Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Morning Coffee (4/30/14)

If you missed this as it was happening last night: There was a terrible botched execution in Oklahoma.

This was written before the news of Sterling's punishment yesterday, but Jamelle Bouie's take is worth a read.

Here's a good explanation of yesterday's Supreme Court cell phone privacy stuff.

Dear New York Times, don't publish stolen things.

Hey Star Wars -- Where the Hell Are the Women?

Interesting: The story behind the Bundy quote

Ikea is making vegetarian meatballs! Yay!

I'd rather my light bulbs not record and tweet things, thanks.

Wow: Ladies’ Home Journal to End 130-Year Run as Regular Magazine

Flaws Only A Protagonist Could Have

Friday, April 25, 2014

Book Recommendation: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
Houghton Mifflin, 1999
(Goodreads, Amazon)

I happened upon this at the library while looking for more recent African history, but it provided good background and, more importantly, was a fascinating and horrifying story in its own right. I only knew the barest outlines of this section of the Congo's history, and Hochschild did a good job of weaving a lot of important information into a compelling narrative. And given the timing, reading this this week, I couldn't help but be struck by the way that Leopold's and others' justifications for colonialism, forced labor, and mass murder are being echoed almost verbatim by Cliven Bundy.

Morning Coffee (4/25/14)

Happy Friday!

The final episodes of The Killing will premiere on Netflix on August 1st!

Happiness Study Says Library Trips Are As Good As A Pay Raise (They needed a study?)

The CBC has spoken: Anne Shirley is Canada's most iconic character

The baseball fandom statistics here and here are fascinating.

In Defense of Explaining Things

I can't quite figure out what to think about cat cafes.

This memo about potential Gone with the Wind screenwriters is great.

What's the Difference Between English, Irish, and Scottish Breakfast Teas? Interesting!

How To Tell If You Are In A Charles Dickens Novel

How Much of a Perfectionist Are You? (Very, very much.)

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Friday, April 18, 2014

Morning Coffee (4/18/14)

Happy Friday!

Chelsea Clinton has announced that she's pregnant. Congratulations! (The baby can run in 2052, if you were wondering.)

Eee, the trailer for the movie version of Jersey Boys! I can't wait.

Huh. There is now a distillery in my city.

Here's an interesting read on Michelle Kwan's political career and her role in her husband's gubernatorial campaign. Good for her!

Important: Twenty-First Century Science Writers

This week in entertainment headlines Mad Libs: Downton Abbey Producer Developing Freud Crime Drama from X-Files Writer

Wondering what books were challenged most in 2013? (I'm all for reading challenged books, but . . . no, please don't make me read Captain Underpants.)

Plenty of Room for Stupidity: On P.G. Wodehouse

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Morning Coffee (4/17/14)

Good news: Judge overturns North Dakota’s 6-week abortion ban

If you've been online in the past day, you've probably heard about the New York Times piece on the Jameis Winston case, but here it is just in case.

This whole study is worth a read if you have time: Girls View Sexual Violence as Normal

"The confident may end up being more successful than the competent, but is that dubious form of power worth striving for?"

Phyllis Schlafly thinks "The best way to improve economic prospects for women is to improve job prospects for the men in their lives, even if that means increasing the so-called pay gap." Which is not surprising of her, but . . . wow.

Here's the answer to why William Shatner has been live-tweeting the CW.

9 questions you’re too embarrassed to ask about normcore

Here's the promo for that new reality show in which they're telling American women they can marry Prince Harry, and it looks so ridiculous that I'm going to be tempted to watch, and . . . darn it, they're winning.

I've never quite understood the concept of "training" bras, but this teen girl-run company is fascinating and the owner is saying a lot of good things.

History’s Smuggest Brides: Vintage Engagement Photos That Perfectly Embody The Spirit Of “I Got Mine”

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Book Recommendation: The Setup Man by T.T. Monday

The Setup Man by T.T. Monday
Doubleday, 2014
(Goodreads, Amazon)

Baseball noir! Johnny Adcock is the Veronica Mars of the MLB, a relief pitcher who spends his off hours moonlighting as a PI, tailing cheating spouses and doing favors for his frenemies. Monday's characters and world-building were great; his writing was a little rough at times, but this was his first novel so I'm definitely interested to see his future efforts. If you like both baseball and mysteries, this is a great spring read.

