Los Angeles finally seems to have gotten the right idea: rain bad, sun good. It's been so glorious the past couple of days it's almost been uncomfortable. I wish I could teach in shorts and flip-flops.

I discovered something truly awesome whilst browsing the Interweb: ScummVM. Scumm was the proprietary system developed by Lucasarts, upon which ran Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle, and all that other good stuff. Some enterprising individuals have created an architecture for running these old games on new systems - which includes (for once) OSX! And they have a freeware version of Beneath A Steel Sky for download, my first exposure to Dave Gibbons before I discovered the majesty of Watchmen! I'm sure there are convenient channels for obtaining other old games to run on ScummVM, but I would of course not encourage any such pursuits. Here's to reliving one's wasted youth!

I have become increasingly fascinated with the short descriptions employed by the MPAA/BBFC to justify the age ratings they give to movies. I belive they are a relatively new phenomenon. I first became aware of such things when Fellowship of the Ring came out in England, which was rated PG for "fantasy violence". Which meant they hacked off an orc's head and blood gouted out of the stump, but that's okay because it was black blood. LXG amused me with "sexual innuendo", because it was simple to spot the one occasion in the movie this addressed (go, Dorian Gray!). But recently they have become increasingly whimsical or bemusing. Constantine was, of course, rated R for "demonic images", and among Alien Vs. Predator's crimes for the PG-13 is listed "slime". Slime. And Mean Girls carries a warning of "some teen partying". What exactly does that mean? What is it supposed to get across to parents? I'm all for enabling people to make their own decisions regarding what they and their children watch, but I've been trying to imagine historians in the future piecing together the plots of these movies based solely on these remarkably specific and yet hopelessly general descriptions. Anyway, be ensured that I will keep you updated as to my findings in that little box at the bottom of the movie poster (and, of course, I welcome submissions from anyone so inclined!).

I'm going to see Sin City now! *giddy fanboy dance*