Kangen ama Charlotte and Mathilda, yang sumpah lucu banget, kangen maen guitar hero kayak orang norak ama si Luke......

Kangen bacon panggang bikinan Noel.....

Kangen buah-buahan dan jus orange yang disiapin Gemma....

Kangen ama wangi rumahnya Maria.....

Kangen ama Oska yang suka lompat-lompat naek ke paha gw......

Kangen ama roommate gw yang super rese tapu seru itu......

Kangen jalan-jalan naek kereta ampe ke ujung2 Sydney demi nyari Zoo yang murah.....

Kangen ama kelompok gw yang kompak abis......

Kangen ama World Tower yangmenyelamatkan kita dari makanan Kari yang gak enak.......

Kangen ama Barangaroo yang luas tapi jalan keluarnya cuma satu sehingga kita kudu muter2.....

Kangen teriak-teriak......OZ...Oz...Oz...!!!!

Kangen ama cowo2 bule yang ganteng2 ( penting gak seh?)

Kangen ama Tuna dalam kaleng...............

Kangen ama Lemmington..........

Kangen ama Roti gandumnya Maria.................

Whua....Pokoknya kangen Je..........

Mau ke sana lagi..........

Tapi.....

Ada yang mau bayarin gak?????

Hehehehehehe.......

Oz..!Oz..!OZ..!

Oy..!Oy...! Oy...!

Originally Aired: 2/13/2007

It's Ask Dr. Oz Day! Teeth bleaching, Botox, Brazilian waxes and the truth about cellulite. Plus, Oprah first acupuncture session.

Guests: Dr. Oz

Defeated and out of ideas, Comcast has turned to the rumored data caps in order to keep illegal file sharing down. The company will, effective October 1, limit all residential connections to 250 GBs a month. In their release, Comcast reasoned that the data cap would be more than ample for the average user, amounting to roughly 50 million emails, download of 62,500 songs, 125 standard-def movies, and upload of 25,000 hi-res photos, individually and exclusively.

Their explanation, however, fails to acknowledge that many users utilize a wireless network which could possibly be shared by a multitude of devices. The millions of emails and thousands of songs a user could download become increasingly small when divided amongst several devices. Nevertheless, Comcast maintains that 99% of residential users will be unaffected by the new data caps

Fresh off winning the UMA Award for Song of the Year with his joint Racist, Nikal Fieldz goes in with part 2 and grabs Emilio Rojas & Sha Stimuli for the journey over some new OZ production.

I felt like I needed to get deeper into the message of this song. 3 different artist, 3 different races, but 1 common goal to express our views on racism in America, something a lot of people won't talk about. - Nikal Fieldz

DOWNLOAD: Nikal Fieldz - Racist pt.2 f. Emilio Rojas & Sha Stimuli (prod. OZ)
PREVIOUS: Nikal Fieldz - Racist (Video)

Yes, her tombstone may list the year as 1969
when she took her last breath of air.

But really, is Judy Garland dead? Like dead dead?
Does this mean her music and films stop playing?
Does this mean we quit staring at photographs of her?
And what about the sheet music? Do they stop selling?
And what about the autographs she signed for her fans?
Should laws be enacted to ban the purchasing of them?
To make Judy Garland look just like another person
who has long since crossed over to the other side?

Give me a break! Judy Garland is not dead.
Like James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra,
Judy Garland is as much alive today as I am, with memorabilia
you can find just about anywhere at any mall you go to.
They serve as a reminder to the legacy she left behind,
and the impact she had on the lives of all kinds of people
during her lifetime, after, and even now,
whether they are from Kansas or Korea, 
whether they are black or white,
whether they are straight or gay,
whether they are rich or poor,
it doesn't matter.

Judy Garland lives on!

