Month: July 2007

Magic and free will
I’m listening the Deathly Hallows audiobook with the Snook, and tonight something struck me. (No spoiler! Don’t worry… although if you haven’t finished it yet, you’re really pushing it!) So anyway, I was thinking about the Imperio curse, and how it’s pretty much one of top three worst crimes you can commit in the wizarding world, right? Taking away someone’s free will ranks right up there with murder and torture. Compare that to the Star Wars universe, where Jedi seem to apply their mind trick to the weak-minded whenever they feel like it. Obi-Wan even uses it on random people he meets (like the deathstick merchant on Coruscant) to force his own morals on them. Shouldn’t we find that more repugnant? In the movie it’s played for a laugh, and I guess it’s supposed to be okay because we trust the Jedi to be good guys. But hey, you know, that really sucked of him. Hmm, maybe I’ve discovered another of the contributing factors to the Jedi’s downfall. Their attitude towards “muggles” seems a lot more cavalier than wizards’ of Harry’s world.

Oh man. This list of “sissy, post-grunge, mid-90’s poseurs” just breaks my heart. Why? Because it looks like my Top Rated playlist in iTunes. Those are ALL the songs from when I was in high school! See, this is why I don’t listen to much modern music anymore. My tastes just aren’t fashionable enough. (Okay, okay. I’ll admit I do cringe a little when “The Freshmen” comes on.)

It’s a gathering of knitbloggers…

From left to right, that’s Bex, Lara, Anna, Fiona, and me. We had a lovely time knitting squares, and I even got interviewed for the evening news tonight. (I’ve set it to record.)

Faceball. I’m sure we have an inflatable beach ball around here somewhere…

702 ABC Knit-In
It’s me and Bex, proudly representing the non-blue-hairs! Miss Fee and Lara are with us too. Shame on all you slackasses still in bed!

Cat = Harbinger of Death. I could’ve told you that.

Golden Snitch Knitting Needles. Awww, those are so cute! I’d make myself a pair, except for the fact that I rarely use straight needles anymore. (Link courtesy of Bex.)

I’ll admit that when I read the headline “Magician injured in sword trick,” my first thought was of Gob Bluth. And now I have “The Final Countdown” stuck in my head…

Uses of Beeswax. For some reason I just found that interesting.

Hey Jenny: I’m interested to hear what my “cousin-in-law” Dave has to say about this poker-playing robot. I almost think it’s a flawed experiment to begin with, because the whole point of being a good poker player (as I understand it) is to read your opponent. The cards you get shouldn’t matter at all. But a computer just can’t (as far as I know) interpret the millions of subtle bits of body language that humans are capable of. And conversely, there’s no way for the human to get a read on his opponent’s game other than by the card’s he’s shown. It just seems like more of a stunt than anything.