And now, because I apparently have well over fifty items in my “shared” newsreader folder (and countless hundreds in my “to read” folder), here’s a random assortment of links:
- I can’t believe I missed National Poem in Your Pocket Day! And am I the only one who immediately thought of Kevin Brockmeier’s story, “”A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets” when I heard about it? Oh. I am? Never mind then.
- Speaking of short stories, though, I really enjoyed Desmond Warzel’s “Wikihistory,” which takes place on a Wikipedia-like time traveler forum. [via]
- And speaking of re-imagining the past, wanna get medieval on Hamlet’s ass? [via]
- And here’s another weird mash-up: Archie Comics meets Pulp. (I still prefer William Shatner’s version, though.) [via]
- Going back to Shakespeare for the moment, though, Kaleidotrope contributor (issue #2, April 2007), J.R. Blackwell makes an interesting observation:
In theater, Hamlet is traditionally played by an actor in his early thirties. It’s a hefty role, one that requires a great deal of talent, so I understand the desire to cast someone who has experience in the role. However, the more I think about Hamlet – his angsting, his family issues, his identity issues, the questions he has about life and his role in society, the more he seems like a teenager.
- From the “Seriously? Why?” file: Warner Develops Hyperion Film. I usually reserve judgment about these things until the movie gets made, but I’m quite fond of Dan Simmons’ original books and just don’t see how this could go anywhere good.
- Yet the file keeps getting bigger: We can expect at least three more Dune books from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I guess these things sell, but are they any good? I’ve heard very, very bad things.
- xkcd points out, with some numbers to back it up, that “Hollywood is not creating female heroes.”
- Speaking of which — sort of, I guess — SF Signal reports that Witchblade is coming to DVD in July. I guess now I can find out if it’s as interesting/confusing/fun/mediocre as I remember it.
- An incredible behind-the-scenes look at an Infocom game that never was: Milliways: Infocom’s Unreleased Sequel to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- And finally, Al Jaffee’s fold-ins for Mad magazine, from the 1960s to the present, in interactive form. [via]