This and that

Though she has often been compared to Anthony Trollope, one astute reviewer has termed her "the love child of Graham Greene and Iris Murdoch." Well, that's a hell of a comparison isn't it? The subject of the comparison is Susan Howatch, who has written a series of book about the Church of England, one of which you can find here. A colleague recommended her to me.

I have a hard time believing this is real. Mylanta Ice Cream sounds like a frat boy initiation torture device.

Sven sends word that Iran is protesting 300. The battle of Thermopylae was 2,500 years ago! I think there has to be a statue of limitations on such things. And it actually happened! American Scene has useful thoughts. Scifi.com approaches the movie for it what it is, a comic book adaptation. Given the piss-poor state of knowledge about the classical world, it's worth pointing to Obsidian Wings which correctly notes that Sparta is not a great role model and that Salamis is where the Persians were truly defeated. Those who took IR classes back in the Cold War days will recall that Sparta=Soviet Union, Athens=United States. All this aside, I always enjoy a movie packed with lots of ass-kicking.