interesting things

Randomness for 10/25

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1) A big list of fantastic stop motion movies. Whoa.

2) “FIGHT ME” Video. Pretty funny stuff.

3) Elementary school kids explain computers, from 1984. Video.

4) Halloween house lights that will amaze you. Video.

5) A vampire identification chart.

6) The site calls this list “The Ten Happiest Jobs” but it really shows ten jobs that make people happiest.

7) Rebranding Hell.

Randomness for 10/19

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1) We are the 1%, bitches.

2) The tragedy series.

3) Infographic political statements on your legal tender.

4) How taxing is it to run in heavy armor?

5) The world’s largest rooftop farm is in New York.

6) Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance.

7) The Dungeons and Dragons Coloring Book from 1979. These images are perfectly sized for printing. Just sayin’.

Randomness for 10/13

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1) What it’s like to work on a show in trouble.

2) Saveur magazine invites comix artists to write and draw their favorite recipes. Wonderful.

3) Cameos carved in Oreo cookies.

4) Cat vs. Hairdryer. Video.

5) Six big economic myths, debunked.

6) Super-rich superheroes (and villains) are the 1%!

7) TV/movie starships, to scale.

Randomness for 10/10

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1) Evangelicals try to rebrand Halloween into “Jesusween” because what’s more important that Jesus’s ween?

2) Photos of people scared shitless at a haunted house. This is so freaking amazing I don’t even know.

3) Ten stubborn food myths that just won’t die.

4) Want to see part of a mountain fall into the sea? Video.

5) I include this because it looks great and is technically well done, even if the “story” isn’t: Stop-Motion Ninja duel. Video.

6) This is why I’m not nostalgic about Steve Jobs, even though my home is full of stuff he sold.

7) This post by Ezra Klein is pretty good chronicling of the errors made when the Obama administration designed their stimulus.

Bonus link: There’s a site re-posting old Usenet articles exactly 30 years after they were originally posted. Use your newsreader: nntp.olduse.net.

Randomness for 10/6

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1) This is the guy who should be redesigning DC’s rebooted heroes.

2) Artwork created in rice fields.

3) The 20 Biggest Idiots on Facebook. via Marisol

4) Spooky Victorian Mansions made of Legos.

5) Who Killed Videogames, A Ghost Story

6) Microphotography contest winners.

7) “We are the 1%.”

Some stuff about today

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Went to the U-District early this morning (as my son reckons things, at least) to attend the live broadcast of local NPR-affiliate show “Weekday.” The first hour was an interview with actor and storyteller Stephen Tobolowski, of The Tobolowski Files. He talked a little about playing a pedophile principal on GLEE, being naked on CALIFORNICATION, and about his play “Two Idiots in Hollywood.” Great show.

The music was provided by “Awesome”. I suspect we’ll have one of their CDs on order by the time I return home, although their music wasn’t really to my tastes. Fun, but not for me.

After the show, my wife and son went home and I visited pals at their theater. They run Wing-It Productions, and if you’re in the Seattle area, you should go to one or two of their shows. They’re great.

Neither of my buddies could duck out for impromptu lunch, so I swung by Half-Price Books and picked up a bunch of old computer games I shouldn’t have bought, then ate lunch, then… Jesus, is it really so late?

I pretty much blew off the whole day, and I have NW Bookfest to attend tomorrow.

Crap. I’m supposed to be a writer, aren’t I? Writing things? Double crap.

Well, maybe I can accomplish something right now…

Randomness for 9/29

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1) The Dead Sea Scrolls are available online.

2) A flowchart guide to NPR’s top 100 sf/f books. “Enjoy stories about orphaned farm boys?” “No.” “Tough.”

3) M&Ms viewed through water drops.

4) How not to impress a publisher. And it’s all true, which won’t surprise anyone.

5) How to peel a whole head of garlic in ten seconds.

6) Photos of supers in their off moments. Of course Wonder Woman is the only one in a sexual activity and, um, considering the history of the character… Never mind. Love the Spider-man, though. Via Bill Martell.

7) Edible super-hero logos. Hellboy in chili is perfect, but I doubt the Punisher has ever gone near soy yogurt in his life.

A thoroughly unscientific survey of ebook buyers

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How do ebook readers choose which books to buy?

The results, while not necessarily reliable, fall pretty much in line with what we know about print books: “Others said it was great” and “I’ve enjoyed this author’s work before.” That’s why reviews are so important for writers when they’re just starting out.

Randomness for 9/26

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1) A die to cure writer’s block. It jingles when you roll it, so that has to be worth $45.

2) How many continents are there? Video.

3) Joe Lansdale beats the hell out of his son-in-law (in a martial arts exhibition). Video. As always, I’m a little dubious about this stuff, but it’s still cool to watch.

4) This is odd. via @mizkit on Twitter

5) Beautiful, anonymous paper sculptures being left at Scottish Museums.

6) Soon-to-be Father of the Year photoshops Ewoks into family photos to convince kids they are real.

7) A fantastic new webcomic.

Randomness for 9/4

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1) A visual compendium of notable haircuts in popular music.

2) The origins of Superman’s villains, done in the style of Little Nemo In Slumberland>.

3) Amazing manhole covers in Japan.

4) Lord of the Rings in Lego (via Rose Fox)

5) The Silmarillion, bound and illustrated by hand.

6) The many difficult decisions around crossing a street in Los Angeles.

7) “There is widespread belief in a warm and comforting story which states the horse is a gentle herbivore.” From the description of Deadly Equines: The Shocking True Story of Meat-Eating and Murderous Horses by CuChullaine O’Reilly (seen via Ray Radlein)