Who doesn’t like a good linky-post? Nobody doesn’t like a good linky-post! So here is my first linky-post, because endlessly posting links on Twitter gets old to me.
From me to you, a round-up of some of my must-read and must-see items from around the web this week:
LOCAL
+ I love One Man Committee’s in-depth exploration of Princess Street.
+ We’re talking incarceration and crime up in hurr! I left a million-word comment, I’m sure James is thrilled.
+ Kenton Larsen was there when some Food Network guy totally bombed at a charity dinner, and it sounded sort of completely fascinating and trainwreckish. I actually wish I had gotten something about that in Thursday morning’s paper, but I didn’t so whatever, that’s that.
INTERNATIONAL
+ Slacktivist (the blogging world’s best-kept secret) muses on how to act his conscience (and his faith) as the U.S.’ s biggest newspaper chain demands its employees track their work to the minute.
+ The proposed Republican federal U.S. budget cuts are out, and they are as predictable as they are sort of facepalm-terrifying. In a nutshell: not cut? Military spending. Cut? Massive swaths of environmental, scientific, public health and social programs. As I noted on Twitter, though, you can find a silver lining in a fun game. It’s called ”what lobby group or corporate behemoth is angling to kill this program?” Hint: the answer to at least two of them is “Monsanto.” Anyway, I’m no budgetician (hah!) but I do know that if I was given a razor and asked to slash $75 billion from U.S. federal spending, my first targets would not be, um, like 70% of the things on that list. I have tomorrow off; I might actually go through the 2011 budget myself and see what I would cut. Actually nevermind, I already know.
NERDERY
+ Confused by the Penny Arcade dickwolf debacle? Never heard of the Penny Arcade dickwolf debacle and have a lot of time to kill? No problem: a brilliant Tumblr walks you through it, step-by-step, in a thoroughly objective fashion. Note: the anonymous owner of the Tumblr says that s/he will use it to document future Internet debacles. One of the highlights of this one is when game blogger Courtney Stanton, who was targeted by absolutely revolting verbal attacks for daring to speak up and identify herself as a sexual assault survivor, analyzes her comments to prove how monstrous Internet trolls are.
MULTIMEDIA
+ The New York Times takes a frolicky look inside Pixar HQ. Nerd heaven. Cereal bar. Oversized chair and uh, Michael Cera’s autograph.
+ The Onion can be hit or miss when it comes to properly skewering stuff relevant to sexual violence — sometimes, frankly, it just makes it worse — but this video feature is so awesome, in so many awesome ways. For some reason it seems not to be working for me right now, oddly. But I’m sure it will be back soon.
+ And finally, something to make life just so much better than it was two seconds ago. The below video is best summarized by paraphrasing a comment somewhere way back in the comment thread on the original YouTube: “Anything the Internet has done that isn’t this is wrong.”
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