Crime Doesn't Pay

"God, I hope they don't find me guilty of attempted rape.  Also, that someone re-attaches my penis."

A Tale Of Cocktails #18

Disaronno Mimosa

Ingredients

3 oz champagne

1 oz Disaronno amaretto
2 oz orange juice

Taste: 7
Look: 6
Cost: 7
Name: 4
Prep: 8
Alcohol: 3
Overall: 6.2

Preparation: Add amaretto and orange juice to a champagne flute. Stir gently, and add champagne. Add twirl of orange peel.

General Comments: Does anyone know the name of those lollipops that taste and crumble like fossilised sugar? Because that's basically what this tastes of, assuming you'd dipped them in orange juice. It doesn't work quite as well as you'd hope, given that a) those lollipops are pretty much one of the best forms of confectionery ever created by mankind and b) there is very little in this world that can't be improved by a good slug of amaretto.  I wonder if it could do with a dash of sugar syrup, actually - that might solve the main problem, which is that the aftertaste is somewhat better.

Plus, that's a really boring name.  If you're going to just add one new ingredient to a well-known cocktail, you should at least have the decency to try and hide it a little.

SpaceSquid vs.The X-Men #39: Diminishing Returns

Innovation and revelation can be tricky things.  Just because someone can blaze trails previously undreamed of doesn't mean they're necessarily going to be any good at laying roads.

So it is with art.  As vital and worthy of praise as they are, pioneers are rarely the greatest examples of the genres they forged, and when they are, one suspects it's only a matter of time before they're overtaken.  Philip K Dick is not the best sci-fi writer the world has seen.  No matter what anyone says, the Beatles are not the best guitar band so far formed. And Chris Claremont is not the best writer of superhero comics.

Obviously, some trailblazers remain relevant and entertaining for longer than others.  Clearly, the Beatles have done well enough in ensnaring my generation, and the one following it, sufficiently well to prove there is more to them than simply being first.  But even then, it doesn't follow that because what they did was new at the time, and still loved today, that we should be particularly hopeful about the results of them returning to the studio, even if they were all still alive.

There is no doubt in my mind that Chris Claremont's initial sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men changed the face of superhero comics forever, and delineated an approach to the team that no-one had seriously attempted to revise by the time he returned in 2000 after a nine year absence.  Even now, if a character walks into the comic and the X-Men recognise them, I'd be prepared to bet even money that they were created by Claremont.   When he took over Exiles a few years ago (with, by all accounts, distinctly underwhelming results), he was told to ensure every character on the team was a version of one he had put together during his - and the X-Men's - golden era (not to be confused with the Golden Age, natch).

In short, Claremont was a big fucking deal.   In the years after he first left the book in 1991, sales took a tumble, along with fan appraisal.  It's an interesting question as to whether or not the sales problems were because Claremont left, or whether he simply was lucky (or smart) enough to leave at the right time [1], but either way, Marvel brought him back to the book with high hopes back in 2000.  His opening salvo: a baffling "event" storyline that, amongst other things, introduced Neal Sharra: the third Thunderbird.

Last Of The Famous International Criminals

The always readable Charli Carpenter makes an excellent point over at LGM about just how different the European and American responses are following the tracking down of terrorist leaders/war criminals.

Obviously, I'd have much rather Bin Laden had been brought to trial.  I have to say that in the case of Mladic, though, I'm not so sure it's a good idea.  Not because I have any sympathy for the (alleged) mass-murdering monster, but because it's pretty clear that they've actually arrested Morrissey by mistake.

'As my opening statement, I would like to
submit "Every Day Is Like Sunday"'

Zero Sum Games

There is no lack of themes and ideas that lie behind A Song Of Ice And Fire, but as has been pointed out several times over the course of this week, two of the most obvious are the very much linked ideas that a good man is not necessarily a good leader, and that honour can do nothing but weigh you down.

In all the shouting, bile and violence of "A Golden Crown", these ideas were very much thrust to the forefront.

(Spoilers beyond the jump)

From Out Of The Wild

Found via Balloon Juice, this list of "Top 10 New Species" is rather fascinating.  It's amazing that even in the second decade of the 21st century we can still find new mammals and previously unknown two-metre lizards.  Locating a new type of fish is less surprising, but the Louisiana pancake batfish is so brilliantly ludicrous that it's in a class all of it's own.

By far the most disturbing discovery, though, even more than the terrifying-sounding jumping cockroach, is the Darwin's bark spider. Arizona State explains that this new species will "[A]llow us to understand size dimorphism, mate guarding, and self castration".

Self. Castration. And I thought male praying mantises had it rough.

Monkeys With Calculators

After a five month hiatus, It All Adds Up finally returns, with some further thoughts about Prosecutor's Fallacy, and why people shouldn't be allowed access to calculators unless they promise to behave.