She turned me into a newt!

Having left Backstage, I once again took the US1, south towards Boston. The weather was better so I figured I would maybe see something more interesting this time around.

It was quite a scenic drive, both right along the ocean and a bit further inland through Smalltown America. The only gripe I have is that there is no real warning when turns and off-ramps turn up, unless you're on a major highway. Driving through the smaller cities I had to double back several times because I was in the wrong lane when my turn popped up out of nowhere and the local school bus was right next to me.

Anywho. I managed to not get lost, and this without a GPS. Wonder of wonders. I had a massive stack of scrumptous pancakes at a mom and pop place in the middle of nowhere and then to the left. And I looked at the ocean some more.

Standard blog pose. Check.

Then I decided to go to Salem, where the infamous witch trials were held in 1692, since it was sort of on the way. I visited two museums and wandered around town a bit. Verdict? Utter crap. The Salem Witch Museum did have an interesting timeline of the phenomenon of witches and how they have been persecuted throughout the ages, but other than that nothing much. The main presentation was done by a recorded voice speaking in a pompous, "evil" tone, while spotlights highlighted scenes he was describing. The dummies in the scenes had cobwebs hanging from arms and farm implements and such. On the whole, a very unconvincing spectacle.

The funniest and at the same time most insulting piece of faulty information was this (paraphrased): "During the Salem Witch Trials 16 people were executed. In Europe, during the Spanish Inquisition and the Medieval Inquisition, millions were executed."

Millions? Really? In the middle of the 14th century, the plague struck Europe and severely decimated it's population, which was approx 70 million people, down to as little as 30 million, if some accounts are to be believed. The Spanish Inquisition began in the late 1400s, when Europe was far from recovered from the plague.

Let's say the population was 50 million at this time. "millions" implies several million. Let's say 3 million, half at the feet of the Medieval Inquisition (even though they believed executing a heretic was to admit defeat) and half at the feet of the Spanish Inquisition. So the Spanish Inquisition killed three percent of Europe's population? I had no idea.

I looked at different sources today, and the consensus seems to be that the Spanish Inquisition executed less than 10 000 people over it's entire course. A far cry from "millions". If I find the time and the energy I will put together something more serious than this, run it by a historian or two, and then send it to the frikkin' museum.

Wow. Researching and ranting can really keep me from going to bed. 0030 now. Tomorrow shopping and the circus!

Kill. Crush. Destroy

Almost no sleep last night. Fragments of it, here and there, but that's it. I want a word or two with whoever designed our apartment. Apartments in the other house are much cooler, since they can get a cross breeze going.

So today I hate everyone in Sweden, where it's supposedly 22 degrees. Well, not everyone. But most of them. It's going up to 35 here today, and the humidity is brutal.

I almost had a meltdown yesterday, around 6:30. I made the best decision ever and went to the airconditioned awesomeness that is the reading room. Bliss. So today I'm going right after class.

Tonight editor John Joseph Adams arrives, and will hold a lecture tomorrow. Very appropriate, since this week is focused on the business end of things. How to find an agent, how to write a query letter, etc. Very interesting stuff, and since I haven't submitted a single thing, ever, and have done no research on markets, ever, it's vital info to me if I am going to get stuff out later this year.

Now, class. First, quote.

Meta: It seemed funny that Angelina thought black lace and a frog was a good sex-me-up look.

Late night rants

Late night after an exhausting day, dorm room. Two jet engine fans going, all of us coming down from a major sugar rush (cookies!!!).

So what happens? Three tired, talkative geeks in the same room? These are the subjects that have been discussed:

Comic book movies. Jack Sadness the sock puppet hobo. Where the Wild Things Are. Aardman Studios. Stephen Spielberg (Charley, after we've talked about AI for a while: "Now I remember my rants..."). Tintin. Invader Zim. Rendevouz with Rama. The Matrix (we wanted a real war!). Batman in various incarnations.

The question Why are we still up? was just asked. Good question.

And as I am starting to close down, Charley comes out of the bathroom and says:

"I'm really going to illustrate how much I hated that bathtub scene in ET. I'm gonna get naked and get in the tub, I'm gonna slosh around and then when I call out for you, you can come in. My body is so deformed you'll think it's a cartoon."

Quote of the day, right there. Now? Sleep.