Bits and Bobs

This Bits and Bobs post is a little late thanks to a pretty hectic weekend. My American flatmate has brought Thanksgiving into my life and we spent all Saturday preparing for an epic feast (then Sunday sleeping it off). The turkey was perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Succulent, butter-roasted poultry aside, here are some interesting things I've read this week:

- A little confused about the recent negotiations with Iran? This article provides a nice summary.

- The Atlantic has a really interesting article discussing how our environment can make us more prosocial, compassionate individuals.

- When watching Mad Men I can't help but be distracted by just how much everyone's smoking. Want to see the cigarettes in Mad Men replaced with party blowers? Of course you do!

- Are you excited for the new Hunger Games film? Here's an article looking at whether the economy of Panem is feasible in real life. And if that's not enough to satisfy your Hunger Games cravings, here's a really great interview with the costume designer for Catching Fire.

- An opera was staged inside an LA train station - the pictures look epic.

- I love Doctor Who with a fiery passion. In honour of the recent 50th anniversary, here's a great article looking at the top 25 Doctor Who moments from the last 50 years. 

- Mental health and artistic genius seem to come hand in hand. But what about physical health? This fascinating article looks at how lead poisoning affected the great art legends.

- Now that it's December, you may be planning on escaping the chill with a Christmas holiday. If you are, take a look at these pictures of the scariest airport in the world and be thankful that Heathrow, while crowded and grim, is not perched precariously on a mountain.

- Remember when Rush Limbaugh thought that Batman: The Dark Knight Rises was an anti-capitalist, liberal conspiracy? Well that was clearly madness. Didn't he realise that the hero of that film is an entrepreneurial millionaire whereas the ones fighting the banks are the villains? How is that undermining capitalism? Anyway, I was reminded of Limbaugh when I read this article discussing Superheroes and why they are fascists. 

And here's the most beautiful turkey I have ever encountered to explain why I was too busy this weekend (first too busy eating and then too busy in a food coma)...

Bits and Bobs

Happy weekend! I hope you enjoyed your respective Halloween celebrations. This time between Halloween and Christmas is my favourite time of the year - primarily because it's now seasonally appropriate to watch this film over and over.

- Last Sunday I went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum. It was awesome and you should definitely go! But first, check out these beautiful glacier photographs.

- Here's a really, really interesting article about racism in films and how celluloid film technology has contributed to keeping black skin off our screens.

- This bbc article explains why we're afraid of near-human faces.

- Check out this slideshow of incredible film costumes designed by Hollywood legend Edith Head.

- This is a fascinating article analysing the epic advertising campaign devised for the latest Hunger Games film. I've never really thought much about the creativity and planning that goes into marketing a huge franchise film.

- Apparently the Russians gave assorted world leaders gift bags containing surveillance equipment. The Atlantic has chosen a particularly hilarious picture of Putin to accompany their article.

- There is nothing more obnoxious than someone who incessantly posts selfies online (even the word 'selfy' is kind of obnoxious). This article defends the selfy as just another form of self-portrait.

- Anyone who knows me knows that I love both Musicals and Disney with a ferocity that is, at times, bordering on the obsessive. So here's an incredible version of Chicago's Cell Block Tango featuring assorted Disney villains.