Saturday Hot Links

Welcome to another installment of Saturday Hot Links!

Today: The Oh My God, How We Miss Kurt Vonnegut Edition!

“Always Sunny’s” Glenn Howerton is soliciting scripts on Twitter.

Scientists say Earth is hotter today than it has been in 11,000 years.

Netflix series spending revealed… and it’s more than broadcast networks.

Speaking of which: David Fincher on “House of Cards”.

5 famous filibusters.

James Franco is making his Silver Lake neighbors miserable.

How a star-filled space cloud gave astronomers a new cosmic yardstick.

20 iconic and memorable movie death scenes.

How Herb Alpert’s $5.5M saved the Harlem School of the Arts.

The world’s most extreme deserts.

Star Wars fans? You have to see this: Rancho Obi-Wan.

And this: A Boba Fett mixer.

Anatomy of 14th century bubonic plague hazmat suits.

Marvel Unlimited lets you read 13,000 Marvel comic books online.

Project uses famous profiles to identify gifted, creative students.

9 Disney character cameos in other Disney movies.

Why the White House spends $277K per year on calligraphers.

10 other “Wizard of Oz” stories.

Why is Charles Schulz in the hockey Hall of Fame.

Death Tarantino style.

10 medical tools you’re glad only exist in museums.

Megaupload shutdown boosted digital movie sales and rentals.

Sex might cure migraines better than medicine.

First look at Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel”.

10 Years After guitarist Alvin Lee dies at 69.

20 oddball sci-fi films of the 1970s.

10 lesser-known U.S. coins.

@MysteryExec: The most interesting in Hollywood.

Russell Crowe claims he saw a UFO.

Wall-E / Oblivion trailer mash-up [video].

Why your grandma should start playing Xbox.

Joss Whedon joins Twitter… at least temporarily.

The world championship of puns.

Film Finance Forum: Are investors coming back to the biz?

7 geeky cool translations of “Hamlet”.

How small arthouses are saving up for digital transition.

Sports Illustrated: 50 most powerful people in sports.

19 year-old creates an animated tribute to Steven Spielberg. Spielberg writes him a letter of appreciation [video].

Can you be sued for performing CPR?

Frank Baum’s great-grandson weighs in on the new Disney Oz movie.

It’s time to rethink America’s corn system.

The Jimi Hendrix biopic experience: Perpetual haze.

Fox dreams big, brash new sports channel.

Vulture: Why Mila Kunis and Jennifer Lawrence are beloved.

5 unseen parts of the NYC subway system.

Why VFX houses lose money on big movies.

9 historical methods of determining the sex of an unborn baby.

George Lucas says Fisher, Hamill and Ford are signed for the new Star Wars movies.

America’s 13 most bizarre official state appetizers, toys, soils, etc.

Chinese hackers want Hollywood secrets.

Google is building a same-day Amazon Prime competitor.

A list of alternate titles to Dr. Strangelove as brainstormed by Stanley Kubrick.

Britain’s mysterious real-life Batman.

Watch The Matrix in 60 seconds [video].

7 sentences that sound crazy but are still grammatical.

TotalFilm: 30 sexiest movie witches.

13 funniest “Game of Throne” parodies.

Brown University creates first wireless, implanted brain-computer interface.

5 things you might now know about The Big Lebowski.

A plague of locusts attacks Egypt [video].

10 things I’ve learned at the movies.

“Fifty Shades” porn parody countersues.

Women In Film taking applications for finishing funds grant.

A letter that inspired The Outsiders to become a movie.

Virgina Woolf on the language of film and the evils of cinematic adaptations of literature.

Reasons you should make a short film before you make a feature.

Sugar causes diabetes.

Jacob Bernstein remembers his mother: Nora Ephron.

Bobby Rogers, co-founder of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, dies.

J.J. Abrams worked on the script for Iron Man 3.

First cure of HIV in a child.

Alfred Hitchcock defines a MacGuffin.

Firing a hamburger into space.

Books into movies: 10 practical tips for producers.

Hidden Treasures: Steve Goodman.

10 directors who are certifiably insane.

Sundance expands film festival to Hollywood this summer.

FilmmakerIQ: On Sam Pekinpah and his contributions to the Western.

The week I finished my course work for my Master’s degree at Yale, I bought a bunch of Vonnegut paperbacks and read them all, a gift to myself after 7 years of academic study. Still have many of those books. We miss you, Kurt!

Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Lots of exciting classes and workshops coming up at SMC including a 1-week scene-writing class with Tom that analyzes the writing of Quentin Tarantino. Here is the schedule for the next several weeks:

March 11: Prep: From Concept to Outline (Scott Myers) Only 1 spot left!

March 18: Craft: Tarantino Unchained — Scene Build Clinic (Tom Benedek) Brand new class!

March 25: Craft: Story Summaries (Scott Myers) From loglines to beat sheets!

April 1: Pages I: The First Draft (Tom Benedek) Pound out that first draft!

April 8: Craft: Character Introductions (Scott Myers) Critical skill set to learn!

Note: I am only offering my Craft classes once in 2013. Why not sign up for the Craft Package? Access to all 8 of my Craft classes and go through them at your own pace. Nearly 50% off the list price! Go here for more information.

We look forward to the opportunity to work with you!