Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 19h

If Ella Fitzgerald married Darth Vader, and took his “last name”…

(Heard this one decades ago!)

Reposted by Lars Eric Holm

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 3d

A riddle for @theguardian.com books page.
p.s. My new book 'Physics for Cats' is out this week in bookshops and online. Details at www.tomgauld.com

Title: One door leads to freedom, the others to certain death. You may ask one question.

Image: Three guards with shields and speard stand in front of three doors. One guard sits at a folding table working at a typewriter, his shield and spear leaning against the wall.

Caption: One guard always tells the truth, one always tells lies, and the third always tells an entrancing story that blends reportage with imagination in an attempt to reach a deeper authenticity by moving beyond the narrow categories of fact and fiction.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 4d

Picking up from our family’s favorite local sushi place today, I saw this on their television “aquarium”.
It’s more than just a little reminiscent of Paul Kidbys’s Great A’Tuin painting. Seeing this made me unreasonably happy. Not just merely due to tasty sushi.
#Discworld, #TerryPratchett , #GNU

A large TV screen mounted against a wood grain wall at a sushi restaurant shows a beautiful blue underwater scene with a gorgeous sea turtle, swimming serenely. There are small red ‘noren’ curtains to the right, and a glimpse of a red Japanese lantern to the left.

Reposted by Lars Eric Holm

Randy Cassingham @thisistrue.com · 6d

This Week’s Honorary Unsubscribe goes to George Hardy, the last of his kind. The story in 3 minutes.

George Hardy - Honorary Unsubscribe

“Red Tails” were some of the best fighter pilots of World War II.

owowi.com

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 5d

I love the alt-text for this!

Reposted by Lars Eric Holm

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 13d

A recent cartoon for @newscientist.com

p.s. my new book of science cartoons 'Physics for Cats' is out now. Visit www.tomgauld.com for details

Panel 1
The shallow end of a swimming pool. A swimmer says "I got tired of hearing About so-called 'Infinity pools', so I created a genuine one. This is my first length".
"Good luck!" replies an onlooker standing by the steps.

Panels 2-4
The onlooker waits for the swimmer to come back. Time passes. The sun sets and rises. the onlooker ages.

Panel 5
"Impressive." says the onlooker, now old and walking with a stick.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 10d

What is your favorite country you have visited? Or: which area of the world would you like to visit, but have not yet?

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 14d

I got to see Sir Terry on book tour a number of years ago (I'm fairly certain it was for "Thud!") and he commented that Granny Weatherwax and Sir Vimes were cut from the same cloth, adjacent squares on the same tapestry. And the audience gave a big "ahhh!". It made perfect sense, once pointed out.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 16d

I'm fairly certain most, or at least many, of you already know about this, but it still seems worth sharing.

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 16d

I recall when a teacher covered how "The Four Freedoms" (aka: Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear) led to the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (www.un.org/en/about-us/...). It seemed pretty comprehensive and exhaustive at the time.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations

A milestone document in the history of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. It has been translated...

www.un.org

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 17d

That being said, and fully understandable, there is a neat local theater that has a concept called "The Baby Brigade", where infants and toddlers are the expectation: www.thenewparkway.com/baby-brigade/

Baby Brigade

www.thenewparkway.com

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 17d

What if this Rapture is actually The Snap ... "The Snapture"?
That would be almost a weird as ... the Moon turning inexplicably into cheese.

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 18d

This is the kind of carryon we can all get behind.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 19d

It was a wonderful event, with thoughtful questions and fun answers. Thank you for the choice of reading, safe journeys (what a schedule!), and thank you for coming to the Bay Area.

John Scalzi laughing at the podium during the Bookshop Santa Cruz event.

John Scalzi making one of his trademarked maniacal expressions at the podium during the Bookshop Santa Cruz event.

The lovely exterior of Bookshop Santa Cruz, brick walkway and stucco exterior, and an A-frame chalkboard promoting John Scalzi's event for "The Shattering Peace".

Lars Eric Holm posing with John Scalzi at the signing table, taken courtesy of some lovely fellow attendees, prior to have a few books signed.

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 20d

I also have a photo of that very same sign! Seeing it made me very happy…

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 20d

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 20d

Looking forward to seeing — and hearing — John Scalzi for the first time, at Bookshop Santa Cruz!

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 22d

Two nuns traveling in Transylvania by automobile encountered a vampire who viciously began trying to break their window.
The younger nun told her senior: “Hurry sister, show him your cross!”
And the older nun rolled down her window a bit, and snarled “Get the hell away from our car, RIGHT NOW!”

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 26d

Phrases like "outsourcing your despair", and images like "a glorious and unholy melding..." of Eeyore and George Carlin, aka "Eeyorge Carlin": these are merely some of the reasons I follow your social media and read your works.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · 26d

This creates an *entirely* different definition of "eyetooth".

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · Sep 8

And I can’t quite imagine what George Orwell would write today. Would he be more resigned, or more angry? Would he even write, or would he take some other sort of action?

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · Sep 8

“1984”, the version with John Hurt as Winston Smith, and appropriately done in 1984. Soundtrack by the Eurythmics: “1984: For the Love of Big Brother” www.imdb.com/title/tt0087...

1984 (1984) ⭐ 7.0 | Drama, Sci-Fi

1h 53m | R

www.imdb.com

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · Sep 5

His progression of how he delivered the “Grabthar’s Hammer” line in Galaxy Quest, from hatred to resignation-to then actually meaning it-was a masterpiece of delivery.

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Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · Sep 3

From the Nordic angle, this is rather like Eric Ericson or Lars Larsen.
From the Stan Lee perspective, I’m remembering Peter Parker, Otto Octavius, Curt Connors, or J. Jonah Jameson, Junior.
I’ll let the Ian Fleming versions be.

Lars Eric Holm @leholm.bsky.social · Aug 24

and phrases like: , “librams and codices”, “…titivation in a tonsorial parlor”, and “a phrase of Excoriation”.
A lot of these are lesser used and lesser known, some to the point of requiring uncommon dictionaries. (3/3)

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