Link One: George Lucas’ Big Mistake

Link Two: The Star Wars Saga: Introducing Machete Order

I love Star Wars. A lot. Even the bad movies, like Episode One? Yes, I saw it multiple times on the big screen, then bought it on DVD. And then watched it a few more times. And the ones I actually like I’ve seen even more times.

In spite of all that, I couldn’t agree more with this quote from Link One:

And Yoda, the exemplar of the Jedi philosophy, is wrong about everything.

The reasoning behind that is presented quite well there.

There is a long-running debate among fans regarding viewing order for the saga – should you watch these in order of release, or in order of episode number? Both of these have problems, and Link Two proposes a new viewing order that resolves them quite handily. My wife and I recently went through them in that order, and it’s definitely the way to go. (It leaves Episode 1 out entirely, so that’s a big argument in favor of it right there.)

Link One: Why ‘Blue Like Jazz’ Won’t Save Christian Cinema

Link Two: Wouldn’t It Be Cool if Shakespeare Wasn’t Shakespeare?

Link One is a review in The Atlantic of ‘Blue Like Jazz’, and Link Two is a review in the NYT Magazine of ‘Anonymous’. I haven’t seen either of these movies, and while I’d kind of like to see ‘Blue Like Jazz’ (loved the book, but will wait for DVD), I have zero interest in ‘Anonymous’. But I thought both of these reviews were interesting in themselves, and worth reading.

Link One: Flavors of heartache.

Link Two: Making the Grade: Why the Cheapest Maple Syrup Tastes Best

The first link is one post from one of my favorite webcomics: Indexed. Jessica Hagy posts all these hilarious and/or thought-provoking graphs and charts on index cards. Check it out.

The second link is an article from The Atlantic that will not only teach you some things about maple syrup, but about food labeling in general. Worth a read.

Link One: SureFire’s (Nearly Indestructible) Pens Review

Link Two: Llama font – say it in llama

I think I want a SureFire EWP-02 – the $90 price tag will slow me down a little, but I’ve broken two pens in my pocket in the last two weeks. (Didn’t get ink anywhere, just cracked the cases.) I like the idea of an überpen, ready to go anywhere or do anything, tough, rugged, ready for the world. Won’t break in my pants pocket when I plop on the couch.

Link two is one of those awesome things that the Internet was made for – it’s just goofy fun. Go try it out.

Link One: Bloom Like an Artist

Link Two: Dunning–Kruger effect

Link one is a brilliant webcomic at Jellyvampire. Really highly recommend you read all the way through this – it’s a vertical scroller, but it’s not that long, and well worth it. It’s about pursuing your passion, even when it seems unrealistic.

Link two is the Wikipedia article about the Dunning–Kruger effect – which is a documented issue where incompetent people tend to think they’re better than they really are, and competent people tend to think that they’re worse than they really are.

Link One: Eye Candy: Porcelain Fighting Figures Dropped And Photographed The Moment Of Shattering

Link Two: The Rules of Sagefight

The first link is pretty well described in the title – but you have to look at the pictures to see how dang cool it looks. Very interesting photography project.

The second link is for a game that looks like fun – I haven’t played this, but it actually looks like it would be a fun challenge for a martial artist, thinking about tactics and balance, leaving strength and speed out of it.  I don’t know, maybe not, but I’d like to try this with a few of my training partners at some point.

Link One: The Wooden Periodic Table Table

Link Two: The Periodic Table of Science Fiction

Link one has a great overview of all the chemical elements (properties, common applications, etc.), all done in a beautiful bit of woodworking. Yeah, I know, I don’t know why, either! But it is very cool. Check it out.

Link two features a short science fiction story for each of the elements. Sweet!

Link one: The Flake concept car

Link two: 1930 Art Deco Henderson motorcycle

Link one is cool because the wheels remind me of the “smartwheels” from Neil Stephenson’s Snow Crash.

Link two is cool because, c’mon, that’s a beautiful bike.