March 4, 2010

Book Design

In the United States, “we tend to want to use every inch, to fill; up with color, and to get it to do as much as it can do. Everything here is bigger, more commercial, more targeted to sell and to advertise. In Europe, the covers are geared to look more like the way they dress: very simple. Their use of negative space goes along with the theory of less is more." [more inside]
posted by stratastar at 10:00 PM PST - 74 comments

Civilization - I destroy it to feel like - I'm a part of you

Godzilla Haiku. That is all.
posted by dobie at 9:27 PM PST - 37 comments

*jazz hands*

The 35 Best Dance Sequences on Film and 10 Random Dance Sequences in Non-Dancing Films.
posted by crossoverman at 9:14 PM PST - 79 comments

Can't Stop Punching

The World's Most Action Packed Action Movie. [via: everythingisterrible] Warning: Some of the scenes might be upsetting. NSFW [more inside]
posted by nola at 8:26 PM PST - 55 comments

Itty Bitty City Committee

Model cities are useful to city planners and architects. But they're also beautiful. [more inside]
posted by emilyd22222 at 8:20 PM PST - 23 comments

Papa needs a new appropriations bill!

Missouri is facing a state budget deficit, much like many other states. One state representative has come up with an interesting possible solution to Missouri's financial woes: the Powerball Lottery. Missouri HB 2131 would deduct $2 twice a month to purchase a Powerball ticket with any winnings being placed in "Governor Nixon's Scratch-off, Match-off Fund."
posted by borkencode at 8:07 PM PST - 28 comments

The Salvador Dali of the Next Century

Larry Carlson's Psychedelic Videos (previously) [more inside]
posted by crunchland at 8:06 PM PST - 15 comments

Flooding in Uganda

Flooding in Uganda displaces 20,000.
Heavy rains in eastern Uganda have triggered flooding that has displaced more than 20,000 people and hampered search efforts to find victims of massive landslides feared to have killed hundreds, officials said Thursday.
posted by mdpatrick at 8:01 PM PST - 14 comments

Welcome to Google, Kansas.

"For the month of March 2010, the city of Topeka will be known as Google, Kansas." Mayor Bill Bunten says the proclamation is an attempt to stand out from the crowd, as cities around the United States have until March 26 to tell Google they're interested in participating in the Fiber for Communities program, part of the company's recently announced plans to build a series of superfast broadband networks across the country [previously on MetaFilter]. Other cities are trying to get Google's attention, but Duluth, Minnesota, has upped the ante by pledging to name its firstborn sons "Google Fiber" and its firstborn daughters "Googlette Fiber" in a video [YouTube, 3:34] spoofing Topeka's efforts.
posted by amyms at 7:13 PM PST - 47 comments

Sock it to me

Antique sock knitting machines are seeing a resurgence in popularity, and so is knitting socks by hand. You can knit them on needles that are double-pointed or circular, one sock at a time or both at once. [more inside]
posted by bewilderbeast at 6:57 PM PST - 32 comments

Japan Airlines

Apparently, bankrupcy isn't the only thing Japan Air Lines is fighting. The flight stewardess' uniform black market...
posted by Heliochrome85 at 6:28 PM PST - 32 comments

Anatomy of a rumor

Chief Justice Roberts is not resigning. But here's why you might have heard that he was.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:58 PM PST - 49 comments

Too big to fail?

SFPD's new chief, George Gascon, is reportedly considering putting an end to Critical Mass, the group cycling event that occurs the last Friday of every month. There has been speculation, after a January ruling that New York City can force groups of 50 people or more on bicycles to get a parade permit, that similar action may be taken in San Francisco. Critical Mass appears unworried. (Previously)
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:26 PM PST - 140 comments

Putting the Fun in Fundraising

"What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate...?" it asks. The answer: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!” Confidential RNC fundraising presentation leaked (the strategy will not suprise you).
posted by freshundz at 2:31 PM PST - 123 comments

She's 69 years old and she is a fuckin' great DJ.

Behind the decks at Queen, the biggest and brashest nightclub in Paris, the DJ lifts her arms to the heavens.
posted by gman at 2:17 PM PST - 17 comments

Braaaaaains

“Animal brains have to be illegal, They’re a gateway to human brains.” - Those Below, short fiction by horror writer Jeremy C. Shipp.
posted by Artw at 1:48 PM PST - 23 comments

Final Stage Boss Battle with Infant Mortality

Ever wondered what would happen if all those people playing Farmville and Mafia Wars were trying to save the world instead? Enter Urgent Evoke, "a ten week crash course in changing the world," designed by Jane McGonigal (who previously designed World without Oil) for the World Bank Institute. Players take on tasks like the UN Millennium Development Goals. Wanna play? [more inside]
posted by anotherpanacea at 1:32 PM PST - 37 comments

Not yet an Olympic sport

Irish Road bowling traces its origins to the 1600s. The idea of the sport is simple: players compete to roll a 28-ounce iron ball (or "bowl") along a country road, covering a pre-set distance in as few throws as possible. Hotbeds of the sport include Ireland (of course), West Virginia, New York, Vermont, Michigan, North Carolina, the Netherlands (where it is called "klootshieten" and is played with somewhat different rules), and Germany (another variant called Boßeln). [more inside]
posted by beagle at 12:35 PM PST - 20 comments

Full belly achieved!

Cat + sushi + flash game = Sushi cat!
posted by starzero at 12:31 PM PST - 35 comments

Put a shirt on that!

Put some clothes on that snow-woman, say police. Folks passing through Rahway, NJ last weekend were treated to a sculpture of a snow-nude, and, shortly thereafter, a lovely bikini-and-sarong affair. [previously]
posted by Karmakaze at 12:10 PM PST - 70 comments

Go on, us!

Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, long nicknamed the "Lavender Lake" for its copious oil slicks, has gained a new title : Superfund Site. New Yorkers respond with really cool photography. While some developers bow out in light of the recent news, other area developers, hoping for a speedy cleanup of the industrial waste and, uh ... other things ... vow to continue their plans to revitalize the formerly-industrial corridor.
posted by Afroblanco at 11:29 AM PST - 26 comments

Investment Green is People!

Kjerstin Erickson is a 26-year-old Stanford graduate. Would you like to own 6% of her?
posted by william_boot at 11:24 AM PST - 98 comments

Zakumi's game is Fair Play

The paradinha is a devastating penalty kick tactic popularized by Pelé in the 1970s, and increasingly adopted by Brazilian players. This week soccer's primary governing organization, FIFA, will discuss the maneuver as it prepares for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As the Wall Street Journal [print version] explains: The paradinha (pronounced par-a-JEEN-ya) is performed on a penalty kick by the shooter, who pauses unexpectedly before striking the ball—or even swings his foot through the air several times—before making contact. It's designed to throw off the goalkeeper's timing. When executed properly, the move can have jaw-dropping results. [more inside]
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:17 AM PST - 72 comments

Arabian Goggles?

“Guys are a@#$%^&. Be Safe. Every time.”
posted by stinkycheese at 11:12 AM PST - 201 comments

Kitra Cahana Photography.

Kitra Cahana's Photography. Some shockingly good photographs.
posted by chunking express at 10:53 AM PST - 25 comments

The President Giveth and the Congress Taketh Away

Frustrated with congress' inability or unwillingness to pass comprehensive greenhouse gas regulation legislation and bolstered by a Supreme Court decision upholding the EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases under the existing authority of the Clean Air Act, President Obama early in his term reversed the Bush administration's position and extended power to the EPA to do the job, partly to provide congressional Democrats with extra leverage to push for a meaningful deal. Fellow Democrat Jay Rockefeller (who recently drew progressive ire by announcing he wouldn't support a push to include the public option during the HCR budget reconciliation process) has helpfully just introduced a bill that would take the power to regulate greenhouse gases away from the EPA yet again.
posted by saulgoodman at 10:37 AM PST - 25 comments

Do not swallow your moral code in tablet form.

The New Ten Commandments by Christopher Hitchens The Ten Commandments were set in stone, but it may be time for a re-chisel. With all due humility, the author takes on the job, pruning the ethically dubious, challenging the impossible, and rectifying some serious omissions. [more inside]
posted by fiestapais at 10:08 AM PST - 79 comments

Queen of steaks?

Watch out, Pat’s, Geno’s, Steve’s and Jim’s. A new woman on the block wants to bust up the cheesesteak boys’ club. Espionage? Stakeouts? All is fair in love and chessesteaks.
posted by fixedgear at 9:27 AM PST - 49 comments

trololololololololololo

http://trololololololololololo.com/
posted by Mr. Anthropomorphism at 9:08 AM PST - 96 comments

Unendlicher Spass

The Mistake on Page 1,032: On Translating Infinite Jest into German. "'The limits of my language are the limits of my world,' Ulrich Blumenbach quotes Wittgenstein as saying in a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung article to describe the challenges and inducements of the six years he spent translating David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (Unendlicher Spass) into German — something he did without input from the author, who refused to speak to him." [more inside]
posted by ocherdraco at 8:47 AM PST - 35 comments

'A slice of bread seems an unimportant thing.....'

Foods That Will Win The War (and how to cook them)
posted by anastasiav at 8:16 AM PST - 39 comments

$5 to overthrow the US government

There is a law in South Carolina that forces any subversive organization to register before the Secretary of State. Penalties for refusing to do so include a fine for up to $25,000 and 10 years imprisonment. You can download the form here. [more inside]
posted by Omon Ra at 8:12 AM PST - 37 comments

Chickens in the Road - farm blog

Woman Attacked by Goats, Film at 11
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:47 AM PST - 26 comments

How corporations help governments spy on their people

How Nokia helped Iran "persecute and arrest" dissidents is a short article from Ars Technica that neatly summarizes how Nokia allowed Iran to arrest protestors and how corporations become involved in deals like these.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 7:34 AM PST - 37 comments

World hunger and the locavores

How Locavores Could Save the World (All Things Considered)
The latest yuppie craze could do more than just cut emissions -- it might also help feed the poor: "Monocultures are naturally prone to disastrous outbreaks of disease, which can wipe out an entire crop... people think of the locavores as solving a luxury problem of how to eat healthier and more delicious food in rich countries, and they're not asking whether they have anything to teach with respect to big questions like world hunger. That might be changing." (previously)
posted by kliuless at 7:21 AM PST - 86 comments

The Law of Unintended Consequences

Prime time, free-to-air documentary on Australia's government owned TV station causes a bit of a flap. Censorship of the labia minora in "lads mags" blamed for negative body image issues in young ladies and the significant increase in labiaplasties. [links contain NSFW words, and a NSFW link to the program]
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:04 AM PST - 47 comments

137 Years of Popular Science, Online, Free.

Need some light reading? Popular Science has put its entire 137-year catalog online for free.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:04 AM PST - 36 comments

Anger. Fear. Agression. Pain.

US Spaced. (SLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:39 AM PST - 135 comments

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