November 2010 Archives
November 30
The-what-would-have-been-if-what-is-hadn't-happened.
Still hyped by his local press as a "neglected rock-and-roll genius" Ralph F. Gean is an old rockabilly guy who almost "made it" back in the early 1960s… but didn’t… and then sort of did after all. [more inside]
That's right: The left-hand return goes in the right office. The right-hand return goes in the left office! Very good!
"You know, a lot of people ask me—well, some people ask me—two people asked me once—'What is facilities management, again?' Let me clarify this: facilities management is a very specialized function that is evolving in Corporate America, which takes care of the management of facilities for said corporations. Is that a lot clearer?"
The Juggler explains facilities management. (single link Google video) [more inside]
The Juggler explains facilities management. (single link Google video) [more inside]
15-Year-Old Who Held Classroom Hostage Dies
Sam Hengel, a 15-year-old student at Marinette High School in Wisconsin, held a classroom of 23 students and a teacher hostage on Monday, November 28th. Without making any demands from police, Hengel released the hostages and shot himself. Early Tuesday morning, Hengel died in the hospital. (1, 2) [more inside]
The beautiful, broken song of Leonard Cohen
Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen may hold the pop music record for highest ratio of covers to initial popular success. Why? theories abound, but in an essay in America Magazine Thomas G. Casey, S.J., director of the Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies in Rome and professor of philosophy at the Gregorian University, offers an interesting and compelling argument why this is a song for our time. It also provides a framework for understanding the difference between the good, the bad and the meh.
Weapons of the 21st Century?
In June 2010, a bit of malware of unprecedented ability was discovered by a Belarussian security firm. Stuxnet had remained undetected for over a year. Security researchers have gradually learned more about this worm, which has led to much speculation about its origins and purposes. Though questions remain, it is clear that it is extremely advanced, and that it was designed to find a very specific hardware/software system and disrupt the operation of centrifuges, causing some to assert that it was built to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities. Recently, Iran confirmed that its nuclear facilities had been seriously affected by Stuxnet. Some experts say that a worm of this level of sophistication could only have been designed by a nation-state. Previously.
Research, exchange, and online portal
The Africa Portal is an online knowledge resource for policy-related issues on Africa. An undertaking by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Makerere University (MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the Africa Portal offers open access to a suite of features including an online library collection; a resource for opinion and analysis; an experts directory; an international events calendar; and a mobile technology component—all aimed to equip users with research and information on Africa’s current policy issues. [more inside]
the real blues deal
A sweet pair of vintage clips from blues greats, both born on this day: Robert Nighthawk playing on a Maxwell Street stoop, c. 1964; and Brownie McGhee playing with his partner Sonny Terry at Newport Folk Festival, 1963. [more inside]
cuddling an elephant seal
The Ayn Rand School for Tots
The pictures show a lovely celebration. A crowd of 100 or so is seated on a well-groomed lawn in front of a trim orchestra and a grand old plantation house. A retired astronaut has been flown in to address the group. Late in the day, two hot-air balloons skim the dusky sky. That fall day in 2007 seemed an auspicious start for a college with only five professors and 10 students. But as the year wore on, the students, professors, and staff members became convinced that it was a sign of something else entirely: an elaborate facade.
The brief rise and rapid fall of Founders College, an experiment in Randian education.
The brief rise and rapid fall of Founders College, an experiment in Randian education.
The Ship of Foolishness
"The project was the brainchild of three good friends of mine. One was an astronaut, one was a communications genius who used to work with Walter Cronkite and the third was a highly respected scientist, and the one thing I won’t tell you about them is their names. You see, the three of them collectively cooked up one of the very best ideas I have ever heard, and they overcame all obstacles to make it come to pass. But then they messed up one tiny, inconsequential little detail. That turned the whole enterprise into a catastrophic confusion which gave great pleasure to some but cost others, including one of its principle intended beneficiaries of the idea, the Holland America cruise ship line, a ton of money." - Frederik Pohl [previously] [more inside]
what did they look like? ships? motorcycles?
To whet all of our appetites, here is a 21-minute Tron Legacy soundtrack medley. (SLM_)
Imagine Later
The Keene Act And You
Is Batman a State Actor? Could you pass a Mutant Registation Act? Law And The Multiverse considers legal matters in a world of capes, supes, and alternate dimensions. (via Mefiprojects)
Defining Wealth
SEED Magazine: Wealth of Nations: "Shared natural resources underpin the global economy, but our current economic system does not acknowledge their worth. Can a major new effort to assess the costs of biodiversity loss force a paradigm shift in what we value?" [more inside]
And the Articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the union shall be perpetual...
“It’s time to return America to the common sense conservative principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual responsibility. The Repeal Amendment would provide a check on the ever-expanding federal government, protect against Congressional overreach, and get the government working for the people again, not the other way around. In order to return America to opportunity, responsibility, and success, we must reverse course and the Repeal Amendment is a step in that direction.” —incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), on a proposed amendment allowing a 2/3 vote by the state governments to overturn any federal law or regulation. [more inside]
Classified X
Melvin Van Peebles made a documentary called Classified X in 1998, about the portrayal of black people throughout the history of American cinema. You can see it on YT in six parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Apologies for the low video quality.
counter-counterintuitive
Just Give Money to the Poor: bypass governments and NGOs and let the poor decide how to use their money? Should recipients be asked to satisfy conditions? Does it only work well in rural areas of developing countries? Found via this socialist rag; mentioned here first by this puny human.
Commuting: Now in technicolor
Chromaroma launched its public beta today. The site takes Oyster and Cycle Hire data and turns it into a city-wide game, with teams capturing stations, accepting missions and having good, old fashioned, public transport based fun. Commuting has never been this enjoyable. [more inside]
Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Slightly ahead of schedule, the Pentagon has released its Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (PDF).
Good-bye to Dubai
The once shining beacon of capitalism in the Persian Gulf has lost a lot of its luster since the global financial crisis in 2008. But is it too soon to declare Dubai dead? [more inside]
Google Trees + Amazon Drought
We've discussed the "once in a century" Amazon Drought of 2005-06. Five years later and we are seeing another once in a century drought in the Amazon. How serious are the effects of these droughts for global climate? The science appears to be mixed. Helping monitor is the newly released Google Earth 6.0, which can track individual trees within a section of the Amazonian forest, and 80 million other trees in 7 cities around the world (video).
Pleasure from Your Submission
Is anti-TSA outrage right wing "catnip"? The Nation called the activism Koch-funded astroturfing, than apologized. Radley Balko finds the magazine hypocritical. At least one politician has gone catnip crazy: Eugene Delgaudio, who claims in an email sent by the activist that patdowns are part of a "homosexual agenda" to get "pleasure from your submission."
Fashion From Old People
Artists Vera Brosgol (previously) and Emily Carroll (also previously) have made a project out "Interpreting photos of outfits into drawings of outfits." [more inside]
The Iranian revolution in its singularity
Foucault in Iran: Revolution, Entropy and Equality By way of introduction to the Wu Ming Foundation's (previously) re-vamped blog, one of their more substantive essays re-assessing Foucault's notorious enthusiasm for the Iranian revolution.
Bear: the other dark meat
So it turns out that bear can be quite tasty - whether as a roast, boeuf bourguignon, dumpling fillings, or a myriad of other ways. [more inside]
Fan-Fiction, Fully Rendered.
Anyone can write Star Trek fan-fiction, but few can render it in 3-D. Since 2006, Brandon Bridges has been writing, directing and producing a work of full-length Star Trek fan fiction entitled Star Trek: Specter of the Past. ST:SOTP "follows the crew of the USS Fitzgerald, an Entente-class starship commanded by newly promoted Captain Gaius Reyf."
Last month, Bridges released his Director's Edition to the web. It should be noted that Bridges plans to re-release the film with a full voice cast. Parts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. (Multi-link YouTube Post) [more inside]
Rio's Drug War
The Boston Globe displays some pretty spectacular pictures of the drug war in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There's not a whole ton of context available within the article, but the pictures speak for themselves.
Sandwiches Around the World
Beyond PB&J - Sandwiches From Around the World. And since they left it out, here is the Buenos Nachos Burger. Basically it's a Whopper with nachos on it; currently only available in the Netherlands.
I once went clubbing fifteen nights in a row. I've seen almost every high-class club in this area, but somehow I always end up at CLUB BACARDI.
Welcome to CLUB BACARDI™, the hottest cyber club around. Try your luck at Cyber BlackJack in the Martini Casino. Show off your sleuthing skills in the Martini Mystery Game. Or just hobnob with the BACARDI Limón VIP Room regulars. I hear J.C. just broke up with her boyfriend. [more inside]
Professional
"Metal-fabricator Neil Youngberg never planned on taking over his grandfather's business and is now faced with passing on his legacy." A short film.
November 29
Enter a quote, get the movie and time it showed up...
Amazing movie quote search engine subzin is pretty simple, but pretty amazing. Put in your favorite quote from a movie, and it'll find the movie and the exact time it appears in the movie and links to Neflix if available (via df). [more inside]
WFMU: Why? Because we have to.
Keep WFMU Aloft! [SLYT / MetaFodder / Helium Huffing / Absolute Zero Freezing / Suffocation in Deep Space] [more inside]
the guiro makes it
Remind me to never make assumptions again...
Steve Tucker met a woman at a nightclub in Canberra, made an extreme effort to find her, and was then ridiculed by the Australian media and most of the general public when his email went viral. But there's a backstory that gives a whole new perspective. [more inside]
Crack Flying
The Sound Of The Social Network
List of commercial airliner bombings.
This list of commercial airliner bombings appears in the Ask a Rocket Scientist section of Aerospaceweb.org. It presents a comprehensive and descriptive catalog of 86 bombings and attempted bombings since 1933, 54 of which resulted in fatalities, and offers some information that might be relevant to the question of airline security.
"Captain America! Stop! It's IMPOSSIBLE for you to eat your shield!" "If I don't, Bucky, I'LL DIE!"
Kerry Callen imagines What if DC published Marvel characters in the 1960's?, then follows up with What if DC published 1970's Marvel characters in the 1960's?. Bonus silliness: Galactus' Helmet Just Gets Happier and Happier!
My body is floating in space
Jessica Harrison makes art (photos, sculpture) primarily about the body.
How to make Google beatbox for you
Japanimation in a very large nutshell
Every Anime Opening Ever Made (an admittedly exaggerated title) is a SLYT romp through the repeating themes in 93 different opening sequences, compiled by Derek Lieu (via Neatorama) [more inside]
With a bullet.
"The moment they click that shutter, the magic is there. And that's what I look for."
"When I look for images, I look for something that makes you almost uncomfortable in your own skin—something that makes you observe more intently," Foster says. "That's when I know I have something that's more than just a snapshot." John Foster is a graphic design and communications professional by day, and joined by his wife as collectors of "vernacular photographs" by night. Their collected photographs have been featured at art galleries and museums, and John has worked with others to curate outsider art shows. If that wasn't enough, his collections extend beyond found photos, as previsusly featured on the blue (and as inspiration for another post).
Lebron Rise
Should I be who you want me to be? We wanted you to be who you said you'd be. Maybe you're just making excuses. (previously)
Look at this fucking two-hundred-year-old hipster
The Incroyables and the Merveilleuses were the height of rebellious (or, depending on how you look at it, reactionary) aristocratic fashion in France in the late eighteenth century, following the revolutionary reign of terror. Blastmilk has a gallery depicting some of these achingly hip young dandies and dandettes, showing off their preposterous bonnets, preposterous hats and preposterous lapels.
Profile of a Young Somali
The Washington Post profiles a patriotic and radicalized 22 year old Somali man, Abdul Qadir Mohammed. (Single link Washington Post)
Staggering cache of Picassos turns up in France
Staggering Cache Of Picassos Turns Up In France. A retired French electrician and his wife say they stashed hundreds of never-before-seen works [in French at Libération, who broke the story] estimated to be worth at least $80 million in their garage. The works are believed to be authentic, but it's not quite clear how they came to be in the couple's possession.
Fous ta cagoule!
Fatal, the story of a country bumpkin from Savoie who passes himself off as a streetwise rapper. In reality the satirical creation of Michäel Youn, the French equivalent of Andy Samberg or Sacha Baron Cohen, rap group Fatal Bazooka have already had worldwide European success with Fous Ta Cagoule (an exhortation to attire oneself properly on the ski slopes - English lyrics here) and Parle à Ma Main, featuring Yelle. Other work includes Mauvaise Foi Nocturne and the Sean Paul/Benny Benassi/Eric Prydz-inspired J'aime Trop Ton Boule. Youn is also responsible for the familiar-sounding Comme de Connards and the completely nonsensical Stach Stach which was the number one single in France for almost four months.
Obama proposes pay freeze
Obama proposes two year pay freeze for all civilian federal employees. The freeze would save $2 billion in the current 2011 fiscal year, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over 10 years, according to the White House.
The freeze would require congressional approval.
"She loses her beautiful self ..."
Natasha Shneider was a Russian musician and actress, best known for her work in the band Eleven and with Queens of the Stone Age. She lost her battle with cancer in July of 2008, at the age of 52. Now, her husband of 25 years and bandmate Alain Johannes has released his solo debut album "Spark," a tribute to her. [more inside]
Can't get to the zoo?
PenguinCams!: Edinburgh Zoo (Via) / Galveston: Moody Gardens / Maryland Zoo / Montreal Biodome / San Diego Seaworld / Sedwick County Zoo: Cessna Cove / Station Gars O’Higgins (Antarctica) / Tennessee Aquarium [more inside]
Temporary Contemporary Carpets
Need a new rug? Behold: The pasta carpet, the toy soldier carpet, the plastic fork carpet, and others at We Make Carpets.
Just a list of non hetero comic book characters
Irvin Kershner, 1923-2010
Irvin Kershner isn't a household name. Often incorrectly billed as Irving, Ervin, or Irwin, the director's filmography includes such films as the uninspiring sequel Robocop 2, the subpar "unofficial" James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and The Luck of Ginger Coffey, which, according to Kershner's site has in recent years become a cult film, but whose cult status is hardly evident elsewhere on the internet. So why should we care that Irvin Kershner has just died at age 78? Kershner directed the best of the Star Wars movies, and one of the best "second act" films ever, The Empire Strikes Back. Just before he died, Kershner spoke with Vanity Fair about the film, 30 years after its release in 1980.
Rufous Hummingbird
The Rufous Hummingbird measures only 4-inches, but it can pack a lot of beauty into that small package. Often described as "feisty," it weighs just a little more than a penny. With a migratory range of 1500 km, the Rufous has the longest known avian migration proportional to its size.
Tymar lives!
Winnie the Pooh mental disorders
Lucio Bubacco
Lucio Bubacco is a master of the stunningly beautiful art of lampworked Venetian glass.
His large freestanding work covers themes such as devils and mythology, Carnival, divine history, and sexual transgression [Potentially NSFW].* [more inside]
November 28
In which our heroes chat entertainingly.
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie reunite for a 90 minute TV special to mark the 30th anniversary of their partnership. The programme sees the former double act reminiscing about their friendship, careers and sketches. Parts I II III IV V
Yesterday's future is here today
Make it so! This is a video featuring a functional home automation PC interface based on Star Trek's LCARS interface. The attention to detail and everyday usability is awesome. [more inside]
Why do you think?
When Dennis, an introvert bodybuilder, invites a local girl out on a date his mother is hurt and disappointed. Despite the pressure she puts on him to cancel the date, Dennis ventures into the indelible. [more inside]
Mr. Trollface, art critic
A videotaped performance art piece called "Interior Semiotics" (NWS) has become a meme due to its explicit content. Rhizome explains, and speaks with the artist about her intent with the work, the hipster audience getting so much derision, and what it's like to have her work scrutinized by 4chan. NWS for pretty much all links. [more inside]
Today marks the beginning of Advent, and a conspiracy.
Advent Conspiracy begins today. In its 4th year, the movement continues to urge Christians to spend less money on Christmas gifts, and asks the question "What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?" Videos here and here. (Youtube)
Gays able to be executed without cause
On 16 November 2010, the UN General Assembly Third Committee removed a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, a move condemned by gay and lesbian rights groups. [more inside]
Smosh's Pokemon Theme Song REVENGE
Five years and more than one hundred videos after their debut on Youtube, Smosh has released a video as a 5-year-anniversary celebratory video, taking stabs at the powers that be within YouTube. [more inside]
NSFO: Not Safe For Orcs.
Sunday evening Flash frivolity: Meaningless Violence, an old-school medieval brawler of the Rastan/Golden Axe/Magic Sword variety, complete with a fully-stocked Ye Olde Weapons Shoppe and a period-accurate MIDI prog-metal soundtrack.
It's an entirely different kind of dying, altogether.
Someone get Jeremy Irons on the phone.
The Legend of Drizzt — a film based on the books based on the roleplaying game brought to you by Ruben Studios.
bread bread bread off with her head
History For Music Lovers is a Youtube channel that rewrites pop songs to be about history. Highlights include Constantine (Come on Eileen), Empress Theodora (Norwegian Wood), Gutenberg (Sunday Girl) and The French Revolution (Bad Romance). More videos. [MLYT]
Bingo In The Blood
The NY Times explores the darker side of bingo.
The Flat Venus Society in Library Assessment; promoting accuracy in [reporting of] numbers
The Galaxy Garden is a 100-foot diameter outdoor scale model of the Milky Way, mapped in living plants and flowers and based on current astrophysical data. [more inside]
Hoxton Street Monster Supplies
In Hoxton, there's a shop. Run by the Ministry of Stories (and funded by the National Lottery), the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies shop provides a free space to stimulate creative writing with workshops, publishing projects and one-to-one mentoring. [more inside]
Rachel Maddow, mixologist
Rachel Maddow is an Old Fashioned sort of girl, at least when it comes to her taste in cocktails. [more inside]
1000 1/2
Short clips from classic movies "TRON-itized": Sherlock Jr, Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, The Big Lebowski, Hard Target, Modern Times, Hard Luck, and Aliens. (via AICN) [more inside]
Distributism Review
Distributist Review promotes distributism (wiki), a "third way" of economics between capitalism and socialism, inspired by Catholic social teaching. Popularized by G. K. Chesterton (more, more), Fr. Vincent McNabb (more, more), Hilaire Belloc (more, more), and E. F. Schumacher (more, more, more), as well as through the pages of the Catholic Worker (more, also), distributism seeks to put "productive" property into the hands of the many, with implications for urban homesteading and agricultural reform, as well as the rebirth of the guild as an idea. Distributism is not merely an economic system - it is wholly fused with Catholic teachings, fusing the left and right, standing against modern, liberal political and sociological thought. [more inside]
State's Secrets
WikiLeaks has released 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables. Browse the database at the Guardian. Comprehensive coverage is also available at the New York Times, Der Spiegel, and El Pais.
talking patty cake cats
the ownership of Yoga
Take Back Yoga : A group of Indian-Americans have ignited a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga by mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism. The campaign, labeled “Take Back Yoga,” does not ask yoga devotees to become Hindu, or instructors to teach more about Hinduism ... but only that people become more aware of yoga’s debt to the faith’s ancient traditions.
Harry Potter and the Incredibly Conservative Aristocratic Children's Club
A Lost Art of Days Gone By
Curt Teich (1877-1974) was a printer who immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1896. Curt Teich & Company, opened in 1898 in Chicago, was the world's largest printer of view and advertising postcards. Teich is best known for its "Greetings From" postcards with their big letters, vivid colors, and bold style. Flickr user amhpics has archived nearly 2000 Teich linen postcards in his set Vintage Curt Teich linen postcards 1930s-1950s. [more inside]
Ni hao, Brute
Genetic testing of villagers in a remote part of China has shown that nearly two thirds of their DNA is of Caucasian origin, lending support to the theory that they may be descended from a 'lost legion' of Roman soldiers.
November 27
United Forever in Friendship and Labor
The funny thing about the National Anthem of the Soviet Union is that through the sixty-so years of its existence the lyrics were written all by one man. [more inside]
1. Evil. 2. ??? 3. PROFIT
“The customer is always right — not here, you understand? I hate that phrase — the customer is always right. Why is the merchant always wrong? Can the customer ever be wrong? Is that not possible?” Gaming Google's PageRank algorithm, one online glasses merchant's prime directive seems to be Don't Be Evil.
The New Resistance
"All reform movements, from the battle for universal health care to the struggle for alternative energy and sane environmental controls to financial regulation to an end to our permanent war economy, have run into this new, terrifying configuration of power. They have confronted an awful truth.
We do not count." [more inside]
AllyBallyBabe
Allyson Townsend's YouTube channel ("ASL Ally") carries her popular ASL and SEE interpretations of popular music. It was shut down after complaints from the copyright holders, but after an intervention by the EFF they reconsidered their position and ASL Ally is back online! (source: BoingBoing)
The Vanishing of the Bees
A new documentary entitled "The Vanishing of the Bees", narrated by actress Ellen Page, begins showing on November 29th, 2010. [more inside]
What Food Says About Class
What Food Says About Class "As more of us indulge our passion for local, organic delicacies, a growing number of Americans don’t have enough nutritious food to eat."
BANG!
Its not easy being human
Our wisdom teeth need to be pulled because our brains are too big: The Top Ten Daily Consequences of Having Evolved
Mailbag Art Museum
Artist Sarah Musi sent little pieces of art to forty-five artists, along with a tiny blank canvas for them to create something and return it. So far she has received six back.
Elegance
The problem of beer. "Since beer bottles are not (usually) pathological or “wild” spheres, but smooth manifolds, they separate 3-space into two non-communicating regions: inside, containing beer, and outside, containing you. This state must not remain."
I like big "But..."s and I always lie!
I hate to be the one to link to this, but...
So what do you think this linguistic practice should be called? “lying qualifiers?” “false fronts?” “wishwashers?” “but-heads?” Heh heh heh...
So what do you think this linguistic practice should be called? “lying qualifiers?” “false fronts?” “wishwashers?” “but-heads?” Heh heh heh...
Not Sims
Since its viral reenactment of the Tiger Woods story a year ago, Taiwan's Next Media Animation has been churning out 11 minutes of surprisingly lifelike news animation a day, sparking a feud with Conan and garnering lots of social media attention. [more inside]
riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
to talk about the concept of "time" before the big bang; the Cyclic Universe Theory proposes an alternative to the predominant Inflation Theory that led to this intuition. Now Gurzadyan and Penrose have observed low-variance rings in the CMB, supporting the notion that it makes sense
Crows vs. Cat vs. Cat Fight
The six best n-scale train layout videos
After scanning the old 'tube for a long while, I have selected the six most appealing videos that document n-scale realism. The selection is based on realistic impression, detail (landscaping and models), and camera use.
N-scale model railroading has gained ground over the years. One reason is that the 1:160 scale, while small, provides superior overall realism. This first example shows a bridge scene at three angles, then an overview shot of the entire part of the layout, and a shot of the prototype scene. [more inside]
November 26
"Two Fighters Against a Star Destroyer?"
Bodily Feats
The human body can achieve some pretty amazing things and Discovery Health has come up with a bunch of articles explaining how some of these feats are accomplished.
Sword Swallowing | Firewalking | Bed Of Nails | Glass Walking | Fire Breathing
Sword Swallowing | Firewalking | Bed Of Nails | Glass Walking | Fire Breathing
Dog Saves Injured Dog (SLWC - Single Link Wimp.com)
o rly?
