A mashup of Toy Story and The Wire (complete with Wire language).
Hat tip: Mike Godwin’s Facebook feed.
Toy Wire
June 22nd, 2010Worst. Song. Ever.
June 22nd, 2010So a while back, some scientists took a survey to determine the most and least popular musical elements ever. From the survey, they then produced the Most and Least Wanted Songs ever. The Most Wanted Song sounds like many an insipid Oscar nominee for Best Song.
The Least Wanted Song combines all the least popular elements into a twenty-two minute long concoction of cowboy poetry, bad rap, bad opera, tuba, bagpipes, 8-bit bleeps, and a repeating children’s choir celebrating every holiday with the exact same tune. It’s not the worst song ever (LARD’s “I Am Your Clock” still gets my vote for that), but it’s so weird that it’s actually pretty funny. Here are all three parts in their dubious glory.
It’s oddly fascinating, but I don’t think it’s going to end up on my iPod anytime soon…
Hat tip: Karl, who points out (correctly) that it’s frequently much more pleasant than much of Hidden Agenda.
Jonah Hex Review Now Up
June 21st, 2010Over at Locus Online. Howard and I agree that it was better than Wicker Man.
Taking a look at the current movie top ten, the only thing I would say Jonah Hex looks clearly superior to is…Marmaduke.
I can see the poster now: BETTER THAN MARMADUKE AND WICKER MAN! That should pull the crowds in…
Books Read: Eric Frank Russell’s Wasp
June 20th, 2010Eric Frank Russell
Wasp
Despite being very obviously dated (the “aliens” in the book talk and act exactly like New Yorkers in the 1940s, and the agents of the evil alien government act exactly like Nazis), the book itself is still quite a bit of fun. It depicts the efforts of a single disguised human agent to destabilize an entire alien planet in preparation for an invasion. Anachronisms aside, this is a swift-moving novel that holds your attention, and if you’re looking for something short, old-fashioned and engrossing, this admirably fits the bill.
Everett F. Bleiler, 1920-2010: RIP
June 17th, 2010Locus is reporting that Everett F. Bleiler has died. For those unfamiliar with his work, he was perhaps the preeminent science fiction bibliographer and historian. His Checklist of Fantastic Literature was the first truly important SF bibliography, and his books Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years are probably the most extensive and exhaustive coverage of pre-Campbellian SF ever published. His bibliographic knowledge of the field was so extensive that, among the living, only George Locke and Lloyd Currey even come close. (Though Texas’ own Jess Nevins is getting there.) I’ve reached for one of his works many a time, as have every serious SF bibliographer, historian, book seller or book collector. He will be missed, but people will still be consulting his books a century from now.
Houston Rockets Schedule(s) Cupcakes
June 14th, 2010
If I were in Houston Monday, June 21, I would totally buy a cupcake from Shane Battier.
Ummm, cupcakes…
The Latest Literary Abomination Mashup
June 14th, 2010
Ben H. Winters and Leo Tolstoy’s Android Karenina
My powers of prophecy are unparalleled, even when I’m joking…
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Drug Lords
June 12th, 2010Here are some pretty interesting pictures from a bust at a Mexican drug lord’s house. The giant piles of cash and the tacky gold-plated guns are pretty much par for the course, but the rest of the house is, believe it or not, more tasteful and restrained than the average drug lord lair. But the non-gold plated arsenal starts out at interesting, moves on to impressive, and ends up at “oh my God, he really could have equipped his own army.” (Though the pictures at the bottom are evidently from another bust.)
(Hat tip: Mike.)
Books Read: Naomi Novik’s Temeraire: Throne of Jade
June 12th, 2010Naomi Novik
Temeraire: Throne of Jade
This is a solid follow-up to the first Temeraire book. In this one Lawrence and his Celestial dragon are forced to take a slow boat to China to see the Emperor, who is evidently most upset that his dragon (a gift to Napoleon) is now enrolled in the English aerial corps. Some have said they found their attention flagging through the long sea voyage (which takes up a bit more than half the book); actually, I didn’t find my attention flagging until right after they first make landfall in China. So I think the book could be trimmed a little (maybe 10%), but it still engaged me.