A.J. Chilson
29 August 2008 
6:36 AM

Playing: "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" by Judy Garland

İddialı söylemler olsa da bu fikirlerin dayanaklarını sunmaya hazırım. Aslında sayısız yazı yazabileceğim bir konuda ilk yazılarımı ardarda yazarak bir yerinden başlamış olmak istediğimden iki temel fikri paylaşarak açılış yapmak istedim. İki aşamada genel hatlarıyla değinip geçmek istediğim bu temel fikirleri iki yazı halinde açıklamak ve ileride yavaş yavaş (konunun içeriği ve kapsamı gereği) ayrıntılarından bahsetmek istiyorum.

“Hepimiz Tanrı’ya inanırız.” Bu sözün açıklaması aslında basit bir çocuk bilmecesi yaklaşımı ile de bulunabilir. Burada ilk ele alınması gereken, “Tanrı” sözcüğünün özünde yatan anlamdır. Tanrı, eski Türkçe bir kelimedir ve yine bu coğrafyada sıklıkla kullanılan ortadoğu kökenli “İlah” kelimesi ve batıda sıkça duyduğumuz “God” kelimelerinin eşanlamlısıdır. Aslında net bir tanım değildir ve özünde inanılan en kutsal ve üst kudret ve güç kaynağı ne ise, genellikle onu temsil eden sözdür.

Müslümanlık bize tek ve asıl Tanrı kavramını “Allah” sözcüğü altında toplar. Kökeninin “La İlah” olduğu yaygın şekilde savunulur ki bu da İngilizce’de “The God”, Türkçe’de yaklaşık olarak “Tanrıların Tanrısı”, “O” veya “Asıl Tanrı” arası bir tanıma denk gelir. Eski Mısır’da bu tanıma en yakın tanrı, “Ra” ismi ile anılır. Aslında Güneş tanrısı olarak anılsa da müslümanlıktaki esmalardan “Rahim”e denk gelir. Burada çoğu zaman düşülen yanılsama çok tanrılı dinlerde tanrıların ayrı ayrı olduğu varsayımıdır. Bu konuya diğer yazılarda değinmek üzere uzatmadan Antik Yunan mitolojisine ve oradaki üstün tanrı “Zeus”a geçmek istiyorum. Tanrıların babası, en kudretlisidir Zeus. Biraz daha kuzeye gittiğimizde de Viking tanrısı “Thor” o bölge mitolojisinde insan yapısındaki tanrılardan en önemlisi olarak karşımıza çıkar. Burada yine ayrıntısına girmeden belirtmeliyim ki Thor ile Zeus aslında aynı yapıda değildir. Zeus Tanrıların başındadır fakat Thor tanrıları yönetmez, yönlendirmez. Yanlızca en etkin ve güçlü tanrıdır. Hepsini, “arkası yarın” diyerek yalnızca değinerek geçmek istiyorum.

Esas konumuza dönersek farkederiz ki aslında her inanç sisteminde bir “asıl” tanrı vardır ve bir şekil bu “esas” güç, varsa diğer güçlere karşı hakim, diğer güçler yoksa da evren üzerinde bütün bir kontrole sahiptir. Bu yazının içeriği gereği ayrıntılara girmeden belirteyim ki, herhangi bir inanca sahip birinin illa ki bir esas tanrı inancına sahip olduğu konusu su götürmez bir gerçektir. Burada tartışılması gereken, ve aslında yalnızca kendimize itiraf ederek bile farkedeceğimiz şey, kendini “inançsız” (ateist tanımı yetersiz kalabilir) olarak tanımlayan kişilerin de özünde kendi tanımlarında bir “Tanrı” inancı olmasıdır.

(Eminim ki ayrıntılara girmeden kısa bir yazı ile toparlanamayacak bu konuda yazabileceklerim “bayat” yorumlarla sınırlı kalacaktır. Yazının uzunluğunu belirli bir seviyede tutmak ve yalnızca ileriki yazılara giriş niteliği taşımasını sağlamak için bir çift giriş yazısı yazmayı planladığımı tekrar belirtmeyi gerekli görüyorum.)

Kendisini bir şekilde “inançlı” tanımlayan her bireyin bir “Tanrı”sı vardır. (Burada “Tanrı” sözcüğünü yaygın toplum anlayışı kapsamında değil, kelime anlamı olarak kullanılmıştır.) Peki ya kendisini “ateist” olarak tanımlayanlar neye inanırlar?

