tried to do with the New 52, but that is where I think they inadvertently hurt most of the long time readers.

In throwing away the old numbering it seemed they threw away the history of the company.  When they did Zero Hour a few years later they did a #0 issue, and I think it was the best intentioned of the plans.  It gave the "new" backstory of each character.DC did something similar tot he New 52, but waited about a year into the new run to do it.  If they had used that method again, I think it would have helped more.  Instead of throwing everyone into this mysterious universe where Superman and Shazam are very different, Batman and Green Lantern have hardly changed, and there's all these new heroes and villains, some created for the new universe and some brought over from Wildstorm, why not do a beginning introductory issue?

So anyway, this probably won't be my last rant, but it's good to know I'm not alone in my reasons.

Discworld - Wandering Witches

With Witches Abroad, we return to the Witches of Lancre.  Aside from the main story there is still the building of the history of the kingdom and nearby places.  In this story about stories and the power of narrative on the Discworld, we learn more about the Disc's version of Maleficent: Black Aliss.  In Wyrd Sisters there is reference to her as the witch responsible for the Sleeping Beauty story as well as a hint that she went loopy and may have been the constructor of the gingerbread house in Light Fantastic.  When the witches encounter another sleeping castle, Nanny refers to it as a "Black Aliss job".  She even mentions being taken to meet her when she was still learning her craft.

It's things like this that Pratchett uses to gradually fill out the history of the Disc.  It helps to know that there have been things going on for years before the "present".  We've seen the creation and end of the universe, the creation of the Disc, the Tsortean War, the beginning of the Kingdom of Djelybeybi, and a continued the filling out of the previous generation of the Ramtops and even hints from Ankh-Morpork.
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Appearing in this book:

"A Witch should never stand between two mirrors."
"A Wizard's Staff Has a Knob on the End"

"The Hedgehog Song"

Ankh-Morpork

Belief and Creation

Black Aliss

Cripple Mr. Onion

Death

Dwarf bread
Emberella

Genua

Granny Weatherwax

Granny: Smiling/humming/ear cleaning/tch tch tch

Greebo and his Changing

Inspiration particles

Jason Ogg

Lobsang Dibbler

Magrat Garlick

Nanny Ogg

Ninj as a verb

Old Mother Dismass

Sean Ogg

Skund

Skund

The Assassin's Guild

The Chaos Butterfly

The Million to One Chance

The Morris Dance

The Ramtops

The Way of Mrs. Cosmopolite

The Weatherwax Family Being Good at Magic

Touch of Glod / Glod the Dwarf

Leaving the Late Night Drive-In

Last night Jennifer and I were looking for something to watch.  We were flipping through videos available on Amazon streaming, and came across "Leap of Faith".

We're not sure why we are drawn to this movie.  We had both seen it separately prior to even dating each other, and have watched it at least three times together.

The thing is that the movie makes us so angry.  The manipulation of the townsfolk.  The credulity of the general public for the "miracle" of the opening eyes.  But Steve Martin is amazing in it.  no one else could have played that part.  There were points where you think, maybe Robin Williams, but he couldn't have stayed focused on the character.

And it's just one of those films we tend to come back to.  Whether it's to refresh our skepticism, or just to watch a great performance.

Discworld - Death After Life

As you can see below, there are a large number of crossover mentions in this book.  This is probably the first of the really three dimensional stories of Ankh-Morpork.  Wyrd Sisters tells a little about the Fools' Guild and Pyramids tells some about the Assassin's Guild, but Reaper Man brings all of the city together in the Oblong Office of the Patrician.  There is even an allusion made to werewolves coming from somewhere int he mountains, and we're many books away from The Fifth Elephant and a visit to Uberwald.

And really, you could make the case that everything that happens with Windle Poons and the city of Ankh-Morpork are all background and subplot to the real story of Death and Bill Door instead of them being parallel stories.

And from listing everything, I can see why this used to be my favorite of the books.  It seems like almost everything is in it.  There are new major players introduced, and only a few who aren't.

And it reads like an action movie.  There are two pivotal fights going on very from away from each other, but at nearly the same time.  And Pratchett cuts back and forth between the two like you would see in a movie.  Many of the Discworld books seem at a reading to be easy to make into a movie, but I think that is the strength of his imagery rather than any easy transition to a script.

------

Appearing in this book

“Sixpence is sixpence.”
!!!!! - the sign of an insane mind

Ankh-Morpork

Arthur and Doreen Winkins, The Count and Countess Notfaroutoe

Auditors of Reality

Binky

Blind Io

Brother Ridcully, Priest of Blind Io

Casanunder the Dwarf

Chalky the Troll

Continent of XXXX and the Lost Wizard Colony

Cripple Mr. Onion

Cut-me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Death's Daughter

Elm Street

Gimlet the Dwarf and his Delicatessen on Cable Street

Golems

Hoki the Jokester

Hygiene

Ixiolite, the stuttering banshee

Lancre
Ludmilla Cake

Modo the Dwarf, Gardener at UU

Morris Dancing

Mr. Arthur Winkins
Mr. Ixiolite the Banshee
Mrs. Drull, the Ghoul
Mrs. Evadne Cake

Mrs. Whitlow

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor

Ned Simnel

Octarine Grass

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Ole - "with milk"

Reg Shoe

Sargent Colon

Talking raven

Thaumometer

The Alchemists' Guild

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

The Auditors of Reality

The Brass Bridge

The Bursar

The Counterweight Continent

The Dean

The Fools' Guild

The Guild of Merchants

The High Energy Magic Building and the Squash COurt

The Lecturer on Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Librarian

The Mended Drum

The Patrician, Havelock Vetinari

The Ramtops

The Rite of Ashk-Ente

The Senior Wrangler

The Shades

The Thieves' Guild

Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

Unseen University

Windle Poons

Yen Buddhism

FHWA Protected Bike Lanes

I came across this article on Facebook shared by my buds at Citizen Chain.

