random bits

[cellio]

Why, oh why, is tulip season so short? It feels like they just showed up not long ago, and now they're fading. Oh well... on to something else, I guess! (I think the lilac bush is next to bloom, but I'm not sure.)

This weekend Dani and I joined some friends for a last-minute gaming get-together. We played La Cita (my third time, I think), which split interestingly: the winner had 35 points (would have been 40 if he hadn't starved his people in the last round), another player and I had 32 and 33, and the other two were in the high teens. It didn't look like that in play. (I thought I was doing worse and those last two better.) Then we played Rum and Pirates and all clumped within a few points of each other (something like 62-70). I like both of these games and will happily play more.

A few weeks ago I ordered a used DVD set via Amazon Marketplace. (I decided to see what all the Heroes fuss is about.) I chose a seller who had only a handful of ratings, all positive, figuring that someone like that is motivated to give good service. (Also, I noticed that the DVD would ship from PA.) A few weeks passed with no DVDs, so I sent email a couple days ago. This morning the seller wrote back with profuse apologies; he (she?) had accidentally sent my order to someone else who'd ordered on the same day, but now had the set back in hand -- "so I'll drive it over this afternoon". It turns out the seller is in the greater-Pittsburgh area. As promised, the DVDs were waiting for me when I got home from work, so everything worked out just fine. (I never order anything from third-party sellers that I actually need in a hurry.)

Speaking of TV, the BBC might bring back Blake's 7 (link from caryabend). Woo hoo! I trust that this will eventually find its way to DVD and, thence, my TV. Since it's been more than a quarter-century, I do wonder what they'll do for casting. Of course, they could well do a "25 years later..." story, even though the final season left things on a cliffhanger.

(Anonymous) quote of the day, after interviewing a job candidate: "He has a lot of learning to do, and I don't want to pay the tuition".

This sign in a shop made me laugh.

Reusable printer paper looks like an interesting idea; I wonder if it can be developed economically. I'm surprised by the claims about what it costs to (1) manufacture and (2) recycle a piece of paper.

Quote of the day #2 brings some much-needed context to the flap over Obama's ex-minister. Excerpt (compiled by dglenn): "No one likes to hear someone, especially a preacher, criticize our good country. But Donna Potis [...] and so many others who decry presidential candidate Barack Obama for having attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church while he preached prophetically have very selective memories." The whole thing is worth a read; it's not long.

Somewhat relatedly, osewalrus pointed me to this post pointing out that all the candidates and the voters have a bigger religious-leader problem than this. Excerpt: "[I]f I wake up and find that I'm in an America where certain pastors and certain churches are openly denounced from the White House's presidential podium, I will suddenly get even more nervous about freedom of religion in America than I already am." Yes.

I found this speculative, alternate timeline of the last ten years by rjlippincott interesting.

Question for my Jewish (and Jewish-aware) readers: Thursday is Yom HaShoah (Holocaust rememberance day), so instead of my usual "daf bit" in the morning service, I'd like to do something on-theme. It has to be a teaching, something that would qualify as torah study, which rules out most of the readings that tend to show up in special services for the day. Any suggestions? I could probably find something in Lamentations, if that's not cliche, but I'm not really sure. And naturally, I do not wish to offend with a bad choice people who are old enough to remember.

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

First thought for Yom haShoah teaching: I know that there are recent kinot written about the Holocaust that are used on Tisha B'Av. Both Artscroll and Rosenfeld include them.

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

Just a quick note, it is sky one not the BBC who is working on Blake's 7. Still should be good I hope

[sebastianm.livejournal.com]

If you still want beautiful tulips, you could come over to Northeast Ohio -- in my town, they are currently in full and luscious bloom. And the lilacs have begun to bloom at the same time. Weird.

Blake's 7 *****(spoiler)*****

[hlinspjalda.livejournal.com]

I thought I remembered everybody dying in the last ep....

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

This may be a silly gentile question, but does it have to be from the Torah? I'm personally fond of the Holocaust... poem? Prose poem? Thingy? that goes:

I have taken an oath: To remember it all, to remember, not once to forget! Forget not one thing to the last generation when degradation shall cease, to the last, to its ending, when the rod of instruction shall have come to conclusion. An oath: Not in vain passed over the night of the terror. An oath: No morning shall see me at flesh-pots again. An oath: Lest from this we learned nothing (Council 49).
-Abraham Shlonsky

I was pleased to note that I remembered most of it, though I'm not sure what "Council 49" means.

There's also the classic Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

You need to come a little bit North. When I was in Pittsburgh, I was a little bit jealous because your daffodils were in full bloom already. Mine didn't bloom until a week later. Now our tulips are just starting to open.
-- Dagonell

[byronhaverford.livejournal.com]

1) Yom Hashoah is, I do believe, Friday May 2, 2008.

2) Let me know what you think of Heroes. I was encouraged to watch the DVD just as you were (and possibly by the exact same culprits).

3) LOVED the alternate timeline. My favorite part was the thought process of the "righteous Democrat": [he's violated everything we've done to fight sexual harassment in the workplace. Bill may have done a lot of good for the liberal cause, but for this he's got to go.]

4) And now the big one.... First of all, I think that Jeremiah Wright's views on international politics have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the presidential election. It is indeed saddening that, for his own selfish reasons, this clown may well destroy the candidacy of the first serious black presidential candidate. However, attempts to justify Wright's actions can only backfire and increase the racial divide that has been opened here. The existence of extremists such as Jerry Falwell is not sufficient to justify all other forms of extremism. I think that the correct line of reasoning is to conclude that Wright is /irrelevant/, not /acceptable/.