Ateist olma sebeplerinin başında, toplumların cehalet ve fikir yoksunluğu dolayısıyla yaygın inanç sistemlerini hurafelerle doldurmuş olması gelir. Ateist’lik doğuştan gelen bir beşeri içgüdüdür, inanmak ise “insan”lığın getirisi. Mantık ve bilim çoğu zaman ateistlerin dayanağı olsa da asıl yardımcıları her zaman “inançlı” cahiller ve toplumsal yanılsamalar olmuştur.

(Bu konularda ayrıntılı fikirleri de ayrı ayrı yazılar halinde yazacak olma umuduyla bir not daha eklemek istiyorum. Cehaletle, toplum tarafından inançları dayatılan kişilerden ziyade, düşünerek ve iradelerini kullanarak ateist olmayı seçenlere saygı duyarım.)

Ateizm dayanaklarından birisi de mantık ve bilimin sınırlarıdır. Çoğu insan görmediğine inanmaz, ispatı olmadıkça bir fikri doğru kabul etmez ve aksi ispatlanabilir bir olguyu reddeder. Dürüst olmak gerekirse duyularımızla (5 temel duyu ile) kavrayabildiğimiz evren sınırları dahilinde mantıklı olan da budur.

Peki ateist bir kişi neye inanmış olur? Bilime? Evrendeki düzene? Kaosa (ki kaos da artık bir evren düzeni teorisi olarak bilim tarihinde yerini almıştır)?Tesadüflere? Tesadüfi görünen herşeyin bilimsel olarak olası olduğunun ispatlanmasına? İnsan mantığına? Beyin gücüne?

Uzayıp giden bir liste içerisinde kendisini “inançsız” olarak gören kişiler de aslında bilirler ki, kendilerinin de bir “asıl güç” veya “yönetici yapı” inancı vardır. Çoğunlukla kabul edilmek istenmeyen şey, yaygın olarak kabul görmüş ve mantıkla, bilimle çelişkili özellikler sergilediği düşünülen inanç yapılarına ortak olmalarıdır. Mantık ve bilim ile evrenin işleyişini algılamaya çaba sarfeden bu kesimin düşünce yapısı doğru yola yakın olsa da unutulan tek ve en önemli şey, Dünya üzerinde bulunan tüm inanç sistemlerinin insan eli değmiş olmasıdır. Kaynakları incelendiğinde karşımıza çıkan bambaşka ve alabildiğine kusursuz “öz”, kitlelerin sandığından oldukça farklı bir din olabilir.

Eminim bu yazıda bir sonuca varamayacağım. Yine eminim ki zaten bir sonuca varmak istesem de aralarda gönderme yaptığım konuları derinlemesine incelemeden fikirleri yargılamak da bir o kadar yetersiz sonuçlara götürecektir hepimizi. O yüzden bütün bu gevelemenin sonunda çuvaldızı kendime batırıp başarısız olmaya mahkum bu “önsöz” dizimden dolayı özür diliyorum, ve en başa dönüyorum.

Herkes eninde sonunda bir “kudret” ve “evrensel güç” inancına sahiptir. Biz bu inancın kökenine ne dersek diyelim, ne kadar diğer insanlardan farklı olmasını dilersek dileyelim veya ne kadar diğer insanların inançlarının açıklarını bulursak bulalım; kişinin inandığı “evrenin özü”, o kişinin “Tanrı”sıdır. O’na ne isim verdiğimize ise kimse karışmamalı. Önce bir inandığımızın farkına varalım, ayrıntılara sıra sonra gelir.

While painstakingly going through and attempting to revise through chapter seven, I encountered a problem. Since I had trimmed four pages off of chapter three and added two new ones, the changes, naturally, had a ripple effect. If I had fought for it, I suppose I could have edited chapter seven to death like I was originally planning, but then a certain phrase came to mind right in the middle of my struggle. "If the story does not progress, you have a mess." In other words, make sure the tangents don't take you so far away from them main storyline that you end up somewhere in Oz.

