Link Dump

General nerdery from the depths of ye olde internets:

  • David Foster Wallace’s 1994 Syllabus: How to Teach Serious Literature with Lightweight Books – I gave up on Infinite Jest at some point, but David Foster Wallace remains intriguing. This Syllabus is for a literature class where Wallace made students read Mary Higgins Clark, Jackie Collins, James Ellroy, Stephen King, and other such popular authors. I love it when great artists slum it with trashy texts, because it’s all in the approach:

    Don’t let any potential lightweightish-looking qualities of the texts delude you into thinking that this will be a blow-off-type class. These “popular” texts will end up being harder than more conventionally “literary” works to unpack and read critically. You’ll end up doing more work in here than in other sections of 102, probably.

    Probably? I want to take this course, probably. Some good thoughts on the art of the syllabus here as well. RIP DFW.

  • How to lose weight in 4 easy steps – Man, step 1 is very true, but also my kryptonite (because this). Also, Step 3 seems oddly specific.
  • LEGO’s letter to parents, and how not to tell a fake when you don’t see one – A few months ago, this lego letter to parents was passed around, and because this is the internets, people assumed it was fake because everyone knows that legos are totes sexist. But no, it’s real, and this post goes through it in exhaustive detail.
  • Watch Agent 47 Kill Children You Don’t Recognize In A HITMAN Viral Video – I can’t believe that they’re making another Hitman movie. If you’ll recall, the first Hitman came out back in 2007, and it was on my “Movies I Want to See Even Though I Know They’ll Suck” list. It did not disappoint. This new one looks slightly more upscale, but will most likely be on a similar list this year. Also, the viral video is pretty funny, but as Devin notes: “Agent 47, the guy from the Hitman: Agent 47 reboot…kills a bunch of YouTube and Vine stars, but since I don’t recognize any of them it just looks like he’s slaughtering children.” Heh?
  • Venture Brothers Sheet Set – Wow.
  • Reset Button: Do it Again, Stupid – Shamus rips into GTA V, mostly nailing several things I don’t like about the game.

And that’s all for now. Toodles.

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