Cool Stuff for Today

Why do homework when you can blog?

I haven't had an entry of random cool things in a while. So here you are: mass linkage, coming up.
(Half of these I, ahem, stumbled upon. If you use Mozilla Firefox, add the program "StumbleUpon" from the add-ons section. Hours of entertainment. It brings up awesome things like this.)

Books and Authors:
Two of my favorite authors are on Twitter - Donna Andrews and Neil Gaiman.

TV:
A complete, exhaustive, and 80% facetious recap of the season 5 premiere of LOST from last Wednesday: Because You Left, and The Lie. (Warning: bad language. Lots of bad language. It is, nevertheless, hilarious.)

Movies:
Did I mention Neil Gaiman in the past five minutes? Because one of his books, Coraline, is now a movie. You can hazard a guess as to where I'll be on February 6th. (and I'm trying to forget that Dakota Fanning is the voice of the title character. Ah, well - you can't have a perfect movie, I suppose.)

Music:
Video for "Love Me Dead" by Ludo...
Video for "The Mermaid" from a Great Big Sea "kitchen party"... may I say, the b'ys throw great parties.

Internet:
This probably should go under TV, but never mind.
A segment from Whose Line Is It Anyway? that cracks me up every time: Irish Drinking Song: Wrong Name
(If that link doesn't work, try this one.)

And that's all for now. When I find something else cool, you will probably be the first to know.

Insert Applicable Dog-Related Pun Here

This link will be particularly funny to anyone who has ever owned a pet and had to administer medicine to aforementioned pet.

One of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, has a blog/journal that I read regularly. He also seems to have a dog.

I never had to give pills to my family's cats, but there's been a time or two over the past year when I've had pill-duty for our dear and wonderful dog. It is the most difficult and most disgusting task I think I have had in the history of Milton family pet-ownership. Cleaning out the cat's litterbox pales in comparison to fingers covered in dog saliva and remnants of wet peanut butter, and that's if Daisy actually swallows the blasted pill.

I may have to try his trick. If you do, too, let me know how it goes.

Small Update...

In an effort to maintain my sanity, I will be attempting to blog more this semester.

Yes, I realize that every time I say I will blog, I don't.
Hopefully I will have time.
Writing helps de-stress, therefore blogging should too, right?

Right.

Upcoming posts:
-I want to do an entry about the book I was reading at home about Dissociative Identity Disorder.
-Also, maybe show some rhyme or reason for the research I've been doing about Vietnam and, on a surprisingly related note, Jonestown.
-Aaaaand the big Doctor Who kick I've been on may catch on in the blog. Particularly if I keep watching Peter Davison's portrayal of The Doctor. ^//^a

Maybe I'll even post something short and fiction-like, if all possible. Assuming I write something short and fiction-like.

By the way, my dears... whilst I type away by the white glow of a laptop screen, it's 7.9° outside. Wind chill is -5° or so.
I'm in college in Georgia.
This shouldn't be happening.

Stay warm. 'tis the season to lose toes to frostbite, if you stay outside too long. Possibly even five minutes too long.

Walzing with Bashir

Today's history lesson, and potential Oscar nom, is brought to you by this article from BBC News.

I must confess that I am not much of a "history person". Granted, I find certain eras of history more interesting than others, and I'm known do extracurricular research when something really catches my attention... but for the most part, important dates and notches on a timeline slip away from me like mud through a sieve (some of it stays, but not nearly enough). So don't be too surprised when I say I knew nothing about the Lebanese Civil War before today.
Apparently, it was bad. Very bad. I have no word strong enough to describe the horrible slaughter that this "civil" war brought. And that was before everyone started switching sides.

And now, they're making a movie about it.

Um.

Would it be too morbid if I said I wanted to see it?

Regardless, someone thought it was good. It made the nine-entry pre-pre-shortlist of the Foreign Films for this year's Oscars. If it was narrowed down from sixty-something other movies, I'd like to think there was something redeeming about it. (Then again, Pan's Labyrinth didn't get Best Picture last year... so maybe there's something wacked about the judging process. I hope not.)

This could bring up an entire debate about whether war movies should even be made. One country's suffering as another's entertainment sounds very distasteful, indeed. Then again, if the film is meant to depict exactly how horrifying the Lebanese Civil War truly was, maybe it can help more than it hurts.

In any case, I'll be scouring the Foreign Film section of Blockbuster for this one.

Hibernation

Huddle against the cold.
Fight the icy wind that
pierces like a knife.
Grumble.
Shiver.
Whimper.

If there is a sun behind the gray,
I cannot see it.
The blanket of clouds covers,
smothers...
Push back the blanket
and let me breathe.

Spring will come
and the gray will go.
But for now,
I must wait
and hold my breath.

There IS a Doctor in the House.

As of earlier today, there is an eleventh Doctor Who.

I'm excited... and a little blitzed. Maybe it's just because he's so freakin' young, but he looks like a guy I knew in high school.

Of course, with this news (which comes in the wake of a kicking awesome Christmas special) comes the expectation of David Tennant's regeneration in the next special, Planet of the Dead.
I haven't been into this show very long, mind you. The most recent season was already on TV when I started watching. I saw Nine's regeneration, but the knowledge of a very promising Ten was effective consolation.
I'm not sure how an attachment/adjustment to Ten will affect the viewing of the next special and beyond.

But I'm definitely excited about Eleven.
_______________________________________

Edit:
Oops. Totally forgot that Tennant is signed on for, I think, four specials, which will take his contract through the end of 2010.
Good Lord, I'll have graduated college before Eleven's adventures hit the screen. That's a scary thought.