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She Just Might
Oct. 18th, 2012 09:25 pmI've become rather fond of the webcomic Sequential Art, and this one's particularly appealing. Scarlet, the squirrel girl, comes off as a dingbat, but when she says something like her comment in panel 3, attention must be paid. Pip will probably rue this conversation....
Sam Starfall, Inadvertent Hero
Jul. 29th, 2012 08:51 pmIt occurred to me tonight that, by hijacking Flo's cryochamber (or whatever it was) and thereby stranding her on Jean, Sam Starfall may have (pending the resolution of the current arc) saved the planet's entire population of robots from being lobotomized. He's a hero, sort of.
Then it occurred to me that, without Flo's intervention, Kornada would probably have died in the hurricane, negating the entire GitD plot before it ever began. So, maybe not....
Then it occurred to me that, without Flo's intervention, Kornada would probably have died in the hurricane, negating the entire GitD plot before it ever began. So, maybe not....
Right Arm!
May. 6th, 2012 12:55 pmThere seem to be quite a few Sinfest fans who really dislike the kid on the trike and the whole feminism arc (or maybe they're just noisy), but I enjoy her. In today's strip, she brings the fight to the enemy stronghold, with amusing results. I love the last two panels in particular - the hair and the tail, respectively.
Vole, Vole, Vole
Mar. 7th, 2012 11:19 amThe following complaint is a rather stupid one. Sorry about that.
The renegade Jaeger Vole is one of the more entertaining characters in Girl Genius. (Captain Dupree's sudden crush on him is just icing on the cake.) Still, he - or rather, his name - doesn't quite work for me. There are two reasons.
Vole: "a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars" (Wikipedia)
Leonard Vole: a rather rodent-like and thoroughly slimy character in "Witness for the Prosecution", played with utmost smarm by Tyrone Power in the 1957 film.
Neither of them is the least like Captain Vole. This distracts me whenever he appears.
I know, this is my problem, no one else's. But why did the Foglios choose that name for him?
The renegade Jaeger Vole is one of the more entertaining characters in Girl Genius. (Captain Dupree's sudden crush on him is just icing on the cake.) Still, he - or rather, his name - doesn't quite work for me. There are two reasons.
Vole: "a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars" (Wikipedia)
Leonard Vole: a rather rodent-like and thoroughly slimy character in "Witness for the Prosecution", played with utmost smarm by Tyrone Power in the 1957 film.
Neither of them is the least like Captain Vole. This distracts me whenever he appears.
I know, this is my problem, no one else's. But why did the Foglios choose that name for him?
Weatherwise, the last week and a half have been a rollercoaster. Thursday the 12th was cold and damp, culminating in a couple of inches of snow that night and the next day. On the weekend, the temperature boomeranged back into the 60s F, melting most of the snow. At the beginning of the next week, it turned chilly again, this time with rain to wash away the last of the snow. Midweek was cold again, turning frigid on Thursday and Friday, culminating in freezing rain Friday night. Today wasn't too bad, although very wet - Gracie's been bouncing in and out, all muddy-pawed. The highs are supposed to hang in the mid-40s F for most of the coming week, after a round of thunderstorms tonight. At least the forecast is for clear weather starting tomorrow.
I more-or-less finished (no intro or bibliography yet) the first draft of my current paper last week, and immediately (as usual) decided it wasn't well-organized. Two of the sections I'd divided it into proved unexpectedly short; I'm going to chop one of them up and parcel it out to the two surrounding sections, and I think I see how to flesh out the other one. It's a short paper - I estimate maybe twelve pages when it's finished - but it's the right length for the online journal I'm going to submit it to. I've got two other papers out, but I'm still waiting to hear whether they've been accepted. Once I finish this one, I'll start thinking about how to write up my current research. (I doubt I'll actually write it until sometime next year; it's still kind of formless at the moment.)
My two Master's students are both making good progress. One is writing up her thesis, and hopes to present by mid-February. Her co-adviser and I are a little nervous about this one; it's the first thesis under the new Mathematics Education program, and we're not sure what the parameters for acceptance are going to be. As for the other, I suggested he shift his focus to a narrower range of the problem, and he surprised me by coming up with a complete answer to that subproblem. He then suggested which direction to go in next, and it looks both doable and interesting. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.
