mataglap -- an Indonesian word meaning "dark eye" or, probably, "dilated eye." It is an indication that someone is about to go berserk and start killing people at random. Used in Walter Jon Williams' novel Aristoi as the name of a berserk form of nanotechnology that devoured the planet.

You can e-mail Mataglap SF at mataglap@yahoo.com

 
Sure there's all this stuff going on in the world, what with that crazy guy in the White House and the Israelis bombing everything in sight and Mitt staying in Massachusetts for more than a day, but the real story has got to be Floyd Landis's spectacular win at today's stage of the Tour. One can only ask, "What were they thinking?", that so many other GC contenders held back until it was too late, and by the time they decided to take matters into their own hands they were already on the Joux Plane, the only place in 7 wins where Lance ever bonked, and it was all over. If everyone can just stay upright tomorrow, then Saturday's time trial will actually decide not only the winner but the entire podium for the first time in a while. To make things really interesting, it should be raining, too, like it was for Ullrich and Armstrong in '03. After yesterday's disaster, it seemed there was no hope for Floyd, but not only did he come out swinging today, nobody else had anything left in the tank to answer him.

I should've stayed home today to hear Phil and Paul cover it, I was following the early time gaps on my blackberry while I was driving to work, and got frequent updates from velonews.com once I got to my desk, and I couldn't believe what I was reading. Next year I expect they'll go the other way and the Pyrenees stages will be in the final week, note to self to work from home or come in late for those. This one's not in the books yet, so one more weekend where not much gets done around the house. Go Floyd Go!
posted by Mark at 9:47 PM