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gallery about rss archive| Monday | March 8th | 2010 |
| Sunday | March 7th | 2010 |
Dear friends,
Have you noticed any of these books over the last six months? Have their bright covers and intriguing synopses* tempted you as you walk past your local book purveyor? Have you lain awake pondering whether they are worth your precious time and attention? Have countless minutes elapsed while you shifted from foot to foot in the shoppe aisles, hefting one and then the other in hand, comparing their relative densities, paper quality and font choice**? Would you like to know which of these five are nominated for the Nebula award for best novel***?
Friends, I have read all of these books. I am here to assist you.
Read on for scathing criticisms and ranting delight.
*Do not, under pain of death, read the back cover synopsis of The Manual of Detection. It is both factually wrong and riddled with spoilers.
** Boneshaker is printed in brown ink. BROWN.
*** Hint: four out of these five are nominated, all in the same category. Apparently, the nomination committee lives behind my bookshelf.
| Saturday | March 6th | 2010 |
| Wednesday | March 3rd | 2010 |
“Murder of Birds” by Jesca Hoop. Hunting My Dress, 2009.
Cause, I’m not a bird / I’m a murder of birds
At the close of last year a little album dropped across the pond in the UK which sent out some very lovely ripples. Hunting My Dress is Jesca Hoop’s second major release, and proves that comparisons to Joanna Newsom and Bat for Lashes (whom she precedes) are entirely justified.
Combining a knack for lush, unique arrangements—often relying on music-box glissandos and bell-like vocal backings—with some gothically delicate lyrics, her work is unforgettable. Earlier songs ran the gamut from glimmery electro-pop to cocktail dress croons to haunting ballads of brittle ballerina bones.
“Murder of Birds,” the only track I have been able to get my ears on (the US release is yet to drop), is a quieter rumination than her usual stuff. Jesca’s clear, lilting voice intertwines beautifully with that of the more gravelly whisper of Elbow’s front man, Guy Garvey. Achingly sweet and spare, this track might fool you into thinking her work is all similarly quiet, but a listen to her first release—Kismet—will cure you of that notion very quickly.
Keep an eye on this California-raised/Manchester-located chanteuse, as she and her midnight music are exploring some wondrous places.
| Tuesday | March 2nd | 2010 |
NOOOOOOOOO. Those were the only things I watched on Hulu, after the demise of Dollhouse. Who will entertain me now? Who will make Bender waffles just the way he likes them?
Yeah, so he was telling me about this movie called “Snow Crash,” and, well, it’s not actually a movie yet, but it totally should be. It’s, like, a book right now, but he was telling me about it, and it’s so totally perfect for like a big blockbuster action movie. I don’t remember who wrote it, and I haven’t read it, but he was describing all these scenes that are like perfect for a movie, and we were casting it in our heads. It’s like there are all these people, and they’re all online— like the Matrix—but not. And all of these people are also addicted to this drug. That’s the ‘snow’ reference. And it’s a really good story.
So, we decided that Mark Ruffalo would be perfect for the lead guy. I don’t remember his name. Did you see 13 Going on 30? Mark Ruffalo is the lead in that. He’s so dopey and cute, he’s perfect. Megan Fox would be the main girl. She’s like this really sexy programmer chick, and it would be so awesome. I want Jerry Bruckheimer to make this movie. It’s gonna be so legit.
”The girl who is excitedly talking about making Neal Stephenson’s beloved cyberfreakout Snow Crash into a movie is the most normal of college girls. Think the Gap plus a smidge of Columbia sportswear. None of her very normal friends have heard of it. They are Not geeks, Not nerds. They are terrifying.
This unholy union of terrible terrible terrible ideas is simultaneously horrifying and gut-bustingly funny. Mark Ruffalo + Megan Fox + Jerry Bruckheimer + a hilariously awful plot synopsis = me holding my GUFFAWING laughter in, not even able to sip my coffee for fear of snorting through my nose. Oh, so awful.
