24 March 2006
[ning] Snakes on a Plane Quote Tracker — suggest dialog for upcoming film Snakes on a Motherfucking Plane … ‘Wait… Wait… WHAT’s loose on this motherfucker?’ [via Yoz]
23 March 2006
[comics] Steve Bell’s Page on Comment is Free — Bell on The History of If: ‘What the strip was actually about is a mystery shrouded in the mists of time, as is the fate of most political satire. At first each day presented a different proposition, for instance: “If… God was a Social Democrat” (this being the time when the SDP broke away from the Labour Party), or “If… Stockbrokers were made of rubber”, but this device proved so laboured and expensive in terms of effort…’
22 March 2006
[firefox] Firefox ‘Causes’ Relationship Breakup … ‘She installed Firefox for herself, and happened to need to edit the list of sites to never save passwords for. She quickly realized that he had been visiting dating sites in secret, and was also able to determine that he was still an active member of some of the sites. As one might expect, this led to a breakup. Should the Firefox uninstaller offer to delete profile data…?’
21 March 2006
[soundboard] IT Crowd Soundboard: ‘Computers Broken.’
[comics] List of the Religions of Comic Book Characters … ‘J. Jonah Jameson, Religious Affiliation: Hates Spider-Man’ [via Haddock]
20 March 2006
[game] The Falling Sand Game — a massively time wasting Java game – this wikipedia article describes how you can play it.
19 March 2006
18 March 2006
[comics] The Vendetta Behind ‘V for Vendetta’ — another article on Vendetta and Alan Moore from the NYT … ‘[Moore] resides in the sort of home that every gothic adolescent dreams of, one furnished with a library of rare books, antique gold-adorned wands and a painting of the mystical Enochian tables used by Dr. John Dee, the court astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I. He shuns comic-book conventions, never travels outside England and is a firm believer in magic as a “science of consciousness.” “I am what Harry Potter grew up into,” he said, “and it’s not a pretty sight.” Actually, he more closely resembles the boy-wizard’s half-giant friend Hagrid…’ [via BeaucoupKevin]
[comics] D for Vendetta — Wired News Review … ‘From the start, Larry and Andy Wachowski, the Matrix brothers, pack Vendetta with literary, religious, political and pop culture references: the Sex Pistols and The Girl From Ipanema, The Count of Monte Cristo and Beethoven, Twelfth Night and Benny Hill.’
17 March 2006
[funny] Must Love Jaws — what if Sheriff Brody learned to love Jaws?… ‘Love comes to the surface.’ [via BeaucoupKevin]
[comics] Jonathan Ross reviews V for Vendetta: ‘Despite postponing the release date from last November to allow more time for post-production work, the film looks cheap and lacks any sense of time or place. Throw in Matrix veteran James McTeigue’s flat direction and you have a woeful, depressing failure. If it had been called V for Vasectomy I could scarcely have found it a less enjoyable experience…’ [via Haddock]
[history] Boy’s Pancake Breakfast Delayed the End of WWII — Proving that the path of human history does not run smoothly when teenagers are involved in the process… ‘On Aug. 14, 1945, [Thomas] Jones, a 16-year-old messenger in Washington, D.C., was entrusted to deliver to the White House the cable announcing Japan’s surrender to the United States to end World War II. Unaware of his cargo’s import, the boy, in cavalier teenage fashion, put work on hold to eat pancakes at a diner, hang out with his friends and flirt with waitresses. Later, he left his pancakes to complete the job only to be pulled over en route to the White House by a police officer, who berated the boy for making an illegal U-turn…’
16 March 2006
[comics] From Brian Woods’ Photostream on Flickr: Script Notes for DMZ #4.
15 March 2006
[web] Google in 20 Years Time … ‘On top of the fridge, right where you left them…’ [via Sore Eyes]
14 March 2006
[blogs] Comment is Free — major new blog launch from the Guardian – it has the day’s If cartoon from Steve Bell at the bottom of the page! (Any chance of an official Steve Bell RSS Feed?) … ‘Welcome to Comment is free, the first collective comment blog by a British newspaper website. It will incorporate all the regular Guardian and Observer main commentators, many blogging for the first time, who will be joined by a host of outside contributors – politicians, academics, writers, scientists, activists and of course existing bloggers to debate, argue and occasionally agree on the issues of the day.’
13 March 2006
[blogs] 18 Ways for Blogger to Beef Up … ‘The dearth of tagging and categories has become to Google’s Blogger what the lack of commenting was to Pyra’s Blogger — a monument to antiquity!’ [via Robot Wisdom]
12 March 2006
[books] The Man Who Hated Pooh … ‘The biggest regret in EH Shepard’s life was agreeing to illustrate Winnie the Pooh for AA Milne, as it resulted in the bulk of his work, even during his lifetime, being completely overshadowed. In his later years, Shepard was heard to describe Pooh as “that silly old bear” and resented his close identification with Milne’s books…’
11 March 2006
[comics] Nostalgic Superman Montage Trailer — looks like part of the build up for Superman Returns. [via Metafilter]
10 March 2006
[cats] From Dave’s Long Box: The Most Bad-Ass Cat Ever.
