- 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]
video
Wednesday various
- A lie can make it half way around the world before the truth has time to put its boots on. Mark Twain probably didn’t say that. Anatomy of a Fake Quotation [via]
- World’s Biggest Pac-Man [via]
- The sad final end of former Attack of the 50 Foot Woman star Yvonne Vickers [via]
- A Rare Look at Antarctica, 1911-1914 [via]
- And finally, No Country for Old Men cartoon trailer [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]
Wednesday various
- The end of an era: the last typewriter factory in the world shuts its doors. [via]
- How food breaks sway the decisions of judges] [via]
- Comics re-imagined as secondhand paperbacks [via]
- “The closure of the Japan-based factory that has the monopoly on production of a tape crucial to the TV and film industry has Hollywood insiders scrambling to cope with the shortage.” [via]
- And finally, an exclusive interview with the writer of Fast Five [via]
Today Now! Interviews The 5-Year-Old Screenwriter Of “Fast Five”
Monday various
- Indian entrepreneur turns pachyderm poop into paper. Yeah, I think I’ll probably stick to my Moleskines. [via]
- Gosh, Mark Twain really didn’t like Ambrose Bierce’s Nuggets and Dust Panned Out in California:
…for every laugh that is in his book there are five blushes, ten shudders and a vomit. The laugh is too expensive.
Call me crazy, though, but now I sort of want to read it.
- Why is Warren Beatty so determined to hold on to the rights to Dick Tracy, even if he’s never going to do anything with them?
- Blue eyes are not actually blue? A little weirded out by the idea what I actually have are transparent eyes. [via]
- And finally, Ray Bradbury: prune salesman. No, seriously [via]: