February 26, 2009
How quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago
Louis C.K. gives us all a little dose of perspective.
Parasites that pull their own weight
Itching to start a new career? You might want to think about opening your own Flea Circus. [more inside]
The Jade Calendar
A Visitor's Guide to Hell - A translation of the Chinese version of what happens to the human soul after death [with some illustrations]. [more inside]
Gregarious Octopus Floods Aquarium
Octopus chaos. The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium's gregarious and curious two-spotted octopus plays with tank filter resulting in the release of hundreds of gallons of seawater flooding the facility. FLICK pix here.
another one bites the dust
Ladies and Gentlemen, your prayers have been answered. Tucker Carlson is no longer a character in his own life and he has returned to being a huckster for regional Republican sideshows.
The Canadian Oil Boom
Scraping Bottom: The Canadian Oil Boom. "Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta's oil sands is now a gamble worth billions."
Blind Justice
Blind Justice..... Sir John Fielding, 1721-1780, brother of novelist/playwrite Henry Fielding (Tom Jones), was a blind magistrate at the Bow Street court (known as the "Blind Beak of Bow Street"), home of London's first professional police force, the Bow Street Runners. [more inside]
Aardvark K Mask
Looking for some new head gear for your next party? While many reach for a cap to cover up those bad hair days, Spanish designer Kepa Rasmussen would rather sculpt a mask. Crafting highly innovative facial sculptures under his label Aardvark K Mask, Rasmussen's conceptual pieces are hand-crafted expressly to make heads turn.
Your Kid's Band Sucks!
A Jonas Brothers Guide for Adults . "If you're expecting them to fade away...think again." Tweens unite! "It's full scream ahead!" Ohhhh, myyyyy! [more inside]
FXcuisine
FXcuisine: spectacular recipes and memorable food experiences. This blog is a feast for the eyes. [more inside]
"To me, Pylon was the best band to ever come out of Athens. It still is."
Pylon guitarist and co-founder Randall Bewley died yesterday of a heart attack at age 53. [more inside]
Poet and essayist Bill Holm died Wednesday February 26, 2009
Minnesota poet and essayist Bill Holm died on Wednesday. Bill Holm passed away less than a year after receiving some of the recognition he deserved when he was named the 2008 McKnight Distinguished Artist of the Year. He was 65. [more inside]
Dance: Pas de Deux
Dance (with echoes) from 1968 It has a slow build but is worth watching through until the end. Filmed by Norman McLaren. Site Previously Noted 13 minute video.
Meubles en carton
Missing WMD
...lay around that shack, 'til the anarchy comes back.
The Unabomber was right. Kevin Kelly explains.
Ladies aren't the only ones crazy for cats.
Craig Grant spends 14 hours a day, seven days a week, caring for over 500 cats. They live at Caboodle Ranch, a town he built himself on a 30 acre lot with $100,000 of his own money.
Taxidermy & tits
Torsten Solin's Dolls [NSFW]
Pixilated Photographs.
Raghubir Singh
Everyone's Favorite Upstart Mom-and-Pop Search Engine Tries to Yank Watchdog's Funding
Bob Boorstin, Google's Director of Policy Communications, wrote a letter to the Rose Foundation, suggesting that the foundation stop funding Consumer Watchdog, an outspoken Google critic. [more inside]
Do A Good Turn Daily
Found lives
Electric Box
Electric Box is a puzzle game with the goal of getting power from point A to point B. To accomplish this there are solar panels, refrigerators, lasers, kettles, electromagnets, and other doodads. It's Friday somewhere, right? [more inside]
In-vitro genetic screening: is the science cringe worthy, or praise worthy?
Designer Babies: For a mere $18,400 you could have your very own sex-screened child. Don't care about the sex? How about screened for hair color, eye color, or cancer tendencies? (via (via)) [more inside]
Speaking in Tongues
Speaking in Tongues is a terrific piece of writing by Zadie Smith. It's a little bit about Barack Obama. Mostly, though, it's about "world"-traveling and polyvocality. (pdf)
The first stage in the evolution is contingent and cannot be contrived. In this first stage, the voice, by no fault of its own, finds itself trapped between two poles, two competing belief systems. And so this first stage necessitates the second: the voice learns to be flexible between these two fixed points, even to the point of equivocation. Then the third stage: this native flexibility leads to a sense of being able to "see a thing from both sides." And then the final stage, which I think of as the mark of a certain kind of genius: the voice relinquishes ownership of itself, develops a creative sense of disassociation in which the claims that are particular to it seem no stronger than anyone else's. There it is, my little theory—I'd rather call it a story. It is a story about a wonderful voice, occasionally used by citizens, rarely by men of power.
Replacing things lost.
Amy DePaul writes about the unlikely intersection of breast cancer and breast augmentation. A piece from The Morning News. Warning: article photographic illustration is most likely NSFW.
Paul Graham Writes An Essay
Paul Graham recently wrote an essay. And saved all his edits, so you can replay it in entirety just as he wrote it.* It's quite fascinating to see if you ever wondered how he (or other writers) went about their job. And here's the Hacker News thread he initiated. This can be a very useful tool to watch and understand your own writing process, or understand and help your students write. Like cvs/svn mirror for long form writing. [more inside]
You can almost hear 'em...
There's the fascinating autistic musical savant Blind Tom Wiggins. There are musical clowns and minstrels, and poignant images of child musicians. There are tantalizing and truly exotic images of musicians from far-flung corners of the world: India, Persia, China, Japan... all this and more at the Vintage Musicians Flickr group. Oh, and who's that critter with the banjo? Why, that may just be the ORIGINAL LOL CAT.
« Previous day | Next day »