Links dumping
Once again, the linkage folder in my bookmarks is overflowing.
Food:
Neil Gaiman's favourite Japanese restaurant in London. Just off Piccadilly Circus.
aynathie points out the differences between Korean and Italian pine nuts. Apparently I've been eating the Asian variety all my life!
Animals:
Tortoise chases cat.
Swallows nest on eagle owl's head.
Nora plays the piano. (From Raven's Wing Studio)
Sea otter pup Capers melts your heart with cuteness!
Orphaned hedgehogs adopt cleaning brush as their mother.
Music:
k.d. lang sings Hallelujah. Probably the best version of this song I've heard.
You know it would happen sooner or later: A raï version of Clash's Rock the Casbah.
And in the realm of unexpectedly successful collaborations: PJ Harvey and Björk does Satisfaction. Starts out a bit slow, but it gets damn good! Link courtesy of Fredrik Strage's 100 greatest rock moments on YouTube list.
Fandom:
Oldie but goodie: Four pages of Star Trek inspirational posters
Torchwood fan-vid set to the old classic filk Banned from Argo. Hilarious! I'm surprised how well a song about the Star Trek crew can be transferred to the Torchwood staff.
A while ago I linked you to The Doctor's girls. Here's the sequel: The Doctor's boys.
Interesting discussion on the appeal of slash for women. In particular, chvicker's comment is noteworthy, pointing out a male-dominated society's restrictions of women's sexuality.
Art:
Animal or vegetable? Both!
Drawing of a woman from the inside and out. Long video, but cool.
What do you do with two different coloured rice plants? Silly question: you make art!.
18th century Hello Kitty
Be very careful where you stand in an art gallery.
Books and writing:
Anna Jane Clare reads Defy the eagle, so you don't have to. It's almost the Eye of Argon of historical romances (*blatantly shows off her total ignorance of even worse examples in the genre*).
mistful objects to the suggestion that every woman wanted to marry Heathcliff, Mr Rochester or Mr Darcy..
Not just one, but two posts pimping Erikson's A Malazan tale of the fallen series. If you like long and plotty fantasy series, read it!
Short critical review of Necropolis: London and its dead.
Remember the story a while ago about the guy who sent in a manuscript of Pride and prejudice to several publishers only to get it rejected? Someone found the cover letter, and unexpectedly, it implies several things that the papers forgot to mention in their desire for a good story. (see also the comments in linked posts)
For the writers in my friends list: Reflection's Edge gives tips on writing M/M sex scenes, whether erotica or porn, whether aimed at female or male audience - and doesn't judge which is "better". I love his definition of good erotica: If you faded to black just as the touching began, would the audience still be interested in what was happening? If the answer is no, you're not writing erotica. (If the answer is that your audience would kidnap you, Misery-style, for interrupting the hotness, then you're writing good erotica.) Now, if you know some authors who fit this defintion, I wouldn't mind a link.
History and science:
Yet another interesting fact filled post on ancient history by minisinoo.
Why are there no movies about this pirate? I might see if I can find the book at the library, though. Sounds like a really interesting life.
How about walking to Rome with me in a few years time?
PZ Myers writes about the mysterious seven cervical vertebrae in mammals.
researchgrrrl tells you what happens after you're dead. On a similar notice, All & sundry does a work visit to a morgue in a funeral home.
And some history and culture related stuff for writers: Names in fact and fiction.
Politics, society and stuff: (see also the comments in the posts)
Two accounts on how society twists the truth to change opinions: One story on the Climate Camp protest camp at Heathrow this August (relevant quote: I recognise an undercover journalist from a right-wing newspaper. "This is terrible!" he says "I've been sent to find stories about drug-addicted layabouts and they're all nice people with PhDs."), and one story on undercover police infiltrating demonstrations in Canada in order to start violence. It makes me wonder how many demonstrations at home (for a given value of "home") that escalated into riots, were actually not started by the protesters.
Life in a pre-feminism western society.
matociquala posts about privilege and having a right to anger. That's one of my feminist pet peeves: having a right to be furious about something without someone dismissing it as me just being on the rag.
Movie criticism: (massive spoilers in all links)
The Dark Is Rising: In-depth analysis of the huge differences between book and movie. While I really liked the book series when I was younger, I think this movie might be best enjoyed on Youtube, where I'm sure someone will soon put up all Christopher Eccleston's scenes.
Criticism of the gender roles in Stardust: here and here. I'm a bit surprised of some changes in the script, which for instance makes the star way more passive than in the book. After all, Neil Gaiman wrote both book and script, so I can't just blame the script writer for not understanding the book.
Random stuff:
Popty ping!
Occam's other razor.
If I ever have a child, I want to have one who's as awesome as this one. So sweet! In an utterly geeky sense!
Fancy dice for role-players and others.
Jonathan Ross snogs Neil Gaiman. He turns a rather interesting shade of red.
If you ever go to Armenia, here's a useful post on traffic "rules" in Yerevan.
Verizon mobile phone staff doesn't know the difference between dollars and cents! Long but worth it.
