Sundry articles of diverse origin which I’ve insufficient time to chat about individually.
SERIOUS STUFF
- The Velvet Reformation – The Atlantic (March 2009) – The Archbishop of Canterbury, the gay rights debate, and the future of the Anglican Church. A fascinating read.
- Pam’s House Blend:: Hawaii Civil Unions Bill Senate JGO Hearing – my personal aftermath – A disgusting example of how far some ostensible followers of Jesus are from “And they will know we are Christians by our love.” Hideous.
- Heath Ledger Fans Call for Joker’s Retirement From Film | The Underwire from Wired.com – I don’t care how fine a job Heather Ledger did — this is just silly, but in a very sad way.
- Personal Health – Babies Know – A Little Dirt Is Good for You – NYTimes.com – From bumping up the immune system to getting worms, a bit of non-sterility is good for a body.
- Think Progress » Bailed-out bank eliminated 450 jobs and then spent millions on lavish parties in LA. – These guys really, really, really don’t realize how close-by the angry mobs with torches and pitchforks are lurking. They seem obliviously tied to an internal culture of entitlement.
- Family planning stops more than 800,000 abortions :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation – But, of course, it’s evil because it encourages promiscuity. Or some lame argument like that.
- Evolution of Security: 3 oz or 3.4 oz? What gives??? – It’s all those crazy “metric-mania” Europeans who have weakened our country by a precious 0.4 oz./bottle! Evil! Eeeeevil!
FUN STUFF
- 140 Characters » How Twitter Was Born – Far less intentional, far more interesting than you’d think.
- Petzal: The Rules of Gunfighting | Field & Stream – Words to, um, live by.
- Joss Whedon’s Theory On Why DC Comic Book Movies Usually Suck | /Film – Maybe so … but DCU cartoons kick Marvel cartoons’ butts all around the playground.
- Don’t Fear Atheists; We’re the New Lutherans | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta – In many ways, that’s true, in terms of provoking Christians/theists into examining and revitalizing their own belief systems. Though I’m hoping they’ll be more like the Lake Wobegone Lutherans, and less like the anti-semitic Martin Luther kind of Lutherans.
- Rands In Repose: A Disclosure – A great introduction to changing from being a worker to a manager. I remember going thorough a lot of these stages, though my management promotion changed the IT area I was working in.
- Blambot Comic Fonts and Lettering – How comic book word balloons work. Spiffy!
- IESB.net – Sam Jackson Will Be Nick Fury…Nine Times! – Woot!
And, via Kate, the excellent How to Get Boys to Like You:
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I didn’t even like Heath Ledger’s Joker. He was little more than a thug in make-up, and his personality seemed to change randomly.
And I’d be more excited about Fury linking the Marvel films if it weren’t the Ultimate version.
As for Whedon’s article, I would argue that Marvel’s heroes are also from a different era. Granted, it’s not as far removed from us as the Golden Age, but the Silver Age is markedly different from the Modern Age.
Have you ever tried reading comic book balloons with the emphasis on the boldface words? I don’t know how they decide which words to stress, but it usually sound unnatural. Maybe they’re highlighting words they consider to be important, and you’re not supposed to emphasize them in speech?
1. Which demonstrates why touting any single person’s acting in a role as the literal final word in interpreting the character is just silly.
2. Actually I don’t find either of the Nick Furys more compelling, though I enjoy them both. Since the Ultimate one was based on Jackson, and Jackson played the cameo in IM, it’s cool that he’s been signed on for this.
3. You’re correct about the different eras — though that doesn’t counter Whedon’s point. The proximity, though, might be another reason for the difference.
4. I have actually noticed that before. I think it’s supposed to emphasize important words, rather than stressed words, in general, but it is odd.