Being an internet refuge for Graeme McMillan
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
A man checks the size of the icicles at Gibson’s Cave in Teesdale today as temperatures have reached -5C. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
File Under: Another Reminder That It Really Could Be Colder Than It Is Here In Portland.
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
A man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, in honour of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. On the eve of Saint Anthony’s Day hundreds of people ride their horses through the narrow cobblestone streets of village during the Luminarias, a traditional festival meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come. Photograph: Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP
I feel like these people need to actually work on their “Let’s celebrate the patron saint of animals” activities. “Hey, we’re all about you today, horse! I’m gonna ride you through a bonfire. Yeah, you’re gonna get to run right through a bonfire. Doesn’t that sound great? Huh?”
And then there was the time that I wrote about Star Wars and Star Trek becoming more generic science-fiction for Time Entertainment, in response to the stories about ABC potentially reviving the oft-mooted Star Wars TV show. It was another piece that I could have done with another day on, but deadlines disagreed; what really happened was that Monday, as I’ve already suggested elsewhere, was a very distracting day for reasons that’ll become apparent soon, and so writing didn’t come easy. I gave it a pretty major overhaul before submitting yesterday, but I kinda wish I could get just one more swing at it, you know…?
It strikes me now that this piece is almost definitely link/troll-bait, accidentally (No, really, I swear that wasn’t on my mind when I pitched or wrote it for once). I’m reminded of a SpinOff piece I wrote about whether or not Spider-Man’s portrayal across different media had to be consistent that, to my utter surprise, got linked on io9 soon after going live, and my mix of “It’s got to be a really slow news day” and “It’s very weird to see someone write about you as if they’ve never met you; they even use the ‘referring to person with the last name only’ thing” when I saw it. I’d initially written it thinking it was relatively throwaway.
You can’t put the genie back in the bottle on this one, people. And the networks and cable channels that are so easily offended need to get over it. Like pretty much every critic or writer I talked to, I stand behind everything I tweet. Did I just say your entertainment president was spinning the truth? Why, yes I did. That line about how the upcoming Monday night procedural or Thursday night comedy is heinously bad? Give me another 140 characters and I’ll say it again, only with exclamation points.
It seems to me there are two main complaints here about critics/writers and Twitter: 1) They don’t like the content, and 2) they think all we’re doing is tweeting and not writing stories. Which is total nonsense, and they know it. A good deal of people write their stories right there in the sessions. Others will write full reviews, interviews, feature stories, etc., back in their hotel rooms or at home if they’re local.
From here.
Tim Goodman reacts to criticism that Twitter use has resulted in a boring Television Critics Association press tour this month, and it’s pretty great. Coming as I do from a comic book culture where creators feel similarly about Twitter/social media/dismissive of the Internet in general, I found myself nodding in agreement a bunch.
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
A baby is given nebulizer therapy at Beijing Children’s Hospital due to excessive levels of air pollution hit in the capital in the past several days. Photograph: Li Wen/Xinhua Press/Corbis
We are already living in our own dystopian science fiction future.
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
Snow lies across the landscape of the Peak District. Forecasters predict the cold spell will last for a month. Photograph: Tom Hughes/Rex Features
Just look at that sky.
Well, today was an interesting day. Hopefully good interesting, but definitely things that I find myself excited about, and also a sign of getting my professional self in gear just a little better than I was doing before. It’s also been a day that kind of knocked me sideways in terms of getting work done – That’s how these things tend to go, after all – and so it’s almost 6pm and I’m pretty much where I’d have wanted to be an hour ago at the very least. And yet… Yes. Good news, today, albeit news that I don’t think that I can properly reveal for awhile yet.
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
Richard and Samantha Stretton from Newcastle looking a bit like the Start-rite kids, enjoy a walk past the Angel of the North near Gateshead, after the heavy snowfall. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
When I think to myself that it’s too cold here in Portland, I shall try to remember just how freezing things look here and feel lucky in comparison.
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
This photo, taken on January 9, shows a towering red-dust storm over the ocean, ahead of a cyclone approaching Onslow on the coast of western Australian. Tug boat worker Brett Martin, who captured the fearsome pictures 25 nautical miles offshore, reported conditions were glassy and flat before the storm hit. Photograph: Brett Martin/AFP/Getty Images
Just look at that. That’s both terrifying and beautiful. Mostly terrifying.
