Titanic

In the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans (and possibly in the remake, which I haven't seen) the scene reverts repeatedly to Olympus, where the gods, headed by Laurence Olivier as Zeus, are engaged in a game of chess, with mortals as the pieces. Just as Perseus seems to be making headway, Hera will drop a sea monster next to his ship, to even things up a bit.

I can't help being reminded of that film when I hear the Western nations umming and aahing about whether to arm the Libyan rebels, or fire a few more schools and cottage hospitals cruise missiles onto Gadaffi's troops. Just as the rebels seem about to lose, Zeus decides to lend them a pair of flying sandals or an invisibility cloak. Of course, the Olympians themselves aren't under threat - they're able to watch the whole thing from a distance on a little screen. But they do really care what happens, because some of those humans are related to them, and Seriphos happens to be the source of 10% of the world's nectar.

Perhaps this will work out with a satisfactorily-swift checkmate, but even for the gods things don't always go according to plan. Eating with a long spoon usually turns out to be a messy affair..

Titanic

In the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans (and possibly in the remake, which I haven't seen) the scene reverts repeatedly to Olympus, where the gods, headed by Laurence Olivier as Zeus, are engaged in a game of chess, with mortals as the pieces. Just as Perseus seems to be making headway, Hera will drop a sea monster next to his ship, to even things up a bit.

I can't help being reminded of that film when I hear the Western nations umming and aahing about whether to arm the Libyan rebels, or fire a few more schools and cottage hospitals cruise missiles onto Gadaffi's troops. Just as the rebels seem about to lose, Zeus decides to lend them a pair of flying sandals or an invisibility cloak. Of course, the Olympians themselves aren't under threat - they're able to watch the whole thing from a distance on a little screen. But they do really care what happens, because some of those humans are related to them, and Seriphos happens to be the source of 10% of the world's nectar.

Perhaps this will work out with a satisfactorily-swift checkmate, but even for the gods things don't always go according to plan. Eating with a long spoon usually turns out to be a messy affair..

Gender and Toy Advertising

Beyond narcissistically feeding my own work through it I've never found a really good use for Wordle, pretty as it is, but this graphic demonstration of gender bias in children's toy advertising, while sadly unsurprising, is worth the thousand words that went into it and then some.

Gender and Toy Advertising

Beyond narcissistically feeding my own work through it I've never found a really good use for Wordle, pretty as it is, but this graphic demonstration of gender bias in children's toy advertising, while sadly unsurprising, is worth the thousand words that went into it and then some.