Sentential Links #254

Linkage (concentrating this week on blogs I haven't perused in a while):

:: Its pretty simple idea, an old story. A magic lamp that grants wishes. At the core,that is what the Green Lantern story is. Alladin. Sure the details have changed, the ring, the Corps, the Guardians, but in the end, the Lantern and it’s power is something we all have wanted. The ability to take what we picture on our minds and make it real.

:: Planking squirrels. What will they think of next?

:: Philadelphia is the worst place for genealogy I have ever seen.

:: Gee, I wonder why tech blogs are still, even in 2011, regarded as cesspools?

:: What we know of the Ninth's Finale suggests that Bruckner was planning no simple, triumphal answers to such questions. Faith would have won out in the end, but not without an enormous struggle, bordering on madness. At the end of his life, Bruckner was seen reciting the Lord's Prayer at the top of his voice, repeating each line for emphasis. He is also said to have suggested that if he did not live to finish the Ninth then God would have only Himself to blame. (I sometimes think I don't listen to enough Bruckner...and then I listen to some Bruckner. Imagine a meal of French toast made with extremely thick slices of pumpernickel bread, with no syrup. That's Bruckner.)

:: Between the three of us we asked about the editing process, how the character of Thrawn was created, how to get a foot in the editorial door, the issues with long series and different authors, playing in George's driveway, writing characters that other authors have created, and so many other tidbits that were washed away in the sheer excitement of sitting at that table. I know I'm not the first person to ask about Thrawn, but I couldn't help it.

:: Cold makes New Yorkers bundle up and scurry along and lets us indulge our natural tendency to stay out of each other's way. Heat takes away the physical barriers and leaves us contemplating each other unadorned, and that's by no means always a good thing.

More next week!