The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Mark:

Did NYC get that black downpour late Friday afternoon? The cloudbank fell with a thud, literally was black. I thought "It can't be the Apocalypse; I have a concert to go to."

My dear departed cat didn't like storms, but wouldn't admit it. I live in an eighty-foot long apartment and during storms I'd find her in the hall with that look at her face that said, "Yes, I know this is the geographic center of the apartment with no view of the windows. I *like* staring at the baseboard. What of it?"

How about:

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

"It was a pleasure to burn."

And not sfnal, but still a fave:

"you stupid bunnies"

Subject change: I'm researching how to a) register a domain name and b) publish a website. And my eyes are spinning around in my head. All I want to do is have a multi-page author site with a blog. Any advice or can anyone direct me to a good site for very basic info for a newbie? (I checked out webhostingtalk.com but it's really not geared for someone with my rudimentary knowledge).

Also, opinions please: Many webhosts offer free blog software. Is it better to go with a link to livejournal or eblogger? Will the possibility of traffic go up using those? Or is it irrelevant?

Signed,
Clueless in Cyberspace

Ha! I've found one. Now to put my new fangled blogging skills to work...

Look at this nest of evil leeberials! Trash-talking our President whom Jesus has saved. If it wasn't for illegal workers, we'd still be starving in Oklahoma and such places cause everyone knows it's high wages and benefits that caused all that wind and dust. Wait a second...is that FRENCH!!!! You people know FRENCH!!! It's worse here than I thought. The high falutin' antynyms was bad enough, but right thinking people don't hold with French.

Thanks for the knitting links though. I made a scarf.

Ah, another angel has jumped on the head of the pin as far as I'm concerned.

I find the fishapod neither cute nor ugly.

It's definitely smirking though. Now, if only they find a pack of cigarettes in its pocket, everybody will be happy.

Great feedback on blood libel, folks. This has been one of those situations where I had no inkling how obscure a bit of knowledge I had was. It's one of the things I love about writing. I like to say "Writing is just an excuse for research."

When I asked my partner if he knew the term, he said no. Then added "I don't think that's something people would normally know." As I walked out of the room, he added further "Well, normal people." Which, of course, is why I like him.

I'm not familiar with the Prioress retelling, though it fits with the m.o. In the middle ages, blood libels against Jews were often used to prop up claims for sainthood for Christian martyrs. It definitely got the most traction against the jews.

Other examples were (a bit ironically) claims against the early christian church (the whole communion ritual). Today, you see it with fears about satanic cults, which, to my knowledge, have never been proved to practice human blood rites seriously---most satanic-related human murders have been convenient revenge killings or thrill kills. Wiccans, as a result, experience a side-wash.

I'm sure it's still used in places where competing religions are vying for power.

Lisa G/static: Is he correct if he has multiple personalities or is possessed? "My name is goyim, for we are many christians."

protected static and MLR: I've been bouncing the blood libel thing around work and you two are indicative of the response: most of the college-age forty-somethings (my work pool) don't know it. The jews do.

I'm finding it fascinating in that 1) it's a great term 2) it's been a political tactic against a few different groups and yet 3) it seems if it's never been about your group (or if you never studied religious persecutions) you've never heard of it and think it's weird.

I hate to lose it in the novel, so maybe I'll try and explain it without sounding like a commercial break for obscure terms. ;)

Open thread question: I referred to "blood libel" in a story I wrote and a reader didn't know what it meant. Button-holing a couple of knowledgeable friends produced blank stares. So, my question to the folks here, is blood libel something the average reader will know or is it something I just know because of my almost religion minor in college?

ajay: I got self-chuckles reading your movie dialog. I seem to recall generating eye-rolling during "Gladiator" with lines like: "That's not a roman statue" and "That sword's too long and you don't use it that way." Glad it's not only me!

Ok, someone looped back to the "The Banana Splits" so I'm just going to chime in with WITCHYPOO! God, I loved that drag queen. It's so sad to think kids today are stuck with Tinky Winky.

My atheism and/or agnosticism is still evolving, but one of the things this very discussion points to for me is, why is the label so important? Does assigning these labels do anything more than facilitate conversation between two individuals having a discussion so that they know ("know") the other's point of reference? Or does it somehow validate one's own understanding of their place in the universe by defining the thought process? Or both? But more importantly for me is, does any of it change my behavior in any kind of meaningful way that does not evolve from my own free will? (He paused and wondered about free will)

It's not so much I don't believe God exists. While I would not be uncomfortable saying flat out that God does not exist, for me it's much more that I don't care if he does. And if he does exist, I pretty much think I'd punch him in the nose.

