From Around the Web - 4/30/10

Sculptor Adrian Tranquilli elegantly depicts superheroes' vulnerabilities, as seen above.

How do you see if Schrodinger's Cat is actually in its box? This post on io9 claims to know how!

A fantastic essay on the question of whether or not video games are or could ever be art.

James Joyce's Incredibly Dirty Love Letters

I was perusing the Hark! A Vagrant archives this morning, as I am wont to do, when I came across an old favourite:

As this comic points out, the famed erotic letters James Joyce sent to his wife Nora are among the most hilarious and depraved pieces of writing ever conceived. Joyce uses his considerable literary talent to verbally assault himself and his "little frigging mistress," and describes how he wants to "fuck fuck fuck fuck my naughty little hot fuckbird's cunt for ever." It's all very lewd and personal but since both parties are long dead we are free to chuckle at their private correspondences.

Or so I thought. When I was first told about these letters in 2008 they were widely available online, but when I tried to search for them this morning they seemed to have all but disappeared. Perhaps the Joyce estate has deemed the letters detrimental to the great author's legacy and had them taken down. Perhaps I was merely looking in the wrong places. Eventually I was able to find them here, but the nature of the link fails to inspire confidence in its long-term reliability. As such I am including the text here in full for the sake of posterity.

I should warn you again that the letters are extremely graphic and Not Safe For Work by any standards. Also, for those of you with high moral standards, it should go without saying that once you have read these documents you will never be able to un-read them, and the perverted ghost of James Joyce may haunt you as in the comic above. That said, you can find them after the break.

Slavoj Zizek on Vegetarians

A friend posted this on Facebook and it's too funny not to share here. I always enjoy Zizek's rants, they make me feel like an undergrad again. For more of his thoughts check out the related videos on YouTube (Love is Evil displays some particularly interesting rhetoric) or go watch his movie. Oh, he's also written a few books...

From Around the Web - 4/28/10

Coolest thing I've seen all day: a flash recreation of the original Super Mario Bros that lets you play as Megaman, Link, Samus, or the dude from Contra. Pictured above, check it out on Newgrounds.

A new interview with Ridley Scott suddenly makes me VERY excited about his upcoming Alien prequel(s). Engineers of space? Hells yes!

An exploration of race in Heavy Rain on a sweet blog I stumbled upon called Experience Points.

ScreenRant's annual summer movies trailer has been released and is embeded below:

Boy Scouts Introduce Video Gaming Badges

 
The Boy Scouts of America has introduced a new pair of video game-related achievements. The Video Game Belt Loop and Academics Pin each require scouts to educate themselves and a parent/guardian about video games. Objectives include listing the differences between consoles, researching the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, creating and following a reasonable play schedule, and comparing retail prices and return policies in order to find the optimal purchase plan for a desired game.

This is incredible news. The Boy Scouts of America is a great site for social development, both in terms of the scouts and (just as significantly) their parents. Say what you will about its aims or progressiveness, the Scouts promotes education and healthier relationships between parents and their children. Frankly it's incredible to see video games embraced by such a traditional institution. It's an extremely positive sign that the general public is attaining a greater understanding of video games, which is integral if they are ever to be recognized as more than just an anti-social hobby. There is a cultural paradigm shift taking place as our generation comes to maturity and this is both the evidence and product of the change.