I picked that up reading books.

Fringe blog..fanart, quotes, some spoilers, wild theories, general Peter Bishop/Fringe appreciation. Polivia/Benchwarmer positive.

[nationalgeographicdaily]

Sunset, South Africa Photo: Giampiero Torello

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Aaaahhhhh peaceful.

[latimes]

The colorful house opposing the Westboro Baptists The Westboro Baptist Church has become synonymous with hate-filled and derogatory language, with publicity-grabbing stunts protesting everything from gay marriages, Catholicism to military funerals - making them an open target for activist Aaron Jackson.

Jackson, looking at the area surrounding the church, was shocked to discover that there were houses for sale right across the street, prompting him to create an “Equality House,” which will  serve in direct contrast to the church’s message, and house a new anti-bullying initiative.

From veteran Mike McKessor, who painted the house:

“Every neighbor that I encountered was so happy, and everybody was smiling when they go by,” McKessor said, with a chuckle. “It was on a busy street, and everybody slowed down and took pictures. I’m not exaggerating. Dang near every car stopped and said, ‘Good job! Good job!’ … I’ve never had people so happy for painting a house.”

Read more about the story behind the house on Nation Now.

Photo: Planting Peace

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Wonderful!

[latimes]

Polar bears remain a threatened species

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to keep polar bears protected by broad federal measures Friday,

The court rejected the argument that the 25,000 remaining polar bears, most of which live in relatively stable populations, were perfectly fine without “threatened species” status. But many scientists worry that the effects of climate change on the Arctic climate could prove dangerous for the remaining bears.

And it looks like polar bears may remain on that list for the foreseeable future, according to Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity.

“So for practical purposes, the listing of the polar bear is final, and really no longer under any serious threat from these challenges.”

Read more about the court’s decision here, via Nation Now.

Photos: Jeon Heon-Kyun, Koen Van Weel / EPA, Sven Hoppe / Associated Press

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Wonderful.  Now we need to work on really saving them.

[theatlantic]

The Best Photos of 2012

A man walks inside of the crumbling oval skeleton of the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party on mount Buzludzha in central Bulgaria on March 14, 2012.

[Image: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images]

We’re not the only ones who think this was pulled straight out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, right?

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Love letter, shmove letter

“It may not be a happy place or a great place, but it will be an ending,” says Jackson

Josh in the NYdaily news on Fringe's ending

Reassuring (not).

I'm now seeing S5 not so much as canon, but as Wyman's fanfic, and as such, free to hope that if there is a movie, it's done by Pinkner perhaps, or (my wish) Orci & Kurtzman.

Or at least that Wyman stops mainlining twitter & reviews by people he's given cameo roles to, and thinks about what he's doing to our favorite characters and the show's rep.

[latimes]

Little-known fact: The Marines are working to protect the Agassiz’s desert tortoise, a species vulnerable to extinction. The base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., includes five acres dedicated to a Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility, where 500 hatchlings are being cared and protected from predators (namely ravens, which feed on juvenile tortoises whose shells are still soft).

More than 90% of Marines who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan came to Twentynine Palms for several weeks of grueling training known as Mojave Viper. And every one of them received a video lecture about the tortoise’s threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act. Troops were warned to halt all training and notify the range master the moment a tortoise is spotted.

Marines are also ordered to make the base less hospitable to ravens by picking up food litter and making sure trash cans have lids that are “raven-proof.” Anti-raven pamphlets titled “Invasion of the Tortoise Snatchers” are handed out.

More tortoise photos for your viewing pleasure here.

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

[theatlantic]

Why a Fancy Art Museum Is Curating a Collection of Cat Videos

The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, widely considered one of the country’s premier art institutions. The Walker is known for both experimentation and quality; it was the first museum, for example, to exhibit the work of Franky Gehry and Chuck Close and Joseph Cornell. Tonight, the Walker will host its latest experiment in experimental art: a film festival. Featuring cat videos. 

Yep: cat videos. Nyan Cat, for one. “Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten,” for another. And — my personal favorite — “Henri 2, Paw de Deux.”

Read more. [Image: Walker Art Center]

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

One more reason to love the Walker

[theatlantic]

I have the right to objectively define pregnancy from rape as rare. I have the right to determine separate legitimate rape from all those instances when you were in need of encouragement, wearing a red dress or otherwise asking for it. I have the right to manufacture scientific theories about your body — theories which reinforce my power. If the body doesn’t ‘shut that whole thing down’ then clearly you weren’t raped, and there’s no need to talk about an abortion. And even if I am wrong on every count, I still have the right to dictate the terms of your body and the remaining days of your life. All of my rationales range from the totally subjective to the outright mythical. But I am the sovereign of the female body. On my word rumor becomes science, and the destruction of your life is repackaged as the defense of someone else’s.

