Sunday, February 16, 2003 - If I added pointy ears, I’d have the Nosferatu look nailed. A villager writes “You’re a very scary-looking guy when you want to be scary-looking... I forgot the point I was trying to make. Never mind.” Missives like that cut down my eMail answering time tremendously. Keep ‘em coming. Bela Lugosi played “Dracula” in 1931 and the 1935 “Mark of the Vampire” wasn’t a sequel. In that one, Bela played Count Mora — who’s kidding who here? And then he reprises Dracula in 1948’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” The cheek! Or to be precise, the check! It’s Christopher Lee, hands down, and at 80, Saruman rocks. Monday, February 17, 2003 - Fun with symmetry, mirror the left side, Uruk-hai, the right-side, Gollum. Someone wrote “I wanted to thank you for something you posted on your webpage just recently, resolving an argument I’d forgotten I had. A friend and I had independently come up with two completely different “correct” solutions to Fool’s Errand’s final puzzle. Mine, apparently your intended answer, was DEATH TO THE FOOL; his was THE TOOL OF DEATH. Thank you for putting your interpretation up on the site. I’ll have to call him and gloat.” The tool of death? Very Austin Powers, baby. Seek the Hierophant, Moon and High Priestess. Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - Never show fear — computers can smell fear! As I set here, pounding out the new Fool, my mind wanders to issues of compatibility with the Mac, IBM, Amiga, Atari 800, Apple II? Then I remember, omigosh, it’s 2003. Deep cleansing breaths. Imagine, creating a CD-ROM that’ll work on both Win and Mac without any modifications. Thanks Macromedia! Note I don’t say PC and Mac. I refuse to give in to that conceit that Windows/Intel are true PCs, the standard, and Macintoshs are beta videos, enjoying the last few seconds of its fifteen minute fame. Of course, er, um, I program on a Win/tel now... oh look, it’s David Blaine! Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - P.T. Barnum said “Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.” Matthew at treasurehunt.org writes “I’m sorry to break this news to you map hunters but the [David Blaine] map has already been found. The reason you have not found out about this is because the publishers (Villard Books) have decided to hold onto the information so not to reduce sales of the book. I got hold of this information through a brother in-law who works for Villard Books. I’d still be looking for the map now if it wasn’t for my brother in-law.” Was this a family intervention over money addiction? Or C bird + VI note + Taurus beast? Thursday, February 20, 2003 - Voltaire said “Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.” Born and raised in New Hampshire, my uncle has a fondness for so-called “Vermont humor.” A son drives up from the city and visits his Dad at his farmhouse. During their conversation, the phone rings on and off incessantly. Finally, the son asks “Dad, why don’t you answer your phone?” to which the old Vermonter replies “Son, I had that phone put in for my convenience.” One. Two. Three. Four. The same Vermonter might be asked “Have you lived here all your life?” and he would say “Not yet.” The Seven of Cups contains seven just out of reach. Friday, February 21, 2003 - Twice postponed, I drove into Hollywood to meet David Blaine for lunch and ended up not eating anything. I departed at 10 PM to avoid rush hour, and at the gas station, the 7-11, the dry cleaners, everyone looked at me with a certain glee — and I couldn’t figure out why? I rolled onto the 10 freeway and encountered 110 minutes of traffic, hence my calm expression. I arrived to find that DB wants to release clues from now to the September release of the softcover version of his book. My job. Figure out what those clues might be. Also DB commented on my 1990 Mazda 323, saying “I had that exact same car once” to which I replied “Ah, that explains the jokers under the front seat.” Saturday, February 22, 2003 - Robert Lynd observed “It is in games that many men discover their paradise.” George Bernard Shaw retorted ” [Games] are a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.” W. Somerset Maugham concluded “The ability to quote [another person] is a serviceable substitute for wit,” a corollary being “why bother to speak up for yourself when you can pilfer the legacies of witty people to unwittingly speak up on your behalf.” Dastardly business, Holmes. Stout heart, Watson. The game has two left feet. Do I look drained? Test drive the new JJ-8.