What else? 1493 was interesting, but not as much of an eye-opener as 1491. I'm reading another volume in the Ring of Fire series, and have realized that I've pretty much lost track of who's doing what to whom; with such a large stable of authors and an enormous cast of characters, closer attention needs to be paid, but I'm not sure the series really merits it. My current bus book is a biography of Hugo Black; I was concerned by the hagiographic tone of the introduction, but the author isn't hiding Black's blemishes.
"Sinfest" is still on fire; Fuchsia's dilemma is getting more intense, since the appearance of the Storytime Zombie.
I'm not sure whether to be amused or horrified by the spectacle of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
I don't really care about the football playoffs, at this point, but I'm looking forward to the baseball season. The Padres' farm system has started cranking out prospects, and they just began arriving at the end of last season. The next two seasons should be exciting. (Not that I expect the Friars to break .500 this year....)
Heigh-ho. I really should get back to my bookkeeping.
I more-or-less finished (no intro or bibliography yet) the first draft of my current paper last week, and immediately (as usual) decided it wasn't well-organized. Two of the sections I'd divided it into proved unexpectedly short; I'm going to chop one of them up and parcel it out to the two surrounding sections, and I think I see how to flesh out the other one. It's a short paper - I estimate maybe twelve pages when it's finished - but it's the right length for the online journal I'm going to submit it to. I've got two other papers out, but I'm still waiting to hear whether they've been accepted. Once I finish this one, I'll start thinking about how to write up my current research. (I doubt I'll actually write it until sometime next year; it's still kind of formless at the moment.)
My two Master's students are both making good progress. One is writing up her thesis, and hopes to present by mid-February. Her co-adviser and I are a little nervous about this one; it's the first thesis under the new Mathematics Education program, and we're not sure what the parameters for acceptance are going to be. As for the other, I suggested he shift his focus to a narrower range of the problem, and he surprised me by coming up with a complete answer to that subproblem. He then suggested which direction to go in next, and it looks both doable and interesting. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.
What else? 1493 was interesting, but not as much of an eye-opener as 1491. I'm reading another volume in the Ring of Fire series, and have realized that I've pretty much lost track of who's doing what to whom; with such a large stable of authors and an enormous cast of characters, closer attention needs to be paid, but I'm not sure the series really merits it. My current bus book is a biography of Hugo Black; I was concerned by the hagiographic tone of the introduction, but the author isn't hiding Black's blemishes.
"Sinfest" is still on fire; Fuchsia's dilemma is getting more intense, since the appearance of the Storytime Zombie.
I'm not sure whether to be amused or horrified by the spectacle of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
I don't really care about the football playoffs, at this point, but I'm looking forward to the baseball season. The Padres' farm system has started cranking out prospects, and they just began arriving at the end of last season. The next two seasons should be exciting. (Not that I expect the Friars to break .500 this year....)
Heigh-ho. I really should get back to my bookkeeping.
"That Trick Never Works!"
Jan. 20th, 2012 09:36 am"I wish to learn accounting. And polka!"
Poor Tigerlily. She should have known better than to challenge the Order of Notaries.
Poor Tigerlily. She should have known better than to challenge the Order of Notaries.
He's Being a Little Unfair Here....
Dec. 10th, 2011 10:01 amSo, the Big D is really pissed over Fuchsia's defection, and he's taking it out on the guys at DevilTech. (I don't think we've ever heard of them before, but I could be mistaken.)
Pass over the fact that he refers to Fyoosh as a "henchman". PC language isn't his forte. The thing is, he creates the devil-girls himself; DevilTech has nothing to do with it. If he made a bad selection (and it's increasingly looking as though the orange girl, whatever her name is, is another), it's his fault, not theirs.
Definitely unfair. But then, he's the Devil. Fairness isn't his forte either.
("The Devil - the prowde spirit - cannot endure to be mocked", as Thomas More tells us.)
Pass over the fact that he refers to Fyoosh as a "henchman". PC language isn't his forte. The thing is, he creates the devil-girls himself; DevilTech has nothing to do with it. If he made a bad selection (and it's increasingly looking as though the orange girl, whatever her name is, is another), it's his fault, not theirs.
Definitely unfair. But then, he's the Devil. Fairness isn't his forte either.
("The Devil - the prowde spirit - cannot endure to be mocked", as Thomas More tells us.)
Several of my favorite webcomics are just bringing it, right now.
In Freefall, the Gardener in the Dark arc seems to be moving towards a climax; Kornada is on the verge of unleashing the program, and Florence and Sam are racing to stop him. The great thing is that Sam's, um, unique talents seem every bit as necessary as Florence's.
