rm | sundries

Let's say I was going to finally explore classic Doctor Who, which Doctor do you think would be the best starting place for me, knowing my interests? Then, let's say I needed to get really up to date on any one classic Doctor fast (i.e., "you can learn everything you need to know about Seven by watching x, y, and z") -- who/what/when/where/why? I need your help, Internets.

A small study finds that the happiest people engage in only a third of the small-talk that the unhappiest people do. As someone who HATES small-talk and generally feels suspicious of it (and is also bad at it) I find this gratifying.

Not a news item: Shark attacks down.

Snow vs. the eruvim.

Speaking of which, it's the most wonderful time of the year: lots of gluten-free goodies thanks to kosher for Passover stuff in all the stores.

Things that are going to get worse before they get better: New York State politics; the economic crisis in Greece (this will have cascade effects); the predictability of the currency markets. We think the British pound is about to collapse, but people have been saying that for months and months. So maybe, maybe not.

Word I want less of: pimp (your car, your house, your LJ, your "pimps and ho's" party theme).

I have neglected to mention my current love affair with VBS, also known as Vice TV. I originally found them through CNN, which has been showing parts of their reports on their site.

Vice TV aims to do totally transparent, process-oriented journalism, and I'll be frank in that they only partially succeed. For example, a piece on North Korea is riveting only because it's about North Korea since there's no inherent story that the piece is following beyond "wacky journalists go to North Korea." It works because the on-camera guy has charisma, and North Korea is weird and mysterious.

On the other hand, I fell hard for Swansea Love Story which is about heroin use in Swansea. The piece is very well-made and is, in places, hard to watch. It also really only pays off if you watch the whole thing, as the devices of the narrative don't really come full circle if you don't watch it all.

I've also been enjoying the Mecca Diaries piece which includes the amazing phrase "Satan stoning station" as a guy who works for VBS smuggles a camera along on hajj as he goes on the journey with his family.

There's a lot of crap on VBS and they frame a lot of stuff in wacked out sensationalist ways, but some of the actual material is quite something. If I were 20 and working hard at drinking scotch and trying to prove that I can be one of the boys, I'd be all over working for these guys. Instead, I'm just enjoying their stuff (after a lot of filtering).

What counts as sex? Survey says.... via

jonquil

I don't normally post about Twitter, but I'm still thinking about this tweet from

kurometarikku, who's a guy I vaguely know because he works at a hotel I've stayed a few times in New Haven (short version: "Vote Saxon" pin meets Tardis tie). It made me think about both Who fandom in specific and the wonder of DragonCon in general and, of course, ConSweet.