Michele pointed me to a great interview with Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Did you know The Mail on Sunday called Pullman the most dangerous man in Britain? And here I thought all the conservative book critics were too busy burning copies of Harry Potter to notice. My sister just finished the books, so she should appreciate getting a bit more insight into Pullman’s personal religious philosophy. I was amazed by his statements that C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books are “detestable”. He makes some good arguments against the view of Heaven that those books present. Good stuff.

“It’s a mysterious story of wealth, society, bridge – and maybe murder.” A wealthy older Melbourne couple vanished a few weeks ago and the police can’t seem to find them anywhere. Although I really don’t see where “bridge” comes into it, unless the article’s author is trying to make us think the bridge instructor had something to do with it.

It’s actually very early Sunday morning, and we just got back from the Ben Folds concert. It was fantastic. Just him and a piano and a couple hundred of us packed in a theater. Then the Snook and I headed to the local tapas place for some late night snackage and the best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. Good times.

At long last, we have our babies!
Well, fish babies. Big Gay Al helped us pick them out Thursday. If you wanna see ’em up close, click here. The black one in the upper right has really bulgy eyes, so we named him Admiral Ackbar. Continuing clockwise we have Grand Moff Tarkin, Aurra Sing, and Porkins. (He’s the fat one facing backwards.) We also have a little snail that sticks to the aquarium walls. His name is Salacious Crumb, of course. (If you don’t get the names, just remember that we’re geeks.)

Friday Five:
They’re all TV-oriented this week, which sucks since I’m slightly out of the American TV loop.

1. What’s your favorite TV show and why?
I’d say Buffy, but we’re waiting for the Season 4 DVDs so I’m all out of sync. Currently then I’d have to say it’s a tie between Six Feet Under and Big Brother. SFU is easy to understand; it’s just a good show. (And Peter Krause is damn hot.) Big Bro is a more embarrassing pleasure. The Australian version is the best I’ve seen yet! They’ve only been in there for twelve days and we’ve already got two couples going (each of which involves boy/girlfriends on the outside). And every Thursday we get Big Brother Uncut, where they show all the curse words, drunkenness, and full-front nudity. I swear to God, on actual network television. The first Uncut featured all of the housemates showering nude (including the fitness instructor that I hate shaving her bikini area – *shudder!*) as well as a drunken lesbian kissing session during a game of Truth or Dare. Don’t you wish the American version was as good? 🙂

2. Who is your favorite television star?
Buffy. SMG rocks. (But Peter Krause runs a close second.)

3. What was your favorite TV show as a child?
I didn’t really have a favorite. I’d watch anything and everything. I especially liked The Hogan Family, Cheers, and ALF. (Yeah, laugh it up.)

4. What show do you think should have been cancelled by now?
Ally McBeal. Oh wait, my bad. 🙂

5. What new show do you hope escapes the axe this season?
Though I haven’t seen a single episode, I’ve been reading and loving TWOP‘s recaps of Undeclared. I want it to stay on the air just so I have a chance of seeing it someday.

BWAHAHAHAHA! I just headed over to TWOP to read the latest Dawson’s Creek recaplet (no, that’s not the funny part yet), and I noticed that the advertisement down the side of the page reads “Learn Film Making!” It’s for the New York Film Academy. (You might need to refresh a couple of times to see it.) Hee! Isn’t that funny? Because Dawson is a film maker… and he sucks… and stuff? Okay, it was only funny to me.

Woohoo! Snookums and I are going to try to get tickets to see Ben Folds tomorrow night. Did you know that he actually moved to Adelaide (South Australia) when the band split up? That’s where he lives now. Huh. Anyway, we don’t know a lot of his stuff, but we like what we have, so it should be fun.

Seriously, Wooly Willy was one of my favorite toys ever. (Of course, having lived in England for so long, that name takes on an entirely different and not-so-wholesome meaning.) I also seem to remember having the Doodle Balls game. (Again, with the double entendres!)

I’ve become a big fan of Six Feet Under in the past few months. Here’s an article about the show’s opening credits that I found interesting. That music really is just perfect for it. (Link courtesy of NowThis.)

Hot on the heels of the Weblogger CD Exchange comes the Film Exchange Project. Sounds like an interesting idea. I might take a pass on this one though. All that international postage is putting a hole in my pocket. (Link courtesy of Ron.)