I have such a heavy heart about this. He was indeed a conservative culture warrior nonpariel — his sites are the Common Sense of our age. A significant voice is now silent, and I wonder who will fill this void. R.I.P., Andrew.

Sincere apologies, Wanks — I am hoist on my own petard! YMMV indeed! Why I chose to come across as an arrogant snot I'll blame on the overflow of secretions from this URI I'm fighting... ;-)

Maybe if I change my comment to... "Cod-Shakespeare from 'hipsters' who wouldn't know real literature (or acting, for that matter) if a library fell on them." It wasn't a horrible film, after all — just not my cup of tea! ;-)

YMMV. All taste is in the mouth.

Ugh. SiL was tedious at best...Cod-Shakespeare for the 'hipsters' who wouldn't know real literature (or acting, for that matter) if a library fell on them. KatherineL had it right above — a one note rom-com anachronism.

SPR had some of the best 20 minutes of celluloid action ever...but it, too, has a last act that fails the narrative. "Earn this?" Really? feh.

Yeah—The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf sure suck...</s>

...and 35 years ago, it was called James at 15/16...

Those who were appalled at the 'Camel's nose creeping under the tent' back then are hardly shocked now that the ass has followed.

Meh. After the turd in the punchbowl that the reboot movie was, it would be more than fitting for MacFarlane to add his 'talents' to the brew. They could let zombie Ed Wood take over the Star Trek franchise for all I care now.

Excellent piece, Dana. Sadly, not enough of our fellow citizens had the scales drop from their eyes, though many faked it as well as they could. Until our bombs dropped from the skies.

I had just stepped out of the shower when the first report of a plane flying into the World Trade Center Tower 1 came across my radio. I went to the living room, turned on the TV and watched for a few minutes before returning to the bathroom to grab my toothbrush and finish getting ready for work. I returned to the TV, toothbrush in mouth and towel in hand just in time to see the second plane hit WTC Tower 2. I knew at that moment this was deliberate and that it wasn't over yet. I called into work, told them to turn on the TV to see why I'd be a little late coming in, and slowly finished getting ready. As I drove in, listening to the horror unfolding in NY, I watched a plane on approach to Love Field, after the ground stop had been ordered. I wondered if this plane, too, was about to become another deadly missile.

I arrived at my job, and joined the rest of my stunned colleagues in one of the conference rooms. When the station we were watching suddenly switched to a view from Washington, before the announcers could find out what they were showing I said, "That's the Pentagon." For the next 30 minutes, we all watched silently until the WTC Tower 2 collapsed. That's when the spell finally lifted for everyone and the true evil of what we were witnessing bore it's dark fruit.

I composed this on the first anniversary of 9-11, with the intention of creating a video to accompany it. I have never really gone past the initial stages for the video, as I still react so viscerally to the images—my somber mood returns to white-hot rage at what this 7th century cult of death wrought that day. So this song remains as tribute to all who lost their lives on that horrific day, and especially for those who ran towards the catastrophe and showed how selfless sacrifice will always ring eternally over death's empty sting.
http://snd.sc/rhplQq

It is extremely unlikely that the remaining seasons will be released, due to the absolute travesty of the licensing rights issue. The butcher job that was released as Season 1 did not sell well enough to make the studio consider releasing the rest - which as far as I'm concerned is quite alright. Unless the studio decides to do it right and clear the music, it is just a waste of money to buy 'defective' merchandise.

I've been waiting 3 weeks for a comment I made on the Great Christian Artists thread to 'clear.' I only occasionally surf these sites now as a result.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...I had something similar happen to me back in '90. I was one of 5 Honors candidates who were up for Best Portfolio, and was considered the favorite by both faculty and peers. The judging was shared by the faculty and a select few from the Honors Class underclassmen – perhaps in this particular case better said 'underclasswomen', since 4 of the 5 were indeed women.

My Honors teacher told me upon reviewing my book that there was one piece that would cause trouble; a graphic illustration that accompanied a section of text taken from the book Grand Illusions - The Legacy of Planned Parenthood. I had adapted the cover illo from the book, which was a magicians top hat, cane and gloves with bloodstained fingertips – I elected to show the gloves pulling the baby out of the blood-filled hat.

This did not go over well with the jury.

I was later told by the one male on the student jury (who was also a friend) that I had the award wrapped up until they got to this piece. He said that they were greatly offended by it, and pretty much ignored the remainder of my book. My teacher confirmed this story, and while sympathetic, did remind me of his warning. I told them both that my convictions and my art would stand on their own, and not bow to any 'politically correct' group think.

In another small irony, though, I am still awaiting for an approval or an explanation of denial for a comment I made on the Great Christian Artists post over a week ago...