- Just what is a documentary these days?
So the salient question might not be, “What is a documentary?†— an abstract, theoretical approach to a form that is grounded in the concrete facts of life. Instead it might make sense to ask what (or whom) a given documentary is for? Is it a goad to awareness, an incitement to action, a spur to further thought? A window? A mirror? The more you think about it, the less obvious the truth appears to be.
- I think somewhere, in the back of my brain, I knew that Eric Stoltz had originally been cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future — had, in fact, filmed for several weeks — but it’s still weird and kind of amazing to see the footage.
- The Wire Monopoly? Sometimes parody edges up right up against the things we wish were real. [via]
- Children’s picture books are apparently a dying art, thanks to parents starting kids on chapter books earlier and earlier:
Picture books are so unpopular these days at the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Mass., that employees there are used to placing new copies on the shelves, watching them languish and then returning them to the publisher. [via]
- And finally, The Doctor is now immortal. Or always was. Or whatever. I’m still a Doctor Who neophyte compared to some, but even I know “continuity” is a very slippery slope in that universe.
various
Wednesday various
- A vexation of zombies! Supernatural Collective Nouns. [via]
- Wow, H.G. Wells would hate American journalism today!
- Swanky new Vegas hotel’s ‘death ray’ proves inconvenient for some guests. Imagine that. [via]
- That Johnny Depp, what a mensch! (I still don’t want to see the next Pirates movie, though.) [via]
- And finally, via Reuters: “A man carries a shark through the streets of Mogadishu September 23, 2010.”
I love how there is absolutely no context given for this.
Tuesday various
- I feel totally vindicated now: Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention. [via]
- Professional wrestler Mick Foley — who I know mostly as Mankind, mostly because a friend of mine once dressed up as him for Halloween — talks about how Tori Amos changed his life. [via]
- Stan Lee won’t rest until he’s created a comic book character for every last man, woman, and child on the planet, and then some. Excelsior! [via]
- Ever wonder how ink is made?
- And finally, John Seavey on Pokemon:
It’s a show about a little boy who runs around capturing wild animals, locking them up in a tiny cage, and then pitting them against other wild animals in brutal gladiatorial contests. Really, I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make this one darker if you tried.
Monday various
- Today is the first day of the online raffle in support of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series. There are lot of excellent prizes, from signed first drafts and story critiques to used keyboards (Neil Gaiman’s) and Tuckerizations galore, all for the cost of $1 each. I’ve not yet actually made it to a KGB reading myself — they’ve either conflicted with my schedule or I’ve been a little intimidated about going to one by myself — but I understand they put together a really great series. The raffle runs until October 25.
- Today is also Columbus Day. (In America. Some people insist on claiming it’s Thanksgiving elsewhere.) After reading this article about the real Columbus, you may be wishing it wasn’t.
- You know, there may very well be lots of edible mushrooms in NYC, but I think I’ll pass.
- I was sure this was an Onion headline when I first saw it: Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic. But no, not in the least:
The self-driving car initiative is an example of Google’s willingness to gamble on technology that may not pay off for years, Dr. Thrun said. Even the most optimistic predictions put the deployment of the technology more than eight years away. [via]
- And finally, I find the final word in today’s Writer’s Almanac just a little odd:
It was on this day in 1975 that Saturday Night Live premiered….There was a fake advertisement for triple-blade razors, a product obviously considered ridiculous by comedians in 1975, just after the two-blade razor came out—the faux commercial ended, “Because you’ll believe anything.” These days, there are many more blades on razors—in 2006, Schickette announced plans for a nine-bladed razor—and Saturday Night Live is now in its 35th season.
Thursday various
- “Due to strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this game in no way endorses a belief in the occult.” A History of Zombies in Video Games [via]
- Restaurant Workers Don’t Stay Home When Sick, Study Finds. Not too surprising, but still: yuck.
- Tens Of Thousands Of Walruses Crowd Ashore In Alaska Due To Melting Sea Ice. How far south do they have to get before we accept there’s global warming? Utah?
- You know, Katherine Heigl’s reputation as a shrill diva probably is overrated, if not unwarranted, but I suspect most of her movies have bombed at the box office simply because they’re really, really bad.
- And finally, Unicorn vs. Narwhal [via]