October 2007 Archives

Well, it's easier than writing a novel

NaBloPoMo—at least one post every day for the entire month of November.

I wonder if pre-writing posts and setting them to publish at a later date counts as cheating.

links for 2007-10-31

The Midas Touch

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These are the various starting quarterbacks my fantasy team has started this season (the league allows for two starting QBs per week):

  • Jake Delhomme—out for the season with an injury to his throwing elbow
  • Trent Green—out for the season with a concussion
  • Kurt Warner—playing, but with torn ligaments in his non-throwing elbow
  • Byron Leftwich—out for three to four weeks after an injury to and subsequent surgery on his right ankle
  • Kelly Holcomb—out for at least a week with a whiplash-like neck injury
  • Quinn Gray—miraculously not injured yet

I know football’s a tough sport, but this is headed towards complete absurdity.

Will Leitch On The End Of Baseball

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His top nine things we’ve learned from the 2007 playoffs, including

God is busy. Those who continue to ascribe “meaning” to the Rockies’ late-season run, quoting general manager Dan O’Dowd’s long-since-backed-away-from comments about Colorado being “God’s team,” can rest assured: any and all celestial beings are too occupied with matters of stem cells and Iowa primaries to bother with the baseball playoffs. This is ultimately a good thing; a trip to the ballpark is expensive enough without having to tithe.

Nick Frost Conducts A Brilliant Cross Examination

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I’m not sure why exactly this is so brilliant, but it is….

links for 2007-10-27

links for 2007-10-25

links for 2007-10-24

links for 2007-10-21

links for 2007-10-20

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links for 2007-10-18

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And Now, The Answers:

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Tintin&Snowy.pngOne: What intrepid Belgian boy reporter, accompanied by his sea-faring best friend and yappy little dog, perpetually finds himself in the middle of international intrigue (sometimes of his own instigation)?

That would be international man of mystery Tintin.

Two: What theme do Heart of Darkness and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have in common?

They’re both about trips up a river, with various metaphorical meanings being attached to both the river and the trip itself.

Three: What county, located roughly halfway between Sacramento and Yosemite, is celebrated for leaping amphibians?

Calaveras County, which is the setting for “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by one M. Twain. That’s two Twain questions in a row.

Four: The student Raskolnikov murders a greedy pawnbroker but is eventually driven to confess by guilt in what philosophical novel?

OK, so this probably should have been the first question. That’d be Crime and Punishment. Incidentally, check out this unique adaptation.

Five: What brave hero named his horse Rocinante? That was Don Quixote, who was to become the subject of a tone poem by Richard Strauss and a failed movie by Terry Gilliam.

Six: Oliver Mellors is the title character of what controversial English novel?.

Mr. Mellors is better known as Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

Seven: What road novel, which drew heavily from pre-existing Taoist and Buddhist myth and legend, features as its protagonists the Monkey King and a Buddhist monk on a mission to India? One of the great classic novels of China, Journey To The West has also been a popular subject for adaptation on television, despite the f/x needed. Perhaps the most memorable adaptation I can remember I saw in Hanoi in the early 1990s; it was a no-budget version that was probably filmed for mainland Chinese television during the 1980s and had been re-dubbed in Vietnamese by the simple expedient of having someone in the control room turn down the volume of the original recording and having live actors read over that.

Eight: Which warrior-king of antiquity traveled with his wild-man best friend to Lebanon in search of cedar trees to bring back to Uruk? Gilgamesh, and his best pal was Enkidu. Incidentally, Gilgamesh was supposed to be 2/3 god and 1/3 human; I’m no geneticist, but I’m not sure how the math works out on that one….

Nine: What anti-hero has been immortalized by artists as diverse as Mozart, Lord Byron, and Richard Strauss? Don Juan, in Don Giovanni, Don Juan, and Don Juan, respectively.

Ten: What song by the band The Cure was inspired by an seminal work of existential literature? That would be “Killing an Arab”, which was inspired by Camus’ The Stranger.

links for 2007-10-15

links for 2007-10-13

Which Way Is This Dancer Turning?

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Left? Right? Clockwise? Counter-clockwise? Both??

girl.gif

More on this problem here.

World Lit #10: What Song...

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What song by the band The Cure was inspired by an seminal work of existential literature?

In The Grand Tradition of Anna Russell and PDQ Bach...

World Lit #9: What anti-hero...

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What anti-hero has been immortalized by artists as diverse as Mozart, Lord Byron, and Richard Strauss?

World Lit #8: Which warrior-king...

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Which warrior-king of antiquity traveled with his wild-man best friend to Lebanon in search of cedar trees to bring back to Uruk?

World Lit #7: What Road...

What road novel, which drew heavily from pre-existing Taoist and Buddhist myth and legend, features as its protagonists the Monkey King and a Buddhist monk on a mission to India?

World Lit #6: Oliver Mellors...

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Oliver Mellors is the title character of what controversial English novel?

World Lit #5: What Brave...

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What brave hero named his horse Rocinante?

World Lit #4: The Student...

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The student Raskolnikov murders a greedy pawnbroker but is eventually driven to confess by guilt in what philosophical novel?

Free Burma!

World Lit #3:What County...

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What county, located roughly halfway between Sacramento and Yosemite, is celebrated for leaping amphibians?

World Literature 2: What Theme...

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Question Two: What theme do Heart of Darkness and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have in common?

World Literature 1: What Intrepid...

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Question #1: What intrepid Belgian boy reporter, accompanied by his sea-faring best friend and yappy little dog, perpetually finds himself in the middle of international intrigue (sometimes of his own instigation)?

As usual, you’re on the honor system for not Googling the answer, and, as usual, the questions are going from easiest to hardest. Unless there’s an immediate consensus demanding an anonymous scoring system, I’m going to continue with answers in the comments…

links for 2007-10-01