This is so amazing.  These protected lanes are what it's like riding on Alameda along the beach.

Now if we can just get Solar (Freakin') Roadways...

Discworld - Uncle Osric

Moving Pictures is probably more full of puns and mentions of things from our world than any other book of the Discworld except for maybe Soul Music.  During my time reading this, I walked by the television as Jennifer was watching TCM and felt a wave of connection between the reading and the movie on the screen.

Again there is magic making animals intelligent.  This is the introduction of Gaspode who has another of my favorite lines in the books: "A door like that bodes."  When asked what it bodes, he responds, "Just general bodingness."

It is certainly another book that the more you know, the funnier it is.  Knowing how the real Academy of Motion Pictures award got its nickname.  Knowing that a silvery metal that requires lots of ore and is heavier than lead most certainly can go bang under the right circumstances.  it's full of little tidbits.

The next book, Reaper Man, was my number one favorite for a long time.  It's a Death book, so no real surprise there.  It held the title until I read  Thief of Time.

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Appearing in this book:

Ankh-Morpork

Cabbages

Corporal Nobbs

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death (and Binky)

"Do Deformed Rabbit..."

Gaspode, the Wonder Dog

Greyhald "Tudgy" Spold
Miss Marietta Cosmopilite

Harga's House of Ribs

Morraine the Troll

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor
The Bursar
Chair of Indefinite Studies
Window Poons
Lecturer on Recent Runes
Ponder Stibbons
Dean of Pentacles
The Librarian

Rock (ne Galena) the Troll

Sargent Fred Colon

Sendivoge, Alchemists’ Guild

Sham Harga

Silverfish the Alchemist

The Head Priest of Blind Io

The Hi Ho Song
The Mended Drum

Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

Unseen University

Vetinari, The Patrician

Loving Lunch

Today, I went to a new pizza place in Walnut Creek.  It's new to WC, but not a completely new shop.

It's called Project Pie.  The best way to describe it is to imagine a pizzeria run like a Chipotle.

You come up, and order, they use a cool machine to flatten your dough into a personal pizza size, and then you either choose a pre-made selection, or direct them how to build it.

It's a thin crust pizza that is cooked in a fire oven, and ready amazingly quick.  And it tasted amazing.

The shop I was at just opened this week, so they're waiting on their liquor license, so there will be a bar to look forward to on non-work days.

If you're in the area, or near one of the other locations, I encourage you to check them out.

Now, Where's my Wine?

Okay, so I'm guessing there won't be crossovers with the Arrowverse, but I'm glad to see bright colors in this.

Plus I'm really into cheesy, which is probably why I like "The Flash" TV show so much.



I'm into this.

Discworld - Not So Faust

Eric is Terry Pratchett's direct take on the story of Faust.

Of course he twists it, and adds the common Discworld stubbornness and need for clarification that applies to people and demons.

It was a good way for him to get Rincewind out of the Dungeon Dimensions, and the end is vague enough that we will never know how the poor wizzard ends up stranded on the desert island at the beginning of Interesting Times.

And so with this book, Pratchett truly shines with the way he makes things his.  He also again challenges the reader to go and find the source material.  Go and read it, and see how much funnier the work is for it.  Having seen "MacBeth" (both Gibson and Brannaugh's versions) makes Wyrd Sisters that much better.  And having seen Richard Burton's "Faust" and having read it way back in high school makes this book even better.

Pratchett challenges his reader.  Not having read the classics or mythology is like not knowing mythology and studying astronomy.  Sure, you can remember the names of everything, but the stories in the background make it all come alive.

------

Recurring themes and character mentioned in this book:

Ankh-Morpork

Death
Events from Sourcery

Herrena, the Henna Haired Harridan

Rincewind

The Bursar

The Librarian

The Luggage

The Mended Drum

The Octavo

The Rite of Ashk-Ente

The Tezumen

The Tsortean War
Unseen University

Discworld - A Little Death

"Death and What Comes Next" can probably only be considered a Discworld book because the setting is so vague, and yet takes place between a philosopher and Death.

This story is very short, and seems a thought experiment or idea that Pratchett had, but didn't think he could drop in anywhere in a book.

------

Appearing in this book:

Death
Quantum

Discworld - Mummy!

Pyramids is often a stumbling book in the Discworld series. While it has some fun parts to it, the setting is so different that it takes time getting used to it.

But once things get moving, there is actually quite a lot in this book.

It has one of my favorite lines "Fish and chips for men." with regards to eating blowfish and a certain poisonous root, two things that unless properly prepared will kill the consumer.

It also puts forth for the first time that belief shapes the gods of the Discworld.

But this is probably the book I like the least in the series.

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Appearing in this book:

"Pull the other one..."
"The World is your mollusk..."

Ankh-Morpork

Belief Shapes Gods

Bells of the Hours at Ankh-Morpork

Binky

Cabbage

Death

Djelibeybi

Dr. Cruces

Ephebe

Guild of Assassins

Mericet
Quantum

The Brass Bridge

The Tsortean War

Tsort

Pun Time

I'm hoping this translates well written down...



So, Saturday morning, Jennifer and I were talking about breakfast, and I looked at the time.

It was 8:50.

I said, "Did you know you can get sick from the time?  Twice a day, you could get ten-to-nine-tis."



Thank you.

