Sunday Wrap-up: Interesting Internets of the Week
1) Women as Violent Characters in Movies
Interesting read as we delve into what it means to make a series about women who make their money off of violent acts. I am not passive in nature, but I’m anti-violence, so making Hitwomen was definitely an interesting leap for me. Further complications included not wanting to alienate any fans, but also not wanting to directly cater to the desires of “chicks with guns” fetishists. While it’s niave to believe that action heroes (or anti-heroes, as you might call our characters in “Hitwomen”) shouldn’t have an element of sex appeal (helloooo Bruce Willis in “Die Hard”), it’s definitely off-putting to think that women in action are selling it not with how bad-ass they are, but with the mere fact that they happen to have a pair of breasts. Even more disheartening, the idea of a “father figure” still calling the shots for these more than competent women in action.
2) The Effects of Repeated Idea Elaboration on Unconscious Plagiarism
This is a really interesting read if you are involved in the arts. It discusses the way we receive information and unconsciously recall that information when we are trying to come up with ideas. It also lightly touches on how to avoid unconsciously plagiarizing another’s work through strict scrutiny of your creative output.
3) In Rediscovered Letter from 1865, Former Slave Tells Old Master to Shove It
I absolutely love this. It’s everything you could possibly imagine and more. The experience of wanting to tell off the fucker who straight ruined your day (in this case, made your life and the lives of your family members hell for a pretty chunk of time) is pretty universal, but how often have any of us had the opportunity to do so on such a grandiose level? The answer is rarely. Reading this is like a hug from baby Jeebs (that’s Jesus, for you philistines out there). I can’t overstate the brilliance in this, so just read it. Also, an invaluable glimpse into the tragic history of that time from one who lived it.
4) Luxury Comedy by Noel Fielding (of The Mighty Boosh fame)
Surrealist comedy complete with animation and songs. Far too brilliant for his own good, that Noel Fielding. Watch and you’ll want to light your eyeballs on fire afterward…in the good way…I think.
5) High Resolution scans of Ernst Haeckel’s “Kunstformen der Natur”
Haeckel - "Muscinae"
Just too pretty for words. Look through them. If you aren’t familiar with Ernst Haeckel, he is a German biologist who described and named thousands of new species. He was an absolutely brilliant artist, and it’s worth it just to look through the high-resolution images even if you don’t care much about biology. All the pretties.
