still more pirates

So I was wandering through a friend-of-a-friend's user info and noticed links to the following communities:

_jacksparrow_, jacksparrow, jacksparrowfans, prtsofthecrbbn, and last but not least, theblackpearl.

Can only say "Lordy!" Is this sort of enthusiastic community-creation in the wake of a recent movie normal? I don't think I've been around here long enough to tell.

Oh, and it's raining. Again.

(no subject)

OK, it's really not good that I've spent the entire day here and done NOTHING, other than annotate a couple of flowcharts.

Oh wait, I did my status report. That has to count for something. Phew. And I got a few things done for my internal project. And I had a meeting. But really...

Tomorrow, must call clients. Whether I feel like it or not. It'll only get worse if I don't (much like going to the dentist, which I also haven't done in a while).

Anyway, getting out of here now full of resolve.

in honour of banned books:

officialgaiman, elissa_carey and crankygrrl remind me that Banned Books Week in the US is the last week in September. In honour of which, I had to dig this story out (posted in a comment on elissa_carey's blog, but I like it so much I wanted to keep it here as well): it's such a perfect comeuppance for the censors.

Banned or Withdrawn Books: Tyndale's New Testament Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London, attempted to burn all the copies of Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English. In October 1526 he compelled everyone in his diocese to hand over the copies they had, and then burned them at St. Paul's Cross. However, the books kept arriving from the continent, where they were printed, and even the ardour of the bishop was insufficient to prevent their circulation. A man called Packington offered to help the bishop by buying up as many Tyndales as he could, and the bishop, who saw in his mind's eye an unending succession of satisfactory bonfires, eagerly agreed. Unfortunately for him, Packington was a friend of Tyndale's and went off to see him at once. Edward Halle in his Chronicle tells what followed:

Augustine Packington came to William Tyndale and said: "William, I know thou art a poor man, and hast a heap of New Testaments and books by thee, for the which thou hast both endangered thy friends and beggered thyself; and I have now gotten thee a merchant, which with ready money shall dispatch thee of all that thou hast, if you think it so profitable for thyself."

"Who is the merchant?" said Tyndale.

"The bishop of London," said Packington.

"Oh, that is because he will burn them," said Tyndale.

"Yea, marry," quoth Packington.

"I am the gladder," said Tyndale, "for these two benefits shall come thereof. I shall get money of him for these books, to bring myself out of debt, and the whole world shall cry out upon the burning of God's word. And the overplus of the money, that shall remain to me, should make me more studious to convert the said New Testament, and so newly imprint the same once again; and I trust the second will much better like you than ever did the first." And so forward went the bargain: the bishop had the books, Packington had the thanks, and Tyndale had the money.

-- The Book of Literary Lists, ed. Nicholas Parsons

Banned Books Week is September 20-27, but start now! Read a banned book today!

The nice thing about reading a banned book, I always think, is that so many different people have wanted to ban so many different books over the years, there's one to suit every taste.

Linkage:

The University of Pennsylvania's Banned Books Online -- a great overview of censorship through the ages and across the world
Banned Books.com (warning! use of obscure HTML tags for evil!) A little wacky, but sincere.
Loyola University Chicago Libraries -- outdated but good.