75 Years of Shazam!

I don't know if I missed the DC celebration for Shazam (the character formerly known as Captain Marvel).  I never saw it, but since his first appearance was in February of 1940, I'm thinking there should have been something.

My first Shazam comic was "Shazam!" #16.  This was not long after DC bought up the property, but still had 12 years before they would integrate the Marvel family into regular continuity.  The Marvels were still stuck on Earth-5.

The statues coming to life was a cool story, and I was already familiar with Shazam from the Saturday morning live action television show.

But of course there was my first introduction to parallel worlds with "Superman" #276 with the confusing (to me) Captain Thunder with a sun emblem on his chest.

This one was DC's way of having Superman fight Shazam without actually doing it.  There were lots of similarities, and it was very strange to my 6 year-old self.

Discworld - Tiny Tales

After finishing Guards! Guards!, I discovered that not only had I skipped a book, I had skipped a short story as well.

While "Troll Bridge" is not Pratchett's first short story, it was the first of them set in Discworld.

It was a story that got me to buy a book that was a collection of short stories called After the King.  And at the time it was like methadone getting me to the next Pratchett book.

Pratchett uses a little bit of magic in having the horse talk (it having formerly belonged to a wizard), and acts as Cohen's... not conscience, but more like the voice of least resistance.  It would certainly have been a great horse for Rincewind to have.

Pratchett also continues the naming convention of the trolls to be rocks.  I was laughing a bit at a troll named Mica though.

------

Appearing in this story:

Cohen the Barbarian
Trolls

Discworld - They're Watching You

Now we are finally at the beginning of the tales of the Watch with Guards! Guards!.  Vimes is mostly a diminutive Clint Eastwood, but had bits of Humphrey Bogart thrown in.  Again there are beginning hints of the power of narrative.  Once again, Pratchett weaves a story that wanders around the city and comes tightly together at the end.

Jennifer said that as Pratchett writes a book, his "chapters" start long and by the end sometimes they're little more than a few paragraphs long.  To be fair he rarely uses chapters until he gets to the tales of Moist von Lipwig, but instead separates scenes by a white space break, but what she says holds true.  It reminds me of a prose poem we read my junior year of high school.  It used varying spacing in it to indicate different speeds of events.  It was about a cowboy doing trick shooting, and the rapidity of shooting a series of cans had the words of the numbers almost merged into a single word.

When Pratchett is in his stride, his writing is reminiscent of that.

[Also, I seem to have jumped ahead in my eagerness to get to the Watch.  I'll be backtracking for "Troll Bridge" and Pyramids.]

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Appearing in this book:

A Dwarf Bar

Ankh-Morpork

Blind Io

Boggis

Cabbage

Carrot Ironfounderson (Lance Constable/Constable)

Copperhead

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Detritus the Troll

Dwarf Bread

Dwarven Kings

Errol
Fred Colon (Sergeant)

Harga

Havelock Vetinari (Lord Patrician)

Igneous the Troll

Intelligent Rats

Ironfounderson the Dwarf

Jimkin Bearhugger's Whiskey

L-Space

Nobby Nobbs (Corporal)

Samuel Vimes (Captain)

Sybil Ramkin (Lady)

The Librarian

The Mended Drum

The Million to One Chance

The Pork Futures Warehouse

The Trousers of Time

Unseen University
Vetinari's Aunt

Discworld - More Witches!

One of the things I like most about Wyrd Sisters is the blend of Shakespeare in it.  Yes the main story is a blend of "Macbeth" and "Hamlet", and of course there are mentions and nods to other Shakespeare plays, but the play that is performed also has nods to "Richard III".

Wyrd Sisters is one of those books that I look back on and wonder how much Pratchett had planned out beforehand.  It's so intricate and interwoven.  The slips of non-prophecy prophecy are just great.

We also start to get hints about the power of stories on the Disc.  This will come back in Witches Abroad.

------

Mentioned in this book:

"A Wizard's Staff Has a Knob on the End"

"The Hedgehog Song"

Ankh-Morpork

Black Aliss

Blind Io

Boggis

Cabbage

Chrysoprase the Troll

Death

Dwarf bars

Dwarven song "Gold, Gold, Gold"

Eldritch means Oblong
Grabpot Thundergust the Dwarf

Granny Weatherwax

Greebo

Queen Griminir
Headology

Herne the Hunted

Hoki

Hwel, Tomjon, and Vittoler's men - The Dysk

Lancre

Leonard of Quirm

Magrat Garlick

Nanny Ogg

Old Poorchick and his cow

Standing Stone(s)

The Assassin's Guild

The Fool/Verence II

The Fool's Guild

The Forest of Skund

The Librarian

The Mended Drum

The Ramptops

The Thieves' Guild
The Vampire Queen of Lancre

Thank You

So, this weekend, was a mixed bag of emotions and friends.  Jennifer was traveling, so I was on my own.

Friday night, I spent with two of my best friends.  We had a great time together being geeks and watching "Game of Thrones".  John and I... strode to BART in the rain, and I rode home in the dark and the rain.  As always, I'm glad that I keep Ziploc bags in my vest for electronics protection.

Saturday was too windy to ride, so I lingered at home and did little electronic and computer projects.  And lots of free time spent thinking about missing Jennifer and other people.  I'm no longer in contact with.  But I had cats to keep me company.

Sunday was a day for an amazing ride along the water to Richmond and back.  Winds were low and the sun was high.  And after the ride, more time with the cats.

Today, I came across the below graphic.  It appears to have been captioned by someone other than the artist.  However the sentiment is great.  Thank you to all of my friends.

The original is here.

