- Mike Birbiglia on New York:
Living in New York requires a certain resilience and a willingness to compromise in your lifestyle. An understanding that sometimes apartments are the size of a Starbucks bathroom and sometimes your kitchen sink and your bathtub share the same drain, and that’s okay.
- Does this mark the downfall of the Downfall meme? And how soon, do you think, before this gets the Downfall meme treatment? [via]
- Jane Espenson: “Find your characters’ vulnerable spots and poke them and you’ll find a story.”
- How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature [via]
- And finally, that is some teacher:
Although he was correct, Alex’s actions show a blatant disregard for authority, and a complete lack of respect for his school. In the future, Alex would be better off simply accepting my teachings without resistance.
That and other Most Ridiculous Detention Slips Of All Time. [via]
various
Tuesday various
- Can video games be art? Roger Ebert sure doesn’t think so.
- Support for keeping marijuana illegal in California may be coming from an unlikely source: pot growers. [via]
- Meanwhile, why am I not at all surprised by revelations that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay? [via]
- Brian K. Vaughan’s “post-apocalyptic heist movie” does sound very cool. [via]
- And finally, xkcd: “Stop spoiling my future with your slightly more distant one.”
Monday various
- I’m not afraid of clowns — sometimes I think I’m maybe in the minority on this — but how can an evil clown who stalks children possibly be a good idea for a birthday present? [via]
- Doctor Who regeneration was ‘modelled on LSD trips’ [via]
- Meanwhile, I think I like Stephen Moffat’s definition of the show:
It’s about a man who can travel in time. It’s a television show set at every point in history at every place in the universe. It’s not bound by logic or genre.
How could that not be fun?
- Don’t you forget about me. A.O. Scott on The Breakfast Club.
- And finally, David Simon on Treme [via]:
Well, Pablo Picasso famously said that art is the lie that shows us the truth. Such might be the case of a celebrated artist claiming more for himself and his work than he ought, or perhaps, this Picasso fella was on to something.
By referencing what is real, or historical, a fictional narrative can speak in a powerful, full-throated way to the problems and issues of our time. And a wholly imagined tale, set amid the intricate and accurate details of a real place and time, can resonate with readers in profound ways. In short, drama is its own argument.
Thursday various
- The Library of Congress has acquired the entire Twitter archive. This is an interesting announcement, though I do wonder about the privacy issues, particularly with protected tweets, and just how the LoC is going to make these available.
- Meanwhile, maps of the Batcave and Krypton. [via]
- Frankly, with all the potential health problems 3D televisions can apparently cause, I’m not sure I see their up-side.
- Still, if even Martin Scorcese is making a film in 3D, it’s safe to say the technology isn’t going anywhere just yet.
- And finally, last month, I shared a link to A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things. It’s only fair that this month I share Barack Obama Looking at Awesome Things. [via]
Wednesday various
- Studios are increasingly stripping rental DVDs of special features. I ran into this over the weekend with The Informant. I’d be very interested in an audio commentary or any other behind-the-scenes material — it’s an unusual movie, based on a very unusual case — but I won’t buy it for that.
- Incidentally, speaking of The Informant, I was amused by this user comment at IMDB: “…the main character in this film was just bad with the way his thoughts were and thinking the way he did.”
- Meanwhile, I am not at all surprised that Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood movie isn’t remotely historically accurate, despite his repeated claims to the contrary. Still, it’s interesting to go in search of the “real-life” Robin Hood. [via]
- I’m not a big fan of cilantro, but I don’t hate it. Apparently, though, there may be a good reason why many people (like my father) do. [via]
- And finally, the headline reads Black Hole Strikes Deepest Musical Note Ever Heard. [via]