When Alexius was Emperor, and the foreign and infidel hordes that had migrated through the Roman Empire were being pacified’ and the bold Normans who had voyaged thither had been beaten and dispersed, certain citizens of the city of Bari, moved by a divine inspiration, purposed to sail in their merchant ships to Antioch, a city situated in Coele, in Syria. This they undertook not for selfish profit, but for a laudable and praiseworthy work – a work worthy of mention, O the marvel of it! For it delights my heart and what I have to say will soar aloft on lightsome wing. For they had the intention – and bless them for their prudence, bless them for their good choice! – instead of pursuing mercantile and selfish interests, to cast anchor at Myra and remove the manna-receiving and fragrant remains of our blessed, thrice-happy and inspired Father, and so, this accomplished, to possess and take pride in him as in a great fortune and inseparable treasure. Now, this was, as a matter of fact, the purpose of our Venetian brothers also, even though the deed had been accomplished by the men of Bari. For blessed is not he who begins a thing and does not finish it, but blessed is he who says and does and accomplishes good. In such wise it was, then, that they who heard of the plan of the Venetians were the first to attain the favor. For though the Venetians were bent on taking that goodly treasure and bringing it back to their homeland, the good God did not allow it so to be accomplished, but their plan and its fulfillment was given to the men of Bari, while the conception of the Venetians developed unaccomplished and unactuated .

Contrary to folklore, it is not the unicorn which can only be captured by a beautiful virgin. Rather, only young and inexperienced girls can be tempted by the unicorn. Because any woman with a lick of sense knows that unicorns are scumbags.

Fred has a tiny, misshapen horn. And you know what they say about the size of a unicorn’s horn.

“But you’re convinced that, to put it crudely, when you die, that’s it.”

“No,” Vidal replies. “I wouldn’t say: ‘When you die, that’s it.’ I’d say: ‘When you’re born, that’s it.’”

[From Gore Vidal: Literary feuds, his 'vicious' mother and rumours of a secret love child - Features, Books - The Independent]

My iPhone is a camera, a phone, an iPod, a movie player, an RSS reader, an ebook reader, gaming platform, and blogging device. The problem mostly being that it’s hard to not want to do all of these things at once. Listen to a song, play solitaire. Reading a book, quick, switch to look at Twitter. Oh! An email just arrived!

Instead of reading books, I tend to read wikipedia articles at night, or play solitaire in the bathroom. (No jokes about that! I swear! Literally the game of solitaire!)

So I’m seriously considering getting an iPod again. I have a digital camera. While lugging these things around is a pain, I also miss reading whole books in big chunks. I haven’t stayed up late to finish a book in quite a while, and I find I’m missing it.

It’s not a technology issue, it’s a usability issue. I read whole books on my old Sony Reader PRS-500. It was convenient to carry, and the interface was pretty nice. And that was pretty much it. No constantly checking the news.

I might get a cheap, refurbed netbook, more because I think they’re cute than anything else. Also, my computer collection demands it. Refurbs can be found for less than $200, so sale of the iPhone would probably cover it. And I’m thinking of getting a shuffle or something for music.

I thought the internet was killing my reading habits, and it is. I just hadn’t realized that it was my iPhone that was doing it.

Father Jack Hackett from the absolutely fantastic comedy series Father Ted.

[From Eclectic Micks: HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY FROM FATHER JACK HACKETT!]

Shipping firms have already proposed taking short cuts through the polar region, which also contains large reserves of oil and natural gas.

[From Al Jazeera English - Americas - Arctic ice 'could melt by 2013' ]

Aaaaand cue intro riff to Crazy Train. All aboard the ‘We’re Looking For The Bright Side of Things Even If It Fucking Kills Us’ Express!

Iran has no weapons-grade uranium, US military officials have said in an attempt to clarify recent statements from Washington and Israel.

[From BBC NEWS | Americas | Iran 'has no bomb-grade uranium']

Can we just make up our mind about this?

“We think they do, quite frankly,” Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN.

[From BBC NEWS | Americas | Iran's uranium 'enough for bomb']

Oh, wait. Uh, maybe not:

Iran is not close to having a nuclear weapon, which gives the United States and others time to try to persuade Tehran to abandon its suspected atomic arms program, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.

[From Iran not close to nuclear weapon: Gates | International | Reuters]

It seems like we’re getting a lot of conflicting messages from the government recently. Like Obama saying we’re pulling troops out of Iraq, and then generals saying things like oh no we aren’t we’re going to be there for twenty years.

I guess we get to sit back and see how much change is actually going to happen.

Not that we North Americans are too much better. I’m still morally convinced that in two hundred years every white man and woman will be convinced that they’re ‘Cherokee’ and that the ‘American people’ have lived on these lands since the beginning of time. Read any American history or literature textbook and tell me I’m wrong.

But it’s not always the case that Deep Sociological Insight is the sole thing to be found when reading about the influence of modern nationalism on historical consciousness. Sometimes you just get pure fun like this man from Bulgaria who

…claims to be an expert in linguistics, cryptography and transcendental analysis…

[From Gradeshnitsa tablets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

If you want more backstory, read on and follow the many links for a quick explanation. But really, I’d just like to savor the words transcendental analysis.