Just like that, I decided to do the most drastic thing I have done to date. I marked chapters seven through nine with the grey highlights of future deletion, went back to make sure everything dealing with that entire ordeal was adjusted accordingly, and found that most of chapters four through six either needed to be marked for death, or revised in bright pink font to show a complete story rewrite. In the end, I had to jump from chapter four to chapter ten, killing off a massive 9,271 words. And the fun hasn't ended yet.

After contorting chapter ten enough to make all of Cirque du Soleil cry out in agony, I saw that the next step in my journey would send chapter eleven to hell and back again. You see, I liked the encounter held between chapters seven and nine, and unfortunately, that encounter is very detrimental to one of the aspects of the plot. So now I need to go through, splice the critical factors from chapter eight-ish into chapter eleven, kill what I don't need, and somehow survive to see the end of a--hopefully--much brighter tunnel.

The revisions so far have been for the best, improving the plot, flow, and interactions immensely, but seeing what I just had to do and knowing that I'm going to stop the book about five chapters early, I have to wonder how much of a book I'll actually have left...

Join Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Toto as they follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Merry Old Land of Oz in search of courage, a heart, a brain, and a way home. We're not in Kansas anymore!

PLOT:

Orphan Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) a 14-year-old girl, lives a simple life in rural Kansas with Aunt Em (Clara Blandick), Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin) and three colorful farm hands, simple-minded Hunk (Ray Bolger), blustery-but-timid Zeke (Bert Lahr), and would-be engineer Hickory (Jack Haley). One day, stern neighbor Miss Elvira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) is bitten by Dorothy's dog, Toto. Dorothy senses that Miss Gulch will try to do something dreadful, but her aunt and uncle, as well as the farmhands, are too busy with their work to listen. Dorothy yearns for a better place in the song "Over the Rainbow". Miss Gulch shows up with a court order and takes Toto away to be destroyed. Toto escapes and returns to Dorothy, who is momentarily elated, but then realizes that Miss Gulch will soon return to retrieve Toto. Fearing for his life, Dorothy decides to take Toto and run away. On their journey, Dorothy encounters Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan), a fake but kind and lovable fortune teller who, out of concern for Dorothy, tricks her into believing Aunt Em is ill so Dorothy will return home, as a storm is approaching. Dorothy rushes back to the farm just ahead of a sudden tornado. She tries to get into the storm cellar under the house, but it is locked and nobody inside can hear her pleas for help over the noise. She takes shelter inside the house and is knocked unconscious by a loose window frame.

A confused Dorothy awakens what seems like a few minutes later to discover the house has been caught up in the twister. Through the bedroom window, she sees several people fly by, including Miss Gulch, who seemingly transforms into a frightening witch. Moments later, the twister drops the house, Dorothy and Toto back onto solid ground. Opening the door and stepping into full three-strip Technicolor, Dorothy finds herself in a village and parkland of unearthly beauty. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), arrives magically. She informs Dorothy that she is in Munchkinland and that she has killed the ruby-slippered Wicked Witch of the East by "dropping a house" on her.

Encouraged by Glinda, the timid Munchkins come out of hiding to celebrate the demise of the witch, while singing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" and proclaiming Dorothy as their national heroine. The witch's sister, the Wicked Witch of the West (also played by Margaret Hamilton), makes a startling appearance in a blaze of fire and smoke to claim the powerful ruby slippers. Glinda magically transfers the slippers from the dead witch onto Dorothy's feet and reminds the witch of the west that her power is ineffectual in Munchkinland. The witch vows revenge on Dorothy before leaving the same way she arrived. Glinda advises Dorothy, who is anxious to return home, to seek the help of the mysterious Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City in her quest to return home to Kansas; Glinda explains that she can find Emerald City by following the yellow brick road. She also advises Dorothy that she must never remove the slippers or she will be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West. After a farewell kiss, Glinda too disappears, leaving Dorothy and Toto to find their own way to Emerald City.