And yet, it is exactly what would happen should Hollywood ever make Snow Crash into a blockbuster, which, mercifully, has not happened yet. Thank Hiro Protagonist for small miracles.
| Friday | February 26th | 2010 |
“So while you gaze at this nebula and wonder at its beauty, remember that in our Universe, beauty is borne by great violence. If there’s a life lesson in there I’m unaware of it. But it is worth pondering.”
This looks amazing.
4.5 million LEDs Dazzle at Japan Winter Light Show
…4.5 million LEDs lit up the Nabana no Sato theme park of Kuwana, Japan, kicking off their annual Winter Light Show that runs until March 8th. This year’s(2008) theme is one of flowers, illuminated in 64 billion colors that are reported to change color so quickly that they actually resemble a river more than a field of blooming plants.
| Wednesday | February 24th | 2010 |
Other cup sizes should say, “You’re late for work” and “You tip cause she’s hot”. I like the “Don’t leave me here” cup, though.
Puccino’s Coffee Shops
Designed by Jim Smith | Country: United Kingdom
| Sunday | February 21st | 2010 |
Dancers at Gasworks.
Lawn ornament?
Dragon attack.
Boffin' and larpin' on a February day.
It hit 56 degrees in Seattle today, though it often felt more like 60 or higher. Some of Seattle’s more “creative” folk converged upon Gasworks park to fly kites, dance, bike in anachronistic costumes and hit each other horrifically hard with flails and spears. For the record, the anachronistic bikers later rode down the street shouting “Hip hip, cheerio!” for added effect.
| Saturday | February 20th | 2010 |
Two grocery stores on the same block. Makes you wonder if there’s a competition going? As a Futurama dork, I’d vote for the Zap drawing, but the Mayer one probably trumps in quality. But, there’s a little groaning Kif at the bottom of the first one! So cute!
| Tuesday | February 16th | 2010 |
This is not a photoshop, this is a metal sculpture by Neil Dawson. See more angles here.
via www.nw32.com
| Saturday | February 13th | 2010 |
What’s dropping in May? The New Pornographers’ new album is what! To quote Home Movies, “Weee-ow!”
| Thursday | February 11th | 2010 |
Eventually this 8-bit thing is going to be just as played out as steampunk. BUT! In the meantime: Someone has put together this fantastic NES-style arrangement of the final track from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Everything You Ever.
The arranger, on the original post, mentions that he’s actually done the entire thing and plans to release it en masse complete with sprites of the major characters doing their thing. I look forward to it!
| Wednesday | February 10th | 2010 |
Since we’re speaking of webcomics tonight—and, really, when are we not?—I thought I’d mention that February 1st was 2010 Webcomics Hourlies day. Hourlies are journalistic comics drawn every hour to record an artist’s day—no matter how trivial or weird that day was. All over the internet, web comicists recorded every hour of their personal Feb 1st with a mini drawing, then posted them. I’m always amused by how even the most mundane activity (eating cereal! taking a shower! shopping for groceries! inking!) can seem funny and glamorous when depicted via comic.
The most successful are those drawn by artists who excel at dry, observational humor. Which ones stand out this year? Why, John Allison’s of Scary Go Round, Kate Beaton’s of Hark! A Vagrant!, Meredith Gran’s of Octopus Pie and Yuko/Ananth’s of Johnny Wander. Do check out John Allison’s, at the very least—it is excellent. Two hours of his day below:
(Hourlies hourlies hourlies. That just gets weirder and weirder to read and type.)
Leif writes words, music, code and bug reports; somehow he's still sane.
Nickherder is a science and engineering kind of guy, but we forgive him for it.
SaRRa is using her fancy university degree to blog.
Legal Drug makes the coffee, eats the food and drinks the booze.
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Logo by Sam Lewontin.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by the authors of Cloudherder under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Posted by SaRRa on Mon Mar 8th at 9:09PM
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Posted by Leif on Thu Feb 11th at 5:54PM