So having seen Avatar (great spectacle, silly-ass story), I decided to peruse this short blurb on James Cameron’s next project and this blew my mind.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived TWO atomic bombs.
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Archive for Interesting Links
I Am Iron Man
No, no she doesn’t
Some interesting links:
First, on Gates-gate, this Shakespearean saga gives the author’s own take on the events between Gates and Crowley.
Second, an article either damning Bob Herbert with faint praise or alternatively praising him with faint damnation. To summarize, Bob Herbert should write in a more interesting manner.
Third, NO NO NO. And shame on you Mickey Kaus, Sarah Palin does NOT have a point.
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ET Leave Voicemail
Preach it David Pogue.
He calls out the cell companies for the needlessly long messages one needs to endure in leaving or checking voicemail. Moreover, he has cell executives admitting that it is a nefarious plot. Hopefully this ruckus will cause some changes and that sunshine will once again prove the best disinfectant (this is also the policy I use towards cleaning my bathroom).
On a side note, let me sing the praises of the visual voicemail on the iPhone. God it is an amazing improvement over my old Verizon voicemail.
David v. David v. Goliath
So I got sent a link to a New Yorker piece by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s about how Davids beat Goliaths. Like all pieces I’ve read by Malcolm Gladwell, I devoured it for he is a great storyteller. And, like all pieces I’ve read by Malcolm Gladwell, I disagreed with it intensely. Maybe I just like being contrarian but I feel he shoehorns his anecdotes into his overarching theory in each of his pieces (Disclaimer: I haven’t read Outliers yet). I’m still glad I read this piece, as mentioned I love his anecdotes, but I will use this space here to try to pick apart his claim – that by doing the unexpected and using socially unacceptable tactics, underdogs can triumph against those expected to win. Or, alternatively phrased, most people are stupid but these few people are smart and only I, Malcolm Gladwell, appreciate them.
First, read the article I’m talking about here.
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A Gift
To my loyal readers, I apologize for the long lag between posts. Hopefully you still feel like you are getting quality if not quantity. While you wait for my next real post, I thought I would appease you with this wonderful link to a wonderful song.
Enjoy!
Love,
Drizzle
Has Been
Drizzle here and I’m offering links to two terrific examples of the wondrous and the weird. Both are on the subject of has beens. The first stars the currently ascendant Neil Patrick Harris, whose career was revitalized by that fine film Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The second involves that Federation captain with the distinctive voice, William Shatner. Both are excellent in their own ways.
I’m going to mention Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog first because I find it legitimately wonderful. A evil genius trying to find his place in the world and blogging about it. With a love interest. And Nathan Fillion playing the arrogant superhero acting as a foil to Neil Patrick Harris’ shy super-villain. What’s not to love? NPH is able to pull off the brash and cocky role in How I Met Your Mother. But even his character there seems to use his arrogance as a shield for his own insecurities. NPH as Dr. Horrible, a lovelorn singing mad-scientist, is just adorable. I’m glad that Neil has been able to reinvent himself given that I have loved him in every recent thing I’ve seen him do. It’s great that he’s back on the scene.
William Shatner’s recent musical work is strangely fascinating. I first heard him sing the song Common People which surprised me because its angry class-conscious lyrics seemed very unlike him. Somehow he pulled it off. What I liked even more was his song Has Been. In it, he is very self-conscious of how he is viewed, a washed up actor who is more a joke than anything else. Yet, as he pointedly tells his fictional judges, being a has been means you once were and you may yet be again. To me the message is that failure is a sign you tried and thus should be acknowledged rather than judged, an interesting message made all the more entertaining by William Shatner’s unmistakable voice crooning these songs in his strangely hypnotic fashion.
I hope you’ll enjoy these internet treats I’m offering you. There’s no shortage of interesting things about there and I’d love for you to send some my way.
Love,
Drizzle
Awesometown!
I was wasting time on the old Youtube and saw this by the crazy characters at Lonely Island. I’ve thought this for a while now but Awesometown has convinced me that I would like to have a drink with the Lonely Island crew. Jorma, Andy and Akiva, you don’t have to be lonely islands anymore.
Enjoy.
Love,
Drizzle
My Heart Will Go On
This is fascinating.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1284967#
Basically an innovative use of a social science data set – the list of those who were on the Titanic including who made it and who didn’t make it. What I like about this is that most of the time when we here about people not living up to the expectations of the utility maximizing rational actor (homo economicus) it tends to involve people getting subprime adjustable-rate mortgages or giving all their money to Madoff. In this case, people are acting irrationally by letting women and children go first and in other ways being generally decent.
Though it is darkly funny when the author theorizes that more American’s made it safely off the Titanic than Brits because Americans are pushier whereas British might be more likely to queue up for a lifeboat.
Enjoy.
Love,
Drizzle
