The 110 million-year-old fossil of a nodosaur preserves the animal’s armor, skin, and what may have been its final meal. The 5-year-old in me, who wanted to be a paleontologist, is thrilled beyond measure. The 49-year-old me is almost as stoked.
And here’s another piece, from Gizmodo, looking at how it “still has it’s skin.“
A lot of people have been posting this and I’m going to as well. It’s an important thing to understand – not just for you but for me, too.
Source: You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you – The Oatmeal
Okay, so you all know I am an aficionado of the magical arts. That is to say, I loves me a good card trick. I also really enjoy learning the methods and the psychology behind a great performance of magic as well. This was often the focus of the many articles I wrote for Magic Magazine over the years.
And now, Steve Valentine, twice awarded by the Magic Castle (lecturer and close-up magician of the year), has started Magic on the Go, a kinda “Netflix of magic” so if you’ve ever wanted to learn from one of the best, now’s your chance.
This week’s Take Two looks at performers whose “stage” is the street—from 1502, to the 1970s, and right up to the present day.
I use the Vonnegut clip which ends this piece all the time in writing classes. It’s fascinating in that we absolutely can map the arc, but it’s the details where it all gets interesting.
Plus, they use a Čiurlionis image in the header, which is just cool!
Source: The Six Main Stories, As Identified by a Computer – The Atlantic
Last year, Best SciFi Books.com published a list of the top 17 pulp science fiction novels. While I may or may not agree these all qualify as “pulp” they are certainly a great list to get you started reading. In fact, the site has some other great lists, all of which are perfect for fostering the kind of geeky debates I sorely miss. For example, here’s their top 10 underwater SF books (of particular interest to me) as well as the 29 Best Alien Invasion Science Fiction Books and The 23 Best Science Fiction Books by Female Authors!
Of course, if all you’re interested in are the covers, check out this Pinterest page! I wish they were still honestly putting out books with these covers, as opposed to doing it self consciously or with a wink, nod and tongue firmly planted in cheek. Maybe I should write one?
Either way, though, there’s some mighty fine books for summer.
Let the debates begin!
“It’s like the advice I give my granddaughter,” he said. “If you can help it, don’t be a creator. Be the exploiter. They get rich. You never will.”
Comics creators have long been saddled with the idea of “work for hire.”
Science and art coming together to create beautiful and practical things.
If this has inspired you at all, turns out Robert J. Lang has a YouTube channel with talks and tutorials. As soon as I have spare time again, I’m going to try my hand at this. I have a feeling it’ll be very zen.
Gavin at Zen Pencils does some really amazing work. I’ve shared his stuff before and I’m sure I will again. This time it’s about writing and its importance in the life of the writer.
From “Space Oddity” through “Blackstar,” David Bowie was pop music’s ambassador to the realms of science fiction and fantasy. Jason Heller explains how the shapeshifting Starman was inspired by the dark sci-fi experiments of the space age.
Source: Anthems for the Moon: David Bowie’s Sci-Fi Explorations | Pitchfork
Three students of mine had to do a video project. They chose me as their subject. Here’s the results.
Here’s what your favorite book characters would look like in real life. Something to think about when writing physical descriptions.
Source: Police Sketches of 5 Literary Characters Based on Their Book Descriptions | Mental Floss
We have to do better than this:
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 