“I am not an animal!”

The Movie: Spartacus, 1960 (Dalton Trumbo, screenwriter, from the novel by Howard Fast; Stanley Kubrick, dir.)
Who says it: Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, a slave trained as a gladiator
The context: Spartacus refuses to perform in the ring like a trained animal, and embraces his destiny as liberator.
How to use it: To take a stand against degradation or drudgery.

You thought this line was from The Elephant Man, didn't you? Well, it is, but it was in Spartacus first. (There's also the Pete Townshend song, "I Am an Animal," which I figure refers to both works, but this is not a lyrics blog.) Anyway, since Spartacus was concerned with the dignity of other human beings -- while John Merrick didn't really have the energy to spare for anyone else -- I'm letting him have this line.

Happy birthday today to Art Coulson, eternal love object of my 14-year-old self.

A Maine state legislator has proposed that the state move from Eastern Time to Atlantic Time, which would put us an hour ahead of everyone else in the continental U.S. (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also on Atlantic time). He says this would give us more daylight and increase business, which I don't get at all.

Sunrise today was at 7:13, sunset will be at 4:23 (thanks, WeatherPixie). Put us on Nova Scotia time and sunrise moves to 8:13. Who wants to get up in the middle of the night? Sunset would still be before 5:30, so it would still be dark when most people drive home. Where's the advantage?

Then again, since Dizzy gets up at dawn, it might get me an extra hour of sleep. That wouldn't be bad.