It is perhaps a sign of how far I have fallen from my days as a serious student of Literature that when I read the headline, Scenes From Homer Found in Cyprus ‘Warrior Tomb,’ I immediately think that the article is Simpsons-related.
Just read this on the NY Review of Books. I think it nicely summarizes some of the more obvious problems with the Narnia books. The article also deals somewhat with the nature of Aslan which I think is crucial when it comes to understanding what God asks from us. Aslan does look a lot like what I would call a worldly, ie, reductive power figure. There is, in other words, no paradox, no confusion in God’s being, that would allow us freedom and possibility. Its theology for sunday school, not serious readers.
In Googling for “squirrel taxidermy” to gain greater insight into a character I’m developing for a story, I happened upon some totally bizarre yet incredibly fascinating (ok, maybe just to me) sites, including a woman who creates freaks (think frankensquirrels, jackalopes, feejee mermaids).
“Bless the Beasts and Road Kill” The article that first caught my attention
Custom Creature Taxidermy “She [Sarina Brewer] calls it art…you can call it whatever you want.” My favorite section? Click on “fantasy.”
Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists Brewer’s cofounder of this group. (I just love the 3-eyed deer mascot!)
On the radio this morning, I heard about this website called Don’t Date Him Girl. It’s a site that allows women to post warnings, and photographs, of men that women should not date. This is a pretty ingenious site, even if it is probably prone to fraud.
The entries are what you might call the reverse of a personal ad. Take poor Jonathan Clark. From his picture, he looks like a handsome college dude. Read the description, and you soon come to believe the guy is a real sociopath:
You’re dating this guy? DON’T. About 99% of everything this guy has ever told you is a lie. Everything he claims to be and do is fabricated by his own overactive imagination. He says that he played football at Virginia Tech. Never happened. He never even went there—or to any real college. He gets girls by telling them that he is going to be a superstar NFL Punter soon, but until then, you’re just gonna have to buy him everything his little heart desires.
Ultimately, there is no way to verify whether this information is true, but it seems to me the real point of this website is not only to identify players, but to give women a forum on which to vent. Also, one cannot discount the fun factor in reading these hatchet jobs. It’s a humorous way to pass a few minutes on your lunch hour.
I hope none of you singles find a man you’re currently dating listed on this site.
I am tired of looking at those empty links in the header of the Junk Drawer blog. Let’s hold a poll, right here and now, and determine what links we want to feature in our Header menu.
Once we decide what links we want to display, Dhalgren or I can add them to the Header template.
Besides “Home,” I would suggest a link to our “About Sodsbrood” page, which most people don’t even know exists.
Should we also have a “Contact” page?
Read this NYT story, especially the final paragraph for an interesting critique of iPoddification…
I love the drifting, the random connections and weird explorations, ending the pleasure in finding something you didn’t know existed but can’t live without.
The Internet. I spend a lot of time looking at the same things every day. And some of the coolest things come from cooler people than me posting stuff on sites I visit regularly. It also amazes me to think how many cool and creative people there are out there, and makes me feel a little guilty about how I’m not stretching myself more.
I came across this site, Etsy: Your Place to buy and sell all things handmade. It features a direct way for people who handmake everything from yarn to shirts, jewelry, dolls, purses, and … well, I dunno. I got lost in some of the site’s other features.
Like being able to find items by mousing over a beautiful color picker. I could spend a long time playing and never buying. The site’s designers clearly had more fun by allowing you to toss the item away if you’re done looking. There’s another time travel function, which I admit I still don’t understand the point of, but it’s fun.
I spent probably a half hour just looking at purses (not that I bought any), insanely driven by the need to have something different, that I couldn’t buy in the store. And handmade. And the money going to directly someone who put a lot of time and effort into it.
And for the most part, the prices were very reasonable.
The Internet marketplace. The best thing invented since … sliced cheese. Or bagels.
…as explained by the BBC, recipes provided.
And here’s another site, complete with Pancake Day rhymes and songs.
But if you didn’t get to properly celebrate yesterday, you’ll have to wait an entire year to get another chance. Sad but true, and I know you’re all itching to sing those old Pancake Day songs.
In today’s NYT. I would love to see this one, though, somehow, I doubt it will make it to NW Ohio. Then there is netflix…
Todd
Election Strategy From the Inside Out
Here, associates of James Carville’s consultancy firm GCS, including the pollster Jeremy Rosner, the advertising consultant Tad Devine and Mr. Carville himself (in typical hyper-to-the-point-of-lunacy form), set their sights on winning Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada a second presidency during Bolivia’s 2002 elections. (He previously served from 1993 to 1997.)
At first, the goal seems unattainable, especially considering he wasn’t all that popular the first time around, not to mention that Bolivia was on the brink of a violent political uprising. Undaunted, the GCS consultants work their magic as if it were a game, shrewdly devising ways to sell a new and improved Mr. Sánchez de Lozada to the public. Endorsements and smear campaigns are conceived for television, general brainstorming sessions and focus groups are held, and the impact each has is thoroughly analyzed. The unrestricted access we are given to these discussions that would normally take place behind closed doors is astounding, even if the “victory” ultimately gained for Mr. Sánchez de Lozada is truly unsettling. Perhaps the only thing left to be desired from this momentous documentary is a reference to the size of the consultants’ paycheck — or their consciences.
Our Brand Is Crisis
Opens today in Manhattan.
Produced and directed by Rachel Boynton; in English and Spanish, with English subtitles; directors of photography, Tom Hurwitz, Michael Anderson, Christine Burrill and Jerry Risius; edited by Ms. Boynton and Jennifer L. Robinson; music by Marcelo Zarvos; released by Koch Lorber. At the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village. Running time: 87 minutes. This film is not rated.