Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Todays Dilbert… which combines Cats, Science, Money and Religion. I thought you’d like it
The research, as far as I know, is correct. But I just wonder if this has anything to do with ISIS’s giving infidels the choice of conversion to Islam or death.
This morning we have a fortuitous conjunction of three pairs of individuals—fortuitous because Albatross 2.0 will be done today and I will have little time to post here. Do not expect Deep Thoughts (which, according to philosophers and theologians, I don’t have anyway).
A resurrection from 2009, prompted by this great piece by Nick Cohen.
And here is the latest Calvin and Hobbes, kindly provided by reader jsp. Here Calvin unwillingly strays into First Amendment territory. The Pledge, which includes the words, “One nation, under God,” has been repeatedly subject to litigation. The courts have ruled that no student can be compelled to say it, though it’s still controversial.
Finally, for some reason I was reading about Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) the other night, a fascinating man who was a beloved French artist and songwriter, as well as a roué, an alcoholic, and a great friend of police and cabdrivers. I claim that only in France would he have achieved that renown, but he had a colorful life (read this article in Vanity Fair).
Gainsbourg was the lover of both Brigitte Bardot and, famously, Jane Birkin, with whom he had his biggest hit, the highly erotic duo “Je t’aime. . . moi non plus” (roughly, “I love you: me neither.”) You can listen to the released version here, but warning: NSFW. DO NOT LISTEN IN THE OFFICE. Despite (or perhaps because of) its sounds of love, up to orgasm, it topped the European charts, even making #1 in the UK. The song was first recorded in 1968 with Bardot, but not released at her request because it was too salacious and she was still married to someone else (you can hear that version here, which was finally released in 1986). The famous version with Birkin was released in 1969. I remember hearing it in the U.S., but I think it was banned on most radio stations.
But while trawling YouTube for Gainsbourg songs, I found this one, which I’d forgotten. It ranks among the worst rock songs of all time in any language. The song is “Bonnie and Clyde” (1968), performed in French by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. The music video is so dreadful that makes me laugh, especially when, in the chorus, they pronounce “Clyde” with two syllables. I also love the way Bardot pronounces “Bonnie” as “Bunny.” Have a listen for as long as you can stand it. Of course it was a hit in France; they’re weird about these things. After all, they love Johnny Hallyday.
p.s. If you want to see Gainsbourg in his randiest drunkenness, watch this famous clip when he met Whitney Houston on a French television station (especially 1:17!). Also mildly salacious.
The other day Jerry announced the “trippy” launch of Randall Munroe’s new book What If, based on one of our favorite comics, xkcd. Last night he was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report (see video here).
Randall Munroe on the Colbert report (screen shot from Digg).
He unfortunately seemed very nervous and shy, and I think Colbert bungled the questioning a bit. I couldn’t find an embeddable video, so click “see video here” above to see the clip.
The “Ten Cats” comic strip written by Graham Harrop is well worth following, for it describes the adventures of Annie and ten cats who all live in a warehouse. Apparently Linda, one of the strip’s regular commenters, passed away, and Harrop provided a touching tribute:
p.s. Please don’t tell me that it’s one “fewer” person; Pinker dispels a lot of the “less/fewer” pedantry in his upcoming book on how to write, The Sense of Style.
I think the Archie comics are a purely American phenomenon, but they’ve been around forever—certainly when I was a kid in the Pleistocene. And I read it faithfully, as, I suspect did most of our older readers here. You would remember Archie, Jughead, Riverdale High, and the two attractive women, Veronica and Betty, between which one had to choose as a favorite.
I didn’t realize Archie had been around longer than I, but it’s true: the comic has been going for 73 years.
Until today.
As The Associated Press reports, in today’s issue of the comic Archie finally meets his demise, looking at least four decades younger than he is! And he dies in an unusual way:
Archie Andrews fans already know that their beloved, red-haired comic book icon is going to die while trying to save a friend’s life. Now ArchieComics publisher and co-CEO Jon Goldwater has offered more specifics about the character’s sacrifice: Archie will perish after intervening in an assassination attempt on the series’ first openly gay character, Kevin Keller, The Associated Press reports.
The heroic act will take place in the 36th issue of Life With Archie (out Wednesday, July 16th), while the following installment will move forward one year and feature the Riverdale crew honoring the life and legacy of their fallen friend. The image to the left shows Archie right before his death. [JAC: first image below]
“The way in which Archie dies is everything that you would expect of Archie,” Goldwater said in a statement. “He dies heroically. He dies selflessly. He dies in the manner that epitomizes not only the best of Riverdale, but the best of all of us. It’s what Archie has come to represent over the past almost 75 years.”
From the AP: This image provided by Archie Comics shows Archie in his final moments of life in the comic book, “Life with Archie,” issue 37. Archie Andrews will die taking a bullet for his gay best friend.
I didn’t realize that Archie had become so politically correct over the years:
While the original comic book series starring Archie began as an innocent look at a group of pals at Riverdale High School, Archie Comics has in recent years strived to appeal to modern sensibilities with “Life with Archie,” a more socially relevant spin-off aimed at longtime adult Archie fans. Over the past four years, “Life with Archie” plots have involved Kevin’s marriage, the death of longtime teacher Ms. Grundy and Archie’s love interest, Cheryl Blossom, tackling breast cancer and affordable health care.
Lord, that’s about every issue there is except for immigration reform and legal weed! Well, farewell, Arch! Here he is—gone but not forgotten.
I haven’t been following Doonesbury, but I see the error of my ways, for last night, in a comment, reader bric posted a link to today’s strip from The Washington Post. It perfectly sums up PuffHo’s “journalism”:
Maybe I should put “sideboob” in the title of my science posts!
A reporter’s reporter, Redfern is also a boy’s dad and was, until Dubya took the oath of office, a Washington insider’s husband. The 21st century has not been kind in any of these areas. Joanie retired and Rick was booted from the Post, suddenly finding himself blogging for a living, ever in search of eyeballs and a paycheck. Long baffled and frustrated by his slacker son Jeff’s unearned sense of entitlement, Redfern suffered the indignity of watching him strike bestseller gold as the Facebook folkhero “Red Rascal” and buy a 12-bedroom mansion. Rick is also puzzled by the fact that he is married to a grandmother. He now writes for the Huffington Post.
