George Bernard Shaw once wrote that plot was the creation, manoeuvering and destruction of relationships between characters. Plot is derived from character and it’s sole purpose is to drive the story so the character can attempt to achieve their goal. Every scene in your script must either reveal something about the character and advance the story. Flat scenes become boring and lose your audeince. Here are some plot devices that can pique your plot:

• DANGER – I cannot stress this one enough. It can be moral danger such as deciding to cheat on your spouse, or physical danger such as being trapped in a burning house. Raise the stakes and make your character earn their goal and pay for their mistakes. Give them insecurities, flaws, problems and issues we can all relate to. Make them fall into a ditch that they must crawl out of. A common plot device in action films is to either have multiple things go wrong at once or sequentially. The victim tries to escape, but they can’t find the keys to the car so they break in. Then there’s a flat battery so the can’t hot wire it to start. Then there’s no cell phone coverage… What’s needed may not arrive in time or not arrive at all. Oftentimes, dramatists use a Deus Ex Machina (literally God from the machine) whereby some life saving event occurs just in the nick of time before all is lost. Make sure this isn’t a lucky co-incidence or your audience will never forgive you.

• TIME BOMB - Give your characters a ticking time clock where something seriously bad will happen if they don’t achieve a goal. Maybe there isn’t enough time to defuse the bomb? Perhaps the main character doesn’t know how to defuse the bomb. Maybe the main character isn’t even aware of the bomb. Does the audience know? Giving either the audience or the main character such a superior position adds intrigue and interest. Alternatively, the main character can simply run out of options to achieve their goal rather than out of time.

• CONFESSION – After deep humiliation make your character confess to a secret, shortcoming, wound or a deep seeded fear or shame. Maybe they realise the error of their ways and take responsibility for their actions. Consider your audience. Being born out of wedlock is generally not considered a shameful act in the Western world. Forcing a pregnant unwed couple to marry may be acceptable is some cultures, but not in others. Play with morality in your plot. The beauty of it is that it’s never clearly right or wrong like a maths problem. Is it wrong to kill someone? What if they killed your family? What if it is in self defense?

• BETRAYAL – The hero’s buddy changes sides or is revealed as a traitor. What if the main character doesn’t realise this, or does so when it’s too late? What if the traitor leads them into a trap?

• DILEMMA – The hero is forced to make a choice between two equally bad alternatives. Consider the family with premature Siamese twins who must decide which one survives and which one doesn’t. What if the main character consciously decides not to act because they are faced with issues of duty for the higher good? Or even love?

• OBSTACLES – External influences such as bad weather or natural disasters forcing them to stop. Car or other vital piece of machinery breaks down and a replacement part is not immediately forthcoming. What if their progress is stalled due to injury, illness or other physical condition such as pregnancy or diabetes? What if someone in their team is killed or kidnapped? Running out of bullets, money, food, air all add to the excitement of danger.

• DISCOVERY – The element of surprise and shock always jolts your audience. Examples of this include a cover been blown of an undercover cop, the presence of an intruder being noticed, an escalating lie has been revealed. A discovery must pivot your story into a new direction, not simply act as a minor irritant. Remember the scene in “Mad Men” where Betty discovers Don’s true identity by opening a locked drawer? She didn’t sigh and carry on, she left him. Discoveries can also be wild goose chases. Following the wrong lead, the wrong map or the wrong advice.

• LOVE – Due to it’s universality, love will always add to a plot. What if a past lover returns? Consider Jodie Foster in “Sommersby”, when she tells her returned “husband” that he’s not the man she married because she didn’t love him like she loves the impostor. Add a love triangle; one bride versus two grooms. Add gender swaps, such as “Tootsie” who had enamored a man who thinks she’s a woman. Also consider the third wheel. The buddy who suddenly becomes the bride’s love interest when he reveals his true self. Love is also used to tame a savage, misanthropic heart.

• TRAITS – Give your character some endearing traits so the audience can partially overlook their negative ones. Give them courage, give them love. give them scruples so they are fighting for a good cause where the collateral damages justifies the cause, make them perform a good deed, make them desirable such as handsome, physical and funny. Make them spiritual, generous and wise. Ensure it all emerges from a place of truth and authenticity. Audiences retract from phonies. Give them fears, traumas which block their growth, masks which prevent other characters from seeing their real self.

• LIKES – Make your characters like children, animals and art. Give them great taste in cars, partners, houses, music, fashion, food and overall lifestyle. Audiences tend to admire what they aspire to be or what they perceive to be desirable.

So go forth and beef up those plotlines.

An alternative to popular faith

Immunisation -The Reality behind the Myth

Herd immunization, which is perpetuated today on healthy children by Health authorities, deserves to be studied critically in the light of the Shariah. The theory of vaccination states that by giving a “mild form of a disease” a person is protected by specific antibodies from a major attack. This is tantamount to exchanging disease for health. The harm is, therefore, more than benefit.

FILTH

The idea of injecting filth, pus and poisons into the body is unacceptable to Islamic rules of health and hygiene. The sin is greater than the utility. Rasulullah (saws) said: “Allah has not put the cure of my Ummah in substances which have been made unlawful for them.” In the light of this divine prohibition, the filthy and contaminated medical process and institutions of the western kuffaar are unacceptable to Islam.

ASHRAFUL MAKHLUQAAT

Allah Azza Wa Jal has created man in an excellent form. He is Allah’s Viceregent on earth, hence he is Ashraful Makhluqaat or the Noblest of Creation. By virtue of his inherent and intrinsic beauties and excellence, intelligence and spirituality, man surpasses all other species of creation. Man is a unique entity equipped with a natural immune system having the potential to fight all harmful and alien microbes, viruses and bacteria. If man leads his life in strict accordance to the divine advices, admonitions and restrictions pertaining to health, hygiene and morality, his health will remain secured from attack by harmful bacteria, sicknesses and disease. The kuffaar, however, find imperfection in the Handiwork of Allah Ta’ala and are endeavouring to boost the defence mechanism of health by filthy artificial means which are fraught with health hazards. MAN AND

THE LOWLY ANIMALS

Man is a superior being. There is a vast difference between man and the lowly beasts. What is applicable to him is not suited to the lower animals and vice versa. But The atheists equate animals with man because they subscribe to the ludicrous theory of evolution of man through apes. They, therefore, believe that what belongs to animals can be safely injected into human bodies. Thus animal cells, viruses, bacteria, blood and pus are injected into the body of man. This satanic logic is repugnant to Islam. Hence, Islam has no affinity with the evil and impure institutions of the western medical establishment such as vaccinations.

