links for 2009-06-02

• TV Cream redesigns.
  Spangly. RSS feeds and efferfink.
  
  
• Making of the BBC's White House interview
  "Our pitch was based on the BBC's global reach and the fact the president's words would be heard not only in English, but also in a host of languages around the world, including Arabic and Farsi."
  
  
• Index on Censorship » Tiananmen 20: Liu Hongbin
  "Poet Liu Hongbin fled China after taking part in the Tiananmen Square protests. Here, he describes his experience of returning to China as a persona non grata in 1997."
  
  
• Doctor Who's assistant was Eden Court student - The Inverness Courier
  Coverage from The Inverness Courier. Moffat & co haven't released the name of the companion yet which is a break from the previous casting announcements which could mean: (a) It's a surprise connected with the story somehow -- returning character in new guise or related to the finale (b) It hasn't been finalised yet (c) They're keeping it back for a Doctor Who Magazine exclusive since they didn't get to announce the casting themselves.
  
  
• Brian Blessed Cast as Odin in Thor | /Film
  I think that headline says it all really. It might be wishful thinking, but given Brian's previous work with director Ken Branagh we can only hope.
  
  
• Hugely unfortunate placement from O2 today on Flickr
  
  
  
• BBC - Justin Webb's America: An interview with President Obama
  ... and it's a good interview. Obama doesn't really say much we haven't heard before, but Webb does push him on a few points and isn't afraid to attempt an interruption here and there. Compare and contrast with interviews with Gordon Brown in recent days.
  
  
• KOKOGIAK - One Year Later...
  Alan Taylor writes about one year curating The Big Picture blog: "I think the blog is its own best testament to the level of fairness and diversity in subject matter I've tried to maintain, and I'm proud of that."
  
  
• Does that make sense?: It's time to get up, and get on your way...
  Matthew Rudd, DJ, on waking early and being ready to perform at 6 in the morning, after a long drive. I'll be up at 5 on Thursday to work the election and I'm not looking forward to it ...
  
  
• Pets Lost and Found in Fannin County TX
  A community blog for lost and found animals in which the owners provide status updates. The resultsmake for pretty grim reading.
  
  
• Setanta opts for silence after defaulting on £3m payment | Football | The Guardian
  Much was made of the return of Saint and Greavsie on Saturday with Setanta removing the encryption for the day. What they didn't make to clear is that newer Freeview boxes remove those channels from the list unless a card is inserted during installation. Which means that many viewers (including my Mum) couldn't actually find the channel in any case.
  
  
• Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents "Future Depends On You" ~ A Touring Exhibition | Art Knowledge News
  For the illustrating painting which looks like the poster for a film in which a twentysomething has woken up inside one of the old Disney True Life Adventures about bears.
  
  
• In Semi-Defence Of The Phantom Menace
  Sometimes, it's just about the journey...