On her way Dorothy befriends a Scarecrow with no brain (also played by Ray Bolger), a Tin Man with no heart (also played by Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (also played by Bert Lahr). The three decide to accompany Dorothy to the Wizard in hopes of obtaining their desires. Along the way, they behave in various ways which demonstrate that they already have the qualities they think they lack: the Scarecrow has several good ideas, the Tin Man is kind and sympathetic, and the Lion is ready to face danger even though he is terrified. The group confronts a forest of angry apple trees, a poisonous field of poppies, and a warning from the witch to the others that they are not to help Dorothy. Undaunted, the group reaches Emerald City. They are greeted kindly, but the Wicked Witch appears on a broomstick over the city, while skywriting the message "Surrender Dorothy." The group talks to the Wizard of Oz - a disembodied and imposing head with a booming voice - who says that he will consider granting their wishes if they can bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch.

On their way to the witch's castle, they are attacked by flying monkeys, who carry Dorothy and Toto away and deliver her to the witch, who then demands that Dorothy hand over the ruby slippers. After the witch threatens to kill Toto, Dorothy agrees to give her the shoes; but their removal is prevented by a shower of sparks. The witch says that the shoes cannot be removed unless Dorothy first dies. While the witch is distracted, Toto takes the opportunity to escape. The witch then locks Dorothy in the chamber and leaves to consider how to kill Dorothy without damaging the shoes' magic. Toto finds Dorothy's friends and leads them to the castle. Once inside they free Dorothy and attempt an escape. The witch and her Winkie soldiers corner the group on a parapet, where the witch sets the Scarecrow on fire. To douse the flames, Dorothy throws water on them, while accidentally splashing water on the horrified witch, causing her to melt. To the group's surprise, the soldiers are delighted. Their captain (played by silent film actor Mitchell Lewis, who played the Sheik in the silent Ben-Hur) gives Dorothy the broomstick in gratitude. Upon their return to Emerald City, Toto inadvertently exposes the great and powerful wizard as a fraud; they find an ordinary man hiding behind a curtain operating a bunch of buttons and levers. They are outraged at the deception, but the wizard solves their problems through common sense and a little double talk, rather than magic, by explaining that they already had what they had been searching for all along and only need things such as medals and diplomas to confirm that someone else recognizes it. The wizard explains that he too was born in Kansas and his presence in Oz was the result of an escaped hot air balloon. He promises to take Dorothy home in the same balloon, leaving the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion in charge of Emerald City. Just before takeoff, Toto jumps out of the balloon's basket; Dorothy jumps out to catch him and the wizard, unable to control the balloon, leaves without her. She is resigned to spend the rest of her life in Oz until Glinda appears and tells her that she has always had the power to return home. Glinda explains that she did not tell Dorothy at first because she needed to find something out for herself. When asked what she has learned, Dorothy replies: "The next time I go looking for my heart's desire, I won't look any further than my own backyard; if it's not there, then I never really lost it to begin with." Dorothy says a tearful goodbye to the friends she has met in Oz, and then follows Glinda's instructions to "tap your heels together while repeating the words, 'There's no place like home'." Back in sepia tone she awakens in her bedroom in Kansas surrounded by family and friends and tells them of her journey. Everyone laughs and tells her it was all a dream, except Uncle Henry, who says sympathetically "Of course we believe you, Dorothy". Toto appears and jumps onto the bed. A happy Dorothy, still convinced the journey was real, hugs Toto and says, "There's no place like home." No mention is made in the film of the ultimate fate of Miss Gulch who, it is implied, does not return to get Toto.

REVIEW:

This is one of cinema's all time classics. It had been awhile since I watched the entire film all the way, though, and today I remembered  that I loved it!

Of course, there the whole technicolor aspect, which I love, but the sepia tones at the beginning and end make colored part of the movie stand out that much more!

Nobody gives a bad performance, but back in those days, you had to actually have talent to be in the movies and not just a pretty face, so it's no surprise.

From what I hear, the movie differs greatly from the book, but in a manner similar to Disney films, the lighter tone doesn't hurt it at all, it may even have helped it!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Artık sarılmak istiyorum çünkü.. özledim.. hemde çok!!...

