Watched the latest 'Mission Impossible' recently. Best one of the lot. (testing cell here to check it's working properly again...)

^ Lovely!

Happy Birthday, Rick! I hope you're enjoying a wonderful celebration.

Thought this might be of interest: Blue moon on Friday! http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/world/blue-moon-july-31-irpt/index.html

Happy Birthday, Strider! I hope you're having an amazing day filled with mead and mirth. I'd include some cool smilies but I've been reduced to my cell for a while now so *sending beer* *Happy Birthday* *something nauseatingly cute and bouncing*

Saw "Mr. Holmes" recently. Ian McKellen was superb as Holmes dealing with failing faculties, racing against age and time to solve the one that got away. Nuanced, thoughtful portrayal of growth through painful revelation in the midst of physical frailty. Wonderful performance from Laura Linney, too, as the disregarded, unlettered housekeeper raising a quick-witted boy (played by Milo Parker) who keeps correcting her. Actually, she gets it from both of them, and sometimes it's funny, but often it's just uncomfortable to have her vulnerabilities mocked so openly in front of her. It's about Holmes, yes, but also about how their relationship is challenged and develops. A blessedly quiet, slow movie. A rarity nowadays.

I may have mentioned this here before, and I will likely do so again (in part because I assume visitors don't go through the whole thread, and because my memory is good, but sometimes short ), but do people know about Project Gutenberg? It's a free ebook site. It is amazing. Use it and spread the word! http://www.gutenberg.org/

Dear lucky people of the UK. Here's your chance to watch Toni Morrison talk about her life and work. This will be available for you for the next 28 days. Or not at all for the rest of us. That's it. I'm getting a VPN account. These national restrictions are ridiculous. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b062mp6k/imagine-summer-2015-4-toni-morrison-remembers

Ursula K. Le Guin's thoughtful call to action for writers: Starts at 5:55

Thought this may be of interest: Craftsmanship Magazine. This magazine was created to explore the ethos of craftsmanship in its widest sense—a journey that we take primarily through stories about the most interesting people in the world who work with their hands. Some are well-known masters, some unsung, some still on the rise. Some are in dusty, old-world shops; some are in laboratories and manufacturing plants chasing the newest of the new. Yet in each case, their work, and often their lives too, illuminate what might be called the architecture of excellence. At the foundation of that architecture lies a set of principles that sometimes get forgotten these days. These begin with an acute sense of the authentic, and grow from there through a capacity for experimentation based on wide, eclectic experience. They finish with a determination to create something of enduring quality—in other words, as the old saying goes, things that are built to last. Among the questions we examine in this magazine is what it takes to revive those very principles in today’s frenetic, high-tech world. “We each need to find our own sanctuaries where the focused principles of excellence that have sustained humanity’s creativity for millennia can be protected, and expanded,” publisher and editor Todd Oppenheimer explains in an online interview. These principles, he says, include the following: “Reliability; an open mind; an eye for detail; a capacity for hard work, perhaps even the thirst for it; the personal confidence to admit what you don’t know, and the desire to do whatever it takes to learn it.” In coming issues, we continue to explore these ideas, and many others, by visiting innovators in the world of food, the art of working in miniature, and masters of craftsmanship in everything from pens to sporting gear; wood to silica; and clothes to music. Some of the artisans working at these pursuits are here in the U.S. Others are hidden in relatively unknown workshops around the globe, where the traditions of apprenticeship, patience and mastery are still very much alive. We hope you’ll come meet all of them with us. http://craftsmanship.net/about-us/

"Letter Perfect" by David Sacks - a history of the alphabet (having a closer look at this one cover to cover). "Her Majesty's Spymaster" by Stephen Budiansky - about Walsingham perfecting his craft in the service of Elizabeth I.

Yeah it depends on which production you see. It's hard to have a unique, engaging idea every time out. Plus, when you watch it on TV like in these opening ceremonies, the camera controls what viewers look at, and when it's such a grand spectacle, seeing one thing at a time without the grand context really takes away from the impact of the show. The production I went to last October had me in tears it was so good. Now that CDS has been sold, we can only hope that the standard of quality is maintained.

ebk that's amazing! Which did you like better? Which players did you see? I've been watching for so many years, and have been in England, too, just never got the chance to go to Wimbledon in person... yet. US Open would be an incredible experience, too. I love New York. French Open is unique in the surface, and now that other players besides Rafa are starting to win, it's more interesting. Plus it's France, right? I hope you get a chance to see the Aussie Open in person

Heart broken for Roger :(

Damn it... Roger's going to have to dig deep and find a way... Just find a way...

THRILLING second set!!! Way to fight for it, Roger!

It would be a dream come true to get to see Wimbledon live in person one day. People are so lucky to get to do that. Meantime, I am rooting for Fed to take at least one more major, and to do so on a court that has been his home and at this age would be an incredible achievement in an already storied and historic GOAT career. Very emotional day. You can tell in interviews how special this is and how much it means to Roger to have this chance to win here again. I'm actually feeling a bit nervous for him as I love the game, this is a historic match, and I've followed his career with keen interest so I very much hope he can do it today. COME ON, ROGER!!!

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PERFORMING AT THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF THE PANAM GAMES! I LOVE CDS!!!

Come on, Roger!!! Wimbledon semis vs. Murray, Fed's up a set

^ Beautiful water photos, everyone! Here's one of a saw-whet owl sleeping: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155212780715304&set=o.193918065592&type=1&theater So cute! They're actually tiny, and sound like one of those elementary school recorders: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id

My thoughts are with our UK friends and loved ones, particularly those directly affected, on this, the tenth anniversary of the London bombings. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/07/uk-comes-to-standstill-as-it-marks-10-years-since-77-attacks For those struggling, may you find the light xoxo

I came across these on the National Geographic site. I must experience both! Breathtaking. Photograph by Duncan George, Getty Images July 2015 England—The gnarled landscape of Wistman’s Wood—moss-draped boulders, ferns, grass, lichen-covered dwarf oaks—is shrouded in fog and myth. Fairies, druids, and hellhounds are said to haunt this part of Dartmoor National Park. Photograph by Vilhelm Gunnarsson July 2015 Iceland—Beneath the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier—part of Vatnajökull, one of the largest ice caps in Europe—a man in a boat is dwarfed by the walls of an ice cave. Summer melting expands the tunnel, and the river swells to fill it. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions-of-earth/visions-earth-2015

Lol, J, I mean JPJ of course. At one point, EVERY thread in certain section(s) was started by one poster. Really off-putting... Then the forum got closed.

That thought crossed my mind too, Strider, but then why befriend mutual Facebook friends? Has no effect on traffic here... Anyway, that would be a rather sad attempt to generate interest, if true... hard to believe; I don't see the powers that be stooping this way. Did anyone visit Jonesy's forum when it was up? It didn't get much traffic, but I don't think that's the reason it got taken down...

Cheers, Walter and Em