iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 28/09/2026

Sometimes the latter sneak in though: -the entry for 'eagle' includes a line from Gandalf from the Hobbit - the entry for 'wizard' is Pippin's observation about Denethor looking more wizardly than Gandalf There's also about 25 words drawn directly from the Hobbit and LOTR et al, e.g. warg, orkish

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 28/09/2026

Tolkien, btw, is quoted as a source no less than 365 times but most of those are in his capacity as professor of philology rather than renowned fantasy author.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 28/09/2026

The remaining entries are the words drawn directly from D&D: - Player character (and its counterpart, NPC) - Experience point - Hit point - Magic-user - and D&D of course All of these are dated to 1974, except, bizarrely 'magic-user' which appeared for the first time in the DMG, go figure.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 28/09/2026

TIL that Gary Gygax appears as a quotation source for no less than 14 entries in the OED: - Campaign (D&D, 1974) - Bag of holding (1974) - Module (DMG, 1979) - Artifact (the reissue of Eldritch Wizardy 1978) - Magical (Chainmail, 1972) - Portal (DMG, 1979) - Dwarf (1974) - Dungeon (1974)

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/09/2026

And, by the same token, Twin Peaks: The Return (because it was the continuation of a show that first aired in 1990)

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/09/2026

(I left out shows that began in the 1990s but ended in the 21st Century, otherwise Buffy, Sopranos and West Wing would definitely made the list. And there are a whole bunch of 21C shows that I love that almost made the list, including Rome, Firefly, Justified, Fringe, V Mars, and Boardwalk Empire)

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/09/2026

The Best TV Shows of the 21st Century: You Decide www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/09/2026

Shakespeare didn't write in old English. He wrote in early modern English. But if Eggers wants to be truly 'authentic' (whatever that means) why doesn't he film it in Dante's Italian?

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 07/10/2025

I maintain that REM's Green is a great album but I will concede that Pop Song 89 was an early sign of decline setting in: When Can You Be Disappointed by an Album? www.indignity.net/everything-is-oldies/

indignity.net

Everything is oldies

Indignity Vol. 5, No. 178

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 27/09/2025

It's okay for adults to like these books. It's also okay for adults to leave them behind, if they want to. The mistake lies in assuming that adults are somehow the primary audience...

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 27/09/2025

Imagine writing this about any other children's literature, the weird flex that the author is somehow required to keep pace with whatever is happening with Rupert Bear, say, or Worzel Gummidge: observer.co.uk/news/columni...

observer.co.uk

Harry Potter and the deathly rehash culture | The Observer

It’s been 30 years and the Potterverse is still expanding. I’m ready to leave it behind

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 08/09/2025

There's nothing I love better when travelling than going down to the local post office on a regular basis with a large consignment of dirty clothes.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 21/08/2025

I blew my nose this morning and what ended up on the handkerchief had more intellectual heft than Curtis Yarvin. Why pay good money to see a fascist troll pretending to be deep thinker when the internet is free? Everyone involved in this cluster-f should be deeply embarrassed.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 08/08/2025

It's almost as though we've discovered the perfect bullshit machine.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 07/08/2025

Let's ban school.materials boosted by AI companies while we're at it

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 05/08/2025

"You see this with the Bear Patrol, which, whatever one thinks of its effectiveness, is a popular measure."

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 02/08/2025

iirc there's also something in the Wilderness Guide about movement in vines and branches of trees

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 26/07/2025

Secret of Bone Hill begs to differ

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/07/2025

John McLean, Scourge of Carpathia, Sorrow of Moldavia

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/07/2025

Weirdly enough, no one ever asks how Plano electing yet another republican mayor might play in NYC

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 24/07/2025

Kinda funny that a guy who despises collective action has taken up residence in France of all places.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 22/07/2025

The UK's economic prospects now depend on asking ChatGPT how many beans makes five and hoping it doesn't give the wrong answer this time.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 21/07/2025

I'm pretty sure the "new governance structure" in Gaza is the IDF shooting you when you're queuing for food.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 21/07/2025

A great opportunity here to remake TRIUMPH OF THE WILL

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 20/07/2025

It's like the opening scene of The Insider, when Al Pacino's character negotiates with Hezbollah, and at the end, he takes off the blindfold and throws back the curtains, and we see he's in Chipping Norton.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 20/07/2025

That's very brave of him. As everyone in the UK knows, the Cotswolds are a notorious "no-go" area under the control of sharia law.