N'olur.. gelmelisin artık.. 1 dakika bile gecikmemelisin.. uçak rötar yapmamalı.. sen herhangi birşeyini otelde unutmamalısın.. geri dönmemelisin asla.. rötar yaparsa şikayet ederim.. tüketici haklarını ben kullanırım .. senin hakkın benim benim hakkın senin nasıl olsa.. kullanırım şikayet eder manevi dava açarım..

sen unutursan cezalarına ceza eklerim.. bir ömür ödemeye yükümlü kalacağın cezalarına 1o kat daha eklerim..

inan açarım hatta utanmadan birde kazanırım.. sebebim sen olursun hep olduğun gibi.. 1 dakika bile gecikmenin hesabını sorarım kim sebep olduysa.. 1 dakika bile geciktiğinde seni inanılmazdan daha çok özleyerek sensizlikten daha çok nefret ederek içine düştüğüm manevi durumdan dolayı dava açarım..!..

inan eklerim cezana, ceza..

..!..

It was not a good day for the Maytown crowd, as commissioner after commissioner gave faint praise to the proposal--they appreciated all the conservation safeguards and the walkability of the proposed community, calling it visionary, architecturally stunning, ahead of its time--and then noting that there are far too many unanswered questions.

If it's everything Tony G. says it will be, isn't it a lot of traffic for one bridge?  Do we really want to extend Nashville's infrastructure in this very expensive way when there is no guarantee of payback and we're having a hard time making ends meet already?  Is it really only going to attract tenants from out-of-county, and what's it going to do to downtown? This is the last big rural area this close to our urban core--are we sure this is the right use for it?   Is this really "smart growth"?  There have been no independent analyses of the traffic patterns, economic impact, or fiscal realities of this proposal.  What if corporate campuses turn out to be just as illusory a financial driver as strip malls turned out to be?  Do we want to attract big business, or have good quality of life for ourselves?

Doubt carried the day.  The Nashville Planning Commission is not a bunch of tree-huggers. It's peopled by engineers, real estate dealers, and business executives, the kind of folks who you would expect have never seen a development they didn't like, but they weren't buying Maytown Center.  They passed the Area Plan for Bell's Bend-Scottsboro, and gave the "special use area" an indefinite deferment, meaning that Tony Giarratana is free to bring it back up any time he thinks he's got better answers for their questions.  I'm sure he'll give it a shot, but it looks to me like so many of those questions point to basic structural problems with the project that there is no way it's ever going to get built.

And what will Jack May do with his twenty-three million dollar pied a terre there on Bell's Bend?  According to the Tennessean, he uses his property in Mexico to grow organic agave, the basic ingredient for tequilla.  Much of the tip of Bell's Bend is prime bottomland.  It would grow great rye.   Maybe we'll soon see Mays Brothers organic Tennessee sippin' whiskey.  Who knows?

But I'm almost done with this book, which means it's time to move on to another. Now I've got to be honest with you, I've fallen behind a bit on my reading. Between the two plays I'm working on, school, my reviews and columns, working on Summer Love, and a couple of podcasts of which you may be aware, it's taking me longer than it used to to get through a book. But I'm still getting books at the same rate as ever! So as a result I've got piles of unread books lying around, waiting to fulfill their destiny (i.e., be read). Today, I thought I'd take a different approach to the "What I'm Reading" category. Here are a few books that I have not read, but that I'm planning to get to relatively soon.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Doctorow has become pretty popular among a certain segment of the reading public, and although I haven't yet read anything by him, a while back he released the first chapter of this book as an audio file, which was then included to the feed of a podcast I listen to. (I actually don't even remember which podcast it was, but that's beside the point.) I really loved the first chapter of this story, so I decided to give the book a try. Now obviously, I haven't read it yet (else it wouldn't be on this list) but the idea intrigues me -- a 17-year-old computer whiz winds up turning himself and his friends into unwitting suspects in a terrorist attack on San Francisco. When released from prison, he finds his city has become a police state, and he takes it upon himself to save them. The title of the book is an obvious reference to George Orwell's 1984, and while I don't really like when my fiction gets overtly political, from what I've read of this book it sounds like it doesn't go down the sort of paths that make me roll my eyes. I'm looking forward to finally cracking the cover of this one.

