We Always Lose to Sweden In Hockey and Eurovision

This morning I wrote a scene in which two diplomats had a disagreement over cheesy potatoes. I'm not sure if it's a good scene, but I sure had fun writing it. I suppose I should blame my recent reading of Lud-In-the-Mist (which is excellent, BTW) and the frequent exclamations of "Toasted cheese!" within.

This weekend I saw Stranger Than Fiction and enjoyed it very much. (Mildly SPOILERY comments follow.) It's meta- in some of the same ways that, say, "Adaptation" is, and while the latter is (I think) a better film overall, it's the fact that "Stranger Than Fiction" knows and acknowledges this fact that makes it work. All the questions--but why would she fall for him? Isn't the ending gratuitously feel-good?--point back to things which are stated within the film-as-text about what kind of story it's choosing to be. Good stuff. Also, Maggie Gyllenhall with a fake tattoo = teh Hawt.

ALERT! Galactus is coming!

Without a doubt, foot care is crucial for zoo elephants. (Either that, or a helluva a lot more room to roam.) But I don't see why the Animal and Plant Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking for suggestions from the general public on how to take care of it. Why not talk to, I don't know, biologists and such? Granted, the suggestions the article cites sound sensible, but I'm sure they've had far more suggestions for Dr. Scholl's, carpeted enclosures and one of these in XXXXXXXL.

I know that Neil Gaiman already linked this and he has waaaaay more readers than me, but the Helsinki Complaints Choir makes me very, very happy and if you haven't seen and heard the video you should do so.

One of these days I will have a more substantive post, I promise. My head is kind of bubbly lately, though, so I'll have to calm down first.