What Did We Ever Do To Him?

From Sen. McCain's site, via Boing Boing:

It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.

What Does Leonard Cohen Listen to When He's Sad?

Without a doubt, he dims the lights, pours himself a glass of scotch, and puts on the Jacques Brel.


It kills me that the video cuts off before the music finishes, but that's the video with the best translation. I love that song for the reveal- in the middle you sort of wonder what he's getting all worked up about, and it isn't until the last couplet that you discover that his rising disgust is not directed at the stereotypical sailor in the narrator's imagination but at the narrator himself. "Amsterdam" debuted to a three-minute standing ovation.

If you've known me long enough, you may have noticed me in a state similar to the narrator in "Mathilde". I forgive you if you didn't notice because I'm sure I never articulated it so coherently.

Both of these songs were popularized in English by Scott Walker who used the loose translations written by Brill Building fixture Mort Schuman and Eric Blau for the musical review "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris", which enjoyed an off-broadway revival recently.

A Brel song that still tightens my gut every time I listen to it (like Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat") is "Ces Gen La." The impact of the performance is enhanced, in my opinion, by the sparsity of the arrangement. Unfortunately, the volume is a little low on the video but, again, it has the best available translation.


I hate ending on a downer, so I'll include something a little more upbeat. Heat it up, Marcel!

GenCon Photos

Here's a link to my GenCon set at Flickr.

I Predict a Decline in Productivity for the Banking Industry

Because there's a good flash game, and then there's a flash game good enough that Tim will burn the whole work week playing it:

Protector: "Reclaiming the Throne"


This one has a lot to offer, even for someone who's spent a lot of time with Tower Defense-style games. Chief among these features is the "Time Wasted" counter which brings a much-needed level of quantitative analysis to this aspect of the genre.

that's cheating

Someone needs to tell the russians that the top bit is supposed to be spinning.

Sneak Attack!

Police are now working with civilians to simulate an attack by zombies on bicycles.

As you all know, the fatal weakness of zombies tends to be their slow plodding nature, hence we'd be in a world of hurt if zombies learned how to bike.

Never fear, if faced with bicycling zombies, these police will promptly knock the zombie off the bike. Who knows how long it will take a real zombie to re-orient and again climb atop the bike, but I am betting it is plenty long enough for you to run away.

Or bash the zombie with your trusty golf club

It's Following Me...

So my mom bought this printer, and asked me to hook it up for her. What the HP website doesn't mention is that while the Officejet J5700 series features a fast USB 2.0 jack, it does not come with a USB cable through which your computer can transmit information to be printed. So, I'm off to the store for a 6-foot USB-A to USB-B cable. Once there, I beeline across the front of the store to the electronics section, blissfully unaware of the sight that awaits me when I arrive.

Now, it's one thing when I do it to myself as I've done from time to time over the last decade. I'm going into the situation eyes-open. I know what I'm getting into, and am prepared for the various varieties of disappointment and, yes, pain that I'll experience depending on the current information available (or, at times over the years, lack thereof). Even had I planed it, there was no way I could have prepared myself for what I saw on the bank of TVs along the back wall of the electronics section...




I knew what I was looking at immediately. I'd seen it before. Dozens of times. I've been tracking this beast for about a decade, only to have it taunt me as it stays just out of my grasp. Oh well. I'm sure I'll find something to fill the void.