- We live in a country where pizza is a vegetable. I’m just saying. [via]
- Harry Potter director developing all-new Doctor Who movie. Not at all a sure thing, but still, when do we stop remaking things? Maybe when the last remake is still on-going?
- Genevieve Valentine on Immortals, which she describes as “a batch of snickerdoodles with thumbtacks inside.”
The labyrinth and Minotaur are well turned out, and their showdown takes place in a temple mausoleum, where an archway of stairs frames a goddess’s head that’s inset with candles to make it glow from within. It’s the sort of thing where you think, “Man, that’s good looking! I wish this stupid scene would stop so we could just look at it.”
- I really don’t know what to think about actress suing IMDB for revealing her age. They both seem to have a perfectly valid point.
- Massive plagiarism might help your book sales [via]
- Billy Crystal will be hosting the Oscars this year, giving me another reason not to watch. Which is not a dig at Crystal, necessarily, who I generally like…you know, back when he made movies people watched. But it’s such a safe, boring choice. The Academy really missed a golden opportunity to let the Muppets host the Oscars
- Tilt-shift Van Gogh
- Polite Dissent on Forgotten Drugs of the Silver-Age:
The more I think about it, for all intents and purposes, Jor-El was a mad scientist. He espoused scientific theories well outside the accepted norm and performed numerous unauthorized scientific experiments of questionable ethics.
- Mysterious D.C. rampage leaves smashed cars in its wake. Seriously, it looks like the Hulk went through there. [via]
- And finally, the Center for Fiction interviews Margaret Atwood:
I think it’s a human need to name – to tell this from that. On the most basic level, we need to distinguish – as crows do – the dangerous creature from the harmless one, and – as all animals do – the delicious and healthful food object from the rotting, poisonous one. In literary criticism it’s very helpful to know that the Harlequin Romance you sneak into when you think no one is looking is not the same, and is not intended to be the same, as Moby Dick. But stories and fictions have always interbred and hybridized and sent tendrils out into strange spaces.
muppets
Tuesday various
- PETA really doesn’t know how to pick its battles, does it?
- The feminist movie of 2011? Would you believe Thor?
- Klingon language helps man deal with dyslexia [via]
- Kevin Clash has been listening to Adele recently. Uh oh. Is Elmo going to get all maudlin now?
- And finally, literary devices. I think we could all use the Great Golden Hammer of Hyperbole from time to time.
Thursday various
- Firefly Meets the Muppets. Yeah, like any of you aren’t going to click that link.
- Amber Benson’s remix of “Under Your Spell” is all kinds of weird.
- Doctor Who recipes. [via]
- Kids: don’t sell your kidneys for an iPad. Got that? Good. [via]
- And finally, Alan Rickman’s classy goodbye letter to Harry Potter. [via]
Monday various
- Strange Horizons is looking for female reviewers.
- Where was the robotics merit badge when I was a Boy Scout?
- On the decline of The Daily. I lost interest almost immediately in the app. [via]
- Reinventing the Muppets.
- And finally, Sandworm Size Chart:
Monday various
- How Jason Segel met the Muppets:
But it’s performing with the likes of Gonzo, Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Bunsen Honeydew and Rowlf the Dog that excites Segel. “It’s really, I must say, a childhood dream come true,†he says. “When Kermit comes out of his little box and all of a sudden he comes alive, it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.â€
He’s not shy to say that he actually cried during the first reading of the script with Kermit, arguably the most famous creation of the late Jim Henson. “We had to stop and take a two-minute break.â€
Yep, that’s why I like Segel.
- Bad news for Jenny McCarthy: that study linking autism to vaccinations? “An elaborate fraud.” [via]
- What next for famed film composer Ennio Morricone? Composing cell phone ring tones apparently.
- I’m Only Really Happy When I’m Writing, Or When I’m Having Lots Of Fun With My Friends And Family
- And finally, three words: Zombie Doctor Who.