- Did you know this was Read an E-book week? Yeah, me neither, and here it is, almost over. I carry my e-book reader with me pretty much everywhere, but right now I’m most actively reading my dead-trees version of Gene Wolfe’s The Sword of the Lictor.
- Maybe it’s a good thing I couldn’t find an e-book version of Roberto Bolaño’s novel 2666. Apparently, they’ve found another section.
- I’ve long maintained that Vladimir Nabokov invented the emoticon, but now it looks like maybe Ambrose Bierce beat him to it by several decades.
- The Saturn Awards have some funny ideas about what is and isn’t science fiction. Then again, I’m perfectly happy to entertain discussions of why shows like The Closer or Breaking Bad — whose terrific first season I’m finally watching — qualify. After all, you can re-interpret pretty much anything as science fiction if you want.
- “It is entirely reasonable to expect we will find a shadow biosphere here on Earth.” Well there’s something you don’t read every day. [via]
various
Friday various
 Make yourself a superhero. Via Heather |
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Thursday various
- Andy Richter comes full circle, re-joining Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show. Anything that keeps him from starring in another Olsen Twins movie, I guess.
- The Middleman has been canceled. This has been a long time coming, and not really a surprise, but I’m still bummed out by the news. One of the things I did instead of watching the train wrech/best show ever that was last Sunday’s Oscar ceremony was finally watch the last episode of The Middleman. And it was as delightful and silly and smart as all the (all too few) others.
- What I do want to know is: when’s The Middleman Paley Center tribute? Heaven knows they’re honoring shows that have been on the air even less.
- Meanwhile, though, Torchwood returns, albeit with a short miniseries and not until this summer. It looks quite good, though, from the trailer. I recently re-watched Season 2 and was pleased to discover that by and large it actually was as good as I remember — not just when compared to the pretty dire first season, but genuinely good science fiction all on its own.
- While I’d personally like to see the Joker not return in the inevitable Dark Knight sequel — in that universe, who could replace Ledger’s iconic performance? — I think it’s just plain silly to think the character, which didn’t originate with him, should be retired. [via]
- And finally, how did I miss this Goat detained over armed robbery story? [via]
Monday various
- Did President Obama ruin Battlestar Galactica? [via]
This smart scifi allegory about US politics may lose its edge now. For example, the new anti-cylon racism plot already feels like a rehash of stale liberal siege mentality – and stale BSG plots. Zarek and Gaeta’s mutiny plot feels like something written for the Bush Era, a cautionary tale of what happens when xenophobia creeps into national policy. But President Obama has turned these kinds of cautionary tales into the stuff of campaign speeches. BSG no longer feels like a healthy dose of social criticism. Instead it’s in lockstep with the party line espoused by one of the world’s most powerful leaders.
While I think the problems with the show run a lot deeper than that — at least as far back as the decision to turn everything into a Cylon guessing game — there is some truth to this idea. The times (to co-opt another Dylan tune), they are a’changing. That’s a risk with popular culture that rides the zeitgeist: eventually the tide turns and the zeitgeist changes. It’s hard not to look like you’ve overstayed your welcome once that happens, hard not to look like the remnant of an era everybody else is trying to forget. Is it possible, then, that Battlestar only seemed like a great show because it reflected the times we were living in?
I wonder, will the colonies of the upcoming Caprica prequel be more Obama-like? I’m not sure I care enough to find out.
- Primitive whales gave birth on land: “They certainly weren’t walking….They were more like sea lions, which can move more than you would think from their morphology.” [via]
- Mary Robinette Kowal on Middle Earth’s Civil Rights Movement. [via]
- Seriously, someone needs to get Maureen F. McHugh to write a book about food.
- And finally, your WTF moment of the day: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is going to be on Dancing with the Stars.
Friday various
- “The mind is a limited machine….And we’re beginning to understand the different ways that a city can exceed those limitations.” How cities hurt your brain. Working in one of the busiest cities in the world, I wonder if I can put in for hazard pay? [via]
- I shared this yesterday via Twitter (are you following me on Twitter? Why not?), but I think it’s worth sharing again: A Beginner’s Guide to MaximumFun.org. The Sound of Young America and Jordan, Jesse, GO! are two of my favorite podcasts, and I’m happy to support them.
- It’s a long way off from actually being made, but I am still filled with dread at the prospect of a Hyperion movie. If Dan Simmons’ story could be adapted to film — and I think it maybe could be — I don’t think a single two-hour movie would do it justice. A miniseries, maybe.
- In what I suppose is a case of “Do as I say, not as I do,” the Sundance Film Festival this year was kind of a heavy polluter, even with the many environmental films being showcased.
- And finally, some abandoned amusement parks. Delightfully creepy. [via]