Links Not in Use

I don't have anything interesting to share today for a Throwdown, so I'm just putting up a links post for today.

[.] Michael Sporn has some excellent shots and art for the forest fire sequence of Bambi. It’s one of Disney’s four most artful films.

[.] Becca’s Doll Portraits

[.] A simple, beautiful story: The Delicate Disappearance of Debbie (Smoke Rings & Matterings)

[.] ”It's hard not to see this event in the context of growing fears about a SARS-like pandemic breaking out in China and spreading worldwide. In fact, the student keeps talking about how she's terrified that this is going to be like SARS, even though she knows cholera can be treated with a three-day course of medicine. Apparently the authorities were treating this like a beta test for a more dangerous epidemic.” (A chilling post on i09 about a Chinese college student who is blogging her time in quarantine. Her blog is linked in the post.)

[.] Top 100 Crime Movies of All Time (Masters in Criminal Justice)

[.] ”The new middle-class culture of intensive parenting has ridiculous aspects, but it’s pretty successful at turning out productive, emotionally resilient young adults. And its intensity may be one reason that teen-agers from close families see child-rearing as a project for which they’re not yet ready. For too long, the conventional wisdom has been that social conservatives are the upholders of family values, whereas liberals are the proponents of a polymorphous selfishness. This isn’t true, and, every once in a while, liberals might point that out.” (A fascinating New Yorker article that examines the different attitudes toward sex on the left and right, and the hypocritical acceptance of teenage pregnancy in the evangelical community.)

Bat-Mite!

[.] The 50 Facts You Might Not Know About Barack Obama. The coolest of course is that he collects Conan the Barbarian and Spider-Man comics. (Telegraph)

[.] ”Experts agree that the Internet has the magical power to turn normal people into fuckwads simply by granting them anonymity and an audience. But there's another cause that gets overlooked. Specifically, that a comment screen abhors a vacuum and will quickly fill it with assholes.” (from Cracked: 5 Ways to Stop Trolls from Killing the Internet)

[.] ”Black people have gotten the shaft in this country since they were first dragged over here on dirty ships, yet they apparently find nothing ironic about voting against letting gay people marry because of what they’ve learned from a black-bound book of fairy tales. (Have you heard the one about the pregnant virgin? It’s a hoot.) I guess part of the fun of getting equal rights is finding a group to keep rights from.” (Hobo Trashcan)

[.] JA has gorgeous frame grabs from Spirits of the Dead, a favorite of mine.

[.] ”Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two people running across Sheridan Road. I came to the realization that they'd run right in front of my car, which was moving at the speed limit, about 40 miles per hour. Even worse, I realized that I knew them; it was Studs and Mrs. Terkel, running to catch a cab that was on the other side of the street.” (Johnny Yen nearly kills Studs Terkel.)

[.] Michael Sporn interviews Ray Harryhausen.

[.] Song of the Bell-toll Girl (Smoke Rings & Matterings)

[.] ”Did you know that James Bond has the power to turn lesbians straight? And that lesbians were only gay in the first place because they have the right to vote?” (io9 takes a look at feminism, Ian Fleming-style.)

[.] The 5 Most Retarded Causes People Are Actually Fighting For (Cracked)

[.] 1. No Bug-Eyed Monsters
2. No Tin Robots
3. No elaborate SF settings
(io9 has an internal memo from the BBC that would’ve killed Doctor Who before it even began.)

[.] ”Is the Twilight series pushing its own kind of morality along with its love story? I think so — and it is an element that parents and teachers need to be aware is in the books. The narrative suggests that it is better to submit and sublimate yourself to a superior being than to be your own person. Having a will of one's own is not conducive to Meyer's brand of love and living. Only heterosexual relationships are explored, and (married!) sex is always a power play with painful consequences. Plus it is preferable to be a teenage mother above all else, even if it kills you.” (io9 offers an analysis of Stephenie Meyer’s wish-fulfillment series I’ve never heard before.)

[.] ”You look at the auto company CEOs and ask why they took private jets to testify before Congress. I look at you in your monster vehicle and wonder why you think you need to drive something so big and ridiculous.” (Dcup on who needs to accept blame for the fall of the auto industry.)

[.] ”Skeletor’s grinning rictus of exposed teeth makes scrape-free fellatio impractical if not impossible.” (Peter Lynn debunks myths about Skeletor.)

[.] ”Wonder Woman's popularity outstripped nerdom long ago. She's iconic. I fail to see how her movie, in the words of the Movie Examiner, could ever be ‘a screamingly bad idea.’” (Hear, hear, Elisabeth Rappe! I want a Wonder Woman movie, and it want it done right!)

[.] ”A Joe Lieberman who owes the continuation of his career to Obama is far more valuable than a sullen douchebag who holds grudges caucusing with the opponents. By holding on to Lieberman, Obama and the Senate Democrats have cut the Connecticut Senator's nuts off, and you can bet that he will fall in line.” (The Rude Pundit)

[.] 7 Retarded Food Myths the Internet Thinks Are True: ”Have you noticed how all of these rumors seem to assume there's just nobody at all looking out for food safety? They make it sound like they could replace the filling in Ding Dongs with baboon semen and we'd have no defense if not for the dedicated email forwarders of the world.” (Cracked)