In Questionable Content, the fallout of the hookup between Marten (the eternal shlimazl) and Padma (soon to leave for California) is funnier than it has any right to be. Marten's got himself tied up in ridiculous emotional knots, and I'm loving it.
In Girl Genius, Agatha has openly claimed her birthright; the castle is repaired, the Doom Bell has rung, and the Jaegers are returning to their old allegiance. Meanwhile, Gil's out there having a grand old time blowing stuff up, and the unfortunate Tarvek appears to have been captured by Olaf and his sister.... (Aside: I don't believe for a minute that Klaus is dead. If he were, the whole plotline involving the multiple Lucrezias and the slaver wasp would be rendered pointless.)
But it's Sinfest that's absolutely on fire. You've got Fuchsia's defection (and that event, and Blue's reaction when she realized what had happened, were beautifully handled); you've got Monique's consciousness-raising experience; and you've got the plotline with Clementine and Li'l E, which could go in any direction whatsoever. (After reading today's strip, I have to wonder whether the Big D knows about Fuchsia. I mean, Criminy's right there in front of him.) (Second thought: Fuchsia is presumably looking for Criminy. Right now would be exactly the wrong time to find him.)
Good times, good times.
In Freefall, the Gardener in the Dark arc seems to be moving towards a climax; Kornada is on the verge of unleashing the program, and Florence and Sam are racing to stop him. The great thing is that Sam's, um, unique talents seem every bit as necessary as Florence's.
In Questionable Content, the fallout of the hookup between Marten (the eternal shlimazl) and Padma (soon to leave for California) is funnier than it has any right to be. Marten's got himself tied up in ridiculous emotional knots, and I'm loving it.
In Girl Genius, Agatha has openly claimed her birthright; the castle is repaired, the Doom Bell has rung, and the Jaegers are returning to their old allegiance. Meanwhile, Gil's out there having a grand old time blowing stuff up, and the unfortunate Tarvek appears to have been captured by Olaf and his sister.... (Aside: I don't believe for a minute that Klaus is dead. If he were, the whole plotline involving the multiple Lucrezias and the slaver wasp would be rendered pointless.)
But it's Sinfest that's absolutely on fire. You've got Fuchsia's defection (and that event, and Blue's reaction when she realized what had happened, were beautifully handled); you've got Monique's consciousness-raising experience; and you've got the plotline with Clementine and Li'l E, which could go in any direction whatsoever. (After reading today's strip, I have to wonder whether the Big D knows about Fuchsia. I mean, Criminy's right there in front of him.) (Second thought: Fuchsia is presumably looking for Criminy. Right now would be exactly the wrong time to find him.)
Good times, good times.
Schlock Mercenary is bothering me.
No one in-strip seems to have noticed that Legs is not, in fact, tied up. Oh, sure, her wings are strapped to her body, but they're useless anyway. Her main manipulative organ is her tongue. (Her legs are pretty versatile too.)
Of course, she's the one who thanked Dr. Bunnigus for surrendering without a fight, and she doesn't have anything to free the others with anyway.
No one in-strip seems to have noticed that Legs is not, in fact, tied up. Oh, sure, her wings are strapped to her body, but they're useless anyway. Her main manipulative organ is her tongue. (Her legs are pretty versatile too.)
Of course, she's the one who thanked Dr. Bunnigus for surrendering without a fight, and she doesn't have anything to free the others with anyway.
A few notes before I take off for Reno...
I've done most of the necessary pre-trip things. I haven't packed yet, but my flight doesn't leave until 2:00 PM tomorrow, so there's time.
I just finished Barfield's The Perilous Frontier. An absolutely fascinating book; I should probably go back and reread my copy of A History of Chinese Civilization, now that I've got a framework to pin things to. I'll review the book after I get back from the con.
I also finished rereading Middlemarch. It's been thirty or so years, and I'm counting it as effectively a new read. (Of the four major plotlines, I remembered a fair part of one, fragments of a second, the barest skeleton of a third, and nothing at all of the fourth.) (FWIW: in order, Dorothea/Casaubon/Ladislaw, the Lydgates, Bulstrode, and Fred Vincy/Mary Garth.) Eliot retains her high position in my mental pantheon.
Classes start the day after I return from the convention. Fortunately, I only have one class on Monday, and it doesn't start until 2:00, so I'll have a little time to recover.
