Dimensional Theory

I sometimes feel sorry for Daniel Larison, watching him try to make what sense he can from the word soup of idiotic political commentators.  This comment from Conrad Black:

NATO (the U.S. Sixth Fleet in practice) can’t take out Libyan air defenses at no or minimal cost, we should all start studying Arabic and spending an hour a day with our foreheads pressed to the floor.

prompts this response:

[I]n what universe does that sentence make any sense?

That would be the universe where the only two types of military are those the massively superior American forces can crush without any difficulty, and those that are so powerful they can invade the mainland US.  A world in which everything is either a bug to be squashed or a terrifying monster to fling one's own be-shatted pants at in hysterical desperation.

In short, it's a world in which hawkish political commentators reveal themselves to be simultaneously dangerously bloodthirsty and pitifully craven.

Oh, wait.  I guess that's our world.  Forget I said anything.

Obvious In Hindsight

John Seavey does a good job of briefly breaking down the Republican field for the 2012 presidential elections.  I thought it worth pointing out mainly because he sees something I'd missed, and I'm not sure how I did:

[Palin's] going to make a token run, because she’s an utter fame-whore and she only has two ways to get on the media’s radar now that she’s no longer an actual politician, and criticizing Obama for everything he says or does is starting to get stale. Running for President extends the timer on her fifteen minutes of fame, but she doesn’t have the organizational skills, establishment connections, or real desire for a sustained run. Expect her to drop out the first time she loses a primary, citing negative remarks about her and a need to protect her children from the harshness of a political campaign.

I've been saying for a long time now that there's no chance Palin will run, despite increasing evidence to the contrary, because it's so thoroughly clear that it's a job she absolutely doesn't want.  The fact she has no interest in responsibility hardly distinguishes amongst big-name Republicans, but more unusually she shows no interest in power either, except insofar as it gets her access to what she does want, which is fame and attention.

As Seavey notes, though, while that continues to mean that there is no chance of her trying to become president, that doesn't prevent her from running for president (though her massively inflated opinion of herself might mean she'd be unable to distinguish the two: if she ran, how could she not win?).  Once you realise the difference, a presidential run becomes much more likely, and perhaps even inevitable.
 
All of which means that the only point on which Seavey could be mistaken is the assumption she'll bow out when she loses her first primary. It's by no means unlikely, but I think it would be safer to predict that she'll bow out at the exact moment that people start to lose interest in her campaign, and/or the questions she fields from the media stop being variations on "Do you really think you can win?" and start being variations on "Just how fucked are you right now?"

Friday 40K: The Swarm

I've now reached the point where I can field an entire squad of Vespid Stingwings (though I wouldn't give much for the squad's life expectancy just yet), so it seemed like an opportune time to return to the barren plains of SkwydRuum X.

I'm also making some progress with my Trygon Prime, AKA "Giant Death Worm."

Man, those wasps are gonna be screwed once I paint that thing a head...

The Reptile Ceilidh

Well, there you go.

Sixty Second Film Review Corner: True Grit

This is the second Cohen Coen Brothers (edit: this is what happens when I'm too tired to check spellings) remake I've seen without actually watching the original (though since this is based on a novel, considering the John Wayne version as "the original" isn't really the best idea), and once again absent comparison, everything seems to work very well indeed.  Matt Damon is on his best form, Geoff Jeff Bridges is all slurry, cantankerous charm, and Hailee Steinfeld is truly remarkable.  Highly recommended.

Glad I didn't see it with The Other Half, though.  She's increasingly sick of films that don't warn the viewer of an imminent snake-blizzard.

Quz 11

Right. That’s that then. My final quiz has been delivered, and is replicated below for your entertainment. Given what happened last time, I shall wait a full fortnight before handing out the answers (YOU’RE WELCOME).


This time round the winners scored 32, with three other teams scoring 31, 30 and 30. Be warned: the last round is a pisser. I've also included the bonus round, in which no team scored higher than 4.

(Particularly observant readers will note a common theme here: me. I figured I may as well go out with a grotesquely self-absorbed bang).


Round 1: Words (Each word contains the letters “RIC”)

1. A fruit with a scientific name which means “Armenian plum”, and which is believed to have been introduced to Greece by Alexander the Great. Apricot

2. A set of instructions, such as those found on an exam paper, which are often in a different colour to the rest of the text. Rubric

3. A member of the ginger family, which when boiled and dried can be crushed into an orange-yellow powder which is used as a spice and a colouring, and was once used as a cheap alternative to saffron. Tumeric

4. To be expressing thoughts or feelings in a particularly beautiful way, perhaps most obviously in the context of songs. Lyrical

5. A description given to the method of imparting information in a non-literal way, so that characters, events or objects can be used to represent particular qualities or ideas. Allegorical (or metaphorical)


Round 2: Mathematicians

1. In which country did mathematicians first use “zero” as a number, and not merely a symbol for separation? India

2. Which third century BC mathematician and inventor was killed by a Roman Centurion during the Siege of Syracuse, with his last words according to legend being “Do not disturb my circles!” Archimedes

3. The Chinese mathematician and astrologer Zu Chongzhi created an approximation for the value of pi, which he found by dividing twenty-two by what other whole number? Seven

4. What was the cause of death of the mathematician and staunch Republican Evariste Galois, who died at twenty in circumstances some believed to have been arranged by the French Secret Police? Shot in a duel

