April 30, 2012
May Day in Chicago: then and now
As Chicago prepares to join other cities in marking May Day with a march and a general strike, it is interesting to think about these actions in the context of May Day's Chicago origins and Chicago's role in labor history. [more inside]
Sexy Tanja
Why fiction is good for you
Why fiction, even trashy TV, is good for you, by Jonathan Gottschall related to the book The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (book trailers), more at Scientific American, and a video presentation (6-min).
Let's Go!
"A montage of unique dolly shots from the films of Spike Lee."
Spike Lee: The Dolly Shot (SLVimeo) Compiled by Richard Cruz, featuring "Bra" by Cymande.
With eyes wide open and the mind relaxed but attentive
"Being in a cage for such an extended period of time, it has its downfalls."
Trees in Silos
Because they protect young trees from wind, animal browsers, and weather, abandoned and open silos can sometimes make an excellent tree habitat. Silo Trees: NYT, flickr pool, Missouri Department of Conservation, TGAW, Ken Wolf
Betsy, We're Not in Barneveld Any More
How does a natural disaster, a tragedy, change people? The Barneveld tornados of 1984 were considered some of the strongest tornados recorded. Survivors tell their stories 25 years later. Here is some video (news footage) of the aftermath. More survivor story video.
Ever upward
Today, the World Trade Center once again became the tallest building in New York City. (Previously.)
Go right, my child.
Free Comics. What's not to love?
Free Comic Book Day is back again! (Previously.) It's the one day a year when comic book stores in North America and around the world will be handing out free books -- mainly as an attempt to lure new readers to the genre.
Some shops do signings, too. See you at the comic book shops on May 5th!
The First 10,000 Hours...
Long before he became a staff writer for The New Yorker and the bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell began his career writing for a politically conservative monthly magazine. Some of his early work for The American Spectator is now available online.
Whenever my life gets me so down, I know I can go down
A brief history of Nickelodeon's Roundhouse, that glorious early 90's sketch show with the guys doing backflips and the Dad in the motorized armchair.
Never Bet on an Eggplant
The Monday Night Wars
Historians of the war consider it to have been lost in what became known as the Fingerpoke of Doom. [more inside]
Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!
Stephen King on taxing the ultra-rich... including himself. An engaging -and colorful- discussion on taxes for the ultra rich.
Who Was David Algonquin? The Works Of The Mystery Man Of American Letters
Cube³
Cube: navigate a rolling ball down streets towards a goal by tilting the entire world, like a cross between a balance-ball game and Katamari Damacy. (Browser with WebGL support required, Chrome recommended at this time). Part of the new Start Here guide to Google Maps.
don't explain the good things, but definitely explain the bad things
"Sarah Moore researches how word-of-mouth stories affect our feelings about our experiences, and she has found that our feelings change when we share them. She says that when the storyteller analyzes or thinks about an emotional experience like a family vacation, it reduces the emotions, positive or negative, about the event. However, she notes that for practical experiences, such as buying and using a USB stick, analyzing and thinking more about the experience will amplify our feelings about it, be they positive or negative." (via bakadesuyo) [more inside]
Data Journalism Handbook
The Data Journalism Handbook is intended to be a useful resource for anyone who thinks that they might be interested in becoming a data journalist, or dabbling in data journalism. [more inside]
Yosemite Range of Light
Shawn Reeder shoots timelapse video, and his latest project is almost 5 minutes of Yosemite timelapse landscapes. Previously: a different HD Yosemite timelapse video.
Bye Bay Baby Bye Bay
Pirate Bay to be blocked By UK ISPs. "File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled." [more inside]
PUNK NOT DEAD
UK/DK - A Film About Punks And Skinheads (SLYT) 1983 documentary about the tail end of the British punk scene including The Exploited, Vice Squad and The Damned and unfortunately Gary Bushell
Red Square
In March, 2012, students in Montreal, Canada took to the streets to protest the Quebec Liberal government's intention to raise tuition by 75% over five years. The red square, a symbol of the last student strike, quickly became the symbol of this one as well. [more inside]
What Could Go Wrong?
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has commissioned a Chinese shipyard to build Titanic II, a modernized replica of the unsinkable Titanic.
“It might be easier to build a giant match...”
How to use printed books in the digital age
Ten gorgeous buildings made out of books. More views of some of them: Scanner — Book igloo — Tower of Babel — Cadiff/Miller — Argument (with other book structures). Want to build your own? Order books by the yard from various outlets, some quite pricy, others more affordable: BookDecor, Half Price Books Outlet.
Manga Mark Mobius
Not every fund manager has a comic book made about them. Mark Mobius, the legendary emerging markets investor, has.
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