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Friday, December 17, 2004

An attorney just told me (semi-jokingly) that I need to look into getting some new colors for my wardrobe, because I'm "getting too old for this whole goth thing." Ouch! Just for that, I will post dark dark links. Like, say, this upbeat story of how a book of suicide letters is a bestseller in Germany. Or this seasonal murder mystery you can participate in right now via the BBC. That's right, people. Feel my gothic Germanic angst. Muhahaha. (Sheesh. I am not THAT goth.)

Anyway. In the vein of John Scalzi's Christmas specials piece that I linked to last week, here are some failed novelist-as-television-writer experiments. I particularly like the "Golden Girls" episode that moves the series to Kenya and spotlights Betty White's Ecstasy addiction. (This is for you, Dr. Matt!)

For those who think Nancy Drew is just too liberal and gentile, there's Devora Doresh, a teen Orthodox Torah scholar who solves mysteries. Yes, really!

Construction news: while the Millau Viaduct soars above the French mountainside, the Love Shack has burnt to the ground. (Thanks to Satori for the link.) The Graveworm, meanwhile, points out that the house from "A Christmas Story" is for sale on eBay!

Thanks for the links, everyone, and have a good weekend. See you Monday.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Hi there. If you've seen Jon Stewart on The Daily Show lately, he has the same illness I have, apparently. Fortunately I am starting to sound more like myself and should have a substantial entry on Friday. woohoo.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

So. Apparently the Canadian Medical Journal analyzes fictional characters every Christmastime, just for fun, and this year it's Tintin. I wish I'd caught the Winnie the Pooh analysis a few years back, where they diagnosed Pooh with OCD and Piglet with panic disorder. If Tintin and Pooh don't interest you, there's an in-depth analysis of Babar the elephant king out there, too, albeit from a different source.

Other insanity going around at the end of the year includes one brave, stalwart music reviewer who is rating every single #1 hit in Britain, from 1952 until he either reaches the present day or has a breakdown. So far he's up to 1963.

Even if you live in a red state (woohoo, we're commies!), you can support "blue" companies. (Link from Satori, via his brother. Thanks!)

I had somehow missed that Web Pages That Suck is still around pointing out badly designed websites, but rediscovered them via a critique of "mystery meat navigation." Hee.

If you're still looking for holiday gifts, why not consider a talking toy president? You can pick Theodore Roosevelt (among others) if you object to the current administration. I am rather doubtful of the accurate artistic representation here, however. The current president looks like Sherlock Holmes to me, while Clinton looks like a ventriloquist dummy. Hm.

Monday, December 13, 2004

Image of the Day

Look how pretty it is downtown this morning. Um.

Anyway! What do you get when you mix modernist art and Generation X? You get Pac-Mondrian, that's what, complete with a website.

Another combination that may taste good together (although it remains to be seen): TV on the internet. There has been a lot of talk about this lately in our circles, especially in regards to customizing one's horror show preferences.

Old-fashioned geography, meet drag-and-drop internet. This is a damned hard test of how well you know your states. It mixes up the order each time you play, so you can try again and again. (Best personal score: 92%, 30 miles. Beat that!)

They say that we left-handers are sensitive artist types. But you know what? They're wrong. We are WARRIORS! Well, sometimes.

And finally...forget seeing the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich. How about seeing Cthulhu in a piece of chocolate? (There's even a literary angle to this, no less.)

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