5. Which mathematician co-authored the papers “Random Walks with Restraining Barrier as Applied to the Biased Binary Counter” and “The Distribution of the Number of Locally Maximal Elements in a Random Sample”, before going on to write such songs as “The Elements”, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “The Masochism Tango”? Tom Lehrer


Round 3: Leaving

1. Which band released “Leaving New York” in 2004, the first single from their thirteenth album Around the Sun? R.E.M.

2. Which Shakespeare character notes that “Parting is such sweet sorrow?” Juliet Capulet

3. The poem “The God Abandons Antony”, by Constantine P. Cavafy, recounts the tale of how Marc Antony was abandoned by Bacchus, who left with a parade of people from which city, being held at the time by Antony against a siege by Octavian? Alexandria

4. According to legend, Winston Churchill once claimed that the best way to make a martini was to pour gin into a glass and simply look a bottle of what other beverage, thus leaving it out of the cocktail entirely? Vermouth

5. Which country did the British Empire not leave until 1936, despite having installed Sultan Hussein Kamel there in 1914? Egypt


Round 4: Ends of Eras

1. Which geological era was brought to an end by the meteorite impact at Chixulub about 65 million years ago? Mesozoic (though I accepted Cretaceous, because Gin-Soaked Boy asked me to, and he wrote this round)

2. A major factor in the end of the Communist era in Russia, what policy and movement meant, in English, 'restructuring'? Perestroika

3. In which year did the Shearer era end, when Alan Shearer retired from playing professional football? 2006

4. The end of the She-Ra Ee-Ra occurred in 1987 when the cartoon was cancelled, but of whom was She-Ra the twin sister? He-Man/Prince Adam

5. Due to an administrative error; we now have a question on the ends of ears: what 'c' is the innermost organ of the human ear? Cochlea


Round 5: Egomania

1. The proud and handsome Narcissus was made to fall in love with his own reflection by the Gods as a punishment for his mistreatment of which nymph? Echo

2. Sapamurat Niyazov spent 21 years as first President and then President for Life of which country, during which time he had a giant golden statue of himself made, which rotated to follow the Sun? Turkmenistan

3. By what method does the narcissist and hedonist Dorian Gray take his own life? (Be specific) Stabbed his portrait in the heart

4. Which Beatle announced to the world that the group was “More popular than Jesus” in 1966? John Lennon

5. Which US President and former Five Star General, who among other accomplishments concluded negotiations with China to end the Korean War, said “Any man who wants to be President is either an egomaniac or crazy”? Dwight D Eisenhower


Round 6: Warwick

1. On which river is Warwick located? Avon

2. The Lady Ethelfleda, sister to Edward the Elder and daughter to Alfred, is believed to have founded Warwick as a fortification to drive out the Vikings from which Anglo-Saxon kingdom to which she belonged? Mercia

3. Which famous resident of Warwick (but born in nearby Coventry) was offered the position of Poet Laureate upon the death of John Betjeman, though he turned the role down? Philip Larkin

4. White Koan is a modern arts sculpture outside the Warwick Arts Centre which is intended to represent the quest for “koans”, or questions without answers; an idea which is important in which religion? Buddhism

5. What title does Warwick University graduate Gus O’Donnell hold in the Civil Service? Cabinet Secretary


General Knowledge

1. (Watership Down) What property is shared by all of the rabbits who are to be stolen from the totalitarian warren Efrafa? They're all female

2. From which English county does Stinking Bishop cheese originate? Gloustershire

3. What kind of creature is Nils Olaf, a resident of Edinburgh Zoo who holds both a knighthood and an honorary commission in the Norwegian King’s Guard? A penguin

4. What is the sum in degrees of the internal angles of a regular hexagon? 720


5. Who directed The King’s Speech, which won four Oscars on Sunday? Tom Hooper


6. What is the closest member of the Local Group? The Milky Way (yes, yes, I know...)

7. The name “Molotov cocktail” was coined by the Soviet Union’s enemies during the Winter War to mock Soviet Prime Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov. Who were the Soviets fighting? The Fins

8. The financial sector often refer to companies or economic sectors that rise early after downturns as being what kind of flower, referencing its ability to thrive in late winter and early spring? Crocuses

9. The trans-Neptunian dwarf planet FY9 was originally codenamed “Easter Bunny” after discovery, but was officially named Makemake in 2008 following the convention of naming such objects after creation deities. From what place does the myth of Makemake originate? Easter Island


10. How many hearts does a squid have? 3


Bonus Round: Cider (Five words for cider; I want the language)

1. Cidre (French)

2. Apfelwein (German)

3. Saidaa (Japanese)

4. Sidro (Italian)

5. Seidr (Welsh)

Legalisms And Smugness

This is probably the best website I've stumbled upon in quite some time (h/t to Mother Jones).  It reminds me a little of my own amateurish attempts to decide if killing a Cylon legally constitutes murder, but obviously it's much more compelling when approached by people who know exactly what they're doing.  If I get time later I might take a closer look at some of their conclusions with regard to the X-Men, to see whether I agree (from a fanboy perspective, I mean).

While we're on the subject of comics, I figured I'd mention that Chris B and I received an email from Mike Carey earlier in the week, saying how much he enjoyed listening to Panel Talk #11.  Obviously, the fact that my favourite comic book writer enjoyed listening to us discussing something he wrote has me speechless with geeky joy.  Hopefully we'll be adding a tag-line to our subsequent issues reading "Panel Talk:  Not Actively Disliked By A Guy We Thought We Might Have Pissed Off".