Morning Coffee (4/15/14)

Today is the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings. The Globe is a good place to start for memorial coverage.

Speaking of which, yesterday the Globe won a Pulitzer for their breaking news coverage. Here are all the winners.

An important read: I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway

Why Cosmo Is Getting Serious About Its Reproductive Rights Coverage

The content of this article is actually even crazier than the title makes it sound: VA GOP candidate: No incest exception for abortion because sometimes it’s ‘voluntary’

Hilarious (but obviously spoilery): If Our Media Reported The Thing That Just Happened On “Game Of Thrones”

Tumblr recommendation of the day: Composers Doing Normal Shit

If "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" Had Used Suggested Hashtags

Friday, April 11, 2014

Book Recommendation: Tunnel Vision by Susan Adrian

So I was raving about this book last night on Twitter, and then I realized, hey, I have this blog and could theoretically use it for something other than lists of links. So I'm going to start trying to post book recommendations semi-regularly. We'll see how it goes. (I do post about all the books I read on Goodreads; my account there is not under my real name; let me know if you want to find/friend me and we'll make it work.)

Anyway, the book! It's a young adult slightly-science fiction thriller called Tunnel Vision, by debut author Susan Adrian. The bad news is that it's not out until next year, so I'll probably re-up this post to remind you then, but since I was so effusive on Twitter I figured I might as well post now. Here's the description from Goodreads, where you should add it to your TBR shelf immediately:
A teenage boy who has a power he calls tunneling—he can decipher where anyone in the world is (and what they’re doing) by holding something they own—is brought to the attention of the U.S. government.
This book grabbed me from page one - and then it just kept getting better and better. At several points I was thinking I had the book figured out, knew more or less where it was going - and then Adrian pulled the rug out from under the reader in the best possible ways, with twists and surprises that feel utterly inevitable in retrospect, rather than just being shocking for the sake of it. Sometimes after you read a lot of books in a genre, you start feeling like you have a general sense of where things are going, and the way this book upended those expectations was so refreshing. And even aside from the main thriller plot, Tunnel Vision has loads of heart and humor, a bit of romance - the hero mentally compares his love interest to Veronica Mars, so you know he's got good taste - and some fascinating family dynamics, especially a sibling relationship that was my favorite part of the book.

(Disclaimer: I know Susan, but I would not lie to you about something as important as a book recommendation.)

Morning Coffee (4/11/14)

Happy Friday!

Eeee, here's the Masterpiece summer schedule!

If you're wondering about the fate of your favorite yet-to-be-renewed show, Dan Fienberg's write-up is very good.

I want Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon's bookcase risers.

Wife insists Welsh dragon must go

Previously.tv's Firefly theme remix series is great. Here's yacht rock and polka.

This is your brain on knitting

This look at TV writer Julie Plec's office and work routine is great.

Klingon beer, anyone?

The Onion: All Of Man’s Time-Wasting Websites Exhausted Before Lunch

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Morning Coffee (4/1/14)

I hate April Fool's Day. To the best of my knowledge, none of the following links are pranks.

The Bomb Girls movie is coming to the U.S. on May 26th! Yay!

The How I Met Your Mother finale was last night and it was terrible. Here's Alan Sepinwall on how they conned us all.

Happy opening... week? Whatever. Here’s How Much It Costs to Propose at Every Major League Baseball Stadium. Tip: JUST DON'T.

I joined my buddies at Ahoy Mateys to record a commentary for the Veronica Mars movie, if such things interest you.

David Duchovny is doing a 1960s-set cop show about the hunt for Charles Manson. Intriguing.

This interview with James Middleton (brother of Kate) about his marshmallow business (no really) is pretty great.

Oh good: Glenn Beck Sued for Defamation Over His '212 3B' Boston Marathon Bombing Conspiracy Theory

Okay, this one is a joke, but it's not pretending not to be: Dirtbag Anne of Green Gables