eveninghawk’s links

Pong has returned, only this time it’s more live action. I highly recommend the quicktime on their site.

I like comics, and i like the idea of using different media to take a comic to different places. I really like what Scott McCloud was up to here with Mimi’s Last Coffee.

I watched The Sum of Us this evening. First off, it’s a good movie that is touching and somehow manly at the same time. Bravo. Second, it’s a good Aussie flick, and we should all watch more good Aussie flicks. Third… Russel Crowe makes a pretty good gay man.

I also took a look at Punch Drunk Love. The movie was highly amusing and very dark, but I tend to like PT Anderson films.

When I wrote about drugs in kids today I found myself wondering where in the world I would be able to find the proceedings of this ongoing hearing regarding the FDA.

While ranting at length, a friend pointed me to Congress’ publications online. (thanks Joe!)

To be more specific, what I am looking for will probably show up here with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee Hearings for the 108th Congress . Here we can read about all kinds of interesting hearings:

• SARS: Assessment, Outlook, and Lessons Learned
• A System Overwhelmed: The Avalanche of Imported, Counterfeit, and Unapproved Drugs into the U.S.
• Can Tobacco Cure Smoking? A Review of Tobacco Harm Reduction
• Legislative Efforts to Combat Spam
• Blackout 2003: How did it Happen and Why?
• Identity Theft: Assessing the Problem and Efforts to Combat it
• College Recruiting: Are Student Athletes Being Protected?
• The Ultra Deepwater Research and Development: What are The Benefits?
• EPA’s Resource Conservation Challenge
• Online Pornography: Closing the Door on Pervasive Smut
• Problems with the E-Rate Program: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Concerns in the Wiring of Our Nation’s Schools to the Internet Part 1
• Parents Be Aware: Health Concerns about Dietary Supplements for Overweight Children

See, a little something for everyone!

Though it took me a little too long, I finished reading The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers. It was a great read, and as someone who likes writing, the advice is both humbling and enlightening. Best of all, there’s that feeling that the walls that I run into are not out there for me alone. There’s something very encouraging about that.

Betsy Lerner is very candid and open with her insights, and her style and prose is both relaxed and encouraging while still stern. She offers a lot to learn from in the world of publishing, and anyone seeking to get a piece in print, or seeking to continue to keep things in print has something to learn from this book.

I have a new culinary hero. Anyone who knows me knows that I like the Food Network, and I’ve scrubbed many a good recipe from their resources. I think that last amazing success I had was a mango glazed stir-fry that was pretty spectacular, and that was back when I was still at Hampshire.

Well, currently I am frustrated with tv. I know I sound like I’m whinging, but I can’t be bothered to find much of anything on tv. It’s a hassle. Instead, I occasionally stick on a channel I know to get me through a meal.

Alton Brown struck me as a tv show host who is funny and nerdy, and communicates in a why that I identify with, and on top of that his recipes are straightforward and easy, and he talks about the science of the whole thing. That’s what i want in a cooking show! Less culinary mysticism and more scientific insight into why and how. That way when I want to tinker with a recipe I have an idea whether i am screwing up the elasticity, or sacraficing butteriness for more airiness. Good Eats recipe list is available online, but I highly recommend checking out the show.

Need an adventure? Have a kid, or maybe just borrow someone else’s for the day.