Yada Yada Yada
The Economics of Seinfeld strives to illustrate basic economic concepts using scenes from the famous sitcom. "Seinfeld ran for nine seasons on NBC and became famous as a “show about nothing". It is the simplicity of Seinfeld that makes it so appropriate for use in economics courses." [more inside]
The very knowledge that it was possible to record a conversation would "greatly restrict the use of the telephone," with catastrophic consequences for its business.
"In the United States, the higher consumer prices resulting from monopoly amounted, in effect, to a tax on Americans used to fund basic research." But no 'Disruptive Technology', please. A look at the 'dark side' of Bell Labs and why magnetic recording was NOT developed there in the 1930s (thanks to one of the worst tech predictions ever). [more inside]
Jazz Age Illustrator
Georges Lepape was an Art Deco fashion illustrator; whose work became iconic.
Perhaps most famous for his collaborations with the designer Paul Poiret.
He worked for many magazines, among them the Gazette Du Bon Ton, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Les Feuillets D'Art, and Vanity Fair where his March 1927 cover illustration launched the modeling career of Lee Miller.
Some more of his illustrations on flickr and a brief biography. (Related Lee Miller; haute-couture)
Perhaps most famous for his collaborations with the designer Paul Poiret.
He worked for many magazines, among them the Gazette Du Bon Ton, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Les Feuillets D'Art, and Vanity Fair where his March 1927 cover illustration launched the modeling career of Lee Miller.
Some more of his illustrations on flickr and a brief biography. (Related Lee Miller; haute-couture)
"It's very sad when it rains in a cathedral"
EMS electronic music pioneer Dr. Peter Zinovieff discusses the story of computers and early electronic music. Transcript here. [more inside]
The Smithsonian Museum of Dad Trolling
Is Religion a Force for Good in the World?
In tonight's semi-annual Munk Debate in Toronto, Tony Blair and Christoper Hitchens square off over the topic "Is religion a force for good in the world?" For those who couldn't get tickets, you can watch a live webstream (PPV, $5) of the debate this evening, starting at 7pm EST.
"Please try to respect the youth. They are the ones who are going to build the next generation."
Now in its fourth year, CNN Heroes highlights and rewards "Everyday People Changing the World." This year's Hero of the Year (chosen by public poll) is Anuradha Koirala, whose group Maiti Nepal has rescued more than 12,000 women and girls from sex slavery along the India / Nepal border since 1993. [more inside]
Land and Freedom
The Revolutionary War in the US was fought for freedom. For Blacks, the promise of freedom was on the side of the Crown. [more inside]
Bootiful
Millionaire Norfolk farmer Bernard Matthews became an unlikely minor celebrity in the UK, after appearing in his own adverts. He specialised in turkey production and ironically died yesterday on Thanksgiving. [more inside]
The mystery van
The mystery police van During Wednesdays London protest against student tuition fees a police van was driven into a 'kettled' crowd of protestors. Many news reports focused on the subsequent vandalisation of the police van. [more inside]
Spirit Bears in the Great Bear Rainforest
The Kermode bear or Spirit bear is a an all white subspecies of the American Black Bear. Their white fur is the the result of a recessive allele and is believed to give them an advantage in daylight fishing for salmon, but places them at a significant disadvantage in areas inhabited by Grizzly bears or wolves, who prey on them. [more inside]
November 25
TSA revenge screenings
The Mourners
The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy provides fully-rotatable images of the pleurants (mourners or "weepers") from the tomb of Jean sans Peur ("John the Fearless"), sculpted by Juan de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier. The site also allows you to rotate the full tomb. This tomb was conceived in the style of the one designed for Philippe le Hardi ("Philip the Bold"), designed and begun by Jean de Marville, with pleurants executed by Claus Sluter (probably) and his nephew, Claus de Werve. For a brief overview of support for the arts at the Court of Burgundy, see the Met.
Weird beautiful eyelashes
Food of the Gods
Mast Brothers [vimeo 8:48] — They began their voyage in their apartment, using a homemade machine to process cacao beans. Over time they cultivated their creation, sourcing beans from family farms in Madagascar, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Each bar is handmade with incredible reverence for the process and history of chocolate. They are bound in ornamental papers and golden foil like a collection of rare books. Each bar offers its own story of flavors, and no two are exactly alike. [more inside]
The Gentle Art of Japanese Murder
I asked Igari to help me deal with the fallout from the book. After much discussion, he and his two colleagues came up with a plan. His parting words were: “It’ll be a long battle. It’ll take money and courage, and you’ll have to come up with those on your own. But we’ll fight.”
On August 28th, his body was found in his vacation home in Manila, wrists slashed. Time of death unknown. It’s been ruled a suicide. Personally, I believe he was killed. I probably will never be able to prove it. [more inside]
(Almost) Frozen in Time
"In all my slow-motion work so far, I’ve used a static camera to capture a high-speed event. But, I wondered, what would happen if the camera was the fast-moving object? For instance, if you use a 210fps camera at 35mph, on playback at 30fps it’ll seem to the observer that they’re moving at walking pace- but everything observed will be operating at 1/7th speed." [more inside]
The Warlocks of Firetop Mountain
An Illustrated History of Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy - Jackson and Livingstone - audio, sans illustrations. The story of how Steve Jackson (not that Steve Jackson) and Ian Livingstone kickstarted tabletop roleplaying in the UK and founded a gaming behemoth that is very different today.
Some a these girls lately aren't into the movies.
Chloe retells the story of a Brooklyn man asking her out. "The way that he asked me out was amazing, and I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. I'm going to share it with you now." [slyt]
Stoichiometry is a harsh taskmistress
Sustainable Growth is an Oxymoron Text of an outstanding talk that explains clearly why the idea of "sustainable growth" is impossible in the finite system that is the earth; how the compact energy-delivery system of fossil fuel is equivalent to mind-blowing amounts of free human labor, which cannot be sustained indefinitely; and why it's imperative for scientists to help humanity find ways to go back to "liv[ing] on the sun in real time." [more inside]
RIP Sleazy
Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, formerly of the bands Coil, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV, passed away in his sleep last night at his home in Bangkok. [more inside]
Orgasms! Sex! Biology!
"We don't use the word 'vagina'. Because, it's the Latin word for 'sheath'. Yes, as in a sword. (Somewhat NSFW) Virgie Tovar, the writer, blogger, sexuality educator and academic looks at UC Berkeley's Female Sexuality class and asks whether one class can change the way women see their bodies and their educational experience. More on DeCal at UC Berkeley.
The Real McCoy
As Americans raise a glass today to family and absent friends they do not have to worry if they are drinking The Real McCoy.*
"Bill" McCoy, was an American sea captain and rum runner during Prohibition. Originally from Daytona, he cut his ties and moved North when My mom passed away, my wife left me, and my bulldog died.
The foe was the Coastguard; the smugglers normally had sail.
The Halifax Historical Museum is now running an exhibition about him; and here is a preview of a documentary with an interesting review and some publications about Rum Running.
(* your interpretation may vary).
"Bill" McCoy, was an American sea captain and rum runner during Prohibition. Originally from Daytona, he cut his ties and moved North when My mom passed away, my wife left me, and my bulldog died.
The foe was the Coastguard; the smugglers normally had sail.
The Halifax Historical Museum is now running an exhibition about him; and here is a preview of a documentary with an interesting review and some publications about Rum Running.
(* your interpretation may vary).
I, for one...
November 24
Alice's Restaurant
This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant; that's just the name of the song, and that's why I call the song Alice's
Restaurant. [more inside]
The Lucky Few
In 1975, desperate to escape Vietnam following the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, twenty thousand refugees boarded the few remaining ships of the South Vietnamese army and fishing boats. They were escorted by the USS Kirk, a Knox-class destroyer escort, which led them to the Philippines. This mission, Operation New Life lives on as one of the largest humanitarian missions in the history of the United States military, but has been largely forgotten by history. [more inside]
Act 1: Dinner. Act 2: Pie. Act 3: Grousing.
Since the very beginning, PRI's This American Life has (every few years) commemorated Thanksgiving in the US with episodes about the exotic mysteries of turkeys, chicken and other fowl. They call it Poultry Slam and episodes from 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2008 are all available for your turkey day and I-refuse-to-even-look-at-a-Walmart day enjoyment.
Nikos Kazantzakis
They think of me as a scholar, an intellectual, a pen-pusher. And I am none of them. When I write, my fingers get covered not in ink but in blood. I think I am nothing more than this: an undaunted soul. [more inside]
I assure you, the snakes are very real.
Most graduate students are surely aware of the many rigors and regulation of thesis preparation. For example, here is a FAQ on preparing for the "snake fight" portion of your thesis defense.
I [heart] Librarians
Libraries are, for many of us, the public places where we bring our most private selves, our fears and our dreams, so long buried and so studiously unspoken. The librarian checking out a stack of books may be for many of us, the equivalent of the first person we’ve told a secret to. Which brings me to the real reason I chose the profession that I did for my narrator: Even more than libraries, I love librarians.
As Others See Us: An Author On Why She Loves Librarians
As Others See Us: An Author On Why She Loves Librarians
More Than A Cookie Enthusiast
(D-TX)
Tom Delay has been found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces five years to life in prison on the former, and 2 to 20 on the latter.
"Sorry for perving on your Thanksgiving preparations for three years..."
For the past three years, 28-year-old Sydney man James West has been receiving personal emails about the Thanksgiving dinner of the Tran family of Somewhere, USA. This year, he decided he wanted an invite to dinner and started a YouTube channel about his quest to track down the Trans and obtain an invite to dinner. Fortunately, his mission has been successful, and West will be attending Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow with the Trans in Florida.
New Music for the New Year
Fifty+ Music Blogs. If you on occasion like wfmu's Beware of the Blog, you'll like these on occasion as well. Mostly strange, exotica, hip hop, noise, electronic, experimental, punk, industrial. No single-artist blogs. Updated seldom to constantly, all field tested at time of this post. Arranged alphabetically. All have free downloads. Some include videos, some contain images and sounds not appropriate to all ages or workplaces. Some have appeared at metafilter before, others have not, this list generated specifically for this post. You’ll find something new to listen to here, I assure you. [more inside]
Let's Talk Turkey...
Surely the most extreme example is the existence of a force of gravity.
Polyrhythms Inside of Polyrhythms
Women Prevent Women Prettier Than Themselves From Getting Jobs
From the NYT Economix blog: Are good-looking people more likely to get jobs? That depends whether you’re talking about men or women, according to a new working paper.
Job applicants in Europe and in Israel increasingly imbed a headshot of themselves in the top corner of their CVs. We sent 5,312 CVs in pairs to 2,656 advertised job openings. In each pair, one CV was without a picture while the second, otherwise almost identical CV contained a picture of either an attractive male/female or a plain-looking male/female. Employer callbacks to attractive men are significantly higher than to men with no picture and to plain-looking men, nearly doubling the latter group. Strikingly, attractive women do not enjoy the same beauty premium. In fact, women with no picture have a significantly higher rate of callbacks than attractive or plain-looking women. We explore a number of explanations and provide evidence that female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace is a primary reason for the punishment of attractive women.
Job applicants in Europe and in Israel increasingly imbed a headshot of themselves in the top corner of their CVs. We sent 5,312 CVs in pairs to 2,656 advertised job openings. In each pair, one CV was without a picture while the second, otherwise almost identical CV contained a picture of either an attractive male/female or a plain-looking male/female. Employer callbacks to attractive men are significantly higher than to men with no picture and to plain-looking men, nearly doubling the latter group. Strikingly, attractive women do not enjoy the same beauty premium. In fact, women with no picture have a significantly higher rate of callbacks than attractive or plain-looking women. We explore a number of explanations and provide evidence that female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace is a primary reason for the punishment of attractive women.
banelings banelings banelings, oooohhh...
"...we will continue to oppose any policy or action that would celebrate or affirm homosexual conduct."
"Yeah," she told me. "What we're saying is these [anti-gay] groups perpetrate hate—just like those [racist] organizations do." [more inside]
"I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty before this damage is done"
Why Do We Talk
Watch a language evolve in a single afternoon in part 6 of BBC Horizon's fascinating documentary, "Why Do We Talk." (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)
Experiments in Philosophy
Your Mother Whips Hair In Hell, Karras
Begun the currency wars have.
China, Russia Quit the Dollar on bilateral trade. Are India and Brazil next? BRIC leaders aim for 'multipolar' world order.
Teuthidodrilus samae
Introducing the 'Squid worm' - a new species in a new genus discovered 3,000 metres down off the Indonesian coast.
Thanks for your service, killer.
War veteran barred from college campus for frank words on killing. After publishing essay on addiction to war, Charles Whittington must obtain psychological evaluation before returning to classes
A bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a pig.
Epic Meal - It's a quail inside a Cornish Hen inside a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey inside a pig. Garnished with Baconators. It's a paean to excess. 79,046 calories and 6,892 grams of fat.
Angry Birds, the SLYT.
Up, Up and Away! (Auf, Auf und Weg?)
Luftfahrtsieb: Das Luftfahrtarchiv ist eine interessante Website, die handelt sich um die frühe Geschichte des Luftwesen in Deutschland und anderswo. Es botet Artikeln, die diskutieren die frühste Fliegversuche des Mensch, berühmte Fliegstaten wie die erste Flüge über den Ärmelkanal oder den Atlantik usw., aber vielleicht interessanter sind jene, die sich mit anderer Fächer befassen. Es gibt zum Beispiel Geschichten der Bemühungen des Graf von Zeppelin, einen erfolgreichen Luftschiff in seiner schwimmenden Halle auf dem Bodensee zu bauen und des Flugplatz in Johannisthal, wo findet deutsches Luftwesen seines Anfangrichtige. Man kann auch lernen, wie Kunstflugmanöver zu erbingen sind, oder die richtige Methode, sein Luftschiff zu starten oder landen. [more inside]
November 23
Pike River Mine Disaster
New Zealand Police announced this afternoon that they believe that all 29 miners missing at Pike River are now presumed dead.
After several days of raised and dashed hopes, a second explosion at the coal mine has devasted hopes that the miners could possibly be alive.
Squishy Goodness
An Army of Green
I played with them like most boys, but I had no idea there are formal gaming rules for plastic army men.
Rock's First Song?
Rock historian Joseph Burns makes a case for why Arthur Big Boy Crudup's "That's All Right Mama" should be regarded as rock & roll's first song. Not everyone agrees - clips to some of the other contenders inside. Or explore Google's Rock & Roll Timeline. [more inside]
Mojito Blue
Ever wonder how you could could do everything wrong all at once? Wonder no more gentle reader
I present you with the "Easy Mint Julep"
The Mexican Suitcase
The International Center of Photography is exhibiting photographs online from the Mexican Suitcase, a cache of photographs taken during the Spanish Civil War, hidden, and rediscovered in 2008.
The Tea Party: Karma, American-style
Here's Johnny (Voight)!
Salon plays a game of recasting classic (and a few less-than-classic) movies with contemporary actors.
Flying squid. Not as tasty as it sounds.
"From the deck of a cruise ship along the coast of Brazil, a retiree named Bob Hulse snapped some high-resolution photographs of something unusual leaping from the sea: what appears to be dozens of squid propelling themselves through the air -- quite possibly the first time the impressive display has been caught on film."
A House Worthy of the Name
The Royal House I knew I had seen one of the pictures before somewhere before, and understood instantly what the surrounding pictures all had in common. A familiar symbol caught my eye, glinting gold. It was the mark of the Imperial House of Japan.
pied piper of PVC plays popular parts
Give Me Something To Read Best of 2010
We'll need to declaw that cat.
Airport-security cartoons from The New Yorker’s archives (1938 - present).
the nvidia defect
During the second quarter of fiscal 2009, NVIDIA recorded a $196 million charge against cost of revenue to cover anticipated customer warranty, repair, return, replacement and associated costs arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of our previous generation MCP and GPU products used in notebook systems. "The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status and want the graphics firm to pay “unspecified damages” as well as replace the faulty chips. Interestingly, those behind the lawsuit
all had an HP, Dell, or Apple laptop". Mar 1, 2007 this problem was made known.
Yes, BWV565 is also included
The complete organ works of J.S. Bach, as recorded by Dr. James Kibbie on several baroque organs. (via)
"Lurries. Containers that deliver your fucking food to your fucking house, alright?"
Two classic contentious discussions featuring the great Mark E Smith: discussing Situationism [wiki] with Tony Wilson, Stewart Home, and Jon King, 1996; discussing Nietzsche, acid house, and other topics with Nick Cave and Shane McGowan, 1989. [more inside]
Heroes, Rogues, and Jezebels
Pulp Fiction is an exhibition of (mostly) Australian pulp novel and magazine covers from the University of Otago Special Collections Library. (NSFW)
Countess Dracula
"Then I See His Penis Out!"
A YouTube cellphone video is making the rounds today of a woman fearlessly confronting a flasher on a New York City subway car. [more inside]
Talk of the Town: A McCarthy Era trial and tribulation
Miriam Moskowitz is one of the last survivors of the McCarthy era trials. She was sent to prison after being convicted of obstruction of justice in a trial that Roy Cohn said was a "dry run" for the Rosenberg case. Indeed, Miriam was in jail with Ethel Rosenberg. Her newly published book, "Phantom Spies, Phantom Justice" is one of the only books on the period to write about Ethel as a woman not as a symbol. The gripping memoir of Miriam's trial, her imprisonment and its aftermath, is also the first thing Miriam has ever written. At 94, that's quite an achievement. The Talk of the Town section of the New Yorker has a piece on Miriam. Click on the link to read it.
The industry isn't dying, it's just going 2.0
Tabletop roleplaying has always had a long history of self publishing. The internet has certainly made it easy for people to share their games for free, though admittedly presentation is improving. Beyond the free models, a number of publishers have started coming up with alternative for-profit business models - The Shadow of Yesterday followed the Cory Doctorow model, releasing the whole game for free online, while charging for hardcopies. John Wick's Houses of the Blooded sells very cheap PDFs and full price books. Greg Stolze has led the charge in Ransom Model rpg sales. Following the "Whatever Price You Like" model of World of Goo and other videogames, Bliss Stage & Polaris are doing the same with PDFs. Shock: Human Contact has already pulled in over $7,000 on Kickstarter, before the game has even been published.
HIV Preexposure Prohylaxis -- Only $12,000 per person, per year
An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine online edition today announced study results that the use daily of antiretroviral medicine reduced rate the acquisition of HIV infection. The New York Times coverage highlighted the result that the preexposure prophylaxis protected more than 90% of study participants who took the medicine every day, as prescribed. An editorial in the NEJM noted, however, that compliance was problematic, with only 44%of study participants protected overall. [more inside]
A G.I.'s WWII Memoir
Robert F. Gallagher served in the United States Army's 815th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Third Army) in the European Theater during WWII. He has posted his memoir online: "Scratch One Messerschmitt," told from numerous photos he took during the war and the detailed notes he made shortly afterwards. [more inside]
Caught in the web
This week, the world will finally get its first look at Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. But the most expensive musical in Broadway history has already had an epic run—battling bankruptcy, broken wrists, unruly technology, and one comic villain disguised as a Post columnist. And at the center of it all, perched over her “God mike,” is the relentless and inventive Julie Taymor. (previously)
Symbols Rule The World, Not Words NOr Laws
The Vigilant Citizen (Previously) presents an
Analysis of the Occult Symbols Found on the Bank of America Murals
Lots of Space
There were few more important bands in the 1970’s than Free, and even fewer whose significance has been so underestimated or misunderstood by posterity. Lyrically utterly conventional, sonically they were revolutionary. [more inside]
The Fourth Estate's Finest
Salon.com's War Room is listing the worst columnists and cable news commentators America has to offer. The Hack 30 presents thirty of the most predictable, dishonest and just plain stupid pundits in the American media. Notables so far include: David Brooks Tucker Carlson Howard Kurtz and Bill Kristol.
Is He For Real?
Is it wise to negotiate with the Taliban? Probably not without first checking credentials. Apparently the "Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour," very senior commander in the Taliban movement, who has been engaged in talks to end the Afghanistan war, is no such person. Whoever he was, and whoever sent him, he also walked away with "a lot of money." (SLNYT)
"Not everybody is Kurt on 'Glee.'"
Latest flare up in the Korean peninsular
Artillery rounds are being fired across maritime borders between the Koreas. At least one soldier is dead. In what appears to be a response for South Korean military exercises (accompanying commentary from a blog which to be run by North Korea is here), the North Korean army has fired numerous (at least 200, according to CNN) artillery rounds on an island in South Korean territory, resulting in one South Korean marine dead and 15 wounded. The South Korean army has responded by returning artillery fire and deploying fighter jets but is seeking to limit the scope of the conflict. At the same time, there have been signals that South Korea was seeking redeployment of US nuclear weapons on its soil. This just one day after revelations about North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities.
November 22
Killing Hipsters
Charles Bronson stars in Killing Hipsters, rated PG, an action-packed smorgasbord of revenge.
Jill Sylvia makes things out of paper
oh no, #fauxho
[Warning: some links NSFW] Callgirl and blogger Alexa DiCarlo had some questions raised about her authenticity dating back to 2008 and 2009, but her website RealPrincessDiaries.com (archive.org cache) still attracted huge traffic and she was even named the #1 sex blogger of 2010. A student at SFSU's master's degree program in sexuality studies, she also volunteered her time providing sex education advice to teenagers online under the name Caitlain or Cathy. And she mentored newbie sex workers via e-mail, giving them pro tips and even sharing with them one of her top clients, Matt, whose identity and safety she vouched for.
But in true Kaycee Nicole / JT LeRoy style, it now turns out there wasn't any "Alexa", "Caitlain", or "Cathy". Outed by the anonymous blog Expose A Bro, combined with the anonymous twitter account @ExposingAlexa, the real story has emerged. Alexa was apparently a married middle-aged guy named Pat, not a student at SFSU, had no formal training from which to be sharing "advice" (or naked photos!) with those teenagers online, and he was the "client" that "Alexa" had sent to her protégées to sleep with... [more inside]
Body Doubles
Didn't Know What Love Was is video by Andreas Nilsson, for a collaboration by Bernard Sumner (lead singer of New Order), Hot Chip (previously), and Hot City. A little about the video here. [more inside]
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
I’ve spent the better part of the week serving as the foreman for a jury in a criminal case. As they tell you, you’re not allowed to talk about it with anyone, not even your fellow jurors, during the trial. As they also tell you, once the trial is over you can talk about anything you want. So, here goes.
What Good is Wall Street?
What Good is Wall Street? Think of all the profits produced by businesses operating in the U.S. as a cake. Twenty-five years ago, the slice taken by financial firms was about a seventh of the whole. Last year, it was more than a quarter. (In 2006, at the peak of the boom, it was about a third.) In other words, during a period in which American companies have created iPhones, Home Depot, and Lipitor, the best place to work has been in an industry that doesn’t design, build, or sell a single tangible thing.
Greatest actor of our generation? Of all time?
I'll get you Beer Baron... no you won't.
"When we started Windy City, it was a means to an end, because there wasn't a distributor in Chicago that wanted to touch craft beer," Mr. Ebel says. "We went around to bars and they said, 'Great beer. How many free cases can you give me?' We just had to walk out of those accounts, set a price, and stick to it. And nobody asks us that anymore."
Pay-to-play contreversy in the Chicago beer scene, with appearances from a who's who of Midwest beermeisters: Tracy Hurst of Metropolitan Brewing Co., Deb Carey of New Glarus Brewing Co., the Ebel Brothers of Two Brothers Brewing Co., and Josh Hall of Goose Island Brewing Company
Juxtaposed Nightlife Cultures
Bar Portraits — Dignified gentlemen sit for their portraits in bars and cafes across Italy. Contrast that with The Waste Land, a series of intimate portraits of young intoxicated people, photographed during or after parties, festivals, and raves. Both are portrait projects of Piero Martinello. [more inside]
BIRD CALLS and SONGS
BIRD CALLS and SONGS: A blog about the bird sounds of eastern North America and beyond. Featuring
Nightjars,
the Blackbird and
Tits. (~v~)
Oh, nein!
Kackel Dackel. Schweine Schwarte. Dino Meal. Fiese Fliegen.
German game maker Goliath does not flinch from making sport of all aspects of the consumption-excretion cycle. [more inside]
DO NOT WANT
If you thought fanbase reaction to The Last Airbender was negative, you ain't seen nothing yet. Warner Bros has announced a Buffy reboot with no involvement from Joss Whedon. There's an interview with the screenwriter here. [more inside]
Goudou goudou
Filmaker, comics writer and Journalist Ann Nocenti, known for her run on Daredevil and being the creator of Longshot, now teaches film in Haiti.
(More Ann Nocenti posts on posts on Hilobrow)
What $200,000 in Student Debt Looks Like
Kelli went to Northeastern University and got loans to pay for her sociology degree. Her repayment schedule is featured in the article and it is not pretty. [more inside]
Take Me To Your Sales Leader
Want to get your graphic novel made into a movie? As a last resort, try creating an actual graphic novel. Then, pay comic book stores to both carry it and sell it cheap (or give it away while still counting it as a sale). Once you've artificially climbed the sales charts, Hollywood will come-a-callin'. The story of how Cowboys & Aliens (has just about) made it to the silver screen. [Via gammasquad.]
It's Warhol, actually. It's "hole." As in "holes." Andy Warhol.
Did you know that there's an art museum on the moon? A tiny, tiny one. The Moon Museum features works by Forrest "Frosty" Myers (the instigator), Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, David Novros, and John Chamberlain, inscribed on a little chip of silicon and surreptitiously transported to the moon's surface on the Apollo 12 mission. But of course there's a mystery, in this big of a secret: who is John F., the engineer at least partially responsible for smuggling the chip onboard the lunar lander?
Related: other stuff people have left on the Moon (!)
Mashup Breakdown interactively breaks down every sample used in Girl Talk's latest album
Firebreather
Peter Chung, the animator who gave us Aeon Flux, The Maxx, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, The Animatrix: Matriculated and Reign: The Conquerer, has a new comic-to-film adaptation aimed at more mainstream audiences premiering Wednesday on Cartoon Network (US): Firebreather. Official Site. Trailer. (Caution: Some links in this post autoplay video) [more inside]
This is the best post ever to appear on Metafilter.
Wasdale is a remote valley in the English Lake District. It boasts England's deepest lake, highest mountain, smallest church...and biggest liar. [more inside]
Art In The Concrete Jungle. Graffit links, images and documentaries.
Sometimes us cubicle monkeys don't have time to get out into the concrete jungle to check out street art for ourselves.
If you prefer moving pictures, check out the great 2007 documentary on graffiti art, Bomb It. It's online.
When you're done there, you can check out more great images at Art Crimes and find images from your own corner of the urban sprawl at CityNoise.
Your car makes you fat.
Yehuda Moon and the kickstand Cyclery is a three year old daily webcomic about Bicycles, advocacy, and beards. You'd probably want to start at The beginning.
The pulsing popularity of political parties in America over the previous passage of years
"Isarithmic maps are essentially topographic or contour maps, wherein a third variable is represented in two dimensions by color, or by contour lines, indicating gradations. I had never seen such a map depicting political data — certainly not election returns, and thus sought to create them".
I meant the other thing.
We need to talk about your cat because your cat is pissing me off.
Polygamy in Canada
Will Canada be the first developed nation to decriminalise Polygamy? After Charter challenges legalised orgies, prostitution (most recently "living off the avails"), same-sex marriages, non-sexual adult interdependent relationships, common-law marraiges and multiple legally recognised spouses in Saskatchewan, the West Coast is now hosting a unique reference case in B.C.'s superior court considering whether section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code is legal under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [more inside]
Harry Potter and the Attempted American Accent
Six Drummers
Six Drummers. (YouTube) Courtesy of our local dumming guru. If you haven't been to a drum circle, you're missing out. Especially good on Mondays.
November 21
Beau
Jimmy Stewart once recited a poem about his dog, on the Johnny Carson Show.
It's an awwww moment...
now...go pet your dog.
I can't believe this hasn't been posted on Metafilter yet.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Yesterday was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In the past year, at least 29 people have been killed out of transphobia. The vast majority were poor trans women of color. One was a baby, killed because the father perceived the child to not be masculine enough. It's almost certain that the real numbers of dead are much, much higher.
Peter Grudzien is the original New York gay country musician
Peter Grudzien lives in New York and makes psychedelic country music or at least used to, since only two albums of his material ever came out, The Unicorn in 1974, and The Garden of Love, which is mostly a collection of demos. His songs are varied, ranging from noise music to straight up country, and their subject matters are equally wide-ranging, from strange fare, such as lyrics about his clone being at Stonewall, to straight-up love songs. His best known original is probably The Unicorn, a beautiful song whose lyrics recast the early 70s New York gay demimonde in terms of a barren zombie-filled wasteland which will be reborn when the titular unicorn is found by the queen. Other songs on YouTube are White Trash Hillbilly Trick, New York Town and an instrumental cover of the Georgia Gibbs hit Kiss Me Another. Finally, here's a lovely cover of The Unicorn by Calgary folkie Kris Ellestad.
Speed Is Life
The SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft was designed to cruise at speeds in excess of Mach 3. But what's the slowest speed attainable by an airborne Blackbird?
GET BOAT
Meet the bastard lovechild of Zork, Choose Your Own Adventure, Silent Hill, and World of Warcraft: You awaken in Razor Hill. [more inside]
No film is complete without the sound of breaking glass
13 strokes, seriously?
Calligraphy a new interactive story by Christine Sarah Love (previously) with a neat calligraphy rpg combat mechanic.
An entire opera in sock form.
An entire opera in sock form. Although the opera has a happy ending, alas, the pictured sock seems to be unmated. Another opera sock: La fille du régiment. Apparently, she often creates "stitch patterns out of something very nearly approximating whole cloth." [more inside]
"the public is positive, but they are judgemental."
The Minor Fall, the Major Lift - an essay on gambling
The High Is Always the Pain and the Pain Is Always the High // Gambling addiction is a simple disease. Living the addiction is a bit more complicated. A chronicle of dependency in seven parts, by Jay Caspian Kang, about poker, Lolita, and how to lose $18,000 in 36 hours. [more inside]
We use nothing but free-range grapes
"The most important event in the history of wine." Boutique winemaker Bill Wertzberger announces a rather expensive new line of wine. "If you ever find a bottle of wine more expensive ... we will retroactively bill you for the difference, plus a few thousand dollars. Just to make sure that you have the most expensive bottle of wine in the world."
Julian Assange : Arrest Warrants Issued
Arrest warrants have been issued for wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He is wanted on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion - charges he denies.
The warrants follow a detention order issued on Thursday by the Stockholm District Court after a request from Sweden's Director of Prosecution, Marianne Ny. [more inside]
November 20
Friend
Glock 21 Torture Test
Awaiting the hour of reprisal/Your time slips away (only 33 shopping days remain!)
Cowabunga, Dudes!
From the always reliable Monster Brains (previously) comes the crossover you've all been waiting for: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Predator. But wait, there's more (Google translation): Evil Candy Plans, Forbidden Bat-Love, an awesome batmobile, and lots of plain old what the fuck.
Frosted Leaf Orion
Frosted Leaf Orion More from Masahiro Miyasaka: Firefly which looks at Milky Way ll Skunk cabbage in a galaxy ll ☆Christmas trees land☆
Pop History
Renaissance Man (SLYT) Being One in a Series of Musical Videos wherein Man's History is Elucidated.
vortexlike wormhole of 20th-century American fiction
From the Mixed-Up Files of David Foster Wallace explores the late author's archive at the Harry Ransom Center. [more inside]
Helpful Figures
Helpful Figures: Informative infographics on a variety of topics. For example, food: "There are many types of food, some of which are pies, the rest of which should be pies." And DNA: "Humans and computers share 95% of the same DNA."
Turkish-Russian graphics at grafikerler.net
Vintage Turkish-Russian advertising posters and graphics | unusual matches and match head sculptures |marbling on grafikerler.net, a Turkish graphic design site worth exploring.
Gentlemen, France limits enemy parties. Tonight truly barrels us deficits.
HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20 is an information art piece. Artist/composer R. Luke DuBois [previously] manipulated the text of individual State of the Union addresses from each presidency, sorting the words according to frequency of use, to generate a Snellen eye chart for each President. [more inside]
Do bears still shit in the woods?
Iron Joss
In 2006, Joss Naylor ran 50 miles up and down seventy Lake District fells, ascending more than 25,000 feet in 21 hours. Not his best performance, but to be fair, he was 70 at the time.
Cumbrian shepherd Joss Naylor (warning: Youtube link; Cumbrian accent, impossibly adorable sheepdog) is one of the greatest British athletes most people have never heard of, and perhaps the greatest competitor ever in a sport most people have never heard of either: fell-running. [more inside]
¡No Pasaran, Mother Fuckers!
Scottish SF author Hal Duncan tells you It Gets Better. [Work Warning: carpet f-bombing] He has been blogging for a while about SF and social issues, including homophobia and cultural appropriation. A couple of short pieces and some audio files are available in the sidebar on the left of the blog, if you are inclined to check out his writing. If that's too much blog, here is an interview. [It Gets Better previously]
Five minutes with...
iHub - Tech Incubator in Nairobi
Ushahidi (named after a Swahili word meaning "testimony") (previously) started as a volunteer project to map violence and has developed several crowdsourcing projects, including crowdmap.com. More recently, they have also helped create a tech incubator geekspace in Nairobi, iHub, which opened earlier this year. Another article about iHub with more details about how it works.
But You Wouldn't Want to Live There
Perhaps Rochester, New Hampshire isn't the most exciting place on Earth, but that doesn't stop whomever writes the police log.
• 3:12 p.m. — On Winter Street by Fisher fields, two boys battle, neither yields. But a crowd and both the bruisers, disappear before the cruisers.
• 10:32 p.m. — On Tonka Street, a woman asks a neighbor if he needs "to light up" his old Camaro every night as it shakes her trailer. His answer appears to be in the affirmative
• 4:30 p.m. — A pit bull's on the Common, when no dog should ever be
• 5:36 p.m. — Screams erupt on Lafayette, with tinkling glass. A fight? You bet.
• 3:12 p.m. — On Winter Street by Fisher fields, two boys battle, neither yields. But a crowd and both the bruisers, disappear before the cruisers.
• 10:32 p.m. — On Tonka Street, a woman asks a neighbor if he needs "to light up" his old Camaro every night as it shakes her trailer. His answer appears to be in the affirmative
• 4:30 p.m. — A pit bull's on the Common, when no dog should ever be
• 5:36 p.m. — Screams erupt on Lafayette, with tinkling glass. A fight? You bet.
Here on the Battlefield
A Faustian Bargain
A Faustian Bargain: perhaps the best defense of the humanities in higher education you will ever read in a peer-reviewed biology journal (or maybe anywhere). [more inside]
Collaborative Insanity
A provocative short essay on design education by Andy Retludge: If you emerge from university today with a web design degree, chances are rather slim that you’re employable as a user experience (UX) or web designer. Maybe you learned a lot of stuff; it’s just probably the wrong stuff. Congratulations, you’ve been defrauded. Hope it didn’t cost you or your parents too much.
November 19
If Metafilter Were A Country, It Would Be Larger Than Swaziland
The website Sharenator introduces Webempires which aims to visualize every website on the web. [more inside]
Vegan No More
Vegan No More: For 3 years I built my entire life on the premise of veganism. It was my life’s passion, my guiding light. Being a vegan was everything to me. I believed my actions made me an animal rights crusader; I was saving lives, and changing the world. Now, I know otherwise. And now, after 2 full months of non-veganism, I can honestly say that I feel reborn.
Get Your Pictures In
Big Picture's early picks from National Geographic's Photo Contest 2010. Photo contest main site, deadline for submissions Nov. 30.
Momus & Vampire Weekend
Like Democracy Itself, It Needs Defending
Long Live the Web — An impassioned plea to actively support openness on the Web from Tim Berners-Lee. [more inside]
"People are so mean on the internet." - Complaints Choir of Chicago
The Complaints Choir phenomenon, started by the Finnish artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, has spread all over the world since last we paid it any attention, from Birmingham to Helsinki, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Poikkilaakso, Bodø, Penn State, Canada, Juneau, Gabriola Island, Sointula, Jerusalem, Melbourne, Budapest, Malmö, Chicago, Florence, Copenhagen, Vancouver (2), Philadelphia, Sundbyberg, Milano, Åland, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rotterdam, Basel, Umeå, Ljubljana, Gdansk,
Arizona State University, Washington, DC, Horace Mann School, Durham-Chapel Hill, Auckland, Toronto theatre students, Kortrijk, Cairo (2), St. Pölten, Maribor, Port Coquitlam, Ústí nad Labem, Columbus & Kauhajoki (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). For more information, including a 9 step guide to forming your own complaints choir, go to the Complaints Choir website. Finally, here's the Singapore Complaints Choir, whose performance was banned by the Singapore government.
My Immortal
My Immortal is an infamous piece of fanfiction by Tara Gilesbie that has the distinction of being the top Google result for "worst fanfic ever". It's a fascinating read, both for its unique turns-of-word (like when Draco and the author begin to "make out keenly"), and for how effectively it reveals the author's culture and insecurities — the way it alternates between denunciations of superficial "prep" culture and elaborate descriptions of its protagonist's wardrobe, its constant obsession with sex mixed with a squeamish aversion of any eroticism, and its desire, chapter by chapter, to both denounce its critics and to prove them somehow wrong. TVtropes, Urban Dictionary, and Encyclopedia Dramatica each debate whether the piece is sincere or satirical. "If it's fake," says UD, "it's complete genius; and if it's real it's total desecration of a perfectly good book/movie series."
Bienvenue Dans Ma Vie
I hate hype. Gives me hives. Sends me right into a lather, when publicists write that so-and-so is "the next big thing" or "the next Mozart" or the "reincarnation of Jimi Hendrix".
[more inside]
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
"Nobody else is making music this daring and weird." Kanye West's upcoming new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, samples everyone from Bon Iver to Smokey Robinson and features guests like Elton John and La Roux. You may have already heard the album's first single "Power" (previously) or second single "Runaway" with its accompanying 35-minute short film, via his G.O.O.D. Fridays music project. Or maybe you've recently seen him rapping on a Delta flight, performing at Twitter HQ, or apologizing for some of his "most ridiculous on-air moments." Did I mention the banned album cover?
Infinite Ocean
Infinite Ocean is "a sci-fi adventure about sentience, freedom, and the search for truth" (a point & click flash game) by Jonas Kyratzes. [more inside]
Life is probably getting worse
"Affluence breeds impatience, and impatience undermines well-being." Avner Offer is the professor of economic history at the University of Oxford, and he is interested in the well-being of people and families in liberal market societies. His latest work, The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain since 1950, is an empirical socioeconomic history of the effects that liberal and neo-liberal economics has had on happiness, relationships, and social welfare. Specifically, he argues that Reaganism/Thatcherism catapulted forward the ability to produce new goods and services, and to create the desire for them, far ahead of society's ability to cope. Reagan and Thatcher "smashed the family to pieces;" the result of market liberalism is societies of ever-more dissatisfied, atomized, unhappy communities of dual-worker consumerist families.
...our consideration is limited to the present circumstances...
The case “touches issues of far-reaching significance,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote. Then he explained why the court would decide none of them. A definitive ruling should be avoided, he said, because “it might have implications for future cases that cannot be predicted.” [more inside]
Tremble Under Boom Lights
Dirtbombs' drummer Ben Blackwell has created a map of Detroit of labels offering "vinyl releases throughout all eras". He also has a blog and participated in the SXSW panel "How to Make Money With Vinyl" (mp3) as an employee of Third Man Records.
The Case of the Vanishing Blonde
The Case of the Vanishing Blonde
After a woman living in a hotel in Florida was raped, viciously beaten, and left for dead near the Everglades in 2005, the police investigation quickly went cold. But when the victim sued the Airport Regency, the hotel’s private detective, Ken Brennan, became obsessed with the case: how had the 21-year-old blonde disappeared from her room, unseen by security cameras? The author follows Brennan’s trail as the P.I. worked a chilling hunch that would lead him to other states, other crimes, and a man nobody else suspected. [printer-friendly version; behind-the-scenes video; via]
Cinema Code of Conduct
Cinema Code of Conduct as collated by Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode, as read out on the radio this afternoon.
Right to bare arms
Michael was born without arms, yet he has managed to learn how to load and shoot a 1911 pistol. (SLYT)
Alvin Plantinga debates Stephen Law
Philosopher Alvin Plantinga discusses the evolutionary argument against naturalism with philosopher Stephen Law. Plantinga, now retired from his position at Notre Dame, is one of the most well known analytic philosophers of recent times. The podcast is targeted at a non academic audience and keeps things on a fairly basic level in non-technical language. Plantinga and Law conduct a congenial, mutually respectful discussion of the issue. Previously. [more inside]
The model rocket scene is getting ridiculous.
Order your 1:1 scale replica Space Shuttle model today! (Shipping not included. Replica will not fly)
The Automata Blog
The Automata Blog is packed full of interesting images, videos and information about all kinds of amazing automata, cool machines, mechanical music, orchestrions and kinetic sculptures. This month's focus is the history of vintage Japanese tin toy robots and the toy robot paintings by Steven Skollar.
Chapter 007*
SLNPRA (Single Link NPR Audio) on the MGM bankruptcy. Will Bond succumb to a "lack of shelf space"? [more inside]
Tanks in Afghanistan
The U.S. military is sending a contingent of heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war... Although the officer acknowledged that the use of tanks this many years into the war could be seen as a sign of desperation by some Afghans and Americans, he said they will provide the Marines with an important new tool in missions to flush out pockets of insurgent fighters. [more inside]
To make thy wax, takest thou first 4 parts of shellac, and place it in a pan over a heat of the second degree.
"On the other hand, a seal made of shellac shall also n'er serve, for that it is too intemperate and hard and will too easily break upon the lightest blow. And belike as not, it will not adhere to a paper when attached thereto, so that oftimes it would pop loose without any encouragement, and bear false witness against the messager." —The Manufacture of a Good and Faithful Sealing Wax, circa 1683. [more inside]
Not a sport for gentlemen
Asian Games Cricket Gold for Pakistani Women Pakistan beat Bangladesh to grab gold in women's cricket at the Asian Games.
1938 Almanac for New Yorkers
Where will you be one week from today? "In this age of restless wanderings, how can you be certain where some urgent
call may take you? What guarantee have you that a feeble cry in the night, a
sudden emergency call, or a "date" will not summon you hurriedly to 431
Eighth Avenue?" [more inside]
Pony Request
Abandoned Britain
Stephen Fisk runs a website called Abandoned Communities, which documents unsettled settlements around Britain. Some were huge, like Sarum, between (roughly) the eleventh and fourteenth centuries a royal city with its own cathedral, while some were never bigger than a few dozen people. There are places that have been swallowed by the sea, places that have been swallowed by London, and some that simply dwindled into nothingness. Some you may have heard of already, like St. Kilda or Capel Celyn (cofiwch Dryweryn!). There's also a handy map that links straight to any particular location, and collections of painting and poetry pertaining to these vanished places
Possible pre-Columbian Native American gene found in modern Icelanders
An Icelandic company called deCODE genetics (previously) has found evidence, though not conclusive, that an unknown American woman traveled to Iceland, possibly against her will, as early the year 1000 but not later than 1700. She had offspring in Iceland with natives. 80 of her descendants are still extant in that country. This finding has been announced in a pre-print online publication of the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The work involved explorations of mitochondrial DNA, which are frequently employed to examine humans' centuries-old lineages. One surprising result is that this lineage does not seem to line up with previously known Native American genetic markers, but the authors believe that the explanation above is "[more] likely" than this common ancestor being European or Asian. (Via Daily Mail.) [more inside]
Articles of distinction
If you are a fan of the quirky type fonts of a pre-digital era, you may enjoy "the" project, a whimsical little romp through the graphic yesteryear brought to you by the hound of lettering. (via Mira y Calla)
Rules never stop coming at you, they just get infinitely more nuanced.
You think it would be really fun to have sex with me. Because, I think you can tell from my posts, I’ll do anything. But maybe you can also tell from my posts that it’s a little bit weird. Because you know that I’ll say anything, too, but sometimes, I make you cringe.
I think I’m that way in bed, too.
What it's like to have sex with someone with Asperger's.
I think I’m that way in bed, too.
What it's like to have sex with someone with Asperger's.
You would like us to tighten our belts. Instead, tighten your belts--or leave.
The Soviet Collapse "The document which effectively concluded the history of the Soviet Union was a letter from the Vneshekonombank in November 1991 to the Soviet leadership, informing them that the Soviet state had not a cent in its coffers."
RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All The Lonely People
"Every day there are untold millions of comments, texts, and online interactions. Millions. And each one says, I am here and I extend my consciousness to there. There might have been a time when humans were content to sit and simply be, like the goat I saw yesterday sitting contently in a patch of sunshine at the Lincoln Park Zoo. That time was long ago. We want the news. We want to chatter and gossip. We want to say "I am alive" in a billion billion different ways. And now here is internet, providing such an easy, easy way to do that."
Yay, the clown's here!
Two commercial directors make a fake trailer for an 'Eli Roth' film called Clown. The actual Eli Roth finds out about it... and he likes it so much he is now producing an actual film version.
November 18
The UCF Cheating Scandal
University of Central Florida professor Richard Quinn uses highly-detailed analysis to accuse many of the students in his Strategic Management course of cheating on their midterm exam. Since posting his online lecture, 200 of the 600 students in his class have come forward to admit they cheated using testbank exam answers. While some are calling Professor Quinn a "folk hero", many students in the class are now complaining because they feel their professor has been dishonest about where he obtained the information for his exams. But Professor Quinn isn't exactly responding in student news sources to these complaints.
Whit Stillman returns
“People make a big deal about your time away from doing film,” I say. “It is a big deal,” he says. “It’s pretty bad.” After 13 years of silence and a half-dozen aborted projects, Whit Stillman has finished shooting his fourth movie, tentatively called Damsels in Distress.
Beaten, Bound, Burned
Echoing the brutality of the Matthew Shepard case, a Texas teenager blames his slaying of classmate Josh Wilkerson on unwanted gay advances. (He has also been charged with failing to identify himself and attempting to take a weapon from an officer.) While the "gay panic" defense is often considered something of a joke, it's clearly still very much alive.
Tell the people about it!!!!
"The first grade boys are teasing me at lunch because I have a Star Wars water bottle. They say it's only for boys." (via) [more inside]
Nyanto mo Neko Darake (Cats of Many Varieties)
Nyanto mo Neko Darake (Cats of Many Varieties) is an exhibition in Kyoto featuring charming Edo-period (19th century) woodblock images of cats: playful cats forming themselves into the Japanese word for "blowfish," giant monster heads and skulls made of intertwining cats, ghost cats seeking vengeance. [more inside]
Kyle Gets Buckets
Kyle Gets Buckets. Kyle Singler, a senior on the Duke Men's Basketball team and the 2010 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, has become a Youtube sensation. The video has been featured on SportsCenter as well as on numerous websites. [more inside]
In this case, reaching "Pork Nirvana" could be considered a threat...
What do you get when you combine two pounds of bacon with two pounds of Italian sausage carefully crafted into a woven log of artery clogging doom?
The Bacon Explosion.
Don't go together like a horse and carriage...
Time Magazine (with commentary from Jezebel) look at the question - why would people get married in 2010? These are reports based on a Pew Research survey that complements results with findings from census data. [more inside]
Avatar Activism, The Harry Potter Alliance, and Pop Culture Fandom as the gateway to Social Activism
Back in February 2010, Palestinian activists dressed up as Na'vi and Avatars to bring more attention to the weekly protests against the West Bank barrier. Video of the costumed protest was edited to blend with Avatar footage, to emphasize the protesters' message. In another pop-culture world, The Harry Potter Alliance have run campaigns that tie themes from the stories to real-world issues, in an effort to translate the energy of fans into energy to get active in civil engagement, including a a fundraiser in January that raise raised $34,000 to support Haiti relief efforts. These efforts have been labeled "Avatar Activism," as discussed in a a recent Le Monde diplomatique article and a related piece on NPR. [more inside]
Will who blend?
brains = [ brain1, brain2, brain3 ]
Beyond the Black Rainbow
"Set in the strange and oppressive emotional landscape of the year 1983, Beyond The Black Rainbow is a Reagan era fever dream inspired by hazy childhood memories of midnight movies and Saturday morning cartoons." Trailer. [more inside]
A video interview with Cecilia Cassini, known as the world's youngest fashion designer.
A video interview with Cecilia Cassini, known as the world's youngest fashion designer.
The uneven waters of music rediscovery
Two unknown sonatas by Antonio Vivaldi have surfaced, which have collected dust and (doubtless) delighted the bugs for more than two centuries. This is the second find of Vivaldi compositions within a short time. A lost flute concerto has re-surfaced in Edinburgh and was performed earlier this fall.
If we read closely, however, parts the flute concerto "Il Gran Mogol" were already known to the musical world. [more inside]
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web (SLH5P)
Warning: A modern browser is required. [more inside]
Cam Newton
Even if you're not a college football fan, you may have recently heard of Cam Newton. That's because, apart from being the most exciting and dynamic college football player this year, Newton has been dogged in the press by accusations that, during the recruitment process, Newton's father tried to squeeze $180,000 out of Mississippi State coaches and boosters in return for his son's enrollment. Ultimately, Mississippi State declined the "offer" and Newton decided to enroll at Auburn where, he claimed, "the money was just too great." Newton is still playing for the undefeated Auburn Tigers, who are attempting a run at the national title. Additionally, Newton himself is seen as the front-runner in the competition for the Heisman Trophy. But until the NCAA wraps up its investigation and declares Newton ineligible, the decision of whether or not to play Newton is in the hands of Auburn. Some people think that regardless of what Auburn does, they are headed for ruin and a heap of trouble. What kind of trouble? The kind of trouble that involves the FBI, money laundering, gambling (and gambling fraud), collusion, and a conspiracy to funnel cash to players that would be unrivaled in modern sports.
Happy Birthday, Alan Moore
"Alan Moore is a writer and magician from Northhampton. He's a stranger to hairdressers and worships his very own god in his very own way, blurring the lines between religious belief, magic, and the power of the creative imagination. If you film him from strange angles, you can make him look very sinister." It is his fifty-eighth birthday. The beard is pushing 40. [more inside]
"A Gift From the Heavens for Whisky Lovers"
During his unsuccessful 1908 attempt to reach the South Pole, universal badass Ernest Shackleton left five crates of Scotch whisky and two crates of brandy buried in the ice under the floorboards of his hut at Cape Royds. The crates were dug up in February, and conservators are working on ten of the 114-year-old whisky bottles, some marked with ‘British Antarctic Expedition 1907 Ship Endurance,’ with an eye on replicating the long-lost blend. [more inside]
Sir, we have a antimatter containment breach on deck 10!!!
MR PINK, MR WHITE AND BOTTOM
'This is the very odd story of the events that led to a horrific mass killing of Afghan civilians by coalition forces in August 2008.' 'It is the story of the Americans and the British striding into the fairy wood only to find themselves spun around so much by the Afghans that they do not know who is the enemy and who is a friend any longer. And they come out with a donkey's head. But on the way they kill 90 innocent people.' [more inside]
Homage to Sportswomen of the Past
Vintage photos of women in sport. "At the turn of the last century women in the western world were finding a voice, both collectively and individually. As the Victorian era lapsed in to memory and the Edwardian Era commenced many women chose to pursue sports." [more inside]
All Righty Then
Tom Shadyac is the director of terrible but hugely profitable Hollywood films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Patch Adams, and Bruce Almighty. (We'll skip right over Dragonfly with Kevin Costner.) Then he had an epiphany, sold his mansion and private jet, shed his possessions, moved into a Malibu trailer park, and started giving away his money. [more inside]
National Book Award Winner Patti Smith
Patti Smith, best known as a singer-songwriter (whose lyrics have occasionally been collected into books of poetry) has won the National Book Award in Nonfiction for Just Kids, her memoir of the years she spent living with the late artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
Whip it good
Good Rat
The subject of this week's This American Life, Schenectady, NY schools facilities director Steven Raucci was tried and convicted last year on arson and weapons charges after six years in which Raucci routinely exercised his power as union head, manager and close associate of the district heads to sexually harass, threaten and intimidate coworkers, including using explosives on enemies' cars and homes. Much of the district's investigative report is redacted.
"A scene that celebrates itself has nothing to celebrate"
Cartoonist John Allison of (Bobbins, ScaryGoRound, and Bad Machinery fame) has posted his take on the current state of webcomics in the UK.
Around the world in glance
The Knick Killer
Harvey Araton wrote that basketball star Reggie Miller has "a mouth that can stretch as far as his jump shot range." He might be right. Once, in a game against the New York Knicks, Miller so taunted Knicks guard John Starks that Starks headbutted him. Starks was summarily ejected. That incident took place during Game 3 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - a series New York would go on to win in 5 games. [more inside]
fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu
Rage Guy started on 4chan as a way of expressing anger at mundane troubles. Hot Topic took the meme, mangled it, and put it on a shirt. But 4chan struck back: they declared that Rage Guy was now Race Guy [warning: irritating ironic racism] and that Hot Topic was supporting racism in youth culture. Today, Hot Topic announced they would be pulling their shirt from stores.
Grab a Kleenex
“Water” is a film about a young boy’s struggle to accept his fears, his mentally disabled father and his possible future duty. [more inside]
"It's never too early......"
A Public Service Announcement. Here are some sobering facts about the world today: Every day, millions of kids go to sleep having never been introduced to Chewbacca, and, worse, countless more think Greedo shot first. We here at Asylum want to make sure you and your child have an open and healthy conversation about Jar Jar and the differences between a "good trilogy" and an "uh-oh trilogy." So we've provided you with this, a PSA on talking to your child about Star Wars.
Unreal Estate
Man sells virtual space station for $635,000 in Entropia. Previously, same man buys virtual spacestation for $100.000.
My Art is about your seeing.
James Turrell works with light. His latest London exhibition Bindu Shards is booked out; which means you miss a mental orgasm. However Simon Collins has some photos.
Follows some more of James Turrell's work : -
Skyspace;
Bridget's Bardot;
A frontal Passage;
A 1999 interview;
James Turrell on flikr;
Previously;
more.
Follows some more of James Turrell's work : -
Skyspace;
Bridget's Bardot;
A frontal Passage;
A 1999 interview;
James Turrell on flikr;
Previously;
more.
Christian Bale Q+A
"You know the reason I picked this place? 'Cause it has nothing to do with my life. I never come here, ever. It's as far removed from any place that I would ever go to. And that's exactly why I chose it. 'Cause it has nothing to do with me."
ESQUIRE versus CHRISTIAN BALE
November 17
Super Mamika
"A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs (en français, but I'm sure you can figure it out) in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn't take the smile off her face."
Addicted to mad graffin'
Bliss N Eso - Addicted features some amazing stop-motion graffiti and just a pinch of NSFW language. The bonus is seeing how it was done.
Lost In The Garden of the World
Lost In The Garden of the World is a documentary shot at the 1975 Cannes film festival. It contains interviews with Paul Bartel, Tobe Hooper, Steven Spielberg, Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman.
I was certain he'd never come home . . .
But that was [yesterday] is a flash game about learning to move forward.
Eeeeeeeeeeee...
Dogs don't understand basic concepts like moving: The adventures of simple dog and helper dog. [more inside]
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig (November 28, 1881 – February 22, 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world. [more inside]
Subprime microcredit?
Spell My Name with an M
Lisa Murkowski has become the first successful write-in candidate for the US Senate in more than fifty years. Lisa mounted a write-in campaign after she narrowly lost Republican nomination to Joe Miller, a candidate supported by the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party. Her campaign team ran this adorable spelling bee advertisement (also these) after Joe Miller demanded the exclusion of any ballots in which Ms Murkowski's name was misspelt.
Mostly Not Guilty
The first former Guantánamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court was acquitted on Wednesday of all but one of more than 280 charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1998 terrorist bombings of the United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (SL NYT)
Let's Play Cars
It happened to me that I drank one beer after another
Michael Jackson 1989 (not the singer, the beer guy) documentary about beer; pivo, bier, ale, in heaven there is no bier so we drink it here, Germany, California.
How to REALLY play with the Millenium Falcon
Travis Stevens has created the ultimate guitar for Star Wars fans. While the Cargo Bay shows an impressive list of Star Wars-inspired musical gear manufactured by Fernandes Guitars, Stevens' one-of-a-kind instrument is... slightly different. [more inside]
The Cthulhu Mythos, as drawn by children
David Milano, who ran an art project for a children's choir in the weeks before Halloween, exposes kids to the world of Lovecraft. We've seen students in higher education do this, why not elementary school kids?
"Do you carry Utne Reader's Digest?"
The Adventures of Unemployed Man
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's unemployed... It's Unemployed Man. There was a snazzy flash feature on the main site, www.unemployedman.com, but it cost $20 a month and being unemployed, the authors couldn't afford it...
Hence the main link to a preview thread on CNN.
A comic about the Adventures of Unemployed Man and his heroic colleagues Wonder Mother, Good Grief, and Fellow Man.
T-shirts
Diseases of Affluence
Diabetes is overwhelmingly the most common cause of male impotence in the developed world. Men and women are designed to move, and when we do not, our immobility reduces us in every respect. A long, enjoyably rambling piece about urbanization, faux survivalist sailors, self-sufficiency, and the problems caused by the creeping spread of the modern Western diet and lifestyle. Also, the difference between Canadian and Afghani guts.
Everybody hates cancer.
Ladies, do you love the idea of Movember but find yourself distraught that you can't directly take part? Well, mark your calendars for tomorrow, because that's the day you too can make a difference. [more inside]
Whatever happened to the heroes?
Dear Everett True, NME and Q don’t love music any less than you do… a revealing blog entry on the music press. From Collapse Board, who also do an awesome song of the day.
Whoever Said Newspapers Can Never Return To Their Glory Days Never Joined A Korean Cult
Whoever Said Newspapers Can Never Return To Their Glory Days Never Joined A Korean Cult [via mefi projects]
An epic story of flower-selling, mass weddings, insane sex rituals, swashbuckling Cold Warriors, white supremacists and neo-segregationists, Barney Frank & Vince Foster, closeted gay Republicans and where the money goes when you order from a sushi restaurant…
An epic story of flower-selling, mass weddings, insane sex rituals, swashbuckling Cold Warriors, white supremacists and neo-segregationists, Barney Frank & Vince Foster, closeted gay Republicans and where the money goes when you order from a sushi restaurant…
Earth as Art
Wired has selected a few of their favourite "enhanced" images of Earth taken by the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites. [more inside]
made in china
Traditional patterns exquisitely turned into objects of little worth l car | tv | polo shirts by Li Xiaofeng | Twisted porcelain | The Porcelain War Museum and more by Charles Krafft | Manga Ormolu by Brendan Tang | Ming meets the tin can by Lei Xue. [more inside]
A thousand words can improve an image
What Matters (Flash based) is a book published in 2008 combining imagery and essays to tell stories highlighting contemporary issues benefiting from both images and text. The book was edited and curated by David Elliot Cohen (Wikipedia) including 17 essays (TOC, pdf) covering such issues as the Price of Oil Addiction (pdf) and Shop till You Drop (pdf). The complete book is available for free as a series of PDF documents. [more inside]
Bike Parkour
First living Medal of Honor recipient since 1976
Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore "Sal" Giunta became the first living recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration since the Vietnam War on Tuesday when President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor. [more inside]
The End of the World As We Know It
Change is coming. Get ready for tubeless toilet paper. Say good bye to craft projects. Some environmentalists say this is not the answer.
Where we're going we don't need...actually, we'd benefit from some attractive brick paving.
Tiger Stone is a Dutch company (site is in Dutch) which is promoting a technology which allows you to "print" 300-400 meters per day (roughly a mile every four days) of attractive brick roadway. [more inside]
November 16
What History Looks Like
Photos of US soldiers and vets engaged in non-violent protest against "DADT" in front of the White House.
We as a nation retain our sense of humor.
The Thirteenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American humor was awarded to Tina Fey. Here is video of the PBS broadcast of the awards ceremony as well as Ms. Fey's complete acceptance speech.
Mapping the Republic of Letters
Mapping the Republic of Letters is a cartographic tool designed by students and professors at Stanford that seeks to represent the Enlightenment era Republic of Letters, the network of correspondence between the finest thinkers of the day, such as Voltaire, Leibniz, Rousseau, Newton, Diderot, Linnaeus, Franklin and countless others. Patricia Cohen wrote an article about Mapping the Republic of Letters as well as other datamining digital humanities projects in The New York Times. The mapping tool is fun to play with but I recommend you read the blogpost where Cohen explains how to use Mapping the Republic of Letters.
Poor Xenon. So noble, yet so alone.
Luis Buñuel
Regarding Luis Buñuel (Criterion, 1:37, subtitled) "All my life I've been harassed by questions: Why is something this way and not another? How do you account for that? This rage to understand, to fill in the blanks, only makes life more banal. If we could only find the courage to leave our destiny to chance, to accept the fundamental mystery of our lives, then we might be closer to the sort of happiness that comes with innocence." -- Luis Bunuel, "In Curiosity"
Bunuel wanted to rebel against the dogmatic structures of the Church that said, There is no salvation or grace outside the Church. He wanted a kind of Protestant surrealism in which grace was directly attainable like in Nazarin or Viridiana -- Carlos Fuentes
"He is a deeply Christian man who hates God as only a Christian can and, of course, he's very Spanish. I see him as the most supremely religious director in the history of the movies." -- Orson Welles
"I'd like to be able to rise from the dead every ten years, walk to a newsstand, and buy a few newspapers. I wouldn't ask for anything more. With my papers under my arm, pale, brushing against the walls, I'd return to the cemetery and read about the world's disasters before going back to sleep satisfied, in the calming refuge of the grave." -- Luis Bunuel
On The Bro'd
On The Bro'd Every sentence of Jack Kerouac's On The Road, retold for bros.
The Worlds Biggest Harry Potter Fan
Nine eyes, no brain
9eyes is a blog by Jon Rafman, featuring a collection of interesting images found on Google StreetView.
Mauritanian shipwrecks
Some pictures from the world's largest ship graveyard at Nouadhibou in Mauritania (click 'here', then 'nouadhibou' in the Jan Smith link), or investigate it in Google Maps. Geographical Magazine has an explanation of how the graveyard came about.
Multiply this by HOW MANY mortgages out there?
Dan Ekstrom is a guy who is in the right place at the right time.
His profession? He performs securitization audits (Reverse Engineering and Failure Analysis) for a company called DTC-Systems.
The typical audit includes numerous diagrams...
The following flow chart reverse engineers the mortgage on the Ekstrom family residence. It took Dan over one year to take it this far and it clearly demonstrates what happens when there are too many lawyers being manufactured.
Remember the seed-germ
Shortly before his 1924 death in penniless obscurity, architect Louis Sullivan
was commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago to produce his final work:
A System of Architectural Ornament According with a Philosophy of Man's Powers,
a series of intricate illustrations,
unfolding diagrams,
and accompanying descriptions
outlining Sullivan's somewhat opaque aesthetic theories. In 2006, Giles Phillips interpreted these plates into
a shape grammar of 23 rules with which Sullivan's elaborate forms may be distilled into
a series of basic transformations. Moreover, he helpfully put the entire book online for your viewing pleasure. [more inside]
7. Look For "The Signs"
"He was capable of composing entire paragraphs in his head."
Connectivity and the Diffusion of Power
Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen published this piece in the November/December 2010 issue of Foreign Affairs. It was a notable step up from the “Cyberspace and Democracy” article in the same issue. In any case, Eric and Jared address the same core questions I am writing my dissertation on so here’s my take on what they had to say.
Stuck in Logo Limbo
How Low Can Your Logo? "We are testing your capacity to willingly create that which you spend your entire life trying not to create: the worst logo ever." Read the brief or jump straight to the gallery.
Abandoned Hobbiton from “Lord Of The Rings” taken over by sheep
Is London Bridge Falling Down?
Here is an 80-gigapixel panoramic photo of London made from 7886 individual images. This panorama was shot from the top of the Centre Point building in central London, in the summer of 2010. [more inside]
I'm not familiar with that address. Would you please repeat the destination?
In 2007, City officials convened a group of stakeholders, including representatives of taxi drivers, owner and passengers, to create a set of goals for the next New York City taxi cab, a project called the Taxi of Tomorrow.
Snail Ball
The Geometry of the Snail Ball [pdf] - an interesting article (with some DIY advice at the end) about a toy shop curiosity you may have encountered.
Going Dutch
I read the news today, oh boy
Well whadda ya know, the largest music retailer in the United States is about to start selling the Beatles. Bet you still won't be able to buy Lady Madonna without the piano, though, even though it kicks all kindsa ass without the 88 keys.
Lemme show you how to cook that.
Another kind of cookbook. For a couple years now, as evidenced by this old English cookbook, or this old French cookbook, or this even older Italian cookbook, recipes have been conveyed with language. Fitting with our age of copious visual information, Katie Shelly has made a cookbook using just illustrations. Eat your heart out.
Can you draw the internet?
Can you draw the internet? "So who's more imaginative, the creative industry or a bunch of 10 year olds?"
November 15
Not worse or staying the same
He was my brother...
Andrew Goodman was a classmate and friend of Paul Simon. During the Freedom Summer of 1964, Andrew, Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney were arrested in Mississippi for speeding, and, after being released and encouraged to leave town, were shot by the KKK.
The song is attributed to Paul Kane (AKA Paul Simon).
James Blunt prevented World War III
While in Kosovo, singer James Blunt refused an order to attack Russian troops, "preventing World War III."
Pornoscan goes mobile
Thinking of not flying to avoid being scanned? Better not drive either:
A breakthrough in X-ray detection technology, AS&E's Z Backscatter Van™ (ZBV) is a low-cost, extremely maneuverable screening system built into a commercially available delivery van. The ZBV allows for immediate deployment in response to security threats, and its high throughput capability facilitates rapid inspections. The system's unique "drive-by" capability allows one or two operators to conduct X-ray imaging of suspect vehicles and objects while the ZBV drives past. [more inside]
Josephine and Frederick's grand adventure
Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa. We made the decision to tackle this part of Democratic Republic of Congo when we were in Egypt. It would take us about 4 months to drive from Cairo down to the Zambia/DRC border. We immediately started our quest for information. It would soon become clear that very little information was available. We did not know of a single traveler that did this in the last 20 years. We knew of two who tried (both on motorbikes) in recent years. One crashed after a few days and got evacuated. The other got arrested and deported. Both didn't get very far.
So we had to be creative and think of other sources of information. If there is one thing you can find anywhere in the world it is Coca-Cola. They should know how to get their goods in the country. We had no response via email, so we called them up. Their answer was pretty short: They do not have a distribution network outside the major cities in Congo. And it proved to be true, Congo is the first country we have visited were Coca-cola is hard to get once you leave
the major cities.
The moral of the story was: nobody knew anything about the road conditions.
A living post-mortem
Dead Homer Society is a Simpsons related blog that reviews the latest episodes of the show, provides quotes of the day, and perhaps most notably compares and contrasts segments between what the author terms "the Simpsons" and "Zombie Simpsons". [more inside]
There's . . . Killebrew, and Gehringer, and Heilmann and Robinson.
Is there a problem with Exchange Traded Funds?
A recent report (pdf) from the Kauffman foundation on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) has suggested that these investment vehicles may be contributing to a number of problems in the stock market (summary, video). [more inside]
It Still is The Sweet Life
GAY PRIDE? WHAT ABOUT STRAIGHT PRIDE
Privilege Denying Dude is an Advice Dog/Courage Wolf/Pokeparents style meme that has enraptured Sady Doyle. Make your own on memegenerator.
Magazine 60
'60s medley from French elecro-synth band Magazine 60, probably most famous for their 1985 hit Don Quichotte.
Yet for some reason the machines always produce a beverage almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea
Japan is home to a lot of vending machines, some estimations placing one machine for every 23 people, and they're getting "smarter." In 2008, some cigarette vending machines had a digital camera with equipment to judge the age of the cigarette buyer, though relatively small magazine pictures could fool most of these new machines. In the last few months, JR East Water Business Co, a subsidiary of train operator East Japan Railway, has started to roll out high-tech vending machines that recommend a drink based on the users age and gender, using facial recognition technology and drink-preference data. [more inside]
Uncertain Futures
Browser Experiments
Tolia Demidov presents browser experiments, illusions, puzzles, and... fun.
The problem of powering paradise
Professor Brian Cox: "If there were an afterlife I would have to reconsider the engineering design of fridges with a very critical eye"
The field of cessation thermodynamics considers how the hereafter might be powered - probably without 21 grams of human soul - and whether this may mean hell will freeze over. [more inside]
using technology to show that government can work
Elizabeth Warren on setting up the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection - lecture starts here, but really starts getting good here: "I feel like this is a boring speech." stay for the Q&A.
Zed's dead, baby, Zed's dead
To the public in the wide world, she may be known mostly from two short scenes (1,2) in Pulp Fiction. Maria de Medeiros, however, has also played in a number of American, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian, Portuguese, British, French and Austrian movies, and is a critically acclaimed director. Oh, and she sings. Rather well.
COICA still alive
The "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" (COICA) is back on the Judiciary Committee's schedule. This bill would create two blacklists (without due process) of domains which ISPs (in the USofA) would be forced to block, based on alleged copyright infringement. [more inside]
Better a live goat than a dead one...
Two and a half million Muslims went on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca on Nov 14, 2010. The day after Hajj is celebrated as Eid-ul-Azha by Muslims all over the world.
This year, in light of the flood aftermath in Pakistan, the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society is suggesting a substitute for the traditional animal sacrifice on Eid. [more inside]
The the real cost of Open Table
A glimpse into the business relationship between restaurants and Open Table . It is not the glowing review you were possibly imagining. This will probably make you think twice next time you go to use it.
They serve their country in the closet
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is an exhibit of photographs by Jeff Sheng that is currently on tour in the US. A sharp contrast to his previous work: Fearless, which highlighted young Canadian and US athletes who openly identify as gay, lesbian or transgendered, this new exhibition shows gay American servicemen who cannot, so they have been photographed in uniform with their faces hidden or outside the photo's frame to protect their anonymity. Flash Galleries: DADT 1, DADT 2. [more inside]
Editing the Dead
Stuffed Chipmunks
Follow Me to the Hedge Clippers
Hgiyiyi (hgjhjh, hjhk) by JJJJ and JJJJJ, has been praised by reviewers as "more majestic than Aslan, more intoxicating than Rappaccini's daughter, and more magical than Abcar." But there has been some controversy about the translation, and some critics are angry: "Jjjj can just vdb off." [more inside]
ChexMix? What's ChexMix?
Days of Our PepsiBlue. Product placement in daytime TV makes the satire in Wayne's World look subtle. Also, it makes the regular dialogue in daytime soaps sound relatively natural and not at all scripted.
All the better to see you with, my dear...
Microsoft Kinect (née Project Natal) is sure to be a monster hit this season, and no surprise: Microsoft hopes to disthrone Nintendo's Wii and are supporting the platform with a $500 million marketing budget, larger than the marketing budget for the launch of the original Xbox.
However, privacy experts are raising concerns over recent comments made by Xbox CFO Dennis Durkin at at an investors' conference:
“We can cater which content we present to you based on who you are,” Durkin said. “How many people are in the room when an ad is shown? How many people are in the room when a game is being played? When you add this sort of device to a living room, there’s a bunch of business opportunities that come with that.”One example given was that the Kinect could identify sports jersey worn by players and deliver ads specific to their team. The Kinect platform works with its array of video- and infrared cameras, 3D depth sensors, and stereo microphones, all attached to a motorized platform which can follow players' movements. [more inside]
A letter of love and acceptance
A Mountain I'm Willing To Die On A letter of a mother to her child about religion, love, and acceptance of who you are.
Do you see what happens when you fight a stranger in the alps?
Dubbing over dialoge is a necessary evil for any network that wants to play a movie within their standards and practices. But it can often turn a crass, but cogent line into something outright bizarre. The Big Lebowski. Snakes on a Plane. Pulp Fiction. Die Hard 2.
Bygone Mecca
In 1885, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje took rare sepia-tinted photographs and sound recordings of Mecca. The exhibition will be on display at The Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai.
Inspiring Photos of architecture, people and art from Istanbul and Turkey
Istanbul Photos If you love Istanbul like I do, and can't visit often enough, this is a fine place to get a virtual glimpse of all of it.
All Day
You want me to blow on your what?
Is wind power bad? Many people
think
so. Americans
are by far the largest energy
user in the world, so why all
the backlash
?
November 14
You are sitting in your chair, in front of you is a gray tablet that is not glowing.
Love interactive fiction? Love your Kindle? Have no net connection? Why not love them both at the same time offline!
Build it, and they will float
Hannu builds boats. Not a really unusual thing (though getting rarer as time goes on). However, he concentrates on small, simple, easy to build boats with as little material as possible. Some, like a 18' canoe built from one piece of plywood, are simply amazing.
"There is Sape only when there is peace."
The Congolese Sape is a photoessay by Héctor Mediaville on Sapeurs, a male subculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is defined by its haute couture clothes. Blogger Eccentric Yoruba wrote a post for steampunk blog Beyond Victoriana on Sapeurs which was crossposted to Racialicious detailing the history of the movement and linking it to dandyism in general and explaining its political significance in the 70s, when it was championed by music legend Papa Wemba (live footage from the 90s and 70s).
Richard Dawkins reads his hate mail. (SLYT)
"Would you please be so kind as to read some of your hate mail in that adorable British accent?" One of the questions asked of Dawkins in a recent Reddit AMA.
Doctor of all things, master of none.
Wibbley wobbley livey wivey.
"On Monday morning, you can tell all your friends at school about this." Matt Smith makes a surprise appearance at the Doctor Who Proms 2010. (SLYT)
7 UP Un-Deer Commercials from 1970s
Lord of the Universe Do you remember the 7 UP Un-Deer commercials from the 1970s? This website has found audio recordings. "You just think I am sitting here cooling off my hoofies ..... wrong-o". I loved those commercials.
My dad made one in art school and sure enough I was scared of it
Face jugs are a widely recognized indigenous Southern American style of folk pottery. (Although of course ceramics have been decorated with faces for nearly as long as people have made jugs vaguely in the same shape as heads.) American face jugs are said to have been made deliberately frightening so that they would keep little children away, allowing parents to keep the corn liquor safe in the jug, but there may have been other reasons. The tradition dates at least from the 19th century, and appears to have originated in the work of enslaved African-American potters. [more inside]
The Acrylic Age of Science Fiction
Bark, An Intimate Look at the World's Trees
The World's Most Beautiful Bark (Or: Trees Worth A Closer Look) l Photographer Cedric Pollet travels the world, barking up trees for a living l A little about the photographer l More of the beautiful images from his book and more.
The Joy of Cycling
The Joy of Cycling , "Unfortunately [Transport for London] didn’t go for our take on the classic 70’s illustrated sex manual."
Jaimie Mantzel's Giant Robot Project
Jaimie Mantzel has a dream: The Giant Spider Robot Project. First he needed some infrastructure; a Palacial Megadome (with trampoline floor) in the woods, his own hand made road, a Banana Building, and of course his own lumber mill. He also recently started the Adventure Builders Club for anyone else who likes building stuff. Whole lots more videos in his channel. via
The World's Most-Viewed Image
Facebook needs a facelift. The Pros and Cons of Facebook's Design. A concept redesign by Bruce Mau Design. [more inside]
You Can't Beat the Axis if You Get VD
Ads that would never be allowed today. Van Heusen, yikes.
Ted Koppel's critique of blatant bias in cable news
"It was frosty and there was a harvest moon."
The Coventry Blitz was seventy years ago today. The German Luftwaffe, in an operation they codenamed "Moonlight Sonata", bombed the city for over eleven hours, killing 600, injuring a thousand, and damaging or destroying over 43,000 homes -- just over half of the existing housing stock. The raid was so devastating that Joseph Goebbels later used the term Coventriert ("Coventrated") to describe a particularly satisfactory level of destruction. [more inside]
Everyone looks like shit
"You Look Like Shit" The Megacut.
How would you solve the US deficit?
How would you solve the US deficit? Interactive US national budget calculator from the NYT.
Cloudy with a Chance of Dude
Tagxedo: tag cloud with styles. Similar concept to Wordle, but with much greater customisation and word control. [more inside]
Multpile-LYT
12 Fun Hacks for Getting More Out of YouTube Via Mashable All Your Youtube-Hack Needs in 1 Easy Location! 1. TubeReplay. 2. Dragontape. 3. YouTube Doubler. 4. SynchTube. 5. infiniTube. 6. Splicd. 7. TubeChop. 8. YouCube. 9. MixTube. 10. YouFlow. 11. QuieTube. 12. YouTube TestTube. Some tubes have been listed previously.
November 13
"Last year at the World Cup, there were broken bones."
Tomorrow in New York City, the Quiddich World Championship will be decided. Invented in 2005, Muggle Quiddich is now played at hundreds of high schools and colleges around the world. Forty six teams are meeting this weekend for the fourth annual world championship. [more inside]
Kaggle
Kaggle hosts competitions to glean information from massive data sets, a la the Netflix Prize. Competitors can enter free, while companies with vast stores of impenetrable data pay Kaggle to outsource their difficulties to the world population of freelance data-miners. Kaggle contestants have already developed dozens of chess rating systems which outperform the Elo rating currently in use, and identified genetic markers in HIV associated with a rise in viral load. Right now, you can compete to forecast tourism statistics or predict unknown edges in a social network. Teachers who want to pit their students against each other can host a Kaggle contest free of charge.
The Circular Jump is a White Hole
Circular jumps (previously) form when you turn on your tap and the water lands in a thin circular disk with a raised lip. Jannes et al have now shown that circular jumps are examples of hydrodynamic white holes: waves can escape the jump, but not enter it. [more inside]
Trains, the future, and the past
The US government is trying to blow life into the railroad's passenger services which have been declining since WWII because of production stops during the war, and government sponsoring afterward going primarily to air travel and roads. Meanwhile the French SNCF is going public in catching up with its dark past, in order to get a piece of the investment cake.
Inside Job
Charles Ferguson's cogent & enraging presentation of the financial meltdown may be best viewed in a theatre that serves beer. (YMMV) So if the financial system crisis in the last 3 years or so has you scratching your head, there are helpful diagrams on the website, & surprisingly equal party blameworthy interviews in the film. There are also helpful pdf's and good guy/bad guy lists for teaching about it. And once you leave the theatre, there's a place to read & talk about the film, and there's even a place with a list of what you can do. (Which is also open to suggestions for more things you can do.) An interview with film director Charles Ferguson from Oct 1, 2010 on NPR. Previously-ish.
Ireland Bailout
The Republic of Ireland is in preliminary talks with EU officials for financial support, the BBC has learned. Q&A: Irish bond crisis.
Paws for Purple Hearts
... it's terribly important for veterans to feel they are continuing a mission that held them together through the violence and stress of war. "PTSD carries a stigma, that you're broken and wounded," said Yount, "And many guys have guilt for not still being in the fight. The idea of Paws for Purple Hearts is you can be part of the war effort while you're getting treatment."
The Voyager Interstellar Record, Remixed by Extraterrestrials
In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft, fastening to each a phonograph album containing sounds and music of Earth. If the best calculations are to be believed, one of these records was intercepted and “remixed” sometime in 2005 by extraterrestrial intelligences on the edge of our solar system. Ladies and Gentlemen: the Voyager Interstellar Record, Remixed by Extraterrestrials.
Let's Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates
Old Fangs
Old Fangs - a lovely but sad cartoon about a young wolf confronting his father, whom he has not seen since childhood. [more inside]
A wolf, a sheep, and a cabbage need to cross the river...
A Riddle: A wolf, a sheep, and a cabbage need to cross the river. How can you bring them across, one by one, without the sheep eating the cabbage, nor the wolf eating the sheep? [more inside]
Fun maps
"Poetry is still beautiful, taking me with it."
A memoir of living with a brain tumour: "For art critic Tom Lubbock, language has been his life and his livelihood. But in 2008, he developed a lethal brain tumour and was told he would slowly lose control over speech and writing. This is his account of what happens when words slip away." [more inside]
Also, Michael Bay to helm reboot of My Dinner With André
Uwe Boll is no stranger to MetaFilter. You remember the time he said he'd retire if a million people asked him to, the time he challenged his critics to boxing matches and the halcyon days when he had only three movies in the IMDB Bottom 100 (he now has five).
Now he has turned his attention to a project he feels he is uniquely qualified for: Auschwitz. [more inside]
Borderline Bill
A cartoon dog explains Borderline Personality Disorder and how it affects day to day life. [more inside]
Refreshingly blunt
It's alive!
Accio Nerd Cred
Daniel Radcliffe sings "The Elements". Sadly it seems there's not a lot of Tom Lehrer fans in the audience. [more inside]
November 12
Kovalchoke and the salary cap
100 million just doesn't get what it used to... Ilya Kovalchuk becomes the poster boy for irony in the NHL. [more inside]
James Frey’s Fiction Factory
James Frey (previously) wants to create the next Harry Potter or Twilight sensation. And he's hiring an army of anonymous starving authors to write it for him under somewhat unusual terms. Veteran publishing attorney Conrad Rippy said he's never seen anything like it:
It’s an agreement that says, “You’re going to write for me. I’m going to own it. I may or may not give you credit. If there is more than one book in the series, you are on the hook to write those too, for the exact same terms, but I don’t have to use you. In exchange for this, I’m going to pay you 40 percent of some amount you can’t verify — there’s no audit provision — and after the deduction of a whole bunch of expenses.”
Laugh your tuches off
Judd Apatow made a public service announcement for the American Jewish World Service that won't be shown on TV, and not just because it's five minutes long. AJWS is a quiet but powerful force for good in the world. The organization was among the first on the ground and continues to help rebuild in Haiti, post-tsunami India, and many other places around the world.
This is its 25th year of philanthropy and humanitarian aid (and its president's 70th birthday).
For Science!
The Cliche Family in Televisionland
Meet the Cliche Family (very briefly nsfw) "...it was made around 1965 as an in-house joke at an ad agency" Via
The Wonderful World of Babel
Unlike many cinematic exports, the Disney canon of films distinguishes itself with an impressive dedication to dubbing.
Through an in-house service called Disney Character Voices International, not just dialogue but songs, too, are skillfully re-recorded, echoing the voice acting, rhythm, and rhyme scheme of the original work to an uncanny degree (while still leaving plenty of room for lyrical reinvention).
The breadth of the effort is surprising, as well -- everything from Arabic to Icelandic to Zulu gets its own dub, and their latest project, The Princess and the Frog, debuted in more than forty tongues.
Luckily for polyglots everywhere, the exhaustiveness of Disney's translations is thoroughly documented online in multilanguage mixes and one-line comparisons, linguistic kaleidoscopes that cast new light on old standards. Highlights:
"One Jump Ahead," "Prince Ali," and "A Whole New World" (Aladdin) - "Circle of Life," "Hakuna Matata," and "Luau!" (The Lion King) - "Under the Sea" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (The Little Mermaid) - "Belle" and "Be Our Guest" (Beauty and the Beast) - "Just Around the Riverbend" (Pocahontas) - "One Song" and "Heigh-Ho" (Snow White) - "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (Cinderella) - Medley (Pinocchio) - "When She Loved Me" (Toy Story 2) - Intro (Monsters, Inc.)
Ninja Tune: 20 Years in the Technicolor Escape Pod
September 2010 marked 20 years of Ninja Tune, the independent label formed by the duo known as Coldcut. Starting with an album by the duo that they released under a different group name, the small UK label has since spiraled out to include three separate imprints (plus an artist-specific mini-label), with an extensive collection of singles, EPs and albums from an ever-growing list of artists. More history in words, music and video awaiting inside... [more inside]
Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhh!
Zombigotchi: a wee short for a new iphone game by Finkbom. Directed/Animated by Mikey Please's inner 12 year old and produced by James Botey. In Zombigotchi one can: pet, punish, feed, & play. Make your own.
truth hangs by a hair
A DNA test has proven that a man was executed for murder by the State of Texas on the basis of false forensic evidence. [more inside]
Leopardi's "Infinity"
"L'infinito": Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity...
Skateistan, the film
Skateistan - To Live and Skate in Kabul (9:16) is a short documentary based on the work of the NGO Skateistan (previously), who provide lessons in skateboarding, environmental health, information technology, art and language to hundreds of boys and girls in Kabul, Afghanistan. (via) [more inside]
So you bought an idea?
Coal Without Carbon
Dirty Coal, Clean Future
To environmentalists, "clean coal" is an insulting oxymoron. But for now, the only way to meet the world's energy needs, and to arrest climate change before it produces irreversible cataclysm, is to use coal—dirty, sooty, toxic coal—in more-sustainable ways. The good news is that new technologies are making this possible. China is now the leader in this area, the Google and Intel of the energy world. If we are serious about global warming, America needs to work with China to build a greener future on a foundation of coal. Otherwise, the clean-energy revolution will leave us behind, with grave costs for the world's climate and our economy. (more here and responses here, here and here)
To environmentalists, "clean coal" is an insulting oxymoron. But for now, the only way to meet the world's energy needs, and to arrest climate change before it produces irreversible cataclysm, is to use coal—dirty, sooty, toxic coal—in more-sustainable ways. The good news is that new technologies are making this possible. China is now the leader in this area, the Google and Intel of the energy world. If we are serious about global warming, America needs to work with China to build a greener future on a foundation of coal. Otherwise, the clean-energy revolution will leave us behind, with grave costs for the world's climate and our economy. (more here and responses here, here and here)
The Insanity Virus?
Small digital cameras, the web and the crowd.
With video cameras becoming increasing smaller, cheaper and ubiquitous, questions are arising about the use of them on multiple levels, from governments monitoring their citizens, to private citizens keeping an eye on government and each other. [more inside]
It's time to play the music!
There's a new Muppet Movie in the works. Jason Segel will be writing, starring, and co-directing the film, along with James Bobin (Of Ali G and Flight of the Conchords fame). Earlier this month, casting announcements began to trickle out: Zach Galifianakis, Jane Lynch, and Lady GaGa are all said to be making appearances in the film. Alan Arkin and Michael Cera have purportedly both been offered roles as well. The film is set to open next Christmas.
That darn cat!
Scientists have finally discovered tyhe physics of how cats drink.
Winners Never Quit.
One of the greatest movie satires you almost never saw, Norman Lear's first stab at film making sat for two years before its 1971 release. Shot on location in Greenfield, Iowa, it featured a who's who cast of television comedy, [more inside]
Excitement grows in Burma as Aung San Suu Kyi's release nears.
Tragedy Transposed, The Sounds of HIV
There is no question that HIV is an ugly virus in terms of human health. Each year, it infects some 2.7 million additional people and leads to some two million deaths from AIDS. But a new album manages to locate some sonic beauty deep in its genome. Sounds of HIV (Azica Records) by composer Alexandra Pajak explores the patterns of the virus's nucleotides as well as the amino acids transcribed by HIV, playing through these biologic signatures in 17 tracks. [more inside]
R.I.P. Henryk Górecki
Composer Henryk Górecki, known for his choral and orchestral works in the "sacred minimalist" style, has died. He was best known for his Symphony #3, "Sorrowful Songs," (YT sample) premiered in the U.S. in 1994. Górecki's Symphony #4, scheduled to premier in 2010, was postponed because of the composer's extended illness, will not be completed.
Motor Booty
Detroit's Greatest Hits (That Should Have Been) Here we've compiled our very own Top 40 list of Detroit songs or albums that were overlooked or undervalued — which naturally includes, to a lesser extent, the overlooked or undervalued artists who created them. These are songs that not only give up the goose bumps, or teach us something that we didn't already know, but records that hook us and make us want to share them.
satire didn't bring down Hitler
In his unedited, fifty-minute interview with Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart explains what's wrong with MSNBC, why you shouldn't say Bush is a war criminal even if it's "technically true," why the real political fight in the U.S. is not Republican vs. Democrat or left vs. right but corruption vs. non-corruption, and how the real point of the Rally to Restore Sanity (previously, previously) was to show that he has no actual influence, credibility, or power.
F*** Lyndon Johnson and wash the dishes.
English sentences without overt grammatical subjects. SLTF (Single link text file). NSFW (not even remotely). Via.
Twitter Joke Trial
Back in May this year, British Twitter user Paul Chambers was found guilty of sending a 'menacing electronic communication'.
The communication in question? A Twitter update written when stuck at an airport, saying the following: "Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!" [more inside]
Wooorms innnn spaaaaace
Remember Worms? Well, Funky Pear (the guys who made playing golf in space fun) has another version of that, but the worms are replaced with guys in space suits, and the landscape is now a small planetary system. Use gravity to sling your rockets around planets, and build up the damage multiplier. Play Gravitee Wars. Warning: addictive. [more inside]
We Join Together to Battle Velvet
"I came to this beautiful hall in a soiled subway car, but I might as well have travelled in a grand carriage. As I walked down the street I drew sidelong glances. 'Who is this man,' they seemed to say. 'A man at home where-ever he travels. A man of refinement. A man of elegance. A man of corduroy.'" An address to the Corduroy Appreciation Club (previously) by MeFi's youngamerican Jesse Thorn.
Matt Taibbi strikes again
Matt Taibbi strikes again. Having gone after the investment banking industry, incidentally attaching a description to Goldman Sachs in ways their PR machine is still trying to peel off, his latest article in Rolling Stone illuminates the pervasive fraud at the heart of the foreclosure scandal. [more inside]
We REALLY haven't had a Blue Man Group post in eight years?!
"Once you have established yourself as an icon in your field, it is important that you pay tribute to some of the great rock legends that came before you. This kind of gesture will create the illusion that you are still humble and serve as a preemptive strike against anyone who has noticed what a callous and delusional ass you have become."
November 11
And you're gettin' there fast.
Race to Nowhere (trailer) is a documentary film by first-time director Vicki Abeles that discusses her perception that the US education system has become "obsessed with the illusion of achievement, competition and the pressure to perform. Cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired." [more inside]
You saw this post coming
An eight-year, extremely large study (p = 1.34 × 10-11) has found statistically significant results that point towards a human capability for precognition. Reviewers for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology are puzzled by the paper but cannot find any flaws in its methodology. Is this confirmation of the fluid nature of time? Or is it simply another candidate for the Journal of Irreproducible Results?
Dear Rupert Murdoch, We have cameras.
A charity auction whose grand prize was a business lunch with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch has been won by David Brock. Brock is the CEO of Media Matters, a group consistently critical of Murdoch.
Auction site Charity Buzz described the auction as a "once in a lifetime chance" to sit with Murdoch "face to face over a friendly lunch and get his feedback firsthand on your proposed business ideas." It said it was valid for a total of six people and would be held in New York at a "mutually convenient" time with Murdoch covering the cost of lunch. "Winner will be subject to security screening and background check," it stipulated.
Media Matters founder and chief executive David Brock expects the lunch to go ahead. "I look forward to this opportunity to have a friendly lunch with Rupert Murdoch, along with five of my invited guests," Brock said in a statement. "I will soon contact Mr. Murdoch's office to determine a mutually convenient time and place in New York," he added.
Auction site Charity Buzz described the auction as a "once in a lifetime chance" to sit with Murdoch "face to face over a friendly lunch and get his feedback firsthand on your proposed business ideas." It said it was valid for a total of six people and would be held in New York at a "mutually convenient" time with Murdoch covering the cost of lunch. "Winner will be subject to security screening and background check," it stipulated.
Media Matters founder and chief executive David Brock expects the lunch to go ahead. "I look forward to this opportunity to have a friendly lunch with Rupert Murdoch, along with five of my invited guests," Brock said in a statement. "I will soon contact Mr. Murdoch's office to determine a mutually convenient time and place in New York," he added.
Bribery or Needed Motivation?
Baltimore area schools are using this Johns Hopkins program In an effort to combat rampant absenteeism and improve graduation rates, several Baltimore area middle schools are adopting the Stocks in the Future program developed by Johns Hopkins University program. Students are paid up to $80 a year based on their attendance and grades, which they are then allowed to invest in the stock market. Upon graduation, students keep their own portfolios (surprisingly, not all of them do). The program allows students to develop some financial literacy and has improved attendance rates.
PanzerBlitz
PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame of armoured combat set in the Eastern Front of the Second World War. The game is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation (wargame). It also pioneered concepts such as isomorphic mapboards and open-ended design, in which multiple unit counters were provided from which players could fashion their own free-form combat situations rather than simply replaying pre-structured scenarios. (related)
Gimme an "S!"
Founded by former Philadelphia 76ers cheerleader Darlene Cavalier, Science Cheerleaders is a squad of cheerleaders from professional sports teams who have gone on to have careers in science-related fields. Now they break out the pom-poms to cheerlead for science and challenge the stereotypical image of female scientists. [more inside]
Bear Chases Bison on a Highway in Yellowstone
Amateur Photographer Captures a Grizzly Bear Chasing a Bison Down a Highway in Yellowstone [more inside]
Face to Face with the Animal Kingdom
In the search to find this year's European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the German Society of Wildlife Photographers has compiled a collection of the most spellbinding moments caught on camera in the natural world.
"Too Asian?"
Maclean’s Magazine ('Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine') publishes an annual edition ranking Canadian universities. In this year’s issue, with strong showings of Asian student populations at the top schools, an article asks, whether Canadian universities are “Too Asian”? [more inside]
Lest we forget
"A pious, peaceful man, York had fought his country's enemy only after great deliberation and had to be convinced that war was sometimes necessary."1 On this day let us remember Sergeant York.
1 Celluloid Soldiers: The Warner Bros. Campaign Against Nazism By Michael E. Birdwell.
1 Celluloid Soldiers: The Warner Bros. Campaign Against Nazism By Michael E. Birdwell.
High-Speed Rail off-track in Ohio
Depending on who you ask, Ohio's C3 Railroad project is either a) a conventional railroad project that's going to restore slow rail service between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati or; b) it's a visionary initiative of President Obama and Transportation secretary, Roy LaHood, that has the intention of rebooting Ohio's entire infrastructure. [more inside]
You think it’s cuddly but it will tear your insides out
Pulp's Common People - the great class-based song of the 90s?
Goodbye to pedophilia guide
The disappearing act of a pedophilia how-to on Amazon shines a spotlight on Amazon's shaky content guidelines.
Agustín Víctor Casasola
Slaves of the moment: "The Mexican Agustín Víctor Casasola, with the intermittent help of his brother Miguel, began to set up around 1900 one of the most important photographic archives for the history of a country. However, the international recognition of these almost 500,000 photos has not matched its importance. Born in 1874 and raised in the years of the Porfirio Díaz government, Agustín Casasola was a direct witness to all the adversities that led to modern Mexico, and breathed as nobody else the air of a country and a city that developed during the first third of the 20th century at a runaway pace."
Why Do They Rock So Hard?
"Whatever happened to Suburban Rhythm? Why did Ed and Scott quit?
Please don't go, Suburban Rhythm! All the other bands are just shit."
So goes the (many versions of) the song "S.R." by a little ska band called the Reel Big Fish. [more inside]
History of Western Philosophy Influence Charts
History of Western Philosophy, illustrated in huge scroll-down timelines. Kevin Scharp at OSU made these, based on work by Randall Collins, and they are great. Includes the influence of the Muslim world. He also has separate diagrams on a few specific issues, eg paradoxes, theories of truth, etc. This link goes to his fast-loading index page, where you can click to load the (big) charts. [more inside]
Consider Humanism
We don't need Jodie, we've got Hopkins!
He's Now in the Great Screening Room in the Sky Dino de Laurentiis has passed on, aged 91.
Over 150 films produced. He gave this young guy a second chance after this bomb. One of his movies had the best Haniball Lektor/Lector ever. He worked with Fellini, Pacinio, Redford, Schwarzenegger, Bridges, (Jeff), Raimi, and Fonda, (Jane). Goodnight, sweet prince of cinema.
Some might characterize this debate as fairly sophomoric.
Tweets of Anarchy and Replying with the Enemy: A look at television showrunners' Twitter feeds by Myles McNutt.
How to wrap a cat
Thinking of giving that special someone a cat for Christmas? Well, you need to know how to properly wrap it for placement under the yule tree. Thankfully, there's a handy instructional video for that.
Just Add Liver Hearts and Rasians
it keeps on Rick Rollin...
Hooping!
Can a hula hoop make you cool? Philo Hagen of hooping.org makes a visual arguement for yes. [more inside]
The porpoises were unavailable for comment.
"I woke up out of sight of land," the 84-year-old actor told reporters. "I started paddling with the swells and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought 'I'm dead!'" Dick Van Dyke rescued by porpoises (SLGA).
Apple’s Tablet Computer History
Apple’s Tablet Computer History - A collection of beautiful prototype designs for some of Apple's early tablet computers from the 1980s and 90s, including the famed Newton [ related | via ]
November 10
I also posted this on my wall
He's just behind you.
A few weeks ago, we attempted to shoot a short film. But when we got the footage back, there was clearly something very wrong.
Can you imagine 50 people a day, I said 50 people a day? Friends, they may think its a movement.
Nov. 24 is National Opt-out Day from airport back-scatter scanners Time to call BS on TSA's kabuki theater of airport security:
"As public anger grows over the TSA's body scanners and intrusive new airport pat-down procedure, a Web site is urging travelers to "opt out" from the body scanners and instead choose to have a pat-down in public view, so that everyone can "see for themselves how the government treats law-abiding citizens."
OptOutDay.com declares November 24 to be the day when air travelers should refuse to submit to a full body scan and choose the enhanced pat-down -- an option many travelers have described as little short of a molestation."
My entire life screams that I have a Jewish neshama
"'What are the laws?' he said, explaining his decision to adhere to the Orthodox level of observance. 'I want to know the laws. I don’t want to know the leniencies. I never look for the leniencies because of all of the terrible things I’ve done in my life, all of the mistakes I’ve made.'"
Break Out The Rye Bread, Heaven.
Dave Niehaus, the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Seattle Mariners, has passed away at the age of 75. [more inside]
WARNING: THIS RECIPE IS NOT KOSHER.
"They're not enemies, but frenemies."
Complex China-U.S. currency issue explained in bizarre news animation. "Need a primer on the issues? Check out our US-Sino Currency Rap Battle, featuring Chinese president Hu Jintao and American president Barack Obama.
China has mad stacks of US Treasury debt and fears America will inflate its way out the hole by weakening the greenback further.
The US, on the other hand, says China is keeping its currency artificially undervalued to protect its exports.
It's a battle for the ages. And everything you need to know about US-Sino trade relations can be learned right here."
I'm taking that word back and it's delicious
Faggot. Michael Procopio, food writer, chef, sometime waiter, makes mincemeat out of his least favorite word.
Gravity sucks
A 275 tower slated for demolition ... falls the wrong way. The former Ohio Edison Mad River Power Plant’s 275-foot tower was demolished, but fell the wrong way, snapping power lines and destroying buildings. No one was hurt. But the MSNBC video shows that maybe Take Your Daughter to Blow Up the Tower at Work Day was a bad idea.
Draft recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
In a surprise move, the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Senator Majority Whip Alan Simpson (R-WY), held a press conference today - three weeks in advance of the due date for the Commission's final report - to announce their draft recommendations on how to reduce the federal budget deficit. [more inside]
Arlington Ladies: A Little More Personal Touch to the Military Funeral
An Arlington Lady does not cry. An Arlington Lady is not a professional mourner. She is not a grief counselor, according to their strict Standard Operating Procedure. She is there simply so that somebody is. But before the Arlington Ladies, there was Gladys Rose Vandenberg, wife of Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg. Starting in 1948, she was a constant attendant, sometimes the only one to join the the chaplain and the honor guard. Her dedication spread to others and to other branches of the US armed forces, and continues to this day. [more inside]
Edward Tufte is having a yard sale
Edward Tufte, patron saint of information visualization, is auctioning off his sizeable library of rare books, including major works in the history of science and statistical graphics. Christies auction catalogue is available for your perusal. First edition Isaac Newton, anyone?
Hold on; It's getting complicated.
Mehmet Ali Agca who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released from Prison earlier this year and has now alleged in a Turkish TV interview that the Vatican government had masterminded the move.
Originally Agca, who was a member of the Turkish Grey Wolves laid the blame at the door of the Bulgarian Secret Services.
Agca's Grey Wolf colleagues were involved in some interesting and nefarious business.
Meanwhile the crazy is running strong. (related).
Warning: Cigarettes are addictive.
The FDA has unveiled new graphic warnings for cigarette packages, including for the first time images that might depict dead bodies, cancer patients and diseased lungs. You can see all 36 new images here. (13MB PDF). [more inside]
Epic
This site depicts REAL things said to me (or at least near me) by customers in the comic book shop that I work in. These are real people. This is what they look like and this is something that they actually said.
"In a place like this, you have to keep your front up all the time, but not with Milo."
"When I arrived here, I had nothing to lose." Explains 'Bear'. "When you have nothing to lose—you can get yourself into a lot of trouble. When I got my first cat, it changed me. There is something about holding a cat that makes your anger melt away."
A 1963 blue police box
Meanwhile in the TARDIS - two bonus ‘mini-episodes’ from the fifth season of doctor who. Can't wait to see the next season? If you're overseas it may get to you a bit quicker, as the BBCs iPlayer goes international. Bonus link: Amy Pond by way of Alphonse Mucha, by Bill Mudron.
Mapping proximity by transit time
Mapnificent shows you how far you can get on public transit (warning: slow to load in some browsers) in a given time in 17 cities around the world. Explanation. Video.
I've Got a Good Feeling About This
Caitlin Burke solved a 27 letter puzzle having seen only one letter revealed on the November 5 episode of Wheel of Fortune. Many are saying it was a miracle or dumb luck, but could it have been the work of a master puzzle solver?
There are always three sides to the story...
Peter Taylor (wiki) is a British journalist and documentary maker. In the late nineties, he published three books looking at the troubles in Northern Ireland from the perspective of the three main elements involved. These were turned into three documentary series. Provos: The IRA and Sinn Fein [episode 1, part 1], Loyalists [episode 1, part 1], and Brits: The War Against the IRA [episode 1, part 1] are available in 52 parts on the YouTube channel of user 26and6equals1.
what is this i don't even
“What is this thing supposed to be? Damned if I even know. It weighs about 6 pounds and it is a horse with seven different dogs painted on it. I don’t own dogs or cats, I’m allergic to them. And I have never been on a horse in my lifetime." Celebrate the holidays with Why Did You Buy Me That. Or why not check out this (Previously) to get even more inspiration?
Invasion of the blue UFOs!
“It’s weird. You only see this type of stuff in movies. Just as long as we're here, I'm sure there are other things somewhere." In the past couple of months, strange blue lights have been appearing over towns across the USA: Anaheim, College Station, and outside of Washington DC. Many UFO buffs and conspiracy theorists believe this to be a part of an alien agenda to force the US Government to disclose alien existence, or perhaps a plot by NASA to overthrow all the world's religions. [more inside]
Finally someone says it.
My F*$#ing Bush!
A dispute outside a shoe store in Livingston, New Jersey, between a skater and the store's owner is posted to YouTube. [NSFW language] Now the fight has spread to the store's Facebook page and Google listings. [more inside]
Minecraft: Live Action Role Play
School Ball Bigots: Not Just for the Southern States
''I don't think it's appropriate they feel discriminated against, and I'm very upset they feel that,'' "After inviting friends to her home for ''pre-drinks'', [Hannah Williams] stood on her doorstep and watched her classmates file into the darkness to attend one of the highlights of the school year. Instead of joining them, Hannah took off her heels and black dress and went to bed...A few weeks earlier a teacher had told the year 11 student she couldn't attend the dance with her 15-year-old girlfriend, Savannah Supski. She was asked to bring a male instead."
November 9
The Nine Circles of Dell
A fine way to remove unwanted hair is to wrench it violently from your scalp. To facilitate this, try reading Dell Hell (Part 2), in which a sad soul descends into madness at the virtual hands of Dell's customer service. It's a companion piece to a 2005 series of Dell Hell deranged scribblings.
a novel in five lectures, like 24, but more in less
Karen, Rick, Luke and Rachel are four people marooned in an airport lounge sometime in the very near future. The price of oil goes through the roof, and a kind of apocalypse takes over the world- or at least the world that they can see through the windows of the bar and on the crackling, intermittent news reports. Thick ash falls from the sky. The taps are dry. Cellphones don't work. Sealed in, the four can only talk to each other, examine their lives and the meaning of love, and try to confront their own demons. There is no turning back, they realise. [more inside]
"I realized that I was in probably in the greatest sweets shop I shall ever find."
"It had a sign outside it saying Museum of the Americas, but no one ever visited it. Anyway, so he opened this door, turned on the lights one by one, and the sight that met my eyes is something I shall never, ever forget because instead of a congregation of people in this disused church, it was a congregation of portraits." Philip Mould, an art expert and a host of the British version of Antiques Roadshow, describes an early business trip where he met Earle Newton. Newton's home grown Museum of the Americas, a collection of over 300 rare 17th- and 18th-century English and American portraits, was housed in a nondescript church on the side of a road in rural Vermont. The collection, later valued at over nine million dollars, became the Earle W. Newton Center for British and American Studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design upon Newton's death. [via]
"The result was horrible, so I put it on YouTube."
YouTube user Pallomember loves scary European death metal. But sometimes he wonders, wouldn't scary European death metal be improved with a dash of Lady Gaga?
Yes. Yes it would.
vs Meshuggah: Bleed-A-Razzi | vs Behemoth: Ov Fire and Bad Romance | vs Soilwork: Bricklover [more inside]
Yes. Yes it would.
vs Meshuggah: Bleed-A-Razzi | vs Behemoth: Ov Fire and Bad Romance | vs Soilwork: Bricklover [more inside]
We have always been here
This might not be the best named Tumblr blog ever, but the content, vintage photographs of gay and lesbian couples, makes up for it. Some photos mark the extraordinary events in life, such as these reunited WW2 sailors, while others present a slice of everyday life.
whither US action on climate change?
With half of the new GOP Congressmen affirmed climate science deniers,and facing opposition even within his own party, President Obama has acknowledged that "cap and trade" legislation on US carbon emissions is dead. Regulation of emissions by the EPA appears to be the only way forward. Republicans are seeking to nobble that option, while Karl Rove thinks that "climate is gone" from the political landscape. Thankfully, according to John Shimkus, God has promised no more climate change, so we're all right then.
Keeping up with the Joneses
The Bateses of Tennessee are just behind the Duggars of Arkansas. Not even close to the 18th century Vassilyevs though.
"I knew that tuna-eating lizard was useless."
"You can get here by bus!?"
Want to get to that town in the next state on the cheap? Sure, there's Greyhound, but it's hardly a bargain at $32 for a journey from Seattle to Portland. When you really need to save the cash, use Epic Transit Journeys wiki to plot your route entirely on local transit carriers, allowing you to get to Stumptown for only $11.50 and a paltry five transfers. For a truly epic journey, cross international borders for the trip to Vancouver, BC, which includes a lovely 2.9 mi stroll across the border. Oran Viriyincy's travelogue of this trip includes lots of photos of buses and trains, and the border official's shocked reaction.
This is my favourite part!!
I got your preorder bonus right here!
Pikachu pans? Xbox boxers? Metal Gear Mountain Dew? Stranger things have happened! It's still new, but Game Swag may soon be the definitive source for info on weird video game crap. [more inside]
“When you look at a cupcake, you've got to smile.”
"When celebrities inflict their hobby"
2002: Conan O'Brien disses former talk show host Alan Thicke for playing guitar with the house band on the first "Thicke of the Night" show: [more inside]
Here There Be a Tyger
Deep in the forests of Russia’s Far East, the last Siberian tigers are under siege by runaway logging and poachers who get paid $30,000 per carcass. One tiger decided to fight back. [more inside]
"Suddenly, I'm relevant again"
Jack Levine, Realist Artist, Dies at 95. Mr. Levine burst onto the American art scene in 1937 with a scathing triple portrait remarkable for its bravura brushwork and gleeful vitriol. Titled “The Feast of Pure Reason,” it depicted a police officer, a capitalist and a politician seated at a table, their bloated faces oozing malice and evil intent. His painting Cain and Abel hangs in the Vatican. Upon his discharge from service he painted Welcome Home, a lampoon of the arrogance of military power; years later the painting would engender political controversy when it was included in a show of art in Moscow, and along with works by other American artists, raised suspicions in the House Un-American Activities Committee of pro-Communist sympathies. You can see some of The Complete Graphic Work of Jack Levine (1984) via Google books. Online gallery.
Wild plants of Japan
Various Japanese plants (and fungi) spring to life in Omni/ScienceNet's "Action Plant" series of time-lapse videos shot in Kōchi prefecture.
"The whole world turns upside-down in 10 years, but you turn upside-down with it." -- Spider Robinson, 1977.
The Power of the Internet : Flash Mob Gone Wrong ... a story about how the cool things we love about the internet, combined, can go horribly, horribly wrong, by Tom Scott. From Ignite. (via (via)) [more inside]
The Canonical List of Weird Band Names
Elvis and the Shitheads From A Box of Fish with Tartar Sauce to Zulu Leprechauns, the list you know and love
New England Webcomics Weekend
New England Webcomics Weekend was this past weekend in Easthampton, MA. It brought together many top names in the art of webcomics -- a form that may have at last grown distinct from its print-comics progenitor. A fine excuse to introduce you to (or remind you about) the sites of these hilarious, daring and innovative artists. Hyperlink omnibus enclosed... [more inside]
98 year old refrigerator
"Nobody wants your pumpernickel bread." Kool Keith dispenses some kitchen wisdom.
A Leisurely Stroll To The End Zone
The Driscoll Middle School team was down 6-0 near the end of the third quarter of a championship game when the quarterback pretended that the officials mis-marked the ball that it needed to go five yards further down field. So he picked up the ball and calmly walked through the defense. Then he ran 67 yards for the touchdown. [more inside]
HIT POST AND FLAME OUT
FREAK OUT AND BREAK THINGS A poster-maker toy for you.
The Realist Archive Project completed
The Realist Archive Project (previously) is now complete. The Realist, edited and published by Paul Krassner, was a pioneering magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire" in the American countercultural press of the mid-20th century. Although The Realist is often regarded as a major milestone in the underground press, it was a nationally-distributed newsstand publication as early as 1959. Publication was discontinued in 2001.
DRUNK SCIENCE!
DRUNK SCIENCE! Or, a short story about time travel, evolution, and ska. (SLYT, NSFW language, brief pedobear imagery) [more inside]
CQ DE H2O
Liquid antenna turns sea water into signal. "The US Navy has created a device which turns a jet of sea water into an impromptu liquid antenna, creating a powerful, high frequency broadcast tower for ships, emergency situations and easy transportation." [more inside]
Andrew Shirvell Fired
Underwater Human Reef
The camera comes upon an artificial coral reef of human bodies, surrounded by fish Jason deCaires Taylor is an artist who makes life size sculptures of people out of materials designed to encourage the growth of coral reefs. Then he sinks them. Then the fish arrive. His project "La Evolucion Silenciosa", located off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico is a striking combination of the eerie with the serene.
LA Missle
OK, was it one of you guys? An unknown somebody apparently launched a missile in LA last night. It wasn't me. Ideas on who did it or how we can figure out who did it?
Diceman at the dollar store
Harmonious Society
Random Acts of Culture
The Hallelujah Chorus at Macy's in Philadelphia on October 30, 2010 was the latest Random Act of Culture [more inside]
A Runaway Slave
Freedom Works, a non-profit conservative organization lead by Dick Armey, is producing a documentary entitled A Runaway Slave, aimed at exposing "the economic slavery of the Black community to the Progressive policies of the US government and how Black Conservatives are leading the fight so all Americans can be 'free at last.'" This is on the heels of their last documentary, Tea Party: The Documentary Film. [more inside]
"Look, im not going to debate the issue, man."
"Look, I'm not going to debate the issue, man." - George W. Bush [Press play for the quite embarrassing interview] "I said some stupid things... Here's one of the worst. So I'm drunk at the dinner table at Mother and Dad's house in Maine. And I said to her, what is sex like after fifty?"" - George W. Bush
Is it the worst thing you'll read all year?
A description of the CIA's waterboarding techniques and the practical applications of other physical interrogation practices to enhance its effectiveness.
Modernist treasures from a bombed-out cellar
Rediscovered in Berlin: Eleven modernist sculptures branded as "degenerate art" by the Nazis and thought to have been destroyed during WWII. The sculptures include works by Otto Freundlich, who was murdered at Majdanek; Naum Slutzky, a craftsman of both the Wiener Werkstätte and the Bauhaus; and Margarete Moll, who studied with Matisse.
November 8
Killin' It with Paul Crik
Killin' It is a motivational program developed by Paul Crik, born of his life experiences.
Testimonials. Killing Addiction. Hard Day. Narcissism. Foot Racing A Mac Truck. Re-Naming Things For Your Mental Health. Technoviking. This Is It, Fuck It, It Is What It Is. The Future.
How to talk like Michael Caine
A friend in need is a friend indeed
Revisiting Mother Superior
In what may be an attempt to make amends for causing Susan Boyle to 'flee America' (although that apparently wasn't the real cause), Lou Reed has directed her new music video, a cover of his own song Perfect Day. [more inside]
"Unfortunately, no U.S. audiences will be able to witness this anytime soon."
Beg, Steal, or Borrow: New Beats From Moscow Nice look at some brokenbeat/glitch/electronica/hiphop musicians in Russia, with embedded songs, a couple of mixtapes and links to lots of free listening. [more inside]
looploopqoolqoollooploop
LoopLoop: "Using animation, sounds warping and time shifts this video runs forwards and backwards looking for forgotten details, mimicking the way memories are replayed in the mind." Viewing in full-screen may require dramamine. [SLVimeo]
Just Don't Catch a Ski on a Tree
Speedflying in Wengen 2010. After watching it, it seems these guys really like crack. If you want to give it a go, learn how. [more inside]
Control Fraud Theory: When CEOs go bad
Ken Lay & Enron. Bernie Madoff. Bernie Ebbers & WorldCom. What is it about CEOs that makes them uniquely capable of pulling off the most audacious & expensive kind of white collar crime? Control Fraud Theory has the answer. Via the ever-enlightening Bruce Schneier.
So what are you complaining for? "The Forza scoreboard's been reset!" Shut up and improve your Gamerscore before you get the dreaded Red Ring of Death.
Dan Bull waxes poetic on 20 odd years of gaming.
The Twinkie Diet
Castells: Human Towers from Catalonia
The building of Castells, or human towers, is a tradition from Catalonia, going back to the end of the 18th century, starting in Valls. About a month ago, the annual Concurs de Castells took place in Tarragona, with groups of castellers competing to make taller and more complex towers. This video is a well-shot glimpse at the tower building, deconstruction, and some tumbles, possibly from the 2010 gathering. Via Kuriositas, which has more photos. [more inside]
HP Lovecraft Creature Lab
In September, Jon Schindehette [previously] and Lars Grant-West [wiki] issued a challenge to students at the Rhode Island School of Design: "Create a creature based upon a non-humanoid critter from H.P. Lovecraft's literature. The creature should have a fully resolved form, convey motion where appropriate, and be believable. Creature can be shown as either 3/4 view or 'turn-arounds'." Here are the entries and here are the judges' comments. [more inside]
Gaming the metric at its worst
"Such announcements tell a story in which colleges get better — and students get more amazing — every year. In reality, the narrative is far more complex, and the implications far less sunny for students as well as colleges caught up in the cruel cycle of selectivity." (NYTimes feature on American undergraduate programs' efforts to increase selectivity, and the consequences of such tactics)
Rabid Squirrel and Future Quirk.
