Category Archives: arts

Neptune’s Gulch

Posted on Monday, 2016 January 04 by Anton

In Atlas Shrugged, John Galt invented a radical new engine and (according to folklore) emigrated to Atlantis to keep his invention out of the hands of parasites. Charles Stross’s novel Neptune’s Brood is about uncovering the true history of the … Continue reading →

Posted in prose | 3 Comments

I’ve seen such changes

Posted on Monday, 2016 January 04 by Anton

How old do you need to be to understand this gag from 1978?

Posted in cartoons, technology | Leave a comment

pseudohistorical linguistics

Posted on Monday, 2015 November 09 by Anton

I can’t remember how much I knew of Elvish languages before The Silmarillion, with a glossary, appeared in 1978. Can you tell from the text of The Lord of the Rings (not counting the Appendices) that Quenya and Sindarin are … Continue reading →

Posted in fandom, language, prose | 3 Comments

sic transiverunt webcomics

Posted on Monday, 2015 September 28 by Anton

About a dozen years ago I made a page of links to my favorite webcomics. Looking at that list now, I find that twelve that are still going (though a few are very sporadic), ten have stopped but remain accessible … Continue reading →

Posted in cartoons | 2 Comments

ringy-dingy

Posted on Monday, 2015 August 17 by Anton

My new telephone has dozens of ringtones and I hate them all: Newagey lo-fi orchestral crap, mostly laden with snare drums for some reason. My last phone played the sound of an old-fashioned mechanical bell; the one before that, a … Continue reading →

Posted in music+verse, technology | 1 Comment

were-worms?!

Posted on Friday, 2015 May 29 by Anton

Watched The Battle of the Five Armies. How many ways would the author be appalled? Puppy-love between a canonical Dwarf and a non-canonical Elf. Their pheromones cannot be compatible. There’s a Laketowner named Percy, a family name from France. (The … Continue reading →

Posted in cinema | 2 Comments

adrift in a sea of time

Posted on Wednesday, 2015 March 11 by Anton

In Donna Tartt’s The Secret History (1992), the narrator says or implies that the events happened many years ago; so I’ve been watching for details that date it. Oprah Winfrey, whose show premiered in 1986, is mentioned; I think that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in prose | Leave a comment