Posted by Lis Riba at 10:35 PM

Just heard about the latest video game to be adapted into a big-budget movie (and graphic novel series):

Or, at least, that's what Newsarama is reporting.

Talk about a blast from the past!

By now, I assume everybody's seen the trailers for Minesweeper: The Movie and Pac Man: The Movie, but I'll post them because it makes for a vaguely thematic entry.

In an even weirder story, Cory Doctorow discovered a brawl among Tetris cosplayers. The mere combination of those concepts boggles my mind...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:18 PM

A conversation about fifteen minutes ago:

Me: So, Ian, what would you say to a production of Hamlet starring David Tennant, with Patrick Stewart as Claudius?

Ian: Sounds like pandering. I'd go see it!

I found out about this from Colleen Doran, who links to an announcement on ComicMix.

It'll be under the auspices of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which will run “July 24 through November 15, 2008. Right after that, Tennant plays Berowne in Love's Labor's Lost, which, I believe, is a spin-off from last season's "The Shakespeare Code" episode of Doctor Who, That show runs October 2 through November 15, 2008.”

While we wait, how about some pictures of David Tennant with a kitten:

More photos here.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:21 AM

LOLcats have found their way into The Wall Street Journal.

[They hit TIME Magazine last month.]

TheFerrett tries to compile a canonical list of LOLcat lines

I thought I remembered seeing another academic analysis of LOLcat linguistics recently, but can't find it. Anyone?

For those tired of the faux-cutesiness of LolCats, someone has created Realisticats (example to the right). Can LOLcats and anti-LOLcats exist in the same post?

Finally, given the number of times I accidentally refer to the premier LOLcat site as "I Can Has Cheerleader," maybe somebody ought to register that domain...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:30 PM

Over on Feministe, Lisa asks: Can We Talk About Porn Without Having the Same Fight Over and Over?

This, after a discussion the previous week on beauty standards turned into a massive ball of mess. Lisa promises to heavily moderate the thread in hopes of keeping the conversation civil and productive.

Sidestepping the specific issues, I've been thinking further on why it's so difficult to discuss these matters without rehashing the same fights.

[The following has been written as abstractly as possible to avoid unintentional offense; add additional caveats and hedges as you feel necessary.]

Based on my own personal experience, I suspect people generally have considered the arguments from multiple "sides" in developing their position on certain issues.

For example, as a young feminist, I was heavily influenced by "radical feminist" ideology. Over time, my beliefs moved closer to what's stereotypically considered "sex positive."
Likewise, I've read several "radical feminist" bloggers who say they used to hold "sex positive" attitudes.

Thus, I think it's safe to posit that at least some people in these discussions are informed about the ideology they don't espouse.

That leads me to two further inferences which complicate efforts towards harmonious discussion:

1) Merely repeating the standard arguments in support of one's position won't actually further the discussion if people on the "other" side have already considered and rejected those arguments.

Been there. Done that. Say something new, why don't you?

Frankly, it can feel insulting. Don't you think I already know that?

2) There's a logical fallacy that

I used to believe A.
Now I believe anti!A.
Therefore, it's possible that other A-believers are just further behind on the same path towards enlightenment.

It's a perfectly reasonable sentiment, given the evidence each individual has regarding their own experience.

And it even may be true in some cases. But not everyone is taking the same journey.

Such assumptions often lead people to describe those with whom they disagree in condescending terms like "ignorant," "inexperienced," "shallow," "conformist," "in denial," or "unexamined."

This language conveys an undercurrent of superiority -- that the speaker/writer knows the other people better than they know themselves.

For those on the receiving end of such remarks, it can be difficult not to respond with feelings of defensiveness.

I don't have any answers on how to bridge the gap, but this suggests to me some ways in which our usual patterns of discourse are failing us.

Maybe by recognizing and avoiding these pitfalls, we can find our way to more productive discussions of these hotbutton issues.

Two quotes from elsewhere, expressing similar sentiments in possibly more accessible language:

Darkrose, January 2006:

“Most people hate being condescended to. Being lectured at by someone who presumes that because I haven't come to the same conclusion they have means I haven't thought about it triggers a knee-jerk "fuck you, and the horse upon which you rode in" response. That goes for what I eat as well as what I write.”

Happy Feminist, July 2006:

“I recognize that a person may have thought through all the issues, examined all of her assumptions, and simply reached different conclusions than I have ... Even though I think the women with whom I disagree are wrong, I am capable of recognizing that they may have considered the issue.”

