- Abercrombie & Fitch will pay Jersey Shore cast to stop wearing its clothes. How have I gone this far without ever directly encountering either? (And how can I continue this pattern of unexpected grace?)
- Now you can watch The Big Lebowski with a bunch of random people on Facebook. I am intrigued by this…but not at all interested in participating. I’ve watched — and riffed on — movies with friends online, and enjoyed that experience. But Facebook’s system seems designed mostly to send money to Facebook, which is something I’m considerably less interested in doing.
- Angry Robot’s WorldBuilder, on the other hand, seems like a much more intriguing communal experience. It’s, again, not one I’m likely to participate in myself, just because I don’t tend to seek out secondary worlds like this — fan fiction, role-playing games, etc. — but there’s something potentially very cool (and profitable, obviously) about a publisher embracing and facilitating this kind of thing right out of the gate. [via]
- Aled Lewis’s mashups of historical paintings with ’80s adventure games. There’s only a few of these here, but they’re really quite amusing. [via]
- And finally, Whiny Tea Partiers feel threatened by Jane Yolen:
Why all the fuss? I believe it’s because Jane explained what was wrong in clear, straightforward language — a knack that way too many liberal pundits have lost. If exposing children to books and literacy is good, then what Ron Johnson is doing to schools and libraries is bad. If children being cared for in a public health clinic is good, then what Ron Johnson is doing to healthcare funding is bad. Johnson tacitly admits that these things are good, and that the general public sees them as good, by using them as props for his photo session. He wants the benefit of being associated with them. Then, in real life, he does his best to trash them. Simple.
What venues like Moe Lane and WTAQ News Talk are really saying is that Jane Yolen made them feel bad. She got through to them. They can’t really argue with her, so they throw sh*t in her general direction, but still: she got through to them.
politics
Tuesday various
- Two words: yarn bombing.
- A cute comic: Superman in England. [via]
- And I thought things were uncivil on the floor of Congress. We have nothing on the Ukraine.
- I shirked my social responsibility this past weekend by not seeing Bridesmaids. I’m not really sure how I feel about this argument, although I do think it’s a sad state of affairs when the very idea of casting smart, funny women comes in a (possibly) smart, funny movie comes down to the success of one single film. [via]
- And finally, Find racist robots in Transformers 3, get $25K from Michael Bay. I’d try to collect, but then I’d actually have to watch Transformers 3.
Monday various
- 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]
Monday various
- You Can Now Whore Yourself Out by Tagging Products and Corporate Pages on Facebook. Because of course you can. [via]
- Lady Gaga to debut new songs on Farmville. Because of course she is. [via]
- Sarah Palin and other Republicans upset that rapper Common was invited to the White House. Because of course they are. (Although, seriously? Common?)
- FCC Commissioner Takes Job At Comcast Months After She Voted To Approve Its Deal With NBC Universal. Because of course she did. [via]
- Facebook reportedly paid to smear Google. Because of course they (allegedly) did. [via]
- And finally, because of course it is, Starbuck and Starbuck drinks [sic] Starbucks at Starbucks. [via]
Tuesday various
- NASA proves Einstein was smart. Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that — namely, finding that there’s “a space-time vortex around Earth, and its shape precisely matches the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity” — but yeah, basically: Einstein? No dummy. [via]
- Gelatin cubes dropped onto solid surface High Speed Video. Strangely fascinating. [via]
- Time Magazine talks to the kids who were there with George W. Bush on 9/11. I’m not sure I agree with them. Maybe Bush did just want to protect the kids he was reading to from finding out, from panicking, but his focus probably should have been on the nation as a whole. Still, there’s no denying they have a unique an interesting perspective on that day. [via]
- Oh, thanks a lot, monarchy! Book slump to eight-year low in Royal Wedding week.
- And finally, what American accent do you have? It guessed me correctly, although your mileage — especially if it’s, y’know, outside the US, and…what’s the word for “mileage” in metric anyway? Kilometrage? [via]