Frequent commenter “Fletcher Christian” is a poster child for this phenomenon. And as one of the commenters at Glenn’s post notes, the BBC is largely responsible.
Category Archives: Popular Culture
The Jokes
…they almost write themselves. The headline itself is wonderful:
Giant inflatable turd escapes moorings and brings down electricity line
Read the last line, too.
You’re Not The Only One, Glenn
I’m not paying any attention to the Olympics, either. I haven’t seen a single competition, and didn’t watch the opening ceremonies. I don’t think I’ve watched any channel showing it for more than a few seconds.
It’s not political–I’m just thoroughly uninterested. I also think that it’s highly overrated as a kumbaya enhancer, and I’m more interested in people for their intellectual prowess than physical abilities. I was amused a few years ago when one of my trolls (this one from Norway, but not HH) “warned” me that if the US didn’t behave better internationally, we might not be selected for future Olympics. I told him that wasn’t a bug–it was a feature.
Dumbing Down
Peter Wood has an essay on the effects of our culture on science education.
Hey, Scalzi Fans
If you pre-order at Amazon, you can get a copy of his latest
[Wednesday morning update]
Sorry, I misread the Amazon email. It’s a savings of $8.48, not a price. Still a good deal, though.
Summer Reading
Ken Murphy has a bunch of reviews of solar fiction for kids.
Hook ’em while they’re young.
It’s That Time Of The Week Again
Lileks examines the train wreck that is Garrison Keillor’s latest:
I’m sorry, but I’m just fascinated by his column. Each is nearly identical in formlessness, subject and general pointlessness. To be fair: we all write at haste and repent at leisure, unless we can somehow get it out of the Google cache. We all make inelegant remarks that seemed wonderfully writerly at the moment but curdle when exposed to another pair of eyes. It’s the perils of blogging. But he has an entire week to write these things. Never does he attempt to make an argument or explore a line of thought – it’s just flat assertions ladled out with nuance or shading. The sun rises, Bush is bad, life is long but also short and so you should sit outside and drink lemonade and think of the people who came before you and sat outside and drank lemonade and there is a comfort in that continuity and we need all the comfort we can get in these days when nihilists in golf pants are everywhere and the Republic lies in ruins. Also, he is given to run-on sentences. This week has perhaps the finest example yet.
If that’s not enough, there is some cereal blogging, too.
Get Ready To Split A Gut
…at the world’s oldest jokes.
Well, OK, not so much. It says they’re old jokes, not good jokes.
Speaking Of General Zod
At least one will be saved from the coming carbon apocalypse:
Al Gore–or, as he is known in his own language, Gore-Al–placed his son, Kal-Al, gently in the one-passenger rocket ship, his brow furrowed by the great weight he carried in preserving the sole survivor of humanity’s hubristic folly.
“There is nothing left now but to ensure that my infant son does not meet the same fate as the rest of my doomed race,” Gore said. “I will send him to a new planet, where he will, I hope, be raised by simple but kindly country folk and grow up to be a hero and protector to his adopted home.”
Hope the poles aren’t so warm there that he can’t build an arctic fortress of pomposity.
The Era Of Carbon Craziness
Is it almost over? Let’s hope so.