Category Archives: arts

grab-bag

I removed the Paypal button at the bottom of this page. It was a bit embarrassing to have it there, particularly when (I feel as though) I haven’t had an original thought in months. The rainy season is a fickle … Continue reading

Posted in California, cinema, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

the Slayer and the Snob

In two or three evenings my rentmate, the snob, has sat through four episodes of Buffy with seeming pleasure. She says season four is more endurable than the foregoing because most of the teenage angst has been more or less … Continue reading

Posted in cinema | 1 Comment

slayage progress

I’ve now watched three whole seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve also looked at various related websites. I usually don’t mind spoilers, but in retrospect the “panicking” scene would have been better somehow if I hadn’t known when to … Continue reading

Posted in cinema | 2 Comments

ahead of his time

The plot of Hal Clement‘s story “The Mechanic” (1966) is awkward and dated, but it’s still noteworthy as an early exposition of biotechnology quite similar to current concepts.

Posted in prose, technology | 1 Comment

autodidact

How Ben Franklin taught himself to write better

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more Buffy notes

The episode “The Zeppo” can be seen as a lesson in the principle of comparative advantage. Or as a good laugh. When was Angel invited into Rupert’s apartment (before “Passion”)? When was he invited into Faith’s motel room (before “Consequences”)? … Continue reading

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a Russian is a Russian

“I enjoyed hearing you whistle Mussorgsky just now.” “Thanks! but it was meant to be Prokofiev.”

Posted in music+verse | Leave a comment