Something horrible appears to have happened to Padraig O Mealoid, between Ulrika O'Brien and Chad Orzel.
Dante wrote Gary Stu fanfic.
Isn't part of the definition of Gary Stu/Marty Sam/Mary Sue that the character should be an idealised version of the author? The Dante in the Divine Commedy is constantly being criticised by Virgil and Beatrice.
I'd have thought that the batsman would be out if he were so clumsy as to connect with the ball but not keep it from breaking the wicket.
To add to candle's point, there's a difference between Stephen hitting the ball onto Jack's wicket, as happened in the game, and Stephen hitting the ball onto his own wicket. In the latter case, Stephen would be out.
Most of the complications in cricket involve odd ways of getting yourself out.
See Ways of Getting Out for a list. I think I've seen two or three of the rare ones; I've definitely never seen anyone "Timed out".
I had the impression that Stephen had broken the rules by _carrying_ the ball, because he thought cricket was like hurley
Assuming 19th century cricket rules match modern ones, Stephen broke the rules when he checked the ball's bounce and then dribbled it: hitting the ball more than once in a single play is illegal unless, after the batsmen hits it the first time, the ball is heading for his stumps. The punishment for this is that Stephen is out, which would seem to achieve his aim of ending the match.
Adding a science-fictional touch, Ode to Joy is the usual choice of tune for Gordon R. Dickson's Battle Hymn of the Friendlies. This (as pointed out by Jo Walton long ago on rasfw) means that it too can be sung to the tune of Clementine.
"Soldier ask not, now or ever
Where to waaaaaaaaar your banners go"
There was a story I read once where a rival intergalactic empire sends a space ship back in time to destroy Earth before humanity comes into being, but they blow up the wrong planet, and so Earth goes on its merry way.
That might be "T" by Brian Aldiss. I remember it from the collection Space, Time and Nathaniel, but a bit of poking around in the ISFDB suggests that you might have read it in First Flight, edited by Damon Knight.
Remember the trolley song in meet me in Saint Louis?
I have to confess that, no, I don't. I'm sure I have a, um, thingy you use for remembering things with, but it doesn't always seem to work as well as I'd like.
Meaning what, Paul? That Shirley's presence would have sunken the thing?
Maybe it's just me, but I can't remember anything about any Shirley Temple film I've ever seen except for her singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop", and even there I can't remember anything past the first line. "The Wizard of Oz", on the other hand, has so much going for it that maybe it could have survived this effect.
Deanna Durbin was deemed too mature to play Dorothy, Paul? More so than Judy Garland? How strange
That's what the Web page says - whether it's right or not I couldn't say. A couple of other pages suggest that she was simply unavailable, and the Wizard of Oz FAQ treats the idea as nothing more than a rumour.
I wonder if we'd still be discussing The Wizard of Oz if MGM had been able to get Shirley Temple for the role of Dorothy.
when Prince Charles becomes king, how is he going to be numbered? Isn't Charles III what Bonnie Prince Charlie claimed to be?
There's been speculation that he'll be crowned as George VII, partly because of Bonnie Prince Charlie and partly because kings called Charles don't have the best of records.
I think we can at least be confident that he won't use one of his other middle names and have himself crowned as King Arthur.
Does anybody know if the story is true that, due to some misunderstanding between the studio's bosses and the movie's producers, they went for Judy Garland instead of Deanna Durbin
According to this site, she didn't get the part because she looked too mature at the time. The same page mentions that, about three years earlier, she missed out on a contract with MGM because of a misunderstanding.
Publication order is best (Vlad Taltos)
I agree, though chronological order (or as near to it as you can get) makes an interesting way to reread them. Carrie: the first book in publication order is Jhereg, also available in the omnibus Book of Jhereg along with Yendi and Teckla.
TexAnne's tale of recipes and lying bastards is Oehfg'f Iynq Gnygbf frevrf.
Dear Sir, Thank you for submitting your murder mystery for our consideration. While we are interested in publishing your work, we feel that two changes are vital:
1) The murderer's identity should be concealed until much later in the novel.
2) A madman with a Napoleon complex is something of a cliche; this needs to be replaced with something more original.
Please let us know if you feel you can make these changes.
someone waaaaayyy up above mentioned getting a kick out of Opus Dei being an assassins' order
That's just silly. Everyone knows it's the Poor Clares that supply the Catholic Church with its assasins.
Though I didn't say Hobbes didn't do things Hector wouldn't
Oops, so you didn't. Oh well, it was worth quoting anyway.
Paul Clarke pointed out, correctly, that Tigger has more of a Calvinist nature
Perhaps I should point out that I was thinking of enthusiasm and complete lack of foresight, rather than a firm belief in predestination.
Does Hector ever do or say anything Hobbes wouldn't, in the same situation?
"Don't the other kids tease you for bringing a stuffed animal to school with you?"
"Tommy Chestnut did once, and now nobody does."
"Why?"
"Hobbes ate him."
Loathe as I am to use all caps, they were in the verse I made this from:
THROUGH ME YOU GO IN TO THE SAD BURG
THROUGH ME YOU GO WHERE WOE DOES NOT END
THROUGH ME YOU JOIN THE ONES WHO ARE LOST
TO BE JUST WAS THE WISH OF THE ONE WHO MADE ME
I WAS MADE BY THE STRENGTH OF THE LORD
THE HEIGHT OF WIT AND THE FIRST LOVE
ERE ME WAS NAUGHT MADE THAT ENDS AT ALL
AND I WILL LAST FOR ALL OF TIME
LEAVE ALL HOPE, YOU WHO COME IN HERE
The Scott Adams humour formula: I suspect that the 2/6 rule will have too many false positives to be really useful. Quantum mechanics is both clever and bizarre, but not terribly funny.
From that article:
Hobbes is essentially Tigger
Apaprt from the obvious, do they really have much in common? If anything, Calvin seems like a better match for Tigger.
Diana Wynne Jones titles good for younger readers
I'd also recommend Power of Three, and second the recommendation for the wonderful Archer's Goon.
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