The Letters of Constantin Brunner
The letters of the Jewish German thinker Constantin Brunner were buried behind his grave to safeguard them from the Nazis. Now, a joint German-Israeli project is putting the letters online. [more inside]
Is it the Economy, Stupid?
The Economist has created a rather cool interactive US map. The map allows a by state look at economic data (unemployment, GDP, personal income), demographic data, and voting in 2004 and 2008. (single link Economist)
They Live
They Live, John Carpenter's 1988 cult classic, is a fairly subversive piece of work. The film, which combines sci-fi, horror and satire -- and includes one of the iconic fight scenes in movie history -- is an allegorical treatise on the evils of capitalism, set in a Los Angeles populated by evil, conspiratorial and wealthy aliens. The film, despite a mixed original reception, has developed a rabid fan-boy following over the last few decades, and now Jonathan Lethem, the author of "Motherless Brooklyn," "The Fortress of Solitude" and, more recently, "Chronic City" has written "They Live," a meticulous, scene-by-scene analysis of its many, many layers.
Mud, sweat, and tears
It's autumn, which means for some nerdy bike racers, it's cyclocross season. Cyclocross is an off-road cycling discipline characterized by short, hard, intense racing that requires skilled bike handling, running through mud or sand, and quickly dismounting, carrying, and remounting your bike to navigate obstacles. After all, sometimes, carrying your bike is just faster than riding it.
In Europe, cyclocross draws huge crowds despite terrible weather, but it remains a niche sport in the United States, though with increasing popularity - perhaps it's because it's one of the few sports where rank amateurs can closely mingle with (and race the same courses as) top professionals.
With the 2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, its popularity and domestic appeal is expected to continue rising.
Previously.
Closed due to bear sightings.
"Hokkaido Green," a lovely short story for the overworked and the stressed this Monday morning.
Hankies not guns
A new urban dance craze is sweeping across the UK, taking it back to old skool. (SLYT)
Bookshelf Tumblr
Book lovers never go to bed alone - a tumblr dedicated to bookshelves.
The United States is a confused and fearful country in 2010.
A Superpower in Decline: Is the American Dream Over? Der Spiegel's take.
(blue)OOOO(yellow)OOOOOO
Unevolved Brands. Taking well known corporate logos and simplifying them into colored circles. How many can you still recognize? [more inside]
November 7
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are
Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, "is the first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture." [more inside]
Women Running From Houses
Kelly Slater Wins His 10th World Surfing Championship
It's official.
After 20 years on the ASP tour, humanoid Kelly Slater might be the greatest competitive athlete of all time.
Some would disagree. But Jordan and Woods never had to worry about not coming back alive.
Daddy...
Webcomic Wsaturday: Warbot, a short, depressing, hilarious comic. By the creator of the ancient, esteemed 8-Bit Theater.
Be all you can be!
Be all you can be in the Japanese Coast Guard! (YT)
I'll be there in 5 minstrels
A molecular link between the active component of marijuana and Alzheimer's disease pathology.
In The Cut
The book is as much a sculptural object as it is a work of masterful storytelling: here is an “enormous last day of life” that looks like it feels. [more inside]
Welcome To The Plutocracy
Bill Moyers delivers the first Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture at Boston University, from Oct 29, 2010. (video runs 2 hours, transcript of speech) [more inside]
Burlesquoni
Maria Laura Rodotà an Italian journalist
bemoans Berlusconi´s philandering and the culture of machismo that celebrates his habitual womanising.
Rubygate - the latest of many scandals involving teenage girls is shrugged off by the 70 year old as
My Passion for women is better than being gay.
How much longer can he cling to power? (previously)
"This System Is Bankrupting Our State"
It's the beginning of a lot of things
Pony and Ball Show
Twinings of London are relocating to Poland.
Twinings of London are relocating to Poland. Twinings, the quintessential British tea maker have traded from London since 1706, are hugely profitable and hold a Royal Warrant. The company was the first to blend Earl Grey
in Britain during the premiership of Charles, 2nd Earl Grey. The relocation is being funded by a €10,000,000 grant from the European regional development fund (ERDF). Are UK taxpayers indirectly financing their own job losses? [more inside]
Most Horrible & Shocking Murders
The National Library of Medicine has put a selection of murder pamphlets from the late 1600s to the late 1800s online.
These pamphlets have been a rich source for historians of medicine, crime novelists, and cultural historians, who mine them for evidence to illuminate the history of class, gender, race, the law, the city, crime, religion and other topics. The murder pamphlets in the NLM's collection address cases connected to forensic medicine, especially cases in which doctors were accused of committing-or were the victims of-murder.[more inside]
Go, Rimbaud!
Arthur Rimbaud Documentary [via pb] is an impressionistic tour of Rimbaud's life, from a provincial upbringing, through his teenage poetic revolution, to his world travels and moderately successful business career in the Horn of Africa, featuring contemporary photographs, some taken by Rimbaud, and readings by Joan Baez. His poems (English translations, French, with some translated into English, earlier translations, with French originals) were fundamental in overthrowing the established traditions of writing and his personal story has long been an inspiration to those who chafe under the strictures of society. Ruth Franklin wrote about the whole arc of Rimbaud's life in The New Yorker, while Edmund White focuses on Rimbaud's bull-in-a-china-shop entrance into fellow poet Paul Verlaine's bourgeois existence in The Guardian. You can also read earlier biographical writings on Rimbaud, including his sister Isabelle's hagiographic account. Rimbaud's poetry has been set to music, perhaps most notably by electronic musician Hector Zazou and chansonnier Léo Ferré (links to music below the cut). [more inside]
The man with no face gets a face
The 411 on 420.
Nicaragua invades Costa Rica
Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room
Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room - From the special thread that Chinese factories counterfeit in mile-long spools that adorns software authenticity stickers, to near-perfect bootleg discs leaving microscopic evidence of their factory origins, to Mexican and Russian gangsters who are dealt with very carefully, the NYT covers Microsoft's multi-pronged, international war on piracy.
If Henry Rollins thinks you have too many tattoos, you might be a hipster
Henry Rollins and Iranian artist Shirin Nishat visit NYC's Cake Shop, where a young woman acknowledges Rollins's presence by shouting a "very famous" catch-phrase of his at him. Hilarity ensues (language NSFW).
Pianist's Hidden Identities
Classical pianists tend to be identified by their favorite repertoire. Thus, Murray Perahia got stamped as a Mozart and Schumann pianist in his early career, and people raised their eyebrows when he embarked on Liszt and other heavy repertoire. And Rudolf Serkin is today perhaps known best for his Beethoven, and not for the Chopin etudes he played in his earlier years.
Searching for something totally else, I stumbled upon a few private recordings by Clara Haskil [more inside]
Whereof we cannot speak
Playing with Food; Home Edition
Molecular gastronomy - the use of industrial and scientific processes in the culinary arts - has been discussed before, but in the last few years a number of tools and techniques have appeared that make some of the fancy pantsy schmanzy creations of molecular gastronomy possible for the home cook... [more inside]
Sunday Morning "I WANT that dog! video"
Yea Dogs! You will walk away from this video smiling and wondering why YOUR dog is so stupid!
As Seen On TV... NOT!
Prank Packs! Gift boxes that look like packaging for products that don't (and shouldn't) exist. Although there has been some real demand for the Beer Beard and iArm... Spun off from a feature at The Onion (where they love the fakes), Prank Packs are now sold at many Bed Bath and Beyond stores, according to Fast Company (which may, itself, be fake, I'm not sure). But who wouldn't love a "Wake & Bake Dream Griddle Alarm Clock"? Yum!
Listening and dancing to music is awesome!
Shaqueeta on tape, at last
Shaq in draq lip-synching to Beyonce. He calls himself "Shaqueeta." Yes, it's actually Shaq. That is all.
Fighting crime is surely not far behind
Once, there was a boy named Yves. He lived in the mountainous country of Switzerland, and he dreamed of flying. He loved the idea of being free to soar through the air so much that he became a pilot. Later, he went on to fly bigger planes. Perhaps he's even been your pilot.
But being a pilot was never quite enough. Yves still dreamed of soaring through the air, like a bird. And now, he does. Meet Jetman. Previously
November 6
Deep beneath Vegas’s glittering lights lies a sinister labyrinth inhabited by poisonous spiders and a man nicknamed The Troll who wields an iron bar.
The tunnel people of Las Vegas: "They lost their home when they became addicted to drugs after the death of their son Brady at four months old." [warning: Daily Mail]
White Lines
Cocaine - how it's made, how it moves, and who might be cutting it with a deadly cattle-deworming drug, a follow up to the mystery of the tainted cocaine.
If we don't, remember me.
The Greasiest Sandwich Ever: Bacon, Hot Dogs, French Fries, Cheese, Gravy, French Toast And Maple Syrup Combine In "Angry French Canadian."
"We're Canadian and we're crazy, too".
Welcome to The Angry French Canadian.
From the "authors" of the worst pizza ever.
Bacon, Hot Dogs, French Fries, Cheese, Gravy, French Toast And Maple Syrup combine for 5,343 calories of sheer heaven. Or not sheer heaven.
C'est tout. [more inside]
"Show me what you eat and i will tell you who you are" - Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
While many government organizations are pushing a healthy lifestyle complete with a low-fat diet, one marketing group formed by the USDA, called Dairy Management, is making a case for more cheese in America's menu items. [more inside]
Dude, Yer Robots R Crap 4Ever!!
Turn Back Your Clocks Song
Your dad wishes to remind you that it's time to turn back your clocks. And since he's heading there, do you need anything from Costco?
Secret Cinema presents Blade Runner
Secret Cinema presents Blade Runner. Secret Cinema is a growing community of all that love cinema, experience and the unknown. Secret audience. Secret locations. Secret worlds. The time is now to change how we watch films. [more inside]
Gimme an F! PH! Gimme an E! I! Gimme an A! S! Gimme a T! H!
"There was hookers, and hustlers, they filled up the room." It's a Phish Halloween tradition to play a costume set as another band. Last Sunday at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, they paid tribute to Little Feat's 1978 live album Waiting for Columbus. "Phish are repaying," David Fricke says in his Phishbill essay [pdf] "a lifelong debt to the band that has inspired and influenced them above all others." [more inside]
Henry Mancini
His melodies are more familiar than those of any other soundtrack composer except perhaps John Williams. He won 20 Grammy Awards, more than any other pop musician in history, and 4 Academy Awards. He scored what some consider the greatest opening shot in cinema history. His versatility encompassed situation comedy as well as science fiction horror. He is commemorated on a 37-cent stamp. He is Henry Mancini. [more inside]
Free cotton candy!
All you can eat just got a little stickier. The number one all-you-can-eat chain Golden Corral is rolling out cotton candy to all of its buffet lines nationwide. [more inside]
God of Snacks!
Kratos makes a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. (SLYT, please don't hurt me.)
Wishery
Quantitative Easing
One day after midterm elections in the U.S., Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announces the nation's plans to purchase $600 billion in Treasuries.
NPR takes Bernanke's announcement and attempts to "translate it into plain English." [more inside]
Artiste hors-pair, celui qui s’est fait connaitre sous le nom de Djilali Raina Rai...
The Algerian singer, Djillali Rezkellah, has passed away from stomach cancer at the age of 49. [more inside]
Human Stories From Prison
"Between the Bars is a weblog platform for prisoners, through which the 1% of America which is behind bars can tell their stories. Since prisoners are routinely denied access to the Internet, we enable them to blog by scanning letters. We aim to provide a positive outlet for creativity, a tool to assist in the maintenance of social safety nets, an opportunity to forge connections between prisoners and non-prisoners, and a means to promote non-criminal identities and personal expression. We hope to improve prisoner's lives, and help to reduce recidivism." [more inside]
Can we stop making tasers look and operate like guns now?
Followup-Filter: Former BART Ofcr. Johannes Mehserle, who shot and killed Oscar Grant, has been sentenced after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter [previously]. Although the jury originally did not believe the officer's story - that he had intended to reach for and fire his taser but grabbed his firearm instead - the prosecution offered insufficient evidence to show that the use of his firearm was intentional. Former Ofcr. Mehserle will spend 2 years in prison for the shooting.
Newton says
The Cassiopeia Project
The Cassiopeia Project is quietly producing dozens of high-quality science videos and making them freely available online. [more inside]
"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are rich and well born; the other, the mass of the people." -- Alexander Hamilton
A financial manager for wealthy clients [“dedicated to ultra high net worth individuals, their families and foundations”] will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it,” [District Attorney Mark] Hurlbert said.
November 5
To Translate My Ancestors' Anthems
Looking for new underground hiphop? The last 10 years have seen the rise of a growing Asian/Pacific Islander American hiphop scene, including groups like Blue Scholars, Native Guns (consisting of Bambu & Kiwi), Power Struggle, Typical Cats, and Magnetic North. Also of note is the solid number of women taking up the role of MC'ing in the scene- Rocky Rivera, Hopie Spitshard, The Skim, Sun The Real Sun(exception - Canadian). (Multiple Youtube links, natch)
The shortcut to doubling solar efficiency?
Super Soaker inventor proposes a solid state heat engine that resembles a fuel cell. The idea is to reach a new level in heat generating efficiency, or at least replace heat pumps, with no moving parts. "Johnson has opened up a fundamentally new pathway to generate electricity from heat," says Paul Werbos, program director for power, control, and adaptive networks at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Werbos, an IEEE Fellow, says the NSF is funding Johnson's heat-engine research because of the strong chance that it could cut the cost of solar power in half.
Multiverses collide
Multiverses collide this week with the publication of "The Coming of the Terraphiles," the first canonical Doctor Who story written by the legendary Michael Moorcock. [more inside]
One small step for a robot
One small step for a robot, one giant leap for robot-kind... but not yet. The Robonaut R2 (sic) will have to wait at least another three weeks, as the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery is delayed.
Boom boom boom
Friday Flash Fun: Nuclearoids. A little like Boomshine, a lot like dominoes. But with explosions. And bouncy balls. And colors. Lots of colors! Not too brain engaging, with particle attraction and even black holes. [more inside]
Your move, FIDE!
Brutish Behavior
The Old Spice Guy backlash has officially begun, sponsored by another brand of men's fragrance you'd never get caught dead using. You can slap that guy or you can slap a mime instead. Or vote for the next guy to get slapped, an overweight dude in a speedo or a familiar looking golfer. Meanwhile, Brut sets down some rules that seem a little too close to the rules for a Gentleman's Gentleman (as seen here). Yeah, it's Pepsi Shade-Of-Green-Not-Occurring-In-Nature. [more inside]
A small measure of justice
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered new hearings for the three men convicted of the Robin Hood Hills Murders, known as the West Memphis 3.
The Evolved Slut
Husband-and-wife team Christopher Ryan and Calcilda Jethá have written a book, Sex at Dawn, that challenges what they describe as the "standard narrative" of human sexual and social relationships. In a recent Savage Love podcast featuring Ryan as a guest, Dan Savage described the book as "...the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey unleashed Sexual Behavior in the Human Male on the American public in 1948." [more inside]
"The deepest of the deep"
Choose Your Own MTV
The music video for Andy Grammer's "Keep Your Head Up" lets you pick the way it unfolds... while you watch.
Virgin birth? Snakes? This could get biblical.
Miniature masterpieces
Chewing gum artist. "Mr Wilson has created more than 8,000 works of art this way - each one photographed and catalogued for his archive. A picture can take anything from two hours to three days to complete."
And it's going, going, GONE!
Great banter
First episode of Alan Partridge's brand new series, Mid Morning Matters from North Norfolk Digital (SLYT) (previous)
Whither, Canada?
Buen Tiempo
In the past few months vicent.zp has put up delicious photograph sets of vintage razors, fans, radios & cassette tape recorders, kitchen stuff, and lookie there, a Sputnik Weather Station. You know what time it is.
Keith Olbermann suspended
MSNBC reports: Msnbc TV host Keith Olbermann was suspended indefinitely on Friday for making campaign donations to three Democratic congressional candidates, apparently in violation of NBC News ethics policy. [more inside]
The Twins Who Share A Brain
Tatiana and Krista Hogan are 4 year old twin girls who are joined at the head. Amazingly, their brains are interconnected and share the thalamus, the section of the brain that is responsible for relaying physical sensation and motor function to the cerebral cortex. As a result, it is believed that they can experience one another’s sensations, including seeing though each other's eyes.
Did Mike Mearls ruin everything?
"With 4th Edition, there were good intentions." Escapist Magazine's "Check for Traps" columnist Alexander Macris interviews Dungeons & Dragons Manager Mike Mearls about 4th Edition Essentials, Ryan Dancey's "death spiral" comment, Justin Alexander's "Disassociated Mechanics", and the new Red Box.
"It takes a special kind of retard to be offended by a cartoon"
Space Moose, NSFW. A comic strip built in no small part on murder, scatology, and mocking trekkies. It ran for a decade in The Gateway, the University of Alberta's student newspaper. Cartoonist Mustafa Al-Habib (a.k.a. Adam Thrasher) explains the jokes. Some of my favorites.
Man in disguise boards international flight
Man boards plane in elderly disguise (video) Canadian authorities have detained a young Asian man who was wearing a silicone head and neck mask making him appear to be an elderly Caucasian male. [more inside]
We boldly go where no dentist has gone before
Denis Bourguignon is a dentist in Florida. He is best known to the world for his role in the 1999 documentary film Trekkies where he showcased his dental practice being filled with Star Trek memorabilia. [more inside]
Swiftboating considered harmful.
UK (ex)MP Phil Woolas has indicated he will seek a judicial review of the decision today to void his election victory of earlier this year. He was found guilty of "knowingly making false statements about [rival candidate] Mr Watkins in campaign literature". Woolas claims the ruling will "inevitably chill political speech", whereas the Justices' ruling found that his Election Literature breached UK laws.
Let me talk to my browser.
The East River Bridge
Brooklyn to New York via the Brooklyn Bridge as shot by the Edison Manufacturing Co. in 1899. (SLYT) [more inside]
"chemtrails and footpads and 9/11"
How the venerable Pacifica Radio network is being taken over by "a kind of Tea Party of the left, featuring ex-Scientologists, miracle cure hucksters, and conspiracists who believe that Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, Pacifica's premier program, is taking CIA money to suppress 'the truth about 9/11.'" [more inside]
Closed For Storm
Six Flags New Orleans closed on August 27, 2005 in preparation for Hurricane Katrina. The park never reopened. [more inside]
Going SAT Free
Some colleges have decided to take SAT scores out of the admissions decision making process. But, some are alleging that this is only a way to game the rankings by excluding the scores of admitted students who didn't do well.
X-it the Xserve
Apple Computers, creator of the worlds first Apple Computer Tablet and the worlds first Smartphone to go to space quitely announced today that despite 35% year over year growth, they are discontinuing the Xserve. [more inside]
Music is god
Dancing under the gallows (SYLT) A trailer for an upcoming documentary traces the life of concert pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, the worlds oldest Holocaust survivor.
Largest (in 1971) Geodesic Dome in the world for sale
The Buckminster Fuller dome of the former Dutch aerospace museum is for sale. In 1971 it was the largest in the world and housed most of the aircraft on display. The dome has a height of 23 meters and a 2700 m2 floorspace. It is currently dismantled and stored in 27 seafreight containers. At the site (in Dutch) there's a wonderful set of photos on the construction in 1971 and dismantling in 2004.
Let's hope the device is less short-sighted than the inventors
Yesterday was the day that Microsoft Kinect for the XBox 360 launched (warning: site "works best with" proprietary, embrace-and-extendware--here's a slightly more accessible YT demo). Like with the Wii, it's possible the most lasting effect on the open community is the excellent commodity hardware. To that end, Adafruit offered a $1000 reward to the first open source code that could work with the hardware. Microsoft was displeased, citing both law-enforcement and product safety groups as co-enforcers. The bounty is now $2000.
"I think Keith never appreciated the tedious hours I had to spend with Jann Wenner"
Please Allow Me To Correct A Few Things. Mick Jagger "responds" to Keith Richards about his new autobiography. (From journalist Bill Wyman.)
"Don't come in, I'm... doing my utmost in the fight against cancer!"
Masturbation cuts cancer risk! That is all.
Preparrre Yourself For (mostly) Indoor Parkour
November 4
"...the best form of democracy we’ll have in this process."
Are you ok with your bank playing roulette with your deposits? Yes? No? Well, today is the last day to speak up and be heard! [more inside]
"I realized it is basically insane to make any kind of judgment about rap without hearing it."
Translation in Practice
Translation in Practice, an extensive guide to the methods and business of literary translation, is available free of charge [PDF] from Dalkey Archive. [more inside]
My favorite cult is ______
Look at that focaccia-ing tumblr blog.
Bread people. It's people. In bread.
these portraits look back at us and embody a louder voice in the discourse of the gaze
Tickling the fancy of those who tickle the ivories
There's never been a better time to be a curious classical pianist. A few YouTube users have been uploading synchronized scores to dozens of interesting pieces, usually virtuosic and/or obscure, and often out of print or otherwise unavailable. There are all sorts of treasures, but perhaps the most notable scores are those of a lost generation of post-Scriabin Russian composers whose avant-garde output was later suppressed by the Soviet government.
Same as in town.
“But Gitmo, a ‘betrayal of American values’? Would that it were! Alas, for nearly every grisly tabloid feature of the Khadr case, you can find an easy analog in our everyday criminal justice system. In a sense, much of our War on Terror has proven a slightly spicier version of our ‘normal’ way of doing criminal justice. Using the case of Omar Khadr, let's take this step by step.”
Give and you shall receive
“If you don’t like him, you don’t like ice cream.”
Legendary baseball manager George "Sparky" Anderson dead at 76. Ernie Harwell on Sparky. Interview on Santa Clarita community access. "Mr. President, I know you love those Cubs, but if you knew these Tigers, you'd love 'em more. Hall of Fame entry. He was a crummy player, though. Remembering Anderson's class. STAY CLASSY, SPARKY! The End of a Sparkling Life.
The Meta Prefix: Is There Anything It Cannot Do?
An Invisible Man with perfect vision sounds like a superhero from a comic, but may be close to reality thanks to scientists at the University of St Andrews. A team of physicists are one step closer to creating a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak, with a new form of material that could also be attached to contact lenses to provide ‘perfect’ eyesight. Here comes the science.
Brian Eno: The Dick Flash Interview (SLYT)
You love playing with what somebody else is playing as much as you like playing with yourself. Dick Flash from Pork Magazine interviews Brian Eno about music, copyright and the collaborative process. (SLYT)
Previous Eno
Linda Perhacs
"Parallelograms is an album by American psychedelic folk singer Linda Perhacs. Her first and to date only album, it was all but completely ignored when originally released on Kapp Records in 1970. Discouraged by the lack of commercial attention and the label's reluctance to promote the album, Perhacs returned to her career as a dental technician. In the 30 or so years that followed, the album gradually developed a cult following, particularly on the Internet. Young listeners found appeal in her subtle instrumentation and delicate harmonies..." Parallelograms::Chimacum Rain::Hey, Who Really Cares?
Zombie Ants
Once the fungus invades its victim’s body, it’s already too late. The invader spreads through the host in a matter of days. . . . Just before dying, the infected body—a zombie—grasps a perch as the mature fungal invader erupts from the back of the zombie’s head to rain down spores on unsuspecting victims below, starting the cycle again. This isn’t the latest gross-out moment from a George A. Romero horror film; it is part of a very real evolutionary arms race between a parasitic fungus and its victims, ants. (SL Smithsonian article)
Fractal Art
New fractal art from Metafilter's own Jock Cooper. Fractal animations, some with fractal music, mechanical fractals, zoomable fractals, even a DVD. Main site. Previously.
