Month: August 2013

The only Martin Luther King link I want to offer is from the Onion.

Star Drunk: a film written by drunk people, then acted by drunk people. It is… very watchable.

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in compelling fashion of his ongoing mission learning French in Paris. Speaking as someone who is 95% monolingual, this feels very truthful to me. (The whole series of Paris dispatches is worth a read.)

What happened to those new words added to the dictionary in the 90s? Here’s a great antidote to the news coverage about “twerking” and “selfie” going in the dictionary – a smart, funny, generous look at the fate of some 90s additions like “e-tailing” and “netizen”.

An oral history of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I remember the stage of childhood when you learned about horror movies only through playground rumour; the Killer Tomatoes sounded exactly as terrifying and serious a proposition as the killer shark in Jaws. We knew there was a joke in the very idea of killer tomatoes – but it sounded like a pretty scary joke.

40 maps that will help you make sense of the world

Marvellous article by Charlie Stross on how Generation Y have been molded by Western capitalist culture in such a way that they will readily betray the secrets of Western capitalist culture. [I skipped the Linky last week (still busy) and since then this essay has been reworked into an article in Foreign Policy.]

Detailed account (from 1898) of Robert Louis Stevenson’s development of a wargaming system and the battles fought thereby.

8 epic photographs of the same house

What 200 calories looks like in different foods (via Damon) (no of course I don’t give a hoot about calorie counting but this still interested me enormously)

Star Wars Propaganda Posters

A 1-minute horror movie – this worked on me, that’s for sure. (via Frank N)

Scooby-Doo reimagined (via Pearce)

And finally, via Nick Tipping, sheep protest:

Sick child has borrowed DVD of “The WotWots” from the library. As kids DVDs go, this is very pleasant background as I type up a linky.

Animated GIFs of The Wire – a new one is generated automatically every hour.

You’ve heard about the Google Maps easter egg that lets you step inside the TARDIS? Well Craig Oxbrow let me know about another one – you can get inside a Dalek, too.

Three-point landing.

Advice from the ’30s about undressing and kissing.

Dan Harmon, writer of Monster House, is so identified with his own cult status these days that it’s easy to forget it all came about because he has some serious writing chops. I was fascinated by his two-part discussion of his process of breaking a story – it’s very simple and not something I’ve seen before (although obviously it has been influenced by all kinds of other approaches). Well worth a look for writing types, even if just to reflect on what a process like that means. Part one: explaining the process and part two: examples.

And finally, He Touched Me.

Right, back into it with poor Wee Beastie. Enjoy!

Saw the Whedon Much Ado About Nothing [2013, USA] today – it did what it promised. The plot is ridiculous and the wheezing contrivances weigh it down in its back half, but despite this it absolutely sings when blessed with committed performances thanks to the sheer delightful energy of the Beatrice/Benedick relationship. Whedon finds a darker kernel to the business than Branagh did in his lush ’93 film, and his presentation is nearly claustrophobic compared with Branagh’s expansive staging, but the two films share a gleeful, inclusive energy that makes for good moods all ’round. Like everyone’s been saying, Amy Acker is just phenomenal. Everyone else is at least good (which trumps Branagh’s version!), special mention to Nathan Fillion who deftly finds the laughs in a particularly difficult Shakespearean clown. It’s a good watch, and if there’s any sanity in the world it’ll be back on general release soon.

Anyway, some linky.

Explore Afrika Bambaata’s record collection

Japan’s giant Godzilla crotch entrance (via Pearce)

What would a nuke do to your home town? 70s/80s kids can revisit their childhood nightmares and find out here. (via Nate)

10 years since The O.C. debuted. Interesting interview with the showrunner – I enjoyed watching this for a season or so, mostly because of its good gags and dementedly overcranked pacing. There’s some real insight into what made this show what it was in this chat, well worth a look for TV writing peeps.

How advertisers convinced Americans they smelled bad

How Pacific Rim got kaiju wrong (written by someone who loved Pacific Rim)

Blimey, I knew there were four writers in Stephen King’s family; but turns out there’s actually five. Lovely interview with the whole clan.

xkcd’s updating comic “Time” finally finished. It’s kind of an amazing project. Get the scoop here. (via fraser)

Sweden runs out of garbage (via Sarah E)

Cookie Monster recreates a famous poem on Twitter. Yeah, you’ve guessed the poem correctly.

Jedi Parkour

Those who were around for the discussion about Richmastery on this blog will perhaps appreciate this, but probably not as much as I did. (News report spotted by David R, former Pope of this parish.)

Also via David R: the sublime cluelessness of throwing lavish Gatsby parties. (Reminds me a little of all the veneration of the space marines in my favourite film, Aliens.)

Scans of a 1956 Martin Luther King comic book that was widely distributed through the south in protest at segregation.

1880s fashion catalogue (via Giffy)

And finally, Benedict Cumberbatch hates liquid