Joss Whedon is my Master now

The folks over at pvponline are selling t-shirts with the above logo. It is particularly apt now that my wife and I saw a clip from the Serenity movie last night. As regular readers (hi mom!) of this blog know, I am a total Joss Whedon fanboy. I may have to start a religion.

I apologize for the long lag time between posts. The usual excuses (i.e., work) apply with some added stresses. I will not go into details here but a relative became very ill and I left town to visit him. While I was there, I visited another relative who is also very ill. Although I am glad I was able to do it, and my relatives are taking things in stride, it was a sobering experience for me. Once I sort it all out, I may post something about my thoughts on the matter.

I have been watching House since the season started but there has been very little character and a whole lot of plot recently, so I haven't had a lot to say. As always, I refer you to the excellent Polite Dissent web site for an in-depth analysis of the medicine practiced in the show. Last night provided a little more insight into a much-neglected character, Dr. Cuddy. In the first season, I thought she was woefully underutilized as a foil for House. He stumped her at every turn. In this episode, we learn that she feels inadequate because she hasn't actually practiced medicine in quite a while. That is a perfectly reasonable explanation for her reluctance to stand up to House when he practices some dubious medicene but I don't think that it works here. With Cuddy taken care of, there is no dynamic opposition to House's antics. The new character, an in-house lawyer played by Sela Ward, may develop into this but the scenes with her in the season so far are not promising. I enjoy the medical stuff very much, and the actors stand out in their roles, but I want to see more more plot involving these characters. They are too good to neglect.

I am reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Although I am determined to finish it, it manages to take an interesting thriller and turn it into a pedantic exercise. The premise is simple: Dracula really exists as an undead creature and several scholars seek him out for various reasons. There are bits of this book that really seize my interest and keep me reading; however, this thing could easily be hundreds of pages shorter than it is.

Also, I added a few more links to the roster. Of particular note is Recyclum, a blog written by an acquaintance of mine from New Orleans. My wife and I visited him and his wife when we attended the New Orleans Jazz Fest last year. I am sure the posts are buried in the archives. At any rate, he writes about New Orleans as well as his experiences in Nicaragua, where he is working and researching. Please check it out.

Oh, and someone has finally taken pictures of a giant squid! Sea monsters do exist! My nine year-old self is vindicated! (yoinked from Boing Boing).