NOT A REMEDY

Vaccination itself is not a remedy. On the contrary, it is a form of a disease with serious side effects. It is, therefore, a method which is in conflict with Islam. A principle of the Shariah states: “Abstention from harm has priority over the derivation of benefit.” A substance of an institution in which there is both good and bad will be shunned because of the incumbency of the aforementioned principle. In view of the fact that vaccinations are harmful to human health and employ haraam and filthy substances, they are not acceptable to the Shariah. DISEASES

ORIGINATING FROM VACCINATIONS

The following is a formidable list of diseases spawned by vaccinations: Anaphylactic shock, Diseases and Disorders of the blood, brain, nervous system and skin, Atypical Measles, Monkey fever, Premature Ageing, Allergies, Cancer, Leukaemia, Paralysis, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, SIDS, Encephalitis, Encephalopathy, Ocular Palsies, Guillain_Barre Syndrome, Subacute Scerosing Panencephalitis, Malaise, Sore Throat, Headaches, Fever, Rash, Erythema, Induration, Tenderness and Regional Lymphadenopathy, Parotitus, Ataxia, Retardation, Hyperactivity, Aseptic Meningitis, Seizures, Hemiparests, Rheumatoid, Arthritis, Parotitis, Orchitis, Thrombocytopenia, Purpura, Wheal, Flare, Artheral Polyneuritis, Hemiparests, Pruritus, Unilateral Nerve Deafness, Encephalitis, Brain Damage, Nerve inflammation, Disease of the Lymph glands, Inflammation of the testicles, and glands near the ear, Partial deafness, Skin disorders, Itchiness, Discoloration, Blood disorders, etc……..{Compiled from the book Immunisation:The Reality behind the Myth by W. James} NONSENSE Dr. William Hay says: “It is nonsense to think that you can inject pus…into a little child and in any way improve its health…The body has its own methods of defence. These depend on the vitality of the body at the time. If it is vital enough it will resist all infections; if it is not vital enough it won’t and you can’t change the vitality of the body for the better by introducing poison of any kind into it.”…….{Immunisation:The Reality behind the Myth}

POISONS AND IMPURITIES

What kind of poisons are involved in vaccinations? Some of the toxic and noxious ingredients utilised are: Mercury, Formadehyde, Aluminium, Phosphate, Sodium, Phosphate, Neomyoine, Phenol, Acetone,etc. Among the animal products used are the following: Horse blood, pig blood, cowpox pus, rabbit brain tissue, dog kidney tissue, monkey kidney cell, culture, chick embryo, calf serum,etc… Indeed, there is a great similarity between the ancient practice of witchcraft and modern medicine. Both use of human and animal organs, filth and poison. The above mentioned writer, referring to the British National Anti-Vaccination league literature, quotes thus: “Materials from which vaccines and serums are produced: Rotten horse blood for diphtheria toxin and antitoxin; pulverised felt hats for tetanus serum; sweepings from vacuum cleaners for asthma and hayfever; pus from sores on diseased cows for small pox serums; mucous from the throats of children with colds and whooping cough for whooping cough serum; decomposed faecal matter from tyhpoid patients for typhoid serum.”(ibid p.72) It is said that injection of vaccines sends foreign proteins directly into the blood stream without any censoring by the liver. This can become part of our generic material. It is indeed pathetic that millions of children have been made carriers of these harmful substances and they will, in later life, be confronted with enormous complications, pain and suffering. In fact, It is probable that so many diseases which develop in people in this modern age are the consequences of the introduction of filth and poison into the blood and body by way of immunisation. IGNORANCE There is a thick wall of ignorance acting as a barrier against understanding the real nature of the vaccination programme. The elevation of western medicine to a godly status, coupled with media indoctrination, has befuddled the universal mode of argument advanced by the common people in support of vaccination is disproved by the facts explained thereunder. POLIO The Salk Polio vaccine, they say, saved countless human lives. Dr. Robert Mendelsohn says in this regard: Doctors admit that 40% of our (United States) population is not immunised against polio. So where is polio? Diseases are like fashions..They come and go, like the flu of 1918.” Dr. Christopher Kent said that there were 28000 cases of polio in the US in 1951, but “when a government subsidised study of polio began, the rate soared to an all-time high of well over 55000 cases.” Dr. Bernard Greenberg, Head of the Department of Biostatistics of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, remarked that not only did polio increase substantially (50% from 1957 to 1958 and 80% from 1958 to 1959) after the introduction of mass and frequent compulsory immunisation programs, but statistics were manipulated and statements made by the Public Health Service to give the opposite impression. (Immunization-the Reality behind the Myth, pp.26,28). This vaccine contains monkey-kidney cell. It is not permissible to utilise such substances according to Shariah. These viruses lie dormant in the bloodstream as potential long term disease-carriers. SMALLPOX Professor Arie Zuckerman of the World Health Organisation said: “Immunisation against smallpox is more hazardous than the disease itself.” Those countries with mandatory vaccinations suffered more than those who had rules. A compulsory vaccination programme introduced in the Philippine’s between 1917 and 1919 “brought on the largest smallpox epidemic in the history of that country with 162503 cases and 71453 deaths, all vaccinated.” Furthermore, “for more than fifty years the populations of Australia and New Zealand have been practically unvaccinated, yet they have been more free from smallpox than any other community.” And what is more, “The most thoroughly vaccinated countries are Italy, the Philippine’s, Mexico and what was formally called British India. All of these have been scourged with smallpox epidemics.” (ibid p.33) Small pox serums are obtained from pus oozing from sores of diseased cows. Who will cherish the idea of nourishing their children with pus, disease and filth? The term vaccination has assumed a medical halo, hence parents readily condone the impurities introduced through the needle into the bloodstream’s of their children. Ironically, they are introducing a disease instead of seeking natural health and safety. RABIES “Dr.Charles W.Dulles, former lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, said: It has been shown by statistics that in countries where that method (i.e. the Pasteur treatment) is employed, the number of deaths from hydrophobia has increased and not diminished.” Dr. William Brady wrote in the Berkley Gazette: “I have never seen a case of rabies in man and I have never met a doctor Who has seen a case, yet we know that the preventive inoculation of Pasteur virus sometimes causes death……The Pasteur treatment of rabies is a blind treatment.”(ibid p.78) Walene James says: “…..organised medicine was using policing powers of the state to enforce obedience to its doctrines.” Until 1947 the rabies vaccine was made from the spinal cord and brains of cats, dogs and rabbits. It is said that a thorough wash with soap and water would remove the rabies virus. This is, indeed a simple remedy… (which cannot be patented…implying no increase in profits for the international medical monopoly).

