1) Logan’s Run as a Lego diorama. For you younger readers, Logan’s Run is an old book and movie. This picture isn’t from BrickCon, btw.
2) Celebrity Twitter accounts reviewed.
4) Baby Monkey Riding Backwards on a Pig. This is my new favorite song. Video.
I was gone most of the day taking my wife and son to BrickCon (and the library). The displays were, as usual, amazing. The vendor prices were, as usual, appalling. When we left, we were not wearing rain barrels for clothing. I’m calling that a win.
And of course I took pictures: Continue reading
1) Several people have been linking to this lovely, dialog-free animation as a depiction of the atheist experience. I think they’re pretty much right. Video.
2) Did you know that, back in the 1970’s, Psychology Today published board games meant to raise awareness of social issues? “In Sommer’s version, however, the black player could not win; as a simulation of frustration, the game was too successful. Then David Popoff, a Psychology Today editor, redesigned the game, taking suggestions from militant black members of “US” in San Diego. The new rules give black players an opportunity to use—and even to beat—the System.”
3) “What We Talk About When We Talk About Men Not Reading”
4) Paintings based on Craig’s List “Missed Connections”.
5) Wizards of the Coast hiring an book editor for their D%D line.
1) Miniature scenes crafted inside toilet rolls.
2) Superheroes imagined as hipsters.
3) Top ten cars the Car Talk guys hate the most.
4) “Hey, you’re the one who forgot the wheelbarrow!” Video.
5) Until I saw it, I didn’t know I wanted perfume that would make you smell like a library.
6) Now THIS is the A-Team movie they should have made! Video.
7) Dot, the world’s smallest animation character. Video. Truly amazing.
1) Ghosts in the Hollow, a record of abandoned buildings in the Appalachians. Video. Via Cherie Priest.
2) Have some publishing wonkery: “Sell-through” explained.
3) “YOU! The one who is moving now! ANSWER!” Video
4) Revolt in the Fifth Dimension. Video part one, part two. I loved these Spider-man cartoons as a kid, even the weird, trippy space episodes like this one. This clip is worth playing for the music alone.
5) In Legoland space, no one can hear you scream.
6) Do you love Legos and zombies? Well, this link is for you: Video.
Game of Cages is officially on the bookstore shelves (or in your hot little hands) and I can move on with my life. Maybe.
For instance, my father-in-law took one glance at the Lego guns my son has been building, and he insisted my wife take photos of them. Like this:
or
There’s more at the Flickr set.
Needless to say, I suspect we’ll be visiting Brickcon this fall.
1) While I have pretty much given up on DOCTOR WHO, the chances are you haven’t. In recognition of that, a link: Warren Ellis challenges artists to create a photograph/original artwork depicting the 13th (and final) reincarnation of The Doctor. It takes a while for the art to really start coming in, so be sure to skim through the pages to check it out. Some is pretty cool.
2) “Vampire” skull discovered.
3) 600 Hanna Barbera Characters This pretty much has to be viewed at the original size. And I reject the notion that “Snorkle” was the main character on The Banana Splits. I reject it!
4) Brazillian Legolas of the cell phones.
5) A quick summation of the problems inherent in our student loan system.
6) Seanan McGuire, this year’s Campbell Award winner, lays out the dos and don’ts for folks who want to support an author with a new book out. Like her, I would rather people not send me notes about Amazon.com reviews. Unlike her, it’s because I’ve already read them. The other stuff she says is pretty much spot on, too.
7) Oh. My. God. Why didn’t anyone tell me David Fincher was making an animated movie of THE GOON??!! There’s even a trailer already! Video. It looks incredible! WANT!!!
1) Hobo Superman, and the sad superheroes of Latvia.
2) Hungover owls. Tumblr has reached its apotheosis.
3) I don’t usually link to “books as construction material” items, mainly because I don’t see the appeal of having walls you want to read but can’t, however this mushroom garden, where the books are both structure and food for the mushrooms, is pretty compelling.
4) Occasionally I’ll see aspiring writers say things like “Don’t pro writers see all sides of a situation? Aren’t they a little wishy-washy?” Really, though, no. Almost all the writers I run into have very strong opinions, most of them dopey. (Warning, that link is aggravating.)
5) Former RNC Chairman and Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlmen comes out of the closet.
And:
6) Remember the “I’m Sorry” people at the last Chicago Pride Parade? The ones with signes that read “I’m sorry that Christians judge you,” “I’m sorry the way churches have treated you,” and “I used to be a bible-banging homophobe, sorry.”? Yeah? Well it turned out to be more “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin” bullshit. Sorry, people who hoped for better.
7) On a lighter note: Library books thwart purse-snatcher. Good thing that old guy wasn’t reading books on his iPad.
1) Medieval copy protection: Sometimes people come to me and ask, “How did medieval filmmakers protect their DVDs from piracy?”
2) Choose (or create) wake up music for NASA astronauts on the last space shuttle mission. via @seattlegeekly
3) Reading, all around the world.
4) The Freedom of the Road wasn’t free for everyone.
5) Small countertop machine turns plastic back into oil Video. Put some solar panels on the top of that bad boy and I’m happy.
6) Why SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD bombed at the box office. “People say it’s become cool to be a geek. That’s not true. People have just started applying the word geek to cool people. Hipsters aren’t geeks and geeks aren’t rock musicians and rock musicians aren’t old school gamers”
7) Brandon Sanderson’s long-awaited WAY OF KINGS available at a charity auction. The charity benefits Doctors Without Borders. Spread the word!
1) Everything is better in France. Even muggings.
2) Trends in fantasy cover art for 2009.
3) Your monster instructional video for the day.
4) James Bond, Indian comic book style: “You hide identity for good. But there are Super Dupers who never reveal themselves at the worst.”
5) Seven scientific reasons the zombie apocalypse will not be an extinction event.
6) Rope gymnastics in India. Video. Honestly amazing.
