weird | puppet wrangling

Wednesday various

Your end-times moment of the day: chocolate drought predicted by 2014 [via]
Did you know “the total literature of Iceland is [only] under 50,000 books”? Makes the idea of putting it all online not sound so far-fetched, now doesn’t it? (And is this the literary equivalent of a seedbank? A Canticle for SveinbjÃ¶rn perhaps?) [via]
So Fringe might actually be safe from cancellation? We just have to hope a network executive wasn’t ly — oh crap, it’s doomed, isn’t it?
Say what you will about Joe Biden, the man certainly has a sense of humor about himself. [via]
And finally, the Zombie Tabernacle Choir. Some things don’t have to be useful or even particularly interactive to still be sort of strangely neat. [via]

Oh sure, when you pee on a colleague’s office door it’s a crime. When you pee on another author’s grave, however, it’s an artistic act. [via]
Could we really have two suns and no night by 2012? Get ready for a Mayan apocalypse/sparkly vampire crossover! [via]
We all work for Facebook now. [via]
A Guide to Lunchtime Social Groups, Through Life [via]
And finally, Bing caught cheating off of Google, totally has to go to the principal’s office afterward. [via]

Netflix wants to know: How often do you watch racism like Mark Twain? This may be Photoshopped — Netflix apparently thinks so — but it’s still amusing.
Speaking of movies (in a roundabout way), Roger Ebert shares some thoughts on 3D from Oscar-winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch. It’s an interesting read, particularly for Murch’s contention that 3D simply can’t work, from an evolutionary standpoint. Ebert gets a lot of flack for not liking 3D, or for continuing to express his dislike for the effect, but I don’t think he’s wrong. Even in the handful of recent films that I thought used 3D reasonably well, and to the max of its potential — like Avatar and Coraline — didn’t benefit enough from the process to make the overall experience worth it.
So George Lucas doesn’t believe the world is going to end in 2012. Good to know. I’ll admit to being amused by the Lucasfilm rep’s response.
Warren Ellis on naming characters:

I tend to look for a name, particularly with protagonists, that somehow strikes sparks off elements of the character….Or not. You can easily reverse that out.
And finally, a planet where apes evolved from men?! A British gorilla has learned to walk upright. [via]

Man admits mailing hundreds of tarantulas. Why do I feel like this is just a weird viral marketing campaign for the new Spider-Man musical? [via]
Gail Collins in the New York Times on why we won’t miss having Joe Lieberman to kick around anymore:

He will leave behind a long list of achievements, from helping to consolidate the nationâ€™s intelligence gathering services in a way that appears to make it more difficult to gather intelligence, to threatening to filibuster the health care reform act until it had been watered down to suit his own high principles.
Well this is slightly disturbing to learn about Manhattan’s restaurants:

“The data suggests that when you visit an A-rated restaurant, the odds are that it barely made the grade,” he writes.

Related: state-by-state report cards on health department response to foodborne illness.
Al Franken makes an unlikely friend in the new Senate. This is that “strange bedfellows” business I keep hearing about, right?

And finally, Stephen Colbert on Sarah Palin:

Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Mika Brzezinski Experiences Palin Fatigue

The real real Ghostbusters?
You know what you need to do with the endearingly low-key, sleeper-hit of a musical? Turn it into a big-budget Broadway spectacle.
“Kazran, trust me, it’s this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver.” The sonic screwdriver for the Nintendo Wii. That seals it, I’m buying one.
Remember that Udo Kier interview I linked to last week? Here’s audio of his absolute best line.
And finally, octopuses or octopi? [via]