May 30, 2006
Sweetbread Jesus
twinkle-twinkle 1/100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th of a star
Purty pictures
Photos by Richard Seaman. The macro nature ones are my favorite. Check out beetles, spiders, and moths.
Look a book! Gnook!
Swiftboat'd
Atonement.
Neighbors driving you nuts blasting the latest Kathleen Turner Overdrive or Debussy? Fight back with the complete Pierrot Lunaire! Impress your friends by leaving a copy of the manuscript* printed on artificially aged paper out on your coffee table!** Defy your friends! Confound your enemies! Bestride your ancestors! And, best of all, tell Bach to shove his clavier up his well-tempered ass!†
* in German, obviously; babelfish
** coffee table not included
† more is inside!
* in German, obviously; babelfish
** coffee table not included
† more is inside!
ATSB, You're cleared for landing
You just made $300 Million (well, you in the "We The People..." sense). The Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) was authorized by Congress shortly after the 9/11 attacks. It was critized by the Bush administration and some members of Congress as a risky bailout of major airlines, offering to guarantee up to $10B in loans. However, only $1.6B in loans were actually guaranteed under this program. And now, as their work wraps up, the American taxpayer stands to see an extra $300M in the coffers of the US Treasury.
Watching every summer movie
The Movie Binge. 85 major motion pictures will be released in the US this summer. These guys will watch them all.
Len Lye: stuff that moves and makes noises
Len Lye: New Zealander Len Lye was a restless maverick - a pioneer of films without cameras (drawing directly onto the celluloid) and kinetic art (CD available through Atoll, sound samples here and here), and he was also quite handy with poems and inks. More about his Windwand and recently installed Waterwhirler on Flickr. Coralised open directory of short Waterwhirler movies here.
Gooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!
Since the 1930s, only 16 teams have held the World Cup Trophy. In 10 days, the 2006 World Cup will begin. Pick your team, pick your jersey, then find your time.
Once the teams have all gone home, more than just the balls will have changed. The world will be saying goodbye to one of the greatest players of our generation. And this time its for real.
Here is a little something to put you in the mood (youtube).
Once the teams have all gone home, more than just the balls will have changed. The world will be saying goodbye to one of the greatest players of our generation. And this time its for real.
Here is a little something to put you in the mood (youtube).
Principled Toleration of Religion
Why Tolerate Religion? Brian Leiter's new paper on the philosophical and legal justifications for toleration of religion. From the abstract: Religious toleration has long been the paradigm of the liberal ideal of toleration of group differences, as reflected in both the constitutions of the major Western democracies and in the theoretical literature explaining and justifying these practices. While the historical reasons for the special “pride of place” accorded religious toleration are familiar, what is surprising is that no one has been able to articulate a credible principled argument for tolerating religion qua religion: that is, an argument that would explain why, as a matter of moral or other principle, we ought to accord special legal and moral treatment to religious practices. There are, to be sure, principled arguments for why the state ought to tolerate a plethora of private choices, commitments, and practices of its citizenry, but none of these single out religion for anything like the special treatment it is accorded in, for example, American and Canadian constitutional law. So why tolerate religion? Not because of anything that has to do with it being religion as such - or so this paper argues.
Shiny Mud Balls
Hikaru dorodango is a recent craze in Japanese school yards. Apparently it's an absorbing task, one that anyone can pick up. There are even competing, previously undisclosed techniques.
net neutrality
No one's talking about "government lawyers and regulators engineer[ing] the future of the Internet," except, well, you, Mike. Craig Newmark debates with Mike McCurry over "net neutrality". Meanwhile, Hands Off the Internet seems to be a deceptively clever name for an organization sponsored by big telecoms.
This Week in God
This Week in God Salon interviews Karen Armstrong, a British ex-nun who has used her religious search to write several books on the subject. Her focus is not merely on Catholicism, but extends to many religions, including Islam.
More than Just Origami
Although paper sculptures have been discussed on the Blue before, you might also want to check out Calvin Nicholls (click on the gallery or portfolio links), who was profiled in the latest issue of Somerset Studio magazine. Here's another guy who creates people sculptures out of paper. There are many other artists out there who make sculptures from paper. Museums sometimes have exhibitions of their work. Check them out in person if you get a chance. Some of the sculptures are unbelievable.
Conservatives introduce fixed-date election bill
Are Canadians changing parliament? It seems that the minority government Conservative Party has introduced legislation to set fixed four year election dates, the third week in October. Some people seem to think it can work, and others don't. Evidently I fit into a minority position as I can't see the benefit of having a year long election runnup.
On popular music.
"The theories and opinions of the German philosopher Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno (1903-1969) on popular music and the culture industry are still highly influential in the domain of media studies. His thoughts about these subjects were very critical, pessimistic even. Adorno analysed the workings of the culture industry in terms of 'standardization' and used the concept of 'pseudo-individualization' to describe its effects on the listeners.
Buy War Bonds!
World War II Posters from the large collection at the Northwestern University Library.
I love the smell of alkali metals in the morning...
Vote Yes on Proposition 12
Vote Yes on Proposition 12? As in proposing a 12-year-old. Dutch pedophiles form a political party (English Wiki link)
Of course, they are not a one-idea party. They also favor "consensual sex between animals and humans".
Of course, they are not a one-idea party. They also favor "consensual sex between animals and humans".
"playing" America's Army
In Memoriam and in Protest --why not use an online deathmatch as a pedestal for speaking out against a war? Artist/Professor uses US Govt-developed America's Army (...placing Soldiering front and center within popular culture and showcasing the roles training, teamwork and technology play in the Army. ... ) as protest and art space. DeLappe's homepage (and jpgs) here
Solid Potato Salad
This will burn those summer calories. You need to watch this to the end. They are amazing!
Evvverybody loves free stuff!
400 FREEWARES Direct links I just wish it was categorised.
prayer in the morning church
Hungover this morning? Here's why.
When size matters
Woah.
For you: Amazing video of indoor precision musically choreographed aerobatic RC airplane flying. (From YouTube, of course.)
The mystery diva
There's a myspace page for Q Lazzarus but you know she didn't create it herself. One of the biggest mysteries of modern Hollywood, how a singer could get a song on "Silence of the Lambs" but not appear on its soundtrack album, and a song on "Philadelphia" but not appear on its soundtrack album. And drop off the face of the earth.
The mystery? In the age where one-hit wonders will to suffer any indignity to make a comeback attempt, Q Lazzarus disappeared. She's nowhere to be found. Maybe she's driving a taxi again.
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