http://halfthoughts.com By Eric Priezkalns. About anything, everything and nothing. Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:28:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Luckily for me, this morning's post included another letter from old friend Prince Karl Zeis of the royal house of Delthfia. Dear Eric, I write to share a wondrous find. It was discovered by my precocious fourteen year old niece. Her name is Karen Zipslicer and she has come to ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/07/25/how-to-play-twiddlythinks/ The limits of language might, on first consideration, seem a curious topic to write about. But then, like all topics, if not discussed in language, then it is not discussed at all. And by most measures, this language - the English language - is least likely to impose ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/07/17/when-words-fail/ Long long ago, possibly before time began, and certainly before Tuesday last week, there was a saga called Star Wars. And lo, the people said it was good, and that it did verily enthrall them with its tales of derring-do, good versus evil, and the adventures of pretty princesses ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/07/11/parallel-return-of-the-jedi-making-an-entrance/ March 14, 2006 Hooray for mother Russia! Hooray for my new home in the corrupt and materialistic US of A! What a glorious day; the first day of my new diary and the first day in my new hometown of Baltimore. Ball-ti-more: I love the sound of that ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/07/04/the-secret-diary-of-a-russian-mole/ Times are hard. Really hard. I lost my chauffeur; apparently he can make more money back in his old job as Head of Obstetrics at Kraków General Infirmary. My housekeeper murmurs about never having time to work on her Uzbek translation of The Great Gatsby and my ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/06/26/ad-verse-reaction/ Jazz astounds Jazz confounds Jazz rebounds betwixt the soul and the bones Perpetual motion in search of a home Never at rest Aural physics of the blessed Jazz resounds As Mr. Marsalis and his crew pours wine into my ears Is it red? white? or blue? Both hot and cool Keys unlocked Sharp, not flat Arranged anarchy Melodious insanity Jazz abounds Notes without end Improvisation’s bending ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/06/20/jazz-cant-get-enough/ Imagine the scene. You have had a hard enough day already, captured by the enemy after karate chopping and shooting just about as many as was humanly possible. You are strapped to a table top that is actually a massive block of gold. Then the baddie fires ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/06/13/bonkers-bond-bloodshed/ Time was that if you wanted a manual for manners, you simply turned to a guide from Debrett's. With the rise of interweb and netiquette, life is no longer so simple, though Debrett's still try to give advice on civility in the age of cybersurfing. Take this suggestion ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/06/06/21st-century-etiquette/ I have a friend, named Lucinda. She is 11,639 kilometres (7,232 miles) away from me. Fourteen years ago, we met in a place that is 4,925 km (3,060 miles) from where I now sit, and is 11,217 km (6,970 miles) from Lucinda's current location. We met whilst ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/05/29/friendships-from-afar/ Wait, hurry up, who are you? Belt off, hurry up, wait. There was a time when air travel was associated with glamour; a world of long-legged elegant women inviting you to converse with dashing uniformed gents as they flew you across the sunshine land that lies above the ... http://halfthoughts.com/2010/05/23/into-the-blue-with-the-terminal-blues/