On the Framing Classical Reception Studies Conference: Day -1

I’m willing to admit that I may be jumping the gun here by posting an entry for Day -1, but as this is a day of preparation and packing, I figure it's worth a few paragraphs. Day 1 of the Framing Classical Reception Studies conference isn’t until June 6th; tomorrow, Day 0, will see me attempting to travel from Birmingham in the UK to Nijmegen in the Netherlands without taking a wrong turn and somehow ending up in Algiers. I travel fairly frequently, but I've yet to shed my tendency to get lost at the drop of a hat. Assuming I beat the odds and do manage to get there in the end, I'm hoping the conference will prove worth all the effort. 

On "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" in Latin

Since it came up today in a conversation with The Great and Powerful Pixelkitties, I thought it might be fun (and perhaps enlightening) to explain how you can translate the title My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic into Latin. Because I'm a geek, this is actually one of the first things I did when trying to find ways to bring these two interests of mine together. As a disclaimer, I'd note that my Latin is middling at best, so if anyone spots any errors, please do bring them to my attention.

On the "Equestria Girls" Furore

I awoke today to find that the official announcement and the trailer for Equestria Girls were released during the early hours of the UK morning. For those who aren't aware, Equestria Girls is Hasbro's movie-length spinoff of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and over the last few months it's generated a great deal of rumour and speculation in the latter's fan community. Unsurprisingly, today's announcement sparked a fresh round of debate. Taking my Twitter timeline as a sample, the reactions ranged from gleefully positive to cynically negative; most people fell somewhere in the middle, but there's a clear sense of concern in the air. I usually consciously avoid weighing in when these sorts of tensions arise, as I worry about a sort of observer effect, in which any comment – even an appeal for calm – only ends up adding fuel to the flames. This time, though, I would like to offer my thoughts on the matter. Please take them for whatever they may be worth to you.