Blogs a Fad?; PI Book Editor; Giant Elephant Robot; All-Girl AC/DC; Brokeback Redux

I like this Arnold Kling essay quite a bit. Excerpts: One way to distinguish a fad from a trend is to ask what would happen if you reversed the order in which technologies were invented... ...Suppose that the news media consisted of individual reporters and blogs. If someone came along and invented newspapers, CNN, or other centralized news media, would we see this as an improvement?

Here is the blog of Philadelphia Inquirer Book Review Editor Frank Wilson. I think I'll add him to the blogroll next time I update.

Via The Speculist, here's a giant elephant robot walking around in France.

What does the world need to make it complete? An all-girl AC/DC cover band, of course. How could I have gone this long without knowing of AC/DShe?

The other day at work, I was saying that I'd probably pass on seeing Brokeback Mountain at the theater, and that I might just see it on DVD sometime, no big hurry. I had mentioned that elsewhere and someone (can't remember who) had a reaction that suggested that people who don't see BB Mtn must be homophobic. Absolutely not; I'm quite libertarian about all that -- the boys from Brokeback are not threatening to me, etc. etc. However (building my syllogism) if I wouldn't go to the theater to see a romance about two heterosexual cowpeople in love, why would anyone expect me to make the effort for a movie about two homosexual cowpeople in love? Have a movie about two gay guys fighting off a zombie siege, and I am totally there.

I guess that probably makes me a hypocrite or a pig or something for finding this amusing. Whatever.