Bear McCreary is the coolest

So I just heard back from Bear McCreary *again*! Holy crap! And he sent me his mailing address. Double holy crap! But this bit I just have to share directly with you all:

There are some really cool tracks coming up on the Season 2 soundtrack
that you will probably enjoy. Also a really cool piece towards the end of
this week's episode...

Is it Friday yet? [/whine]

He referred to me and Aelf as "lovely ladies" *squee* and remembered meeting us at the convention! **bliss**

What a way to start the day!

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Damn, apparently one interesting thing happened during Alito's questioning yesterday and I missed it. Typical.

The Crying Game:

"Then Mrs. Alito suffered a case of the weepies that was so dramatically well-timed and patently maudlin that I was reminded of the classic stage direction in Private Eye (takes out onion, wipes away tear), and suddenly the proceedings turned into a soap opera with Fox News commentators arriving on cue to deplore the toll taken on innocent bystanders."

And Jane sez:

Mrs. Strip Search Sammy sure had herself a Kodak moment today, didn't she? Goober Graham left off his corn-pone homilies and played the hick card just long enough to set her up by using the B word --– the word they're all terrified of, the word they wanted to use before the Democrats did -- BIGOT BIGOT BIGOT BIGOT BIGOT BIGOT -- that sent the low-rent Sarah Bernhardt shrieking for the cheap seats.

I've worked in the biz long enough to know a poorly executed little melodrama when I see it and that was the worst, the most shameless, most obvious. It's the role you give a really bad actress, one that can't even be counted upon to cry with conviction. The mad dash will obscure the crocodile tears and ensure that all the cameras follow, and any attempt at intelligent discussion of quite serious and weighty matters will undoubtedly get trumped by a moment of quick burlesque ripe for the evening news. A slavish press will need no coaching to play along.

Pure setup 101.

Somebody sat down last night and decided ol' Strip Search was coming off cold and vaguely sweaty and creepy. But how to soften him up, make him sympathetic, get the public on his side? Anyone with an IQ over 52 was doing an eye roll over that one, so it ought to have had some sort of GOP trademark stamp atop it.

Democrats are now effectively warned away from inching near the "B" word lest they look like cruel Snidely Whiplashes taunting Dainty Sensitive Nell.

These boldfaced crooks are absolutely desperate to stack the court and keep all their bacon out of prison.

*sigh* It'd be nice if we didn't have to deal with this kind of theatrical bullshit in lieu of actual government, but if we do it'd be even nicer if we'd get at least one or two Emmy-worthy performances out of the Dems. C'mon guys, just a little drama to liven things up on our side, huh? If the GOP wants to cast us as the villains of the piece (ooh the big bad meanies with no actual power picking on those of us in power, how dare they?), why not send Kennedy in dressed as Sauron, complete with mace and helmet. Cue the Imperial March when the Dems enter en masse. Something. If we're going to be the bad guys then let's fucking be the bad guys, ok? Jeez.

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It's so nice to read some positive Wiccan news once in a while, this article on the Spiral Scouts (the Wiccan/all faiths version of the boy/girl scouts) is just delightful:

James O’Connell, 14, of Plymouth is a member of the Oaken Grove Circle, which operates in Washtenaw and western Wayne counties. He has been participating in Spiral Scouts for about five years, “practically since it started.” O’Connell, who also has two younger brothers in the program, says his favorite part of Spiral Scouts is his circle’s yearly summer camping trip to Sleepy Hollow State Park. “We camp out, walk around the woods, look at things, and just try to figure out what the world’s like.”

When asked about the most important lesson he has learned from Spiral Scouts, O’Connell responds, “Respect the earth. Don’t trash it, because if you do, it will bite you later...”

But where the Boy and Girl Scouts recite a pledge to “do my duty to God and my country,” a Spiral Scout promises, among other things, to “respect living things” and “respect the beauty in all creations.” Additionally, Spiral Scout merit badges are set up in five categories — earth, air, fire, water and spirit — that correspond to the five points of the Wiccan pentacle.
[...]
One key difference between the Spiral Scouts and the mainstream scouts is that membership is not gender-specific. In fact, each circle is required to have both a male and female leader, who must first undergo extensive background checks. Callahan says this openness is essential. She explains, “Often it seems when you segregate children according to gender, the mentality arises that they’ll either do ‘girl things’ or ‘boy things.’ In the real world, it’s necessary to work with both men and women. How are you going to do that if you’re just off in your own little box?”