YouTube of Ice and Fire

There are times in the world when you know you're screwed.

I remember a story of a couple in a car racing away from the Mt. St. Helen's eruption.  They barely made it to safety ahead of the pyroclastic flow.  The driver said he passed a car while he was going over 100 mph.  The other car didn't make it out.

I think I've written before about my most viewed episode of Nova about the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.  The giggle we all let out when volcano is going off, and the scientists are racing for the car.  One of them (the passenger) runs around and yells, "Open the door... open the fucking door!"

Then there's the mountain climbers in Japan who hid in a temple while a volcano turned the land around them into an ash covered wasteland.

Then there are two just from this weekend.

The first is a guy who must have felt he was screwed, but apparently made it out okay.  He captured the initial eruption of Mt. Calbuco.



Adn then there's the climbers at the Mt. Everest base camp.  I'm sure they must have felt something from the Nepal earthquake.  But I don't see how they could have had any idea what was coming.



Once again, one of the simple, but powerful, bit of wisdom from Will Durant comes to mind:

"Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice."

75 Years of the Joker

So, I know that there used to be a Joker comic book back from before I was collecting.  I never had any of those.  The first Joker story I remember is the first Batman story I remember.

But the biggest Joker story I remember was in a tabloid sized coloring book that I had.

The Joker had decided that he was going to commit crimes that were related to sadness instead of laughter.  I vaguely remember that he even had a Joker-mobile.

The attraction of the book was supposed to be the back cover which was a Batman action shot.

Al I know is that I cut it off, and then carried the comic around without a back cover.

Who's Watching?

So, I've got great friends.

I've got friends that work in tech who give great advice.  I've got friends that are crafty and make things for me.  I've got my best friend who is a writer, so we go out drinking together.  And while most of them are geeky, some are more geeky than others.

I have a former coworker (Holly) who goes to lots of conventions.  This past Saturday she went to Big Wow Comicfest in San Jose.  We were having lunch on the Friday prior, and she excitedly told me that Dave Gibbons was going to be there.  Now, I had a wedding I was going to on Saturday, and if I'd known earlier I would have handed something off to my friend for her to take to get signed.

Then Monday were chatting over Yahoo Messenger, and she said that Gibbons was going to be at Flying Colors Comics Wednesday afternoon.  Again, I'm committed that afternoon to help out at mom's with laundry and cleaning.  Holly offered to come by Tuesday, and pick up something I wanted signed, and then bring it back to me on Thursday (today).

Now, I have the original 12 issue comic set (I may actually have two) somewhere in a long-box in storage.  I could have gone to get them Monday afternoon, but it was cold and windy, and I thought I be okay.  I'd be okay, because I have one DC Absolute edition on my bookshelf: The Absolute Watchmen.  Now this is like a special edition DVD for comic books.  It's oversized, and comes in a slipcase.  It's great to read and see all the artwork enlarged.

Holly asked if I wanted my name in the signing, and I said sure.  She does know how to spell my name, which some people still have trouble with, and so Tuesday I handed it off to her.  Last night she sent me a picture via text, and today she dropped it off to me.

It is so much more impressive in person, but here is the picture she sent me:

Now, I know I owe her lunch.  So we're getting pizza next Friday.

Discworld - Wizzard's Return

And so we come to the end of the first five books that I read back to back (to back...) when I first was introduced to Terry Pratchett: Sourcery.  And so I had to wait like everyone else from that point to read the next book.  I didn't yet realize the depths that Pratchett would take his books.  Aside from Mort, they still seemed to be more poking fun at the fantasy genre and not so much being general satire set in a fantasy world.  The next book is a return to (introduction to) the kingdom of Lancre and Pratchett's mash-up of Shakespeare.

Sourcery has many parts, but it hints at a prophecy without ever stating it.  And it also brings up that it is an end of the Disc prophecy that may or may not be true.  And of course the Disc doesn't end.  Pratchett also makes this the last book for a while that involves a Disc-spanning disaster.  He will go on from here to do mostly localized events.  Of course that doesn't mean that city destroying dragons, pocket universe/kingdoms, and wars won't be coming in the future.

------

Appearing in this book:

Ankh-Morpork

Binky

Blind Io

Death

Herrena, the Henna Haired Harridan

Intelligent Rats

Klatch

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Rincewind

The Archchancellor's Hat
The Dungeon Dimensions

The Four Horsemen

The Librarian

The Luggage

The Mended Drum

The Ramtops

Unseen University

Wuffles

Stories

So, I've been going through my hard drive lately, and I've come across some of my old writings from college.

I've put up one of my favorites in a page on the blog.

I remember becoming enamored with the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll when a girl in college who I had a crush on had an amazingly illustrated book of the poem.  Then it started showing up in places, so I worked to memorize it.

Then of course, I had to write something about it.

You can check it out on the following linked page.  It's called "Beamish Boy".

Discworld - Welcoming Death

Terry Pratchett's Mort focuses on who I think was Pratchett's favorite character Death.

Death in his multiversal manifestation appears in every book Terry Pratchett and in most of his short stories.  When typeset properly (always in the English publications, and eventually in the American publications) Death speaks in all capital letters, but with the small caps chosen, and with no quotation marks.  It's a typographical trick that reminds me of the Kirlian Saga by Piers Anthony who indicated different species speaking by using odd punctuation in place of quotation marks.

But this first book to focus on Death, begins to hint at how the power of belief works on the Discworld.  It's easy to get lost in the story of Mort taking over for Death, but the parts with Death fading to become (nearly) human at the end are important bits too.

