Friday, May 09, 2008

It's Friday! And I'm going to see Eddie Izzard tonight! So on we go to the links!

Thanks to Brendan, Cassandra and Chris Z. for sending in the New York Times article on steampunk. As Cassandra said, I may have to reject steampunk if it gets too popular...

Cassandra brings the science today with articles about the moon, news that scientists have created a universe smaller than a marble, and a story on how eating the right foods can improve your mental agility. Then she veers away from science to point out that there are instruction videos on YouTube for everything these days, even Wicca! And finally, she brings you a detailed thesis in PDF entitled "Highbrow Films Gather Dust: A Study of Dynamic Inconsistency and Online DVD Rentals."

Holly sends in a really interesting story about two boys with gender confusion being raised in two very different ways. We both think there should be an update story on these boys in five or ten years, to see how they're doing.

And finally, via Scalzi: if a knife fight broke out between the Smurfs and the Care Bears, who would win and why? Opinion among the ranks is divided. I don't know that much about the Care Bears (I tried to avoid them as much as possible in the '80s), so I may be biased, but I think the Smurfs would win. Mass organization tends to wear down the opponent.

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

1 comment:

Bill Herald said...

I do not know much about the Care Bears either, but I agree with your assessment. The Smurfs would most definitely win.

To begin, the Care Bears are too hippy dippy rainbowishy. They encourage their kind to let their freak flags fly. And, from a purely pragmatic standpoint, it would seem much easier to injure a CB, a quick slit through the fur to the stuffing, using said stuffing to suffocate.

The Warband referred to as ‘Smurfs’ are at an advantage, as they use their coloring to terrorize. Like Celts, these blue painted savages shock then attack.. Smurfs do tend to take orders better, too, don’t they? Papa S. issues directives, and they would follow like good little conformist fascists that they are.

P.S. I don’t think you should reject steampunk, just alter it, and make it better. If anyone could accomplish this, you could