Musings

One of the most unintentionally hilarious things I read last week was Ian Fleming describing the nuances of Rock, Paper Scissors in the opening chapter of You Only Live Twice (which is so unlike the film they could probably re-adapt it with Daniel Craig and no-one would notice, although that ship probably sailed when they screwed up Quantum of Solace).  It's a lot like how he describes the card game in Casino Royale, patiently explaining it to you like you've never heard of it before.

One of the most unintentionally hilarious things I read this week was Judge Kozinski's opinion on a case called Micro Star v. FormGen Inc. 154 F.3d 1107 (9th Cir. 1998). No, not the part where I agreed with a 9th Circuit holding, although that in and of itself is cause for a quick sanity check. Rather, his description of a video game, Duke Nukem 3D, is amusing.

"Duke Nukem 3D [is] an immensely popular (and very cool) computer game... [It] is played from the first-person perspective... Players explore a futuristic city infested with evil aliens and other hazards. The goal is to zap them before they zap you."

I don't know why he felt the need to editorialize about the game, although this is still a step up from Justice Brennan, who felt the urge to invoke Godwin's Law in a free speech case I had to read earlier this week (Elrod v. Burns).

"Zap them before they zap you."  Did he think that we'd misunderstand him if he said "kill?"