Tag: Frolic and Detour

  • The Vogons and Fictitious Service

    I had fun writing the last post about service of process in the Expanse books, and it got me thinking about service of process in fiction generally. Here is a scene from another sci-fi classic, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Arthur Dent has just learned that the local authorities are going to knock down……

  • Serving Process In The Belt

    With the world in such a state, we all need an occasional escape. Mine is genre fiction. You know, the Aubrey/Maturin books. Alan Furst’s spy novels. PD James. And now the Expanse books. They’re really good classic science fiction. And as in any fully realized fictional world, we get a look at the dialects, cuisines,……

  • Watching Downton Abbey

    Downton Abbey premiered in 2010, but my wife and I never watched it. We decided to start this weekend. In the first episode, the Earl of Grantham, who married a rich American but who has only daughters, learns that his presumptive heir, a cousin, has died on the Titanic. Drama ensues, because when the Earl……

  • Tony Bennett, 1926-2023

    Tony Bennett, 1926-2023

    Farewell to Tony Bennett, one of the greatest performers of the Great American Songbook. I don’t know what the experts would say, but to me, these songs, from Broadway, jazz standards, and even movies, are are our Puccini, our great popular art. They are as American as baseball, and Tony Bennett is the Joe DiMaggio……

  • Thanks, WordPress!

    I read that WordPress, the software that I use to make Letters Blogatory, is turning twenty this month. I’ve been using WordPress since 2011, and I want to take the occasion of the anniversary to give a shout-out to the many people who contribute their time to developing and maintaining the software. If you think……