Culture

Today, I’m downloading 10,000 books. Because I can, and because I want to. If anyone local wants a DVD with 10,000 books on it for the holidays, let me know.

So there’s this cheesy essay out there now, The Pussification of the American Male (original). I’ve been sort of meaning to write about it, but I’ve also been unable to think of anything I could add to the discussion other than “You know, I agree; Kim Du Toit is kind of a wimp for freaking out over a Cheerios commercial.” (Speaking of which, I’m glad to report that I was listening to sports radio the other day and heard a commercial in which a guy demonstrated the meaning of bitter by calling up his bitter ex-girlfriend. It was pretty funny. More significantly, I take it as conclusive proof that the trend Du Toit documents has been defeated. Or, perhaps, conclusive proof that ad agencies target advertisements to target markets. Not sure which.) ...

Shelby is the sort of indie pop I like a lot. I will want to buy their albums at some point; this is my reminder. (At this precise moment, you can listen to a stream of their music here.)

There is a certain irony in the fact that the Crank Dot Net weblog is maintained using m4, make, and perl. What kind of a crank uses UNIX macro languages and makefiles to produce a weblog? But never mind that; it’s a very useful weblog if you’re searching for crankery.

Sure, spammers are scum of the earth, but the plight of the guy who made death threats kind of warms the cockles of my heart. Welcome to the real world, in which making death threats is not considered a normal element of discourse. I’ve been on the company’s of that sort of thing a little too often to feel sorry for Mr. Booker.

The Guardian lists the 40 best directors and is fairly good. David Lynch should be swapped with David Cronenberg, however. Also, Ridley Scott is missing from the list (he ought to be somewhere between 30 and 40), and Peter Jackson’s absence is wholly inexplicable.

Neil Gaiman, co-creator of Medieval Spawn, made some provocative comments recently (original). (Scroll down through the rest of the mail till you get to the bit where some fanboy yells at Neil for holding up new Medieval Spawn merchandise.) Todd’s currently appealing the jury verdict to the 7th Circuit court of appeal. I thought it would be simpler for everyone if I waited until the appeal was done and the jury decision was confirmed before licensing out Medieval Spawn toys, statues, games, comics, novelty condoms, or whatever. ...

Best eBay auction description ever (original). Read it quick before it ages out. In my heart of hearts I figure this is a clever scam, since the seller does a big trade in vintage items, but it’s still very funny.

Hal Clement has passed away. Another of the greats… may he rest in peace. Tributes here (original).

While Sean Stewart’s web site has been redesigned, there’s not really much new information. Still just the brief note about The Glass Coffin. Alas. He has added a section on “The Beast,” also known as “That big Web game designed to promote A.I.” There’s a very good introduction to the game (original). Reading it, I keep wondering what he’s been up to, and I wonder a little if he’ll ever write a novel again.