New Republic: The Long Run-Up. An interesting look at the story behind the NY Times’ decision to run with the McCain investigation that ran today. Personally I felt the story was weak, it seems like they were just trying to get something out rather than something they felt good about.
asides
The Angriest Man In Television. Bowden emphasizes no matter how realistic The Wire is, it should not be confused with journalism. He also defends some of the people creator David Simon demonizes on his show and in the press. In essence the show succeeds in painting a portrait on some aspects of life in Baltimore but Bowden argues contradictory elements have been left out to create a more coherent story and message. Reporters don’t get to pick their facts.
Guardian: Del Toro to take charge of The Hobbit. This is great news. I was a little worried when Peter Jackson was not going to be directing (he will executive produce the films and Weta Digital will provide the effects) but Guillermo Del Toro is a perfect choice. With Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth he’s established himself as wonderful visual storyteller with a talent for fantasy. I think I’m more excited about these films with Del Toro than I would have been with Jackson.
Tech President Endorsements: Barack Obama and John McCain. TechCrunch has announced they’re endorsing McCain and Obama for president, based on their stances on technology issues. I liked Obama already, but I was impressed when I saw that he had an entire issues page on technology.
Stallone Backs McCain Against Norris’ Huckabee. Following Chuck Norris’ endorsement of Mike Huckabee, Slyvester Stallone is endorsing John McCain. As ridiculous as this all is, I’m surprised no one has gone after the biggest and most politically viable Republican action star, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cloverfield Mythos Explored. Following up the best of 2007 with the best film of 2008 (so far), this post explains the story behind Cloverfield. Apparently through marketing and hints in the flim, the creators have given a lot of clues as to what actually happened. Also interesting for film geeks, a story about the real camera that was used to film the movie.
Wired: Apple Reinvents Film Biz With iTunes Movie Rentals. This headline struck me as something Apple’s PR department would write, rather than journalist. What’s being reinvented? There are already movie rental services like Amazon Unbox and MovieLink out there. Grant you this is the first to work with Apple’s software and hardware, but that’s hardly reinventing anything. Overall, I felt Macworld was lame this year.
NY Times: The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade. This author makes some excellent points. I’ve heard the argument for pushing start times back for high school, but never in the context of improving eduction. When you think of all the money schools invest in “programs” to raise test scores, maybe starting late and staying even later makes a lot of sense.
Collegian: Pot funds student’s tuition, police say. Although $100,000 in cash could probably fund a couple students’ tuition. God I hope they find out this is a business major - what a great senior thesis that would be 