Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Thought for the day: "My childhood nightmares would have been quite featureless without the imaginings of Walt Disney..." Sir Terry Pratchett.

The title arises from the fact that, while writing this, I'm watching A Muppet Christmas Carol on The Hub. For those who don't know: The Hub used to be Discovery Kids; however, Discovery Communications Inc. found that the smart kids who watched DK were more ready to watch Discovery Channel proper, and so they rebranded the network. Now it has things like Transformers Prime and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.


Also today I rewatched The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It's by Terry Gilliam, I highly recommend. Then again, I have a soft spot for all of Gilliam's work. The supremacy of stories and storytelling is usually a plot-point. The Imaginarium is no exception. Also, Tom Waits as The Devil is a gambling addict. Hey, if it works. Actually, he plays the role very well, and bounces off Christopher Plummer's Dr. Parnassus very well. Caveat, if you watch this: The Imaginarium is a morality tale in the Medieval style, so the Devil, though the Antagonist, *is* a man of Wealth and Taste, complete with, if not morals, then certainly Standards. Don't come in expecting Horns and Brimstone and CGI Pandemonium and you should be fine. Parnassus, also, is far from perfect. The bastion of moral rectitude is probably Percy, played by Verne Troyer. My favorite line from the movie:
Parnassus: Percy, what would I do without you?
Percy: Get a midget.

But I digress. Also tonight, I got to go see my little brother in a live nativity scene. He's the innkeeper this year; he spends all night bundled up in a giant pink robe, holding a rope attached to a donkey. Eh, it's a living. Also, he can't wear his glasses, which means the munchkin's blind as a bat. I guess I shouldn't call him munchkin anymore, he's as tall as our mother and grandmother. But, confound it, he's still shorter than me! He will remain a munchkin until this changes! And then he will be a GIANT MUNCHKIN!

Today I've also made some progress on the backlog of a blog which I read once, but forgot about and have since rediscovered. It's called Playing D&D With Pornstars.
No, it has nothing to do with porn.
Well. Almost nothing.
I should explain. The writer, Zak, is an old-school Dungeon Master, and the blog is basically his concentrated wisdom on the subject, after many years of playing and DMing, as well as anecdotes from his gaming group. But...well. You tend to play games with your friends. After a certain point, many of your friends are your coworkers.
Zak is a porn actor.
So, the members of his gaming group, they're all involved in the porn industry. It happens.
Other than the identities of the persons involved, there's nothing really *about* porn. There's, I think, one article that claims to be about porn, but it's really more about how the girls feel about how women tend to be depicted in the art for fantasy games. And apparently Maxim did an article on them. So, yeah, in good conscience I can't say it has *nothing* to do with porn aside from the name, but ALMOST nothing, certainly.

But seriously, folks. If you've got any interest in gaming, look through it. It's worth it, if you're interested.

Speaking of worth springing from interest: I've been reading up on this thing called The Whuffie Bank, which in spite of the slightly silly name is actually a rather complex little idea of a Social Currency, springing from Social Networks.

Whuffie, the word itself, was minted by Cory Doctorow for some of his stories, and meant a currency based on Reputation. It's since been picked up as a word for Social Capital; and it's beginning to be defictionalized. There's this project called The Whuffie Bank, which I'm researching now. I'll have more on that as I learn more.

Stay tuned, folks. G'night.
Bill