The Pillow Book

Selected Titles from director David Lister's Oeuvre

Thu, 05 May 2011 14:11:00 -0400

Beauty and the Beast

Malibu Shark Attack

Blood of Beasts

Bustin’ Bonaparte

Pets

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

The Meeksville Ghost

Filligoggin

Dazzle

The Last Leprechaun

Kwagga Strikes Back

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Journey of Dreams

Delicately Worded Refusal

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:56:38 -0400

“I think I’ll let it be for now…best not to clutter such loveliness”

Complicated Question

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:39:37 -0400

In “Luck of the Fryrish,” why isn’t Professor Farnsworth interested in the history of his direct ancestor Philip J. Fry II?

"English Noun Botany Bay dozen (plural Botany Bay dozens) (Australian, slang, obsolete) 25 lashes,..."

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:08:14 -0400

“English
Noun
Botany Bay dozen (plural Botany Bay dozens)
(Australian, slang, obsolete) 25 lashes, ie. strokes of a whip across a person’s back as a punishment. (Reference: Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore, 1987, paperback 1996 ISBN 1-86046-150-6, chapter 12.)”

- Botany Bay dozen - Wiktionary

Imperfect Nintendo Games

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:53:29 -0400

10) Trojan

Ten Best Nintendo Games

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:52:56 -0400

A valuable list.

10) Rygar

9) Spy vs. Spy

8) Goonies II

7) Willow

6) Crystalis

5) Kabuki Quantum Fighter

4) Power Blade

3) Whomp ‘Em

"Nickname(s): H2O town"

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:43:27 -0400

“Nickname(s): H2O town”

- Watertown, Massachusetts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Learning Fun and Important Things

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:26:03 -0400

Let us contemplate the pictures of musicians in my Last.fm library and whether they appear in color or black and white. The discernment of meaning in this exercise is left as an exercise for the reader.

Bob Dylan: black and white

The Magnetic Field: black and white

Pavement: color

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: color

Animal Collective: color

Tom Waits: black and white

Pixies: black and white

Joanna Newsom: black and white

The Thermals: color

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem: color (barely; these Northern European gentlemen are shown in signature white Aran sweaters against a white background.)

The Rolling Stones: black and white

Arcade Fire: black and white

Sufjan Stevens: color

The Who: color

Dan Deacon: color

The Beatles: black and white

Ween: black and white

Radiohead: black and white

Glenn Gould: black and white

Built to Spill: black and white

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker: color

Rasputina; black and white

Philip Glass: black and white

Wolf Parade: color

David Bowie: black and white

Frank Zappa: black and white

Yo La Tengo: black and white

The Smashing Pumpkins: black and white

Final Fantasy: color

Wu-Tang Clan: black and white

Bongwater: black and white

Talking Heads: black and white

Frédéric Chopin: black and white

Regina Spektor: color

Belle and Sebastian: color

Leon Redbone: black and white

At this point, it is believed that we have learned enough.

Some of the Best Albums

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:25:34 -0500

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Doolittle

Monkey vs. Robot

Blonde on Blonde

Some of the Best Television Shows

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:38:00 -0500

Azumanga Daioh

Blackadder

Clerks: The Animated Series

The Kingdom

Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Simpsons

South Park

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Twin Peaks

The Wire

PS: Dave and Steve’s Video Game Explosion

PPS: FLCL

Mystery Science Theater 3000

Morsel about Typography from Wikipedia

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:10:41 -0500

Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, and clerical workers.

— Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography

Some Contemporary Christmas Songs

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:06:58 -0400

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey - I think that this is probably the best Christmas song written recently. A good song, and very sweet. Mariah Carey co-wrote it - I would not have guessed that she had a hand in her song-writing.

“Step Into Christmas” by Elton John - This song is stupid and weird but has some irresistible charm.

“A Wonderful Christmas Time” by Paul McCartney - As above, this song is absolutely stupid, but I like it.

“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses - My Christmas spirit only produces a tiny little present of fondness for this truly stupid song. The title is a pun of sorts, since the song is meant to be taken as rap music. It is not.

"Through the Fire and Flames"

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:55:07 -0400

The song “Through the Fire and Flames” by DragonForce is very popular with Internet people. I imagine its involvement with the Guitar Hero series helps this. It sounds a lot like “Hotel California,” although I personally prefer “Hotel California.”

Dull Facts

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:25:15 -0400

The introduction to the Wikipedia article on Stephen King’s The Duma Key is boring: “Duma Key is a psychological horror novel by American novelist Stephen King. The book reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. It is King’s first novel to be set in Florida or Minnesota. The dust jacket features holographic lettering.”

Remembered or Partially Remembered Children's Programming

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:15:00 -0400

Some shorts from children’s television re-telling folktales.

“The Soldier And Death” from Jim Henson’s Storyteller has memorable gambling devils, who are caught by the soldier in the magical sack. Death was a puppet like a strange baby. The soldier was not malicious, but was kept out of both Heaven and Hell and so wanders the Earth eternally with a magical whistle.

“The Mysterious Stranger” from a baffling feature-length stop-motion animation film based on the works of Mark Twain. The Stranger was very scary, and the plight of the tiny clay people very affecting. Many other people were also struck by this one.

Peppy musical retelling of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” One song with a misguided philosophy from the middle of the piece explains that “All you need is money to be rich.”

Stop-motion animation about a collection of individuals with supernatural powers who help a youth win the heart of some kind of young woman. More than one of the component source stories were also taken as sources for vignettes in Terry Gilliams The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. For example, one has large ears and hears well, one is a skilled archer. These two work in tandem at one point. One runs very fast. These stories seem to have come from Rudolf Erich Raspe. Nonetheless, the framing story in this case has nothing to do with the baron himself who is similarly promiscuous in retellings. This was seen more than once, but not too much more, at my great-grandmother’s apartment in the Bronx. I always liked puzzling over the small differences in television programming and newspaper comics when visiting New York.