I know this probably won't make the slightest difference in enhancing these debates, but it's something I've been thinking about and want to share.

Your thoughts?

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:01 PM

Short notes as I only just got home from work:

On my drive into work this morning, the radio station played the song "Is there anyone out there, 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe." [Looking it up, the official title of the song is "Harder to Breathe" by the group Maroon 5.]

It reminded me of the Firefly episode "Out of Gas"

Which got me wondering...

Has anybody made a fanvid pairing that song with the show?

Seen in The New York Times: In a '64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date With a Clam, which begins:

RECAPTURING a childhood memory is nearly impossible. Chasing after it in a black 1964 Thunderbird convertible with red interior certainly helps.
The memory: lightly fried clams with big, juicy bellies, like the kind I munched on nearly every summer weekend growing up in Swansea, Mass. ...

This summer, in search of the clams of my youth, Bob and I covered more than 625 miles, visited 16 shacks and unashamedly basked in the attention the Thunderbird commanded from Branford, Conn., to Portland, Me., and back. In between rolls of antacid and scoops of ice cream, the unofficial finish to a fried-clam meal, we found that this summertime classic is even more fleeting than the season of its peak popularity.

This all led to the realization that as long as I've lived and worked here, I've never actually eaten at one of these clam shacks -- a situation I really ought to rectify one of these days.

And, because I can never remember which way the old adage goes, it's:

Which leaves May, June, July, and August.

Somehow, I think I missed my chance for another year...

Finally, this evening, the odometer on our new car rolled over 1000 miles. [Which is much less impressive on a digital display than the old rollers.] We're now past the "break-in period."

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:50 AM

My Uncomfortable Experience in a Public Mens Room by kharma, on DailyKos

PS: I don't know why, but LiveJournal hasn't even checked my syndicated feed since sometime yesterday afternoon:

Current time as I'm writing this: 2007-08-30 11:45:57

Nearly twelve hours after they said they'd check, and still no updates.

Sorry guys, I generally *do* try to space out my posts so they don't clutter up your friends' page, but this is LJ's fault and not mine...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:54 PM

The previous post reminded me of a great scene in the Buffy episode, "School Hard:"

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:45 PM

So, the Red Sox have just lost the last two games to the Yankees.

I blame The Boston Herald.

To the right, you can see Monday's front page.

The article began with the lofty claim that:

Let's get right to the point: For all intents and purposes, the Red Sox just wrapped up the American League East.
     ...
It's over, folks.

Oh, sure, Herald sports columnist Tony Massarotti threw in the expected disclaimers, like:

Of course, in the interest of future public safety, we still will issue requisite disclaimers like "withstanding an epic collapse" and "barring unforeseen developments."

and

Barring unforeseen developments, of course.

But the whole tone of the piece is about the inevitability of the Sox's victory.

And from the moment I read it, I knew that spelled the team's doom.

Well, the season was nice while it lasted...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:15 PM

Passing a store window in Florence, I noticed a crystal-embellished computer mouse, displayed among other eye-catching glittery items.

I found it so remarkable, I snapped a photo (right).

But now it seems that the Italian merchant was just early to the game.

Swarovski Crystals have teamed up with Philips Electronics to produce a new line they're calling Active Crystals (warning: slow flash-heavy site).

They've got four styles of USB drives (3 shown above), selling for $178 apiece, plus headphones ranging from $79 to $148.

All of them are heavily coated in crystals.

What will they think of next?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:30 PM

I've noticed some bloggers regularly post music videos they like in streaming/embedded format (such as from YouTube).

How do you, as a reader of blogs, feel about this kind of thing as an occasional feature?

Do you like the recommendations and watch the videos, find them a waste of bandwidth, consider them reason to stop reading the site, or do your feelings fall someplace else in the spectrum?

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:55 PM

For some reason, Ian and I wound up on the mailing list for Lyric Opera of Chicago.

I discovered this upon receiving their glossy flyer about the upcoming season, as my momentary excitement over the possibility of seeing Verdi's Falstaff diminished when I realized it wasn't playing locally.

At any rate, among next season's shows will be an opera titled Doctor Atomic [@Lyric], about the Manhattan Project.

Sounds cool, but the list of characters is quite small and makes no mention of Richard Feynman.

That just feels wrong.

If anybody was making a musical anything out of the Manhattan Project, shouldn't they reserve a role for Feynman?

At least allude to him with the percussion section...

