Archive for March, 2010
The New Rick-Roll
by Josh K-sky on Mar.27, 2010, under Uncategorized
I don’t actually think it will catch on, but below the fold…
(continue reading…)
F’in FINALLY
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.27, 2010, under Politics
One of the undeniably huge differences between Republican and Democratic presidencies is in the makeup of the NLRB. That is, when the NLRB is actually made up of members. Of course, for the last year Republicans in the Senate have been holding up Obama’s nominees, leaving the NLRB two members shy and incapable of making any rulings, which is functionally the same as under Bush, when it simply refused to make rulings.
After a year, Obama finally filled the vacancies with recess appointments. That only took about forever.
Resolved: Comic Book Movies
by Josh K-sky on Mar.25, 2010, under Comics, Movies
The only great comic book movies are American Splendor and Ghost World.
There are no great superhero movies.
The only great bits of superhero movies are Doc Ock’s arms in Spider-Man 2 and Heath Ledger, mostly when he’s in a nurse’s outfit, in The Dark Knight. The bit with the pencil is pretty advanced, too. The bit with the Prisoner’s Dilemma sucks.
Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
Robert Downey, Jr. is funny to watch in Iron Man but “Robert Downey, Jr talking to the CGI/himself” is no substitute for “good movie.” It would be a good “viral video” though.
X-Men… eh.
Mystery Men was not particularly bad, compared to comic book movies in general. The Specials should have been a little better, but it’s pretty good for a superhero movie with no special effects.
Alan Moore is only wrong to the extent he thinks it’s specific to him.
Only One Flaw
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.25, 2010, under Comics
Mostly this appears to be playing out correctly. But Superman over Green Lantern is a giant mistake, as we know from The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
Also I can’t seem to figure out how to vote.
The Guild #1
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.25, 2010, under Comics
The Guild, Felicia Day’s Web series about online gamers, has proved deservedly popular, so it only makes sense to bring it to comics. Day is in the Joss Whedon orbit (having starred in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog plus a couple of episodes of Dollhouse), Whedon has been doing at least as many comics as TV shows lately—certainly more comics in the years between Serenity and Dollhouse—and The Guild the comic book is edited by Whedon’s long-time editor at Dark Horse. Plus there must be some overlap between comic-book buyers and fans of Web series about online gamers. Right?
…
I hope so. I was the first person to buy a copy when I went to the comic book store yesterday, and the owner didn’t seem optimistic that anyone else would want one.
Day isn’t just reiterating the plots of the Web series in comic book form, incidentally. The comic is starting as a kind of origin story, in which Cyd discovers the joy of gaming and the Knights of Good begin to form. Her understated humor doesn’t quite translate to the static page yet, but it’s enjoyable enough, and I want her to succeed.
Preview below.
Watch Fritz’s Movie
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.24, 2010, under Movies
He got it on Hulu:
I Hate You, I Love You
by Josh K-sky on Mar.23, 2010, under Politics
Ryan Avent elegantly reconciles two superficially contradictory truisms about sprawl and urban planning.
First, that people fight fiercely in defense of sprawling suburban arrangements; second, that people actively seek out dense, urban arrangements.
Basically, everyone always wants to be the last person on the hottest possible block.
(Continued here with a discussion of price data and externalities.)
Poll
by Josh K-sky on Mar.23, 2010, under Politics
An up-to-the minute poll by J Street finds that Weisberg’s electoral Jewpocalypse has yet to rear its ugly head.
When asked to pick their top two issues in deciding the 2010 congressional election, Jews went with health care and the economy, leaving Israel in tenth place and Iran at the very bottom. Obama’s national approval rating has slipped much farther (13%) than his approval among Jews alone (2%). And by a margin of 55-45, American Jews believe that Vice President Biden was right to call out the Israelis for plunging ahead with more settlements in East Jerusalem.
ACORN Folds
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.22, 2010, under Politics
As I’ve said before, community development groups will be careful to steer clear of politics from now on, leaving poor people more politically disengaged than they would otherwise be. This continues to suck big-time.
Incidentally, the O’Keefe video that started all this has been exposed as a hoax. Not that you’d ever have known it from the papers.
The BRAD BLOG also has a PDF account of the work ACORN did over the last decade and won’t be around to do anymore.
I Left the House
by Joshua Malbin on Mar.22, 2010, under music
Girlfriend’s out of town, which tends to mean I get off my ass and go do things. Last night I went to see these guys for a really fun, upbeat, dancy show.
They’re playing the 9 pm show Sunday night at Nublu the next few weeks. Recommended.