{"id":1654,"date":"2007-09-07T04:56:26","date_gmt":"2007-09-07T09:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/unrequired-reading-sep-7-2007\/"},"modified":"2007-09-07T04:56:26","modified_gmt":"2007-09-07T09:56:26","slug":"unrequired-reading-sep-7-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/unrequired-reading-sep-7-2007","title":{"rendered":"Unrequired Reading: Sep. 7, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plenty of links to ease you through a post-Labor Day Friday, dear readers! Just click “More”!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My wife learned some Photoshopping trickery<\/a> to make certain photos look like shots of miniature models. Here, on the other hand, are some really intricate miniature models<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Would Orwell have been a blogger<\/a>? Would he have been a communist<\/a>?<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Only hot people get book deals<\/a>. Or have they finally made up their minds to learn design<\/a> and study overseas?<\/p>\n

* * *Brick by Brick<\/a>: not just a good Iggy Pop album with a great Charles Burns cover<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Vladimir Putin is a girly-man<\/a>! (pleasedon’tkillme)<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Anne Applebaum dissects the Princess Diana “legacy”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

New sets for establishing shots on CSI:Miami<\/a>! (plus slideshow<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Some people took Knocked-Up<\/em> way too seriously as a cultural indicator<\/a>. For my part, I think it plays into the hands of the anti-pink-eye lobby. . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plenty of links to ease you through a post-Labor Day Friday, dear readers! Just click “More”!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,22,46,17,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-architecture","category-art","category-design","category-politics-explicit","category-urban-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-qG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1556,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/the-future-aint-what-it-used-to-be","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":0},"title":"The future ain’t what it used to be","author":"Gil","date":"June 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A few months ago, I wrote about the Chrysler 300C, which appealed to me because it resembled the Batmobile. Over at 2Blowhards, Donald Pettinger writes about the 1950s' dream cars, with a fantastic gallery of Cars of the Future: With no place to go trend-wise, stylists thrashed around in search\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11901,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-296-cathy-b-graham","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":1},"title":"Episode 296 – Cathy B Graham","author":"Gil","date":"November 20, 2018","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 296: Cathy B. Graham \"The great thing about being heartbroken is I become very focused on my work.\" Who starts a career at an age when most people are looking at retirement? Coming off a divorce and a three-decade hiatus from professional life, award-winning illustrator Cathy B.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Antonio Lopez\"","block_context":{"text":"Antonio Lopez","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tag\/antonio-lopez"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/1500490810648.jpg?fit=919%2C1200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/1500490810648.jpg?fit=919%2C1200&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/1500490810648.jpg?fit=919%2C1200&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/1500490810648.jpg?fit=919%2C1200&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2081,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/doc-bruce-banner-belted-by-cheap-hookers","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":2},"title":"Doc Bruce Banner, belted by cheap hookers","author":"Gil","date":"May 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Leaving the supermarket this evening, I noticed a display of toys for the new Hulk movie. I was disappointed that they didn't have a Tim Roth action figure, so I could dress him in a miniature leather coat like in Little Odessa. Luckily, I noticed that they had the next\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic books & strips"","block_context":{"text":"Comic books & strips","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0018HUSLK","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13542,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/covid-check-in-with-steve-prue","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":3},"title":"COVID Check-In with Steve Prue","author":"Gil","date":"June 10, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show COVID Check-In: Steve Prue Photographer Steve Prue checks in from Brooklyn. We talk about how he got started in (largely NSFW) photography and the origin of Teamrockstar Images, how he's dealing with pandemic life (his roommate is yesterday's guest, Stoya), figuring out how to coordinate remote shoots\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidpruecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C588&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidpruecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C588&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidpruecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C588&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidpruecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C588&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidpruecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C588&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17795,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-660-dean-haspiel-and-whitney-matheson","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":4},"title":"Episode 660 – Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson","author":"Gil","date":"October 24, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 660: Dean Haspiel & Whitney Matheson Cartoonist-playwright-filmmaker Dean Haspiel rejoins the show for the homestretch of his new Kickstarter, ANTIMATTER (finishing Nov. 3, 2025), and brings his studio mate Whitney Matheson along to talk about her new story collection, THE FEELING. We talk about how Dino got\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/deanwhit2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C593&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/deanwhit2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C593&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/deanwhit2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C593&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/deanwhit2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C593&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/deanwhit2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C593&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8275,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-35-cents-a-stamp","url_meta":{"origin":1654,"position":5},"title":"Podcast – 35 Cents & a Stamp","author":"Gil","date":"October 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: John Porcellino\u00a0- 35 Cents & A Stamp \"I managed to go 43 issues before I hit the paralyzing grip of self-doubt and self-consciousness [from realizing that I had an audience]. I feel lucky that I had all those years to write comics in essentially a vacuum. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=1770461647","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}