Gotham’s saviour
Here's the problem with The Dark Knight: it was just a bit unrealistic. Here's how things would actually have gone down:
In your heart, you know it to be true.
For future reference, it SO would have worked
Obama is clearly going for my specific vote. Unfortunately I am not eligible, but points for trying.
Costumes and identities
Even if you're not into superheroes1, read this for the writing:
This sad outcome even in the wake of thousands of dollars spent and months of hard work given to sewing and to packing foam rubber into helmets has an obvious, an unavoidable, explanation: a superhero’s costume is constructed not of fabric, foam rubber, or adamantium but of halftone dots, Pantone color values, inked containment lines, and all the cartoonist’s sleight of hand. The superhero costume as drawn disdains the customary relationship in the fashion world between sketch and garment. It makes no suggestions. It has no agenda. Above all, it is not waiting to find fulfillment as cloth draped on a body. A constructed superhero costume is a replica with no original, a model built on a scale of x:1. However accurate and detailed, such a work has the tidy airlessness of a model-train layout but none of the gravitas that such little railyards and townscapes derive from making faithful reference to homely things. The graphic purity of the superhero costume means that the more effort and money you lavish on fine textiles, metal grommets, and leather trim the deeper your costume will be sucked into the silliness singularity that swallowed, for example, Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin and their four nipples.
Michael Chabon. *makes note to look him up on Amazon*.
- I feel for you [↩]
Philately is fun, Josh
This dropped through my letterbox yesterday:
I didn't want to open the envelope. Snail-mail has some advantages.
I want to send Superman stamps! Postage is so much more fun in the US. You can even use your own Flickr photos. I remarked on this to a friend, who promptly pointed out the Royal Mail Smilers scheme. I'm going to start sending more letters.
Steampunk Superheroes
I like steampunk. I feel I miss out on a lot as I have the engineering knowledge of a small Rhodesian fieldmouse and lots of the literature is heavy on the technical details, but the mixture of faux-Victorian grandeur and advanced macro-machinery makes for entertaining stories and great constructions.
I also like superheroes. This goes without saying. There's been some crossover, but nothing quite so cool as the steampunk Justice League:
A guy modded his action figures after reading the Batman graphic novel "Gotham by Gaslight", in which a 1880s Batman faces Jack the Ripper. Gotta get that book. He deserves a lot of kudos for finding a Superman action figure that a) doesn't completely suck and b) making it look good. There are close-ups of each figure on his site.
Why do you think he has to go away? And why is he so small? I rest my case.
I loves me the T-Rex, but sometimes he's just plain wrong.
Those dogs are angry! Robin must have done something here!
Regular readers will know that I, entirely correctly, consider Superman to be fundamentally superior to Batman. But the distinction is minor. It's like Galaxy vs. Dairy Milk1, Ninjas vs. Pirates2 or Diane vs. Rebecca3. I would be happy with either one4. Film-wise, however, Batman has the edge. I don't think there's any live-action Superman that's properly captured the character, but Batman has come close: a 2003 fan-film produced possibly the greatest live-action Batman ever.
Today we have this. Batman: Defenders of the Night. It is brilliant. It tells the story of Batman and Robin's first caper. The Riddler is in it. And Villain With A Stick. And some Random Dudes. All of whom look like they're having great fun, and it makes for a very entertaining few minutes. The blog has an appropriate commentary. Found via BoingBoing.
The sequel is possibly superior. Robin steals a dog - you've never seen anything like it.
The Reasoner
The Reasoner sounds like it could be an interesting online magazine:
The Reasoner is a monthly digest highlighting exciting new research on reasoning and interesting new arguments. It is interdisciplinary, covering research in, e.g., philosophy, logic, AI, statistics, cognitive science, law, psychology, mathematics and the sciences.
The first issue contains a discussion of logical truth based around the example of Lois Lane kissing Clark Kent / Superman. I like it already.
Appreciation for Superman 2
This afternoon one of the two highly-skilled people working on my flat glanced at my dvd collection and said something like:
Is that the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2?
I blinked. I'd come to the conclusion that nobody is interested in the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2, much less has heard of it already. I've tried explaining it to people, but they just don't care. And they should: it is a whole new version of Superman 2! It has a different ending! It fundamentally changes the nature of the first two films! It incorporates clips from the actors' screen tests in order to tell the story differently! There is fascinating real-life backstory involving underhandedness and betrayal! Nevertheless, despite my best efforts most people just nod politely and steer the conversation onto the price of cheese in Bolivia / Other Boring Things.
Until today. Not only had he heard of the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2, but he was interested in talking about it! I then had to admit to not having watched it yet, despite having received it for Christmas. Ahem.
I'm glad it's not just me 
Hello!
Hey, thanks for coming! I'm Andrew, and this is where my headthinks come to breed. They often meander around humanism and photography, but they're flighty and you can't trust them, so anything is possible.
Do feel free to email me - I get lonely:
Your hair looks swish, by the way - have you done something new?
Recent Comments
- vicky: going up this weekend having done all the welsh peaks except 4 snowdon, cant wait
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: what, how can u live in the 21 c and say that, probably a sexist thing
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: da iawn laura, cant believe what im hearing, all this fuss, anyway love the site, and i agree, normal people who swear and curse clomb mountains cos we live in the...
on Climbing Snowdon. - Andrew: Did a few quick test shots to check the light levels, then balanced the camera on the arm of a bench, set it for a 20s exposure and hoped for the best
on ISS. - lynsey: Wow, how did you take that photograph?
on ISS.
