Several of these links are things I’d like to explore in greater detail later, so let’s start off with gathering them here.
LITERATURE
An opinion piece describing a phenomenon we’re all guilty of: pretending to know about something just because we saw a headline on Facebook (and how disconnected we are thus becoming from source material in general).
To help combat that last link, here are two lists of book recommendations that I thought were fairly well-rounded.
Also in the interest of promoting direct engagement with literacy and culture, why not donate to the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter? (NOTE: I should mention that this iteration of Reading Rainbow is technically part of a for-profit enterprise; however, the goal of the Kickstarter appears to be expanding the program into schools and classrooms that cannot afford it. Certainly, more details about the actual finances would be nice, so by all means wait to donate until you’ve learned enough to satisfy your curiosity.)
You also should probably read more of Maya Angelou’s work, if you haven’t already. (Guilty as charged.)
HISTORY AND ECONOMICS
An article delving into the common man’s view of the English Reformation as it happened. The analysis runs a bit on the biased side, but the facts are good.
Two popes in two different decades weigh in on how Marxism is wrong but so is capitalism (well I guess we’re all screwed). (Short answer: salvation in the form of economic systems is never going to work, guys.)
Mike Rowe’s website for his foundation encouraging people to check out the skilled labor market (or, “if your kid wants to be a plumber instead of an English major, that’s awesome.”)
LIFE AND CULTURE
My Antiochian Orthodox friend over at The Wednesday Woman is in the process of packing. (It made me laugh.)
Speaking of Antiochian Orthodox, along the lines of my post from last week, here is a FANTASTIC article presenting some thoughts on marriage and the wedding liturgy.
Haven’t read them all, but here’s a link to a group of interviews with various CEOs and the like, talking about the advice they would give to their twenty-two-year-old selves.
A great post discussing the problems surrounding our current conversations about autism, with a link to a great interview on The Daily Show.
And finally, I’ve avoided much of the news about the horrific violence out in California, but this analysis of the cultural expectations and misogyny that can and do lead to violence against women is definitely a must-read.
THE MILITARY
On the list of “things to discuss in the future,” here’s the 2012 U.S. Military Demographics report. The section on race and ethnicity starts on page 24 (like 50-something of the PDF) and is preceded by the section on gender. I’m also excited to read about the military families. Dunno how long it will take the 2013 report to come out.
This article I DEFINITELY want to discuss (if you can’t view it and want to, leave a comment and I’ll get the text to you); it’s entitled “Can an American Soldier Ever Die in Vain?” but discusses more the whole Macro Army I was talking about in my last post.
Linked to in the previous article, but worth reading on its own, is an article detailing various Marine reactions to the fall of Falluja back in January.
And finally, The Duffel Blog is the U.S. military’s version of The Onion. (The language can get a bit salty at times; this is the military, people.) Obviously, most people haven’t heard about it, which lead to a lot of confusion when this article was posted back in 2012. (Oh man. It still makes me laugh. As does this one. And this one’s a classic too.)
ANYWAY the article I ACTUALLY wanted to link you to today is this one, satirizing the NFL’s approach to our men (yeah) (pretty sure it’s always men for them) in and out of uniform. A satire of the Macro Army, you might say.
FUNNY THINGS ON YOUTUBE
For the little construction worker in you: giant construction equipment playing Jenga.
I have thoughts about Frozen (another post), but I have nothing but love for these Marines watching “Let It Go.” (Keep your eye on where everyone’s hands end up.)
For the language nerds, “Let It Go” in multiple languages
For the lazy language nerds, “One Day More” on the backside of Google Translate; the best part is that they can actually sing.
And finally, Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan play The Newlywed Game; my favorite part is the “what role would you like to play or revive?” (I did research on Sir Ian’s Widow Twankey. Just sayin’.)
precisely what exists 
I did make sure to read the article about pretending to know about something because we saw a headline/read a review/blog post before I made this comment.
Which is that I was going to suggest we do a tag team post about “Maleficent”, but then I realized I’d actually have to see the movie. Sober.
hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
If Ebert were around to tell me I should see it, maybe I would go see it. But I can’t think of a single other thing that would motivate me to.
Well, the current Chicago Sun reviewer is on the positive end of Metacritic spectrum…(see “reading excerpts of reviews instead of seeing movie.”)
Maybe we should do a post about fairy tales, true female empowerment, and what the word ‘maleficent’ means.
I can’t even bring myself to read the reviews. Last I saw it was hovering around 50% on Rotten Tomatoes…I just really want someone to tell me if it’s the Miltonian examination of evil that it ought to be.
Ooooh, that would be good. Maybe a series? Because I also want to do a Frozen review. And if we could tie in how Mako Mori fails the Mako Mori Test that would be even better.
I was going to Google Mako Mori once I had a second to breathe, but your next-to-most-recent post cleared that up. Maybe they should call it the Platonic Ideal of Mako Mori Test.
The Metacritic score for Maleficent may be a few points above 50. (It’s a different metric that takes gradations of positive and negative into account, so I find it more informative than RT). And the answer to your question seems to be “no”, but I think you knew that deep down already. : )
Well, if you go find my Facebook post with the link, you’ll get the whole “way you SHOULD have seen the movie, Jo,” response, so perhaps Mako does kind of sort of get her own plot, it’s just that ALL the character plots in that movie are weak and hers only really stood out to me because I was under the impression it was going to be, you know, good.
Still, if we go with that theory, the complaint of “there were not nearly enough giant robots punching giant aliens in the face” becomes much more sympathetic. NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE CHARACTERS AND YOU’RE NOT EVEN DOING AN INTERESTING JOB WITH THEM, LET’S MOVE ON.
Also thirdly I think for all that PR gets lauded for its progressive tendencies, the more non-progressive elements that remained were pretty icky? I don’t think Average Male Viewer is going to think “oh, Mako’s choosing not to beat up Angry Australian because that’s a dumb thing to do, and Raleigh is being dumb here.” I think Average Male Viewer is going to think “oh shoot Angry Australian insulted the girl YOU GO RALEIGH KICK HIS ASS.” Sure, they’re told to break off the fight and stop acting like kids, but we all know Raleigh is 100% justified because he was defending Mako’s honor. Right? /sigh
So the question is (aside from the removing nature of metacritic), just who should I even read anymore? Without Ebert, I am adrift on a sea of reviewers who don’t seem to get it. 😦