Most Curious of all Georges How would you deal with the current situation in Iraq? I'm just curious because I really don't have a clue. You might have read some of my critical responses to links regarding the administration's stupendously foolish venture in Iraq, but now we are there, what are we going to do about it? Cut and run? Not a good option. "Stay the course", doesn't seem to be working to well either. Seems any choice is a bad choice right now. I know you monkey's are a smart group of primates. I am inviting constructive analysis from both sides of the political spectrum. Also, let's hear from folks outside of the US. How should we both help Iraq and its general neighborhood while as much as possible, helping protect ourselves? "Anyone, Bueller, anyone..."

nachtmusik redux: Following up on an earlier preoccupation: a sublime 360 view of twinkling Paris.

PigeonRank Google's patented search technology explained.

have you seen the billboards yet? they're all over my area. large picture, inspirational message, the phrase "pass it on", tiny little letters at the bottom telling us who paid for it. they're also showing in some movie theaters. the site claims not to have any religious or political leanings behind the message, but the non-profit company owner is apparently a oil-money billionare who backs the republican party. so, is that the whole story? maybe not. more inside

Métrorama - Panoramic photos of various stations of the Paris metro.

An Old Favourite. It's a beautiful movie, full of symbols and art that brought Shakespeare's text into full sensual colour. The Books are worth a look at too. more inside

Cool Ass Berlin Hotel - 30 differently styled rooms, each containing custom-made furnishings and other objects. None of the pieces of furniture or rooms can be found anywhere else on this planet. Try the symbol room, the slanted floor room, the mirror room, the upside-down room, or the menagerie room.

The Penny Arcade Remix Project. An English teacher in Japan, with three idle weeks left in the school year, has his students create their own Penny Arcade strips, with hilarious results. more inside

Largest shipment of Sikh holy scriptures makes it to Toronto. The scriptures, called Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, are only printed at one temple in India and are regarded by the faithful as living--literally, not in the figurative sense. Therefore, they can't fly in baggage.

Brokeback Mountain Although Gus Van Sant was originally slated to direct it after his success with Good Will Hunting, and the script has bounced around Hollywood for years, it seems that the movie, based on an amazing Annie Proulx short-story, will finally be made. The tragic story follows the lives of two Wyoming sheepherders and will most likely star Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. I was blown away when I read the short story (although be warned, there are some fairly explicit scenes), but the question remains: is Hollywood/America ready for the unapologetic love story of two gay cowboys?
[Pls, be gentle. My first post]

Curious, George: Basset Hounds We're looking into buying a puppy as a family pet and our research seems to point to a Basset Hound as a good match for our family. I'm curious as to your experience with Bassets...[more inside]

Curious, George: I want to blog and I would like some startup advice. more inside

Which columnist are you? Always wondered which NYT columnist you could stand in for? more inside

Today in Kathmandu was the fourth day of large pro-democracy protests demanding the reinstatement of parliament, which was suspended by the king a year and a half ago. At least 140 were injured. more inside

It's not what you say, but how you say it.
Two great linguistic-geek websites, both courtesy of Penny Arcade, of all places:
The Harvard University Dialect Map Survey "What do you call the big clumps of dust that gather under furniture and in corners?" and The Speech Accent Archive "Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station."

Gig posters. more inside

Iraq War Has Helped Spread bin Laden's Message more inside

Colleges begin offering blogging classes to freshmen. A unique approach to getting college students to write expressive, self-biographical papers, My Blog, Myself is a Live Journal based intro course offered by Haverford College from Doug Davis who created the course and posted about it in his blog.

Letter grades for all the flags of the world. "Some countries have clearly taken care in the choice of colours, layout, and design." more inside

A work of art or a harbinger of violence? (SF Gate) A student is expelled and his teacher fired over a story he wrote for her class detailing the grisly adventures of a serial killer. Reminds me tangentially of this adventure involving horror author Gary Braunbeck and his nephew's elementary school. more inside