One of the best parts of my stay at the UW of Madison was the weekly issue of the Onion, and while part of me is happy to see their success, I've got to be a little concerned to see that they are going to open a Big Apple branch; is it going to become increasingly bland as it gets a greater circulation, or go down the course of Spy magazine?

Finite Games Can Be Won.
But Life Is An Infinite Game

This was my fortune today in a fortune cookie I had for lunch, and it's sadly appropriate for the day. My grandmother, Harriet Lee, passed away this morning. She had been ill with Alzheimer's for quite some time, so she hadn't been herself for a long time, and it was more her shell that was walking around than anything else. So there are always mixed emotions at a time like this; sadness because you lose a part of your past, but also the comfort that a long, uncomfortable, unpleasant struggle is now over, and she's free from the struggles of this life.

I only got to the nursing home a couple of times while she was there; she was far enough away that it was a trek out there. One of my last memories of her was checking out the various birds that were near the chapel at the nursing home; where she would, like a child, find them as new discovery. She would have to be told who I was, of course, and that made it all the more difficult to go there.

There are many stories I could give at a time like this -- growing up, the big holidays at my grandparents, and she would go to great trouble in cooking up all of the food. She would make the most amazing, complicated cakes for birthdays, ones that probably needed an engineering degree to fully understand. The times when I'd brought my friends out to my grandparents to go sailing on Lake Pepin, and she'd make everyone feel welcome. Growing up, the times when she would help teach me and my friends.

Thanks, Grandma. I always knew that you loved me, even when you couldn't tell me anymore.

A pretty neat map of the Americas at night...

Have a very Wookie Christmas -- I'm sorry, I actually do want this to be included when the inevitable super duper Star Wars DVD set is eventually released. It's horrible, evil, and wrong on so many levels. It's not only the worst piece of Star Wars, it's the worst piece of Star Wars theoretically possible. But as such, it really is amazing -- sort of like getting I want to spend my Christmas with a Dalek and the like.

Besides, then you'll want to see Jar Jar Binks again as an antidote....

memepool.com looks like a good site of noise..... That way you can check whether you are a geek or not.

The (New) Red Meat Construction Set

Hahahahaha! I don't real the real Red Meat as much now as I did in college, but this is classic...

Hey, I'm currently in the top ten (and top American) in Dream Who, a little game for Doctor Who fans that was a bit of a distraction one day a couple of months ago for me....

Slashdot | On The Dune Miniseries pretty much is about what I'd expect of comments for something like this -- some good, some bad, some liked the Lynch movie more, others liked this more, some thought both were awful....

I just finished watching the first part of the Sci Fi channel's production of Dune. I haven't read the book since high school, but I've seen the David Lynch version a couple of times (as well as the extended version he disowned). This looks more complete than that version, and more like the book. I'll certainly continue watching and taping it. (I'm also hoping someone will go ahead and write a review or two for the MISFITS site -- I'm not sure if I will or not myself.)

(and is anyone having problems connecting to the sci fi channel's web site? It is scifi.com, isn't it?)