legal

I’m with xkcd on this: fuck cancer.
The Prescription to Save Ailing Superheroes. I can’t say I agree with everything here, but it’s an interesting article, particularly the argument against having Thor and Captain America both do double-duty by setting their characters up for The Avengers.
That said, I enjoyed both of them just fine as summer entertainment, and while I enjoyed X-Men: First Class no small amount either, I think it’s ultimately the least successful film of the three. (I haven’t seen Green Lantern.) Matthew Vaughn’s “auteur vision” seems cribbed from a few other places (like Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie, and like Mad Men), and there’s some pretty iffy racial and gender issues at work in the film as well. But maybe that just underlines Pappademas’ main argument: at least the movie has some distinctive stamp to it, however flawed. [via]
NY motorcyclist dies on ride protesting helmet law [via]
Soap operas moving online. This will bear further watching. The news, not the shows. (God no.) [via]
And finally, Who owns the copyright on a photo taken by a monkey? [via]

Monday various

I am strangely fascinated by NASA’s book for the visually impaired, Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters. It’s sold out right now; they do have the text and an audio version freely available, but that seems like it misses the whole point of a tactile book. [via]
Have we all been playing Monopoly wrong all these years? I like Waxy.org’s post about it, in which Andy Baio writes, “It’s interesting to see a commercial game see the same sort of cultural variation as other children’s folk games.”
TVâ€™s â€˜Cash Cabâ€™ kills pedestrian in Vancouver. Reality television is dangerous, people! [via]
Can you survive Baltimore’s 5k run? Sounds like The Wire meets The Walking Dead. [via]
And finally, the Empathic Civilisation [via]

Well, I guess I won’t be bringing any comics with me on my trip to Canada at the end of August. [via]
Although apparently huge knives aren’t an issue when going through airport security. [via]
The first coupon
This Chewbacca supercut isn’t exactly exciting, but it is an interesting new look at Star Wars, and a weird focus on what actor Peter Mayhew was doing in every scene.
And finally, Emoticons We Need in These Troubled Times [via]

Ben Stein is kind of an amoral douchebag, isn’t he? The rich are different, at least in his head; when they commit rape, it isn’t rape. More here.[via]
There’s a lot John McCain doesn’t understand, but I’d say he probably has a good handle on torture. Rick Santorum is an idiot. [via]
It’s not often you hear someone in Hollywood blame their sobriety for inappropriate behavior. Lars von Trier is ahead of the curve.
High schooler challenges Michelle Bachmann to debate on U.S. Constitution. It’ll never happen, but my money’s on the high school girl. Hell, in a debate on the Constitution with Bachmann, my money would be on a potted plant. Bachmann supporters have, of course, responded with typical grace and tact. [via]
And finally, it’s okay to be Takei. [via]