Just. F-ing. SPLENDID.

I mean, seriously, just look at this.

Zowie.

Hotel Babylon

I don't usually do TV reviews, but I really enjoyed "Hotel Babylon"'s BBC premiere last night. A decent break out of the starter's gate -- characters it was possible to empathize with / lock into quickly (with the necessary touches of ambvalence in background or motivation here and there), and with camera work out of "CSI" by "Vegas", though those particular idioms not overdone. A nice piece of work: it'll be fun to see where this goes.

Uh, not *quite* like that

Today's favorite comment about the book sale:

"(For us Trek novel fans, this is of course like Moses offering some autographed copies of the Torah. Because I say so.)"

Don't know if I'd go quite that far....

But this reminds me obliquely of Will Shetterly's great story "The People who Owned the Bible", which everyone should read.

Then Jimmy Joe Jenkins's DNA proved he was the primary descendent of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. At first, Jimmy was satisfied with ten percent of the price of every KJV sold and 10 percent of every collection plate passed by any church that used the KJV. But when some churches switched to newer translations, Jimmy sicced his lawyers on all translations based on the KJV. That got him a cut of every Bible and every Christian service in English. Some translators claimed their work was based on older versions and should therefore be exempt, but none of them could afford to fight Jimmy in court.

So the churches grumbled and paid Jimmy his tithe, except for the Mormons, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, and Unitarian Universalists. Jimmy said their teachings hurt the commercial value of his property and refused to let them use the Bible. All of those groups dissolved, except for the Unitarian Universalists, who didn't notice a change...

(snicker)

In other news: thanks to Moirla, who unwittingly handed me the title for the YW short story I'm working on at the moment: "Source Material."

(This story will be going in an anthology of wizards-in-business stories coming out next year. More data as it becomes available.)