The expression “the worm turns”, commonly used (at least by me) to mean “the situation has changed and the previously disadvantaged party now holds the advantage”, is apparently an evolution of the old proverb, “Tread on a worm and it will turn.” The proverb was likely intended to say “even the lowliest creature will strike back when threatened/attacked/mistreated”. This is… Read more →
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Am I Getting More Childish?
One of two things is true: either my sense of humour is regressing, or the quality of the humour purveyed by Cracked in the Internet age is much improved from the last time I read the print magazine (approximately 21 years ago). I remember Cracked magazine as an inferior reflection of Mad magazine–itself not known for highly intelligent humour (horrible… Read more →
Apparently I need to move back to Ontario…
… just to slap argue some sense into some people. Look at this: Creationism raised as Ont. election issue TORONTO — Publicly-funded religious schools would be allowed to teach creationism and other theories, says Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory. Speaking to reporters at the a Jewish day school in Thornhill, Ont., on Wednesday, Mr. Tory defended his plan to bring… Read more →
Professor Membrane Strikes Again
And it’s time once again for our tour of interesting and weird science bits. This time out we start with the most science fictional story I’ve seen in a long time: methane ice worms! From the story: A team of university scientists using a mini research submarine on a NOAA-funded research cruise has discovered, photographed, and sampled what appears to… Read more →
A Weekend Miscellany
(You may not think it’s the weekend, but since I have Friday and Monday off, and my late night meeting with Australians is done, I am now into my weekend.) OK, let’s talk unexpected interpretations in cover tunes. Sarah Nixey covers Human League‘s Black Hit Of Space [via jwz]. Petra Haden covers Journey‘s Don’t Stop Believin’ [via Scalzi]. Ophelia Blitz… Read more →
A few comic book things…
If you have any doubt why people speak Berni Wrightson‘s name in tones of awe, check out these images from the Frankenstein portfolio he did back in the 70s: That’s just a detail from one image. You can see the rest over at Golden Age Comic Book Stories in these posts: one, two, three, and this discussion of background and… Read more →
Proud and Unrepentant: Part 3
So, our discussions of the proud and unrepentant brings us to my personal favourite: the Lucifer of George Santayana. Santayana‘s book-length poem/five-act play, Lucifer: A Theological Tragedy, was one of his early works, and I think it’s fair to say is it’s pretty obscure. Santayana is well-known for his contributions to philosophy, perhaps most notably in the field of aesthetics,… Read more →
Some Eostre Listening
You can now listen to the recent Oxford/Cambridge-style formal debate on the proposition “We’d be better off without religion”, thanks to the Time Online. (Note that this is explicitly not the same proposition as “God doesn’t exist”, etc.) The debate was organized by Intelligence Squared, and had the following participants: Pro: Professor Richard Dawkins Professor A.C. Grayling Christopher Hitchens Con:… Read more →
Good Friday, Part 4
For the record, I’d like to see the rest of the world on the same scale. This obviously comes from Scientific American, but I got it from the always interesting Strange Maps. It kind of saddens me to see that “marred by creationist jargon” tag on Massachusetts though. I do kind of think of Boston and environs as a relatively… Read more →
Good Friday, Part 3
Speaking of those people that cocky atheists particularly love to make fun of, you should take a moment to read this blog post outlining the shock of someone who has lived in the middle east, upon moving to middle america. So when I came to the US I was shocked, absolutely stunned at just how absolutely people believed the Bible.… Read more →
BOG VENUS vs. NAZI COCK-RING
It’s possible that some of you might have heard that Alan Moore (oft-mentioned here) wrote up a survey of 25000 years of porn for Arthur magazine‘s winter 2006 issue. Clearly this is related to, and has grown out of, Moore’s research into the history of pornography as part of his work on Lost Girls. Indeed, if you’ve read any of… Read more →
A couple of quick links.
Still drowning in work, but here’s a few divertimenti for you: Seeing one artist’s rendition of the Simpson’s cast in a more realistic, and heavily manga-influenced, style didn’t do much for me. I mean, I dig Marge’s hair, and the twins look great, but it’s not like the image is a revelation or anything. On the other hand, the same… Read more →
An Idea Distilled
The best editorial cartoons are the ones that take an entire position, argument, or notion and distill it down to a single image that captures the essence o the longer and more detailed version exactly. Take this one, for example. I’d say that pretty much captures it. That’s one of the selections at Time’s 2006 Cartoons of the Year list.… Read more →
Educate Yourself On Darwin
Here’s another way to educate yourself that I ran into online today. The Guardian ran a piece on the opening of an online archive of the complete works of Charles Darwin. Here’s a quote: The collection brings Darwin’s breathtaking range of writing together for the first time, with 50,000 pages of searchable text, and tens of thousands of images, many… Read more →
Educate yourself.
You know, if you manage to avoid spam, porn, and piracy, there are lots of ways to communicate with intelligent people and educate yourself on the internet. The classic example, of course, would be academics. Improving communication amongst academics was one of the first purposes of the internet. Ironically most of the journals are locked up behind a copyright wall–journal… Read more →
