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So while my mother was in the hospital, I got her a NetFlix account. Since she’s not always into the technogeeky thing, and because I wanted to make her life as easy as possible while recovering, I manage the queue. It’s worked out really well — she gets the fun of opening a surprise in the mail every few days. And I have a pretty solid idea of her tastes. But I’m feeling whimsical, so now I want recommendations from y’all. What would you rent her? The list of movies rented to date is in the extended entry — she claims to have enjoyed everything so far.

I just read the last issue of Cerebus. That’s it; ain’t any more. For an insane guy, Dave Sim sure draws a pretty comic. It never stopped being gorgeous. I wish I could say kinder things about it; I am staggered by the weight of it. Thousands upon thousands of pages. There have been few such extended achievements. When both he and Gerhard are dead, Cerebus will enter the public domain. He has arranged for the negatives to remain with trustworthy custodians, and they will be available to those who wish to reprint any portion of it. The attentive will notice that those two statements are not entirely congruent. Who knows? I’m going to spoil the end now.

[That was odd. Sorry about that.] I rarely have many objections to Mamet, or for that matter to Val Kilmer. Keep that in mind. Still and all, Spartan measured up. Twice I saw the wires on which the god was lowered from the machine, but the tense taut moments more than carried me through. And who knew Mamet could direct an action movie? It is an action movie. It’s also a spy movie. ...

President Roh of Korea was just impeached (original). He’d been tagged " the world’s first Internet president", mostly because his victory was driven by Internet activism. Don Park has another take on the impeachment (original). He’s a smart guy and I trust his insights on the situation. KoreaTimes talks about what happens next (original). Aside from the obvious “old school tears down the Internet generation” angle, I’m a bit concerned about the “tumult right next to North Korea” angle. Dunno how worried I should be, though. It’s not as if the opposition politicians hadn’t managed to handle the North Korean situation for quite some time before Roh came along. It’s mostly the uncertainty of not knowing who runs the country right now that bugs me. ...

Here’s the cliche: This week’s Wednesday Weird isn’t about just any old hedge Wizard, but the classic wize old wizard that is a staple of the fantasy genre. Although Merlin is a heck of a lot older than Gandalf, I’m not sure if he started wearing the pointy hat before Tolkein’s wizard. However, since D&D and most fantasy fiction has (for better or worse) been heavily derived from Tolkein’s work ever since, we’ve seen a lot of wizards in the Gandalf/Merlin mold. They’ve been dispensing sage advice and assisting heroes for ages. Sometimes they have the hat. Sometimes they don’t. ...

Celestial Pictures is restoring and rereleasing 75% of the Shaw Brothers library on DVD (original). Alas, they’re all region 3 DVDs. If only I’d just purchased a region-free DVD player… Oh, wait. I did.

Jack Dandy, Gentleman About Town! Sadly, I don’t know very much about him. Yes, it’s true: he’s just a set of powers and a vague appearance looking for a background. Perhaps I should go all Ripper and make him the Prince of Wales in a disguise. No? Well… Right; he’s the Honorable Austin Alexander, second son of the Right Honorable Lord Islington. He does wear a mask, because his elder brother — who he adores — thinks that he’ll bring shame on the family name, blah blah blah. His father is senile and could care less. He mostly cares about having superpowered larks, and feels the mask adds to his air of mystery. His armor is a glowing force field in a thrilling shade of hunter green. His quantum bolts are, um, quantum bolts. I was very entranced by the thought of flying whilst wearing a tailcoat, but the more I examine it the less thrilled I feel. I am having deep trouble working up backgrounds lately. My wuxia Charnel Gods character, who doesn’t even have a name yet, is in even worse shape.

Who doesn’t need more books? Lorem Ipsum (original), the hot new used bookstore in Inman Square, is throwing a grand opening party (original) this Friday at 7 PM. My brother made their bookshelves. They have a blog (original). They’re cool. See you there.

I thought I’d done this one before, but careful examination reveals that I have not. Thus, this Monday we’ll pay homage to the Oscars. Glitter, awards selected by popular vote, all eyes on the gowns — that sort of thing. (Lensmen next week. Promise.)

Today, being a holiday, did not feel much like a Monday. Ooops. Anyhow, I’m going to steal a mashup from Jere today. He says he’s seen a lot of campaigns that draw from T.S. Eliot’s " The Waste Land." I’ve never been lucky enough for that, although I did once play a paladin who drew religious inspiration from an old battered copy of Selected Poems. (Eric Hargan’s Catholicworld campaign. Eric is now writing policy studies for the Federalist Society, among other lawyerly pursuits.) But I risk digressing into the treacherous political waters so evident in my previous post. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not yet April; it is not yet the cruellest month. Still, we may still breed lilacs before their time is come.