He's more machine now than man...twisted and evil

But there's still good in him. I can feel it. I am referring of course to George Lucas, who has found it in his cold heart to release the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. See the official Star Wars website. Of course there is a catch. The unaltered original films are merely 'bonus material' added to the re-re-re-release of the dreaded special editions, version 2.1. I will of course buy them, increasing George Lucas' bank account which by now must rival Scrooge McDuck's money pool. I wonder what other special features will be on the discs.

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Yo! Sushi is a dangerous restaurant. Kat and I went there for dinner Sunday night. It is a sushi restaurant where the patrons sit at the bar where fresh sushi passes before them on a little conveyor belt. You take whatever you fancy. The plates are colour-coded, and each colour is a different price. Lime is £1.50, blue £2, orange £2.50, pink £3, purple £3.50 and black £5. When you're done, your waiter/waitress counts up the plates and gives you the cheque. If you're not paying attention, you can rack up a heavy bill. This is quite easy to do when the sushi is particularly good, which it was. Except for the fact that the staff were eager to go home and began shutting down early, it was a highly enjoyable experience. It was the best sushi I've consumed on this side of the Atlantic. I am simultaneously thrillled and afraid that there is a new location of Yo! Sushi here in Leeds.
After sushi, Kat and I wondered along the Thames and across the Golden Jubilee Bridge, where I took this photograph:
This picture does not accurately portray the weather at the time. It was windy, and chilly, and threatening to rain. Not surprising considering the location, but still unpleasant if it is the last day of April.

I finished and sent in the travel grant to the Royal Historical Society for the conference in Iceland. I spent all day today working on it, and received an excellent reference from one of my supervisors. I should find out if I will receive it by 19 May. Keep your fingers crossed! Now all that is on my agenda is that book review, a paper for the conference, and that other paper to be published. The other co-authors and I have set and cancelled meetings three times since our last meeting, because as each appointment approached we had to admit to each other that we hadn't actually done anything with our portion of the piece. We were supposed to meet today but postponed again until next Monday.

My final Latin class, ever, was today. I've been doing Latin for two years now and am happy with my level of proficiency. In class we read some fairly easy quasi-philisophical text titled Vir Speculativus. I will continue studying Latin via the postgraduate reading group, but no more classes. And of course I'll use it in my thesis. This may be the last class I ever take as a student. I hope not.

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night, beef panang. It was delicious. The recipe calls for thin strips of beef cooked in coconut milk and red curry paste, with some fish oil and brown sugar. I added some broccoli and green pepper and served it over rice. I think it will be a new regular dish in my repetoire.