Monthly Archives: December 2022

Happy New Year!

José Félix Ribas Brass En Vivo Vol. 1 (Dirigido por Carmelo Cacioppo) by Ensamble de Metales y Percusión José Félix Ribas

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Coca þola

I was looking up þola in Cleasby & Vigfusson this afternoon even though I was pretty sure I knew what it meant, which is a totally normal thing to do. They said it meant “endure”, as I expected, and connected … Continue reading

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With humans like these, who needs chatbots?

An epic explosion of plagiarism and academic fraud–good to the last drop. (If the last drop has in fact dripped.)

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In Moria, in Khazad-dûm…

The Bridge of Khazad-dûm from Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings movie. If only the film had been as great as its background art.

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I Think, Therefore I Chat?

This brilliantly sums up my lack of wow at the Invasion of the Chatbots. [edited to add:] Here’s the discussion out of which the phrase arose. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33841672 It’s more narrowly directed at the chatbots’ inability to deal with actual fact … Continue reading

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Looking Forward

Gearing up to teach one of my favorite courses, “Medieval Legends”.

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Fahrenheit 101

“You don’t have to burn books if the world starts to fill up with nonreaders, nonlearners, nonknowers.”–Ray Bradbury

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Grand Old Pinnocchio

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Who’s Nest?

I was looking up  the Old Norse word nestbaggi (“bag for provisions”) and wondering about the etymon of nest (“provisions”). Is it the same as English nest (like, where birds live)? I still don’t know; it looks doubtful. But apparently English … Continue reading

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State of the Onion

A kind of review, I guess. Executive summary: a fun satire of techbro billionaires and their self-built cults, set inside a movie about mystery stories and puzzles. It’s maybe half an hour too long, like practically every movie made nowadays. … Continue reading

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