Apropos of nothing, but something I find absurdly pleasing: sometimes, when I'm petting Buster's chest, he'll hug my arm with his forepaws.
I haven't done anything about the prisms paper in several weeks; nor have I gotten any further with the more general prisms problem. I have, however, been working on spiffing up a joint paper with my former Masters' student CK; there are three more major results (out of eight or so) that I have to clean up. I hope to get this one and the first prisms paper out the door before the end of the year.
Websnark is back! I'd almost given up on them.
Looking forward to seeing... well, some of you... at Renovation!
I've done most of the necessary pre-trip things. I haven't packed yet, but my flight doesn't leave until 2:00 PM tomorrow, so there's time.
I just finished Barfield's The Perilous Frontier. An absolutely fascinating book; I should probably go back and reread my copy of A History of Chinese Civilization, now that I've got a framework to pin things to. I'll review the book after I get back from the con.
I also finished rereading Middlemarch. It's been thirty or so years, and I'm counting it as effectively a new read. (Of the four major plotlines, I remembered a fair part of one, fragments of a second, the barest skeleton of a third, and nothing at all of the fourth.) (FWIW: in order, Dorothea/Casaubon/Ladislaw, the Lydgates, Bulstrode, and Fred Vincy/Mary Garth.) Eliot retains her high position in my mental pantheon.
Classes start the day after I return from the convention. Fortunately, I only have one class on Monday, and it doesn't start until 2:00, so I'll have a little time to recover.
Apropos of nothing, but something I find absurdly pleasing: sometimes, when I'm petting Buster's chest, he'll hug my arm with his forepaws.
I haven't done anything about the prisms paper in several weeks; nor have I gotten any further with the more general prisms problem. I have, however, been working on spiffing up a joint paper with my former Masters' student CK; there are three more major results (out of eight or so) that I have to clean up. I hope to get this one and the first prisms paper out the door before the end of the year.
Websnark is back! I'd almost given up on them.
Looking forward to seeing... well, some of you... at Renovation!
Use of Weapons
Jul. 13th, 2011 08:09 amShorter version of today's Girl Genius:
Hitting things with wrench: $5.00
Knowing what to hit with wrench: PRICELESS
Hitting things with wrench: $5.00
Knowing what to hit with wrench: PRICELESS
"Fig-Witted Idiot"
Mar. 11th, 2011 08:49 amI didn't expect this, but I'm starting to like Kathryn. She's kind of like Elf used to be (and Elf was always my favorite Schlock character).
Mercury Descending
Nov. 30th, 2010 09:50 amCold snap today; it's in the low 30s F right now, and will be falling all day. It'll be down in the 20s by the time I come home. We're supposed to climb back into the 40s by the end of the week, but it's definitely heavy-jacket time.
Volumes 4 and 5 of "Digger" arrived a couple of days ago, and I devoured them immediately. (Apparently there'll be only one more volume before the strip ends.) Ursula Vernon is just a wonderful writer, and I look forward to whatever her next project might be. There's one bit of dialog that I want to quote. (Actually, there are quite a few, but this one really tickles me.) Digger is preparing to go on a - call it a mountain pilgrimage, although she certainly wouldn't - in the company of the deranged acolyte Murai.
Speaking of which, I really should get an umbrella....
Volumes 4 and 5 of "Digger" arrived a couple of days ago, and I devoured them immediately. (Apparently there'll be only one more volume before the strip ends.) Ursula Vernon is just a wonderful writer, and I look forward to whatever her next project might be. There's one bit of dialog that I want to quote. (Actually, there are quite a few, but this one really tickles me.) Digger is preparing to go on a - call it a mountain pilgrimage, although she certainly wouldn't - in the company of the deranged acolyte Murai.
Digger: You're taking your sandals, your robe, and a begging bowl? No food? No money? No first aid kit?Relentlessly practical people can be wearying at times, but there are times when you really need them.
Murai: I am a servant of the god, honored Digger. The god will provide all that is needful.
Digger (paw on forehead): Yeah. Okay. See, I think what you're failing to grasp here is that your god did provide, and what he provided was me. So you're gonna go corner whatever passes for a quartermaster in this joint, and you're gonna get a blanket, a first aid kit, and a couple of pounds of trail mix, got it? And a knife. And tinder and flint. And I suppose it's too much to ask that anybody's heard of crampons around here....
Speaking of which, I really should get an umbrella....
