What does it take to sell real estate? Brass balls (original). Glengarry Glen Ross. 3.5 minutes. Rip, remix, burn.

Whoops, I missed a WISH. Well, last week was pretty busy. This week, it’s [all about supplements](http://web.archive.org/web/20060924230405/http://web.archive.org/web/20060924230405/http://www.whiterose.org/pam/archives/002982.html (original) “Perverse Access Memory: WISH 36: Supplements”) (original). What do you think about supplements to game systems? Do you like the additional material, or are you just annoyed about spending the money for the additional rules? Name up to three supplements you?ve really enjoyed, and describe why you liked them. I like supplements. I have the gamer fondness for more crunchy stuff, although I’m just as happy without it, but what I really like is cool world material. This bias is about to become utterly apparent when I talk about my three favorite supplements. ...

Think you know when the war’s gonna start? Put your money where your mouth is (original). March To War has a pool; it’s five bucks to buy in. 20% of the pool goes to the player who comes closest in the form of prepaid gas cards; the rest goes to humanitarian activity in Iraq. The agency overseeing this is Boston Mobilization — just the kind of progressive activists the right wing loves to hate. But hey, they’re not planning on keeping the money, they’re planning on funnelling it to relief organizations. ...

Thanks to Jon Carroll (original), I’ve uncovered another incidence of shameful French history. Feast your eyes on this artifact, and be reminded why we must scorn the French and mock their history.

Magpie RSS is a PHP RSS parser. Tagged for later reference.

Does anyone have any thoughts to share on Steven Erikson? As in, has anyone read his books?

Last night on American Idol, after each contestant sung, they did the usual “call this number to vote for this singer” bit. But this season, they’ve added another fillip: “Or text this number!” Just like that, no explanation of what the word means. Fox knows its target audience, I guess. Or they’re just trying to look hipper.

The Retrosheet folks are more obsessive about a larger quantity of data (not to mention more productive) than you. I can almost guarantee this. They are engaged in the slow process of compiling as much data as possible about every Major League Baseball game ever played. They have the day by day standings for every season since 1900. Here’s April 11th, 1912. They have play by plays for most games between 1967 and 1990. They find it disappointing that they don’t know which umpires were assigned to all their games. I am in total awe. ...

A generation ago, the City fell. The world fell. It is said that a great disaster marked the date, but that none knew of its significance until it was far too late. It is said that once, men did not believe in demons. If that is so, then disbelief was washed away by a torrent of winged creatures who eat memories and leave only shadows where men once walked. You are brookers, heirs to the tradition of your fathers, who fought the good fight on the Street of the Walls. You bargain with the merchants of the mainland, to ensure that every resident of the City can eat. You battle the demons that live in the tops of the fallen towers with sword and fire, because that is what your fathers did before they died, and you are better trained than your fathers. ...

Den Beste misses the point yet again. “What I think is that they [the nations of the world] already do hate our guts, and that at this point acting unilaterally won’t increase that to any significant degree.” OK, let’s let that be a given for the purposes of argument. Now cast your mind back a year and a half. How did we squander all that good will? ...