This and the Case of the Argentine Pontiff
- Details
- Category: This: Week in Review
- Published on Sunday, 17 March 2013 14:46
- Written by Chris
This is why the internet exists.What a week, eh? We got a new pope and this one is considerably less of a former Hitler Youth than the last pope. Which is good. The award-winning graphic novel Persepolis was removed for Chicago's seventh grade classrooms. Which isn't a good thing. Scientists are getting close to bringing extinct species back to life. Which is (probably) a good thing, unless you place a lot of stock in Jurassic Park. If you're a poet and a little dark, you're either a goth 15 year old girl, or you suffer from Sylvia Plath Syndrome. Which is...kind of a wash. And if you weren't already depressed, remember that Dennis Rodman failed to secure world peace. North Korea scrapped the 60-armistice the marked the end of hostilities on the Peninsula, closed the emergency phone between Seoul and Pyongyang, and offered to nuke the US. Which is a bad thing.
In more local news, I got a freelance writing gig that is very likely to kill me. If I don't post for a few days, please send someone for my body.
This week, we got invited to the internet party, played D&D with Batgirl, and encased a beloved children's character in carbonite. An ancient book joined the modern era. We applied to work at Aperture R&D. Our grandfather read a book to us while we recuperated. In case you forgot, Disney bought Star Wars. We learned how to pick the right chair. We found a nemesis and sang about depression. And finally, cats are coming.
What Do Superheroines Do on Their Day Off?
Play D&D of course. Check out the artist's Deviant Art page.
h/t to io9
Frog Solo Encased in Carbonite
Don't worry, he's about to be rescued by Miss Piggy dressed as a bounty hunter with a thermal detonator. Find out more here.
Everyday Esoterica 1
- Details
- Category: Mornings are Awesome
- Published on Saturday, 16 March 2013 21:20
- Written by Chris
A celebration of the obscure names to common things.
First up, the humble division symbol. While it has lost a lot of ground to the the utilitarian /, the obelus deserves our respect. After all, it was for most of us the first mathematical concept that really fucked us over in grade school.
Add a comment42 Things to Do Instead of Writing
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
- Published on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 10:44
- Written by Chris
A non-exhaustive list.
- Clean the house
- Check email
- Update Facebook
- Tweet
- 'Research'
- Call mom
- Catch up on TV
- Take care of pets/children
- Play a game
- Edit photos from last vacation
- Untangle telephone cable
- Alphabetize books
- Match socks
- Yoga/pilates/meditation
- Organize porn folder
- Give self mani-pedi
- Origami
- Go grocery shopping
- Make sure nothing important is in your spam folder
- Set up folders and filters on Gmail
- Nap
- Register to vote
- Iron
- Start a podcast
- Figure out what happened to that one actor from that show
- Finish that jigsaw puzzle
- Learn how to fold a fitted sheet
- Google 'goal setting'
- Practice the Gangnam Style horsey dance or Harlem Shake
- Figure out what Pintrest is
- Read
- Mow the lawn
- Learn how to make calls for the birds in the neighborhood
- Go to a cafe
- Chat with the barista
- Compare calories between different frappacinos
- People watch
- Hope that the barista asks you what you're writing
- Look for writing groups on Meet-up
- Google MFA programs
- Google writing contests
- Blog about not writing
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Fundra: Wildlife Encounter
- Details
- Category: Fundra
- Published on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 06:38
- Written by Jen
Oh, you! Things will get better in high school.
From the fabulous Jen at phoenixfireart.tumblr.com
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comicsIngrid Michaelson
- Details
- Category: Music for Mondays
- Published on Monday, 11 March 2013 20:39
- Written by Chris
It should be no surprise that I like Ingrid Michaelson: she's half-Swedish, and as we've seen over the past year, I have an inordinate fondness of Swedes and their (English-language) music. The fact that she was enormously talented from infancy - learning piano as a kiddo, studying at a professional music academies throughout childhood, yadda yadda yadda - helps. As does her fierce independence; she's never signed with a major label despite her growing popularity.
In fact, that is how I discovered her in the first place. One day, way back in 2007, I was haphazardly reading through the AV Club instead of writing or exercising or hanging out with people or cleaning my apartment or organizing paperclips or doing anything of practical value. A picture of a bright, intriguing woman's face above the headline for Random Rules caught my attention, which honestly wouldn't have taken much to do at that point. The article mentioned that she was a popular, unsigned artist, but I had never heard of her. After reading about the songs she was listening to, I decided to look her up. What I heard was quiet, earnest, and perfect.
Even if you don't know her name, you have undoubtedly heard her music. Ingrid's tracks appeared on a whole heap of popular TV shows as well as mass-market commercials, in soundtracks, and anywhere else musicians can sell their wares these days.
If you like any of the female sing-songwriters we've profiled in these hallowed pages, you'll certainly enjoy Ms. Michaelson. Check her out.
Official site: ingridmichaelson.com
This and the Case of the Sex-hating Bush Lions
- Details
- Category: This: Week in Review
- Published on Sunday, 10 March 2013 13:21
- Written by Chris
Looks like I'll have to change my travel plans. First I find out that no wizards or psychics are allowed in Chechnya. And then lions kill a woman have sex in 'a bushy area'. I'll just have to stick to safe places like Venezuela and Mali.
It's cool that they may have found a cure for HIV, but given that it employs bee venom, I'd be really screwed if I get the disease, being deathly allergic and all.
Oh, and dolphins call each other by name. Apparently they're not all named Flipper after all.
I started Turkish classes this week, marking the first time I've been in any formal course in over a decade. Scary. Since I've been a language instructor myself for the past 9 years, the show is definitely on the other foot now (which is a weird-ass expression, if you think about it).
This week, we find out what would happen if Trent Reznor and Carly Rae Jepsen had a baby. We watched a camera glide in from space, and checked out some cool chicks. We drove a cat crazy, put things on a bunny's head, squeed at some baby animals, and stared in quiet horror at wealth inequality in America. Star Wars and Schoolhouse Rock came together, finally. A company told us that friends are bad for our grades, someone put comic book characters on album covers, and someone else remade the Matrix as a quick, cool cartoon. We found our favorite new humor site, learned about misogyny in video games, and finally, some assholes woke us up.
Head Like a Hole/Call Me Maybe
Is this the best mash-up ever? The worst? No. It's both at the same time.
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