DIPHTHERIA, PERTUSSIS, TETANUS DPT administration begins when the child is two months old. Referring to the DPT vaccine, Assistant Secretary of Health, Edward Brandt, JR., M.D. said: Every year 35000 children suffer neurological reactions because of this vaccine.” Dr.John Robbins said: “……some children Who get this vaccine get brain damaged.” Some studies link “hyperactivity and learning disabilities among children” to childhood immunisation’s. Walene James observes: “Many doctors are reluctant to admit that there is a causal relationship between the administration of the vaccine and later neurological disorders.Probably because of malpractice suits, as well as not wanting to ‘be wrong’ the side-effects of this vaccine are very underreported.” Further, “they place the virus directly into the bloodstream and give it access to the major immune organs and tissues without any obvious way of getting rid of it. These attenuated viruses and virus elements persist in the blood for a long time, perhaps permanently. This in turn implies systematic weakening of the ability to mount an effective response, not only to other acute infections.” WARNING A global campaign to warn people of the destructive effects of vaccines was launched by Drs. Glen Dettman and Archie Kaloerinos of Australia. They said: “Vaccines are killing children. There’s no doubt about it.” (ibid pp.14,15,17) The triple antigen DPT contains thimersol, formaldehyde and aluminium phosphate which are poisons. Besides this, the following substances are used for producing vaccines and serums: Mucous from the throats of children with colds and whooping cough serum; rotten horse blood for diphtheria toxin, antitoxin;…..(ibid.p.72) Among the diseases associated with DPT are the following: Convulsions, Fever over 103 degrees, screaming episodes, shock, collapse, blood and skin disorders, SIDS, paralytic complications, asthma, hayfever, etc. Immunisation & Islam The Prophet (saws) said: “Verily, Allah is Pure and He loves purity…” Allah has never put the cure of my Ummah in substances which have been made haraam for them.” Since there is a natural affinity between kufr and filth (Najaasat), it is not at all surprising to learn of the filthy and impure practises employed by the kufr western medical establishment. The emphasis of the kuffaar is always on the employment of evil, impure and haraam methods and agencies. The article on Immunisation indicates the repugnant and revolting methods of the western medicine world. Instead of being a curer of disease, the western medical system is a creator of disease on an alarming scale. Its system of immunisation is in fact, one of the most dreadful medical hoaxes and conspiracies ever engineered in the annals of human history.

SHAITAANI FILTH

Centuries of domination by the kuffaar has blinded the vision of Muslims and stunted their understanding. Every miserable and satanic idea and innovation spawned by the western kuffaar is being regarded as divine truth to be unquestioningly accepted and followed regardless of the disaster which ensues in its wake. Minds have truly become perverted when they accept that pus, rotten animal blood, faeces and the like are fit remedies for humanity. Imaan entertains a natural aversion for everything filthy and contaminated. Najasat is the very antithesis of the Taharat and Nazaafat (Purity and Cleanliness) which the Deen has ordained for Mu’mineen. It is only logical and necessary for the Mu’min to discern in this filthy and disease-causing system of immunisation the work and sinister machinations of shaitaan who has employed the western medical establishment to enmesh mankind in one of his most thorough and most destructive plots.

A MUSLIM’S ATTITUDE

When Allah Azza Wa Jal has categorically announced that this Ummah’s medicine and treatment are not linked with filth poison and haraam, then it does not behove Muslim doctors to adopt the evil and contaminated ways of the kuffaar medical establishment. They have an Islamic duty on their shoulders to distance themselves from all pure and harmful ‘remedies’ of the medical profession, which they have acquired. Some concerned Non-Muslim medical personnel have exposed the fraud of some of the practices of western medicine. Their investigations have laid bare the calamities of immunisation They have exposed the myth of immunisation Far from it being the saviour it has been portrayed to be, it in reality is one of the most dreadful frauds ever perpetrated on such a massive and organised scale. While Muslims in this modern age are adept in the art of emulating all the harmful and haraam practices of the kuffaar, they do not demonstrate equal enthusiasm for the positive aspects which some among the kuffaar now and again present.

IMMUNISATION AND SHARIAH

The case against immunisation is not based on any prejudice or on any attitude of religious fanaticism as some or many among the medical fraternity would like the public to believe. The charge against this evil practice is raised on sound medical proofs which the result of investigation and research by members of the medical fraternity itself. It now devolves on Muslim medical doctors to pursue these investigations to further expose and explode this horrible myth. By so doing, they will become the benefactors, not only of Muslims, but of entire mankind at large.

Article Sent by: Dr. Majid Katme

In the 1990s the revival of ska music, known as the third wave, came in a raw form with strong ties to the punk rock music scene. It’s no surprise since ska music comes with a fast-paced rollicking energy that appealed to young working-class youths. British and American punks ate up reggae and ska, and the sound fused well with rip-roaring punk rock. My favorites from this genre include Operation Ivy, Fishbone, Rancid, and Sublime. Brad Nowell of Sublime had a knack for making great third-wave ska punk rock.

The Aggrolites have mad a distinct impression on the third-wave ska movement, bringing their California soul-drenched sound to the mix. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are symbolic of this genre, laying grimy vocals over ska horns and rock guitars. Some of the great punk bands have made their own ska-infused tracks, including NOFX, Goldfinger, the Offspring, and even the hardcore punk group Propagandhi.

Propagandhi’s track “Ska Sucks” is really a critique of the ska revival. As a representative of the punk intelligentsia, Propagandhi questions everyone and everything, including authority, religion, and the quality of the ska revival.  The song makes a captivating argument why the ska revival “sucks,” singing the message over a wonderful third wave ska sound.

