May 4, 2014
McCarthyism is alive and well - and it's in the Immigration department.
The Department of Immigration and Border Patrol of Australia's secret blacklist of immigration lawyers and agents has been discovered. DIBP claims that the list is used for "risk assessment" for partner visas and has "no impact" on assessing cases. The Migration Alliance, the lobby group of Australian migration agents that broke the news of the list, is not convinced.
The Ballad of Lost KMEL
Flying Robot Rockstars (SLYT)
Jailed Al Jazeera Journalist Is Actually Kind of a Dick
How to Win at Rock-Paper-Scissors, with Conditional Response
For one reason or another, no one has done a thorough evaluation of rock-paper-scissors. That is, until recently: Zhijian Wang and a group at Zhejiang University in China carried out a study with 360 students recruited from the University. The students were split into 60 groups of six players, and each group played 300 rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors, with an additional financial incentive to the winners of each group. Winners stuck with with their selected action, while losers cycled through actions (rock, paper, scissors). No word on how well this works with expanded versions of the game (previously).
playful technologies can help students understand how history is created
Pastplay: Teaching and Learning History with Technology. The fourth book from the digitalculturebooks imprint of the University of Michigan Press, Pastplay includes a wide range of essays, all available online for free. T. Mills Kelly reflects on his historical methods course which resulted in a historical hoax, “the last American pirate,” declared one of the 10 biggest hoaxes in Wikipedia’s first ten years. Matthew Kirschenbaum discusses if board games work better than computer games for teaching history. The book's chapters cover successful combinations of play, technology, and history. Yet, many are wary, as a "playful approach to teaching and learning with technology can seem like the worst of all possible worlds: the coupling of strategies developed for entertainment with tools created for commerce." [more inside]
We come down from Cabbagetown
90's Southern Gothic rockers The Rock*a*Teens have reunited and are going on tour. Their unique mixture of dark, swampy rock influences have been praised by Dan Bejar as "the most underrated American rock ’n roll band of the ’90s," and Will Sheff of Okkervil River as, "masterpieces buried in muck." The band features Chris Lopez, who you may know from aughties band Tenement Halls, and Kelly Hogan, who's worked with Neko Case. Playlist after the jump. [more inside]
You may refer to him as 'Archangel'
VOMICA is a short horror film about a British commando raid that finds an ancient evil in the crypts and tunnels of occupied France. It recently won Best Short Film prize at the 2014 H P Lovecraft film festival, and is available to watch on Vimeo—for today only—if you go here and use the password 'mayday'.
Japan ... in 7 minutes
Bonding. James Bonding.
Bonding over Bond: Superego’s Matt Gourley and Matt Mira of The Nerdist Podcast love James Bond so much they decided to make a podcast about it. Each episode they invite a guest to take a serious — and seriously funny! — deep dive into “the greatest film franchise known to man.” Oh, and it's called James Bonding! (Of course there are Paul F. Tompkins epsiodes, why do you ask?) [more inside]
Forty-three Werner Herzog films that can be streamed
Inside, please find a list of forty-three movies, TV episodes, and short subjects by Werner Herzog, all of which can be streamed, along with some short descriptions of their content. One or two of the films are in German without subtitles; this is noted in the description. [more inside]
All Heart, No Libido
Anne Helen Petersen of " Scandals Of Classic Hollywood" fame talks about Zac Efron, the impossible demands of movie masculinity, and the history of the Teen Idol Industry on BuzzReads
"Does Winnie the Pooh have a B12 deficiency?"
The Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Projects has been tackling this and other vital subjects from the world of popular culture. As well as the Winnie the Pooh question, they consider whether Miley Cyrus really can come on like a wrecking ball, where a tiny frog gets the extra mass to turn into a human prince, Sherlock's ability to see dog hairs at a great distance, how many lies Pinocchio could tell before the weight of his enlarged nose caused his neck to snap and the feasibility of Gus Fring's last walk. Word of warning: they're all PDFs. [more inside]
"Een monsterrit van ruim tweehonderd kilometer"
For the Explore the North (Dutch) festival held in Ljouwert, Fryslân last year, British electronica group / video slingers Public Service Broadcasting was requested to make two songs/videos over the 1963 Elfstedentocht, perhaps the toughest edition of that tour ever held. Taking footage and voice overs from the Fries Film Archief, the results are Elfstedentocht part 1 and Elfstedentocht part 2 (English subtitles in the commentary section). (further reading: goodnewsfortheinsane explains the Elfstedentocht; Public Service broadcasting previously.)
the contest could turn ugly, expensive, and politically costly
"The GOP Has Finally Found a Way to Defeat the Tea Party"
Electability was trumping ideological purity—just as the establishment had planned.
Electability was trumping ideological purity—just as the establishment had planned.
Ever Wondered How Cadbury's makes thier Creme Eggs? Wired.co.uk shows us
In a small gallery of six images wired.co.uk shows how the branded chocolate eggs are created. The pictures don't seem to show you *precisely* how they make get the fondant middle into the 'egg' but the six pictures do illustrate some of the chocolatey magic. [more inside]
Ewok Anthropology
In honor of May the Fourth, I present to you more information about Ewoks than you ever cared to know: The Return of the Subaltern (Part One and Part Two)
Up next, our new segment: "What's inside that box?"
Breaking Cat News is a webcomic by Georgia Dunn about three feline TV journalists who report on such breaking news as the people are building box forts, the vacuum is out, the woman is trying to make the bed and the cat is in the backyard again.
The Fascinating Life of a Music Copyist
So, you want to break the strike?
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