The day in posts: 01/09/2008

John James Audubon's Birds of America with Audubon's original text. It's laid out by family and genus but there is also an alphabetical list of plates which has bigger versions of the bird pictures. There are also links to the state birds as well as birds driven to extinction since Audubon's time.
posted by Kattullus at 11:31 PM PST - 16 comments

How Obama is branding himself in graphic design
posted by growabrain at 10:57 PM PST - 71 comments

What I did over Christmas vacation - a scale model of Minas Tirith during the Battle of Pelennor Fields from Tolkein's The Return of the King. In candy. (via oink) [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 10:49 PM PST - 41 comments

"I often come back home and empty my camera of the images I have seen, then I 'wash' them of any meaning and rearrange them into personal visions." -- Franco Donaggio [more inside]
posted by netbros at 10:34 PM PST - 1 comments

It's that time of year again. The RPM Challenge has been opened again for 2008. Can you record an album of 10 songs and/or 35 minutes during the month of February and send it in by the end of the month? Previously
posted by pyramid termite at 9:09 PM PST - 19 comments

Cary Grant on LSD. Excerpted from his autobiography.
posted by Bookhouse at 4:41 PM PST - 188 comments

Rules of Thumb is a user submitted (and voted upon) collection of the world's greatest rules of thumb for different situations, from playing Blackjack to choosing a bicycle frame.
posted by jonson at 4:41 PM PST - 38 comments

10cc was NOT "The Worst Band in the World", but they played one on TV. And just about every song they recorded that didn't have 'Love' in the title ("I'm Not in..."), tested the limits of '70s Pop Music Oddness, starting with the stand-up/sit-down/doo-wop "Donna" (sitting by the telephone). [more inside]
posted by wendell at 4:34 PM PST - 46 comments

Dr. President: "The next president of the United States of America will control a $150 billion annual research budget, 200,000 scientists, and 38 major research institutions and all their related labs. This president will shape human endeavors in space, bioethics debates, and the energy landscape of the 21st century." With the coming election, the AAAS has created a new website and devoted a section of their journal Science to the Democratic and Republican candidates' positions on science and technology issues. But to help further clarify their positions, some people are calling for the candidates to have a presidential debate on science and technology. [Via The Intersection and Wired Science.]
posted by homunculus at 3:00 PM PST - 48 comments

Israeli designer Oded Ezer produces stunning works of experimental typography. He has been lauded for creating [PDF link]"...Hebrew characters that melt," but it is his more unconventional work that is truly breathtaking - made up of letters with vivacity and personality. He calls his gorgeously abstracted work "typo art," existing wholly neither in the space of art or typography, with hope that it might transcend language altogether. See his flickr stream for more sketches, works, and arresting typescapes.
posted by youarenothere at 1:19 PM PST - 21 comments

There has been a major scientific breakthrough! [more inside]
posted by aubilenon at 11:57 AM PST - 40 comments

When is the 7th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride? This Saturday, January 12th, New York City. They seem to have done it in 2006 as well. Village Voice article on 2006's shenanigans.
posted by shothotbot at 11:15 AM PST - 44 comments

Mark Kermode reviews Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. "Is that a nest of tables? No, it's Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley having some red hot passionate embrace that is positively teaky." [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:30 AM PST - 91 comments

50 Things I've Learned in 50 Years. [more inside]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 10:14 AM PST - 81 comments

Blogging the Qur'an The Guardian's Madeleine Bunting and cultural critic Ziauddin Sardar will blog a different verse or theme of the Qur'an each week. Bunting says its one of the most difficult books she's ever read, which is what a lot of non-muslims tend to think. The idea has been mooted before by those of a very similar political hue. Others are already blogging the the Bible.
posted by MrMerlot at 10:05 AM PST - 22 comments

Shameless Magazine. An independent magazine for teenage girls. [more inside]
posted by chunking express at 9:20 AM PST - 147 comments

I watched man burn to death, heard others screaming in the fog. A massive, 50-car pileup, the result of three or more crashes on I-4, has led to at least 3 fatalities and 82 injuries in central Florida near Orlando. The smoke and fog were so bad that rescue efforts were hindered. Drivers with no visibility did not know whether to stay in their burning cars or risk running out onto the highway for help.
posted by misha at 8:01 AM PST - 59 comments

For Sale: Max Yasgur's Farm [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 6:42 AM PST - 56 comments

15 Publishing Industry Trends to Watch in 2008
posted by stbalbach at 6:00 AM PST - 54 comments

September 11, 2001. It's 10:15 am and the South Tower just went down. Millions of French people are watching the live coverage of the events on TF1, France's major TV channel, with star anchorman Poivre d'Arvor doing a running commentary. Then, for a split second, a character from a famous movie happily tells us (in French subtitles) that he "did it" (18 s in the video) (Dailymotion video). [more inside]
posted by elgilito at 5:53 AM PST - 84 comments

Chicago adds a 5-cent-per-bottle tax on bottled water. Will this reduce bottled water consumption?
posted by grouse at 4:11 AM PST - 91 comments

It's round robin, user generated, choose-your-own-adventure style, web 2.0 fiction. My productivity is now permanently crippled. The cbc gives some background, if you care about that sort of thing.
posted by mock at 1:26 AM PST - 9 comments