Friday fun

You know, while I remain skeptical that Hollywood can pull off a film version of I am Legend (and yes I am counting Omega Man) , I must congratulate the trailer team for making it all set-up. This is what a trailer should be. We get a very scary opener and then an empty Manhattan. If they can sack up and use the book's ending, then more power to them. The new Invasion of the Body Snatchers looks pretty good as well.

One of my least favorite historians, Howard Zinn, now has a book for teens. Walter Kirn has unkind words for it. (via Reason) Have a look at a severe critique of Zinn's book from the left. I'm rather taken with this line, "But to make sense of a nation's entire history, an author has to explain the weight and meaning of worldviews that are not his own and that, as an engaged citizen, he does not favor. Zinn has no taste for such disagreeable tasks." If you are seeking a left of center history of the US, I recommend you try American Colonies.

Why check the calendar, it's Corpus Christi, time for the Devil to jump over some babies!

The NY Times Book Review has a blog now. Check it out.

Here is an interesting example of how the current perspective can differ greatly from the historical perspective. Airminded reviews press clippings from the time of the Battle of Britain and compares them to our current understanding. It's worth considering as we read the current press. I am by no means claiming for example, that Iraq is going well. Rather it may be that what is really driving the Iraq war will become more clear to the general public some years hence.

Here is an interview with the editor of the New York Review of Books Classics series.

The humor in the lolcats craze has largely eluded me. Somehow this one clicked. There must be something wrong with me as this one is making jokes about a potentially disastrous event.