MISCELLANEOUS SURFING
It's time to sick a bunch of links on y'all that I've been collecting since before the holiday.
It's quite long, so I'll put it all behind a cut - but trust me, there's something in here for everyone! Josslove, gossip, the ending of DRIVE, the future of DEADWOOD, eco-narcissism, more news on dangerous foods from China, "crowdsourcing," and...cold-brewed coffee!
Dive in...
25 must hear indie albums? Hmmmmmm. A mixed list…But Pinback! I love them…and there are a few others on here I need to check out.
I agree wholeheartedly with some of what’s said in this NYT piece about “green narcissism” and green consumerism. However, in a free-market world, consumer changes are going to drive industry to green itself through market pressure. Very thoughtful, and a topic I care about immensely. In the end for me it boils down to this: YES, you should REDUCE your consumption as much as possible - but if you MUST buy it, try to buy green.
Eeee hee hee - I love this guy. Seriously, Joss Whedon is too much. HBO?!? Hire Joss Whedon! Let's go! What are you waiting for! *g* Good news for us Jossheads: he’s going to Comicon, he’s doing a panel on Saturday afternoon - and it sounds like he’s got a bunch of irons in the fire and may announce at least one project officially there. YAY. [via whedonesque]
This is such metafandom fun: the creators of the prematurely-yanked (aka “Foxed”) show DRIVE have given a fanjourno interview where they describe what WOULD have happened if the show had gone on. I wish every cancelled cult showrunner would do this!
We now have a bit more news about the DEADWOOD movies, from the mouths of HBO execs to E!Online. Also, this reminds me about another hysterical show, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, on FX. S3 starts in Sept. *happy*
The jaded, sort of anti-fan tone of AICN’s coverage of the BSG Dome event last month had me wondering, and now a blogger at The Guardian is actually asking the question aloud: has AICN jumped the shark?
News of WEST WING/STUDIO 60 creator Aaron Sorkin: he’s made a 3-script writing deal with Dreamworks…and Spielberg may direct the first film. [via Variety & Cinematical]
OK so China’s not the only one to blame for crazy poisoned foods and other products made of pollution...and there's these disturbing facts:
The F.D.A. database does not necessarily capture a full and accurate picture of product quality from other countries. For one thing, only one year of data is available on the agency’s Web site, and F.D.A. officials declined to provide more data without a formal Freedom of Information request, a process that can take months, if not years. In addition, the F.D.A. inspects only about 1 percent of the imports that fall under its jurisdiction. [underline mine]
Arrrgggh. From now on I'm only buying at farmers markets and garage sales. Could I live on that? o.O
There's a new study out that paints a dire picture of what global warming might do to the Northeastern US over the next 100 years, and even as soon as a decade. [go see at NYT]
Wired has a really fascinating interview with Douglas Rushkoff asking his opinions of crowd sourcing (which he calls a “corporatist framing of a cultural phenomenon”), and how corporate attention to the Open Source concept may or may not hurt. DR claims to have coined the term “media virus” a few years ago, only to watch corporations turn that into “viral marketing” and absorb the concept in a more controlled, “useful” frame. I suppose it is correct to worry about corporatist re-framing - but I am pretty sure I see a lot of great examples of really non-corporate crowdsourcing in my fandoms on a weekly basis.
Yes, we are sharing information about corporate products (films & TV shows) in fandom - but the topic could just as easily be a bill going through Congress, or a charity one wants to support, or a crime being tracked, etc. I used to visit Daily Kos on a daily basis, during the 2004 US Presidential election, and they crowdsource like mad over there. Liveblogging debates, fact checking, you name it.
Meanwhile I like the idea of DR’s project, EXIT STRATEGY, taking the traditionally solitary work of novel-writing and turning it into an open source experiment, and a special department at New York University. His concept of Judaism being an “ancient collaborative Open Source model” is also fascinating.
I can’t wait to read this new book he’s working on, which he describes as:
“…it begins by exploring why so few of us seem capable of making change. To assume that we can change some of today's problems seems to be pie-in-the-sky, pollyannaish optimistism. So I first look at how we became so cynical and the process by which we accepted self-interest as the way things are. Later in the book, I explore how we can push through this narrative and what is the healthiest response to it.”
Andrew O'Hehir has an incredible list of summer art house/alternative fare for you film lovers out there…TEKKONKINKREET sounds amazing. Has anyone out there seen PAPRIKA yet? I may have to have myself a little animefest this weekend. The Korean film TIME sounds worth seeing as well. This article also turned me onto IFC’s on-demand program, called In Theaters - my cable company has it, I’m gonna give it a try. Have any of you used it?
The moral of this story is: do not, EVER, use your iPod during a thunderstorm. Eek.
Let’s close this longish linkspam with a foodie item (this is for you,
dionusia ! *g*) about COLD BREWED COFFEE. Yum. I’d been thinking about getting some contraption to make this type of coffee, brewed by long steeping rather than quickly using hot water. I was hesitating, because I didn't want to drink coffee that had been sitting in plastic all that time. But this recent NYT piece got me motivated to buy a big glass jar and do it. (Their recipie worked great for me.) I am using about 3 tablespoons per cup of water, leaving it on my countertop for 5 to 12 hours, and putting a ratio of 1:3 of milk:coffee without further water diluting. It’s DELICIOUS - I’m starting to prefer it to hot coffee! It's rich, chocolatey - and there's NO BITTERNESS.
