- Apparently, Megan Fox’s latest tattoo is a quote from a writer who doesn’t exist. And I am suddenly imagining tattoo parlors who inscribe quotes from books like those in the library in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, the books of dreams, whose common thread is that none of them were ever actually written.
Of course, I’m also reminded of Shelley Jackson’s Skin project, which maybe beat my brain to it.
- If this isn’t a real literary mashup novel, somebody at Quirk Books needs to get on it.
- Though they better watch out: apparently, novelty books are getting more expensive to produce. (Though, admittedly, those are more pop-up books and such than anything.)
- Meanwhile a “youth edition” of Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father is being developed. What exactly is a “youth edition” and what makes the current edition inappropriate? [via]
- And finally: British scientist uncovers ‘secret messages’ hidden in Plato’s ancient text. Of course he did. [via]
weird
Monday various
- The Amityville Horror house is up for sale. Anybody wanna go halfsies? [via]
- Well, there goes my dream of paying for the house by wearing a costume on Hollywood Boulevard. Are sights like this now really a thing of the past?
- And I guess I also won’t be able to afford a spot aboard this $1.1 billion “sea castle”. (In all seriousness, though, divorced from the politics and ridiculous price of the thing, a part of me does think the whole thing looks very cool.) [via]
- Maybe I can get a job pretending to be a foreign investor in Japan. [via]
- And finally, if I do, maybe I’ll be able to count myself among the luckiest people on Earth:
Well, maybe not. [via]
Tuesday various
- I don’t imagine this is going to end well — FlashForward fans plan to fall over and act unconscious:
According to Variety, fans of the show will assemble in front of ABC network and affilate offices in New York, L.A., Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta on June 10 and for 2 minutes and 17 seconds are going to pretend to be passed out—just like the 2-minute-17-second blackouts on FlashForward.
- Am I the only one who thinks “celebrate originality” is maybe a weird tagline to an ad that basically just repurposes the Star Wars cantina scene?
- I’m not sure I agree with everything Christopher Miller suggests on how to write a rejection slip, but I am amused by his contention that “rejection slips are the most widely and attentively read short literary genre.” [via]
- Warren Ellis suggests asking these important questions when writing:
1) What does that character WANT?
2) What does that character need to do to GET what they want?
3) What are they prepared to DO to get what they want?
- And finally, a fascinating profile of Haim Saban, still perhaps best known as the man who (curse him) brought us Mighty Morphin Power Rangers [via]:
At twenty, while he was serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, Saban made his entry into show business. He told the owner of a swimming pool where a band played that he was a member of a far better band. Saban didn’t really play an instrument, and he didn’t know a band. But he found one, and took the businessman to a club to hear it, claiming that he wasn’t playing because he had hurt his arm. He named a price that was double what he had learned the band was making, and then approached the band members with his offer and his condition: let him join. “They said, ‘For double the money, we’ll figure the whole thing out.’ †He eventually learned to play the bass guitar a little, but occasionally during the first few months he performed with both his speaker and his microphone turned off.
Monday various
- Entire Dog Lost, Delta Offers $200 Credit. That figure has apparently gone up to $600 (plus the cost of the vaccinations), but it’s still a pretty horrific story, and Delta’s initial attitude seems pretty callous. If I ever need to travel with an animal, remind me to drive. [via]
- Can we strip Joe Lieberman of his citizenship? (Then, I dunno, drop him off somewhere in Arizona?) [via]
- Arrested for not Tweeting fast enough? [via]
- Today in weird celebrity news: Stephen King to guest on Sons of Anarchy. And Michael Jackson used to prank call Russell Crowe.
- And finally, China Miéville’s weblog is a weird assortment of stuff you should be reading. That is all.
Thursday various
- I’ve been having a lot of fun using my iPad this past week, but it’s never occurred to me to embed it in a kitchen cabinet. This is simultaneously a ridiculous and very cool use of the device.
- Also at the crossroads of the ridiculous and very cool (with a little bit of creepy thrown in): Dinseyland’s new Living Character technology. There is a little “Uncanny Valley” action going on here, but none of the children in the audience seem too perturbed. [via]
- I was glad to hear that author Peter Watts will not be serving jail time for an incident that happened at the US/Canadian border back in December. But I’m still ashamed that this is the way we (sometimes) treat our visitors in this country. [via]
- Of course, we are the nation that gave the world Justin Bieber, who doesn’t even know what the word ‘German’ means.
- Then again, we did give the world Ricky Jay via]: