Ricky Gervais on Autism

The nearly invariably amusing Ricky Gervais has done some fundraising for autism charities, and clearly he has found material in stereotypes he didn't find in the autistic people he's now met and worked with. "E's havin a laugh" as Ricky would say on Extras:

A Beautiful Mind

This is a drawing of Urville, Europe's largest city. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 11th Century and after becoming part of France, slowly became the cultural and economic center of Europe. Since its founding Urville has grown into a megalopolis with millions of inhabitants.

Gilles Trehin, the autistic savant who has been building Urville in his brain since the 1980's, has also created a cast of artists, architects, and politicians who have all left their mark on the cityscape through the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars and the Cold War.

 The massive city has been drawn in painstaking detail by Trehin, who works ten hours a day on his masterpiece. The entirety of Urville has not yet been drawn, but the five areas of the city that have been rendered in their entirety are all drawn from hundreds of different points of view, but remain consistent even in the smallest detail. Over 250 of these gorgeous drawings have been included in a book written by Trehin that describes the geography, architecture, and history of Urville. There are some great samples over at Brain Pickings if you want to check some out right away. Do- they're cool

Get Indignant! You're on Candid Camera!

I'm not exactly sure what I think about this weird candid camera morality play. I can say that I blubbered like a fool when I watched it. I place a lot of stock in other people's opinions of me, so I often struggle with my son at restaurants. I always wonder if the silence and general weirdness people exude when they notice my son's behavior is sympathy or judgment or some mixture of the two. All those reactions make me a little sad, but there is something heartening about the fact that if someone was ever evil to us like the plant in that restaurant that there's good chance my kid would be defended. At the same time, I know that the horrible radio host they sampled in the segment has people who agree with him and it was luck none of them were in that diner. I don't know what I'd do if I were confronted with that situation. I hope I'd be a good Christian and forgive the man's ignorance. I'd probably just give him the finger and get out of that diner.