I felt guilty watching this, like Al Gore should be standing over my shoulder scolding me.

To quote The Offspring, "Damnit, I changed again!"

The woman who excuses herself from the table kind of looks like Lauren Bowles from True Blood. But this flick isn't on her filmography.

Special hats! Huzzah!

It's been a little while since I've read them. I guess I never made a conscious connection about that before.

I feel like everyone conveniently forgets Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea cycle when talking about race and fantasy. LeGuin was no doubt heavily influenced by Tolkien, yet her protagonist, Ged, is a dark-skinned isle man. In fact, LeGuin has, I believe, publicly scolded the filmmakers who have adapted her books into…

I think one thing that people tend to forget is that Tolkien was mostly interested with archetypes, and the whole idea of light versus dark predates ideas of racial prejudice to something much more primordial — when man was afraid of the night, of the things that were outside the campfires of his village.

I loved Enterprise from day one, all except the series finale. You're not alone, friend.

Second. The effects hold up so much better than CGI.

Very excited for Wind Through the Keyhole!

Strangely, Clarke could not predict the rise of our feline overlords.

I had my doubts about this (the concept sounds terrible on paper), but the execution may prove to be pretty funny.

Gargoyles and grotesques are endlessly fascinating. A photographer buddy of mind did a study of all the weird gargoyles at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and published a book about them:

We had an Amiga growing up, but I don't remember it much. I do remember using the Commodore 64 alot, though.

Ah, I was thinking the animation style looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"In small doses, botulism can be used to tone and tighten the skin, instead of killing you in the most horrible way imaginable." ::giggle::

Between this and the Shaun of the Dead set I saw this morning, it has been quite a good day for getting my LEGO fix.

We're on the same page with Empire.

I have this theory that you're either a Covenant fan or a Shannara fan. I read the Shannara series as a young man and loved them, even though I've come to realize that Brooks has kind of diminished as an author in that he recycles the same plot. I read Lord Foul's Bane about a year ago and hated it — it was a struggle…

I would also add LeGuin's Earthsea books to this list. LeGuin writes with this incredible economy, as if she chose every single word deliberately. Although, maybe her stuff goes on the "assume you've already read those" list.