1. Operation Ivy – Sound System
2. Fishbone – Party At Ground Zero
3. Rancid – Time Bomb
4. Sublime – Date Rape
5. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get [Explicit]
6. The Aggrolites – Countryman Fiddle (Album Version)
7. Skavoovie & The Epitones – One Mint Julep
8. Reel Big Fish– Walkin’ on Sunshine
9. NOFX – Bob
10. Goldfinger – I Love You More Today
11. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Simmer Down
12. The Offspring– Why Don’t You Get A Job?
13. Manu Chao – Machine gun
14. Propagandhi – Ska Sucks
15. Rancid – Fall Back Down (Album Version)
16. The Aggrolites – Ghost Town
17. The Stingers ATX – Painting Portraits
18. Supervillians – Resin
19. Suicide MacHines – I I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
20. The Slackers – Don’t You Want a Man
21. Hepcat – Marcus Garvey
22. Buck-O-Nine – Irish Drinking Song
23. Sublime & Gwen Stefani – Saw Red
24. Dance Hall Crashers – Lost Again
25. Sublime – Jailhouse
26. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Someday I Suppose
27. Rancid – Ruby Soho
28. Sektacore – Cool Cat
29. The Insteps – The Insteps
30. Mu330 – Hoosier Love
31. The Scofflaws – Grazin’ in the Grass
32. Westbound Train – Check Your Time
33. Hub City Stompers – Leave Me the Fuck Alone
34. The Pietasters – Out All Night
35. Deal’s Gone Bad – Movin’ On
36. The Aquabats – Pool Party
37. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Rascal King
38. Stingers ATX – Let’s Be In Love
39. Less Than Jake – We Go Together
40. Mustard Plug – Mr. Smiley
41. Sublime – Wrong Way
42. Skavoovie & the Epitones – She Sure Can Cook
43. Streetlight Manifesto – Keasbey Nights
44. Mad Caddies – Drinking for 11
45. Soweto – Blue Ska
46. Fishbone – Skankin’ to the Beat
47. Sublime – Same in the End
48. No 1 Station – Last Train
49. Skapone – Guns and Steeples
50. Soulsteppers – Warhead
51. Deal’s Gone Bad – Messin’ Around
52. Soweto – Honey Rider
53. Stan or Itchy – Feelin’ Good
54. The New York Jazz Ensemble – Haitian Fight Song
55. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Where’d You Go
56. The Pietasters – Maggie May
57. The Slackers – Better Late Than Never
58. Hepcat – Dance Wid’ Me
59. Super Villians – Mary Jane and Jager
60. Buck-O-Nine – My Town
61. Dancehall Crashers – Don’t Wanna Behave
62. MU330 – KKK Hiway
63. Deal’s Gone Bad – Be Mine Tonight
64. The Slackers – I Shall Be Released
65. The Scofflaws – Ska-La-Carte
66. The Hub City Stompers – I’ve Got A Boot
67. The Stingers ATX – Rock and Ska
68. Mustard Plug – Brain on Ska
69. Skavoovie & the Epitones – Parakeet
70. Westbound Train - Why You Cry

Time Bomb

I feel death
wired up in me
a time bomb set
for a bloody fireworks display
its ticking away
of my life
at my pulse
from my wirst…

Bom menino!

Tenho menos de 40 anos de idade, mas consigo lembrar do tempo em que o sul de Jim Crow ainda existia. Eram os anos 1970 e posso lembrar de perguntar à minha mãe por que as salas de espera no consultório do médico da cidade eram separadas. Quando nós éramos levados para exames, nos levavam para um lado do prédio, enquanto os pacientes de etnias diferentes ficavam sentados no outro lado do prédio e eram levados para salas de exames separadas de nós. Mesmo sendo uma criança pequena eu sabia que havia algo errado com aquilo. Conforme eu crescia, nunca vim a entender o motivo, mas aprendi que era assim que as coisas eram feitas e vi que seria preciso passar décadas antes que alguma diferença acontecesse. Eu era  Sookie, de certo modo. Se eu visse alguém que eu queria visitar ou conversar, eu fazia sem pensar duas vezes. Afinal, não estava fazendo nada de errado. Mesmo assim, eu era castigada, ameaçada, humilhada, me faziam sentir inferior como você nem pode começar a imaginar. É claro, estou me referindo às feias verdades sobre racismo. Era o meu vampiro. E exatamente como em BonTemps, havia sempre fundamentalistas cristãos que condenavam a amizade interracial e aqueles que tomavam parte dela, tudo em nome do Senhor. [Arlene Culpepper in Vampire Discrimination in True Blood, 07/08/09]

A citação de abertura deste post ficou muito maior do que o normal, mas o artigo todo é tão pertinente com o oitavo episódio de TrueBlood que foi uma dificuldade selecionar só um trecho em vez de colocá-lo inteiro. Esse Jim Crow a que a autora se refere é o autor de uma série de leis de segregação racial que vigoraram no sul dos EUA até 1965, quando foram declarados inconstitucionais pelo Ato de Direitos Civis.

Eu admito que via o prisma do preconceito, sim, só que não associei com a questão da cor da pele, pensava mais nas minorias do tipo portadores de HIV, por exemplo, mas esse artigo do site TrueBloodNet também é bastante adequado – mais ainda porque a Charlaine Harris,  autora dos livros niqui a série se baseia, é sulista, testemunhou essa Era Jim Crow e criou uma personagem que defende a igualdade de direitos e de tratamento para um grupo desprezado pela maioria WASP [white anglo saxon protestant].

A partir deste ponto há spoilers. Enriquecido com oito vitaminas e ferro.

Após impedir Gabe de estuprar Sookie, descobrimos que Godric deixou-se sequestrar pela Fellowship of the Sun em nome de uma convivência pacífica entre humanos e vampiros. Ele acha que é hora dos vampiros evoluírem e passarem a ver os humanos como seres iguais e não apenas a sua lata de Sustagem [tá, isso fui eu que inventei, você captou a ideia].

Ele convence Eric a salvar Sookie sem matar ninguém pelo caminho, convence seus soldados a soltarem os humanos capturados no santuário, libera Hugo vivo, diz a Jason que ele é seu amigo de fé seu irmão camarada… Em suma, Godric é mais um personagem descaracterizado na série e seu drama foi higienizado e superficializado para caber em 51 minutos, portanto não vou gastar mais linhas com ele.

