Apr. 28th, 2012

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
Pretty much every day I can google "Bev Oda pays taxpayers back for [x]" and get a different X. Hotel, car, orange juice - it's all good.
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)

A quotation missing important context:

(A Reluctant Babel, by Maxim Edwards is) heavy on anecdotes and light on statistics (and given to silly remarks about "languages such as Abaza, Ingush or Kabardian, rightly called some of the most complex in the world," which "may simply be unteachable except for the most motivated and dedicated of students," not to mention the even sillier attribution of James Nicoll's famous statement that "English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary" to Booker T. Washington, of all people), [...]
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
I assumed LXD was some sort of mockbuster, probably by Asylum. Not so:

(from tvtropes)

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers is an acclaimed Web Original series about two rival groups of dancers who gain superpowers through their dance moves. Its heroes are Trevor Drift, a boy born with the talent to breakdance really well, Sp3cimen, a man experimented on by the Dark Doctor to make him the ultimate dancer of the robot (Or something), Elliot Hoo, a boy who discovers a pair of shoes that force him to dance, the Fanboyz, a trio of Hollywood Nerds who join the LXD through their own merits, and Copeland, a Badass tap dancer. They are all recruited into the titular legion, an organization there to prevent people with dancing-based superpowers from running out of control, just in time for the mysterious Organization X to decide that the world would be better off without the LXD policing it. Also in the mix is the Dark Doctor, a mind-controlling masked villain with an unknown agenda.

While the premise sounds ridiculous, it's essentially a musical with singing replaced by dancing, and with the Power of Rock replaced by the power of, you guessed it, dance. The choreography is absolutely stunning, and the "action", while sometimes Narm, is very physically impressive. Extremely few effects are artificial, as unreal as it may seem. And the production value is comparable to broadcast television programs. While the acting is...unfavorable, and the story either Troperiffic or a Cliché Storm, the delivery of story through dance makes for an ambitious series that's well worth a glance.

Can be found here. Needs More Love.


Except the episodes don't seem to work for me. Hrm. Well, I know it is on netflix...
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
the Booker T Washington Society page of quotes attributes my quotation to Washington. I wonder how long it's done that? And how many of the other quotations on that page are also actually not from Washington?

I did ask them about this and got this reply almost instantly:

Thank you for your inquiry.
We will respond as soon as poosible.
Ronald Court
Booker T Washington Society


That "poosible" makes a strong case that this is just institutional carelessness.
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
And yet another advertising-related SF story from the 1950s.

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