Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

ZZ Plural Z Alpha

The new, real trailer (not just the one with the Earth exploding and the HHGTTG logo) is now available HERE.

It looks really sweet, although they seem to have taken a few liberties with the story. Just from what I can see in the trailer there appears to be a love interest with Arthur. There also appears to be dolphins. Now I am not sure about both of those things. Indeed there was a love interest for Arthur, but not until "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish", which also had dolphins.

So they may have merged certain aspects of each of the books. Which shouldn't be too bad as long as they don't use ANYTHING from "Mostly Harmless", which, aside from the start, is a big pile of poo-pants.

Talking about dolphins, has anyone seen The Life Aquatic? I love the fact that they made the dolphins as thick as pigshit. Love it.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Monday March 14, 2005

nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\, noun:
The state of being too much; excess.

What a nimiety of ... riches have we here! I am quite undone.
--James J. Kilpatrick, "Buckley: The Right Word," National Review, December 23, 1996

Just as daily life contains all the comforts of what one owns, there is also a natural shedding or forgetting and a natural dulling, otherwise one becomes burdened with a sense of nimiety, a sense (as Kenneth Clark put it in his autobiography) of the "too-muchness" of life.
--Nicholas Poburko, "Poetry, Past And Present: F. T. Prince's Walks in Rome," Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, January 1, 1999

Nimiety is from Late Latin nimietas, from Latin nimius, "very
much, too much," from nimis, "excessively."

Calvin and Hobbes

Just one of the strips that make Calvin and Hobbes, in my humble opinion, one the of the funniest and most well-observed comics strips.



All of the strips are available here

Bed Of Roses

Regular readers of this series of bottled messages may have concluded that, although I do not know much about poetry, I know what I like. And what I like are the poetic stylings of John Bon Jovi. There is of course an ongoing argument in critical circles as to whether the lyrics of Bon Jovi are poetry set to music, or whether the lyrics and music combine to form a "tone poem", but I tend to side with the analysts - although without doubt things of beauty, the songs of Bon Jovi are best experienced as homage to the original words.

With this in mind, I would like to welcome you to my first "Bon Jovi Surgery". Here, I hope to untangle some of the skeins of complex meaning built into the poetry of John Bon Jovi, and maybe help others to understand why they inspire the feelings they do. Essentally, I seek to let a little comprehension in to illuminate the strange, primal feelings of religious awe that your minds currently register at the sound of "Living on a Prayer", say.

To begin, I'd like to look at the opening verses of "Bed of Roses". You may think you understand the meaning behind this poem - that John Bon Jovi likes a lady, and is upset about it. This is just a sign of the brilliant, interweaving complexity of Bon Jovi. You can love the poem at that level, and many have, but let's go... inside.

Email Tagline

This email tagline came in from a customer.

"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like you do when nobody's watching."

Now I understand the sentiment, but ON A WORK EMAIL? What a twat!