Miscellanea #17

A continuing series of noteworthy tidbits gleaned from all over.

Happy Loving Dodgers
For no good reason, I’m taking nominations for the all-time Dodger Spirit Squad - the guys who keep it loose and fun. Nominees must have been on the Dodger active roster while showing their spirit…. (Dodger Thoughts)

The screenwriter’s cut of the DVD pie
American screenwriter John August’s latest movie, Big Fish, is now out on DVD and on his blog this week, the screenwriter revealed that he makes just under US$0.05 per DVD sold. If Big Fish sells 1,000 copies, the screenwriter gets US$50. Doesn’t seem like much, considering the fact that the screenwriter is one of the main ‘creative’ associated with a movie. (ni vu ni connu - Martine Pagé) (Cinema Minima)

Horrid diseases
Horrid diseases the world had forgotten are roaring back, thanks to our bone-head media, religious fanatics, and green nut cases…. (Arts and Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate)

Bodies under school to be exhumed
A school is to exhume about 2,000 bodies from beneath its playground to make room for a subterranean gymnasium. (BBC News | UK)

For the SUV driving crowd…
‘The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.’ -Iris Murdoch, writer (1919-1999) (What is a CyclingPlatypus?)

Firing Up The Grill
Don’t try this at home: Lighting a Barbeque. Lighting a grill with 3 gallons of liquid oxygen. Started with 60 lbs of charcoal; burnt up 40 lbs of it in 3 seconds. Result is a grill ready to cook in about 3 seconds, and all the old grease, etc burned off. (J-Walk Blog)