Exploding Poohsticks

I wonder if we'll be seeing more of this, or if it's just proximity to the Slams:

"Robert Fox, a producer of Best Play winner God of Carnage, called his ensemble cast - James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels - 'the acting equivalent of Roger Federer' during his acceptance speech." - Sarah Thurmond, tennis.com (the ceremony took place the same day as the Roland Garros men's final)

"'There is something visceral about a ballpoint pen on newsprint that is not duplicated by pointing and clicking,' said Ken Jennings, who is editing a book of crossword puzzles but who is best known as the sort of Roger Federer of the quiz show Jeopardy." - Douglas Quenqua, in a NYT article on puzzles disappearing from printed periodicals, July 10 (*)

(* Completely unrelated to Fed: the real money quote from Quenqua's article is from a California librarian who describes why she's distraught over the imminent banishment of the Atlantic "Puzzler": "“You get the pleasure of solving each clue, so there's that 'aha' moment over and over - it's like having multiple orgasms." (**)

(** Okay, for certain readers, that may not be so unrelated to Fed, and while he's not really my type, I have to say that the vid of his 50 aces during the Wimbledon final? yowsa! *fans self*)

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On a side note, doggies!

Venus and Harold
Roddick and pal watching Davis Cup
Muzz and Maggie

I'm listening to the "Not My Job" segment of Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!, because the guest is Frederica von Stade, and so far both Star Trek and "Le Nozze de Harry Potter" have been mentioned.

From cbldf.org, via a friend: "The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has signed on as a special consultant to the defense of Chistopher Handley, an Iowa collector who faces up to 20 years in prison for possession of manga."

This is perhaps a good time to note that the BPAL scents inspired by the works of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have raised over $38,000 for the CBLDF (as of earlier this summer, and not specific to this case. As Gaiman has observed, "there are always worms nibbling away at the First Amendment").

(Disclosure: I didn't buy it direct, but I do own an imp of "Madame Tracy" and it's very nice indeed.)

Via Gaiman's blog: New Yorker vs. xkcd cartoon-off. Note use of "pulled a Palin" in one of the captions -- I wonder how long that phrase will stay comprehendable in general usage?

*thinks back to Mondale vs. Hart*
*slings cardigan over hourglass, wrenches concentration back to chores*

Seen at the Impatient Blogger:

Is it just me or does Palin remind you of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter? She’s all sweetness and light concealing the ugly truth that lies not terribly fair beneath the spun sugar ‘you betcha’ surface.

Also, FWIW:
http://feministsforobama.org/Issues.htm

"Ms. Swinton, bless her Dobby the House Elf-loving heart, will most likely wake up with a few bruises tomorrow..." (Eric Wilson, commenting on Oscar fashion; he also described Swinton's frock as "a shapeless black bolt of fabric that appeared to be designed by the House of Hefty, NYT 2/25/08).



(Larger picture: twenty-five years from now, will this allusion make sense to contemporary readers or will it require a footnote? [See Ribbons use her IJ as a time capsule...])