From Neil Gaiman's journal: An absolutely amazing hand-shadow show.
Food:
Neil Gaiman's favourite Japanese restaurant in London. Just off Piccadilly Circus.
aynathie points out the differences between Korean and Italian pine nuts. Apparently I've been eating the Asian variety all my life!
Animals:
Tortoise chases cat.
Swallows nest on eagle owl's head.
Nora plays the piano. (From Raven's Wing Studio)
Sea otter pup Capers melts your heart with cuteness!
Orphaned hedgehogs adopt cleaning brush as their mother.
Music:
k.d. lang sings Hallelujah. Probably the best version of this song I've heard.
You know it would happen sooner or later: A raï version of Clash's Rock the Casbah.
And in the realm of unexpectedly successful collaborations: PJ Harvey and Björk does Satisfaction. Starts out a bit slow, but it gets damn good! Link courtesy of Fredrik Strage's 100 greatest rock moments on YouTube list.
Fandom:
Oldie but goodie: Four pages of Star Trek inspirational posters
Torchwood fan-vid set to the old classic filk Banned from Argo. Hilarious! I'm surprised how well a song about the Star Trek crew can be transferred to the Torchwood staff.
A while ago I linked you to The Doctor's girls. Here's the sequel: The Doctor's boys.
Interesting discussion on the appeal of slash for women. In particular, chvicker's comment is noteworthy, pointing out a male-dominated society's restrictions of women's sexuality.
Art:
Animal or vegetable? Both!
Drawing of a woman from the inside and out. Long video, but cool.
What do you do with two different coloured rice plants? Silly question: you make art!.
18th century Hello Kitty
Be very careful where you stand in an art gallery.
Books and writing:
Anna Jane Clare reads Defy the eagle, so you don't have to. It's almost the Eye of Argon of historical romances (*blatantly shows off her total ignorance of even worse examples in the genre*).
mistful objects to the suggestion that every woman wanted to marry Heathcliff, Mr Rochester or Mr Darcy..
Not just one, but two posts pimping Erikson's A Malazan tale of the fallen series. If you like long and plotty fantasy series, read it!
Short critical review of Necropolis: London and its dead.
Remember the story a while ago about the guy who sent in a manuscript of Pride and prejudice to several publishers only to get it rejected? Someone found the cover letter, and unexpectedly, it implies several things that the papers forgot to mention in their desire for a good story. (see also the comments in linked posts)
For the writers in my friends list: Reflection's Edge gives tips on writing M/M sex scenes, whether erotica or porn, whether aimed at female or male audience - and doesn't judge which is "better". I love his definition of good erotica: If you faded to black just as the touching began, would the audience still be interested in what was happening? If the answer is no, you're not writing erotica. (If the answer is that your audience would kidnap you, Misery-style, for interrupting the hotness, then you're writing good erotica.) Now, if you know some authors who fit this defintion, I wouldn't mind a link.
History and science:
Yet another interesting fact filled post on ancient history by minisinoo.
Why are there no movies about this pirate? I might see if I can find the book at the library, though. Sounds like a really interesting life.
How about walking to Rome with me in a few years time?
PZ Myers writes about the mysterious seven cervical vertebrae in mammals.
researchgrrrl tells you what happens after you're dead. On a similar notice, All & sundry does a work visit to a morgue in a funeral home.
And some history and culture related stuff for writers: Names in fact and fiction.
Politics, society and stuff: (see also the comments in the posts)
Two accounts on how society twists the truth to change opinions: One story on the Climate Camp protest camp at Heathrow this August (relevant quote: I recognise an undercover journalist from a right-wing newspaper. "This is terrible!" he says "I've been sent to find stories about drug-addicted layabouts and they're all nice people with PhDs."), and one story on undercover police infiltrating demonstrations in Canada in order to start violence. It makes me wonder how many demonstrations at home (for a given value of "home") that escalated into riots, were actually not started by the protesters.
Life in a pre-feminism western society.
matociquala posts about privilege and having a right to anger. That's one of my feminist pet peeves: having a right to be furious about something without someone dismissing it as me just being on the rag.
Movie criticism: (massive spoilers in all links)
The Dark Is Rising: In-depth analysis of the huge differences between book and movie. While I really liked the book series when I was younger, I think this movie might be best enjoyed on Youtube, where I'm sure someone will soon put up all Christopher Eccleston's scenes.
Criticism of the gender roles in Stardust: here and here. I'm a bit surprised of some changes in the script, which for instance makes the star way more passive than in the book. After all, Neil Gaiman wrote both book and script, so I can't just blame the script writer for not understanding the book.
Random stuff:
Popty ping!
Occam's other razor.
If I ever have a child, I want to have one who's as awesome as this one. So sweet! In an utterly geeky sense!
Fancy dice for role-players and others.
Jonathan Ross snogs Neil Gaiman. He turns a rather interesting shade of red.
If you ever go to Armenia, here's a useful post on traffic "rules" in Yerevan.
Verizon mobile phone staff doesn't know the difference between dollars and cents! Long but worth it.
From Neil Gaiman's journal: An absolutely amazing hand-shadow show.