Costumes

The boys are running around with their Clone Trooper outfits on, preliminary to Halloween. I would have preferred Harry Potter outfits. The Star Wars masks, in particular, kind of freak me out.

OK, I'm not as freaked out as the toddler in the pic. This could be every parent's private fantasy, or just an unsettling photo. It does seem a lot like the "uncanny valley": too much like a human, but very, very different -- at least from the kid's perspective



Tierney Gearon, Untitled 2001

Sparklehorse - Piano Fire

Die Antwoord - Evil Boy

South African hardcore hip hop. Surreal, fetishistic, spiritualist, and totally profane. I've been following Die Antwoord since they made a splash early this year on Boing Boing. This video is too good and weird to pass up.

Bonus points: a scene in the video includes "Ninja" with a "prawn" (or alien) arm, which is a reference to the scifi thriller "District 9." I've just used this film, in which aliens end up in a refugee camp in the middle of Johannesburg, in a course.

EVIL BOY (official) from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.

Tim Gunn - It Gets Better

My favorite mentor/critic on a reality show. His frank, professorial persona is what makes Project Runway so watchable, as far as I'm concerned.

His contribution to It Gets Better is deeply affecting.

Dan Savage

My absolute favorite public figure / pundit person, the very sane Dan Savage, who has long advocated that "It Gets Better" in his columns and podcasts. I think he also started the current YouTube meme, "It Gets Better." I could have used a little It Gets Better when I was in high school. Honest to god, I was so miserable I left with a year and a half still to go.

This video is just DS being his usual charming and funny. Watch to the end.