The day in posts: 03/22/2009

You know that guitar sound at the start of "Touch Me I'm Sick"? Or when Keith plays the big riff in "Satisfaction"? That's fuzz. I love fuzz, and I was very happy to stumble across this fine documentary about fuzz pedals and their makers. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7, Part 8 Should be enough there to sustain your interest for a while... (Previously...)
posted by awfurby at 8:38 PM PST - 28 comments

David Cronenburg's Alien: novelisation by JG Ballard. Starsky and Hutch: novelisation by JG Ballard.
posted by WPW at 8:10 PM PST - 24 comments

Nicholas Hughes has taken his own life. A marine biologist specializing in Alaskan stream fish, he has been preceded in death by his mother, Sylvia and his father, Ted.
posted by felix betachat at 7:07 PM PST - 50 comments

First Person Shooters don't always have to cost you money. Free Doom and Starsiege: Tribes are two of the most well known free FPS around, but inside this post is a list of 32 more for you to checkout, download legally for free and enjoy. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:53 PM PST - 53 comments

Chartres: Cathedral of Notre-Dame offers photographs, diagrams, antique prints, and maps of Chartres Cathedral. And that's not the only virtual Chartres site: there's a tour courtesy of San Jose SU and a more elaborate tour (requires Quicktime) offered by the Art History department at Ithaca College. Among other things, Great Buildings features some 3D models (additional, albeit free, software required to view). Speaking of virtual experiences, you can walk the Chartres labyrinth (see here for a more technical description). And don't forget video, including this National Geographic short on the cathedral's architecture; you can also listen to the bells.
posted by thomas j wise at 4:59 PM PST - 11 comments

"The general public is not aware of how doomed black dogs are when they are brought to a pound.” Does Does black dog bias influence rescuers when it comes to adoption? Empirical evidence doesn't exist, but rescue groups insist that it's a real concern. Now some groups, including Black Pearl Dogs and Start Seeing Black Dogs are raising awareness and providing free PR and Marketing materials to rescue organizations in an attempt to decrease time spent in shelters and euthanasia rates for black dogs.
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:14 PM PST - 61 comments

According to Senior Harvard AIDS Prevention Researcher Dr. Edward Green, condoms not only are not helping to prevent the AIDS crisis, but are actually making the problem worse.
posted by Roach at 3:32 PM PST - 49 comments

Short recipe segments from Gordon Ramsay's "The F Word." Seabass with sorrel sauce::Black Bream on a bed of petite pois with baby onions and pancetta::Escalope of chicken with sautéed potatoes and red chard::Duck breast in gooseberry sauce::Lemon Sole en papillote::Seabass and pepper sauce:: Turkey with truffle butter::Monkfish with a mussels broth::Poached chicken in morel sauce::Pheasant with a smooth bread sauce::Stuffed saddle of lamb with apricot and cumin::Dover sole with shrimp butter::Smoked paprika chicken stroganoff::Brocolli Soup::Brill with a red wine sauce::Tagliatelle with rabbit fricassee::Eggs on Toast::Rib Eye Steak ::Pan Glazed Fillet of Beef::Rack of lamb:: Stuffed chicken legs with sausage meat and marsala sauce::Beef Wellington
posted by vronsky at 3:21 PM PST - 76 comments

The Dictionary of American Regional English is nearing completion.
posted by sarabeth at 1:23 PM PST - 43 comments

Bus tours of the houses of AIG executives, who are mostly not home or hiding behind security. [more inside]
posted by 445supermag at 1:22 PM PST - 44 comments

Zhang Peng’s elaborate photographs have been called both "beautiful" and "disgusting". You can see some of them here and here.
posted by chiraena at 10:23 AM PST - 39 comments

"Proud Mary". "Born on the Bayou". "Green River". "Bad Moon Rising". "Lodi". "Fortunate Son". (previously) [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese at 8:52 AM PST - 77 comments

Extravagant Crowd - Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Women and Photos of African Americans. Previous post by ND¢: Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten 1932-1964. Also, public domain works from Wikimedia Commons. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 8:08 AM PST - 3 comments

NSFW-filter: Playboy Archive has 53 vintage issues of America's favorite gentleman's magazine up for free (legitimately). Requires a download of Microsoft's Silverlight. [more inside]
posted by bardic at 4:53 AM PST - 129 comments