Transitory States
Edward:
David S Leyman:
Hisham:
Luke:
James Kight:
king:
Hisham and Sila has been writing stuff down on this weblog since 2005. Sometimes they post photos of family, sometimes they talk about film, books and music, sometimes there is artwork and stuff about tabletop gaming.
It's unknown to me who made this image, but everytime I look at it I have to at least stifle a laugh... because the way Aragorn rushes into combat almost without warning is nearly similar to how that fateful battle began at Blackrock Spire. Unfortunately not everyone will get the joke. Just you MMORPG jocks.
Check out what Dungeons and Dragons character you are. Are you a...
Fighter? Monk? Rogue? Wizard? Ranger?
Good? Neutral? Evil?
Lawful? Chaotic?
Human? Dwarf? Elf? Halfling?
Click on this link (dead link) to find out, then read on here to find out what Hisham is in D&D.
Monday, February 20, 2006
aarrrrr rrrrrrrr rrnnnn nn nnhhhh
Aaaa aaaaarrrrr rrrrrrrr rrnnnn nn nnhhhh, aaaa aaaaa aaaa aaa uh aaa uh-aaaaaa aaaaRRRRRR HHH. Aaaa guhaaaa aaaaa uhaa aar rrrrnnn uhnnnn nnn uhnhh.
aaaaa aaaa aaaa aaaaarrn nnhhhh, hurrnhhhh. UUUHHHGGG-rrrr!
Updated: The blog seems to be dead now. So I've disabled the link.
Via Boing Boing, I've discovered a bunch of Family Circus comics at the Accordion Guy's blog that has H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos captions placed on it. These are very humourous if you've read Lovecraft and put them into context with the Family Circus. But there was one hilarious Family Circus comic posted anonymously in the comments section that really made me chuckle out loud. (See below.)
Update (28th Aug 2013): Dead link replaced with Youtube video.
Are you feeling too cheerful or happy? Are you feeling that you've had enough feeling on top of the world? Are you sick of everyone telling you "The sun is shining! The birds are singing! Everything is smelling of roses!"?
Then check out Exit Mundi, the website that catalogues the various ways the world and/or the entire universe may end, from scientific and religious standpoints. It'll sure to wipe that smile off your face.
How do you like to read about the accidental extinction of the human race? For example, what happens if genetically engineered crop (actually created in a lab named Epicyte in San Diego in 2002) designed to be a contraceptive, escapes into the real world and are accidentally planted in farms all over the world? We'll all be eating food that induces infertility by killing all sperm cells.
If you're interested in space-based threats, what if a black hole wanders into the solar system, misses the Earth by a distance, but throws the planet off its orbit? Or even worse, crosses path with Earth?
So, what's your poison? Gamma-ray bursts? Uncontrollable nanotech? Climate shift? Mass insanity? Read, and be depressed. (Or not, if you find the humorous writing on the site entertaining.)
I've known for quite some time that major star names used in science are Arabic in origin, a testimony to the work of Muslim astronomers between the 9th and the 12th centuries, but I've never found an extensive list of current star names and their Arabic origin until I stumbled across the Jordanian Astronomical Society's website with its great Arabic Star Names page.
Since I read and watch a lot of science fiction, I found it interesting that some of the names have appeared in contemporary SF. Not the well-known ones like Betelgeuse or Vega or Rigel, I'm talking about the not so well known star names.
Referring the the JAS list in the link above:
#133 Rukbat is the star which Anne McCaffrey's Pern revolves around. It's known as Alpha Sagittarii, so she did her homework by referring it to be in the "Sagittarius sector" although in the wiki article it mentions that the real Rukbat is a B-spectral class blue star instead of a G-class yellow star.
#01 Acamar, #108 Mintaka and #111 Mizar have indigenous sentient lifeforms that appeared in various episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation.
Frank Herbert however seemed to have referred to his Dune series' Arrakis to star #45 which is Mu Draconis, instead of Canopus (Alpha Carinae) in the books.