Post-Thanksgiving Workout

Like me, you may have eaten to excess yesterday. Here’s a few resources that might help you burn some of those extra calories off in time to once again over-indulge for the December holidays!
First, a couple of DVDs:
Shaping Up With Weights For Dummies [DVD] / a Dragonfly production ; executive producers, Sandra Weisenauer, Michelle Rygiel [...]

Naismith’s Gift Remembered

Today marks the 148th birthday of the inventor of basketball, Canadian born physical educator James A. Naismith.
Before we go any further, I think we ought to spend the rest of this post listening to a little musical accompaniment from the incomparable Kurtis Blow.
Mr. Naismith first invented the game in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Although he [...]

“Doctor Who-oo, hey!”

I’ve been thinking about Doctor Who a lot lately. Just watched Tom Baker in the Deadly Assassin, and that old KLF song (thanks, Tim!) from the 1980’s has been rattling around in my head. Another favorite take on the classic theme is Orbital’s wonderful homage; it takes a minute or two to get going but [...]

Ventura An American Original

Today Jesse Ventura turns 58. He’s been (among other things) a soldier in Viet Nam, a professional wrestler, an actor, a Governor of Minnesota, and most recently a successful author and aspiring surfer.
In a country where Athiests are often treated like pariahs he had the audacity to call organized religion a “crutch” in a November [...]

Little Big Horn Remembered

Yesterday was the anniversary of one of the most storied battles in American history–Little Big Horn.
The Library of Congress’ wonderful archival web site provides a wonderful summary of the happenings on this fateful day:
“As the military stepped up its efforts at removing Indians from lands desired by white settlers, Native American tribes focused their attacks [...]

Celebrating a Poet and a Librarian

Today is the birthday of poet and former Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish (1892 – 1982). In a life of letters that spanned nine decades, MacLeish was at different points a lawyer, librarian, editor and farmer. He won the Pulitzer Prize three times (1933, 1953, and 1959).
My favorite MacLeish poem is Ars Poetica, a hauntingly [...]

Lando Calrissian Is 72? No Way!

And yet he is. Happy Birthday, Billy Dee Williams! To celebrate, you can visit Wookieepedia and read over some of his finest Lando quotes.
Billy Dee is no stranger on the convention circuit, visiting science fiction shows, anime cons, toy shows, and gaming gatherings all over the country and the world, and he has at times [...]

Salute to Seuss

March 2, 2009 marks the 105th birthday of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, creator of the “Cat in the Hat”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, and countless other wonderful stories.  
He won a Pulitzer prize in 1984, and according to the Pulitzer board, did so ”for his contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of [...]

Burt Reynolds at 73

Burt Reynolds turns 73 today. Folks likely remember him in his more famous films (Deliverance and Sharky’s Machine are two of his biggest).
My favorite Burt Reynolds movie is the littler known Malone. In it Burt plays a CIA agent on the lam, trying to put his old life of violence behind him. He wanders into [...]

The Beauty of the Shared Universe

I came across a paperback copy of one of the latest Wild Cards series of novels, Inside Straight. Since it was free I grabbed it, and being a fan of the superhero genre, started reading it. For folks who haven’t visited the first link in the post yet, Wild Cards is a shared universe created [...]