Oh, sim, Jason não morreu. Sarah Newlin atirou nele com a arma de paintball e eu espero que a última bala o tenha deixado estéril porque deusmelivre que um cara tão burro se reproduza. Taí, essa é uma qualidade da série: a gente se pega detestando os personagens como se eles existissem de verdade! Especialmente os irmãos Stackhouse. Sookie&Bill voltaram a se reunir e ficaram um porre, outra vez. Se eles tiverem uma DR toda vez que aparecem em cena, te juro, eu mesma enfio uma estaca neles. Será que no relacionamento da vida real a Anna Paquin também é essa mulher carente e dependente do Stephen Moyer? Iuc.

Desta vez os núcleos paralelos me foram irritantes [leia-se: Maryann e Sam]. Cansou, né? Eu queria ver o circo pegar fogo lá na batalha [hahahahaha! que batalha teeensa, fala sério... não] e os empata-f*da naquela empatação. Ahn, tem hífen ainda? De qualquer modo, Eric, volta logo pra BonTemps e bota aquela macumbeira pra correr, kthks.

Agora, vem cá, um pouco de coerência seria legal. Como que cortam o cabelo do Eric e o hímen da Jessica “cresce” de volta? Tadinha, morri de pena. Do Andy Bellefleur também, por outros motivos, claro. Ser desacreditado toda vida, não é à toa que ele era o jerk da primeira temporada.

Faltam apenas quatro episódios pra terminar a segunda temporada e, se seguirem o padrão estabelecido anteriormente, já devem começar a abordar os acontecimentos do terceiro livro [Club Dead, de 2003] assim que finalizarem os pontos ainda abertos: Maryann, por exemplo.

Por fim, se eu disser que este foi meu episódio favorito apesar de tudo, só porque teve um monte de Eric [e até Eric sorrindo, nada menos!] você vai me achar vazia e superficial?

Bem, mas é verdade.

O ator Alexander Skarsgard teve uma interpretação ótima na cena da alucinação do Lafayette, uns ep atrás, mas desta vez ele se superou ao emular um daqueles caipiras fanáticos da FotS. Perceba como ele altera a expressão corporal, a voz… O cara tem domínio.

O melhor de Eric – Parte 1 de 2

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPuF1nIJZQ

Parte 2 de 2

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NwazVxZb2k

Setlist das músicas do episódio no site TrueBlood.Net

Posts relacionados
[TrueBlood] Release Me
[TrueBlood] Hard-Hearted Hannah
[TrueBlood] Never Let Me Go
[TrueBlood] Shake and Fingerpop
[TrueBlood] Scratches
[TrueBlood] Keep this party going
[TrueBlood] Nothing but the blood
Southern Vampires / True Blood

Having posted a bit of a diatribe (make that two diatribes – is that a gaggle?) at http://www.punkrockhr.com/ about obesity, I checked with my conscience.

She told me I didn’t understand all the issues. So I tried to explain.

She told me to blog about it. And as I always listen to my conscience………

My beef is this: obesity is a societal issue.

The way we structure and organise our society has led to the issues with increasing obesity. The way that people explain this away is dangerous. Sure it might make you feel better as an individual to say that you have a “genetic predisposition”. But the statistical probability of that is slim (no pun intended).

The chances are that it is a lifestyle problem. Most obesity is caused by taking more in than you expend. That is the long hard truth of the matter.

And worse. By taking the “genetic predisposition” line we also risk giving the green light to children that there is an answer and that it’s ok to be overweight. We are not focussing on the real problems, the real issues.

Fast and unhealthy food is too cheap.
We have lost our cooking skills and the ability to make nutritious affordable meals.
Organised exercise is inaccessible or prohibitively expensive.
Nutritional information is poor and inconsistent.

These are societal issues. And this is where I come in as an HR professional. My organisation is part of society. We are a living and working organism. And we have employees. People who come to work every day for us. People who make us who we are. People who we care about.

I believe we have a role in providing information and opportunities for our people. We provide free healthcare for all. Information on and ways in which people can assess their health and wellbeing confidentially. Biannual confidential medicals. Subsidised Gym membership. Plus a canteen that provides subsidised nutritious and balanced meals.

None of these are forced on people. We don’t make people stay and eat – they can go across the road and buy what the hell they want. We don’t make them join the gym or go to the Doctors. We create an environment which is conducive to healthy living and where it is ok to tackle issues of wellbeing.

Being obese has long term health complications. Sure you may argue that an obese person is as “healthy” as a slim person. But then there are examples of professional sportspeople who smoke. But we wouldn’t argue that a smoker was “healthy”?

These long term health issues will result in medical and societal problems in time and in turn, unless we act, these will impact on my organisation.

This is not Big Brother. This is a ticking time bomb.

We can’t f*** around. Because this one is an ode…. All I was thinking was, ‘Get it right.’ – Dave Matthews

I hate to admit that I was a fair-weather fan. You hear it so often with many of the fans. You hear about the few who fell in love with the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) during their idyllic period of the 90’s, when Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash were mind-bogglingly huge, those loyal fans who helped shoot this odd little band from Virginia to stardom during Before These Crowded Streets.

Then you hear about how the fans faded away with each album.

“Odd”. That was certainly my first impression of DMB at the time. Grunge had been falling apart, and the typical bands that encompassed my late 90’s were 311, NIN and Cake. I wasn’t quite prepared for an “alt-rock” act that boasted saxophones, horns, flutes, violins, pianos, and no electric guitar.

But it was hard to resist the playful melodies, introspective lyrics and impeccable musicianship. Take “41“. It’s absurd to single out one song, but if I’m going to do it, then it sure as hell will be this song. If chocolate and sex could be a song, then “41″ – with its climatic vocals and capricious swirls of violins and saxophone – is a prime candidate. But “Two Step” is a CLOSE contender as well.

The arrangements, the harmonies, the progression. Those early DMB songs are like an aural kaleidoscope that grips you and demands to be examined note by note, groove by groove.

Most of the people I’ve talked to lost track of the band sometime around Before These Crowded Streets. I didn’t. I lived and breathed DMB during my post-college years. I listened to them ad nauseam during my many hikes around Monterey, CA. I stuck with them through Everyday and Busted Stuff, the latter being more of a preference.”Captain” is easily one of my favorite DMB songs, and “What You Are” has some of the old DMB passion that I love.

But yes, I tuned out after this period. I never bothered to get Stand Up and didn’t hear too much about it. It almost feels like I allowed my youth to slide away.

In the six years after Busted Stuff, the good, bad and ugly of life happened.  Lost in the noise was this great little band that I once adored.

