33 Things: The Week’s Amusing and Intriguing Links

Masculine slang-Victorian style, disagreements about Tim Burton, Godzilla, Symbols, Color-by-number toilet paper…oh…and even a little politics. (Meh!)

1. Forty “Bad” Books, according to the “experts”.

2. I Stopped Denying People: Ex- Bank of America CSR Tells All

3. Godzilla Haiku

4. Miniature Worlds

A friend of mine, staring at the map of Mordor that hung on the wall in our bachelor apartment, once asked how Sauron could feed all his orks. Another friend and I quickly pointed to the sea of Nurn and explained that there was an agricultural region on its banks and that additional foodstuffs could be imported from the tributary states in the south. It wasn’t the answer he expected.

5. Schrodinger’s Barbershop

6. Pray for Michael Spenser.

7. BABIES!

8. — CAN YOU HEAR IT?

9. Why Tim Burton’s auteur approach makes soulless movies – (“Hmph!” says Robin)

10. Our own Renee Bolinger has insight on the costuming in Burton’s new film “Alice in Wonderland”

11. Could YOU pass the old radio announcer’s test?

12. Mad Men Barbie Dolls.

13. “Extinct Modern Technology Presented Like Fossils” (my, how time flies!)

14. “Compassion for all,” our society claims…. what they’re really thinking: “some people deserve our contempt.”

15. Neil Patrick Harris in upcoming Smurfs movie. Really.

16. The morning paper, in 3D! Big deal!  I’ll be impressed when they release the morning paper in IMAX.

17. It is about to become illegal for private institutions to offer federally guaranteed student loans.  Want to know when Congress will be voting up or down on this specific takeover of the student loan industry?  They won’t be. They’ll be voting for budget reconciliation and this new law, in addition to the healthcare proposal, will be a part of that vote.

18. Google has unveiled its latest project; it’s moving beyond mobile apps and creating a marketplace for “business to business” apps.  In a word: genius.  Will the app marketplace flourish as its mobile counterpart from Apple has flourished?

19. Thomas Nelson Publishers CEO, Michael Hyatt, has some great advice to first time writers:

1. Educate yourself. 2. Read blogs written by agents. 3. Write a killer book proposal. 4. Have someone review your proposal. For details on these and the rest of his advice, check out his post.

20. Paint by Numbers toilet paper.

21. From Gotham to Metropolis—acclaimed Batman director Christopher Nolan to lend his talents to new Superman franchise.

22. The Art of Manliness teaches us how to use manly slang from the 19th century.

23. The sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera” opens this week in London. Here’s an early review from The Guardian.

24. Protestant Poetry in Conflict: “For And Against Cromwell” by Peter Leithart.

25. Curious about Literary Theory?: “A Primer on LitCrit”

26. Getting College Men to Get More Involved.

27. Sixty Symbols: short videos that explain 60 physics and astronomy symbols.

28. Fast Food sweets.

29. Proof that we live in the future: Spray-on Liquid Glass

30. Starbucks is 39, and having a mid-life crisis.

31. Why do we obsess over the Oscars?  Because we’re watching ourselves, not the actors.

32. The only thing bi-partisan about the current healthcare legislation is the opposition to it.  Charmaine Yoest, President of Americans United for Life, is right: If the President wanted to pass healthcare legislation tomorrow, he could; he just needs to quit trying to force taxpayers to fund abortions.

“It’s now becoming clear that Barack Obama is willing to put everything on the table in order to be the president who passes health-care reform. Everything, that is, except a ban on federal funding for abortion.

Last September, the president promised that “no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.” Yet the legislation most likely to move forward in Congress would be the single greatest expansion of abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision…

The president’s plan goes further than the Senate bill on abortion by calling for spending $11 billion over five years on ‘community health centers,’ which include Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions.

The bottom line is that the president wants to deploy words that sound soothing like ‘balance’ and ‘adjust.’ Meanwhile, the courts are rendering precedent with stark words like “mandatory.”

When confronted by House Minority Leader John Boehner about abortion funding during the health-care summit last week, the president dropped his head and looked down at the table. How revealing.”

33. Post Office declares that images are overrated; issues supremely non-offensive blank stamp. Hey, it could happen…