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:51 AM

Some advice for those who tell stall tales

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:44 AM

Possibly TMI, but sometimes I really hate my guts...
[I'm not in a self-loathing funk; I'm talking about my intestinal tract.]

And so, to take your mind off that image, how about two comedy trailers:

• Meatballs
• Be Kind, Rewind (YouTube)

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:51 PM

Well, okay, they'll be officially called Tiny Titans, but I can't believe DC would ignore the obvious pun.

More info (including another pic with more teammates) @ Newsarama

Via Kalinara

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:01 PM

A lot has been written in the past year about reviewers and critics, trying to draw lines along any number of axes:

• professional vs. amateur,
• print vs. blogged,
• good vs. bad...

Most of this discussion has focused on book reviews -- largely instigated by the National Book Critics Circle's Campaign to Save Book Reviews.

Several writers have penned essays (and a couple timely books) bashing blogs as a way of bolstering the status quo. And, of course, bloggers have gotten their own licks in.

The subject appears to have been picked up for a panel at Readercon, which inspired additional (though relatively self-contained) discussion online. [I've indicated those with , the Readercon logo.]

But the issues raised apply to more than just book-reviewing. Recently, I've been following several local theatre critics in a public conversation about the current state of mainstream reviewing.

I'll confess, I haven't much to say about the issue. But I've been accumulating links, and just want to set them all down in one place for later reference, with hopes that I'll soon think of something more original to say about all this.

May 2007: Are book reviewers out of print? by Mokoto Rich Reviewers should wrestle with ideas, not over media by Shirley Dent Not everybody's a critic by Richard Schickel You hate us, you really hate us! by Kevin Drum The print-blog battle continues by Tim The Straw Man Attack by Scott Esposito Opinion Should Be 'Elite Enterprise', Bloggers Just 'Yammering', 'Like Finger-Painting' by Warner Todd Huston Dissing Allies: The Book Critics' War on Bloggers by Frank Wilson The Decline and Fall of the Book Review Section...and What It Means to Publishers by Lissa Warren Two (Better) Perspectives on Endangered Reviews by marydell Books: Faint praise: the plight of book reviewing in America by Gail Pool The cult of the amateur: how today's internet is killing our culture by Andrew Keen

July 2007: Whatever Happened to Regional Critics? by Terry Teachout Bad Theatre and Blogging by Art Hennessey Squandered Tears by Bill Marx Pick Up the Tomahawk by Bill Marx Lost in the blogosphere by Sven Birkerts Book Review Blues by Bill Marx Things Fall Apart; the Centre Cannot Hold by Steven W. Beattie August 2007: Book Reviews and Civilization's End by Bill Marx Lining Their Coffins with Puff by Bill Marx Yeasayers Beware by Bill Marx Persona non grata - cura te ipsum! by Thomas Garvey Critical Justification by Bill Marx Me vs. Marx, Round II by Thomas Garvey Gulag for Critics by Charles Marowitz

Readercon Readercon 18: Reviewing in the Blogosphere by Matt Denault A Report from Readercon 18 by Neth Space Let's Do The Panel Right Here by Niall Harrison Keeping down the filthy bloggers by Jim Stewart Rending the Blogosphere by Jonathan McCalmont Readercon wrap up by Tim Are Negative Reviews Bad? by James Nicoll if there's no one you can pray to, does that mean you can't be saved? by Elizabeth Bear Massaging the Medium by Paul Kincaid Yet More Readercon Reviewing Follow-up by Niall Harrison

If you happen across other good links, let me know.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:55 AM

Monday morning:

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:56 PM

Which is more wrong?

• The Bible in Pig-Latin, or
• The Manga Bible

Some people have too much time on their hands.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:45 PM

• Rolling Stone reports The Great Iraq Swindle
  If you don't have time to read the whole thing, Susie Madrak highlights the crucial paragraphs
• Newsweek on why we haven't found Bin Laden
  This time, Jeralyn has the money quote
• Three trying to comprehend the right-wing mindset:
  • Political philosophy: "Death Grip" and Hillary, based on the work of Ernst Becker
  • Politics: The Game of Authoritarianism, based on the work of Bob Altemeyer
  • The Power of (Right Wing) Myth, based on a Star Trek episode
• Three on the aftermath of Katrina:
  • Katrina Doctor Tells Her Story via Susie
  • Slow As Molasses by Digby
  • Charity Nation by maha
• 'Blasphemous' balls anger Afghans
  Or, as Susie Madrak comments:

  Maybe if we hadn't chased so many of the career professionals out of the State Department, things like this wouldn't happen.