9 March 2006
[comics] Alan Moore interview available on BBC2 Website — basically a “beginners interview” with Alan Moore but worth watching.
[tv] Deal or No Deal Fanatics — weblog covering Noel Edmunds popular new gameshow on Channel 4 … ‘Over weeks of watching DOND it has become clear to me that those who attach emotions and dreams to the success of their play, seem to fair less well compared to those who can remain detached and unemotional. This reminded me of a couple of texts I read many years ago, one by Sun Wu, the other by Shinmen Musashi…’ [via Feeling Listless]
[comics] Reminder: Alan Moore Interview on BBC2 Tonight at 7.00pm — According to the Alan Moore Fan Site Jonathan Ross and Iain Sinclair are to make contributions…
8 March 2006
[blogs] Blogging book competition hots up — shortlist for Blogger Book Prize includes Belle de Jour and eggbaconchipsandbeans … Russell Davies: ‘”I was looking for something to blog about that was not a picture of a cat,” Mr Davies told the BBC News website, explaining his choice of subject matter. “I’m drawn to a full English,” he said, referring to the colloquial term for a fried breakfast.’
7 March 2006
[web] Top 11 Worst Firefox Extensions … ‘6. SoundOfCher – Embeds an annoying Cher midi file on every page you visit. Up to 60 different tunes!’
[comics] BeaucoupKevin looks at the origin of the Silver Age Lex Luthor … ‘Pay attention to Luthor’s dialogue immediately after the accident. He’s furious at Superboy for fucking up the experiment. His going bald is completely secondary to the fact that he was trying to do a brother a solid and got bitten in the ass for his troubles.’
[science] Operation Manky Garden — I’m not going to explain this link. Just go read… 
‘This is a genuine scientific experiment in botany, biology and, of course, scatology; and the more participants the better. Just don’t let your significant other catch you crapping in the garden without a reasonable excuse. “Some chap on the internet told me to” is not a reasonable excuse. I know.’
‘This is a genuine scientific experiment in botany, biology and, of course, scatology; and the more participants the better. Just don’t let your significant other catch you crapping in the garden without a reasonable excuse. “Some chap on the internet told me to” is not a reasonable excuse. I know.’ 6 March 2006
[comics] The Random Chick Tract Generator — Is it just me or do Random Jack Chick Comics make more sense than real ones? [via Progressive Ruin]
3 March 2006
[comics] Alan Moore to be interviewed on the BBC2’s Culture Show next Week — Thursday 9th March at 7:00pm … ‘A rare TV interview with Alan Moore, the unsung genius of British writers, and acclaimed author of the graphic novels V for Vendetta and Watchmen’ [thanks Graybo]
[comics] ‘$1m a minute to film? No problem’ — Neil Gaiman discusses the relationship between comics and movies … ‘Last week an interviewer asked me whether I thought that the recent success of superhero movies meant that we might see a world in which comics that don’t include the capes-and-tights brigade might also have a chance at making it onto the silver screen. “You mean comics like Road to Perdition, Ghost World, Men in Black, A History of Violence, Sin City, From Hell, American Splendor…?”‘
[ukblogs] On The Power Of Blankets — Tom Reynolds on why a blanket is like a E.M.T’s towel … ‘Doing CPR on the floor for an extended period of time can be wearing on your knees – a folded blanket makes a nice cushion to rest on while pounding away on some dead person’s chest.’
1 March 2006
[web] Google Users: I Can Quit Anytime — could you go cold turkey on Google? … ‘Six days a week, Shari Thurow spends copious amounts of time conducting searches on Google. But each Saturday, she makes a point of observing a “Google-free day.” The rules are simple: Use any search engine except for Google. In practice, however, the policy is surprisingly difficult to implement…’
28 February 2006
[ww2] Distributed computing cracks Enigma code — wartime German code cracked after 60 years … ‘Forced to submerge during attack. Depth charges. […] I am following the enemy.’ [via Metafilter]
[comics] Comic Events and Exhibitions Calendar — for the UK, Europe and the US – compiled by Paul Gravett. [via Pete’s Linklog]
27 February 2006
[music] MC Hammer Blog — and it looks authentic! … ‘My professional Hip Hop journey began in 1986….’ [thanks Greg]
24 February 2006
[film] Peter Bradshaw reviews Capote … ‘[In Cold Blood] virtually invented the modern genre of reportage. The true-life nature of his subject – the brutal slaying of a farmer’s family in Kansas – had a horrible, unacknowledged sexiness that polite literary fiction could not match; reality gave it ballast and sinew, and Capote awarded himself the novelist’s licence to intuit feelings, ideas, moods. Readers then as now struggled to see how the metropolitan gadfly who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s could have moved on to this. It was as if Audrey Hepburn has stopped singing Moon River and taken a chainsaw to George Peppard. How the heck had this aesthete-weakling armwrestled American reality into submission?’
