Randomness for 3/21

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1) Simpsons jokes, by season. via Bill Martell.

2) A James Bond script, written by Ben “The Shakespeare of Hollywood” Hecht. I especially love the idea of giving the name “James Bond” to different agents, just to mix things up. It explains the parade of actors in the role so nicely.

3) Seven massive holes in the Earth.

4) Read this wonderful story by Jane Rice, written in the 1940s.

5) Novels and novelists: imperfect competition

6) An interesting new format for physical books. (Ignore the seo crap about killing the Kindle).

7) Not a real ad campaign for the Smithsonian.

Quick question

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What channel is the Puppy Oscars on? I can’t seem to find it.

Randomness for

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1) Now this is a brilliant film trailer: Baby trashes bar. Video.

2) Wildly successful self-published author Amanda Hocking on What It Takes.

3) An appreciation for a show I’ve been watching: The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

4) Samurai fights his own shadow. Video. This is really beautiful and well done.

5) The 50 worst band photos ever. I haven’t looked at all of these yet, but yikes.

6) Facebook ads in a superhero universe. The last one is priceless. I’m tempted to do this for urban fantasy universes.

7) I love this: What happened to the bullies at the end of THE NEVERENDING STORY? Video. Via Matt Staggs at Suvudu.

Randomness for 2/19

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1) Become a Jedi in 10 easy steps.

2) The Magic of a Good Manuscript Title.

3) The Great Gatsby, as an NES video game.

4) Stonehenge directions via IKEA.

5) Some of you guys like Firefly, right?

6) “Bread Goes In, Toast Comes Out” The Bill O’Reilly meme.

7) This is an important one: Is your favorite Borders closing? Check this list for a nearby indie alternative. via Genreville.

Randomness for 2/7

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1) The Facebook comment decision flowchart.

2) Passive-aggressive notes to your readers are probably not a good idea.

3) Cthonians!

4) Want to read the series bible for the modern BSG?

5) The web sit alignment chart.

6) Backyard fight gets out of hand. Video. Dude should have left his light saber at home.

7) Photos of criminals in Sydney during the 1920s. Amazing photos. Just amazing. Taken from this book.

The TV remake game

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I’m copying this game from lwe’s newsgroup.

Let us suppose a network decided that you, yes YOU, are a marketing
genius, and they hired you, at extravagant rates, to create three
series for them.

The first is to be a continuation of an existing series that was
cancelled too soon — tell them which series should have been kept
alive, and what direction it would take to prevent a second
cancellation.

The second is to be a remake/re-imagining of a canceled series, and
you have all of TV’s history to play with, from the 1940s to last
week.

And finally, give them a spin-off — doesn’t matter whether the
original series is still thriving or long dead.

Here are mine.

Revival: “Thundarr the Barbarian” (I’d change it to have one or two long-term enemies for him to face over a season)

Remake: “CBS Mystery Movies” (Lifetime tried to revive this idea–a weekly two-hour tv movie mystery with a rotating cast of regulars–but they weren’t fun and didn’t have the budget.

Spin-off: “Mace!” Pre-trade rebellion exploits of Jedi Knight Mace Windu as he patrols the mean streets of Coruscant, the city planet.

It was pretty damn tempting to call for The Dresden Files to be revived or remade, but in the end I went with these instead. And yeah, that’s two cartoons. I used to watch a lot of cartoons.

What about you?

Randomness for 1/26

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1) Which TV jobs go to which character?

2) The Comics Code Authority is dead.

3) I feel safer knowing this woman is in prison. Great work, authoritarian assholes!

4) The United States of Shame. Although I have no idea why Iowa, Ohio, or Utah should be ashamed of those things. (Go WA state!)

5) Dine like a Basil Fawlty customer (for some reason).

6) “If there’s a camel up a hill then it’s Gong Li with me…” Video. I laughed so hard at this that I actually cried, I kid you not.

7) A more serious video on redesigning medical information. Hell yes.

Oh, shit. A TV.

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So I’m stuck in Chicago because delays made me miss my train. It’s 6:25 my time. I’m going to go downstairs and get some pizza, but while I’m gone I’m going to ask you: What should I watch on TV tonight?

I have no idea what’s on anymore since I don’t have a TV at home and have no time for Hulu.

Have a favorite show airing tonight? Let me know and I’ll try to watch it.

Note, don’t bother posting to this after about 10pm CST on Tuesday night because by then it will be too late.

Update: Thanks for the suggestions, but I think I’m going to go to bed instead.

Randomness for 12/25

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1) Bronte Sisters Power Dolls! Video.

2) Burglar posts a photo of himself w/ stolen loot on his victim’s Facebook page. The cops were notified, but said burglary is such a low priority they wouldn’t bother with the case. Luckily for the victim, his dad writes for the Washington Post.

3) How A Christmas Story should have played out.

4) Rudolph (You Don’t Have To Put On The Red Light) Video.

5) The True Meaning of Christmas at Everything is Terrible. Video.

6) Santa Clause is Coming To Town, recut as a horror movie trailer. Video.

7) Comics writer Bob Haney’s version of Batman Saving Christmas.

Repost from last year: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

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This is one of my favorite versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I posted about it last year and, like an old fruitcake, I’m giving it away again. Click the link above to find out why, or just watch for yourself. Embed below.