The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:00:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 The World Must Be Good if Anna Faris is Becoming Famous http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/the-world-must-be-good-if-anna-faris-is-becoming-famous http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/the-world-must-be-good-if-anna-faris-is-becoming-famous#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:00:27 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/the-world-must-be-good-if-anna-faris-is-becoming-famous
It's always exciting when the girl who was never supposed to make it totally makes it! And so yay, the New Yorker profile of Anna Faris today (subscription only!), who can now place herself on a list of lady actress script-readers behind "Reese, Cameron, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, Katherine Heigl and Anne Hathaway." (Sidebar: at least two of those are frightening and crazy and also chronic liars! To be fair, at least two of them are kindly and human.) But it's a very good look at the "problem" of women doing comedy. Hmm. Is it a "problem"? It's a problem, if you want to spend a lot of money on a movie and then make a lot of money, which is the only goal in Hollywood. It's not a problem if you want to have a good time and make cool stuff, which, then don't move to L.A.

But anyway!

Mmm hmm.

The award for most jaw-dropping quote in the piece goes to... Judd Apatow! "The reality is, I'm a dude and I understand the dude thing, so I lean men just the way Spike Lee leans African-American." Please tell me someone has Spike Lee on the phone right now.

My only beef with the discussion of the film comedies with women is that it underplays the significance of Easy A, which at least gets a mention, but it should be remembered that it's done $75 million globally, and, despite some conventionality, still passes the Bechdel test and was also about a girl becoming the school slut.

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It's always exciting when the girl who was never supposed to make it totally makes it! And so yay, the New Yorker profile of Anna Faris today (subscription only!), who can now place herself on a list of lady actress script-readers behind "Reese, Cameron, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, Katherine Heigl and Anne Hathaway." (Sidebar: at least two of those are frightening and crazy and also chronic liars! To be fair, at least two of them are kindly and human.) But it's a very good look at the "problem" of women doing comedy. Hmm. Is it a "problem"? It's a problem, if you want to spend a lot of money on a movie and then make a lot of money, which is the only goal in Hollywood. It's not a problem if you want to have a good time and make cool stuff, which, then don't move to L.A.

But anyway!

Mmm hmm.

The award for most jaw-dropping quote in the piece goes to... Judd Apatow! "The reality is, I'm a dude and I understand the dude thing, so I lean men just the way Spike Lee leans African-American." Please tell me someone has Spike Lee on the phone right now.

My only beef with the discussion of the film comedies with women is that it underplays the significance of Easy A, which at least gets a mention, but it should be remembered that it's done $75 million globally, and, despite some conventionality, still passes the Bechdel test and was also about a girl becoming the school slut.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/the-world-must-be-good-if-anna-faris-is-becoming-famous/feed 35 Dr. Carolyn Porco: So Much More Awesome Than Anyone http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/dr-carolyn-porco-so-much-more-awesome-than-anyone http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/dr-carolyn-porco-so-much-more-awesome-than-anyone#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:50:04 +0000 Dave Bry http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/dr-carolyn-porco-so-much-more-awesome-than-anyone porcoKeith Richards may have just been replaced as the no. 1 ranked coolest human being on the planet. Judging from a fascinating article in today's Science Times, Dr. Carolyn Porco, who monitors the cameras on the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for the past five years, seems pretty tough to beat.

First of all, she's an optimist, in a time of great pessimism. "It's another one of those things that make you pinch yourself," she says, about latest images Cassini has sent back, "and say, 'Boy am I lucky to be around now.' For the first time in 400 years, we're seeing Saturn's rings in three dimensions."

She analyzed data from the two Voyager missions that explored the outer planets from Jupiter to Neptune in 1970s and 80s. Her current job on the $3.4 billion Cassini mission is basically like being Captain Kirk. "Being on the imaging team is like standing on the bridge of the spaceship, she said. 'We have the windows,' she said. 'That's what we're responsible for.'"

Her favorite movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Her favorite band: The Beatles. (Her favorite Beatle: John.) The names of two of her own former bands, wherein she used to sing and play guitar: The Titan Equatorial Band; The Estrogens.

Another awesome thing she says: "Most people go through life recoiling from its best parts. They miss the enrichment that just a basic knowledge of the physical world can bring to the most ordinary experiences. It's like there's a pulsating, hidden world, governed by ancient laws and principles, underlying everything around us – from the movements of electrical charges to the motions of the planets – and most people are completely unaware of it. To me, that's a shame."

And another: "Between my participation in Voyager and my role in Cassini," she said, "when comes the time, I will die a happy and gratified woman."

Jesus Christ! She's not even just like a super cool person. She's even better than that. She's like a cyborg programmed for a better way. She's like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner!

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]]> porcoKeith Richards may have just been replaced as the no. 1 ranked coolest human being on the planet. Judging from a fascinating article in today's Science Times, Dr. Carolyn Porco, who monitors the cameras on the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for the past five years, seems pretty tough to beat.

First of all, she's an optimist, in a time of great pessimism. "It's another one of those things that make you pinch yourself," she says, about latest images Cassini has sent back, "and say, 'Boy am I lucky to be around now.' For the first time in 400 years, we're seeing Saturn's rings in three dimensions."

She analyzed data from the two Voyager missions that explored the outer planets from Jupiter to Neptune in 1970s and 80s. Her current job on the $3.4 billion Cassini mission is basically like being Captain Kirk. "Being on the imaging team is like standing on the bridge of the spaceship, she said. 'We have the windows,' she said. 'That's what we're responsible for.'"

Her favorite movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Her favorite band: The Beatles. (Her favorite Beatle: John.) The names of two of her own former bands, wherein she used to sing and play guitar: The Titan Equatorial Band; The Estrogens.

Another awesome thing she says: "Most people go through life recoiling from its best parts. They miss the enrichment that just a basic knowledge of the physical world can bring to the most ordinary experiences. It's like there's a pulsating, hidden world, governed by ancient laws and principles, underlying everything around us – from the movements of electrical charges to the motions of the planets – and most people are completely unaware of it. To me, that's a shame."

And another: "Between my participation in Voyager and my role in Cassini," she said, "when comes the time, I will die a happy and gratified woman."

Jesus Christ! She's not even just like a super cool person. She's even better than that. She's like a cyborg programmed for a better way. She's like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner!

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