It seems the 1967 Russian cinematic adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace wasn’t so bad.

• Alina Simone talks about expectations at the Wall Street Journal: “My editor wanted me to write fiction,” Simone said. “he was probably expecting me to turn in some sort of tortured defeat of the heart that was blunt and raw but probably depressing. The thing is, I’m not really like that in person. I like to be funny.”

• Taking another look at Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle.

• Blondie covering Beirut’s a “Sunday Smile.”  This is really weird.