“Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that…. [H]ate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also: “This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.” ~David Lynch (whose birthday was yesterday)
Here are some shiny things that caught my eye last week:
♦ Awesome Art.
From the series “I’m Not There” by PoL Úbeda Hervàs
The image above comes from a series of photographs titled “I’m Not There” by PoL Úbeda Hervàs, who describes the series thus:
How can we accept that we are changing?
How can we accept we hardly recognize ourselves in certain situations?
I am changing at this very moment of my life.
I do not react in the same ways I used to. I am surprised. Is that me?
These pictures are the way I see myself now.
My shadow is there but I erase myself because I don´t know who I am any longer.
The shoes remain only to make sure there is something more than… a shadow.
Via.
I also loved these photo manipulations by Thomas Barbèy (via):
Self Exposed by Thomas Barbèy
Inner Beauty by Thomas Barbèy
And check out the laser-cut stained-glass paper windows of Eric Standley in this article about the artist at Hi-Fructose. Jaw-dropping! Via.
Poseidon 2 by Eric Standley
♦ Turn the Page.
My friend Will Ludwigsen‘s new collection of short stories, In Search Of and Others, comes out in March from Lethe Press and recently received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, which is some of the best news ever! To count down to the release date, Will is “sharing some of [his] idiosyncratic questions on the so-called ‘paranormal’ … and their idiosyncratic answers.” Those readers who remember the show hosted by Leonard Nimoy (which and whom I loved) will enjoy his posts. First up is a look at In Search Of the show, followed by vampires, D.B. Cooper, psychics, and the Tunguska Event!. They’re fun pieces!
I love this idea: the Classic Double Challenge 2013, wherein readers read a classic piece of literature (ranging from novels to fairy tales to myths) and then a retelling of that classic. I wish I had time to read right now—I am all about this kind of stuff! Via via Elizabeth Hand on Facebook.
Read, read, my pretties:
Downsizing Pluto by Shane Halbach at Daily Science Fiction
One-Horned & Wild-Eyed by Manual Gonzales from The Miniature Wife (at io9)
The Remnant by Cassie Beasley at Daily Science Fiction
Slitten Gorge by Conrad Williams at Weird Fiction Review
Casting Call by Alexandra Grunberg at Daily Science Fiction
Deep Down (excerpt) by Deborah Coates at Tor.com
The Wyrd for Water is Water by Marie Croke at Daily Science Fiction
The Winter Witch (excerpt) by Paula Brackston at Tor.com (I love this cover, as I loved the cover for The Witch’s Daughter, but then again, put “witch” or “winter” in the title and or have the image sent in a winter wood, and I’m sold)
Edward & Amelia vs. The Vampire King, Chapter Ten: Closest to the Door by Russell Hinson.
When We Were Heroes by Daniel Abraham at Tor.com
Quantum Entanglement by Rajan Khanna at Daily Science Fiction
Rebel Angels (excerpt) by Michele Lang at Tor.com
Flax-golden tales: The Light at the Edge of the World by Erin Morgenstern
Wool (excerpt) by Hugh Howey at Tor.com
Speaking of friends with books coming out, here’s the final cover art for Zachary Jernigan‘s upcoming debut novel, No Return (original art by Robbie Trevino, cover layout by Claudia Noble). Shadowhawk over at The Founding Fields put the novel on his list of the “Most Anticipated Releases of 2013” and says that the cover is “quite possibly one of the best” from Night Shade Books (click through to see the full layout of the cover at the Shadowhawk link), and I can’t disagree. I think the cover looks great, though I love Trevino’s original art so much I wish all of it could be on the cover. No Return drops in March, and you’ll want to pre-order a copy now!
♦ She Blinded Me … with Science!
Mycology: Holy crap! The bleeding tooth fungus, or Hydnellum peckii, is seriously wicked looking.
Hydnellum peckii, also known as strawberries and cream, the bleeding tooth fungus, the red-juice tooth, and the Devil’s tooth
Cryptozoology: Winged Devourers from The Beastmaster.
Evolution (fictional): The evolutionary biology of Star Trek. A lot of people find fault with this episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I can’t argue with their problems. Is it good evolution? No, obviously. Is it good fictional evolution? Probably not. Did it satisfy me? Yep. I liked how “logically” the episode explained the Star Trek universe’s humanoid evolution fit together so the existence of all the half-human, half-alien characters could be explained.
Futurism: A lie-detecting program that discovers deception better than people can.
Genomics: Your biggest genetic secrets can now be hacked, stolen, and used for target markting.
Medicine: The weird way to eliminate—or evoke–phantom limbs.
Neuroscience: Scientific evidence that you probably don’t have free will.
Ornithology: I am in love with this albino peacock. Me wants the precious! Click to see the image even larger.
Physics: This is what it would really look like to travel at near-lightspeed; An astonishing shampoo-related physics mystery.
Social science: How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana’s creationists.
