Do iPod Users Really Think Different?
A Nielsen/Netratings survey suggests they might. Favorite alcoholic beveridge? Hard cider. Favorite car? VW. Favorite TV network? Cartoon Network, followed by BBC America and HBO.
Wes Phillips
Why Do Birds Sing Together?
Turns out the theories about this have changed over time. This fascinating article reminds me of the great Simon Frith essay, "Why Do Songs Have Words?" Frith posited that pop song lyrics teach the young men of our decidedly unpoetic era the language of courtship.
Was Krazy Kat Really Shrodinger's Cat?
Chet Raymo argues that George Herriman's love struck cat and brick-tossing mouse "turned the deterministic world of Newtonian physics upside down."
A Scanner Darkly
In FilmMaker, Scott Macauley has written a spirited preview/interview of Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, which he says is the first faithful film based on a Philip K. Dick novel. I hope so, because the early trailer I saw had an overly-rotoscoped look that I didn't simply hate, I detested. Macauley makes me want to see the movie anyway.
Poetry as a Symptom of Epilepsy
You didn't think people did it for the money, did you?
Clive James Has a Posse
Clive">http://www.clivejames.com/index.cfm">Clive James has a website, which is full of stuff that'll keep you riveted to your chair.
Productivity Enhancer
Hours of mindless fun drawing and watching your own flipbooks. If I can do it, you can do it.
Words Words Words
Jeremy Clarkson gives good rant on over-used words that really ought to be considered offensive.
Amusia
To some people, music doesn't make any sense. There's a name for that: amusia. Auntie Beeb 'splains it to us.
Free Online Graph Paper
Have you tried to buy graph paper recently? Those 16-year-old clerks at Staples have no clue what you're talking about. If you really want to see their eyes glaze over, tell'em when you went to school you had to carry your own hand-powered computer called a slide rule.