Glad you like the info about Freedom and Leechblock. Scroll down to the previous post for links to download.

Here’s a home grown Youtube vid which shows how to use Freedom.

Now the daily distraction:

Old Star Trek cast (minus William Shatner) and new Star Trek cast meet and greet at Hollywood premiere. Can’t wait to see this. I get my car back next week, just in time to miss Watchmen completely, so I guess I will get Star Trek as a consolation prize. (And lots of people waiting for me to mail their commissions will be very happy that I can actually make it to a post office.)

It freaks me out to see Wynona Ryder playing Spock’s mom.

Slate ponders the appeal of the brooding hero Wolverine.

Wolverine has not only retained his appeal among comic-book readers; he has gone from being a pastiche of ’70s tough guys to becoming the badass icon of the ’90s, thanks to his cartoons, video games, and, now, his Hollywood blockbusters. What’s most incredible about this is that two generations of young men have grown up with their notions of extreme machismo inextricably linked to our neighbor to the north. Wolverine performed many of his dark deeds in the service of Canadian Intelligence, and the Canadian wilderness was the crucible in which his hard shell of manhood was forged.

This snarky movie review will not stop me from doing whatever I have to do to get a look at Hugh Jackman with his shirt off.

And one more for the road: this article asks Why don’t students like school?

Because they’d rather be goofing off online?

According to Mr. Willingham, one major reason is that what school requires students to do — think abstractly — is in fact not something our brains are designed to be good at or to enjoy. When we confront a task that requires us to exert mental effort, it is critical that the task be just difficult enough to hold our interest but not so difficult that we give up in frustration. When this balance is struck, it is actually pleasurable to focus the mind for long periods of time. For an example, just watch a person beavering away at a crossword or playing chess in a noisy public park. But schoolwork and classroom time rarely keep students’ minds in this state of “flow” for long. The result is boredom and displeasure. The challenge, for the teacher, is to design lessons and exercises that will maximize interest and attention and thus make students like school at least a bit more.

“beavering away…?”

Humor distraction: Peter David writes about words you can’t write in mainstream comics.

I’m going to go draw a comic book.

Oh, excuse me, I meant a graphic novel.

Bye.

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Mark Askwith, creator of the Canadian television show Prisoners of Gravity wrote to let us know of this Youtube video which chronicles the happy day that Neil Gaiman received his very first Barbie Whistle Torch. Neil gave one to me. I shall treasure it always. You may see it here.

The video also features Harlan Ellison, which is more entertainment than any mere mortal can endure in one day.

I feel giddy. I must get my smelling salts.

Click TOP to return to the webcomic.

A simple and easy of explanation of the current credit crises, told with clever animation.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Scholars have found a 13th century manuscript which makes an unflattering reference to Robin Hood. Apparently, his merry adventures were not merry to all how encountered him.

Translated, the 550-year-old note reads: ‘Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.’

Russell Crowe is to play Robin Hood in an upcoming film.

The linked article has very little info, but the pics are nice.

An illustration from the 1883 edition of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, written and illustrated by Howard Pyle, scanned directly from the book. This is my favorite version of the tale.

This book is in the public domain. You may download it for free at Ebooktakeaway.com

You may find other Howard Pyle classics at this link, including The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, and Men of Iron. Men of Iron spawned a film starring Tony Curtis, who spoke these words in his thick urban New York/New Jersey accent; “Yondah, lies da castle of my foddah.”

Early editions of these books are worth tracking down for the beautiful bindings and lavish illustrations. You can find them at reasonable prices on ebay. Beware of cheaper, later editions which are sometimes heavily edited or feature the illustrations of other artists. Worse yet, the handsome plates are sometimes removed from the books.

Below, the cover of the first edition of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Pyle.

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