February 2012
8 posts
“A year ago, Ohio ranked 48th in job creation. We trailed only Michigan and...”
– Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in his 2012 State of the State address. (h/t Emily Steiger for the submission)
Sounds about right to me.
6 tags
6 tags
6 tags
X-Men 3
Excerpt of myself from another era. (What era? Well, I was listening to Diggnation and being surprised by Firefox having a spell-check function.) Just reposting here for convenience of linking.
There were some oddly creepy gender issues, especially pertaining to Jean Grey and Rogue. The way they repurposed the Dark Phoenix storyline was positively Victorian in its overtones. On the one hand,...
January 2012
17 posts
9 tags
2 tags
Things that really ought to be made into tv shows,...
Yeah, I know it was books before. Now it’s things, and stuff.
Next up: Neil Simon’s The Star-Spangled Girl.
Why the book play is awesome:
Apparently it’s not. I dimly remember thinking it was great when I read it, but that was quite a long time ago, now, and the infallible oracle of Wikipedia tells me that it’s not well-received or defended by Simon. (Although here is...
I’m sure most folks who follow this account and are interested in my thoughts on photography already follow the 1/125 account as well. But, in case not, I just put up a new post there on Roy DeCarava’s “The Sound I Saw.”
“We can at least say this: in 2011, it’s possible but not proven that the...”
– How Mitochondrial Eve connected all humanity and rewrote human evolution
“But all the time, we, through our actions as individuals, demonstrate what we...”
– Do musicians and content makers benefit from piracy? | Marketplace from American Public Media
This is the crux of the matter, as far as I can tell. Our behavior as a society demonstrates a de facto stance regarding the moral and economic practicalities of piracy that is wildly at odds with...
2 tags
Books that really ought to be made into tv shows,...
Next up: John Le Carre’s Singe & Single.
Why the book is awesome:
Single & Single’s story revolves around the relationship between Tiger Single (a powerful and shady finance whatsit) and his son Oliver. At the opening of the book, Oliver is living in witness protection, having informed on his father to the authorities; but his father disappears (kidnapped by Russian...
“After Wikipedia blackrout (sic), somewhere, a student today is doing original...”
–
Jonathan Lamy, RIAA’s Senior Vice President of Communications, regarding Wikipedia’s blackout in protest of SOPA and PIPA. He later deleted the tweet. (via officialssay)
I don’t think that phrase means what he thinks it means. : )
“Insane conditions have this advantage, that they isolate special
factors of the...”
– William James, Varieties of Religious Experience
2 tags
Books that really ought to be made into tv shows,...
Next up: Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks
Why the book is awesome:
War for the Oaks is one of the modern classics of fantasy, and one of the books that founded urban fantasy as a genre.
It’s a great book. It’s very 80’s, but in a good way. It’s rich in mythology. It’s got a great, atmospheric setting (Minneapolis) that isn’t played out. And it merges...
2 tags
Books that really ought to be made into tv shows,...
So, I’ve decided to write up some expanded versions of arguments I’ve presented on twitter regarding what things would be awesome if someone adapted them for TV. First up:
Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan novels
Why the books are awesome:
Note: If you haven’t read the books, go read them. (The Warriors Apprentice is where you should start.) Everyone I’ve gotten...
6 tags
“Now you have to look up “wilted” and possibly “lettuce,” and before too long you...”
– Silence and Adverbs: Tips on Defining | harm·less drudg·ery
“Do the Catholics who complain expect that there is really an interesting...”
– Picking the Boring Fight | Unequally Yoked
December 2011
10 posts
“Marc is correct that being able to stimulate religious feeling does not falsify...”
– Tuesday is Science Section Day | Unequally Yoked
“He described the act of taking photographs as ‘silly’ and...”
– London cops apologise to young photographer who was told that shooting Armed Forces Day parade was “anti-social,” “gay,” “stupid” and an offense under the Terrorism Act - Boing Boing
I’ve said more offensive things about the “act of taking...
“The reticulated python is the world’s longest snake. Females typically...”
– Meet the Agta, a tribe where a quarter of men have been attacked by giant snakes
3 tags
Borderland/Bordertown Series
I wanted to point some folks on twitter to this series, but it takes a bit more room than a tweet, so, here we go.
What I’m talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borderland_Series
http://bordertownseries.com/blog/
It’s a series of anthologies and a couple of standalone novels. Genre-wise, we’re talking YA urban fantasy, but starting in the 80’s, a bit...
“Teenaged Damon Fowler got death threats from strangers when he objected to...”
– Tis the Season for Church-State Lawsuits! | Unequally Yoked
“According to the researchers, that process not only allows for the smallest...”
– Researchers claim to have developed ‘smallest conceivable switch’ — Engadget
Great news for sufferers of NanOCD.
“I was concerned that this level of intensity was impossible to maintain. But,...”
– Rainbow Six: Patriots – #OccupyClancy | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Honestly, I think they’d sell more games if they just made the game an outright banker murder simulator.
“Bad movies are a particular source of pleasure for many of us — not just because...”
– The Greatest Bad TV Movie of The Year
“Hmmmm. So let’s get this straight. Evangelicals see themselves as very...”
– Experimental Theology: Are Christians Hate-Filled Hypocrites?
November 2011
8 posts
9 tags
9 tags
“Even Kamran Loghman, one of the men who developed pepper spray as a weapon with...”
– Pepper-spraying cop gets Photoshop justice: Xeni’s Guardian op-ed on meme-ing of UC Davis police brutality - Boing Boing
Huh.
“Once the cordon formed, the deputy sheriffs pointed their truncheons toward the...”
– UC Berkeley police give “Beat Poets” new meaning: poet laureate Robert Hass on his violent encounter - Boing Boing
Wow.
“Class assumptions are at the heart of the relationship between critic and...”
– it’s all one thing: class expectations and literary criticism
“What’s more, the artifact was probably old even to the 11th century...”
– What was a bronze buckle from East Asia doing in 11th century Alaska?
Holy shit.
“Maleficent first appears in the film Sleeping Beauty in King Stefan’s...”
– Maleficent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oh, supernatural teleportation. And here I had been assuming it was quantum teleportation all this time…
“It became clear to Sturgeon and myself that I knew virtually nothing about love...”
– Harlan Ellison, Dangerous Visions.
October 2011
26 posts
“I’ll leave it to George to come up with a good story.”
– What does the latest huge Dark Knight Rises fight sequence reveal about Bane’s plans for Gotham?
Rookie mistake, Spielberg.
“Pick up an Eye Spy and search the galleries for symbols from India’s royal...”
– Asian Art Musuem’s “Free Family Fun Day” | SF
Gee golly willickers, a PROFESSIONAL photographer?
Did I spell “willickers” correctly? Probably not.
“You know, it’s hard to tell a serious story when some other player is constantly...”
– Naughty Dog explain Uncharted 3’s lack of main campaign co-op | IncGamers
::snort:: The story co-op mode in Uncharted 2 was basically a grenade teamkill mini-game.
“[The electric chair] was invented before the long drop method of hanging was...”
– The scariest deaths you’ve watched on screen, and how they would really happen
Huh.