X-Ray Specs Linky

The truth behind all those amazing novelty items advertised in every comic for decades, by someone who went to the effort of tracking them all down. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard how the X-Ray Specs “worked”, complete with a photo reproducing the view through those magical glasses!

Chomsky & Foucault debate, in 1971, about whether human nature exists and what that means. No, I haven’t watched this yet. (via Nic Sando)

Here’s a salutary lesson for those in the museum & exhibition fields (including, from time to time, me): the Met tries to recreate the legendary bathroom at CBGB’s, demonstrating that some things cannot be recreated in any meaningful way.

How to draw sexy without being sexist: fascinating little discussion spinning out of the recent redesign of some superhero costumes. (Don’t read the comments, of course.)

Spock vs Spock in a car adextremely well done. Worth watching even though it’s an ad.

Star Trek Fashion Blog (via Hamish)

So it turns out that crazy creationist science homework was a real thing. And the second page of the worksheet is even more revelatory than the first. More info at snopes, of course.

Scroobius Pip merch t-shirt has in-built Scroobius Pip mask. Genius.

Aussie Star Wars (via Mike F)

Also via Mike F, another Cat Friend & Dog Friend video, again executed perfectly.

Judge Dredd gets a polished half-hour fan film, Judge Minty – haven’t watched this yet but Jet is the man to ask about such things, so linking his way.

Webcomic with Conan the Barbarian as a life coach

Kids, the highly controversial and provocative indie movie about young teenagers getting up to mischief in NYC, is twenty years old. Here’s a fantastic article that tells some of the story behind the scenes and tracks down what happened to the featured players. Yep, one of them ended up on The Wire. (I remember walking out of the cinema after watching Kids, and feeling like I was really glad I’d seen it, but I sure hadn’t “enjoyed” it and I didn’t think I’d ever want to sit through it again. This many years on, some of the impact it had on me – the rawness of the content and the style – is still fresh. But I do want to watch it again, after all.) (via @auchmill)

Flipping around gendered book covers – some neat designs.

Soviet posters from before Stalin constrained the range of approved visual styles (via Joshua Newman)

Debt – the first five thousand years, in Mute. The only issue of Mute I have is full of marginal notes where I argue with the writers (at least it is on the articles I actually read) – this one is just as full of assertions and angles that seem wrong to me, but there’s a lot of interesting stuff here too. I recommend it, but go in with your brow pre-furrowed to save time. (via Svend)

Making Mordor’s economy work (via Allen Varney)

Have I linked to Scarfolk Council before? It’s worth a second go even if I have. An alternate 1970s English county, as seen through its posters, recordings and other documentation. Marvellous, weird, frequently hilarious.

And finally: here’s your Halloween costume sorted

3 thoughts on “X-Ray Specs Linky”

  1. I know right? They are so well judged, and the timing is them is perfect! Always lol.

  2. Cheers for the link Morgue! As I said on the blog, I thought Judge Minty was very impressive – great lead casting (well, Greg Staples is a better DRedd artists than a DRedd, but it’s ot about him anyway).

    The comic ads article is brilliant; just the sort of thing that’s been lurking as unknowns in the back of me head for over thirty years. It seemed to me at the time and still does that those ads were like an extra ‘bnus’ in any comic you might have, and were inadvertently responsible for opening a window into a whole ‘other’ world of the chldhood readers from outside NZ had, with unique sweets and snacks (ads for Twinkies, Slim Jims, Sweetmeats and Hostess Cupcakes), cool gadgets (a liked the walking stick that carried a pocket knife and snakebite kits in it) and of course ads for ‘Grit’, which is apparently still in syndication today!

    I was amazed even then however that guns were something that featured in those ads, specifically the BB series and the Crickett .22 rifle which made the news for all the wrong reasons a week or so ago in Kentucky. I think there might have been a part of the young Simian brain that coveted one of those things having seen those ads – they really were an effective advertising tool.

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