21 Feb 07
I’ve finally watched Battle Angel Alita, an early-90’s anime OVA that was a classic for its time. It’s less impressive today, though it’s still a dark piece with some beautiful action sequences and a solid philosophical core. It’s set in the future, in a literal junk city. The populace lives off the junk discarded from […]
20 Feb 07
Spent some time recently watching two favorite cartoons of my childhood, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. Animaniacs is usually considered the better show; it could be far more funny. But I was struck by how consistently entertaining Tiny Toons was. The humor in Animaniacs was often so left-field that I was just bored. I could […]
19 Feb 07
Last Saturday, I attended a choral concert by the Master Singers of Virginia of Rachmaninoff’s Vespers. It was beautiful beyond words. “Vespers” is actually a misnomer. It was written for the All Night Vigil, which lasts from Vespers (the evening service) through Matins (the night/early morning service) to Prime (the dawn service). Thus, the music begins by echoing the quiet, lilting liturgy of the candlelit evening service, reaching a crescendo of adoration and supplication in the middle of Matins, […]
18 Feb 07
I like to keep my lists and reminders in a little pack of index cards in one pocket. Every time I whip out my cards, I get a smirk from someone watching. Frequently, someone pulls out a PDA or celphone and shows me how they can keep their to-dos on it. I usually just shrug, […]
17 Feb 07
In cruising blogs recently, I’ve noticed a number of references to coffee consumption. It seems that many people start every day with a cup of coffee. That’s what wakes them up. This is bad.
16 Feb 07
When I saw Pan’s Labyrinth last weekend, it was preceded by an amazing advertisement. A girl pulls her family’s attention to the Apollo moon launch with a murmured, “Wow.” A basketball player working with kids watches one scrawny Asian kid dribble the ball around him, and the player says, “Wow.” A woman out running looks […]
15 Feb 07
Father Winter grasps us tightly and holds us close. His white hands cover earth, buildings, streets; all things natural and man-made. The only escape is inside our homes, where we hear the wind blow, and we shiver. Which is why I spent an hour chipping away at two inches of solid ice that blocked in […]
14 Feb 07
Blast. I completely forgot to upload the site, and that screwed up the display of the comic. There are problems with generating this stuff manually but also based on dates.
13 Feb 07
I’ve started my new job at Applied Tactics. I’m mostly excited now, though fear still shoots occasional lightning through my veins. I have a solid understanding of the project I’ll be working on—Kidville—and I’ve gained more confidence that I can do it. But I still have doubts. I fear my knowledge of ASP, SQL Server, […]
12 Feb 07
I’ve added a comic to this site. This is the one I’ve been drawing for a few weeks. Oddly, I find myself apologizing for the art quality. And, yes, the art is often poor. But that’s what it is, and at least I completed it. You can also buy a print copy of the comic […]