The Newest (Christopher) Tolkien Novel

The Lost Tolkien Novel

"There are two kinds of Tolkien fans. There are the day trippers, the weekend warriors, who've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and seen the movies and let it go at that. Then there are the hardcore — the Uruk-hai of Tolkien readers — who have delved further, into The Silmarillion and beyond, who seriously grok the deep history and elaborate geography and endless mystical genealogies of Middle Earth."

I don't know if I'm going to be flattered because I've read the Silmarillon and delved into the Lost tales and Unfinished tales, and the tales of Tom Bombadil, thereby making me superior to the "weekend warriors" or insulted because I was not able to read all the tales in the Tales books or that I found most of the stories in the Tales books (that I own, I did not buy all of them) boring and thereby making me less than a "Uruk-hai". I'm just an ordinary orc I guess. Just take the article with a grain of salt however because it's final paragraph is:

Just heed this warning: The Children of Húrin is a darker, bitterer tale than we're used to seeing from Tolkien. Its hero is proud and imperfect and willful — more Boromir than Frodo — and his story is full of accidents and disasters, poisoned barbs and ruinous betrayals and grievous misunderstandings. Which makes sense: after all, if the good guys had beaten the forces of darkness in the First Age, they wouldn't have been stuck with Sauron in the Third.

Which any Tolkien reader would know is incorrect. The good guys did defeat the forces of darkness in the First age, after all if they didn't, there would not have been a Third age.

Apologies from the Dancing Queen

via MLQ3

Politics of ‘sorry’ - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

It is an unusual campaign commercial. It begins with someone off camera (a canny stand-in for the general public) asking the question Oreta herself says there is no getting away from: “Bakit ka nag-dancing queen [Why did you act like a dancing queen]?”

She responds, in Filipino: “What I did was a big mistake. I want to ask for forgiveness.” She tearfully expresses remorse for giving offense, and then raises the hope that it is in atoning for our mistakes that we rise above ourselves and become better persons. [“Ngunit siguro sa mga pagkakamali, doon tayo bumabangon.”]

I have not watched a commercial for some months now so this is the first time I heard about this and I agree with the Inquirer's editorial take. For what it's worth, I thought she did a good job as the Representative for Malabon-Navotas (where I hail form) and was not unsatisfied with her performance in the Senate until the whole Estrada brouhaha. I would certainly re-evaluate my decision not to vote for her because of this, and if this is my only reservation against her, I might change my mind, but there is this whole crossing from the Estrada camp to the Gloria camp (among others) to figure out.

The Doggerel Index & Suggestions

A resource for people who debate against nonsense.

The Bronze Blog: Doggerel Index & Suggestions

How do you prove photography to a blind man?

via Bad Astronomy Blog

Skeptico: How do you prove photography to a blind man?

I knew what he was getting at. We had been discussing psychics. He was a firm believer in psychic powers, had had psychic experiences, and regularly visited a psychic. His point was, since I had not experienced psychic powers, I would never be able to believe in what he “knew” to be true. You could never prove to a blind man that photography exists, and likewise no one would ever be able to demonstrate to me that psychic powers were real.

Read the post to learn how.

1984 is here

Apparently, within a radius of just 180 meters of George Orwell's house in London, its crawling with security cameras.

read more | digg story

I would never have guessed

via pharyngula

You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)
Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.

Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) - 75%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) - 60%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) - 60%
Wash (Ship Pilot) - 45%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) - 40%
Alliance - 25%
River (Stowaway) - 25%
A Reaver (Cannibal) - 20%
Derrial Book (Shepherd) - 20%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) - 15%
Inara Serra (Companion) - 15%








Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

Blue Whale

Life-sized blue whale! In your browser!

from inkycircus via pharyngula

Freedom of Expression in Action

The widow of a man killed in the Madrid bombings attended the trial of Islamic radicals with a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed with a bomb on her T-shirt.

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Tule laban sa HIV

The World Health Organization and UNAIDS said circumcision should be added to current interventions to reduce the spread of HIV. Three African trials have shown that circumcision halved the rate of HIV infection in heterosexual men.

The recommendations largely apply to countries where rates of heterosexual transmission is high.

Experts warned that greater use of circumcision would not replace the need for other prevention methods, such as condoms.

Which may be a reason why HIV infection rate in the Philippines is relatively low. I had a previous post on this.


read more | digg story

Re-Elect AKBAYAN