- The AV Club’s Josh Modell on the difficulty with giving reviews a letter grade. There’s a healthy discussion there, but I think Keith Phipps sums it up nicely in the comments:
When I write I know the grade I’m assigning the movie/tv show/album helps me frame my thoughts. But, in the end, it’s the thoughts that matter, not the rating at the end of them.
- Ethics schmethics! So first The Chicago Tribune focus-grouped some news stories before they were published. [via] And then it was revealed that pharmaceutical giant Merck and Elsevier published a fake peer-review journal. [via]
- Thudfactor has an interesting post about the myth of competition:
We sometimes speak of evolutionary strategies, but “strategy†is a poor metaphor. There’s no strategy involved. Mutation is random — at least, we think so. Suggesting that an infectious disease won’t mutate into something deadly because that’s a poor strategy for victory assumes that viruses have something akin to a five-year plan. They don’t think that far. Viruses probably don’t think. I’m certain they don’t caucus to establish behaviors for all of virus-kind.
Sure, it’s survival of the fittest, but “fittest” can mean so many different things.
- Now this is interesting: The Fight Club Theory of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Spoilers for both movies, so be forewarned. [via]
- And finally, the neuropsychology of zombies. [via]
various
Thursday various
- Joe Biden does seem determined to live up to his reputation for saying dumb things — like, oh, needlessly fueling the panic over swine flu — but I still find that preferable to a Vice President who is, y’know, evil incarnate. [via]
- I don’t think Roger Ebert liked the new Wolverine movie very much. I’m a little disappointed by his not so subtle digs at comic books in general and their readers — “Am I being disrespectful to this material? You bet.” Keith Phipps didn’t like it much either — “A couple of halfway decent action scenes do little to distract from the story’s mounting ludicrousness…or a conclusion that’s only a little more satisfying than a projector breakdown.” — but he suggests the film might be a failure in spite of its comic-book origins, not necessarily because of it. That may be reading too much into Ebert’s review. Despite the occasional dust-up with the fanboy set, Ebert has liked plenty of comic-book movies. (And X-Men Origins: Wolverine is maybe just a bad one.) Still, it’s hard not to get a little riled up by that constant refrain of “this is good…for a comic book” or “this is good…so it can’t be science fiction. It’s hard not to get a little tired of that.
- Speaking of science fiction, though, these Penguin Science Fiction covers are pretty cool. [via]
- Over at TV Squad, Brad Trechak suggests a list of American actors who could play Doctor Who. I assume he’s not serious — his choices are pretty ridiculous — but it’s an interesting thought experiment nonetheless. Not the idea of casting it, necessarily, nor Trechak’s specific casting choices, but the question of why it can’t be done. Other British television shows have been remade across the pond, some even successfully, so why not this one?
I think you’d have trouble finding a more quintessentially British show than Doctor Who. Its being a British show is so completely wrapped up in its identity that an American remake just seems unimaginable — even though there’s nothing inherently British about the chracter, or nothing that couldn’t easily be made more American with a few minor tweaks. I’m trying to think of an American equivalent that really couldn’t be remade overseas — something that’s too distinctly an American show — and I’m not sure I can. Any thoughts?
- And fianlly, a fascinating look at the ancient Roman bookselling world:
…booksellers were the rich pimps of Roman publishing and authors, or even the books themselves, were the hard-working but humiliated prostitutes.
I’m also amused to learn that “at some periods of Roman history, it was the fashion to copy out the text with no breaks between the words, but as a river of letters.” And we think reading on a computer screen can be tough! [via]
Monday various
- Google Maps Typography. I’m reminded of Textism’s Found Alphabet. [via]
- John Scalzi on why it’s a good thing that YA novels have been winning major genre awards lately:
Yes, how horrible it is that some of what’s being hailed as the best science fiction and fantasy written today is in a literary category designed to encourage millions of young people to read for the rest of their natural lives. Because God knows the last thing science fiction and fantasy publishing needs right now is whole generation of new and enthusiastic readers who might actually get hooked into the genre until they die. It’s a goddamn tragedy, it is.
I wasn’t aware the recent wins had “caused some consternation and grumbling in certain quarters,” but maybe that’s just because I don’t hang out in those quarters. (I just finished reading Scott Westerfeld’s Midnighters series, and it was easily some of the best storytelling I’ve read recently.) Personally, I think the only thing that matters is that a book be good when it wins an award.
- Gerry Canavan offers two examples of how “our brains don’t work.” First, the suggestion that the “health aura” of things like salads, etc., actually encourages us to eat unhealthy foods instead. And second, an optical illusion you can’t help but see — unless, of course, you’re a schizophrenic. (They’re apparently not fooled.) While on the one hand it’s nice to have evidence to suggest that I’m not schizophrenic, seeing that optical illusion at work was starting to freak me out a little.
- “Was there anything in your childhood that led you to want to destroy civilization as we know it?” How do you even respond to a question like that? The founders of Twitter do a decent enough job, but Maureen “I would rather be tied up to stakes in the Kalahari Desert, have honey poured over me and red ants eat out my eyes than open a Twitter account” Dowd’s “interview” is just ridiculous. I think you can make an argument that Twitter is an annoyance or a time-waster, but most people making that argument would be content to, I dunno, simply not use it. [via]
- I was totally captivated by this short documentary, Carts of Darkness, which Showcase.ca describes thusly:
This isn’t one of those homeless-guys-are-just-like-us exercises in upper-middle class guilt trips. As it turns out, these guys are nothing like us.
It’s not always easy to watch, but I found it fascinating. [via]
Tuesday various
- Things you don’t hear every day: “…there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries…” Still, we’re one step closer at least. [via]
- I’m all for moving forward, but I’m truly disappointed that, apparently, no one in the Bush administration will be held accountable for their (often criminal) actions. [via]
- Apparently tuna could be completely wiped out in just three years if something isn’t done. [via]
- The idea of a Deep Space Nine movie remake frightens me. Personally, I’d rather see some kind of reunion movie with the original cast.
- And finally, are you a secret Canadian? Stranger things have happened, eh?
Monday various
- I’m getting kind of a Battlestar Galactica vibe from the new Stargate Universe trailer. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.
- I’m also not sure how I feel about entrusting Dollhouse‘s survival to Prison Break‘s ever-dwindling ratings. I’m sort of amazed: I’d actually be really disappointed if Dollhouse was cancelled now.
- I don’t like to use Comic Sans, but I had no idea the font was so hated. [via]
- “The intention of Covered is to feature a wide variety of artists redoing comic covers in their own style.” Some of these are really quite terrific, and I love the whole idea behind the project. Why should only songs get cover versions? [via]
- Mark Evanier on what is arguably the funniest line in one of the funniest movies ever. It’s certainly one of my own favorites.