Category: Random Links

Links that I’m reading/watching/listening to/thinking about

  • Terry Pratchett

    This article by Terry Pratchett is pretty sad. I finally read Good Omens while I was in L.A. and I enjoyed it way more than any of the Discworld books. I hope he continues to draw attention to dementia research and gets it some more funding.

  • Brewery Photo

    They’ve started tearing down the old Kent Brewery a few blocks away, and every night I try to peek over the hoarding on my way home to catch a glipse. It looks so eerie and fantastic, like someone demolishing Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. The only tall bit still standing is the large chimney. Check out this awesome photo…

  • Kangaroo

    David Dale ponders how to get Aussies to eat kangaroo. I’ll admit that ‘roo isn’t my favorite meat. It’s not because I have any sort of a “Skippy” complex, but just because it’s so dark and gamey. It all depends on the preparation, really. (Now I sound like one of those idiotic commentators on Iron Chef: “You’ve done a great job of covering up the smell!”) The Snook got us a couple small ‘roo roasts the other night, and they’d been marinated with loads of garlic. Sliced on sandwiches with barbecue sauce? YUMMO.

  • Ebert and the VP Debate

    Ebert critiques the VP debate from a “performance” perspective. He likens Palin to a dog standing on its hind legs: “It is not done well, but one is surprised to find it done at all.”

  • Debate today!

    The Sarah Palin Pity Party:

    When you don’t take your own career and reputation seriously enough to pause before striding onto a national stage and lying about your record of opposing a Bridge to Nowhere or using your special-needs child to garner the support of Americans in need of healthcare reform you don’t support, I don’t feel bad for you.

    When you don’t have enough regard for your country or its politics to cram effectively for the test — a test that helps determine whether or not you get to run that country and participate in its politics — I don’t feel bad for you.

    Biden is going to trounce her in the debate today, and this feminist will be cheering. I hope Hilary is throwing a party somewhere. Me, I’ll be streaming it from SBS.

  • Fiction Rule of Thumb

    Fiction Rule of Thumb, an XKCD comic that the Snook rightly predicted I would love. It also neatly encompasses Everything Kris Hates About William Gibson Novels.

  • Clear Converse All Stars

    Dude, CLEAR Converse All Stars? WANT. Just the perfect thing to show off your handknitted socks! (Link courtesy of passionknit.)

  • Meteorologists = FAIL

    Meteorologists don’t know nothin’. I sorta guessed that, but it’s nice to have it validated. Remember Opera in the Domain? Every weatherperson in Sydney said it was going to pour rain, to the extent that a bunch of people piked. And it turned out to be a gloriously sunny afternoon! (Link courtesy of PCJM.)

  • Happiness = Married, No Kids

    “Want to be happy? Don’t have kids.” Of the trifecta of being married, having money, and having kids, a Harvard academic says being married makes the biggest difference to your personal level of happiness. He’s pretty harsh about parenting: “Parents tell me all the time that: ‘My child is my greatest source of joy’… My reply is that: ‘Yes, when you have one source of joy, it’s bound to be your greatest’.” Yowch.

  • Korean Citizenship

    “Ask a Korean” tackles the issue of South Korean citizenship. Check out the section on “simplified naturalization”:

    1. If one of your parents was a Korean citizen. (Emphasis on “was.” It’s ok if your parent renounced Korean citizenship.)

    Hey, I think that includes me! My mom was born in Korea to a Korean woman, so she would’ve been a citizen, right? (She would’ve renounced it as a child when they moved to America.) That’s pretty neat.