Weekly Linkroll

So, there’s a football game this evening. My feelings about football have become so mixed over the last few years. So many problems with the sport on so many levels.

But my favorite city’s team is playing tonight, so I’m kind of excited.

Charles Street, Baltimore, looking north

Not only that, but my second favorite city’s team is also playing.

Coit Tower and neighborhood, San Francisco, also looking north

If the 49ers were playing anyone other than Baltimore, I’d be rooting for them. Sorry, guys.

But it hasn’t been all football this week. Here are some links for you that I hope you enjoy.

Twenty Great Writers on the Art of Revision
Emily Temple shares some super quotes on writing and revision. I’m especially fond of what Raymond Chandler had to say.

Finishing School – Book the First: Etiquette & Espionage (trailer)
This is seriously impressive book trailer. Can’t wait to actually read the book.

Girl comes out to parents with help of a cake
Awesome coming out story.

Pro-choice on Amtrak: The time I told a group of anti-choice teenagers about my abortion
Michelle Kinsey Bruns on Feministing talks about sharing her story of abortion with a train car full of anti-choice teenagers. Powerful stuff.

Is Twitter a better predictor of the flu than Google and the CDC? Researcher says, yes
Interesting Medcity News article on tracking the spread of this year’s flu season.

Think Women Haven’t Been in Combat Situations Already? The History of Crossdressing Soldiers
Women in the U.S. military will finally be able to fill combat positions, officially. But it’s not like they haven’t fought before. The National Journal looks at a few women who crossdressed their way into battle.

Interplanetary Cessna
xkcd’s What If column takes on the question, “What would happen if you tried to fly a normal Earth airplane above different Solar System bodies?” Venus is a terrible place.

And to finish up… a fun parody tune from Beauty for Ashes.

Monday Morning Music

Okay, fair warning, I’m feeling a little goofy today. The Ravens are going to the Super Bowl and I am still giddy over their victory last night.

And it’s also Martin Luther King Day here in the U.S. Yay for that, as well.

I had trouble picking a video for today. There are a lot of possibilities for honoring Dr. King, a man who accomplished so much and could have done so much more if he hadn’t been cut down before his time. I was tempted for a while by Queen’s song “One Vision.” It was inspired by MLK, and the video is charmingly silly, but that last line is just awful. What were they thinking?!

I also pondered Public Enemy’s “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” a song the group recorded because Arizona refused to institute Dr. King’s holiday when every other state in the union had (except for New Hampshire, too, I think). The way it ends, though, just doesn’t seem appropriate at all, especially given recent events.

So, after all that I decided to go with an old favorite. Here are the Staple Singers doing an awesome rendition of “Respect Yourself.”

And because I really want to inflict my need for Queen on you, here’s a song in honor of the Ravens’ victory last night, trite as may be. Can’t help myself.

Congrats, AFC champion Baltimore and Happy Martin Luther King Day, everyone!

Weekend Linkroll

So, the Ravens won last night, in stunning fashion, which kind of made my weekend. The Winter of the Novel has taken a short break so I can work on edits for “To The Edges”: another good thing. My fickle nature reared its head yesterday; the blog got another makeover. We’ll see how long this one sticks.

Plus, I’m reading Christine again, which always makes me happy. In that creepy-King-rocks-fall-everybody-dies way of happy.

And I have several links to share. Here’s hoping you find something interesting in them.

Food & Wine Thursdays: Because You Need The Reminder – Sulfites Revisited!
A PSA from The Satellite Show on sulfites in wine. Good stuff to know.

SCIENCE PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF ESP- Dateline 1950
Ellis Nelson talks about Chris Carter’s (no, not that Chris Carter) book Science and Psychic Phenomena. I’ve read similar stuff in the past and find the behind-the-scenes battles between real skeptics and debunkers to be almost as fascinating as the topics they’re fighting over. Oh, and I love the Max Planck quote.

Perception, Imagination, and Experience: “Stairway to Heaven” and Melodies Unheard
I wasn’t the only one thinking about Led Zeppelin this week. But Natania Barron took her thoughts in a really cool, meta direction.

Thorin Dreamboatshield: An Unexpected Hotness of Dwarves
Fun parody script of The Hobbit by Sarah Rees Brennan.

Your Friday Reading: Subterranean Magazine
Mr. Scalzi hips us to Subterranean‘s giveaway goodies. Pick up the fall and winter issues for free!

When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.
Lucy’s Football has a little something to say about the latest teenager who’s being censored by her school. Because stopping students from writing down their private thoughts will end school shootings. *sigh*

Ladies, Can We All Just Stop Being Bitches for TWO SECONDS?
Snobbery on body-shaming. Women do it, too, and it sucks.