Te-Nehisi Coates, on Todd Akin and the privilege of magical thinking. (via theatlantic)

[theatlantic]

Julian Assange Granted Asylum by Ecuador 

Protesters gathered outside the embassy this morning — some in support of Assange and Wikileaks; but many merely to support the idea that Ecuador’s sovereignty should not be messed with. They were also waiting with members of the press for the formal decision by Ecuadorean foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, who has just announced that Assange will be granted asylum in their country. Patiño stated that Assange’s fears of persecution are real and that once in Sweden he could be extradited to the United States where he “would not have a fair trial” and “his human rights would not be respected.”

Read more. [Image: Reuters/Ki Price]

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Ooh! Can't wait!!

Movie-style trailer for 'Brave New World'

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Thoughts on Wondercon: Josh not having an alt to play

I was thinking about Josh not having an alt to play, and wondered what payoff the producers gave him for truncating the possibilities for him.

While the Wondercon panel hasn't answered that exactly, it did make me realize that Peter is the only character that has really changed, as a person.

Peter has changed and grown, and it "took", Walter changed (the first version of him, and partly this last version)--but Walter keeps getting re-set, like a clock, the same way the other alts do. The Walters are driven & broken in slightly different ways, Olivias version 1-6 are all mildly different, (the reds are more obnoxious or more flirty), the Broyles are gruff, the Ninas are crafty, the Astrids reason well, the Lincolns are dweeby.... but those characters each revolve around a tiny axis.

Olivia and Walter had changed the most of the alt-having, until that was wiped away by this season.

Peter on the other hand has gone from being a secretive violent crook, reluctant assistant in the lab and Walter-chaperone, to a brilliant caring partner to Olivia, a gentle son to Walter, then Olivia's demon lover and husband--and then goes on to destroy and heal universes, again and again without end, in his desire to be with his Olivia and his Walter...and then to learn from that and become more grounded, the most adult, the most whole person in 'Fringe'.

I'd say that was quite an odyssey.

No alt needed, with an arc like that.

And Josh has really rocked the role.

[guardian]

Happy International Polar bear day!

Here are some cute pictures to celebrate

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

:)

[thefascistscrapbook-deactivated]

This is Moscow, Russia on February 4th, 2012. That date is today.

These are the people protesting the clearly rigged election, resulting in the victory of Vladimir Putin. 

This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to see it here 

[kateoplis]

Dear #News Editors,

This photo has been proven to be a) from 1991, and b) photoshopped. Please remove it from #News. Thanks.

[latimes]

Or at least put ShortFormBlog’s post into #News so people can be informed.

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Well, the date is wrong, but if you look at the original photo (and not the zillion ads plastered all over the sfb post instead of the pic)  which is here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/78q2dso

---------you'll see that the two are barely different.  Not so much shopped as cleaned and sharpened. 

While the date is clearly wrong, the crowd........ and the current empathy with them--are not wrong.  Uncomfortable to the 1%, to be sure.

[latimes]

Sacrificing the desert to save the Earth: BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah solar power project will soon be a humming city with 24-hour lighting, a wastewater processing facility and a gas-fired power plant.

To make room, BrightSource has mowed down a swath of desert plants, displaced dozens of animal species and relocated scores of imperiled desert tortoises, a move that some experts say could kill up to a third of them.

Environmentalists are torn over the high cost of breaking reliance on fossil fuels. Public comment has been sought, but insiders are calling the shots.

Read our article here, and be sure to check out the accompanying graphic.

Images: Top, Artist’s conception of Ivanpah ‘solar farm’ project. Bottom, the impact of a solar farm on desert ecosystems.

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Big Fringe Spoiler from tonight's filming

I'm tiny-url'ing it for those who are avoiding spoilers, as the link title itself is spoily.

http://tinyurl.com/73to3sm

Polivia fans, you will want to look, and you will *not* be disappointed by what you read.

Been a Loooong time coming, and let's hope this is no dream.  And the lucky human who has photos?  I wants 'em, I needs 'em. :D

(Twitter was having a shipgasm tonight... )

[nationalgeographicdaily]

Great White Shark and Divers Photo: David Litchfield

Cage divers are confronted by a great white shark.

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

Breathtaking. 

And breathtakingly glad I'm not there.

[ironicfan-blog]

What’s next, Fringe?

[ipickedthatupreadingbooks-b-blog]

These are a bit too close to the bone for me, as seeing Peter usurped by Lincoln makes me queasy.  I do feel ripped off this season.  If I wanted to watch a different show with different characters forming new relationships, I would watch another show, dig, BR? 

My fear is that they will give us a cliche'd bittersweet ending of Olivia recognizing Peter just as he kills himself to save her and Walter.  Well, screw that.