All confess that they must die, and die but once; and that there is nothing of greater consequence than this; for our eternal happiness or our eternal unhappiness depends upon the moment of death. We all know a happy or an unhappy death depends upon the life we have led. And yet, how is it … Continue reading Words of the Saints – St. Alphonsus Liguori on Death
Sharing a link
To the Death
A friend put me on to the below video: a fresh take on the lightsaber concept, applied to an original setting and done with some really quite excellent swordsmanship (apparently they had an expert consulting on it). Especial kudos to them for emphasizing how vital distance is in sword fighting, something that most movie sword … Continue reading To the Death
‘Rama’ Soundtrack
Gather 'round children, and I will tell you a tale. In 1973, author Arthur C. Clark came out with Rendezvous with Rama, about an encounter with an enormous alien ship. It was followed in 1989 with a sequel Rama II, about the second encounter with the ship. In 1997, the two books were adapted into … Continue reading ‘Rama’ Soundtrack
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
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
Re-Post: Bullying Yard Sale
Typically insightful piece from Joseph Moore of Yard Sale of the Mind: Question: how did we all get so inured to bullying so described, such that probably a good 70% of us just go along no matter what. How did we come to even try to put up with bullying, rather than fighting back at … Continue reading Re-Post: Bullying Yard Sale
Pseudo-Leadership
This video of a tense moment of border patrol agents meeting with their commander has been making the rounds lately. I share it both because it’s yet-another encouraging sign that the stranglehold is unravelling and because it’s an example of something that I’ve been noticing lately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIMORHoe_m8 The commander’s attitude is what I would call … Continue reading Pseudo-Leadership
‘Megamind’ at the Everyman
Got to do an essay on Megamind at last: There’s really a lot that could be said about this movie. I wouldn’t call it a great film: there are some gaps in the writing and not all the jokes land (though most of them do). But it is a very good film, with strong storytelling, … Continue reading ‘Megamind’ at the Everyman
Flotsam: Heir to the Empire and New Filmmaking
1. I'm dipping my toes into the 'Star Wars' expanded universe with Heir to the Empire. I'm about half-way through, and my impression so far is that it's a lot of fun and a genuinely pretty good extension of the story. There's a good sense that, yes, this is a logical scenario for 'what happens … Continue reading Flotsam: Heir to the Empire and New Filmmaking
Fr. Ripperger on Brainwashing
A very interesting and instructive series on the truth and how we know it and how brainwashing works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCnPhQjVyZM&ab_channel=SensusFidelium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN-XM2qUKjM&ab_channel=SensusFidelium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJUt7uOLw94&t=125s&ab_channel=SensusFidelium
Serpent's Den 