Newly weird
Jeff Vandermeer discusses Amazons top 10 SF/Fantasy books of the year, which he selected in consultation with Amazon editors : Part 1, Part 2.
Tiny, Lazy, Fluffy Puppies
A short video of a few very tiny, very lazy, very fluffy puppies playing with miniature tennis balls. That is all. (SLYT)
“If the goal of the majority is to govern, what is the purpose of the minority?”
How They Did It - A Republican Strategy Session 11 days before Obama's inauguration. 'How they did it is the story of one of the most remarkable Congressional campaigns in more than a half-century, characterized by careful plotting by Republicans, miscalculations by Democrats and a new political dynamic with forces out of both parties’ control.'
'At that Republican retreat in January 2009, gathering inside a historic inn in Annapolis, Md., the group — led by Representatives John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, and Eric Cantor of Virginia, the whip — did not tolerate the hand-wringing that consumed so many Republicans that dark winter.
Instead, they walked through a by-the-numbers picture of Democratic vulnerability that had been lost in the excitement over Mr. Obama’s election.' [more inside]
Tweeting the good tweet
"Tired of arguing with climate change deniers in 140 character quips, [programmer Nigel Leck] wrote a script to do it for him. Chatbot @AI_AGW scans Twitter every five minutes searching for hundreds of phrases that fit the usual denier argument paradigm. Then it serves them up some science." (via by way of via)
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
Laurent Lavader is a French astrophotographer. His new collection, Jeux Lunaires (Moon Games) features whimsical and beautiful photos of the moon (NPR Gallery, Flickr). Many of the photos have been coupled with a poem and collected in a book which you can preview online. [more inside]
Plans for UK's Tech Future
Prime Minister David Cameron set out his plans for making Britain more innovation and startup friendly. [more inside]
100 Greatest Horror Movie Quotes of All Time
"If my daughter had dressed as Batman, no one would have thought twice about it. No one."
Close Encounters of the Comet Kind
Earlier today a comet passed just 435 miles from a spacecraft. The NASA spacecraft EPOXI took some amazing pictures of the event. Scientists are still working to determine if there was any damage to the spacecraft as the comet passed by.
Sacred secrets; new finds from Orkney
Mr Mowatt said he had always wondered what lay under an 8ft stone in the garden and eventually curiosity got the better of him, "On the screen... I could clearly see what I thought was a white skull, with two eye sockets, looking back at me." [more inside]
It is a point click adventure game that leads a Werewolf.
A Tale of Two Tarts
Illadore was surprised to see her article about apple pie published in Cooks Source without her knowledge. After asking for an apology and a donation to the Columbia School of Journalism, Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs responded in an email that "I do know about copyright laws . . . But honestly Monica, the web is considered 'public domain' and you should be happy we just didn't 'lift' your whole article and put someone else's name on it!"
woa
Seydou Keïta, self taught Malian portrait photographer, shot some of the most renowned portraiture of 1940 - 1960's Bamakan society. [more inside]
Highrise: Out My Window
Out My Window (trailer) is the new web documentary from the Highrise project, one of the world's first interactive 360° documentaries. Delivered entirely on the web, it explores the state of our urban planet told by people who look out on the world from highrise windows.
With more than 90 minutes of material, Out My Window features 49 stories from 13 cities, told in 13 languages.
"Say it with me: Automatic. Withdrawal."
deviantART: Not for Deviants?
Take off your pants and watch cartoons
On Joe Gavin, Jr., director of the Apollo 11 lunar lander program
“There’s a certain exuberance that comes from being out there on the edge of technology, where things are not certain, where there is some risk, and where you make something work.”
Joseph Gavin Jr., an MIT-trained engineer and director of the Apollo 11 lunar module program for Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, died on Saturday.
A few quotes from Joe about the program's complexity via an old Popular Mechanics article are nice, but this more complete interview providing some fascinating insights on the process and the culture and just how much went into the lunar lander program, from an engineer's perspective, is fantastic.
Chasing your own ambulance
Hilary Mantel's Diary
Three or four nights after surgery – when, in the words of the staff, I have ‘mobilised’ – I come out of the bathroom and spot a circus strongman squatting on my bed. He sees me too; from beneath his shaggy brow he rolls a liquid eye. Brown-skinned, naked except for the tattered hide of some endangered species, he is bouncing on his heels and smoking furiously without taking the cigarette from his lips: puff, bounce, puff, bounce. What rubbish, I think, actually shouting at myself, but silently. This is a no-smoking hospital. It is impossible this man would be allowed in, to behave as he does. Therefore he’s not real, and if he’s not real I can take his space. As I get into bed beside him, the strongman vanishes. I pick up my diary and record him: was there, isn’t any more.
Triumphant
Regina Jonas was the first woman rabbi. Ordained by the head of the German Liberal Rabbis’ Association in 1935 she continued to meet considerable resistance from many more conservative Jews; nevertheless she continued to work as a rabbi whereever she could find an audience even after being deported to the concentration camp of Theresienstadt; she remained there, giving comfort as she could, until she was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944. Her work was, for many years, forgotten until her papers were discovered in East Germany.
Ukrainian-born German Alina Treiger is to become the first woman ordained in Germany as a Rabbi since then.
Ukrainian-born German Alina Treiger is to become the first woman ordained in Germany as a Rabbi since then.
Deconstructing Henry
Dr. Jacopo Annese, sitting in front of his ventilated biosafety cabinet, a small paintbrush in his hand, teases apart a crumpled slice of brain.
Written by the grandson of the neurosurgeon who conducted Patient H.M.'s historical surgery, this article is a great follow-up to the San Diego Brain Observatory's live webcast from last December. [more inside]
Written by the grandson of the neurosurgeon who conducted Patient H.M.'s historical surgery, this article is a great follow-up to the San Diego Brain Observatory's live webcast from last December. [more inside]
November 3
Twenty bucks, same as in town!
So remember to smile when you feel "low"
Like you've never been away
Photographer Paul Trevor has documented many aspects of British life during the course of his career.
In 1975, he went to Liverpool as part of the 'Survival Programmes' project, that looked at inner city deprivation. He is putting on an exhibition of these photos as part of Liverpool's 2011 International Photography festival.
'The pictures were made in the city in 1975. I am very keen to find the people who I photographed then, with a view to possibly photographing them again.'
Two minutes in the funhouse
Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation?
The idea behind Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation? is to look back at an era that’s both incredibly important and yet mysteriously absent from my life as a music fan. Part 1: 1990: “Once upon a time, I could love you”. Part 2: 1991: “What’s so civil about war anyway?” Part 3: 1992: Pearl Jam, the perils of fame, and the trouble with avoiding it
A reason to watch local news
First introduced to Metafilter in this thread earlier today, Jennie Stencel served as a traffic reporter for WXII in North Carolina. [more inside]
Please Reject Me!
Rejection Therapy is the real life game with one rule: YOU MUST BE REJECTED BY ANOTHER PERSON AT LEAST ONCE, EVERY SINGLE DAY. [more inside]
Goodbye Gordo
The Honourable Gordon Campbell has resigned as Premier of British Columbia. Citing his spectacular unpopularity, his resignation comes after almost a decade in power. His tenure has been dogged by scandal, and most recently, a barrage of protest over the newly implemented HST. His most lasting legacy may prove to be the implementation of North America's first carbon tax.
Your new corporate home and personal hell
Synergon is a fully-playable ruleset for BLARPing (Business Live-Action Role-Playing).
Dan McPharlin: Sci-Fi Surrealism (and Mini Analog Synth Models)
Dan McPharlin is an Australian artist who creates fantastic landscapes that seem more likely to come from sci-fi novels from decades past than an artist who who gives away his music for donations (YT sample). McPharlin also made a series of miniature analog synthesizers that were featured on album art for Steve Jansen's album Slope (YT sample), as well as Moog Acid by Jean-Jacques Perrey & Luke Vibert (YT sample). Currently, McPharlin's website only has an 18 page portfolio in PDF form and an email address, but his Flickr collection is a sight to behold. Even his house looks like something from a 1970s photo shoot. [more inside]
Typography on the door of Number 10
“I am sorry that, after all, the numerals on the doors at Downing Street are so beastly.” Why the 1 and 0 affixed to the door of the British prime minister’s residence, 10 Downing St., look the way they do.
Fact-check me up, Subby
Don Draper uses the word "what" as Van Gogh used color ...
A very special comics message from Leigh Gallagher
au naturel
The Great Unwashed: "Some people have all but abandoned the idea of soap, shampoo or deodorant and yet still have friends, relationships and jobs." Slate disagrees that this is even a trend, but The Village Voice notes it has been covered elsewhere, including The New York Observer and Hairpin. In response, The Week asks, "Can you succeed without showering?"
The Meaning of Degrees
Too anxious to take exams? University of Manitoba will give you a PhD anyway. A professor is suspended for disagreeing with that decision.
Excavating Hattusa
The German Archaeological Institute has a website detailing their excavations at Hattusa, formerly the capital of the Hittite Empire. There is a brief summary of the city's history to get you started, or a somewhat more detailed one if you're feeling keen. [more inside]
Jury Doodles
"I just finished serving jury duty at the Van Nuys Superior Court. My case involved a man who was suing a stripper and strip club for a “fractured penis” injury he received while getting a nude lap dance. The stripper was from Sweden. The strip club owner was a retired porn star. There were many experts. Needless to say, this case was kind of awesome. As a member of the jury, I was given a pad and pen for note taking. The case lasted 7 days."
“Bike racks are the gateway drug for civic engagement.”
What a Hundred Million Calls to 311 Reveal about New York. Data from New York City's 311 service helped track down the source of the maple syrup smell; private sector models attempt to crowdsource quality of life issues in other municipalities as well.
I loved Kurt so I tried to love his books, too.
Mr. Vonnegut talked about my dad a lot and put him into a lot of his books. Sometimes he was Dad, and sometimes he was just a character Mr. Vonnegut made up. So what I would say to any of you who are wondering is this: My dad was what people called a real character, which always made us laugh because it was so literally true owing to his association with a famous fiction writer. He could also get pretty obnoxious. But he was a good man. And he definitely wasn’t crazy. At least not until the brain tumor.
Kurt Vonnegut Didn't Know Doodly-Squat About Writing: Finally, Literary Analysis Worth Reading by Bernard V. O'Hare, with an introduction by Meghan O'Hare.
Kurt Vonnegut Didn't Know Doodly-Squat About Writing: Finally, Literary Analysis Worth Reading by Bernard V. O'Hare, with an introduction by Meghan O'Hare.
Sovereignty scandal
Dammit. Who typed a question mark on the Teleprompter?
Back in September, things weren't going very well at the KGTV newsroom. [SLYT]
We must find out the truth of this situation.
For the past 20 weeks I have been engaged in a very strange dialogue with the two noble Lords, in the course of which I have been trying to bring to their attention the willing availability of a strange organisation which wishes to make a great deal of money available to assist the recovery of the economy in this country. For want of a better name, I shall call it foundation X. [more inside]
Prop 19 Goes Up In Smoke. (It lost.)
California's Proposition 19 loses. While analysis and commentary will differ based on who is telling the tale, the results are clear: by an eight point margin, California voters rejected legalization, regulation and taxation of pot.
SLYT of Funky Forest
A middle aged man sits on a chair, nervously reveals udder-like things on his chest, and descends his scrotum through a hole in the chair. Then it gets stranger. [SLYT] [IMDB]
A box by any other name
A compendium of 80's boom boxes which, of course, in those days went by a different name [more inside]
November 2
Andy Irons RIP
Three time world surfing champion Andy Irons has died at age 32, apparently from dengue fever. [more inside]
The cure for FHS (Floating Head Syndrome)
The End of a Smartly Turned Out Era
The border crossing at Wagah between India and Pakistan has long been host to one of the most bizarre rituals in diplomacy, one which draws massive crowds to witness its daily spectacle. Sadly, all good things come to an end.
A Little Boost
"I don't know what I was thinking. I guess Liz's tenacity [at attempting to climb the tree] bought enough time to chase the thought 'what can this metal thing do if it's pointed up instead of down?' to its logical conclusion." At the end of election season, sanity and compassion are restored as an amputee uses his prosthetic to give a tree-climbing kid a little boost.
Newspapers and paywalls, some data from The Times
Some data on newspapers and paywalls, as The Times reveals some of their numbers and chooses to look on the bright side of the data, while others are more skeptical. [more inside]
Disunion @ the NYTimes
Disunion One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America's most perilous period -- using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded. Updated every Monday.
Luke Perry + DragonCon = Portraits
The 21 Best Portraits of Luke Perry at DragonCon. Also, The 21 Best Portraits of Luke Perry With Luke Perry.
Real people experiencing the Real God in the real world.
Bishop Jim Swilley of Conyers, Georgia's megachurch Church In The Now has announced to his congregation that he is gay. He was moved to make the announcement after the recent national coverage of gay suicides. Queerty has more details and video reports, including video of the sermon where he made the announcement. [more inside]
a knitted skeleton
A knitted skeleton seated atop a pyramid of Borden’s condensed milk cans and a cloud of screen prints on Plexi glass suspended above it. The knitted skeleton is seated in the lotus position. The prints are of disembodied anatomical parts photographed in high resolution with diagrammatic illustrative overlays. Transcending the Material by Ben Cuevas [nsfw]. [more inside]
Space Funeral
Yours truly
"The modern hand-written love letter is dead," says Doyle. "That is the consensus. People communicate differently now – though not necessarily without meaning. They still are learning to get to know each other through the written word." Love written digitally may not have the romantic image of quill and ink (though ink-stained fingers may also have dampened some ardour in the old days), but the new medium doesn't necessarily harden the heart. Think only of the popularity of dating websites, which prove that communicating feelings of hope and tenderness in text continues to thrive in certain quarters. ~ The dying art of the billet doux
"A smile God designed to melt mortal men's hearts"
Stunning Audrey Hepburn photos: now you too can leaf through this marvelous Taschen limited edition by famed Hollywood photog Bob Willoughby, which sold out in hours despite its hefty price tag.
I'll just pretend
I watched with glee, tears, a bottle of Jack Daniels
An Open Letter to Mark Gatiss A personal reaction to the horror aficionado's recent series. (Watch here on iPlayer.) [more inside]
plants in sanskrit poetry
Seasonal Poetry in Sanskrit : The blog Sanskrit Literature has been running an excellent series on plants that appear in sanskrit poetry. Some examples : Jasmine (malati), Lotuses and Water Lilies, Mango.
Milkshake!
Pencils down.
It's Election Day in America, and as is so often the case in this fickle land, the results of the 2010 midterm elections are up in the air. Although President Obama's party is expected to suffer significant losses, record numbers of districts remain competitive, and even minute errors in polling could mean the difference between a historic Republican landslide and an unexpectedly robust Democratic defense. At stake are control of not just the Senate and House, but myriad state and local offices, many of which will play key roles in the dynamics of the 2012 presidential race -- and, more subtly but no less crucially, the once-in-a-decade congressional redistricting process. Much uncertainty surrounds the behavior of the electorate -- how many will turn out, and how informed will they be? To help move those statistics in the right direction, look inside for voter guides, national and state fact checkers, and an assortment of other resources to keep tabs on as the results roll in. [more inside]
Kye Allums Makes NCAA History
Transgender Man Plays on Women's College Team. A guard for George Washington University's women's basketball team is a transgender man. Kye Allums, who was born female and has not undergone any hormone treatments, changed his name from Kay-Kay to Kye within the last year and was relieved not to lose his scholarship. "When people refer to me as 'girl' or 'she,' it doesn't sit well with me," Allums said. "That feeling you get when someone pisses you off, that feeling you get when your stomach gets hot and it aches, that's what it feels like. And that's how I know I'm not supposed to be a girl." On Nov. 13, he will be the first transgender person to compete in Division One college basketball, according to OutSports. Opposing fans used to taunt Allums about his masculine build, but it backfired. "I love it," he said. "It makes me feel better about myself to hear them call me a man."
Not Only... But Also
Not Only... But Also, the 1960s Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch show, was one of the many programmes where many of the episodes were lost due to the BBC's strangely appalling archival policies. Last month, however, audio recordings of 11 of the lost episodes were found at the home of NOBA fan Graham Webb, who had recorded them off the TV at the time of transmission, using a reel-to-reel tape recorder. [more inside]
The next level of street art
Generally, the Arts & Design section of the New York Times talks about reviews, gallery openings, ballet performances, open-air concerts, and the latest violin virtuoso. But sometimes art isn't in museums, galleries, parks, or on the sides of buildings - it’s where you can’t go. [more inside]
The Automatypwriter
Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette
Every Cigarette Smoked in Mad Men. Well, clearly not every cigarette, but it seems to me the show is one big tobacco ad. Also mentioned in parody. [more inside]
Get the Gist
Gist is an online contacts management system that knows about your social media contacts as well as your IRL friends... [more inside]
Giants Baseball: Torture.
The San Francisco Giants are the 2010 World Series Champions, having defeated the Texas Rangers 4 games to 1. [more inside]
Field Mice Needed
Old school hardware hacker, Postscript enthusiast, electronics writer, woo debunker, all around geek, and now amateur archaeologist Don Lancaster (prev 1, 2) needs you. And maybe some of your nerdy gadgets. [more inside]
The sorcerer must therefore find someone who is willing to take the pants
>If you want to make your own necropants (literally; nábrók) you have to get permission from a living man to use his skin after he's dead. Click here for a vocal description. NSFW image here.
[via Great Dismal, via Got Medieval] [more inside]
November 1
One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk...
Purple Burglars Burgle a Purple House I'm sure they thought they would blend right in wearing so much purple, but a petcam doesn't care what color you are wearing.
Speed-Creating
Dominic Wilcox (previously) spent a month speed-creating - inventing something new every day for 30 days with the resources around him. Amongst his creations are lightbulb bread, a diary in the form of measuring tape, and a football that makes smoothies.
Documentaries on art and artists
Gestalten TV - Exploring Visual Culture. A series of documentaries on (mostly) art and artists.
The thrill of a good fake explosion
But what has he done for me lately?
The Ambling Alp was too, at least that's what I'm told...
Hadean Lands
Andrew Plotkin (Website, Twitter), a much renowned author of interactive fiction (works include Spider and Web, The Dreamhold), is quitting his day job, and going to try and create text adventures full time, starting with Hadean Lands: An Interactive Alchemical Interplanetary Thriller (teaser scene), for iOS devices. He's using Kickstarter to help fund it, and has already raised over $11,000, $3000 over his goal, in less than a day's time. (via jscott) [more inside]
(Canada Telecom) Globalive financier Naguib Sawiris: 'We will make pain, and they will suffer'
Until recently, Canada heavily restricted foreign control of the telecommunications industry and enjoyed some of the highest prices in the world. Globalive financier Naguib Sawiris discusses penetrating the Canadian market with a vehemence not heard since Daniel Day Lewis 'drank our milkshake' in There Will Be Blood.
Look! A Small Moon!
"FUBAR" cannot be expressed as a numeric output
The nuclear weapons simulator at CarlosLabs (previously) has been updated to include fallout wind drift, pressure and thermal events to evaluate the impact of everything from a suitcase nuke to the Tsar Bomba on your city. The Missile Range Tool can show if you are in the vicinity of any delivery systems currently in service, or compare your location to the range of those used historically, such as the V2. For the effects of the cosmic collisions of asteroids and comets (and featuring rather more science) there's the Earth Impact Effects Program.
Wild Goose Chase
The Terminator was Really a Tea Party Republican
Moveon.org puts tongue in cheek and predicts the future if Democrats don't vote tomorrow. (SLYT)
Halloween Mixtapes
The pumpkins are mouldering or smashed, candy wrappers are strewn about, and your costume is tossed aside. Keep the mood going for a bit longer with some Halloween mixtapes, from film composer Alan Howarth (credits, IMDb), and three(tracklist) streaming mixes from electronic/breakbeat producers Evil Nine. If you are looking for more beats and rapping in your mixtapes, here are three volumes of Night of the Living Dead (NSFW), from Cookin' Soul.
Not unlike various films by Fritz Lang
Notes on 'The Duel of the Fates.' Bob Clark of Wonders in the Dark takes a look at a single scene from The Phantom Menace by way of Eisenstein, aspect ratios, The Last Temptation of Christ, the NFL, Slim Pickens, Godard, Fantomas, and of course Kurosawa.
Art IS a weapon
The CIA spent 20 years promoting modern art as a propaganda tool: "We wanted to unite all the people who were writers, who were musicians, who were artists, to demonstrate that the West and the United States was devoted to freedom of expression and to intellectual achievement, without any rigid barriers as to what you must write, and what you must say, and what you must do, and what you must paint, which was what was going on in the Soviet Union. I think it was the most important division that the agency had, and I think that it played an enormous role in the Cold War."
Blockin' up the Scenery, Breaking my Mind
The Bloodsport known as Sign Wars can cause neighbor to viciously turn against neighbor. "I've crawled over there on my hands and knees and put garbage bags over his signs". And respected community leaders to become petty vandals.
But do Yard Signs have a measurable effect on electoral outcome? Some media outlets would have us believe so. They certainly are Big Business, with signs becoming more elaborate and customized. And they are Not Going Away, in the Digital Age.
Geometry, Surfaces, Curves, Polyhedra
Geometry, Surfaces, Curves, Polyhedra (many of which are beautiful) l Google Earth Fractals l fractals and chaos. [more inside]
The Rehabilitation of Suharto
The current Indonesian government has proposed that former dictator Suharto be added to the country's official pantheon of heroes. This proposal has been endorsed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a party that is explicitly Islamic, despite the fact that Suharto's government by and large suppressed religiosity in the political sphere. Aubrey Belford writes in the NYT about the controversy over this proposal; although Suharto is widely credited with Indonesia's increased prosperity in the decades prior to the Asian economic crisis, he was famously corrupt, violent in his suppression of political components and he led Indonesia during its bloody occupation of East Timor, which some have called a genocide.
Twenty-First Century Stoic
William B. Irvine has written a three-part essay (1, 2, 3) for BoingBoing summarizing his book A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. The Philosophers' Magazine has also commented on the revival of Stoicism. [more inside]
Dead Drops
Artist Aram Bartholl (creator of CAPTCHA business cards) has embedded USB sticks in various walls, buildings and curbs accessible throughout New York City for Dead Drops: "an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space." (Flickr) [more inside]
My Little GTO is GFG
Long-time 3rd place auto maker Pontiac has decided to call it quits. The maker of iconic TransAm and Firebird cars, along with the (cough) less than interesting Aztek, Pontiac has lost market share to Toyota and others, and as of 2009, held the 12th place slot.
Pontiac, named for the Michigan city where the company started and an 18th-century Ottawa Indian chief, found itself on the wrong end of G.M.’s government-aided bankruptcy restructuring. Combined with a lack of moving forward with today's market, Pontiac seemed to be living in the past. [more inside]
Chrontendo plus
Chrontendo is a video podcast in which a guy systematically described and discusses every Famicom/NES game released. Currently up to 33 episodes and counting, and covering hundreds of games. [more inside]
He needs a dollar
Aloe Blacc, previously of LA-based hip hop duo Emanon, pulls a Cee-Lo and reinvents himself as a soul singer. [more inside]