Various and sundry items that don’t quite rate a post of their own.
I was astonished to learn on Pardon the Interruption that today is Gene Hackman’s birthday. Not so much that it’s his birthday, as that it’s his 77th birthday. He doesn’t seem like he should be that old.
Then again, he’s looked about sixty for the last twenty years, so I guess that’s about right…
Elsewhere, the Little Professor dabbles in Live-Action Role-Playing. I need to get me one of those grimoires….
And, via Eurekalert a book I’m sure we’ll hear more about:
In God: The Failed Hypothesis, physicist Victor Stenger argues that science has advanced sufficiently to make a definitive statement on the existence or nonexistence of the traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic God. He invites readers to put their minds–and the scientific method–to work to test this claim.
After evaluating all the scientific evidence–the studies done by reputable institutions on the power of prayer; the writings of philosophers who have puzzled over the problem of God and of good and evil; the efforts of biblical scholars to prove the accuracy of holy scriptures; and the work of biologists, geologists, and astronomers looking for clues to a creator on Earth and in the cosmos–Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God. He convincingly shows that not only is there no evidence for the existence of God, but scientific observations actually point to his nonexistence.
Oh, good. I’m sure that will settle the question once and for all…
Finally, James Nicoll notes that David Eddings lost his office to a fire when he attempted to determine whether a fluid leaking from his car was gasoline by touching it with a burning piece of paper. It’s sort of funny, but mostly kind of sad…