In praise of Budweiser, in which Daniel Davies defends Budweiser, claiming that it is in the right in it's copyright fight with the Czech brewer Budvar and that the rice in Bud is not a modern cost cutting development but is an essential ingredient in brewing an American pilsner. Worth reading whatever your view on Budweiser is for the brutal attack on the Welsh town of Wrexham in the footnotes.
posted by afu at 11:16 PM PST - 132 comments

The Polar Bears of Spitsbergen is an amazing and gruesome photo gallery posted by a photographer who stumbled across a bear & its cubs at feeding time & spent the next 45 minutes capturing the event. via
posted by jonson at 9:58 PM PST - 40 comments

Badgers--fierce, secretive, beloved, reviled, surprisingly widespread, and enemy to snakes [Warning: Gore in "Snakes"]. Cousin to ferrets and weasels, badgers have some strange habits--such as digging a large new burrow to sleep in every night.
posted by agentofselection at 9:48 PM PST - 24 comments

John Petrucci of Dream Theater is pretty much amazing. His gear can control the heat of the sun. Additionally, Yngwie is your new God.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 8:35 PM PST - 48 comments

Contesting Confucius [Single-link book review tour de force] In which a returned exile Chinese scholar uses a literary spat between two Francophone sinologists as a springboard for an exploration of the politics of New Confucianism and the role of the Chinese 'other' in Western philosophical discourse. Isn't globalisation something?
posted by Abiezer at 8:08 PM PST - 13 comments

If Art Bell is to be believed, up to 11 million Australians could be calling USA home due to years of severe drought in the country's food bowl. The story picked up, and given appropriate treatment by the venerable News Corporation online mouthpiece news.com.au. Is it hard being a climate change sceptic when your boss is a convert? Is climate change a left wing plot?
posted by mattoxic at 7:51 PM PST - 56 comments

Joggers decked out in short shorts and iPods running alongside the road are common, but have you ever seen someone running backward? Backward running has been growing in popularity for years in many countries across the world where competitive races vary in length from sprints to marathons. This very different form of exercise is reputed to have many health benefits, despite the very obvious dangers of not being able to see where one is going. Think you can beat the current world records for backward running? If so, then this is the person you're going to need to try and beat...
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:42 PM PST - 11 comments

What happens when people get old?
posted by miss lynnster at 7:30 PM PST - 45 comments

Lackadaisy. The ongoing saga of Don Bluth-esque anthropomorphic cats in Prohibition-era St. Louis. Start here and try not to drool over the artwork.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 4:31 PM PST - 77 comments

Jazz dispute is billed as a heated exchange between Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Jazz not your thing? Classical music can provoke a range of emotions too. (YouTube alert)
posted by madamjujujive at 3:23 PM PST - 43 comments

War vs. Democracy: Untold Stories from the Lynch / Tillman Hearing -- ...U.S. soldiers whose injuries or deaths remain mired in secrecy. Pat Tillman's brother and fellow Army Ranger Kevin Tillman advocated strongly for other families still waiting for answers. ... "The family was told, it was -- quote -- 'an ambush by insurgents.' Two years later, they found out that those -- quote -- 'insurgents' happened to be the same Iraqi troops that he was training. Before his death, he told his chain of command that these same troops that he was training were trying to kill him and his team. He was told to keep his mouth shut." ... Thorough and eye-opening examination of the many ways the military spun, lied, withheld information on soldier deaths and injuries for propaganda purposes (and even delayed action until cameras were present in the Jessica Lynch rescue).
posted by amberglow at 1:01 PM PST - 29 comments

The link to the live stream has been posted! Eurovision (previously) from Helsinki is about to begin (2100 CET), and there is a live stream available. Just get the plugin, and, if it all works, you'll be ready to watch!
posted by jasper411 at 12:03 PM PST - 313 comments

Even if you're not a baby boomer, you might remember a little something called the kiddie matinée that apparently went all the way up to the mid 80s. I remember them because in the 70s they were still popular enough that the 1959 Mexican Christmas flick Santa Claus continued making the rounds and I saw it in the theater. Imagine my surprise 20 years later when my favorite man in space and his robot pals are subjected to one of own childhood traumas of Santa Claus vs Satan for the soul of a small Mexican child. One man was responsible for my trauma: K. Gordon Murray. Importer of not only fine children's classics like Little Red Riding Hood Vs The Monsters but also other great MST3K experiments like The Robot vs The Aztec Mummy and Samson vs The Vampire Women. It wasn't all X vs Y. Sometimes it was about peaceful things.
posted by smallerdemon at 11:43 AM PST - 13 comments

Sounds from the Vietnam War. Battle sounds, RTO chatter, speeches, briefings, LZ dustoffs, dogfights, and pirate radio. What war sounded like, in country and back the U.S.
posted by John of Michigan at 11:25 AM PST - 12 comments

Sputtr is a front-end for searching a variety of popular sites, of course dipped in some Web 2.0 sauce.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 10:59 AM PST - 29 comments

HPV linked to certain throat cancers. Also, the HPV vaccine may not be as effective as thought.
posted by pyramid termite at 9:45 AM PST - 29 comments

Satellite images reveal shrimp trawlers' turbulent trails. Vessels turn firm sea bottoms into ooze, destroying habitats. [Via Gristmill.]
posted by homunculus at 9:17 AM PST - 11 comments

Remember Lasse Gjertsen? Now he's helping cellist Giovanni Solima, and has created an awe-inspiring multi-armed, multi-location music video for his piece, 'DayDream'. (video links youtube)
posted by Happy Dave at 9:07 AM PST - 17 comments

Yesterday, Design*Sponge added a city guide for Toronto to their small but growing list of Guides. The list also includes a Letter Press Guide, an Affordable Art Guide, a Gift Guide (2006), and guides for Brooklyn and LA.
posted by dobbs at 8:49 AM PST - 9 comments

Swimming with the fishes' feces. Too bad it wasn't whale feces. After a hard day at the fish farm you might need a drink. Or maybe all this just makes you hungry. Maybe it's just the ocean's way taking revenge on humans. We do so like to shit where we eat.
posted by spitbull at 5:39 AM PST - 29 comments

Meet Obasan: Adorable demon-possessed little girl and Japanese professional wrestler for the horror-themed Triple Six promotion. More highlights: (1) (2)
posted by StopMakingSense at 1:36 AM PST - 30 comments

Puleng is a lovely and evocative animated short film (about 3 minutes) with a refreshingly simple yet sophisticated visual style. A poignant little portrait of life ended and life renewed.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:58 AM PST - 11 comments