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Reposted by William Lejeune

Brian Phillips @brianphillips.lol · 19/07/2025

If the New York Times decided to run nonstop coverage in favor of boll weevil blights, a certain subset of intelligent, graceful literary writers, not known till now for being pro-agricultural plague, would find themselves fruitfully grappling with thoughts about the role weevils play in their lives

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 19/07/2025

I've never understood "main character syndrome" as a criticism. Yes, some people are narcissists or egotistical monsters but isn't everyone by definition the main character in their own lives? The implied alternative is what? That some of us should just be content with having rats in our basement?

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 18/07/2025

It's far more likely that Waititi played Judge Dredd or Strontium Dog or Rogue Trooper on the playground as a kid than any of the X-Men

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 18/07/2025

I dunno, 2000AD was very popular in New Zealand in the late 70s and early 80s, a lot more kids read it than Marvel or DC

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 11/07/2025

I won't buy an open world game now unless it realistically models IBS and i can craft my own outhouse.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 09/07/2025

Is there a word in German for "movie which you missed at the cinema but you read the reviews for and you were excited to see it, but now it's finally out on streaming and somehow you can no longer muster the enthusiasm to watch it"?

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 02/07/2025

My ranking is: 6. The rest of SUPERMAN III 7. SUPERMAN IV 8. Literally any other superhero film ever. 9. Literally any other film ever. .... 5,837,453 Watching paint flake off, then dry 5,837,454 Eating actual glass 5,837,455. Actual MAN OF STEEL 5,837, 456. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: MARTHA(S) MY DEAR(S)

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 29/06/2025

Do you like oysters and lobsters and expensive metals in the most tacky, obscene combinations possible? Then congratulations, sir or madam, you represent the very best in breeding, lineage and social mores!

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 26/06/2025

Fisherman spend hours at sea, surrounded by water, and sometimes in stormy weather, yet they manage to keep their clothes dry. Join the New York Times as it investigates this mystery of the ages.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 12/06/2025

I agree he's not a black-and-white villain: his love of music is sincere and heartfelt. But he cloaks himself in the language of a victim specifically by reference to maybe the one episode in Irish history that *didn't* involve outright oppression. He's alienated because everyone else converted!

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 12/06/2025

Wait, how has Remmick "been the victim of majority oppression"? Unlike the rest of Irish history, the conversion of Ireland by St Patrick (himself a former slave) was mostly peaceful. Remmick is a self-pitying narcissist!

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 11/06/2025

"For by wise counsel you shall make your war" One of my favourite set of last words for any character.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 10/06/2025

We Care a Lot about Transformers cause there's more than meets the eye

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 09/06/2025

Has anyone checked whether downtown LA happens to have deposits of deep substrate foliated Kalkite?

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 08/06/2025

Tired: Frodo struggling from the wounds he sustained at Weathertop and Shelob's Lair and the burden of carrying the One Ring Wired: Fatty Bolger struggling with life-long PTSD after that time three Nazgul burst down his door and tried to kill him

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 02/06/2025

Jonathan Sumption is a bloodsucking Tory who made fabulous amounts of money acting for Russian oligarchs before becoming a judge. His benighted conception of state is about what you would expect after a lifetime of always representing the richest man in the room.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 01/06/2025

I refuse to countenance the idea that a Sichuan chef might obtain gainful employment anywhere but a major connurbation on either the East or West coasts.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 01/06/2025

Gilgamesh would have been published much earlier than 1200 BCE but querying in ancient Sumeria was really hellish and the stone tablets kept breaking.

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 31/05/2025

The key to reducing alcoholism is to give everyone type 2 diabetes instead

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William Lejeune @williamlejeune.com · 29/05/2025

The Guardian's picture editor really earning their keep with that choice.

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