The Hub

http://mlkshk.com/r/NJ1F

The thing about John Cassaday was that you could just throw anything at him, and it’d work.  So I did, and it did.

The overall concept for the PLANETARY covers was that, every issue, the book would simply look like nothing else next to it on the shelves, and that was how it would stand out.  Look for the thing that looked like none of the other things.  I think we mostly managed that.  These are a few of my favourites.

	Hong Kong Action Film issue.  The title and credits were actually supposed to appear as film-style subtitles under the image, but that was a step too far even for the fairly laid-back editorial office.  I’m still kind of sad about that.
	I would often just throw shorthand and free-association at John, for the cover images.  In this instance, I think I said something like, “doom, sorrow, monochrome, abstract, Joy Division.  Yes.  Joy Division.”  And probably the title of the story, which was “Magic And Loss.”  (Thereby also summoning Lou Reed.) This was just a perfect conjuring.
	The Full Steranko. In comics, when you say “Steranko,” you mean a pure shot of Pop-Art/Op-Art Sixties mad-science spy story. ”Steranko” may in fact be the best name anyone ever had.
	Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA and Seventies science-fiction paperbacks.  At this point, we were putting letterer/designer Richard Starkings through such horrors every time that he started crediting himself on the covers as revenge, which we were perfectly fine with.
	Our “Doctor Strange” issue, connecting that character’s Sixties origins with psychedelia.  Right off a Fillmore poster, in classic period colours.
	And this one.  Which I provided no notes for, had no idea for, and had nothing to do with.  The penultimate issue.  And John just generated the perfect image.  I remember just looking at this and saying, “you clever, clever bastard.” Can you see the logo?  It’s just a bit of type above the Wildstorm mark in the top left.  By this juncture, we’d proven our point – readers found PLANETARY, every time we released an issue, by looking for the thing that did not look like the other comics.  And that’s all down to the brilliance of John Cassaday.

via Warren Ellis http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14573

http://kk.org/cooltools/files/2012/12/061-zeppelin-knot1-e1356669321991.jpg

For some reason this amazingly useful knot has been forgotten. Like many knots, it is stronger than a square knot, but it is unique in that it can always be untied easily, even after it has been loaded heavily. In other words, it will not “jam”. It is also easy to tie and easy to verify.

Supposedly it is called the Rosendahl or “Zeppelin” knot because American airship commander Charles Rosendahl insisted on its use in mooring lines. Airships can put tremendous transient loads on those lines, so they needed strong knots that could still be untied in a hurry.

Instructions on how to tie it can be found at Mother Earth News, and also at Wikipedia.

— Karl Chwe

Zeppelin Knot
Instructions can be found at Mother Earth News, and Wikipedia

via Cool Tools http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/8248

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Terrific work; all six are flattering, but I think I like the Roger Moore one best.

via Daring Fireball http://arkadeburt.deviantart.com/art/James-Bond-will-Return-333070327

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Goodfellas

Google Street Scene is a clever Tumblr blog by Tre Baker that imagines moments from movies as captured by Google Street View.

via Gawker

via Laughing Squid http://laughingsquid.com/google-street-scene-movie-moments-captured-in-google-street-view/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29

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You’ll have heard that Jonathan Coulton’s iconic cover of Baby’s Got Back was plagiarised by the Fox TV show “Glee” (it’s not the first time). Coulton’s story has been widely reported, but Fox/Glee have remained shameless about this.

Coulton’s got a brilliant solution to this: he’s released a “cover” of Glee’s plagiarized version of his song, put it on Itunes as a rival to the official Fox version, and has announced that the proceeds will go to charity.

Jonathan Coulton ‘Covers’ Glee’s Ripoff of ‘Baby Got Back,’ Puts It on iTunes, Proceeds Go to Charity

(Thanks, Larry!)

via Boing Boing http://boingboing.net/2013/01/28/jonathan-coulton-responds-to-f.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29

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While there still isn’t a realease date for the exceptionally bloody movie Knights of Badassdom, we do have a brand new trailer. Could this mean there’ll be actual news about this film soon? Everything we’ve seen from this movie looks hilarious, and wondrously gory. Even this trailer, which starts off fairly PG, ends up ripping off heads and licking hearts. Let’s keep our hopes high that one day, we will all get to see Danny Pudi, Peter Dinklage, Summer Glau, and Ryan Kwanten slaughter a bunch of monsters together. More »

via io9 http://io9.com/5979574/knights-of-badassdom-trailer-shows-peter-dinklage-vs-a-succubus

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It’s all-purpose! If someone’s giving you trouble–at home, at work, anywhere–just follow Emil Johansson’s handy chart to put them out of your misery.

Link

via Neatorama http://www.neatorama.com/2013/01/28/Middle-Earth-Problem-Solving-Chart/

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Behold, the world’s moodiest plush toy! This unofficial Game of Thrones Jon Snow and Ghost plush toy promises hours of sullen introspection. But truly, the best part is the detail from the creator, Mick Minogue — is that a white walker hand we spy in Ghost’s jaw? More »

via io9 http://io9.com/5979500/plush-jon-snow-is-the-best-game-of-thrones-toy-weve-ever-seen