January 16, 2014
You call that a moose?
Elvis at 21: Alfred Wertheimer talks about his famous photos
blood, dirt, & angels features audio clips of photographer Alfred Wertheimer discussing several iconic photographs he took in 1956 of Elvis Presley. Among them: The Kiss. [more inside]
Meine Tantiemen
I cut my hair to make the wings
Stan Alcorn on Digg attempts to answer why audio almost never goes viral. Alcorn outlines a rare exception in how an audio interview of two girls and the "Worst Haircut Ever" went from a coffee shop show called “The Ear Cave” in Hartford to a one line link on Metafilter made several months later by gauche, to ultimately landing on gawker where it ratcheted up 1.3 million views. [more inside]
The Surreal Photos of Miss Aniela
The Surreal Photos of Miss Aniela “I like to think of my Surreal Fashion series as an adventure, even for me as the maker,” Natalie says. “When I’m constructing them, it’s like falling deep into a good book. And I want my viewers to feel that too. I want them to enjoy all the nuances in the visuals of each piece, and even to feel slightly ill-at-ease with what is real and not real."
"I search craigslist for photos of mirrors for sale and post them here."
Craigslist Mirrors (SLTumblr)
Google Gas Permeable
Over the years, many scientists have investigated various body fluids—such as tears—in the hopes of finding an easier way for people to track their glucose levels. [...] We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material.
Two kids and their dog, duckling and rabbit friends.
Monogamish
The New Monogamists. A new generation of gay couples is building a white picket fence around their sex lives. Are they depriving themselves of a perk of being gay? And, in response... Why OUT's "The New Monogamists" misses the boat.
Fly through the air with the greatest of ease
It's a brand new era, but it came too late
Pavement's album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was released twenty years ago next month. Stereogum has the oral history.
Heatmaps of Rent as a Share of Income in American Cities
Markers of Gentrification: Mapping Rent as a Share of Income Heatmaps showing median rent as a percentage of median income. Note the heatmap colors are not baselined across the cities displayed in the blog post.
"This is storytelling at its finest!" - IGN
Live, historic footage of Bigfoot!
In a city far, far away there was born a monster who roamed the stadiums, crushing everything in its path. With feet of 4,000 pounds and power of 1200 horses it roars with a challenge to all ... "Ever wonder what kind of truck Godzilla might drive if he needed a family pickup? Well this is it." Thus begins The Living Legend - Bigfoot 4x4x4, a VHS tape from 1987, celebrating the father of monster trucks, Bigfoot. [more inside]
A Cub for the Accursed
"The Cubs occasionally had human mascots, but, aside from managers' children, their tenures were short-lived. (An exception was the Fat Boy, Paul Dominick, who was given credit for a 21-game winning streak in 1935 and then left for Hollywood.) Instead, they seemed to prefer animals—who, it should be noted, did not demand salaries. The 1908 world champions had Bud, a Boston bull terrier puppy with an adorable curved tail, and a grotesque-looking fake polar bear. The 1913 team had a homicidal gamecock, named Tampa after their spring training home. (Tampa's mascotting career seems to have ended when he murdered another rooster.) In 1915, they had another dog, a terrier named Toy. But mostly they had live cubs."
"Talking to you is like looking up the answers in the back of the book."
Russell Johnson, beloved of many as Professor Roy Hinkley of Gilligan's Island, has died at the age of 89.
Perhaps lesser known among Johnson's achievements, he flew 44 B-25 bombadier missions as an Air Force Second Lieutenant. In March, 1945, he was shot down over the Philippines, earning a Purple Heart. By the time of his Honorable Discharge later that year, he had earned the rank of First Lieutenant, and had earned the Air Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three service stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one service star, and the World War II Victory Medal.
In 2004, Johnson gave a 2 hour interview to the Archive of American Television, detailing his guest roles on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, as well as the role for which he is best remembered.
DissidentX
DissidentX is a new steganography tool by Bram Cohen of BitTorrent fame designed to “vastly simplify the implementation of new steganographic techniques, and allow a universal decoder and encoding of multiple messages to different keys in the same file.” In particular, DissidentX allows encoding multiple plain texts into the same cover text with different keys, so called deniable encryption.
Does he look like a bitch?
Alabama have another put in at the scrum—wow they are bossing this game!
UK comedian Anthony Richardson proudly presents British running commentary of American sports. First, the one referred to as American "football" but more accurately described here as "robot rugby league". For further amusement, there's "base-ball", which is a bit like cricket except with a glove that makes everything easier. (via kottke.org)
SPINE CHILLING
BRITISH "GHOST TRAIN" FACADES FROM THE 1970s AND 80s
(from the National Fairground Archive digital collection)
(from the National Fairground Archive digital collection)
"Here's your pipe bomb back, sir. Enjoy your flight!"
Young man passes through airport security with a pipe bomb, but CATSA doesn't report it until four days later. 18 year old Skyler Murphy forgot he had a homemade explosive in his luggage when traveling from Edmonton to Mexico.