Thermodynamics: Science proves that you should wear glittens (I think I’m sold).
Zoology: Ze Frank makes hilarious videos about animals. His delivery kills me every time. Check out True Facts about Baby Echidnas (via) and True Facts about the Seahorse (via).
Also, Angora rabbits! As my friend Emily says, I just want to squeeze it!
♦ The Book Nook.
Check out the ultra-cool, ultra-modern Safo Sofa! Via.
Check out some images of the Library Initiative of The Robin Hood Foundation—more than 60 New York City library were renovated. Amazing! BookRiot had several photographs but here’s a sample from Public School 60 in the Bronx:
From Bookshelf Porn, die Bibliothek:
♦ Viewers’ Paradise.
I think this trailer for Red 2 is just awesome. Helen Mirren totally rocks it!
My friend Marnie Bullock Dresser wrote a fantastic post about Jodie Foster’s speech at the 2013 Golden Globes.
Check out new blog Diesel Reviews the World from my friend Daniel and his review of the film Searching for Sugar Man.
I love the The Simpsons: Re-Imagined at 9GAG. Here’s Homer and Marge:
I have no idea what’s going on in this trailer for Shane Carruth’s new movie, Upstream Color, which hits theaters in April, but what I do know that the movie looks both beautiful and bizarre. Thanks to Cameron for the heads up!
♦ Someone’s in the Kitchen….
I wish I was in Brazil right now because I would love to eat this Nestlé’s PegaPop, “a special banana ice cream [bar] …. encased in a gelatine layer that can be peeled as a real banana. This is one of the first industrial examples of the edible skin packaging.” Apparently, edible packaging is the next big thing. I wonder what the PegaPop banana skin tastes like. Click the link above for some more pictures of the banana ice cream in all its skinny glory. Via.
Some of you will appreciate 10 coffee facts from the Amazing Fact Generator at mental floss. You know who you are.
♦ The Ninth Art.
Marvel Comics is making some good decisions lately. First was The Fearless Defenders, an all-female group headlined by Valkyrie and Misty Knight, and now X-Men, by Brian Wood and Oliver Coipel, starring Storm (a longtime favorite character of mine), Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke, Rachel Grey, and Rogue. This group looks bad-ass. I’ll be looking for the collected volume of this series, too, oh yes I will. And you can see a variant cover over at DC Women Kicking Ass. Via.
Tim Callahan had some interesting thoughts on the Alan Moore Legacy. He also starts his Reread discussion of The Sandman series with Preludes and Nocturnes.
Love this mash-up of Wonder Woman and the Savage She-Hulk from Super-Team Family (though it also brings up a nettling point for me: the number of Wonder Woman covers from the ’70s and most of the ’90s that feature the Amazing Amazon in a cowed or frightened posture. What’s up with that?).
♦ Tiny Bubbles.
This dollhouse inside a guitar, made by Fairy Meadows Miniatures, is too cool. Click through the link for more pictures.
I’m terribly intrigued by the miniature work of Isaac Cordal. Check out the link for some more images!
♦ The Writing Desk.
The Author, in 7 Questions: Malissa Kent.
18 facts and figures for the London Tube’s 150th birthday.
Cathy Day gives 20 answers to the question: “But what should I blog about?”
Rachelle Gardner on decoding query rejections (useful stuff, folks!).
The top 10 things writer Colby Marshall learned about social media marketing.
At The Smithsonian: the Fisher Space Pen boldly writes where no man has written before. I have one—these pens are great! Via.
Related: four benefits of writing by hand.
LitReactor on writing dialogue.
14 wonderful words with no English equivalent (via). My favorites? The Japanese word Koi No Yokan, which means “the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love” (I’ve had half of that, when meeting someone I knew I would fall in love, and then I did); and the Thai word Greng-jai, which is “that feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.”
Tip of the hat to my friend Linda for directing me to this Huffington Post article: Does Lena Dunham prove writers are as toxic as investment bankers?
Myke Cole on writing the battle.
Chuck Wendig on what flavor of publishing will you choose?
The Power of Positive Procrastination by John Tierney (can’t hurt, can it?)
Travis Heermann on fantasy tropes in Japanese folklore. Via.
The fickle fame of Twitter by Michele Catalano.
Via Colleen Doran on Facebook: Poetry competition winner exposed as a plagiarist.
Anna Lee, are you reading this? ‘Cause here’s 50 collective nouns to bolster your vocabulary. Did I ever tell you I have a copy of An Exaltation of Larks?
20 excellent photos of famous authors partying, like this one of “Ernest Hemingway holding court in Paris”:
♦ The Wonderful World of Illusion.
Pickpocket master Apollo Robbins reveals how to steal someone’s watch (and wallet and mobile). Fascinating stuff. Robbins, by the by, was a consultant on Leverage.
A Taiwanese rapper makes a terribly cute kitten appear out of nowhere to promote animal adoption.
