Midday Monday. Another apology for so many linkdumps is in order, but I'm afraid I don't have time to write it at the moment.

* What does it take to really disappear? Wired investigates faking your own death.

* Tarantino's top-twenty films since he started directing.

* Criterion Collection top-tens from Jonathan Lethem, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wood, and Richard Linklater.

* Usian Bolt sets a new 100m world record. Via MeFi, which immediately accused him of juicing.

* The House Next Door's review of District 9—which incidentally comes to many of the same conclusions as mine—includes a neat look at the six-minute short from Neill Blomkamp that preceded it, Alive in Joburg.

* More bad press for New Jersey's Chris Christie originating from his time on the Morris County Board. Discussion at TPM and MyDD.

* And Steve Benen bemoans 44 years of human slavery under Medicare.

Science!

* 'Runner's high' confirmed by brain scan.

* Seven to thirteen minutes. That's all it takes. I'm a little tempted to throw up the "Business Time" video again, but I'll restrain myself for now.

* A classic study from 196 shows the placebo effect working even when the patient knows it's a placebo. Another study from 2002 shows the efficacy of placebo anti-depressants increasing over time (!), presumably as the idea of an anti-depressant gained more cultural capital. And a study released this week shows that more expensive placebos are more effective than cheap or free placebos.

Haruki Murakami: writer, genius, marathoner.

'How Oprah Ruined the Marathon," at Salon. First literature, now the marathon—is there anything the woman can't destroy?