Lost and Philosophy. People who have been with this website since the June relaunch will recall one of my earliest "What I'm Reading" reviews was of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series edition of The Office and Philosophy. Those of you who haven't been here that long, here it is in a nutshell: this series of books collects essays by modern philosophers which examine a piece of pop culture -- a TV show, a movie, even a rock band -- and dissect it from a philosophical standpoint. Other books in this series have featured shows as diverse as The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and South Park and films such as Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. If ever there was a show open to an in-depth philosophical dissection, it's Lost. The show is an incredible science fiction parable about power, the nature of good and evil, and the struggle between science and faith. It's one of the best TV shows I've ever seen, and one of the few shows that I absolutely, hands-down have to watch each and every week. If the writers who contributed to this book can help shed a little light on the many mysteries of The Island, I shall be forever in their debt.

Paradox in Oz. I'm a huge fan of the Oz series of books. I've read all 14 original books by L. Frank Baum. I've read dozens of comic book series that have tried to tap into the Oz magic. I've seen more Oz-related motion pictures than most people reading this probably even know exist. (Incidentally, the 1939 movie with Judy Garland? Excellent as a classic Hollywood musical. As an adaptation of Baum's book, though, it's terrible.)

What has proven to be a problem for me, though, is finding other early Oz books. After Baum's death, the series was taken over by his illustrator, Ruth Plumbly Thompson, then later by Jack R. Neill, then dozens of other writers over the years. Once the earlier Oz books went into the public domain, there were even more, and not all of them were actually that good. Others, while good, didn't really fit into the world that Baum created. (Gregory Maguire's Wicked comes to mind -- an excellent novel, but there's simply no way to reconcile it with the true Oz mythos.) Unlike the Baum books, however, there doesn't appear to be much interest in keeping the earlier books by other authors in print. Thank goodness for the good folks at Hungry Tiger Press, who not only have reprinted some of the earlier books, as well as many non-Oz books by Baum, but they also produce new books that feel like they belong in Baum's world. I've read one of their original books before, The Living House of Oz, and I loved it. My sister game me Paradox in Oz, by the same writer-artist team of Edward Einhorn and Eric Shanower, for Christmas last year. It's finally made its way to the top of the read-pile.

So anyway, these are the next few books in my reading queue, as it were. This isn't necessarily a promise that I'll get to 'em -- after all, that queue seems to get rearranged more often than my NetFlix queue. At the moment, though, this is what I'm looking at reading next. I'll be sure to let you know what I think of them all.

"An astonishing 44 percent of the reactions were classified as 'impolite,' intended to deeply embarrass the joke teller. The toughest responses came from people who knew the joke teller well, she found."

Yikes. Just imagine if they'd made a bad pun.

This research reminds me a of a chapter in The Marvelous Land of Oz. In the chapter, Old Mombi Engages in Witchcraft, The Woggle-Bug, Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow, Saw-Horse, Jack the Pumpkinhead, and Tip are traveling together. The Woggle-Bug, who is Highly Educated, starts making puns. After a brief conversation on the suitability of such things, the Woggle-Bug makes a very bad pun and is warned by the Tin Woodsman:

"'We are not very particular,' added the Tin Woodman; 'and we are exceedingly kind hearted. But if your superior culture gets leaky again -- ' He did not complete the sentence, but he twirled his gleaming axe so carelessly that the Woggle-Bug looked frightened, and shrank away to a safe distance."

Make a bad pun, get threatened with an axe!

Marlee was born to Libby and Donald Matlin, an automobile dealer. Marlee lost all hearing in her right ear, and 80% of hearing in her left ear at the age of 18 months. Marlee was raised in a Jewish family in Morton Grove, Illinois, USA. Marlee graduated from John Hersey High School in nearby Arlington Heights and attended Harper College.