And then I heard about LeRoi.

…

We don’t find solutions in despair – we’ll find solutions in the defiance of it – Dave Matthews

In the latest issue of Relix magazine (Dave Matthews Band: Celebrating Life in the Face of Death), the band opens up about their near demise and the sudden – and terrible – loss of LeRoi Moore. They discuss how the tragedy helped re-double their efforts to make Big Whiskey & GrooGrux King as great as LeRoi knew it was going to be.

And he was right.

I’ll admit, I had my reservations at first. Nothing is worst than mediocre songs from a favorite band merely growing on you. Like being resigned to a reluctant fate. You want to be dazzled, thrilled and aroused just like in their heyday. It’s a relationship you don’t want to go stagnant.

But now I also know that there are few greater feelings than reconnecting with a love after having grown apart. That’s what listening to this new album was like. Exhilaration and re-discovery.

“Funny The Way It Is,” the first single, encouraged me to buy the album from the get-go. Besides the catchy rhythm and solid instrumentation, there is that guitar riff. The one that leads into the syncopated bridge, that burrows into your mind and makes your body sway and groove and shimmy in naughty ways.

Big Whiskey is definitely the band’s heaviest album to date. “Time Bomb” exemplifies this theme, as it begins slowly and reflectively, and then climaxes to an explosion of guitars and Eddie Vedder-like growls and screams.”Seven“, a personal favorite, is a seductive song that undulates through blistering guitars and an terrific seven measure beat. “Squirm”, with its Middle-Eastern brass and gutteral chants, is another heavy groover that will have your head bobbing.

One of the most surprising revelations from the Relix interview concerned Dave’s foray into electric guitar playing. As most fans know, Tim Reynolds has augmented the band over the years and provided killer electric guitar. But on this album and at the producer’s encouragement, Dave is the wizard behind some of the crunchy riffs.

Dave & an electric guitar.  How awesome.

Of course, you have the typical high-spirited DMB songs, such as “Shake Me Like A Monkey” and “Alligator Pie (Cockadile).” And I can’t possibly forget the beautiful intro to “Dive In” and the pretty ballads such as “Lying in the Hands of God” and “You and Me.”

But I have to give the Heart-On-The-Sleeve award to “My Baby Blue“, which was also as a favorite of LeRoi. Dave describes this break-up song as a hard one to listen to. Yes, it does kind of punch you in the gut – but anyone who has heard Dave’s other lyrics of affection knows how lovely he is able to craft them.

The album cover alone makes me smile. Drawn by Dave, it succeeds in being one of those classic album covers that you can stare at for days.

Lyrically, the album is at times dark. It isn’t “Dancing Nancies” anymore. And that’s fine. We all evolve and grow. The band has matured thoughtfully, with dignity, and honoring the blessed integrity of the music.

Big Whiskey is big, vibrant, confident, moody and jubilant – a fitting tribute to phenomenal musician. LeRoi is captured beautifully through the album, not excessively as the article points out, but in just the right spots and in just the right way.

They had to get this album right, and they did. LeRoi would be gratified.

…

Funny the way it is that it takes a loss to remind me of why I need them to stick around.

Celebrate we will, cause life is short but sweet…

I am extremely frazzled today. Was frazzled yesterday too, on account of the load of writing I have to do. Sounds like a good thing, but in reality it’s not. I am actually writing pitches – loads of them in fact. The thing is, I feel like I spend all day writing to make money, and nothing eventuates of it. I have so many articles on the backburner, and at least three magazines who are waiting for an article on spec (that’s when you write the article first, and then they decide if they want to buy it).

The thing is, I have wasted weeks and weeks waiting on pitch feedback from magazines only to be told that they’re not interested way down the track (and usually after I have followed up countless times). As a result, I have crazy thoughts rushing through my head, thoughts that break the taboo of freelance writing and go something along the lines of pitch to anyone and everyone and let it be first in, first served.

The thing is, I have always professed to do everything by the book. I mean, I studied journalism at university for four years and apart from the fact that I am the biggest goody-two-shoes that does not break rules EVER, I feel it is slightly unprofessional to do what I am contemplating. But stories are like time-bombs that only have a limited time, and there’s nothing like being told your article has lost its timeliness in the six weeks its been waiting in someone’s inbox, when all they had to do was drop you a quick line via email saying thanks but no thanks. (On the subject of timeliness, I feel I ought to cover a posting on news values, which although is usally better for news writing, might actually be beneficial for us in Skill Central, so that we can assess our story from the media’s poitn of view. Any takers? Don’t really want to write something no one wants to read!)

So naturally, I am sitting here, run off my feet but with not much to show for it, contemplating what should never be done: Pitching to multiple publications at the same time. Apart from being unprofessional, it could get me in trouble if, in an ideal world, more than one publication actually wanted it.

And considering I am just getting to breakfast now (and I have been up since 6am mind you) I really can’t handle the pressure. Anyone reading ever been in a similar pickle?

So let me calculate: I have four pitches to write, three articles to write on spec, and three interviews to conduct today. Yep, I really need that time machine right about now….And in case you think I am exaggerating – take a look at the horror that is my (ugly) desk. Apart from the fact that I want to buy a new pretty one but lack the funds (especially since I discovered a hole in my sneakers this morning and obviously shoes that aren’t missing any vital parts are more pressing) you can see that it in fact, has been hit by the time bomb of pressing stories. Check out the post its and to do lists, and if you can, the pile of books up top that need reviewing. Sigh. And of course, because it’s now 1:40pm and life is not doing it for me these days, breakfast in the bottom left-hand corner. Writing is a labour of love, Sarah, writing is a labour of love. 

But surely even love has a time-bomb that will eventually explode if it doesn’t do good by you? I guess my writing and I will figure that out soon enough… 

Look no further! The little green man is hiding inside you

IT’S U

Hello, where are u?

artwork by Chris Jordan Digg

It is easy to get reved up with todays current news and topics.  Here is one guy that sheds his frustrations about our economic conditon.  In my opinion he makes some good points and apparently he is getting a host of followers on you tube.  If not now, in the near future, I have to believe the the S*** is gonna hit the fan. The topic out on the street is always our economy and having the wrong end of the stick in hand.  Doesn’t matter who I talk to people are angry and fed up.

