Year: 2004

From a mailing list Peter and I are on…

The first of three done-in-one issues, issue 12 takes us back to the first meeting between the woman called Lee and the man called Doctor Juris, in the throbbing heat of Mardi Gras. Whad’ja think?

Oh, and for those interested, there’s a detailed interview about “Fallen Angel” over on Newsarama.com which also features covers for future issues.

PAD

I have been informed that the Squiddies, an annual on-line comics poll, has declared “Many Happy Returns”–the return of Kara storyline–to be the best multi-part story of 2003.

I appreciate the validation, although it does remind me of Tony Randall’s five-second acceptance speech upon winning the Emmy for Best Lead in a Comedy for “The Odd Couple” the same year the show was cancelled: “I’m pleased I won. Now I just wish I had a job.”

PAD

On very, very rare occasions, I employ a tactic utilized by Professor Kingsfield in the pilot episode of “The Paper Chase.” In that episode, young student Mr. Hart proves so inept, so worthless, that Kingsfield “shrouds” him. Akin to “shunning” in certain societies, it means that the person is effectively dead. He will never be called upon or acknowledged or responded to in any way. Far more effective than taking steps to shut someone up, it allows them to shout into the wind as much as they wish. I consider it a far more elegant solution than censorship.

Peterdavid.net officially shrouds Dee and his/her various personalities. Dee, who gives conservatives a bad name, is dead to this board. As far as I am concerned, he/she/it no longer exists.

I invite others to follow my lead or not, as they see fit.

PAD

…that key GOP figures will exploit the death of Ronald Reagan for all it’s worth in order to seal the election. I’m looking ahead to the GOP National convention and am suggesting the following odds:

A minute of silence will be called for: 1-1.

Chances that Bush will mention Reagan one minute into his speech: 5-1.

Two minutes into his speech: 3-2.

Three minutes into his speech: 3-1.

That a key speaker will exhort his comrades to win this election “for the Gipper”: 1-1.

That it will be stated Reagan would have approved of this country’s direction: 2-1.

That if Reagan were there, he would be urging you to vote for Bush: 1-1.

PAD

Although Ronald Reagan is officially gone at the age of 93, I think we all know that he’s been mentally gone for years. And I think it was incredibly gutsy of Nancy Reagan–a woman whom I didn’t have much of an opinion of before–to come out publicly and stump for Stem Cell Research, which must have had the Bushites çráppìņg a brick. Reagan is/was practically the patron saint of the GOP, and Mrs. Patron Saint stepped up to the plate and waved the banner for scientific advancement that’s currently being washed up on the shoals of theological dogma.

With Mrs. Reagan no longer in the position of caretaker to her husband who, as she delicately and sorrowfully put it, had long ago embarked on a twilight journey where she could not follow (or something to that effect), I’m hoping she barnstorms the country and manages to turn around Neocon thinking about the incredible benefits of stem cell research.

PAD

I’ve just come back from taking Ariel to a midnight showing of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” and it was the single most surreal movie experience of my life. Explaining why will require blowing a major plot point, although it’s nothing that wasn’t included in the book. So if you read the book, read on without fear of spoilers. If you haven’t, then proceed at your own risk.

Continue Reading “Harry Potter and the Unbelievable Timing” →