There are times I consider reading the books my topic.  There are the Rincewind books, the Witches, the Watch, and Death.  But as I list the recurring items that get mentioned in the books, I see that Pratchett had a very strong feel for his entire world with its history, geography, and nations.

------

This book contains appearances by:

Albert (Alberto Malich)

Ankh-Morpork

Bes Pelargic

Binky

Blind Io

Cabbage

Death

Fate

Harga's House of Ribs

Hoki

Leshp

Mort

Octarine Grass Country

Offler the Crocodile Headed God

Princess/Queen Keli of Sto Lat

Rincewind

Sham Harga
Scumble

The Curry Gardens restaurant

The Librarian

The Mended Drum

The Million to One Chance

The Ramtops

The Rite of Ashk-Ente

The Small Gods

Unseen University

Ysabell

Discworld - the First Witch

And so we come to the first book of Terry Pratchett's witches: Equal Rites.  And through this book we learn that Pratchett has a vision of not just of the geography of the City of Ankh-Morpork and the continents of the Disc, but a full structure of the various ways that the parts of the continent connect.  He has rivers and mountain ranges.  He also has the beginnings of the idea of the inherent magicalness of the Ramtop Mountains.

Equal Rites flows smoothly from beginning to end with just slight hiccups that I feel are more due to editing than writing.

Again, Pratchett had many ideas he wanted to get down, and you can fully sense that there is more to come.

------

This book contains appearances by:

Ankh-Morpork

Bad Ass (of the Kingdom of Lancre)

Cabbage

Death

Dwarves

Eskarina Smith

Gargoyles

Granny Weatherwax

Headology

Hoki

Mr. Skiller
Mrs. Whitlow

Ohulan Cutash
Simon
The Dungeon Dimensions

The Fiddler's Riddle
The Librarian

The Million to One Chance

The Rag Rug

The Ramtops

The Shades

Unseen University
Zoons

Discworld - The Beginning - UPDATED

So before the weekend started, I finished Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic.  This is essentially part two of the first Discworld story continuing from The Colour of Magic.

In the first book, Pratchett's storytelling skills evolve in the four sub-parts of the book.  Puns are pretty in your face at the beginning, and some are even pointed out directly, but as the book progresses they begin to fade into the fabric of the story.

The world itself develops and becomes more real.  There is specific geography in both the cities of Ankh-Morpork and the Disc itself.  By the second book, Pratchett is moving into his signature style.  And at the same time, the seeds for future books are scattered throughout.

I know there are many out there who won't begin the series because of Pratchett's writing style int he beginning, but there are so few Rothfusses out there.  George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire is pretty consistent in skill, but he'd been writing other things for years.  Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is also consistently excellent, but he'd also already written several Harry Dresden books which a rereading will show a lot of writer's growth.

If you haven't read them, and enjoy a good fantasy story, I strongly recommend the Discworld.  Allow the writer to create his world.  By the second book he has found his pace.  And by the third book, he'll show he's in it for more than a marathon.

------

Recurring characters and themes appearing in these books:

A curry restaurant

A statue of Malich the Wise

Ankh-Morpork

Bes Pelargic

Blind Hugh
Blind Io

Cohen the Barbarian

Death (and Binky)

Death's daughter (Isabell)

Dragons

Dungeon Dimensions

Eldritch means Oblong

Elves

Fate

Goldeneyes Silverhand Dactylos
Greyhald Spold

Hrun the Barbarian

Offler the Crocodile-Headed God

Rimfishers
Rincewind

The Assassins' Guild

The Broken Drum

The Brown Islands

The Circumfence
The City Watch (with a fat, lazy sergeant)

The Forest of Skund

The Four Horsemen

The Gingerbread House/The Witch

The Lady

The Librarian

The Luggage

The Octavo

The Patrician (still debated on whether or not this is Vetinari)

The Pointless Albatross
The Rite of Ashk-Ente

The Thieves' Guild

The Tooth Fairy

Traveling Magic Shops

Twoflower

Unseen University

Away from the Discworld

So, I've completed the books that I want to read from Terry Pratchett that are not part of the Discworld series.  Pretty much the only ones I've left out are The Carpet People and the Bromeliad Saga.

I've really enjoyed the Johnny Maxwell trilogy.

Nation is a fun story of south Pacific natives and a European shipwreck after a tsunami from a volcanic eruption.  And that's not completely redundant.

Dodger is a great historical fiction set in London before Charles Dickens has begun writing his fiction.

I only realized from this reading that The Dark Side of the Sun and Strata may be written in the same science fiction universe.  I can only imagine what Pratchett could have done as an author if he had decided to write his satire in an arcing sci-fi story instead of fantasy.

And now I have the 40 books of Discworld to look forward to, as well as several short stories, and addendum books.  Perhaps before I finish the series, Pratchett's final book (a fifth story of Tiffany Aching) will be released.

Sunsets

So, last year some time, I started taking pictures of sunsets.  With the new year, I thought I would try to take a picture every night.  I've missed a few due to uncontrollable circumstances.  The most annoying was the day I got the flat after riding through Temescal.

I had wanted to go to either the end of the Powell Street spit or the University Avenue park to get a shot of the sunset through the Gate, but I wasn't able to get home in time let alone get to the water.  They woudl have been amazing too, because the clouds were so fluffy.  I go a few walking my bike, but they aren't quite the same.

Today, I came across a link to a sunset taken from an office in the Mission on March 24 this year.

And here is what I got from that evening:

Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty...

So, my computer is on at home because I've been uploading my photos to my Amazon Cloud.  And the fan tends to run on high, because the innards are pretty crowded.

My cats have begun curling up next tot he computer to enjoy the warmth.  Usually they just change facing regularly to keep the heat even.

