To mark Halloween, I bring you the splendid artwork below, which my lifelong friend Rob Harrell created several years ago when he was experimenting a lot with scratchboard techniques. I’ve always thought this would make a perfect New Yorker cover. Anyway, Happy Halloween. More to come soon…

Last year my excellent writer pal Rebecca Skloot wrote a funny and enlightening feature story for The New York Times Magazine about fish doctors—veterinarians who treat fish for infectious diseases, cancer, buoyancy disorders, and other medical problems. Becka, whom I hardly see these days because she’s finishing her book, recently reported a piece about fish vets for the PBS show Nova. Her segment aired last week, and it’s now online. You can watch it here. The sight of a fish on an operating table is pretty bizarre.

I love this: The new video from the goofy power-pop band The Presidents of the United States of America was shot entirely using an array of Sony Ericsson cellphones. The song is a Weezer-ish tune called “Some Postman,” and the video was directed by the Australian filmmaker Grant Marshall.

The original video file resides here, but that server is very slow, so I’ve put the video on my own server. Here’s the video; it apparently only works with Quicktime 7. I’ve encoded and uploaded a lower-quality version that should play nice with other video plugins, as well as earlier versions of Quicktime. [UPDATE, 10/19: I’ve taken the primary file off my server because the bandwidth was getting a little out of hand. So I’ll just point you again to the original video file, which is here; it apparently only works with Quicktime 7. I’ll continue to host the lower-quality, more broadly compatible version on my server as long as I can. If you have Quicktime 7, you should definitely watch the original file, because it looks and sounds much better. UPDATE II: Okay, I had to take the lower-quality version down, too. But the cool people at ifilm’s Viral Video channel have begun hosting the clip. If you have Quicktime 7, you should definitely watch the original file; if you don’t, head to ifilm and watch a lower-quality streaming version. And P.S.: The RSS feed for ifilm’s Viral Video channel is well worth subscribing to.]

Here’s some background about how the “Some Postman” video was put together, and here’s some more. The phones were only capable of 10 frames per second (standard video is shot at around 30 f.p.s.), and they couldn’t capture quick jerky movements without pixelation, so much of the footage was shot with the band performing the song at half speed.

(I bet Clive will want to link to this…)

[via Lisa Rein.]

Via ifilm, here is Kiefer Sutherland in a 24-inspired Japanese TV commercial for an artificial sweetener called Calorie Mate:

…but what if we change a few letters and add the empty noggin of a dangerous but determined man?

(In January, I posted a great Absolut riff by my pal Rob Harrell.)

Next Monday, October 10, the nice people at Bookforum are hosting a Katrina benefit at Cooper Union’s Great Hall. The event will be hosted by Chris Rose of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and participants will include Donna Tartt, Robert Stone, and Roy Blount Jr. Proceeds will go to the Acadiana Arts Council to benefit “artists, writers, and musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.” More details here.