- 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]
music
Wednesday various
- Human Centipede II already banned in the UK for sexual depravity. The description of the film sounds pretty horrific to me, even beyond the pale — and I’m someone who, amazingly enough, found some things to…well, not enjoy, exactly, about the first film, although I was less immediately repulsed by it than I would have expected. (Watching it over Twitter with friends may have softened the blow.)
But the idea of censoring it, of banning it from the country, doesn’t sit entirely well with me. I tend to agree with Sarah Ditum of The Guardian on this:
You get extremes of intelligence and stupidity as well as extremes of unpleasantness in horror, and if we’re happy to start banning stuff because of the latter, we might be losing a lot of stuff that falls into the former camp.
- Meanwhile, the fact that there will be a G.I. Joe sequel — and that it may very well star The Rock — fills me with a weird manic delight. The original was one of the most gloriously dumb movies I have ever seen. I am so renting any sequel, as terrible as it is likely to be.
- A lot of really interesting thoughts on X-Men: First Class. Though I liked it well enough — more than I expected to, less than I might have hoped — I’m not sure it deserves all this deep thought. But it’s all very interesting nonetheless. Spoiler warnings, of course.
- Any story that starts with “the night a drunk John Lennon and Harry Nilsson heckled the Smothers Brothers and got in a fight with Pam Grier” has got to be good.
- And finally, Paul Simon is simply a true class act. [via
Monday various
- You Can Now Whore Yourself Out by Tagging Products and Corporate Pages on Facebook. Because of course you can. [via]
- Lady Gaga to debut new songs on Farmville. Because of course she is. [via]
- Sarah Palin and other Republicans upset that rapper Common was invited to the White House. Because of course they are. (Although, seriously? Common?)
- FCC Commissioner Takes Job At Comcast Months After She Voted To Approve Its Deal With NBC Universal. Because of course she did. [via]
- Facebook reportedly paid to smear Google. Because of course they (allegedly) did. [via]
- And finally, because of course it is, Starbuck and Starbuck drinks [sic] Starbucks at Starbucks. [via]
Thursday various
- Is a jail in South Carolina denying prisoners any books except the Bible? [via]
- New York under siege by Will Smith’s ridiculously huge trailer. More, with video of the trailer in (in)action here. It’s not in my neck of the Manhattan woods, fortunately or unfortunately.
- I’ve mentioned before that WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show has recently started posting short exit questionnaires with guests. This week, there’s one with actor Tom Wopat, who says the “one thing [he’s] a fan of that people might not expect” is bluegrass. Tom Wopat, star of The Dukes of Hazzard, is a fan of bluegrass. Yeah, color me shocked.
- Forget what I said here, though. UK book sales have sprung back from an eight-year (Royal Wedding-caused?) low.
- And finally, Ken Jennings makes the bold claim that the criminal activities depicted in Scooby-Doo don’t make real-world sense.
Tuesday various
- House Republicans Paying Outside Counsel $500,000 To Uphold Defense Of Marriage Act. Leaving aside the potential ethical and legal problems with this, isn’t it funny how politicians always find the money when it’s for their pet projects? [via]
- Chris Christie: “I AM the law!” [via]
- I think I agree with Tasha Robinson: nobody really comes across looking great in the recent Weird Al/Lady Gaga tempest in a teapot.
- Gary Busey endorses Donald Trump for President. As TV’s Frank noted on Twitter, “Hope this doesn’t suddenly turn Trump’s candidacy into a sick stupid joke.”
- And finally, The Fantastic Mr. Starfox. [via]