slikmar

Dame Helen Mirren and her Barbie doll

I wonder whether Andersen was mocking the upper class or engaging in self-parody.  His specialty after all, was writing girls who endured horrible torture (frequently leading up to their death) and then there's this impossibly delicate princess who can't sleep due to a degree of discomfort so slight as being impossible for a human to detect.  Then again he could have just objected on "suffering is virtuous" grounds to the original version of the story where the "princess" actually is an imposter, but a kind one who manages to find allies who give her the answers to the queen's tests.  
 

Gordon Lightfoot certainly did not need that song for his career. And he brought it to the families of the drowned sailors before he released it to ask for their approval. They all considered it a fitting tribute.
 
Detroit's Maritime Church rings its bell every year on the anniversary of the wreck, once for each sailor lost. Last year they added an extra stroke of the bell for Gordon Lightfoot after his passing.
 
(Sorry, that got my Canadian up a little.) 😌

It's funny, during TOS the Romulans were depicted as tough and aggressive, but also disciplined and honorable. While Klingons were shown to be deceitful, sneaky, and manipulative. In the TNG era those racial/cultural roles were essentially reversed.

Christopher Walken & Chris Sarandon, Hamlet 1982

Maybe a generational thing. I certainly don't see matches in any format going like that. Ian Botham was never in at No 1 or 2 and he could score like nobodies business. But usually the good batsmen go in first. Boycott and Gooch were at one stage England's openers but one would get out and the pair would not have got that far. Both however were capable of getting centuries  

The Aussie Rules season has started again. 

I am in part 2, where Esra is 13. I like how he is using the opening of this series to "humanize the Goblins". I also really like Niblik. I tend to do the audiobooks, and Tim Gerard Reynolds is an amazing reader, one of the better ones I have heard. 
After finishing this book, I am seriously thinking of going back to Riyria Revelations with an understanding of how this series and the Age of Legends fits into what happened.
 
The whole series could be taken as the character arcs of 2 characters (3 I guess if you include Trilos): Morn DuLay and Torin (Kyle, Malcom, Uberlin, etc.) Is fascinating and I can't wait to see what he does next.
 
 

CW: animal death
 
Multiple Dog Deaths At 2024 Iditarod Reignite Pleas To End The Annual Race

I just started Esrahaddon myself. So far, really engaging and entertaining. Good to see how Esra got his start. I loved Niblik