Amateur Hour

There is a discussion over at Will's blog about interracial romance in science fiction.

I was gonna post something about the William Shatner-Nichelle Nichols kiss on Star Trek TOS but then I realized this is sorta like bringing up Lionel Trains Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains

in a discussion among fine-scale model railroaders.

:-)

Surf spray

A handful of not-particularly-related items that have crossed my computer screen today.

I've just discovered an interesting Christian blog, slacktivist, which has this clear-eyed post on religious freedom that's well worth reading.

I got there via the equally interesting Pagan blog, The Wild Hunt, which has been diligently following an ongoing story -- particularly the media sensationalism thereof -- about the uncovering of dead animal remains at a home in Philadelphia that may or may not be related to the practice of Santeria.

On other matters...

...Is it just me, or is the story of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a/k/a Humam Khalil Mohammed, the CIA double-agent-turned-suicide-bomber, beginning to sound more and more like a John LeCarre novel?

...Once in a while I happen upon Daily Variety, the show-biz paper. This story is a case study in the publication's highly idiosyncratic use of language (coined words, odd syntax, jargon). Reading it is entertainment itself.

...And finally, thanks to an ad in the margins of Facebook, I now know that a new movie is coming out that features God, St. Michael, and Jesus being born again at the Apocalypse. I'm mildly curious how the Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians view this cultural event, but not enough to go looking right now...

Afterthought: And I'm very unlikely to see it myself.