You have got to check this guy out…  I picked this up from the http://thehousingtimebomb.blogspot.com/ So I will give all due credit here.  By the way this is an excellent site to follow if you want to keep up on the markets and the economic quandary.

First of all… Let me put a big fat DISCLAIMER up regarding the first one. Clear the kids out of the room before you watch it. It’s filled with graphic language.

I thought this was pretty hilarious. Some of the J6P’s that actually pay attention to what is going on out there in the economy have officially going postal. This guy is slowly building a cult following on You Tube.

http://tiny.cc/cZ1P5

http://tiny.cc/KPCJ3

Also read this post… If you didn’t know it by now ‘we are heading into a real crisis’

http://thehousingtimebomb.blogspot.com/2009/06/feds-trillion-dollar-wager.html

There are more videos of this guy found on you tube

Maybe more of us should get mad… is it time yet?

So, yeah–I’m not going to review the Dave Matthews Band’s new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

I’m not gonna, and you can’t make me.

I’m assuming that the five readers who regularly follow me here in Aimsterville are quite surprised by this turn of events, seeing as how every time this band takes a crap, I usually feel compelled to comment on it in some way (“While the recorded version was wonderful, hitting the toilet bowl with just the right amount of sploosh, the 20+ minute live version was an exhilarating relief.” Yes–I just totally made that up). But I just don’t feel that I can review this album. Not yet.

I’ll explain.

When Stand Up came out in 2005, I listened to it non-stop, starting with its release in April and continuing into sometime in early 2006. And then I stopped–I put it away, I started listening to the old stuff, I started listening to other stuff (because, contrary to popular opinion, I am aware that other musical artists exist).

And I haven’t touched it since.

Oh, I’m sure I’ll go back to Stand Up someday–I mean, I put Everyday in my car CD player in 2004 for the first time in probably two years, and while I was surprised that I’d forgotten how good some of the songs were (I actually like “I Did It” even though most people don’t), I was disappointed at how many songs I fast-forwarded through (the same songs I was skipping when the disc came out in 2001).

So, basically, I’m afraid to review Big Whiskey. I’m afraid that right now, I’m viewing the album through Blue Water-colored glasses, through that lens of excitement that I feel at hearing the first new recorded music from this band in over four years. I feel that I’m too caught up in the hype surrounding the release and the information from other reviews to be even remotely objective (and right now, Big Whiskey seems to be earning a solid B from most reviewers).

I’m not going to review it now, because I’m afraid that it’s not as good as I think it is. And right this minute, I think it’s really, really good–possibly the best thing they’ve ever done.

So I’m not even going to try to write an objective review. Instead, with my readers’ indulgence, I’ll just gush for a moment:

After almost three weeks of listening to this album in its various forms–including its leaked precursor (the “April Sessions”) and the Pandora.com stream (which was so crappy it sounded like the album was being streamed through a tin can. A tin can buried in someone’s backyard. Someone’s backyard in China) and then the “official” version that came out on June 2–I can say that I effin’ love this album. That’s love as in take it on dates and spend the night with it and cook it breakfast in the morning and ask it to marry me so I can grow old with it. Almost every track is solid, and even the one track that I really though was a dud on first listen–”Dive In,” which is perhaps the most uplifting song ever written about global warming–is now stuck in my head whether I want it there or not. This disc covers a variety of moods without coming off as suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder–you can listen to “Shake Me Like a Monkey” or “Seven” when you want to get your dirty funk on; you can mellow out to “Spaceman” or “Lying in the Hands of God”; when you want to rawk or jam out, you can crank “Time Bomb,” “Why I Am,” “Squirm,”or the country-flavored “Alligator Pie.” “Funny the Way It Is” and “You and Me” were made for rolling down the car windows and singing along on a summer’s day, while “Baby Blue” and “Grux,” the sax piece from the late Leroi Moore that opens the disc, are for those quieter moments when you need to contemplate life and death and the meaning of it all (I do this regularly–don’t you?).

So, right now, I’m blown away. But I’m still listening and still discovering things, and I won’t know how this album really rates until I put it away for a while. For example, I was instantly blown away by Radiohead’s In Rainbows when I first heard it, and I listened to it almost constantly for weeks. The other day, I listened to it end to end for the first time in probably six months, and I was still blown sideways by how good that album is. My hope is that Big Whiskey will still floor me months from now, when I’ve stopped listening to it in its entirety and am only listening to the songs as they randomly come up on my iPod–I hope that I can decide one day to listen to Big Whiskey from start to finish and be just as in love as I am today.

And if that happens, maybe then I’ll write a review instead of a gush.

"design quotes" by Fernando Fonseca

Today was a special day to me. After much thought and reading about the submission guidelines, style book and rules of “Design You can Trust” I decided to make my first post there.

Expect, from now on, to have content there written by me – mostly about sound design, design, fashion and cool technology.

I hope you enjoy them and that you become a frequent reader.

I saw Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons yesterday.

It’s like when your friend, who’s been dating some douchebag for years and years, and you’ve had to watch her slowly self destruct from it, watch her announce time and again that she’s found the strength to get out, but then slowly turn around and delude herself with reasons why she should stay with the prick. And then they finally do break up. And things are great. And then one day she’s all like, “Oh yeah, by the way, I fucked Matt again yesterday.” And you’re all like, “What? Ugh. Jesus.”

Well, perhaps it’s not that harsh, but it kind of is.

A simple plot summary if you somehow don’t know before a very simplistic review: Based on the novel by Dan Brown (of The Da Vinci Code fame, though this book came first but is now the film sequel) and starring Tom Hanks as Harvard professor Robert Langdon, well known symbologist, is called in when the Vatican needs a little help. You see, the pope just died and they’re in the process of electing a new old white man to rule the world’s enslaved spirituality, but it’s quite possible that the church’s enemies, the Illiuminati (gasp!), have returned with a vengeance. Ewan McGregor slums it up as the carmerlengo, essentially the pope’s secretary who is temporarily in charge until a new old white man is installed in the robes of the Holy See. Ayelet Zurer, the gorgeous Israeli actress who played Eric Bana’s wife in Munich, is around for some excitement as a scientist from CERN because – Holy Shit! – those naughty Illuminatus have stolen some antimatter to set up as  a time bomb that’s going to blow the Vatican to hell at midnight!

