Finally home after a fun weekend out of town with friends and fun folk. Getting home was easy until I actually reached NYC, at which point the MTA conspired to make life annoying. I expected things to take long on a Sunday night, but Jesus....
First it took forever for my usual train to come, then when about 2/3 of the way home, they announced that debris was falling at an upcoming station, so I had to switch to another train, which would also get me home. However, I live in what used to be called, in the pre-MetroCard days, a two-fare zone, which means a train and a bus. The alternate route was likewise, but with only one bus as an option on Sunday night instead of the two that would be on my usual route, plus in a pinch I can walk home on my usual route -- not so much on the alternate.
So I had to wait forever for the second train, and then forever longer for the bus. Yeesh.
But I'm home now........
Current Music
"Yes, I Guess They Oughtta Name a Drink After You" by DQYDJP
East German forces sealed off Berlin's eastern and western sectors along a line that later became the Berlin Wall (1961)
ON SLEEP #2
It is said that ST. EUTHYMUS slept standing against a wall, and ARSENUS hardly slept at all.
MARGARET THATCHER famously thrived on three or four hours' sleep a night, as did NAPOLEON and the Chinese Communist ZHOU ENLAI. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN once declared: "Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough." In contrast, HAROLD WILDON said, "I believe the greatest asset a head of state can have is the ability to get a good night's sleep."
The SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS were persecuted Christians who sought refuge in a cave at the time of the Emperor Decius (250 CE) and slept for 200 years. They awoke in 447 CE during the reign of Theodosius II.
The story of SLEEPING BEAUTY, popularized by Charles Perault (1628-1703), tells of a beautiful princess cursed by a wicked fairy to prick her finger and die. Fortunately, a good fairy commutes this death sentence to sleep lasting 100 years, from which the princess is released by the kiss of a handsome prince.
Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men. E.B. White (1899-1985)
Feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron saint of drug addicts and journalists
ON SLEEP #3
Irish legend tells of DESMOND OF KILMALLOCK, who is not dead but asleep in the icy waters of Lough Gur, Limerick. It is said that once each year Desmond awakes and rides in full armor around the lough before returning to his deep slumber.
A SLEEPLESS HAT is one that is so worn out is has no nap.
It is said that CHARLEMAGNE is not dead but asleep near Salzburg, waiting for the rise of the Antichrist, at which time he will awaken, conquer evil, and herald the return of Christ.
In Greek mythology, ENDYMION is a handsome shepherd who, while tending flocks on Mount Latmos one night, is spotted sleeping naked by the moon goddess Selene. Instantly falling in love, Selene flies to Earth in a chariot of silver and makes sweet, sweet love with him. Becoming jealous of his beautiy, Selene kisses Endymion's eyes and condemns him to a dreamless sleep during which he will never age.
MORPHEUS is the god of dreams (the son of Somnus, or Hypnos, the ancient god of sleep), after whom the narcotic morphine is named.
They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. Confucius (551-479 BCE)
India gained independence after some 200 years of British rule, and Pakistan was created (1947)
AVERAGE VELOCITIES OF VARIOUS BODIES
A man walks 3 miles per hour or 4 feet per second. A horse trots 7 miles per hour or 10 feet per second. A horse runs 20 miles per hour or 29 feet per second. Steamboat runs 20 miles per hour or 26 feet per second. Sailing vessel runs 10 miles per hour or 14 feet per second. Rapid rivers flow 3 miles per hour or 4 feet per second. A moderate wind blows 7 miles per hour or 10 feet per second. A storm moves 36 miles per hour or 52 feet per second. A hurricane moves 80 miles per hour or 117 feet per second. A rifle ball moves 1000 miles per hour or 1,466 feet per second.
---Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889
Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labour by taking up another. Anatole France (1844-1924)
Current Music
"Adam Raised a Cain" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
I have a soft spot for the over-too-soon series "Farscape"--probably due to my affection for any and all things Jim Henson Company. Boom Studios has been doing a bang-up job evolving the "Farscape" universe under the watchful eye of series creator Rockne O'Bannon and veteran writer Keith R. A. DeCandido, and this latest miniseries should be more of the same.
Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor.
---Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 1932
No man has ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat. Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
If you would like an autographed copy of one my books or comic books, but can't get to a convention that I'm attending, I'm now making it easy on you. You can get any of the books listed below just by buying them from me via PayPal (payments would go to keith@decandido.net) at cover price or less (see list below), and I'll send the book(s) to you.
I'm not charging for shipping with two exceptions: 1. If you're outside the United States, send me the book price, and I'll bill you after I ship them for the shipping cost. 2. If you're buying three or fewer comic books, then please add $4.00 for shipping (if you buy four or more, then shipping is free).
If you want the book inscribed, please tell me who to inscribe it to -- and if you don't want it inscribed (or don't want it autographed) let me know. You also need to provide a shipping address, obviously....
We're coming up on the home stretch of the Summer of the Rift -- this week's installment is a fall TV preview, as Andrea, John, and Orenthal sit down and discuss what will be on the idiot box for the 2009/2010 season.
