"Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars, question the sun making the day glorious with its bright beams, question the moon tempering the darkness of the following … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Augustine on Beauty
Thought of the Day: Unbelievable Premises
Audiences will accept even the most ridiculous and unbelievable premises for a story, provided the storyteller knows what he's doing. For instance, the premise of Rear Window begins with "There's a man who doesn't want to marry Grace Kelly..."
Ross Scott on the GUI
As mentioned before, Ross Scott of Accursed Farms is one of my favorite YouTubers, not because I always agree with his takes (e.g. he buys into the whole climate change thing completely, etc.), but because he comes across as completely sincere and genuine, and because he's extremely entertaining, at least for someone with my sense … Continue reading Ross Scott on the GUI
Friday Flotsam: Team Building and ‘Bumblebee’
1. Another ‘digging in’ week. Mostly spent prepping a few projects for release. More on those in the coming days. 2. Had a teambuilding exercise at work today, and I never come away from teambuilding exercises without a greater appreciation for solitary endeavor. The trouble is that, with most team projects or team-building activities, my … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Team Building and ‘Bumblebee’
Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG
This list, apparently, has been ongoing for years now. It’s a list of funny / crazy things supposedly done or attempted in various tabletop RPGs (all ascribed to the original author, Mr. Welch). The list can be found here, or at least the first 500, with a link to the next and so on (there … Continue reading Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG
Sympathy for George Lucas
There are a lot of mixed feelings towards George Lucas these days after three poor prequels and the ill-judged efforts at a ‘special edition’, among other things. It’s trendy to hate him. Personally, I don’t. I feel sorry for him. This is all speculation, but the way I see it, Lucas created something great, the … Continue reading Sympathy for George Lucas
Sonic 2 Trailer
The first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has dropped at last (actually, I found it dropped back in December and I completely missed it). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5kzUpWAusI (By the way, why do internet trailers now do that little 'intro' these days? What is the point of that?) As you may recall, I was moderately pleased with … Continue reading Sonic 2 Trailer
Poetry – ‘To Althea, from Prison’
When Love with unconfined wingsHovers within my gates,And my divine Althea bringsTo whisper at the grates;When I lie tangled in her hair,And fetter'd to her eye,The gods, that wanton in the air,Know no such liberty. When flowing cups run swiftly roundWith no allaying Thames,Our careless heads with roses bound,Our hearts with loyal flames;When thirsty grief … Continue reading Poetry – ‘To Althea, from Prison’
Words of the Saints: St. Thomas Aquinas on Revelation
From Summa Conta Gentiles, Book one, Chapter Five, on why it's fitting for some things to be accepted as revelation (emph. mine: St. Thomas didn't often use bold typefaces): "Again, this truth needed to be proposed to man as an object of faith so that he may have truer knowledge of God. For we only … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Thomas Aquinas on Revelation
The Unkillable Soldier
"He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; was blinded in his left eye; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor declined to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, "Frankly I had … Continue reading The Unkillable Soldier
Serpent's Den 