Bob Canada has performed a great service for the Interweb with this Doctor Who infographic:

Posters are available. He also worked up one for the Doctor’s enemies. Continue reading Who’s Who Infographic →

This is incredible and disturbing. Dustin Boyers sees his friend’s car windows broken by Occupy Wall Street thugs in San Francisco and starts yelling at them. He told them to stop breaking things and that they didn’t know the people whose property they were breaking up. He says,

And what was interesting was that they’re the sort of people that hang out with people who only have the same views as they do, so that what I said was almost something they’d never heard. At one point they started chanting, “White boy, go home!” And I answered: “I have a right to be here. I have a right to talk to you. I have a right to engage you.” And they were like, “Oh, yeah, I guess that’s true.”

It’s horrifying to see people vandalizing the streets en masse (there’s a video) and equally horrifying to realize some politicians defend them.

And on the radio, I’m hearing people are aborting their children because they want a boy instead of a girl! Dear God! Who defends this?!

Our friend, Brendan of Digital Sextant, reviews Stephen Fry’s English Delight, a BBC radio show on English words. He likes it a good bit. Get Fry Audio on Amazon here.

On an mostly unrelated note, here’s a patriotic sketch from Fry and Hugh Laurie.

Have a happy, God-blessed Memorial Day.

For the origins of “Taps,” the military song at the end of the day, see below. Continue reading ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and ‘Taps’ →

See some of the possibilities here. Apparently, one-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year. (via Mental Floss)

I wonder exactly what “read another book” means.

Book Riot talks short stories and recommends 20 collections.

Speaking short shorts, which are shorter than short stories, Loren has been posting several both for reading and listening on his blog. “Saint Georgette” is just beautiful, but scroll down to see more.

Emily January talks about feeling guilty when a friend recommends and gushes over a book she doesn’t want to read. “I’m known for being the “reader,” so I should be able to digest anything, right? Well, unfortunately the fact that I read a lot has also refined my tastes. I find that many of the books I have swallowed are not books that other people attempt to swallow.”

What makes a great story? For legendary filmmaker Ken Burns, the answer is both complicated and personal. In this short documentary about the craft of storytelling, he explains his lifelong mission to wake the dead. Recently featured on The Atlantic. (http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/05/ken-burns-on-story/257165/)

Directed by Tom Mason and Sarah Klein
Music by Ryan Sayward Whittier
Animation by Elliot Cowan

What did I say about researchers? Kevin Holtsberry points to an amazingly unqualified study by National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and AARP that we should drink coffee. “We think our study provides some reassurance that (drinking coffee) may not increase their risk of death,” says one researcher. Of course, he meant death from various specific diseases within a certain timeframe. But, you know, details.

Mike Cosper talks about telling great stories and making films to the best of your ability.

They say that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. This is as true of filmmaking as it is of anything, and it’s the final thing that I’d say to a Christian who wants to be the next Spielberg or Soderberg. If you want to make films, then make films. Make them badly. Make them with iPhones and flip cameras, edit them on a laptop or in a computer lab at your middle school. Make lots of them and don’t worry about whether or not they’re good until you’ve made 10 or 20. Even then, don’t worry when they’re bad. Look for the things you’ve done well and figure out how to apply those lessons to the entire next project.