- “US pop star Britney Spears, seen here in August 2009, took aim at some of the tabloid stories that have dogged her through 2009, publishing a list of the top 75 articles deemed to be the most ridiculous.” Number one on the list? That she used to be an internationally famous and successful recording artist.
- “Everywhere I turned, I found pain and loss, a procession of wasted lives, people who never fought Ali and, thus, won’t ever have someone come looking for them.” Muhammad Ali fought 50 men. Only one disappeared.” [via]
- “The gases which formed the Earth’s atmosphere — and probably its oceans — did not come from inside the Earth but from outer space, according to a new study.” [via]
- MC Frontalot uses Dungeons & Dragons to quit smoking. [via]
- And finally, “Are the Stars?” [via]
various
Christmas various
- Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
- xkcd on the physics of Christmas. (For the record, I’m pretty sure Heisenberg celebrated the holiday.)
- What’s on the White House Christmas tree? (As if Glenn Beck didn’t have enough to ineptly rant and spume about over the holidays. [via]
- 15 Toys Not to Buy Your Kids This Christmas [via]
- I don’t know about you, but with the first part of The End of Time airing in the UK this weekend, it looks like I will be spending Christmas with a Dalek.
- I’m sure you’ve heard that Bob Dylan has a new Christmas album out. You may even have heard how awful it is. (And believe me, it is awful.) But now you can see for yourself. This may be the most wonderfully, horrible strange cover of “Must Be Santa” ever.
- And finally, Patton Oswalt on what may be my least favorite Christmas song ever.
Happy holidays!
Thursday various
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel beat Avatar in this Wednesday’s box office. That can’t be good. [via]
- George over at Bookninja thinks this is some kind of horrible abomination, but I think this Soft Morphing Blob ‘Bot is actually sort of cool.
- I find it difficult to believe that a version of Lord of the Rings from the orcs’ perspective hasn’t already been written.
- ZombieHarmony — “One of the Best Free Dating Sites for Zombies.” (One of?) [via]
- And finally, Jacob Bronowski and The Ascent of Man [via]:
Tuesday various
- Comic Book Artists Illustrate Sci-Fi Legends [via]
- The Unicorn Will Not Save Publishing [via]
- Teens Who Feel More Peer Pressure Turn Out Better, Not Worse [via]
- Why I Am Not Afraid to Take Your Money by Amanda Fucking Palmer. This is a little old, and has been reposted and discussed at some length, but it’s still sitting in my saved links. (As is Caitlin R. Kiernan’s response.) I think it’s a discussion still worth having. As Harlan Ellison would say (in his inimitable way), pay the writer.
- And finally, Maria Bamford‘s Christmas Special [via]:
Maria Bamford’s Christmas Special! from Punchline Magazine on Vimeo.
Monday various
- Maybe I’m just still bitter that my family stood on line for several hours to see this when it was new — and missed out on Journey into Imagination (at the time a personal favorite and which is what we originally thought we were standing on line for) — but come on, the return of Captain Eo? Really?
- I’m always dubious about lists of new slang words. They inevitably seem like they’re just a joke on whoever is compiling them — “can you believe what I got that reporter from the Guardian to believe?” — or like somebody’s just gotten corrugated ankles, gone to goat heaven, and started making things up. [via]
- Graham Greene once entered a contest to parody himself. He came in second. [via]
- Sketchy Santas. Parents, do you really want your kids sitting on these men’s laps? [via]
- And finally, speaking of which, Jack Bauer’s making a list and checking it twice…