Hidden Meanings

But like one English professor used to yell at us, "It doesn't matter if anyone meant it, it matters if it's there, and if you can see it, it must be there!"
--John Barnes, Gaudeamus

Hurricane Earl

Yes, it's headed kinda sorta more or less this way. At the moment, odds are that we'll get rain and 40mph wind and that's about it. However, just to be safe, we have stocked up on this and that, and we're watching the forecasts.
If you see news reports that parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach have flooded, well, parts of Laskin Road can flood due to heavy fog. We're used to it.  

Phone

Took that Samsung Intensity back to the shop today. It had poor sound quality and tended to lose signal and drop calls; also, I don't like the way it handled text messages and I'm not thrilled with having to unlock the keypad every time I want to do something. So, back to the drawing board.

Swordplay

I made it to the Barony of Marinus fighter practice, and got the meet some of the people and to try a couple of rapiers, 37 and 43 inch lengths. They didn't have full fencing armor this time--most of the guys there were medieval fighters, with broadsword and shield--but we did a little half-speed sparring. It was tiring--those rapiers only weigh a pound or so more than a modern fencing saber, but that extra weight makes a huge difference after a while. It was also a lot of fun. Thrust, parry, riposte, diengage, remise, beat, lunge!

Manzikert

On this day in 1071, the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert, largely due to the treachery of the Byzantine second in command. The battle led directly to the decline and eventual downfall of of the Byzantine Empire, and indirectly to the Crusades; consequently, I consider it one of the most important battles in history.

This is also the date of the Battle of Crécy.

Reviews

Inception has an interesting concept and is well done. The ending is ambiguous, which frustrates me--I think a story should give a sense of closure, which this didn't--but it certainly made me think about the film; we've come up with half a dozen ideas of "what really happened". I also like how the relationship with Ariadne developed, and the effects for the fight in the hotel hallway were very well done.

The Expendables was an action packed, star studded movie which accomplished nothing in particular. If you want to watch hand to hand fights, shooting, and explosions, this is the place. If you want anything else, move along. It felt like the pilot episode for a TV show.

Passage at Arms, by Glen Cook. I have never seen Das Boot, but even so, this book was transparently "Das Boot in Space". See the movie instead.

Family Trade, by Charlie Stross.  I like some of the other things Stross has done, but this was bland. If you've read Roger Zelazny's Amber books, you have the general idea, but the Amber books were more imaginative and had more vivid characters.

Writing course

Diana has signed up for a college writing course; this implies that she'll be doing writing exercises, which implies that I'll be doing writing exercises. I'm already posting some on Ficton.