[blogs] Malcolm Gladwell’s Blog … ‘In the past year I have often been asked why I don’t have a blog. My answer was always that I write so much, already, that I don’t have time to write anything else. But, as should be obvious, I’ve now changed my mind.’ [via Metafilter]
23 February 2006
[comics] Batman Kicks al Qaeda’s Ass — Metafilter discuss Miller’s Holy Terror … ‘If Batman turned his attention to anything outside of punching Gotham crooks in the nuts, said problem would be resolved toot-sweet, certainly in less than 200 pages. Unless, of course, he punches each and every member of al Qaeda in the nuts, which would easily fill 500+ pages of nut-punching glory. Batman’s insane and a perfectionist, so that could happen…’
22 February 2006
21 February 2006
[comics] Interview with David Lloyd — the artist of V for Vendetta discusses the comic, the movie adaptation, Alan Moore and comics generally … On V (the comic): ‘Its theme is universal. It sells all over the world – or over lots of it, at least. It’s about tyranny, the right of the individual to be individual, it’s about terrorism…’
19 February 2006
[music] Snapshot: Grace Jones — a look at how the image on the cover to Grace Jones’ Island Life was put together … ‘Goude’s photographs were to launch Jones as an icon. Then he let his imagination run free, creating images of her with an imaginary male twin and multiplying her into an army of clones. “Initially, she was flattered by all of my attention,” says Goude on his former muse and lover. “And she’s no dope – Grace is an opportunist and she knew my vision was good for her career. Initially, she let herself be taken over, but then she suspected that I had only fallen in love with her image.” Was that true? “Of course it was!” ‘
18 February 2006
[fun] Tom Baker Says… … ‘Hello. I am Tom Baker and I will be saying things to you by the magic of SMS.’ [Related: Actor Baker becomes voice of text]
17 February 2006
[comics] Grant Morrison’s International Guide To Living Fabulously — report on meeting Grant Morrison at Isotope Comics in San Francisco … ‘He was immediately thronged by young worshippers and fanboys. Some wished only to press the flesh of the man who wrote The Invisibles, while others had 10 or 12 comics stacked up waiting for autographs. We lurked and waited for the throngs to die down. The most impressive thing to me was just how much patience and genuine interest Grant had with each of his fans. He was always smiling and eager to talk, even egging people on with questions of his own when they were too star-struck to speak.’
16 February 2006
[photos] Dave Gorman: If René Magritte Ran A Brothel.
15 February 2006
[comics] WonderCon ’06: Holy Terror, Batman! — details on Frank Miller’s new 911-inspired comic … ‘Miller doesn’t hold back on the true purpose of the book, calling it “a piece of propaganda,” where “Batman kicks al Qaeda’s ass.” The reason for this work, Miller said, was “an explosion from my gut reaction of what’s happening now.” He can’t stand entertainers who lack the moxie of their ’40s counterparts who stood up to Hitler. Holy Terror is “a reminder to people who seem to have forgotten who we’re up against.”‘
[comics] Grant Morrison on Batman: ‘Morrison said Batman coming out of 52 OYL will be a more of a “fun guy, more healthy”, more like the “Neal Adams, hairy-chested, love-god” version of Batman.’
14 February 2006
[comics] Getting a lot of traffic today: Batman Valentines Day Card … ‘I fight a war that can never be won. I strive toward a goal that can never be reached. I am haunted. I am relentless. I am tortured. Won’t you be my valentine?’
13 February 2006
[film] Art School Confidential Quicktime Trailer … from Dan Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. [via Pete’s Linklog]
12 February 2006
[comics] Wondercon ’06: Grant Morrison Spotlight — GM update from Newsarama. ‘…about issue #4 [of All-Star Superman], Morrison said readers will see a transvestite Jimmy Olsen on page one.’
11 February 2006
[google] The Register: 40-Metre Profanity Spotted from Space … ‘It beats crop circles for crowd-pleasing entertainment value. Quite who Eddie is and why his name is writ large in rural England, we’ll leave that to readers to explain.’
10 February 2006
[london] London Tube Map with Anagrammed Station Names … ‘A Retard Cottonmouth’
[mobile] Mobile Phone Tracking: FollowUs … probably the service used in the Guardian article on Stalking your Girlfriend. [Update: Sasha tried it out.]