April 7, 2016
sock it to me
EU referendum: PM 'makes no apology' for £9m EU leaflets
BBC: "David Cameron has defended a government pro-EU membership campaign, amid criticism that £9m of public money is being spent on "one-sided propaganda".
The PM said the government was "not neutral" in the referendum and the cost was "money well spent".
The 16-page leaflets will be sent to 27 million UK homes from next week." [more inside]
"My mother raised me to believe that mayonnaise was for idiots."
Ottessa Moshfegh writes about mayonnaise, and her mother, in an essay for Lucky Peach. [more inside]
The sugar conspiracy
In 1972, a British scientist sounded the alarm that sugar—and not fat—was the greatest danger to our health. But his findings were ridiculed and his reputation ruined. How did the world’s top nutrition scientists get it so wrong for so long?
2016's best video (foreign language, with monkey)
Turn off the "Upload videos" link, Google, because the best video of the year has already been uploaded! Its summary reads like a penmanship exercise: Russian farmer monkey in a snowsuit & mittens visits his pet goats and hens. [SLYT] [more inside]
If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower [SLVimeo]
"Wrapped" is a graduation short film from Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, created at the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction. After running at over 100 festivals world wide and winning numerous awards the film is finally online.
"This is for Allah. And it's goin' way out there, sucka."
The Good News: While slight in stature and short on talent, Tanner Boyle brings a feistiness that any championship club requires. Anyone who picks a fight with the entire seventh grade won’t back down come crunch time in the playoffs ... Underpinning all his actions is a pure love of the game. When asked if he wanted to quit, Boyle replied: “Crud no, I want to play ball.” He can also use the word “crud” as a noun, adjective, or verb, which, while irrelevant to baseball, is linguistically impressive.
The Bad News: The pint-size shortstop doesn’t get along with Jews, Hispanics, blacks, gays, or women (for starters) — attitudes complicated by the fact that he plays for the only team in the North Valley League that boasts any real diversity on its roster ... It’d also be safer to pass John Rocker a microphone than to let Boyle tackle any post-game press conferences.
The Bad News Bears Turns 40: A Complete Player Scouting Report
The Bad News: The pint-size shortstop doesn’t get along with Jews, Hispanics, blacks, gays, or women (for starters) — attitudes complicated by the fact that he plays for the only team in the North Valley League that boasts any real diversity on its roster ... It’d also be safer to pass John Rocker a microphone than to let Boyle tackle any post-game press conferences.
The Bad News Bears Turns 40: A Complete Player Scouting Report
Wakaliwood!
the DIY action film studio from the slums of Uganda that took over the Internet and made it plausible for anyone in the world to become an East African kung fu movie commando. [more inside]
A Century of Beverly Cleary
“I owe my literacy learning and appreciation to a mother who loved reading, read aloud, and believed in the use of the public library, and to my teachers who were strict in teaching the tools of writing.”
Beverly Cleary celebrates her hundredth birthday next week. She recently spoke to the Oregonian about her long career. [more inside]
Recycle Nixon. Stop Kissing Pig Ass.
The University of British Columbia hosts an online collection of 250 anti-war and other posters from the Berkeley student movement, dating between 1968 and 1970. [more inside]
"...evil is very often inextricably tied up with misogyny."
The Surprising, Subtle Feminism of the Spider-Man Trilogy - Sarah Barrett, The Mary Sue
Creators for Creators
The 2016 Image Expo, a satellite event to this years Emerald City Comiccon, brought a wealth of announcements and new comics. It also saw the unveiling of the Creators for Creators grant: The goal of the Creators for Creators grant is to help pave the way for the next generation of comics creators by supporting their work financially and through mentorship, as well as providing opportunities for their creations to reach a wide audience. We plan to give $30,000 to a single cartoonist or writer/artist duo in order to support the creation of a new and original work of a length between sixty-four and one hundred pages over the course of a single year.
Founders of the grant include a rnage of Image creators as well as Spike Trotman of Iron Circus Comics, and they will be providing support and advice to go alongside the money.
Founders of the grant include a rnage of Image creators as well as Spike Trotman of Iron Circus Comics, and they will be providing support and advice to go alongside the money.
{dials} "Bork, bork, bork, bork!"{click}
Are you lonely? But your relatives just want to talk about that election, and your friends about their problems, and your work colleagues about your boss? Then dial The Swedish Number, get connected to a random Swede and talk about anything! (Call charges apply. A service provided by the Swedish Tourist Association.)
It's north of where I live, obviously
Where The Hell is Upstate New York? With the $15/hour minimum wage set to take effect across New York State in a complex fashion (geographically and otherwise), and the arrival of primary candidates in New York State, Gothamist explore the time-old question of where exactly upstate New York is and interviews scholars and historians whose opinions (surprise!) differ.
We just did it and then we did another and then we did another.
Patricia Moodian: Really it was easy to find the women to participate. There were talented and able women everywhere, chafing at the bit to get a chance to show they could do such amazing work. I did make the calls, have the meetings at my humble abode, and dealt with Turner. The brilliant and legendary Trina Robbins had already published the first all-women comic, and I was very motivated by all that she taught me.An oral history of Wimmen's Comix. Part Two.
No One Man Should Have All That Power
Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze is brilliant, political, and human
Ultimately, Stelfreeze and Coates have woven a story that Black Panther deserves, and one that pushes his and Wakanda's preestablished narrative into brave new territory. This is a story about a man of his people, and unlike many Black Panther stories of the past, it does justice to and makes us care about those he's pledged to serve and protect. It's a brilliant start to one of Marvel's most promising new series, and like the hero whose story it tells, it's poised to defy its already grand expectations. [more inside]
Ultimately, Stelfreeze and Coates have woven a story that Black Panther deserves, and one that pushes his and Wakanda's preestablished narrative into brave new territory. This is a story about a man of his people, and unlike many Black Panther stories of the past, it does justice to and makes us care about those he's pledged to serve and protect. It's a brilliant start to one of Marvel's most promising new series, and like the hero whose story it tells, it's poised to defy its already grand expectations. [more inside]
Tsk tsk
The fall: how diving became football’s worst crime
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Rule 34 May Be Moribund. The Washington Post investigates the origins, history, and doubtful future of Rule 34.
The geographies of loneliness (The Guardian - Cities)
"What's the world's loneliest city?" "Urban life is more stressful than rural life, but whether it’s lonelier is a point of debate among social scientists. A 2016 report by Age UK noted there are higher incidences of loneliness in cities, but precisely what brings it on is surprising. The same report found that gender and education are largely irrelevant – except for those with the highest level of education, who are often lonelier – and that household income and caring for a pet also have little effect."
Stephen Sondheim in Conversation
Stephen Sondheim talks to Rufus Norris about his career, and his views on current musical theatre trends. (SLYT, 42 minutes)
"What will you become?"
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The first trailer for the next Star Wars universe story is online.
95, Alive, and Folding Regularly
Cartoonist Al Jaffee recently celebrated his 95th birthday at a party thrown by his friends and collaborators at MAD Magazine, where he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for the "Longest career as a comics artist": 73 years 3 months... and counting. A contributor to MAD for 60 of those years, since 1964 he has done the "MAD Fold-In", almost 450 consecutive issues - with one interruption. And he's working on one for the next issue. (previously) [more inside]
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