Bits and Bobs

Apparently there's going to be a big storm this weekend (the biggest since 1987) so here's some interesting reading for you to peruse while escaping the weather...

- I was an avid watcher of the webseries, the Lizzie Bennett Diaries. You should binge-watch them all right now. The Atlantic has an interesting article about the Lizzie Bennett Diaries and whether they represent a new form of interactive entertainment.

- The internet might love Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Lawrence but that doesn't necessarily translate into success in Hollywood. Vulture looks at how internet popularity effects the careers of film stars.

- Read this amazing story of a young man searching for his mother in the Amazon.

- Banksy has been making waves during his month-long residency in New York. Check out this interesting article in The New Yorker which discusses our ability to assign value to art.

- This 19th century criminal slang is amazing! I am determined to use the phrase 'sluice your gob' in the near future... also 'tooth-music'.

- A guy at an entrepreneur's conference made a somewhat disparaging tweet about women who wear high-heeled shoes. I found this interesting because I work in an overwhelmingly male workplace and I often wonder how my sartorial choices affect how my coworkers perceive me. I work in a casual office and it would be perfectly ok for me to rock up at the office in jeans and a t-shirt. But I tend to dress more formal than is required because it makes me feel more professional and it creates a sort of demarcation between work and leisure time. From reading this article I'm now wondering whether my male coworkers interpret my smarter apparel as a sign of vanity or a lack of seriousness.

- Ben & Jerry's are releasing a limited-edition flavour in honour of the upcoming release of Anchorman 2. I feel like the world is now a slightly better place.

- A female model reaching the end of her modelling career decided to cut her hair off and is now making a successful career as a male model. Here are two interesting articles on her career move.

- Scientists (actual, legitimate scientists) carried out some mathematical modelling on a potential zombie virus outbreak. The conclusion is kind of grim. The article is amazing though and I can't believe I have only just discovered its existence.