Happy Holidays!

I'll talk to you in the New Year.

In Praise of Pratchett!

So far as I know, no new episode of House aired last night. Thus, no recap for you!

Instead, I would like to take a few minutes to praise Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Discworld is, well, a disk that sits atop four elephants who, in turn, sit atop a giant turtle that swims through the universe. As you can imagine, this is not a fantasy series that takes itself too seriously. Mr. Pratchett takes fantasy tropes and gives them a unique spin, often at the expense of the trope. For instance, wizards are muddle-headed fools who are clever but not wise. A race of tiny blue men, called Pictsies, run around whacking things and speaking in a near-unreadable Scottish brogue (they think that they are in heaven and are free to drink, carouse and perpetrate violence because that is what heaven is for them). Many vampires belong to a Temperance Society wherein they eschew human blood. There are Verruca Gnomes as well as Tooth Fairies. It goes on and on and never dulls.

But the thing that really sells this series is the way he spins modern real-world problems and examines them in his fun-house-mirror world. He looks at the internet and the dot com bubble in Going Postal; women in the military (and women in traditional societies in general) in Monstrous Regiment; race relations and extremism in Thud! He skewers the silly in our own society in an entertaining manner that serves the story. Any book in this series is highly recommended.

One note of caution: there are, like, hundreds of books in this series. One could face them on the shelves of your friendly local branch of the large bookstore chain and quaver. But although groups of the books tend to go together (featuring the same characters or the same region of Dicsworld), each story stands alone. Once you get into any particular book, you are off and running. Check 'em out.

It appears that we may see some freezing rain in Austin today. I predict much madness and terror in the streets on my commute home. I love winter.

Happy Saint Nicholas' Day!

Today is the day we celebrate the proto-Claus, the dude who was the patron saint of practically everyone (I especially like the fact that he is the patron saint of victims of judicial mistakes).

I hope you left your shoes outside last night!

"Starring New Zealand and a computer"

Here is a curmudgeonly defense of C.S. Lewis. It is a good, thoughtful read if you have the time.

Answering the Wrong Questions responds.

On a somewhat related note, my wife and I watched A Series of Unfortunate Events last night and found it quite charming ("My name is Stefano. I am an Italian man."). Does anyone know if there will be any sequels?