I know what I know, but I don't know what I don't know. So I'm willing to be surprised and not surprised by a god-goddess-serpenthead. What does that make me? Atheist? Agnostic? Or Spiritually Lazy and Confused?

David Goldfarb: That advice sounds downright Mac-ish. I going to be in the market for a new computer soon, and I'll be looking at Macs too.

I'm not much of a conspiracy nut...not that there's anything wrong with that!...but I just loathe all the tracking that can be done to you in routine life.

You know how Google remembers searches as you type? Has anyone else had to explain to someone who's used their computer why "d-ssh" shows up? I used say things like "Oh, I was looking for support HOSE for dogs and must have mistyped it" but then I discovered it's easier to say "sex toy research" cause then the conversation ends.

I recently read Under the Banner of Heaven. Fascinating. Made me marvel how easy it is to start a religion.

1) Think up some biblical-type stuff that's weird, but not too weird
2) Get some close friends to become apostles
3) Start a marketing campaign.
4) Ascend.

When you think about it, it's just like opening a book publicity firm with no experience and no real skills. Except for the Ascend part. Teresa won't let you Ascend without credentials.

It's the "support" part I keep getting stuck on. The doggie style part I get. The harness part I get. But the support part just keeps making me think of one of those macrame plant hangers only in leather. I don't know if that makes the sex any less fun, but it sure does make it funny.

I was about to formulate a comment about the "good old days" on the internet when you popped a couple of words in a search engine and actually got fairly close to what you were looking for without having to wade through scammers and porn first (in fact, you actually had to work to find the porn. Um, so I'm told) and most of the people were fun to hang out with.

How can you not love a conversation that includes sex toys, Mormons, bad art, spam and wit. At least I can still find fun people.

Why did I know this would be Guinness crowd?

The Book of Kells is cool, but it can get a bit crowded. You can buy a great cd in the gift shop that contains--if I remember correctly---the entire book. Around the BoK is a informative description of bookmaking at the time that I took lots of notes from.

I was just about to recommend the Long Room when I saw PNH hit it. It's much less crowded, makes you wish you owned it and has great display cases.

I think I have a pic of me with the Prick with the Stick. Oh, wait, that wasn't Dublin...

The only proper way to eat chalk is with a very yellow cheese product the way god and Wal-Mart intended. It is completely moral if you are a dominant member of the carnivorous christian food chain. It's in the bible.

Anarch: You're right! And I have to claim a little mea culpa...I looked at the stats exactly the same way I was criticizing others for looking at them.

Having said that, I'm claiming ignorance (or quick to keyboardness). I think others do it purposefully.

Who said there are three kinds of lies "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics." Twain?
;)

Statistically speaking, is it even relevant to get upset about this number of deaths in a population this big? Granted, I wouldn’t want to be one of the dead folks, but we all have an obligation to understand the risks of the medications we take. Even if a doctor recommends something, no one has to take it. 117 deaths a year compared to how many people helped? Don’t more people die in bathroom accidents than that? Where’s the Physicians Against Bathtubs Committee?

This is one of those situations that always make me wonder if I live in the same world as everyone else. I don’t believe anything is 100% safe, and I really can’t relate to the logic of people who do. We can certainly have safeguards in place (like having dangerous substances dispensed by professionals who understand them) but outright bans inevitably are hysteria-of-the-moment.

Take for example second-hand smoke. The original EPA study at the time of major public hysteria indicated about 3,000 deaths per year. The next thing we know, laws sweep the nation banning indoor smoking (okay, admittedly, not a bad thing).

Now, compare that to 6,000+ deaths caused each year by drivers 16-18 years-old. Ban those drivers? Nope…just make it slower to get an official license without actually taking one teenage driver off the road (whether they kill someone with a real license or a learning permit still pretty much leaves a dead body on the side of the road. I’m sure everyone feels better if the driver wasn’t really really licensed. Only sort of.)

So, twice as many deaths, with a significantly smaller response. Reason? Marketing. Stopping smelly smoke is easier to sell than stopping kids from getting out of your hair and going to the mall.

It would be nice if an informed, pragmatic public stopped all this nonsense in its tracks. But, remember, there’s an entire multi-billion industry designed to make people believe something is better or worse, regardless of whether it applies to them or not, and they should care about it, whether they should or not. It’s called Advertising. And it works. It works to sell products, politics and pet hysterias for people with the right media ears to bend. “Follow the money” It’s true for almost any motivation one cares to discover.

I guess I took a crabby pill today.

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