Jennifer just sent me this picture of Oscar:

I think his nose got cold.

Yeah, It's THAT Day Again

So, today is the kind of day that you trust nothing that you read online.

Especially from cartoonists/comic artists.

One year a bunch of syndicated artists traded drawing their strips.  Occasionally webcomic artists do the same.  The best trick was one year that a group of them wrote that they had decided to get out of doing comics and that another artist would be taking over for them.  If you only read one strip, you would have been fooled.  Fortunately, I was reading all of them, and found the circle of deceit.It was fun later that year to meet one of the artists at Wondercon and tell them they had gotten me.

I am fortunate that my best friends were never into fooling each other.  I think we all feared retaliation and escalation.

So I will leave with two facts.

First, today is the birthday of a friend.  And I feel sorry for him on his birthday every year.

Second, I've been in Emeryville now for four years.  This morning on my ride in to work, I saw my first (pair of) raccoon.  Jennifer and I encountered a family of skunks the night we were walking back from seeing "Man of Steel," but these are the first raccoon.  But in their defense, it is garbage pickup day.

PR Stupidity

Today, I came across this video of Patrick Moore refusing to drink a quart of glyphosate after claiming it was safe to drink:



And aside from the stupidity of the "doctor," I was reminded of the guy (found it, B.T. Collins) from the California Conservation Corps who, in an attempt to get people to accept the safety of malathion, drank a beaker of the stuff.  He got sick, but he did survive.

I wish I could find the picture of him at the press conference after he drank it.  The beaker is empty, and he's got this look on his face like he's going to throw up (and a little bit of, what the hell did I just do).

Learning Tool

So, I've mentioned before that Jennifer is very crafty.  She makes cards, art, and among other things, jewelry.

At the end of last year, she made a meditation mala for someone.  It looks amazing, and I think, better than many you see in shops.

There are 108 beads in the mala plus the Buddha bead and the tassel.  The person who uses it is supposed to say their mantra during meditation 108 times using the beads to keep track.  The mantra is supposed to be said 100 times, and the extra 8 allow for mistakes.

I found it interesting that 108 is actually pretty close to the number of elements in the periodic table, which, as I've mentioned before, I've been trying to memorize.  I only have the first three rows memorized (hydrogen to argon), mostly because the next row doubles the number of elements, and I've had difficulties.  So I decided I needed something to help me learn, and I asked Jennifer to make me a Mendeleev mala.

That's actually a name I just came up with.  I'd asked for a periodic table mala, but I like the alliteration.

So I came up with beads for each group (alkali metals, noble gases, halogens, etc.), and laid them out in atomic number order.  Then I needed an equivalent to a Buddha bead.  Jennifer started going through her collection of beads and pulled out one that reminded me of the first s orbital shell.  Then I thought it needed something else go with it and I came across a necklace that symbolically used the Bohric atomic model.

And finally yesterday, she finished it for me.

And she's said that she's going to hold me to learning the table now.  The problem I discovered is that when I was in college the bottom column of the table wasn't complete yet even with experimental/theoretical elements.  Fortunately I have a couple apps that have a complete table.  But today I learned that even the apps aren't up to date as the above link to the Dynamic Periodic Table has two (flerovium and livermorium) that aren't named in my apps.

The Sign

In in my Terry Pratchett tribute/re-read, I have been through Good Omens and the Johnny Maxwell trilogy.

Good Omens is a favorite for the collaboration with Neil Gaiman, for being another book with good memories of when I read it, and also great fun at author signings.  I read the book from the library, and bought the large trade paperback.  Then when I found the first printing at Dark Carnival in Berkeley, I bought it.  Then when Terry and Neil came to Berkeley for signing at the old Cody's Book Store, I brought it in to be signed.  Terry was first (and was happy to have released his book a month before Neil so that it would be on the bestseller list before being knocked off by Neil), and he asked if I knew that Neil would be coming in for a signing soon, and was I going to be there.  I said yes, and he said, "Tell him I said, 'Rabbit."'  When I saw Neil, I said, "Terry says, 'Rabbit.'"  Neil look at me, and said, "What kind?"  Unfortunately I never got to see Terry again, and was not able t o continue the game of long term telephone.

The Johnny Maxwell trilogy is a series of books that may be classified as juvenile, but sometimes those are the best books. They're a thoroughly fun series about an English boy who has very strange things happen to him, and his friends get caught up with it all.  Only You Can Save Mankind was popular enough to be have been made into a radio show, and Johnny and the Dead and Johnny and the Bomb were both made into BBC productions.

Good Omens has also recently been made into a BBC radio show, and a movie is supposedly in development.

All of these books have the characteristic of being engaging books in that I can almost completely lose myself in them on BART to the point that I have sometimes had to rush to be ready for my stop.

Tribute Reading

When Robin Williams died, I listened to his old works.  It felt good to hear his voice again, and chuckle, laugh, and giggle at all the bits that marked me as a kid.

Last week, I decided it was time to re-read Terry Pratchett.  I'm going to save the Discworld for last.  I'm going to read his other work first starting with the best collaboration I've ever read: Good Omens.

Neil hasn't been able to write anything about his friend of thirty years, but apparently he had an appearance last week that turned into a remembrance of Sir Terry.



And there's been an article out about Neil's daughter Rhianna as well.

Adn then there's this from the Daily Telegraph:

Sir Terry - Rest in Peace

I just read that Terry Pratchett passed away this morning.

I remember reading the first five books of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series in college.  Before he passed, Pratchett ended up writing a total of 40 books in the series plus supplements, and the doesn't include his other series: The Bromeliad, the Johnny series, and the Long Earth series.

