Collie's Bestiary

The entire cave system is more than 1300 ft. long, and as mentioned earlier the original cave opening was a walk-in. Interestingly, deep in one of the first chambers at the former entrance — where the sunlight would never illuminate — there is a vertical wall covered with red dots, created by placing the painted [...]

A film by Werner Herzog. From the little I know of Werner Herzog, he's a famous cinematographer renowned for his stream-of-consciousness art films. The impression I get from the article or two I read about him was that he struggles to portray the sometimes-insanity of life as realistically as possible in his films. If this [...]

"A free race cannot be born of slave mothers." –Margaret Sanger My thesis was written on the Central Asian nomads of the late Bronze and early Iron Age. Since these were mounted nomadic traders and raiders, the modern assumption has been that they were a strongly patriarchal society. One of the "startling" discoveries which I [...]

Update: Same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. state of New York on June 24, 2011 by the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo! The law will take effect on July 24, 2011. Huzzah! I don't often post on political issues. Today, however, I found New York State Senator Roy McDonald startlingly inspiring. [...]

Upon reflection, I think at least one of the reasons the movie was unpopular is because many people define success as what they would like to have happen to them — especially if they are identifying with the heroine. I remember, for example, how mixed the reactions were to the movie Brazil, some years ago; [...]

The missions are a fascinating study all on their own, due to the girls slowly becoming less and less successful as the mission goals become increasingly difficult. For example, the old man / mission commander / guardian angel warns Babydoll in the very first (and most successful) battle to try to stay alive. She ends [...]

There have been incredibly mixed reviews concerning the movie Sucker Punch. I can kind of understand why people hated it — I have one friend who told me he enjoyed the movie overall, but had he known about one particular scene he would not have gone, since it squicked him. I, however, rather enjoyed it, [...]

Having a very good month so far! Excellent news on the home front, which eliminated a major source of stress, which meant I focused enough to get one of my two remaining final papers written and done, woo! :) Went to the Symphony Silicon Valley last night with my housemates to celebrate, and was startled [...]

Here there be dragons… and plot spoilers! Proceed at your own risk. :) I'm struggling through getting final papers written, and my brain needed a break… so I did a quick review of L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s The Eternity Artifact to clear my head. Whew! I needed that. Now, back to work! ;) ~ * [...]

Got another tambourine completed — this one's just a little 6 incher. The theme seemed perfect for spring though: a calla lily on the silhouette of a rose. I've always loved the creamy texture of calla lilies, and wanted to try replicating, in art, that interestingly smooth crinkle effect as they curl. Both the rose [...]