AlmaNews

Over at his blog, Charlie Stross has a list of deathless reader "Reviews" of more or less classic literature. It contains gems like this one:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck:

Jef4Jesus wrote: "So, I'm only on page 478 of 619, but I've been disgusted at the amount of profanity. So far I've found more than 500 uses of profanity! On average every page (with relatively big writing, even) has more than one swear. Yikes! I'm never going to read Grapes of Wrath again, and won't be recommending it to anyone. If you don't like profanity, be careful."

(He actually *counted* *profanities*? Ye gods and little fishes...)

Honestly, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. It being Halloween and all, I'm just going to call these responses a particularly horrible kind of horror story...

- so it isn't as though I'm disappearing imminently, but I WILL be away at WFC for about six days starting tomorrow and I may or may not get to post something controversial between now and then which has to serve as entertainment for y'all (I get to use y'all - I'm going to fricking TEXAS in the morning) while I'm gone.

So I'll preempt myself and post something controversial now.

Over at Jennifer Fallon's blog (see link, over on the sidebar) there's an entry on her visit to a school and how the kids responded to her (I particularly love their response to being asked whether they wanted her to come back to see them, and she asked when they wanted her to come back, and they said, Tomorrow. Ya gotta love that enthusiasm...) However, that, however sweet, is not what I'm about here. What I'm going to throw at you is not the cuteness of that visit, but something said in the comments to that particular post - to wit, one responder's assertion that he likes J K Rowling "...well enough, for all the damage that she's done to fantasy."

I may have an opinion on this, but before I divulge it... over to y'all (hee! I get to use "ya'll TWICE!). Discuss.

You went trick or treating as TheInvisibleMan.
Sauron gave you Jesus.
QuinceyMorris gave you AnUnwrappedChocolateBar.
BenHawkins gave you AMaltedMilkBall.
JonathanHarker gave you TheBluePill.
You had a strange time until Apollo dragged you off to the Village.

What's Your Trick-or-Treat Haul?
Shiver My Timber--A Pirate RPG

*Sauron* gave me *Jesus*?

I'm sorry, that's a whole new mental universe...