I have regularly re-read his books to recapture the feelings from when I first read them as well as to find things int eh stories that I missed previously.  Pratchett was so intelligent that he would hide items and history from our world in the Discworld while giving it just a twist.

My favorite was the Dwarven throne, the Scone of Stone.  Dwarves use bread in a violent manner creating weapons from them.  The durability of the Dwarf Bread had them create their throne out of their bread.

It was probably five years after reading about it in The Fifth Elephant, that I read about the Stone of Scone which was the Scottish coronation stone.

And he did this all of the time.  As well as planting the seeds of his future books inside others.  Or mining his previous stories for ideas.

All of his work enthralls me, and he will be sorely missed.

Morning Perfume

So, I've been riding my bike to work exclusively now for almost two years.  And aside from the occasional out of town assignment, I've been faithful.  However, this is the first winter-to-spring that I've been riding through my local neighborhood.

The past couple weeks I've been fortunate enough to be treated to waves of jasmine scent as I work my way towards Market.  And the last week or so that has been mixed with the smell of citrus.

Now I need to find out what kind of tree it is, because it's not one that fruits.  We used to have some growing outside of our place in Pacheco.  They smell amazing, but apparently my Google-Fu is weak this morning, because I'm not finding anything based on my description.

75 Years of Superman

Now comes the big one.

Again, my first memory of Superman is from the Super Friends cartoon, and he's always been my favorite (aside from having a Robin costume because it seemed more logical as a kid to be a sidekick).

But my first Superman comic?  That's really hard to remember.  And after some research (thank you Grand Comics Database) it was Action Comics #443.

Reading the synopsis, I remember the story of Superman confusing Brainiac by hypnotizing the world into reversing their knowledge of Clark Kent and Superman.  Looking back it's pretty strange (as a lot of that period stories were).

It was a small introduction, and I actually had the Superman #283 from the same month.

Which again was a throwing people off the secret identity trail.  I think.  The second story with Mr. Mxyzptlk was more memorable with the imp bringing the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial to life.

But it was from these humble beginnings (again thanks to my Dad's friend and his drug store) that my comic collection eventually grew.

75 Years of Batman

My first memory of Batman is tied up in both the Super Friends cartoon and what has come to be called the Batman '66 television show.

But my first comic book?  After some web searching, it was Batman #260 (a 100-page special).

I remember a story where the Joker has poisoned Batman who will die laughing.  And things just keep getting worse as the Joker tells horrible punning jokes.  The Joker is freeing inmates from Arkham, and Batman comes up against Two-Face who has a gun stolen from a guard.  This was my first encounter with Two-Face as he wasn't used in the TV show.  Two-Face flips his coin and it comes up heads, so he doesn't shoot Batman (who is on the floor laughing painfully), and allows Batman to lock him back up in his cell.

Looking at the cover, I can vaguely remember the story with the Riddler, but the rest are a blank to me.

75 Years of The Flash

I should probably think back and try to do this for Superman and Batman, but I just had this idea today after reading DC Comics' post on Google+.

So this was my first Flash comic book, The Flash #231.

I got this book from a friend of my dad who ran a drugstore and gave me a bunch of books that hadn't sold.

It was a crash course introduction to the Rogues Gallery for me, and also a great example of just how fast the Flash is.  The second story in the book with Green Lantern also introduced me to Aaron Burr years before the famous Got Milk commercial.

The Tools and the Talent - Conclusion

So, yesterday, I found a local bike shop: Rivendell Bicycle Works.  Now it turns out that the majority of their business is online, but they still had two inner tubes for me and a patch kit.

I decided to keep one fresh tube at work and one at home, and then did some patch work on the existing tube.  It's really a simple process if you follow all the instructions.  Letting the glue dry a bit before application is key.

And it's all holding.  The ride to BART yesterday was fine, and this morning has all gone well.

The Tools and the Talent - Part Two

So, the first rule of bicycle flat repair is always check the tire to make sure that whatever may have caused the first flat is out of the tire.

When I got to Walnut Creek today and I was riding down the ramp to cross the street, the bike fishtailed a bit.  It did this in a way that reminded me of hauling rock in dad's pickup truck my year at home between undergrad and grad school.  I was hauling pea gravel a half-yard at a time to fill up the bed for the new hot tub my parents had bought.  And half yard was about all that the truck could handle.  When I took a turn, I could feel the center of the wheels slide out.  It required very slow travel.

So I've jsut taken the rear bike wheel off again, and through careful feeling and flexing of the tire, I found a nice piece of glass that with pressure was poking a hole in the inner tube.

I guess I'll walk over to one of the downtown WC bike shops, and get me a new inner tube.  Maybe a couple.  And a patch kit.

RIP - Leonard Nimoy - UPDATED

You will be missed, sir.

Here is the NY Times article.

---  UPDATE ---

And a fitting farewell posted on another site that I feel needs to be borrowed.

Readership Spike

Literally.

So in a day I get a few readers.  After a new post, I get 30 or more.  But on Monday, I got 616 hits.  That quickly put me over 50,000 pageviews of all time, but I just have to wonder, why?

I mean it weird.  Its like someone, in one day, read my archives or something.

Because it's not like a single page garnered any coordinate spike of interest.  And I've kind of lost my international following.  The only country that really is lit up this week is the USA.

I guess while I may have some sort of draw, I don't have the international draw that John does.  He's talked about previous big readerships from Russia and other places.

The Tools and the Talent

So this morning when I bumped onto the sidewalk at the BART station and I was walking to the gate, my bike started acting like it didn't want to roll.

