The Hall of Fire

I can't say that i was ever a huge fan of the Beach Boys, but it is undeniable that Brian Wilson had an outsized influence on popular music. Bob Dylan tweeted this: "Heard the sad news about Brian today and thought about all the years I've been listening to him and admiring his genius. Rest in...

I can't say that i was ever a huge fan of the Beach Boys, but it is undeniable that Brian Wilson had an outsized influence on popular music. Brian Wilson, influential pop pioneer and Beach Boys founding member, dies at 82 This scene from the 1989 documentary Roger & Me is usually the first thin...

And just two days after this news:

"Sly Stone, Family Stone Architect Who Fused Funk, Rock, and Soul, Dead at 82. Wildly inventive musician and singer uplifted crowds but faced personal demons later on."

I saw a mink yesterday, but it was gone before I could take a picture.

One of his songs I loved the most was the title song for the James Bond movie, Thunderball . He said that when he was recording it, he hit that last high note so hard and held it so long, that he nearly passed out. I can't find a video of him doing the song live from when the song came out (1965). ...

I've just read the first seven paragraphs of the first chapter of Charles Dickens's 1852-53 novel Bleak House . That text appears at the end of this post. I've never read this novel (nor most of Dickens's work). I first heard of it when another student in a high school AP English class (in which I s...

Here's a beautiful book displayed in Salisbury Cathedral. I should have taken note of what it was -- I probably just assumed that I'd remember. This would have been transcribed and illustrated by hand. I imagine that owning one of these books back then would be like owning a fleet of expensive cars...

And just like that, Superman is back... Here's a new trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox8ZLF6cGM0 Substantial parts of this movie were filmed here in Cleveland last summer. Their costume team set up shop three floors above my office in one of the rehearsal halls we regularly use -- most rec...

I guess I can mention this here how. Tolkien scholars Dimitra Fimi and Luke Shelton have contracted to edit a volume on the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien for the Oxford Handbooks series. Last year (to my great surprise), Dimitra contacted me to invite me to write a chapter for the book on "C...

Voronwë the Faithful wrote: ↑Wed Mar 26, 2025 12:52 am Today's surprising friend near downtown Santa Cruz ...

V, I think you would appreciate the photos here by Brett Banditelli of peregrine falcons and pelicans (near San Diego, I think).

Jude wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 2:29 am And now I know that turkeys can’t fly. Before, I thought they could.

Thank you, Mr. Carlson.

Shire Reckoning tweet reminded me that Galadriel's gift to Aragorn was a sheath for Andúril. Also remembered: "You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought." I meant to note this a couple weeks ago, but Aragorn's statement you quote from "The Last Debate" brin...

Voronwë the Faithful wrote: ↑Thu Dec 19, 2024 4:18 pm I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but in my darkness I have lost it. So I am bringing it up again.

I thought the phrase I show as bolded might be an allusion on your part, but a Google search turns up only one result: this thread.

I don't have a picture, but driving to work today on the "innerbelt" freeway bridge (I-90) that spans the Cuyahoga River, I saw a bald eagle flying right on the edge of downtown Cleveland. I've seen one before along the Lake Erie shore in Lakewood about five miles west of downtown, and the...

Great question! I also note that Tolkien was also influenced by his period of England as well. He did not like everything about Anglo-Saxon England nor despise everything modern. Further it was not an allegory for these things. But, slavery was not what it became during the transatlantic slave trad...

I note these two passages from the article (emphasis added): 1. "Religiously, culturally, and politically, Tolkien was Anglo-Saxon rather than Modern . Tolkien’s ideals seemingly match his professional area of study, the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon culture, while much of what is presented as evil ...

Even with the gift link? Okay, I'll post the text (no St.Augustine). ... Sadly, I don’t live in Tolkien’s Gondor; unless something radically changes about medical science in the next few decades, my lifespan is unlikely to reach the biblical lengths afforded to Aragorn, Eldarion and Borlas. In any ...

Even with the gift link? Okay, I'll post the text (no St.Augustine). ... Sadly, I don’t live in Tolkien’s Gondor; unless something radically changes about medical science in the next few decades, my lifespan is unlikely to reach the biblical lengths afforded to Aragorn, Eldarion and Borlas. In any ...

Pretty sure V keeps the manuscript on a shelf between the rods of five wizards and a pair of boots (of Spanish leather) many sizes larger than those he wears now.

N.E. where DID you get that crazy Shatner video from?? :shock: :shock: I hadn't seen that particular fan video using Star Trek images before sharing it, but the music comes from Shatner's album, The Transformed Man , which was issued in 1968. My mom used to have a copy, along with Two Sides of Leon...