Torchwood: themes of corruption and sacrifice

Found a review of Torchwood series 3 that says what I think: Torchwood and Moral Philosophy. I particularly liked the line:

Harkness is doomed to love mortals, have babies, and watch everything and everyone he loves die and leave him alone. That's a romantic hero on stilts.

Supernatural: the future of Castiel...

I've been reading about the San Diego panels, and enjoying myself mightily. I liked this quote from Eric Kripke on the Supernatural panel: ( In episode four... )

The question was raised: "Who changed the voicemail message in the finale?" They wouldn't answer it. I think the answer is clear, if you follow the plot through; that there's only one person who could have done it, and who actually mentioned it. But I think it's amusing that they won't say.

I like the sound of Lucifer.

This bit made me laugh:

Fan: Jim and Misha, what’s it like knowing you’re just as important as Jensen and Jared’s characters?

Misha Collins: Well, it would be great.

Jim Beaver: Who are Jensen and Jared?

The Cumberland Gap...

A friend of mine was talking about the Cumberland Gap, which she had recently visited. I didn't know what it was, so I looked it up. Impressive.

The dictionary didn't help me much; one of the synonyms it listed for 'gap' was 'chasm'. I thought a gap was something you could travel through, like the Gap of Rohan, not something that stopped you.

So what's the difference between a gap and a pass?

Ontari-ari-ario...

When I was in England, my friend Simon and I were talking about the name of the province of Ontario, and wondering what the name meant and where it came from. I finally got around to looking it up:

The name for the province of Ontario is from an Iroquois word meaning beautiful lake or beautiful water and was first used for Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes.

Which begs the issue of how Ontario, California got its name: no Iroquois there, as far as I know.

Gaps and passes...

It was fascinating to see people discussing gaps and passes when I asked about it earlier today. Looking at Wikipedia, it seems there is no geological difference. In a unreferenced passage that is quoted all over the net, they say:

In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch, brennig or bealach) is a saddle point in between two areas of higher elevation.

.

And Wikipedia makes this interesting point:

There are many words for pass in the English-speaking world. In the United States, the southern Appalachians more commonly use the word gap, and notch is often heard in New England. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach (anglicised "Balloch"). In the Lake District of north west England, the term hause is often used...

So it looks as if they are essentially the same thing, with regional differences in terminology cropping up.

Supernatural: Candy, witches, and a fistful of smiting...

I felt the need of something to lift stress this evening, so I suggested to explodedteabag that we might watch an episode of Supernatural, and she didn't run away screaming. In fact, she stopped killing Orcs in the game she is currently playing, and came down to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester". I don't really get the title, again - maybe just to indicate it's about Halloween? I suppose we did get some interesting moments about Sam. But I don't really see Castiel as the Great Pumpkin...

How can Dean eat all that candy and still keep his boyish figure?

( It was one of those episodes where... )