- White Castle aromatherapy candles? I’ve never eaten there, but this doesn’t sound like a good thing at all. [via]
- Stephen Hawking says: don’t talk to aliens. But what if they offer us candy? Space candy! [via]
- Digital Domesday book unlocked, underlining the dangers inherent in digital archiving. [via]
- By now you’ve seen Jon Stewart’s interview with Ken Blackwell, right? If not, you really should. Mostly, Stewart just has to let Blackwell talk.
- And finally, I got a kick out of this Super Mario Bros. clone: Enough Plumbers. [via]
videos
Thursday various
- Looks like I fall on the “trustworthy” end of this Trustworthiness of Beards scale. How to use that to my advantage? Muhahahaha! [via]
- When I first read this story, about another Ring movie in the works — this time in 3-D and reinvented for a teen audience, whatever that means — I thought it was about another Lord of the Rings movie. As ridiculous as that remake sounds, I wouldn’t put it past Hollywood. Give in another couple of years.
- Some stories just to great not to be true: surfer rides shark after it bites his surfboard. [via]
- You can take Freudian concepts too far.
- And finally, here’s New York two ways you’ve probably never seen it before. First, made out of staples. And second, pixelated [via]:
Wednesday various
- Could a 3-D printer be used to build moon bases? I don’t know, but it’s pretty cool in action. [via]
- They really love football in Texas: one of the state’s high schools is getting a $60M stadium. [via]
- The science of Pokemon [via]
- I can’t believe I haven’t shared the Most Badass Alphabet Ever yet. [via]
- And finally, you know how last week I was saying it was only a matter of time before the DMCA takedowns of those Downfall meme videos got the Downfall meme treatment? Well, here you go.
Monday various
- I think John Scalzi has it right about this health care bill that passed in the House yesterday:
As such there was no real political or moral philosophy to the GOP’s action, it was all short-term tactics, i.e., take an idea a majority of people like (health care reform), lie about its particulars long enough and in a dramatic enough fashion to lower the popularity of the idea, and then bellow in angry tones about how the president and the Democrats are ignoring the will of the people. Then publicly align the party with the loudest and most ignorant segment of your supporters, who are in part loud because you’ve encouraged them to scream, and ignorant because you and your allies in the media have been feeding them bad information. Whip it all up until health care becomes the single most important issue for both political parties — an all-in, must win, absolutely cannot lose issue.
- Meanwhile, Poppy Z. Brite has some harsh things to say about David Simon’s new HBO show Treme. The title of her post should tell you exactly how she feels about their filming in her hometown of New Orleans. It raises some interesting questions — namely, are some wounds too raw to be fictionalized, much less re-enacted for television in the same place? And what, if anything, is Treme‘s responsibility to the neighborhoods in which it films? Is it meeting that responsibility, just by bringing jobs and revenue to the city? (After all, you can’t please everyone, no more how sensitive your approach.) Can Simon, as an outsider to the city, even hope to do the tragedy that was Katrina justice? Frankly, you couldn’t stop me from watching this show, and I think if it’s handled with even half the depth and honesty as The Wire, it could terrific and emotional television.
- Paul Di Filippo has the line-up for the ultimate Beatles-reunion band. This is either a terrfic or terrible idea, I’m not sure which.
- Oh great, a book of inspirational quotes from Sarah Palin. I can’t fucking wait. [via]
- And finally, I’ve mostly avoided all these Chatroulette videos (and the site itself), but Ben Folds’ live-show use of it was surprisingly awesome [via]: