- Proof again that parasites are the scariest damn things out there. [via]
- Speaking, sort of, of parasitic mouth-breathers, you have read the single worst sports column ever written, right? The fact that Mark Whicker doesn’t seem to understand how his column trivialized Jaycee Dugard’s horrific 18-year ordeal — and is lousy journalism to boot — is just disgusting. Joe Wilson gave a more sincere apology.
- Speaking of Wilson, via Twitter Kurt Andersen writes:
Nobody who applauded the dude in Baghdad who threw his shoe at Bush really has any standing to accuse Joe Wilson of incivility. Right?
It’s an interesting point, but I do think it’s wrong and maybe over-simplifies. For starters, this is at least partly about context. Shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi was a journalist attending a press conference, whereas Joe Wilson was a Congressman attending the President’s address to that legislative body. There are different levels of decorum expected, if only by tradition, in those two very different settings. Also Bush is obviously not Iraqi, whereas both Wilson and Obama are Americans, and Iraq was/is a more hostile battleground than health care. (Although you maybe wouldn’t know it, from some of the “debate” and hysteria surrounding the latter.) Both the thrown shoe and presidential heckling were uncivil acts, neither the best solution at the time, but the shoe is more defensible, if only because it was born out of a shared desperation instead of politics. That Wilson was demonstrably wrong about Obama’s so-called lie, and yet has continued to spread his own lies about the proposed governmental health care… Well, it’s tough to continue drawing parallels between the two outbursts.
- James Patterson signs a 17-book deal “that will keep him with publisher Hachette through 2012.” Do the math: even if the deal goes into effect immediately, that’s 17 books in just over two years, about eight books a year. I guess it’s a good thing James Patterson doesn’t actually have to write well, huh? [via]
- And finally, this proposed Plan 9 from Outer Space remake…is a joke, right?
Plan 9 Teaser Trailer from Darkstone Entertainment on Vimeo.
science
Tuesday various
- Keith Phipps on Jeremy Piven:
When did it go wrong? When did the caustic character actor guaranteed to liven up even the dullest movie turn into a walking black hole of smarm from which no joy can escape?
I’m guessing sometime around the beginning of Entourage.
- I am strangely unimpressed by this LEGO dreamhouse. [via] Much less with recent news of a planned LEGO movie. I didn’t have an issue with their decision to prohibit a short film from appearing on the new Spinal Tap DVD, but that was mostly because they didn’t have an issue with it’s staying put on YouTube. Maybe it’s time to admit that, while I played with LEGO as a child, it holds no real special place in my heart. (I was much more fond of Construx, actually.)
- A newspaper printed on a shopping bag is an interesting experiment, but did it have to be on a plastic shopping bag? I don’t think the way to save a dying industry is by helping to kill the planet. Besides, just try do the crossword puzzle on one of those things! [via]
- I wonder how handwriting as lie detection method will fare in light of the news (reported here just yesterday) that handwriting is dying. [via]
- And finally, why not take a minute and add your name to the 2011 Mars mission? [via]
Monday various
- Steve Bissette on horror:
Horror is one of the few genres—romance and comedy are the other two that come to mind—that’s all emotion-driven. It’s not a rational genre, like science fiction is. It’s irrational by nature. And it is capable of exploring all aspects of human experience.
The rest of the interview is pretty interesting, too.
- I find it tough to mourn the death of cursive handwriting. [via]
- Brazil TV host turned politician ‘ordered killings to boost ratings’. American TV executives are no doubt furiously taking notes. [via]
- Ten things we don’t understand about humans [via]
- And finally, a game: This is the Only Level. (Also of interest, You Only Live Once.) [via]
Thursday various
- My sister is getting married in a couple of months — a little less than, actually — and I don’t think she’s taking her fiancé Brian’s last name. Apparently, however, 50% of Americans think she should be legally required to do so. I’m curious as to what these people think the legal repercussions for not taking your husband’s name should be. Thirty years hard labor? My future wife needn’t worry. I ask only a dowry of ten cows and three oxen from her village patriarch. Anyway, as I noted yesterday, my last name is frequently misspelled and -pronounced. [via]
- N. K. Jemisin on describing characters of color:
Because so much of fantasy takes place in settings that in no way resemble the real world, featuring species that in no way resemble human, fantasy writers often have trouble dealing with regular people. This is something that, I think, isn’t as much of a problem for mainstream writers, because they can simply describe the world around them and come up with a reasonably accurate representation of humanity. They can also fall back on the plethora of real-world terms used to describe human beings, racially and otherwise. But using these terms makes no sense if you’re dealing with a world that doesn’t share our political/cultural context. You can’t call someone “African American†if your world has no Africa, no America, and has never gone through a colonial phase in which people of disparate cultures were forcibly brought together, thus necessitating the term in the first place.
- Got $8,000? Why not buy your own Personal Satellite Kit? [via]
- On the other hand, if you have eight million dollars, maybe you want to bid on your very own rare T-Rex skeleton. (Maybe you could get an Ankylosaurus skeleton and make them fight.)
- And finally, if you’re going to complain about your job on Facebook, at the very least make sure your boss isn’t one of your friends. [via]