Category: Not-politics

This adaptation of Edelweiss is not actually an abomination.

No, really.

…even if you liked the song and the movie (by the way, in case nobody ever told you: it’s OK to like The Sound of Music. I like The Sound of Music, and here I am admitting it on the Internet and everything); after all, Rogers & Hammerstein made up the blessed thing themselves*. At least, that’s what Wikipedia says, and there’s nothing about it that has anything to do with the Iraq War, so it’s probably accurate enough. So: it’s a commercialization of a faux-authentic folk song created for commercial purposes, so no worries, right?

This, on the other hand: Continue reading This adaptation of Edelweiss is not actually an abomination.

Carrie Fisher hath a blog.

It’s… not bad.

Via Robin D Laws, who is on LiveJournal, but do not hold that against him. Particularly if you are into roleplaying games, of which he is an recognized demigod of the genre.  On the off chance that you GM and Robin’s Laws, go and repair your error… SIXTY-SIX BUCKS!?!  I mean, yeah, if it wasn’t on PDF for $7.95 already it’d be totally worth it, but it is on PDF…

I really do need my copy of Kung Fu Hustle back

I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but now that I have a personal blog with at least some traffic I might as well mention it again: to understand my mental processes, watch Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer.  The latter represents the kind of world I’d quite like to live in; the former represents the world currently going on inside my head. Which is kind of goofy and surreal, but ultimately quite fun.  In a disturbing sort of way.

Or, as Shaenon (noted webcomic artist who brought us Narbonic, and is currently bringing us Skin Horse*, both of which should be obsessively read by any person interested in mad science)  noted in comments here:

“Kung-Fu Hustle,” like “Sin City,” is one of those movies that made me wonder why other movies are always forcing me to look at boring things, when they could be showing me machine-gun-toting hooker armies or middle-aged landladies using the Lion’s Roar Attack against the World’s Greatest Killer.

One does wonder that.

Moe Lane

*It’s a Velveteen Rabbit reference, you perverts.

Two examples why you need to read Cracked.com.

First is 7 Items You Won’t Believe Are Actually Legal. It starts with flamethrowers, and gets better from there.

But I wouldn’t have posted this just to let you know that. I’m posting this because one of my esteemed colleagues emailed me to inform me IN ALL CAPS that making him aware of “The 5 Most Horrifying Bugs in the World” had wrecked his productivity in sheer horrified fascination. I saw that article, but had not watched any of the videos. So I clicked the first one, which was about the Japanese Giant Hornet.

(pause)

DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO HANDLE SEEING A HIVE OF BEES BEING RIPPED APART BY A SQUAD OF REMORSELESS, INSECTILE KILLING MACHINES. Below the fold.
Continue reading Two examples why you need to read Cracked.com.

Yo Joe?

OK, here’s the problem. This is what I want:

And this is what they’re going to give me:

…the question is, is this going to be close enough? It looks promising, but that’s no guarantee. There’s also the problem that, between Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Kung Fu Panda I’m kind of overdrawn at the movie karma bank right now.  So do I really have the right to fanboy, here?

I think that self-deprecation is only half of the key to humor.

[I have had it pointed out to me that the term is obviously ‘self-deprecation‘ – so add ‘semi-literate’ to the list.]

Although I certainly agree with Ace that far too many of our esteemed opposite numbers utterly lack any tendency towards it – anyway, when you’re trying for effective comedy involving others it’s only half the story. The other half is empathy. It is my opinion that really good comedy about others has with it the subtext That could be me that this is happening to, and if you can’t believe that about yourself, then you’re going to be, at best, merely savagely mocking your target. Which is fun, admittedly, but it’s not as effective as people think.

Yes, thank you, I’m quite well aware that this argument possibly indicts me as a puerile sort of person. I’m a bit of a sadist, too. Plus, I have dandruff. Your point?

Crossposted on RedState.

The New Transformers Trailer.

Or, a reason why to watch the Super Bowl, particularly on a big screen TV:

(Via Shortpacked!)

Yeah, baby.  Michael Bay knows what you need.  Michael Bay knows what you crave.  You want what you wanted when you were twelve, only real.  Well, have some.

Moe Lane

PS: No Dinobots.  Never mind the suits’ explanation: they gotta save something for further sequels, that’s all.

Looking for someone to read? (Tim Powers)

(Today’s author: Tim Powers)

Tim Powers is one of those authors who doesn’t exactly fit the standard criteria. Yes, it’s sort of fantasy; yes, it’s sort of modern fantasy, or sort of historical fantasy; and yes, there’s a sort of urban fantasy feel to his stuff. On the other hand, most authors don’t meticulously interweave historical accuracy in with the fantastic elements, and Tim Powers does. Read The Stress of Her Regard and you will totally buy the idea that the history of literature is the history of vampires, at least while reading it; and we are so conditioned now to accept that Voudon goes along with piracy* that we forget that this was first suggested by On Stranger Tides*.

If that hasn’t scared you away yet, good: because you’ll want to read Declare. This book involves three themes: the Catholic Church; the Cold War; and the secret occult origins and sustenance of the Soviet Union – with the last being treated in much the same way that modern fantasy treats the occult trappings of Germany’s Nazi regime. The book is written in a very classic Cold War spy fiction style: Len Deighton would have loved it (by the way, his SS-GB is one of the classics of the alternate history genre).  So check it out.

Continue reading Looking for someone to read? (Tim Powers)