Compared to Les Miserables, the lyrics of Miss Saigon are flat, and rely on such predictable rhymes and rhyming patterns, as well. The lack of emotional progression in the lyrics had never occurred to me, but you're absolutely right.
As a kid, who was obsessed with Les Mis and the Boublil Schonberg duo, I was judgemental and thought he was trying to take more glory than he deserved. Over the years, listening to Miss Saigon and Martin Guerre, it's become clear how crucial he was.
There was a documentary about the making of Les Miserables - Probably Stage by Stage - where Herbert Kretzmer talks about how a lot of it was more like a rewrite or fresh lyrics than a straight translation.
JK Rowling: hello children
Rowling: i have exciting newssss
Rowling: there'ss a new harry potter out
King: a new harry potter?!?!?!
King: OMGG I AM SO EXCITED!
Poe: steve, no!
Poe: we discussed this
Poe: you know what the harry potter profits are used for
King: i
King: yes of course
King:
King: but
A small black and white cat lying on its back on a dirty concrete pavement, looking up at the camera.
A small black and white cat curled up in the lap of a person who is wearing a black, chequered skirt.
Can't stop thinking about this little guy who I've met 3 times now, down the street from my work. He can't be much more than 4 months old, and he's gotta be the friendliest street cat I've ever met. Climbed into my lap within minutes of meeting me. Just wish I could get him into a home 🥺
What’s fucking enraging about this is that every lovely turn of phrase the AI churns out is human-authored. Google each fragment of the below - “forged in dying stars,” “created in stellar furnaces,” “the universe is not indifferent to us,” “implicated in something vast” - and you’ll find a source.
Good point. I read Hyperion at about 20 (45 now) and I suspect if I revisited it I'd find a lot of red flags I didn't notice back then.
The top review on Goodreads for that one is great. It was how I learned that he'd gone weird since Hyperion.
From memory that was the Rabbi's tale. I didn't read it as skeevy or incestuous, just sad, but I was 20 and might have missed subtext.
The "What even is" kid was rules lawyering by the end - "So, if I can charm animals... do you know that humans are animals?"
I had my first Dungeons & Dragons enrichment group today, for years 3-6. Questions ranged from "What even is Dungeons and Dragons?" to "Are you looking up the stats for zombies? Because you don't need to - I've memorised them!"
The 4 Corners music has become so diminished. They should bring back one of the late 80s ones.
My positive impact on Stella's life: moving water and freeze-dried treats.
My negative impact on Stella's life: annoying orange roommates.
Psychic AND physical damage and I still can't put the fucking thing down.
I wrote about how concentration camp regimes evolve and why it's not too late to stop this, even though we are deep in it now.
Three panel cartoon by Tina Menzel A cat sitting on a table next to a big sign that says 2025 Cat looks down at 2025 Cat pushes 2025 off the table
I actually assumed the opposite until I adopted some sweet natured male cats. I'd known some very affectionate female cats as a kid and heard someone make that generalisation and just accepted it. In retrospect, they were probably talking more about the challenges of an undesexed male.
It baffles me how people would rather buy a Ragdoll or Maine Coon sight unseen ("because they're friendly and affectionate") than actually get to know a shelter cat/kitten to find a good fit.
Kid: Can I go toilet?
Me: Yes, just don't go on a side quest again
5 min later
Kid: I'm back! I bumped into [friend] he gave me this. *holds up squishy ball*
Me: DON'T THROW IT AT THE CEILING!
Kid: Oh. My bad. It'll come down on its own, right?
Other kid: Wow, he did go on a side quest
Me: Always
Two cats sitting on top of cages and looking at the ceiling
Two cars on the floor staring up at the ceiling
Two young kittens in a cage taking notice
A cat standing on her hind legs to reach for a moth
A moth got into the shelter tonight and it was the event of the season.
Kid: Miss, spelling has no rizz.
Me: Um... yeah, I can't argue with that. Spelling has no rizz. You still need to learn it.
I'm sorry - that really sucks.
I'm jealous - I didn't get under the bridge proper. Those stone pillars were so close when we got turned around.
Me: This film is a parody
Child: It has parrots in it?
I just tried and found I could kind of do it, but I had to concentrate really hard and sit really still.
Yf tech billionaires reallye reade their Tolkien thei wolde understande that it was the obsessive searche by Sauron for selfish immortalitye and individual power above all othir thinges that broughte disaster to Middle Earthe.
Father Nathan Monk posted on Facebook a message. This is a screenshot of the message, which says, "You are about to watch the whole world respect a chosen name. It's that easy."
It really is this simple.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
I feel like we are seeing what the French Revolution would have been like if (a) Marie Antoinette had actually said “let them eat cake” and (b) then the entire French Court had repeated it for weeks on end anytime someone complained of hunger.
You advised me to take hydralite at the time. I hope you feel better soon.
That sounds like the fever I had before Christmas at School Pd, maybe in 2013 or 2014. I felt really shitty and sweated buckets, but no respirator symptoms.