It's almost that time again
I'm the Best There Is at What I Do...And What I Do Best is Sing! (SLYT)
Bureaucrats and grunts
"One series that I’ve kept up with, however, that doesn’t get enough credit for its cast of active, intelligent females, is B.P.R.D., written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, and currently drawn by a rotating group of artists, including Tyler Crook, James Harren and Laurence Campbell." -- Craig Fischer explores some of the female characters in Hellboy and B.P.R.D
Strippers and Steaks Mentality
Booth Babes Don't Work
It’s a pretty indefensible practice. The hiring of young, college-aged females to dress as provocatively as possible to help promote…um, Ultra HD TV sets, Android tablets and Internet-enabled toothbrushes. It’s a relic of old enterprises, but that’s just the way they like their world. But what nearly every critic has failed to mention is a real concrete business reason to end the practice. Well, I do: Booth babes do NOT convert.
BEAUTY
B E A U T Y. "A path of sighs through the emotions of life. A tribute to the art and her disarming beauty." A short video by Rino Stefano Tagliafierro. [Via, possibly nsfw]
The illustrated farmer
The Great Maple Syrup Heist - in cartoon form! ...and other illustrated stories by Lucas Adams in Modern Farmer, including The Legend of the Goat Man and The Pleasant Valley Sheep War. [more inside]
It's like caramel-flavored crunchy cotton candy, covered in chocolate
Wings and Beef on Weck aren't the only culinary legacies coming from Buffalo, NY. Sponge candy is an airy, cripsy, delicious confection made with the magic of chemistry (video). [more inside]
Here it is better, down where it's wetter . . .
We were wrong?
Even Ph.D.s Who Got “Full Funding” Have Huge Amounts of Debt (SLSLATE) "A shocking number of users also report [a debt loan of] $100,000 and up; some $200,000 and over, even with a funding package. “My graduate stipend did not cover my living expenses, books, money I needed for research,” explains one user. “TA salary and fee remission not enough to support my two children,” says another. Graduate students do not usually receive funding in the summer—but are often expected to complete intensive research or exam prep—so many users also cited summer living expenses. Though Kelsky expected a substantial reaction, she says she is still “stunned” at the rate at which entries keep coming in, and “with such devastating figures and stories.”
(be sure to check out the link for 'fully funded')
Prancing Shouting Devil Clown
Mario Wienrroither cuts up music videos to create surreal, musicless clips: Firestarter - Smells Like Teen Spirit - I Want To Break Free (Music videos without music previously, more previously)
What's the nastiest shade you've ever thrown? "Existing in the world."
You may have heard the music of House of Ladosha, but that's just the beginning. This family of artists applies their fashion school and NYC nightlife roots to everything from printing t-shirts and performing spoken word to mocking Mapplethorpe.
When Dosha Devastation and Cunty Crawford LaDosha aren't performing as a hip hop duo, they like to do each other's hair and ki.
Juliana Huxtable is a Tumblr queen, DJ, model, legal assistant by day, cyborg, priestess, and witch. [more inside]
When Dosha Devastation and Cunty Crawford LaDosha aren't performing as a hip hop duo, they like to do each other's hair and ki.
Juliana Huxtable is a Tumblr queen, DJ, model, legal assistant by day, cyborg, priestess, and witch. [more inside]
"NFL"
Hipsterized NFL logos. The text is meh, but the illustrations are fun.
Hard Type
InsaneDifficulty.com is a community site dedicated to modifications of classic games which make them more difficult and complex. There are many games hosted by the community: Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy VI and Dark Souls among others. Most mods are supported in dedicated forums (including installation instructions) on the site's message boards.
xMac Trashintosh
You can build your own xMac "Trash Pro" in a real trashcan.
Channeling Their Inner Nomads
Begun at the edge of summer last year, Wanderrlust is the ongoing photography and travel blog of H.J. and Courtney Derr as they travel across the expanse of Southeast Asia. It began in Vietnam with the purchase of two cheap motorcycles and an eye to explore the country. So far they have experienced Ho Chi Minh City, drifted into the Mekong Delta, and to the City of a Thousand Pines. Don't miss the "warts and all" entry to discuss the things that haven't been so fun on their journey so far.
For Me, For You, For Later
“Financial education supports not only individual well-being, but also the economic health of our nation,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech last year. In case that doesn’t make clear what’s supposedly riding on this effort, in 2012 the U.S. Senate held a hearing titled “Financial Literacy: Empowering Americans to Prevent the Next Financial Crisis.”
There’s only one problem: mounting, resounding evidence shows that financial literacy education doesn’t work.
There’s only one problem: mounting, resounding evidence shows that financial literacy education doesn’t work.
"Whoa! That was crazy!"
Through the power of clever editing, forced perspective and some other subtle tricks, Zack King has a "magic" Vine compilation that is excellently entertaining. [slyt]
The Moan for Bigfoot
I Have a Chinese Banknote That Everyone in China Is Scared Of
In China, there are certain "bad notes" that frighten people and are refused as legal tender. Why?
A different perspective
North Shore of Oahu+Drone+GoPro+Waves= a pretty neat surfing video by Eric Sterman.
Born to paint
Interview with illustrator Philip Castle about producing the iconic film posters for Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Clockwork Orange [more inside]
"Gandalf as Ring-Lord would have been far worse than Sauron."
Would the One Ring even work for anyone but Sauron? But does the One Ring actually convey power to anyone but Sauron? It actually seems to diminish its bearers: Bilbo feels "thin" and "stretched", Smeagol becomes the wretched Gollum, Frodo is never quite the same even after it is destroyed. None of them seem more "powerful," even in the abstract way that magic-users in Tolkien operate. No mention is made, that I can recall, of a Ringbearer having greater stature or authority, or of people naturally following them or obeying their commands, while they possess the Ring. [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »