The other day I learned that one of my favourite philosophers*, Kurt Vonnegut, eschewed the use of semicolons. To wit:
They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.
I am, naturally, devastated. Though I wonder if he might have reconsidered had he seen The Oatmeal’s glorious, authoritative explanation.
*Vonnegut was actually a novelist. But I admire the way he thought.
Duplicitous scoundrels. I was almost taken in by this rather good impersonation of an email from Amazon:
I haven’t ordered anything recently, so I thought I’d better see what was up. On closer inspection, however, the numbers – literally – don’t add up. If you’re going to take the trouble to mimic a well-known brand, surely you’d go the extra distance to check the arithmetic? You know, addition?
I followed the link – it diverts you through a site in Korea, eventually landing at a storefront peddling pharmeceuticals, complete with authoritative models masquerading as health professionals. It boggles the mind to think that there are people out there, who having been duped into following a link that they though was from Amazon, end up at a shonky, car-boot drug sale and think: “Hm. Well now that I’m here, I may as well pick up some Viagra”.
Just when you think you’ve finally finished reading The Internet, some smartass comes along and posts another article or tweet or something. My body seizes up after too many hours in front of the screen, so hallelujah for Instapaper on the iPhone. This little app allows to you save articles for offline reading, and features nifty witchcraft like “tilt to scroll”. Now I can comfortably recline on couch or lawn and enjoy all the crazed ramblings of internet denizens I can tolerate.
I’ve been running Movable Type on two blogs, and – I’ve gotta say – I feel like the passion for that particular platform is evaporating. Every time I’ve tried to look up documentation I encounter broken links and pages that trail off into nothing, like the author caught a glimpse of a life that could have been theirs; that should have been theirs, were it not for their parents forcing them into a career programming blogging software. Accursed, wretched, blogging software.
So I’m jumping ship and taking these blogs with me. That’s the advantage of having such an exclusive readership — try switching blogging platforms overnight, um … Kottke. Just you try it.
There will inevitably be some broken links and confused badgers running around the place for a few days. Bear with me: it will all be a bright new tomorrow, you’ll see. The RSS feed will remain the same, should that help you sleep at night.
See you on the other side, amigo. Deep breath!
The “Tea Party” movement is a loosely organised, libertarian political party in the USA that has garnered huge support from conversatives disillusioned with the Republican party. This podcast from NPR contains a fascinating interview with David Weigel, who covered the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and is a great primer for anyone interested in learning why this right-wing organisation has gathered such momentum.
From Sussex Safer Roads: a stunning reminder that you should wear your seatbelt.
Sound up, fullscreen is best.
I’ve long believed that teachers aren’t accorded the respect – and compensation – they deserve. Here’s slam poet Taylor Mali eloquently illustrating why.
Charlie Brooker nails it.
“Down The Line” is a radio programme that aired on BBC Radio 4. It parodied the talkback genre, which had the traditional listeners spluttering in protest, unaware that it was all just a laugh. Now the creators have reinvented it for TV:
[Charlie] Higson, who, in partnership with [Paul] Whitehouse, has also been responsible for one of the finest BBC2 sketch-programmes of recent years, The Fast Show, admits that much of Down the Line’s comic charm could have been lost in translation. “Obviously doing a radio phone-in on TV would have been daft. So we had to think, ‘Down the Line has been perfectly designed for radio - what’s the TV equivalent?’”
And then Higson and Whitehouse - with the rapidity of a “Suits You” tailor whipping out an innuendo - had a “eureka” moment. “We realised that all these programmes with celebrities driving round the country meeting people and saying ‘isn’t Britain brilliant?’ would be ideal for us to parody,” continues the 51-year-old Higson, who has carved out a very successful second career as the writer of novels about young James Bond.
Here’s the quoted article*, from the UK’s Independent. I’m obliged to warn you, however, that the subs got a bit carried away with the exclamation marks! In the article! Which is quite irritating!
Bellamy’s People begins screening on BBC2 from 21 January. So if you’re in Australia you can set your DVR to record it in approximately six years.
* While you’re there, try clicking the “enlarge” button next to the picture and see how much bigger it gets.
