various

Friday various

  • In his review of The Proposal — which doesn’t sound at all appealing to me, frankly — Keith Phipps writes:

    Bullock plays a feared, powerful book editor, a job that apparently consists entirely of reading unsolicited manuscripts while riding an exercise bike, and trying to coax authors into appearing on Oprah.

    Yes, this is exactly what the job of book editor consists of, just as the job of book author involves nothing but music-filled montages of frenetic typing, feverish concentration and crumpled-up wads of paper. Red pens are sometimes stategically employed in either case.

    And authors need coaxing to appear on Oprah?

  • In his review of Woddy Allen’s new movie, Whatever Works — A.O. Scott writes:

    Mr. Allen’s unwavering belief in an empty cosmos made somewhat less bleak by the charms of old movies, older music and much younger women is one of the few things left we can count on. If the man ever gets religion, then we will know we’re really in trouble.

    Frankly, this new one doesn’t look so great either.

  • Meanwhile, I agree with Scott Tobias: Quick Change is an underrated comedy.

  • This must be a joke, or else it takes the idea of “urban exploration” way too far. And I hope like hell I don’t live near anyone like this. [via]

  • And finally, Amanda Palmer on the importance of being bored:

    “I don’t want to sound like a luddite old-fart, [but] I kind of worry about the ‘digital generation.’ Kids today don’t have the freedom to be bored. There is something really important about boredom, and how you choose to fill it. If I had had the Internet at age 14 or 15 and had been able to expose myself and connect with people that way, I don’t know if I would have gone and messed around with the piano. Kids can definitely use the Internet creatively, but I think that there is something important about incubating on your own. I think boredom, space, time, and development need ‘unconnectedness.’ These kids are so connected, and they are never bored, because they don’t need to be. I think that’s dangerous. I think boredom is important.”

Tuesday various

  • I have never read Ulysses, and only a few of the stories in James Joyce’s Dubliners — I have a copy somewhere at home — but today is apparently Bloomsday, commemorating the life of the author and the events of his most famous book. As Gary Dexter writes:

    The paradox of Ulysses is that one needs to read it to understand twentieth-century literature, but one needs to read twentieth-century literature to build up the stamina to read Ulysses.

    Gene Wolfe’s “Solar Cycle” is my big reading project this year, so I think Joyce will have to wait.

  • Dana Carvey and Robert Smigel in the AV Club:

    Robert Smigel: One thing about Dana’s determination not to be a showbiz person: Dana was the only celebrity I knew who was offered Sesame Street when his kids were very young, and turned it down.

    They’re both refreshingly candid about the quality (and sometimes lack thereof) of their work, specifically on The Dana Carvey Show.

  • John Scalzi offers some thoughts on internships:

    What bothers me about unpaid internships is not fundamentally that they are unpaid (although that really isn’t a good thing), but that the purpose of internships seems to have changed in an uncomfortable way: it’s gone from a way to train students in practical real-world application of skills they’ve learned in college to a way to plug, for free, actual skill gaps in one’s work force.

    I don’t know for certain if our company pays its interns, or if we’re teaching them any valuable skills they can apply in the publishing world later on. But I do know it makes our jobs easier when we have one.

    I’ve always sort of regretted not going after an internship of my own back in college.

  • Despite what Jonathan Wright might say, I think story arcs are generally a good thing. They don’t always work, I’ll grant you that. You’ll find no argument from me that Babylon 5 didn’t falter in its final season, or that the show’s mythology arc isn’t what eventually undid The X-Files. (Well, that and Annabeth Gish, but don’t get me started on that.) But I much prefer story arcs to the more formulaic alternative, where characters never change (or acknowledge past events), and where the status quo is never challenged. There’s room for both in my heart, but if I had to choose, for example, between Star Trek, where the status quo is de rigeur — the new reboot not at all withstanding — or Farscape, which repeatedly proclaimed to have no reset button, I’ll absolutely choose the latter. Story is all about character, and characters who grow and adapt are simply more interesting.

    Abigail Nussbaum had some interesting thoughts on serialized vs. episodic television not too long ago.

    I’ll reserve judgment on these new Torchwood episodes until I’ve seen them — I was a big fan of the second series, which I re-watched recently, but still think the first was pretty dire — but it’s worth noting that this is a mini-series, which by its nature implies expectations of a self-contained story arc. (Also that there’s plenty of story arc to be found in the earlier episodes; you’d probably have better luck starting at the beginning than anywhere in the middle or at the end. I don’t know how standalone those episodes really are.)

  • And finally, I’m with Caitlin R. Kiernan on this:

    I need summer. Real summer. Too hot to walk barefoot on the sidewalk without blistering your feet summer. Sweltering after dark summer.

    Well, okay, I don’t know about the “sweltering after dark” bit, but I’m a little tired of this schizophrenic weather. It could be worse — Heather was reporting snow in her neck of the woods just over a week ago — but frankly, I like seasons that feel like seasons, genuine spring and summer, autumn and winter. And the less that one bleeds into the other, the better. Is that so awful?

Monday various

  • The biodiversity of publishing logos. It only covers the big trade publishers (Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Hachette), so the company I work for isn’t included, but this is really amusing. [via]
  • Ever wonder what words readers of The New York Times look up most often? (If you click a word in any article on their website, it will give you a dictionary definition.) Apparently number one is sui generis, which means “of his, her, its, or their own kind; unique.” Most of these are not too surprising — and hey, people should be commended for looking up words they don’t know when reading — but I do find it weird that 1,964 people apparently needed to look up the word “swine.” For the record, it means “pigs.” [via]
  • “So what’s the secret ingredient in KFC’s new grilled chicken?” asks Mark Evanier. “Apparently, it’s beef.
  • A long, but fascinating, look at the making of The Godfather. Some major spoilers may follow. But seriously, if you haven’t seen The Godfather… [via]:

    The magic was the lucky result mainly of a series of accidents—Coppola’s vision of the perfect cast and crew; misunderstandings between the director and the executives; the strange camaraderie that grew between the moviemakers and the Mob; and a number of priceless ad-libs by actors that turned what was supposed to have been a low-budget movie into a masterpiece.

  • And finally, needlessly blurring the line between remake and reboot even further, a new Battlestar Galactica movie based on neither the old nor new television versions. I can’t see this getting off the ground, but I think we should make it a rule that you can’t reboot a franchise when your first reboot has just ended. (And with Caprica and The Plan both forthcoming, it’s debatable how “ended” Ron Moore’s Battlestar franchise is.)

Thursday various

  • Former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich says it’s difficult watching his wife, Patti, fill in for him on a reality show, but he appreciated the former Illinois first lady’s televised exercise in tarantula-eating as an “act of love. [link | via]

    They should double-date with the Santorums!

  • A fascinating discussion in The New York Times on the Uncanny Valley, the nature of forgeries, cover versions, and Vermeer. [via]

  • Behind the Scenes: A New Angle on History — Twenty years later, a new look at that historic moment in China’s Tiananmen Square. It’s a little startling to see a historical moment captured from a completely different angle like this, especially when the earlier angles have become so iconic. [via]

  • Watch season one of Veronica Mars for free online. Opinions vary on the later two seasons, but I think the first is generally considered the show’s best. You have until June 29, apparently, when the episodes will be replaced by season two. [via]

  • And finally, Warren Ellis on the writing process:

    The point is getting it all down, even if it’s crap or incomprehensible to anyone but you, so you can see it outside your own head. And then you can start adding to it. Expanding it, putting new layers on it, winding a new plotline around it, moving bits of it around. Just get it down.