As I walked, I checked the brakes and the shifters, and everything seemed all right on that end.  Finally I just carried it until I got to my chosen door location, and looked it over.

Somehow, my rear tire spear (axle) had come out of it's mounting on one side, so the tire was rubbing against the frame.

And that's why you always carry tools when you bike.  The train was due in a couple minutes so I shucked off my helmet, vest, and gloves, and reached into my pack for my allen wrench.  I almost immediately grabbed it and laid it in my helmet.

The trains are pretty empty at 6:15, so I got my spot with a seat, and quickly loosened the spear, re-positioned it, and tightened it up.

Everything's back to normal.

I'm not a Boy Scout, but I do my best to be prepared.

It's Just Not Done

So, today I found myself struggling a bit with using what I feel is the correct word.  I discovered that popular culture has limited me on the words that I feel comfortable using.

I do not like to use the word "assume".  Essentially this goes back to an old episode of "The Odd Couple" when Felix is on the offensive in court.  The man he's up against states that he assumed that something had happened.  Felix latches on to it and writes the word "ASSUME" on a chalkboard.  He then circles three parts of it saying, "When you assume, you make and ASS out of U and ME."  This was one of the funniest things I had heard at that time, and it really stuck with me.

Then of curse there is Yoda.  A geek never "tries" to do anything.  For as the master says, "No!  Try not.  Do or do not.  There is no try."

Sean Connery fans would never do their best.  "Losers always complain about doing their best.  Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."

When a person asks how you think they did, you don't tell them " That'll do," because likely in the back of their mind they'll hear, "...pig." at the end of it.

And what is the best way to acknowledge a request made by someone you love?

"As you wish."

The Long Way

Television is fluid.  The things we watch come and go.  Sometimes they linger and leave a mark.  Sometimes it's not the show, but the producer's vanity card.

Nobody who watched TV in the 80s can hear "Sit, Ubu, sit... Good dog." and not bark (at least in their head).  And of course the MTM kitty meowing.

The favorite of ours now is Chuck Lorre Productions.  They are great little bits of personal philosophy and/or humor after some of our favorite shows.

A couple weeks ago, #482 came up and I took a picture of it.  I imported the picture into Word, printed it as a PDF and had Acrobat run an OCR on it.  I copy, pasted, and edited it up, and now have a nice word document of it.

Then when I thought to write this blog, I thought I'd link to any sort of page Chuck Lorre might have.

As you can see by clicking the above link, he has all of his vanity cards available to read.

But nothing acquired easy is as appreciated, right?  So anyway, here's #482:

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #482

The things I have spent my life depending on are undependable.   Because they are things.   And things  re, by their very nature, subject  to change.  This applies to people as well.  People change.  People leave. Inevitably we all leave.  The world, therefore , is essentially an unstable, uncertain environment.  That's why I choose to believe in, and depend on, an unchanging, eternal, omnipresent non-thing.  I prefer not to call it God, because the very word tends to thing things up.  So I try not to call it.  I try to experience it.  Easy to do looking out at the ocean.  Hard to do looking up at the ocean.  Easy to do when you look at a baby.  Hard to do if the baby is next to you on a long plane flight.  Easy to do when you look at a pretty girl.  Hard to do if you were once married to her.  Clearly what blocks me from transcendence is judgment.  If I were able to suspend having an opinion on drowning, other peoples' baby’s vomit, and alimony, if I could simply see these things as they area - actions devoid of meaning until I give them meaning - I could experience some semblance of union with the infinite sublime.  I'd instantaneously transition from neurotic sitcom writer to one seriously badass guru dude.  People would travel great distances to ask me for guidance with their personal problems.  I'd wisely tell them "It is what it is."  They’d judge this as being ridiculously inadequate advice and punch me.  But I'd be okay with it because I'm, you know, exalted.

Many Miles

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I like long weekends for the extra free time it gives me to take long rides.  This weekend I racked up over 70 miles.

I did two rides to Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.  The weather was nearly perfect: warm, and almost completely still air.  Sunday was nicer with a little cooler temperatures.

Monday, I decided to do the Oakland Bay Bridge again.  It's a nice challenge, but I needed more time out, so I took the split at the gate afterwards and headed into Oakland.  This branch took me into the Port of Oakland, and I ended back up at the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

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Now, I now it's not a race, but sometimes it's just the fact that there's someone in front of me that I have to ride that much harder to get in front of them.

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A corollary to the above is that some songs are dangerous on an iPod while your'e riding.  The soundtrack to the new Tron is a good pace music but just makes me want to go fast.  Speed Racer is very dangerous.

Tales of Reading

So recently I've read a few books that were about the making of entertainment.

John Cleese's autobiography was tons of fun with both the tales of him growing up, and also his lessons on just what humor is.  At least his interpretation on what he thinks humor is.

Then I read the first two books in the These are the Voyages series which are an episode by episode account of the writing, casting, and filming of "Star Trek" the original series.  The stories in this one are really fascinating whether about Shatner and Nimoy, the back and forth with the network and Roddenberry, or even the growth of D.C. Fontana from secretary to science fiction writer.

But the jewel of books was As You Wish by Cary Elwes.  Written from the man cast as the Man in Black's perspective of his journey to becoming Westley, it also has accounts from interviews from the rest of the surviving cast, Rob Reiner, William Goldman, and Andrew Scheinman, as well as an afterward by Norman Lear.  I'm jsut going to have to watch the movie again.  The stories of how everything happened and what happened behind the scenes just rekindles my interest in the movie.  And Elwes' style of writing is as easy to hear in his voice as John Cleese was.