This is mildly addicting. I know it’s been out in another form before, but Dubya makes it all the more fun. You can click on him and drag to participate in the drifting down.

Last Sunday, Bob and I went to see MIT Theatre Guild’s production of “Star Wars Trilogy: Musical Edition”.

It’s still playing again this weekend, and if you have a chance, I do recommend it!

The production is amateur, yes — not all the singers are that great, and they did have some trouble with the volume (though *coughPhantomcough* that seems to be a problem in some professional productions we’ve been to), but there were some extremely clever bits that made the whole thing worthwhile.

It’s a parody, but also true to the original spirit of the movies. And it improves on some parts that were sort of questionable.

That would be pretty cool. But only if God was a PC.

Until then, Two of every animal, I choose you!.

Waaaay back in February, Bob and I went to London for a week.

I took a lot of notes on the trip so that I would be able to write up our experience when I got home again, and then promptly used that as an excuse to not have to write things up right away — since I had these handy-dandy notes to jog my memory.

And so it turned into a big thing hanging over my head and was largely responsible for me hardly posting at all in my blog for several months.

But at last my procrastination has ended and the trip posts are complete!

Have fun.

Tuesday, February 22
Wednesday, February 23
Thursday, February 24
Friday, February 25
Saturday, February 26
Sunday, February 27
Monday, February 28

Stormtroopers! Roll out!

It seems like every couple of years or so I start to get the urge to go back to school. Most recently I’ve been considering getting a Masters in Library Science (MLIS or MLS or various other abbreviations.)

As a consequence, I’ve been doing some research into schools, and I’ve found the following things: The school’s program needs to be ALA accredited, or the degree itself wouldn’t be worth much. Which means the list of schools in the US which qualify is comparitively small.

And because I’m sort of snobby that way, I’d really prefer it to be a school with a good reputation in the field. So after hunting around for a bit, I’ve come up with 3 possibilities. More searching might reveal a couple more, but these seem representative.

1. Simmons: the “local” choice. Simmons is in Boston, which means it’s driveable, if rather inconvenient (and expensive, should gas prices shoot up again) to get to. However, depending on how ambitious I was, it might be possible to swing full time and finish in a year. Or it might not. It’s not the best school in the country, but everyone in the region knows about it, so it has name recognition.

2. University of Pittsburgh: An online choice. Pittsburgh is (surprisingly?) known for having a good library program. I had actually known this before, so their reputation isn’t confined to just the library science field. This program is online, requiring a few visits to Pittsburgh during the course of the program. Pittsburgh is pretty far away, but it’s within driving distance for once in a while trips.

3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: An online choice. Their program is structured similarly to Pittsburgh, but requires slightly longer visits. US News and World Report ranks them slightly above Pittsburgh (they’re tied for #1 while Pittsburgh is tied for #3). It would definitely require flying. But I know they also have a kickass CS department, and CS overlaps a lot with library science.

All 3 schools have comparable tuition costs.

I mentioned a few days ago the brief summary for a movie currently making the rounds on Lifetime. (Of course it’s in Lifetime. If you’re not being battered, raped or stalked, you’re definitely bearing Satan’s IVF baby!)

And I just had to see this thing. Mainly because James Purefoy and Andy Serkis were both in it. So I set Tivo to grab it when it reran on Friday night, and I’ve just finished watching it. Totally worth it. It was so ridiculous.

The ending was the best part. After being told she was about to bear the spawn of the devil, our Heroine pluckily manages to escape the burning building where the Priest has trapped her to try and rid the world of evil. She promptly gives birth to adorable twins who, in an epilogue as we skip to 4 years later, sit and watch angelically as they slowly reduce one of their little friends to dust. Our Heroine brings her hands to her mouth as she is illuminated. The End.

This is something that’s been on my mind recently, as we deal with switching plans to Bob’s new work and attempting to find a financially reasonable alternative. (Long and stupid story, but essentially, his workplace is small, and they only have individual and family plans. This didn’t surprise me, as my old work had this problem too. Individual is fully covered, but family costs extra. He was quoted a number that sounded reasonable for the extra, but one which proved to be wrong. So while I should be entitled to insurance through my work, there’s some kind of political mumbo jumbo going on there with the town and the board of trustees, so it’s hard to say when that will be resolved.)

Massachusetts, meanwhile, has been debating a new law that would require “coverage”. But as you can see, I put “coverage” in quotes, and for a reason. The plans they’re proposing as adequate are not. To put it simply, they’re crap, and anyone forced to take one is really just throwing their money down a hole. If they really get sick, the insurance will not save them from financial difficulties.

And though neither of us is currently employed in MA, they are very nearby, and what they do affects us. So I am concerned, especially since the legislature seems primed to pass this. I wonder if they’d be so eager if that was the health care package they were going to have to get.

Scooter Libby is quite the multitalented guy. Chief of Staff, Master Leaker, and Creepy Author.

The weirdest part in all of this, however, is not that the book exists, it’s that J, of all people, has randomly read it. Did you write a review? You should.

I just don’t see how you could go wrong when the blurb for your movie reads like this:

Desperate to conceive a child, Samantha and Craig visit a fertility clinic for help. Before long, the pair is ecstatic to discover that they’re having twins! Only one little complication stands in their way of joyful parenthood–they find out Samantha has been impregnated with the devil’s DNA! Talk about your unexpected pregnancy! Can this couple overcome evil itself? Tune in and see!