Marlee made her stage debut at the age of 7, as Dorothy in a children's theatre version of The Wizard of Oz, and continued to appear with the same children's theatre group throughout her childhood.

Marlee's film debut, 1986's Children of a Lesser God, brought her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and an Academy Award for Best Actress. Marlee is one of the few actors to win an Oscar for their debut performance, and as of 2008, still holds the record for youngest winner in the Best Actress Oscar category. Marlee was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her work as the lead female role in the television series Reasonable Doubts (1991–1993) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in Picket Fences. Marlee became a regular on the series during its final season.

Marlee later had recurring roles in The West Wing, and Blue's Clues. Other television appearances include Seinfeld ("The Lip Reader"), The Outer Limits ("The Message"), ER, Desperate Housewives, CSI: NY and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Marlee was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for her guest appearances in Seinfield, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Practice.

In 2002, Marlee published her 1st novel, Deaf Child Crossing, which was loosely based on her own childhood.

In 2004, she starred in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? as Amanda.

In 2006, Marlee was honored at AOL's 2nd Annual Chief Everything Officer Awards. Marlee joined the cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday, 17 September, 2006. In the episode featuring a deaf boy with a blind father, grandmother and sisters, Marlee was the guest host. Marlee wrote and published a sequel to Deaf Child Crossing, titled Nobody's Perfect, which was produced on stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in partnership with VSA arts in October 2007.

Also in 2006, she played a deaf parent in Desperate Housewives. Marlee also had a recurring role as Joy Turner's (who made many jokes of Marlee's deafness at her expense) public defender in My Name Is Earl and played the mother of one of the victims in an episode of CSI: NY. Marlee starred in the Baby Einstein videos Baby's Favorite Places: First Words-Around Town and Baby Wordsworth: First Words Around the House, both of which were designed to introduce sign language as a form of non-verbal communication.

In 2006 Marlee was cast in season 4 of The L Word as Jodi Lerner, a gay deaf sculptor. Marlee appeared in season 4 (2007) and season 5 (2008) as the girl friend of the show's main protagonist Bette Porter (played by Jennifer Beals). It is unclear if Marlee will continue in season 6, the show's final season.

On 4 February, 2007, Marlee performed the Star Spangled Banner in American Sign Language at Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida. Marlee again starred in Baby Einstein in March 2007 with My First Signs, which introduced sign language using common words such as "mommy" and "milk." Marlee also appeared on Hollywood Squares with Tom Bergeron as emcee. Though she could not hear and was not encouraged to use her own voice to speak, her personal interpreter Jack Jason (who also appeared with her during talk show and publicity appearances) accompanied her on the panel and she handled questions with his assistance - including offering some humorous quips (in ASL) in her own right.

In January 2008, she appeared on Nip/Tuck as a television executive.

On 18 February, 2008, it was announced that Marlee would participate as a competitor in the 6th season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Marlee's dance partner was newcomer Fabian Sanchez. Marlee and Fabian were eliminated from the competition on 22 April, 2008.

On 13 July, 2008, Marlee participated in the Taco Bell All Star Legends and Celebrity Softball game as part of All-Star Weekend activities at Yankee Stadium. Marlee scored a run and had 2 RBI for the National League team.

Marlee is actively involved with a number of charitable organisations, including the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, VSA arts, and the Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet. Marlee was appointed by President Clinton in 1994 to the Corporation for National Service and served as chair of National Volunteer Week.

Marlee received an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree from Gallaudet University in 1987. In October 2007, she was appointed to the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees.

Marlee has been close friends with actress Jennifer Beals since they met in an airport in the 1980s.

Marlee married law enforcement officer Kevin Grandalski on 29 August, 1993 (in Henry Winkler's back yard). They have 4 children: Sara Rose, born on 19 January, 1996; Brandon Joseph, born on 12 September 2000; Tyler Daniel, born on 18 July, 2002; and Isabelle Jane, born on 26 December, 2003. Marlee lives in Los Angeles with her family.

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