Ahhh, that's better. This week's QI didn't have Johnny Vegas (or Pam Ayres) on it. And the extended version (available on iPlayer in the UK) was 45 minutes. Hurrah! And involved Andre the Giant, and the Princess Bride, and Stephen Fry saying YAY and OMG and LOL, and also axolotls:
Want. (More about axolotls, and yeah, you can keep them as exotic pets.)
Some links, for I have many.
Hal Duncan talks about Narnia: why Edmund Must Die, but the Story (or the narrativium) undermines the Message. (As always: sweary, longwinded, probably offensive, and utterly awesome.)
What is a deep-fried pizza? In case you're unaware of this, er, delicacy.
80 million tiny images - "a visualization of all the nouns in the English language arranged by semantic meaning."
Neil Gaiman explains why buttons aren't scary. No, really. Not even a little bit freaky. Honestly.
Inauguration via Twitter - a flowing global map of the Twitters about the inauguration, over time.
And if you haven't read it already,
nextian's Whose stories are they? - a personal essay about Judaism. Whatever your religious views, you should read this. It's important, especially for us outspoken atheists who nevertheless try to avoid at least inadvertent offence. Next time you're throwing stones at Christianity, make sure you're not hitting Judaism with rocks instead.
Want. (More about axolotls, and yeah, you can keep them as exotic pets.)
Some links, for I have many.
Hal Duncan talks about Narnia: why Edmund Must Die, but the Story (or the narrativium) undermines the Message. (As always: sweary, longwinded, probably offensive, and utterly awesome.)
What is a deep-fried pizza? In case you're unaware of this, er, delicacy.
80 million tiny images - "a visualization of all the nouns in the English language arranged by semantic meaning."
Neil Gaiman explains why buttons aren't scary. No, really. Not even a little bit freaky. Honestly.
Inauguration via Twitter - a flowing global map of the Twitters about the inauguration, over time.
And if you haven't read it already,
nextian's Whose stories are they? - a personal essay about Judaism. Whatever your religious views, you should read this. It's important, especially for us outspoken atheists who nevertheless try to avoid at least inadvertent offence. Next time you're throwing stones at Christianity, make sure you're not hitting Judaism with rocks instead.- Current Music:What You Feel - OMWF soundtrack
Comments
Axolotls. There is a hypothesis that hom sap is also neotenous, and if we were to ever live long enough, we'd grow up into something hairy.
Narnia. Yes, it's a poor allegory. That's because it wasn't originally written as one, and only became so as the series expanded. I'd say that The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle and (less obviously) The Horse and His Boy can stand as Christian allegory, but the rest, not so much, nor were they intended as such.
Which leads us to the religious thing, to which I say Meh. I don't see why I should consider Judaism any less barmy than Christianity (or any other theism). At least the frummers have read their sacred texts, which is usually more than the Christian fundies have.
Really? I thought The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was a pretty obvious allegory - the Christian symbolism and stories aren't in there by accident, certainly. The Magician's Nephew seems less so (or maybe just less obnoxiously so) (actually, now that I think about it...) (Never mind.) :D Must check out the Caspian and Dawn Treader. Hmm.
Oh, I'm not saying I find the religious aspects of Judaism any less barmy than Christianity, but it's Christianity (and Islam) I find myself arguing about over and over again, and it's nice to be aware when I'm actually insulting someone else without really meaning to.