If I recall correctly, one of the crimes that witches were accused of committing (per the Malleus Maleficarum) was turning a man's business into glass, or otherwise making it disappear. I know that Europe and Africa have a variety of witch-traditions; does anybody know whether any East Asian cultures do? If not, the…

Many years ago, I lost (read: "boneheadedly left") my favorite rucksack on an LIRR rack. Great bag, tough as nails, had seen me through endless miles of travel in India and South America. Never showed in lost and found; I like to imagine somebody is still using the thing. It was that tough.

Take it back! I want you to take your hunch back.

Had the same thought; usually, people call the 16th century Renaissance in England. But there's no clear dividing line; depending on the context, scholars will say "medieval" or "early Modern," too. (And of course, people like Francis Bacon called themselves "the Moderns.")

I spent the last three years in Romania, where everybody pirates everything. Except me: I don't know how, and no matter how many times my friends "taught" me, I couldn't quite learn. I'm old, simple and comparatively honest.

I read it, and it rocks. Moody, atmospheric, credible. I had no idea it was based on any real British involvement. Kudos to you both.

I can't help thinking that "TDK Rises" sounds as if it were already a Knightfall/Dark Knight Returns mashup.

You win the comments thread. The rest of us can quit trying.

You win the comments thread. The rest of us can quit trying.

I'll never forgive Tom Friedman for selling me on the "phlogiston" idea. (Or Verlyn Klinkenborg for, well, anything.)

Science fiction ... and fantasy.

Yeah, it's generational. In its time, the original series was all but revolutionary, starting from the credits. But I suppose you really had to be there.

Meh. The codpiece is nice, but until they add nipples, I'm just not buying it.

Look, it's comic books. All universes will eventually cross over, and all characters will eventually return from the dead. That's because "continuity" is this thing fans make up when they're ten or twelve, and creators seem to hate.

Cue Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, singing about "the best pies ... in Lon-don ...."

Ahem. You do mean Timecop, right?

Wow. Looking that the movies in this thread, it is pretty clear that — whether or not they fit the apparently rigid-if-you-know-it definition of "steampunk" — we are talking about some really lousy pictures. I have three guesses why:

I'm actually kind of excited that DC is bringing back Beowulf. I read their whole brief 1970s run, and — while it went downhill fast after the first 2-3 issues — it got me to go read the poem. And those first few issues were okay, at least as I remember them.

"Let's make sure history never forgets the name ... Enterprise. Picard out." Sure, it was an alternate-timeline Picard, but it was still his last stand.

I actually liked Jackson's King Kong. Am I the only one?