It's quite long, so I'll put it all behind a cut - but trust me, there's something in here for everyone! Josslove, gossip, the ending of DRIVE, the future of DEADWOOD, eco-narcissism, more news on dangerous foods from China, "crowdsourcing," and...cold-brewed coffee!
Dive in...
25 must hear indie albums? Hmmmmmm. A mixed list…But Pinback! I love them…and there are a few others on here I need to check out.
I agree wholeheartedly with some of what’s said in this NYT piece about “green narcissism” and green consumerism. However, in a free-market world, consumer changes are going to drive industry to green itself through market pressure. Very thoughtful, and a topic I care about immensely. In the end for me it boils down to this: YES, you should REDUCE your consumption as much as possible - but if you MUST buy it, try to buy green.
Eeee hee hee - I love this guy. Seriously, Joss Whedon is too much. HBO?!? Hire Joss Whedon! Let's go! What are you waiting for! *g* Good news for us Jossheads: he’s going to Comicon, he’s doing a panel on Saturday afternoon - and it sounds like he’s got a bunch of irons in the fire and may announce at least one project officially there. YAY. [via whedonesque]
This is such metafandom fun: the creators of the prematurely-yanked (aka “Foxed”) show DRIVE have given a fanjourno interview where they describe what WOULD have happened if the show had gone on. I wish every cancelled cult showrunner would do this!
We now have a bit more news about the DEADWOOD movies, from the mouths of HBO execs to E!Online. Also, this reminds me about another hysterical show, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, on FX. S3 starts in Sept. *happy*
The jaded, sort of anti-fan tone of AICN’s coverage of the BSG Dome event last month had me wondering, and now a blogger at The Guardian is actually asking the question aloud: has AICN jumped the shark?
News of WEST WING/STUDIO 60 creator Aaron Sorkin: he’s made a 3-script writing deal with Dreamworks…and Spielberg may direct the first film. [via Variety & Cinematical]
OK so China’s not the only one to blame for crazy poisoned foods and other products made of pollution...and there's these disturbing facts:
The F.D.A. database does not necessarily capture a full and accurate picture of product quality from other countries. For one thing, only one year of data is available on the agency’s Web site, and F.D.A. officials declined to provide more data without a formal Freedom of Information request, a process that can take months, if not years. In addition, the F.D.A. inspects only about 1 percent of the imports that fall under its jurisdiction. [underline mine]
Arrrgggh. From now on I'm only buying at farmers markets and garage sales. Could I live on that? o.O
There's a new study out that paints a dire picture of what global warming might do to the Northeastern US over the next 100 years, and even as soon as a decade. [go see at NYT]
Wired has a really fascinating interview with Douglas Rushkoff asking his opinions of crowd sourcing (which he calls a “corporatist framing of a cultural phenomenon”), and how corporate attention to the Open Source concept may or may not hurt. DR claims to have coined the term “media virus” a few years ago, only to watch corporations turn that into “viral marketing” and absorb the concept in a more controlled, “useful” frame. I suppose it is correct to worry about corporatist re-framing - but I am pretty sure I see a lot of great examples of really non-corporate crowdsourcing in my fandoms on a weekly basis.
Yes, we are sharing information about corporate products (films & TV shows) in fandom - but the topic could just as easily be a bill going through Congress, or a charity one wants to support, or a crime being tracked, etc. I used to visit Daily Kos on a daily basis, during the 2004 US Presidential election, and they crowdsource like mad over there. Liveblogging debates, fact checking, you name it.
Meanwhile I like the idea of DR’s project, EXIT STRATEGY, taking the traditionally solitary work of novel-writing and turning it into an open source experiment, and a special department at New York University. His concept of Judaism being an “ancient collaborative Open Source model” is also fascinating.
I can’t wait to read this new book he’s working on, which he describes as:
“…it begins by exploring why so few of us seem capable of making change. To assume that we can change some of today's problems seems to be pie-in-the-sky, pollyannaish optimistism. So I first look at how we became so cynical and the process by which we accepted self-interest as the way things are. Later in the book, I explore how we can push through this narrative and what is the healthiest response to it.”
Andrew O'Hehir has an incredible list of summer art house/alternative fare for you film lovers out there…TEKKONKINKREET sounds amazing. Has anyone out there seen PAPRIKA yet? I may have to have myself a little animefest this weekend. The Korean film TIME sounds worth seeing as well. This article also turned me onto IFC’s on-demand program, called In Theaters - my cable company has it, I’m gonna give it a try. Have any of you used it?
The moral of this story is: do not, EVER, use your iPod during a thunderstorm. Eek.
Let’s close this longish linkspam with a foodie item (this is for you,
dionusia ! *g*) about COLD BREWED COFFEE. Yum. I’d been thinking about getting some contraption to make this type of coffee, brewed by long steeping rather than quickly using hot water. I was hesitating, because I didn't want to drink coffee that had been sitting in plastic all that time. But this recent NYT piece got me motivated to buy a big glass jar and do it. (Their recipie worked great for me.) I am using about 3 tablespoons per cup of water, leaving it on my countertop for 5 to 12 hours, and putting a ratio of 1:3 of milk:coffee without further water diluting. It’s DELICIOUS - I’m starting to prefer it to hot coffee! It's rich, chocolatey - and there's NO BITTERNESS.