Interesting Articles While My House is Being Ripped Apart and the Phone Lines are Being Repaired

1) Some movies have an odd history and mega stars:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19287_10-movies-that-famous-people-dont-want-you-to-see_p2.html

2) Andrew Wheeler deals with a really brain dead essay from Michael Dirda, who is upset that other people like things he doesn’t:

http://antickmusings.blogspot.com/2011/07/of-bestsellers-and-their-lists.html

3) Ursula LeGuin talks about her view of fantasy:

http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2011/06/29/it-doesn%E2%80%99t-have-to-be-the-way-it-is/

4) Not sure how experimental these books really are, or for that matter view them as that not known, but it’s still an interesting list from Apex Publishing:

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2011/07/issue-26-the-top-10-experimental-genre-books-youve-never-heard-of/

5) Joel Shepherd guest posts on SFSignal with cogent thoughts about women and Hollywood action films:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/06/guest-post-joel-shepherd-on-the-secret-to-successful-female-action-hero-films/

6) Lastly, Bill Keller of the New York Times has an amusing piece lamenting his staffing difficulties because his writers keep going off to write books:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/magazine/bill-keller-wants-to-ban-books.html?_r=3

 

Bits and Pieces After the Turkey

SFF author Kristine Kathryn Rusch has been doing a series of blog essays about the Business of Publishing, and this one on bookselling is interesting:

http://kriswrites.com/2010/11/25/the-business-rusch-bookstores-changing-times-part-six/

SF Signal rounded up some authors and others to suggest cool presents for the holiday season:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/11/mind-meld-great-gift-ideas-for-geeks-and-science-fiction-and-fantasy-fans/

Cracked.com relates important information about science and movies:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18862_6-deadly-injuries-you-think-youd-survive-thanks-to-movies.html

Andrew Liptak looks at the obstacles women face in fandom and in general:

http://andrewliptak.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/star-wars-is-for-everyone/

Asked to respond to the news that Warner Brothers, which holds the rights to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and t.v. series, was rebooting the movie with a new young screenwriter, Joss Whedon shows why nobody is as good as him. The Avengers is going to be way fun:

http://ca.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b212644_joss_whedon_reacts_buffy_movie_news_i.html

I unintentionally fibbed — there is another OK Go video I’m putting up. They did one for the Today Show for one of their songs. It’s not their best work but it’s cute:

Interesting Writings for a…man, it’s getting really chilly already!

First up, Matthew Cheney’s excellent post at Strange Horizons about the recent teen suicides and the issues of masculinity that lead to homophobia:

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2010/20101011/cheney-c.shtml

Second, an interesting pair of articles at Cracked.com on myths about males and females that turn out to be true or sort of true and others that are completely false:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18529_6-absurd-gender-stereotypes-that-science-says-are-true_p2.html

http://www.cracked.com/article_18760_6-things-everyone-knows-about-women-that-arent-true.html

Third, a good article from the New York Times on the fact that people in the U.S. got a massive tax cut and seem not to have noticed because the Obama administration did it sensibly instead of splashily and conservative propaganda has lied their asses off, unfortunately with the help of the media.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/politics/19taxes.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=michael%20cooper&st=cse

Fourth, an older but still unfortunately perfectly pertinent piece from the Starship Reckless blog about women and non-whites being seen as furniture:

http://www.starshipnivan.com/blog/?p=712

And fifth, John Scalzi wrote a very moving piece about privilege, called “Things I Don’t Have to Think About Today.” If you don’t click on any other of the links here, please click on this one, and pass it around:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/10/18/things-i-dont-have-to-think-about-today/

And finally, not a link but a bit of good news. A couple of weeks ago, SFF author Diana Wynne Jones reported in that she is doing better, that some of her cancer tumors are miraculously shrinking and that her doctors are stumped but thrilled. We’re crossing our fingers for you to make a full recovery, Diana! (Hey, it worked with the Chilean miners.)

Interesting Writings for a Sunday Autumnal Equinox

A brief but nice interview with fantasy legend Charles de Lint:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/09/exclusive-interview-charles-de-lint/

Information that I did not know and could not even have imagined, but someone should so put it into a story:

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=11463664

For those who find the age related break-down of the children’s market confusing, a children’s editor gives a nice, succinct explanation:

http://www.sfwa.org/2010/09/the-pirate-code-of-children%E2%80%99s-literature/

I have always kind of laughed at the Singularity idea. Not that I don’t love the Terminator movies, but given the lack of ability of our technology to function on a regular basis, much less repair itself and reproduce, and the fact that it is very easy to disrupt electrical power, I have never given it much credence. But I may have to change my mind, because those cursed egghead professors are teaching computers how to lie:

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/09/what_could_possibly_go_wrong_vol_17.php

As usual, Cracked.com points out very salient points:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18733_6-movies-that-didnt-realize-they-let-villain-win.html

Okay, I did actually believe one or two of these

Cracked.com looks at six cultural myths that most people believe are true but are actually quite false:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18487_6-ridiculous-history-myths-you-probably-think-are-true_p1.html