Could be well worth waiting for - Radio 4's due to broadcast an adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency starting in October, in six parts, with Harry Enfield in the lead, supported by Andrew Sachs and Billy Boyd, amongst others. arakinuk noticed Weebl's trailer for Big-Ass Badgers. ^_^ For more reading, though, maybe the summer edition of Subterranean holds something of interest, free online, including Unrequited Love by Gene Wolfe, and Make a Joyful Noise by Charles de Lint, amongst other short stories. Via fursthatcook, news of a culinary revolution: Bacon Salt. No calories, vegetarian safe, and Kosher certified. ^_^ "Everything should taste like bacon" .. okay, time to get my mind out of the gutter. =:)

Discworld wedding cake!

Achewood finds the guy who made Comic Sans. =:) (Thanks to arbutus. For some reason, I haven't yet got into the strip regularly, but the bits I've caught suggest I should)

Here's a dream journal with a difference - it's not about a dream as such, but a condition midway between dreaming and consciousness: the body, having just come from REM, remains in its normal state of paralysis, but the mind's beginning to rise from dreamland. You're unable to move, and may be perfectly awake otherwise, or might still be dreaming, overlaid on reality. The writer recounts the two times it's occurred to him.

thewerewolf spotted the trailer for Skinwalkers: "Creatures, bound by the blood of the wolf, that can kill with curses and move at lightning speed, watching the night sky for the rise of the blood-red crescent moon. They are SKINWALKERS. They feed on our flesh and thirst for the taste of human blood. The red moon signals each pack, divided by principles, hell bent to survive an ancient prophecy. On his 13th birthday, Timothy (Matthew Knight) a half-blood, is about to reach the time of his transformation." So far, it's gained an IMDb rating of 7.7, and isn't listed on Metacritic. The trailer suggests it'll be heavy on the cheese, light on the science ("There is a gene.. which separates.. man.. from animal." *ralph*), but plenty of Things Going Boom. Stan Winston involved, and from the glimpses offered, looks like it'll be visually decent.

On the other paw, the trailer for Get Smart provides some hope it could be good, though the writers don't have a particularly distinguished portfolio. Steve Carell seems like a good casting choice for the lead, though.

Musical discovery for the day has to be Wizoo's Xphraze, vaguely like a cross between Reaktor and Dimension Pro.


Found while researching a '56 Stratocaster library, "Fender now offers an extensive line of contemporary cutting-edge Stratocasters alongside vintage reissues, as well as maintaining a Custom Shop service that builds guitars to order. Those who wish period-accurate replicas can request Stratocasters with original-style cloth-coated wiring, pickup and electronics designs, wood routing patterns, and even artificial aging and oxidizing of components using the Custom Shop "relic" process."

Jobhunting's seldom the greatest thrill in life, but occasionally potential clients deviate from the usual turgid text, eg "Discovery Mining has a strict “must wear clothes” dress code".

By ursulav.

Cheese sauce on cauliflower is a trusted classic, but if you want a pleasant variation on the theme, try adding a dash of horseradish to the sauce. ScaryGoRound, a neat comic with a drily gothic sense of humor, and mysteries far more convoluted than Scooby Doo. And it's daily, too. Not much to catch up on.. only five years' worth. ^_^; (And as a bonus, here's the style of the Diesel Sweeties artist when he's wielding a pencil rather than pixels; and one by Achewood's artist) A very, very puerile game. Be sure to read the comments as well. =:D So, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Quite reasonable, despite lacklustre direction and somewhat off-kilter pacing. I was sorry to see the loss incurred, but.. I suppose there'd been something of an aura of finality, in a Cowboy Bebop way. Witness the Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank, thanks to atomicat. Then read the reviews. =:D

Appropriately, I learned of a current Radio 4 series, Hut 33, via the inimitably sensible bruce_schneier (whose feed you really should have heard of by now, if you're interested in topics like genuine security, rather than security theater). "Set in Bletchley Park, in 1941, this sitcom focuses on 3 code-breakers forced to share a draughty wooden hut as they try to break German ciphers. Unfortunately they hate one another. In theory, 3rd Lieut. Joshua Fanshawe-Marshall is in charge of the hut, but he struggles to even find his way there, let alone exercise authority. Minka, their Polish secretary, provides much needed efficiency, although she is worryingly keen on extreme violence as the solution to all problems."

Not a bad deal: the new PSP will be sold with Daxter, a 1GB stick, and a Family Guy UMD, for $199. (And presumably less from places like Amazon)

Good article on the decline of the music industry. '"They left billions and billions of dollars on the table by suing Napster -- that was the moment that the labels killed themselves," says Jeff Kwatinetz, CEO of management company The Firm. "The record business had an unbelievable opportunity there. They were all using the same service. It was as if everybody was listening to the same radio station. Then Napster shut down, and all those 30 or 40 million people went to other [file-sharing services]."' I doubt I could ever cut it as a DJ. I wouldn't be able to resist giving everyone virtual whiplash in the abrupt changes in style in my playlists.. =:) This is what war does to people. Do not go to this link unless you're prepared. It's all work-safe; no images, just descriptions and accounts. nicodemusrat found these rather spiffy art installations.

Well, that's a bit of a nuisance.. I seem to be getting spurious errors with my Pioneer DVR-108, sometimes freezing about a minute into the disc writing. Not a huge matter, given Hyzenthlay's got an internal DVD-R, but it's always good to have multiple routes to the warren, so to speak. Perhaps its retirement is nigh - I could certainly use additional hard drive capacity. Though that's assuming the IDE-FW400 interface isn't the failing component. Certainly would be most welcome to be able to have all the sample libraries, Refills, and suchlike online.