Wow, that sounds exciting, right? No, not so much. Like I said, I give you here a simple review in simple statements…

Much like The Da Vinci Code, while watching this movie, I wanted to watch a documentary about some of the realistic parts of this film rather than the film itself. Well, that’s only half true here because, as interesting as Galileo and Bernini and their contributions to Rome are, I don’t usually care so much for the anti-Catholic brand of Illuminatus lore. I guess I prefer the more Bavarian Illuminati? With Adam Weishaupt (or is it George Washington?) and those types.

Tom Hanks. You know what, Tom? I still dig you. At your worst, you’re absolutely harmless, posing a threat to no one. But your best, you’re usually working with Steven Spielberg.

The lovely Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, the scientist from CERN, is pretty much just there to be the female lead, to give Tom Hanks someone to lecture to, and possibly diffuse the antimatter bomb if she can. I’m sad that they gave her pretty much nothing to do within those confines and they keep her character pretty passionless.

This whole film feels like one of those 90s CD-ROM games where you do something retarded, stop to solve a puzzle, and one of the characters gives you a two minute history less that is somehow important to whatever buttons you have to mash on the keyboard. I want to throw my keyboard at the screen here.

I blame anything that’s wrong with this movie solely on the direction. Ron Howard, you are the biggest director with no real sense of style or filmmaking craft out there. I’m amazed how you constantly are able to make these action-less action movies. You’re like a TV director given big screen projects to fuck around with. You are the poorest of poor man’s Spielberg (and Spielberg really knew how to balance action and adventure with a reverence for religion and history and also, you know, REAL FILMMAKING SKILLS!). That said, make a Arrested Development movie finally, but just produce it, okay?

Ewan McGregor with his good friend, Jude Law.

I think the truest statement you can say here is that the biggest sin of this movie is ours. Why have we neglected Ewan McGregor so badly that he’d have to resort to this film? I mean, he was in Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary and The Pillow Book and like a thousand other brilliant films that he was wonderful in. He’s Obi-Wan Kenobi for fuck’s sake! Also, did you see Young Adam? That shit was hot and wild.

Also, if you have any idea how movies work or have even looked at the casting of this movie then – SUPER SPOILER AHEAD OH NOES! – you can tell that Ewan McGregor is the bad guy here. Sure, you’ve got Armin Mueller-Stahl and Stellan Skarsgard as super eurotrash red herrings, which makes sense to have a former Stasi and a guy with a face like a Nazi, but still, it was always going to be Ewan McGregor. Plus, you should’ve guessed after an hour passed in the movie and he hadn’t shown you his cock yet.

Remember how the first movie was just a constant chase sequence of an airport thriller storyline? Same here, only slightly more ridiculous, and in reverse. This time Tom Hanks is doing all the chasing and running. His hair is much less silly and all of his exposition is done walking or running. It’s like The West Wing but talking about religious meanderings rather than politics. And on something a little less exciting than speed or cocaine.

That said, if this franchise were to become a TV with Tom Hanks, or obviously some decent small screen version of him, going around solving crisis after crisis and going off on art history lectures, I’d actually be down for it.

Antimatter bomb? Seriously? Antimatter is so cool, in real life, and constantly thrown around in the same sentences with the God Particle, which is really the Higgs boson, and I wish you could make bombs out of it. Bombs the size of blowing up small cities too. But really, you just can’t. It would take longer than human history to accumulate that much material.

Berninin’s Habbakuk and the Angel, the first “altar of science.”

I love that terms like “altars of science” keep getting thrown around here. If you think about it, Altars Of Science would make a great name for either a metal band or a children’s TV show.

Also, I love that CERN actually has an FAQ up just to deal with misconceptions that could be out there just because of this film/book.

And Dan Brown has a bit up at his site dealing with the bizarre secrets from the book. By now you kids should know that Bizarre Secrets is actually my middle name. No joke. Just reading my birth certifcate is a wild dip into the surreal.

Thanks to one scene that felt like it was a good 15 minutes long, I know where the jurisdiction of the Swiss Guard (or schweizergarde, if you will) ends and the Vatican police force picks up. Thanks, Angels & Demons!

Back to Ewan McGregor for a moment: Yeah, sure, he’s the bad guy here. He’s dome some heinous shit, but he’s so charming at it. And he seemingly kept a mastery of The Force from the Star Wars prequels because at one point he saves the day by flying his helicopter up however many miles high to set off the antimatter bomb away from people and then parachutes away to safety like it ain’t no big thing. So I’m going to throw out this kind of kind of radical notion: He did all this to be the fucking Pope? Give it to him, guys. I mean, seriously. I think he’s earned it. So he killed the old Pope. Whatever. The guy was old and weak and probably stupid. Obi Wan is young and vital and and has science fiction powers. Don’t you want him leading to continuing brainwashing of the hearts and minds of a billion suckers out there?

And yes, he is remarkably Kenneth Branagh-esque in this story.

Is this film sacrilegious? No. Not at all. I mean, I don’t even care, and I can tell you that it’s just not.

Actually, you know what the movie reminds me of quite a bit? The Name Of The Rose, the film with Sean Connery and Christian Slater, based on the novel by Umberto Eco. Yeah. It reminds me a little of that. But less dirty and sexy.

Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Theresa is actually one of my favorite pieces of art out there, and the story that goes with it. I’ll let you discover that for yourself if you so choose. Also, I have always loved the word “transverberation.”

Ambiagrams! They’re like palindromes but more symbol-ish. The one done for the movie (above) was done by John Langdon, whom the fictional Robert Langdon is based on.

Having read the synopsis of the novel version of this story, I have to say that the changes made to the story for the film adaptation actually work better. A lot better.

One of those changes is to the assassin character, called the Hassassin in the book, which seemed to play like a rape-happy Middle Eastern stereotype. Though it’s interesting that origins come from the the word Hashshashin, which ties into one of my favorite historical figures of all time, Hassan-i Sabbah, whom I’m sure you’ll hear me talk about here at some point…

“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.”

Wait just one second here… In the book, Langdon is usually bedding his female leads? He’s like an intellectual Bond type? Interesting. I mean, kind of implausible, but still, it’s interesting.

Eh… anyway. Angels & Demons is not horrible, perhaps it’s better than The Da Vinci Code, I don’t know.  Technically they fall under the category of escapism for smart people, or enlightened people, if you will, and that can’t be that bad. And what’s worse, I think they’ve guaranteed that I’ll read Brown’s third Robert Langdon book when it comes out this year. But my sins? They shall never be purged.