Fragments

I have my book! I also have dirt on my forehead from when I blacked-out in the middle of a path and somehow avoided the broken glass bits. And in a minute or so I will have a cup of coffee right next to me. Life is so exciting! Confession: I have a weakness for very silly Ben Stiller films. Dodgeball and Zoolander, particularly tickle my funny bone. So, when I saw the trailer for Tropic Thunder, I felt compelled to spread the news: think Apocalypse Now but with Ben Stiller as an action hero, Steve Coogan as the director and, er, Robert Downey Jr as an Australian Oscar-winning ah-k-tor who takes method acting to extremes .. It'll probably be utterly naff but I like being utterly naff at times. Sue me.

Okay, less naff entertainment: do judge a book by its cover. Aww..

The Hills are Alive

If Rufus Wainwright were a soft toy..

Before We Started Painting the Town

It is just one of those things, as Cole Porter wrote. I do not intend to let Fourth Edition become a voyeuristic woe-is-me blog just because I happen to be rather ill at the moment. Sadly, I am rather ill at the moment and so Fourth Edition languishes a bit. It probably irritates me more than it irritates you.

If you are a Dane, Spillet med byer might appeal (I'm hopeless when it comes to placing towns in Jutland) and if you are not, it could have a certain absurdish appeal trying to place obscure Danish towns on a map.

Saturday Linkage

Last night I went into the kitchen and announced: "I really like Tanzania." My poor, deluded brain had been locked into dream-space whilst I had been battling it out on Puzzle Quest. While my fingers had been busy pairing up gems and fighting wyverns, another part of me had been in Tanzania on a veranda, er, playing Puzzle Quest. Needless to say, I was ordered to bed and slept until 1pm today. But I still really like Tanzania.

Saturday linkage:
Not All Men of the Future Wear Polyester Jumpsuits: "In The Antineutral Suit: Futurist Manifesto (1914), Balla railed against "neutral, 'nice,' [and] faded" colors, not to mention "stripes, checks, and diplomatic little dots." Instead, Futurist attire would be "Dynamic, with textiles of dynamic patterns and colors (triangles, cones, spirals . . .) that inspire the love of danger, speed, and assault, and loathing of peace and immobility.""

Speaking of fashion, do you have $8,901 to spare? If so, you might want to bid on an Elsa Schiraparelli item designed for and worn by Marlene Dietrich. I like the idea of a Schiraparelli gown - particularly one associated with Dietrich - it cannot get more arty decadence circa 1930 than that, surely?

Via my Other Half: Neil Gaiman on why books have genders. I could take or leave Gaiman, but it is an interesting idea. I might revisit that in a later entry.

Finally, Pictures of Walls. This site feeds into my preoccupation with public lettering/writing, of course. And funnily enough you also get pictures of walls there - which in turn have pictures on them. Gosh.

Roses Are #FF0000

It's Valentine's Day today. I have already my present from my Significant Other: a facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer. Aww.

Equally geeky/sweet: Typecaster. "A Flash app [that] lets you drag two fonts from the left side into the stage area... to see how well the two types mix when dating (fonts available are Mistral, Papyrus, Comic Sans, Helvetica, Stencil, and American Typewriter)." I particularly like the type description of Papyrus.

Knotted Brain Much?

The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art: "the world's largest collection of anatomically correct fabric brain art. Inspired by research from neuroscience, dissection and neuroeconomics, our current exhibition features three quilts with functional images from PET and fMRI scanning, a knitted brain, and two fabric pieces interpreting single neuron recording."

Their disclaimer amuses this soon-to-undergo-MRI-scan woman: "While our artists make every effort to insure accuracy, we cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of using fabric brain art as a guide for functional magnetic resonance imaging, trans-cranial magnetic stimulation, neurosurgery, or single-neuron recording."

Found via the scary, slightly incomprehensible Knitting For Nerds which also includes links to knitted nonorientable manifolds (no, I don't know either) and The Periodic Table sweater.