July 29, 2012
SAIKADO HANTAI! SAIKADO HANTAI!
Yesterday, July 29, 2012, saw a massive antinuclear protest, attended by young and old alike, in Tokyo. This video, and this one, too, (both well-edited and featuring English subtitles) bring you right into the center of the action, to get a feel for the energy that the movement is steadily gaining.
Meet Tony Disco
Just What I Needed
This is a single-link YouTube post in which the Freebadge Serenaders, a "discount jazz" duo from Sacramento, play the Cars' classic "Just What I Needed" on washboard, cowbell, banjo, and kazoo, live on local NBC affiliate KCRA. That is all it is.
Idaho couple recover drowning victims
Five months ago, she vowed to find him. It wasn’t the RCMP who could help, or even a Canadian. Instead, Ms. Smith turned to Gene and Sandy Ralston, an Idaho couple who zig-zag North America in their 32-foot motor home, helping recover bodies from lakes and rivers when authorities can’t, or won’t. They don't get paid, and in some years rack up nearly 50,000 kilometres. They do it simply because people ask.
The other film adaptation of J.G. Ballard's "Crash"
Long before the David Cronenberg film (NSFW: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), before even the publication of the novel, Harley Cokeliss directed Crash! (1, 2) - a short film adapted from the story in J.G. Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition, starring Ballard himself and Gabrielle Drake (sister of Nick Drake). (previously) [more inside]
Tea should be hot.
A Guide to Writing Sherlockian-Tea Habits. In which EnigmaticPenguin (of death) schools fanfiction authors in correct English tea theory and practice. Follow up: Biscuits.
R.I.P. Lupe Ontiveros
Lupe Ontiveros, the excellent, perpetually under-appreciated character actress, died Thursday at the age of 69. [more inside]
TSA Moron Trick
Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange breaks down WRC Correspondent Julio Rausseo’s experience at the Chicago Union Station, 1 week after releasing a video exposing TSA checkpoints being setup there. (This was posted on Reddit yesterday, but wearechange.org's server crashed for a while (I think)...so here it is, in all its wtf glory.)
Sight
Garbage Gods Part 2
Garbage Gods Part 2 : ionustron has posted a follow-up to his post from last year regarding his twist-tie figurines. More images from this new set can be found here.
Flying lasers eye naked earth
The sun continues rising
The ruins of empire: Asia's emergence from western imperialism Moreover, a narcissistic history – one obsessed with western ideals, achievements, failures and challenges – can only retard a useful understanding of the world today. For most people in Europe and America, the history of the present is still largely defined by victories in the second world war and the long standoff with Soviet communism, even though the central event of the modern era, for a majority of the world's population, is the intellectual and political awakening of Asia and its emergence, still incomplete, from the ruins of both Asian and European empires. The much-heralded shift of power from the west to the east may or may not happen. But only neo-imperialist dead-enders will deny that we have edged closer to the cosmopolitan future the first generation of modern Asian thinkers, writers and leaders dreamed of – in which people from different parts of the world meet as equals rather than as masters and slaves, and no one needs to shoot elephants to confirm their supremacy.
Letters to Both Sides
Patton Oswalt’s Letters to Both Sides - Oswalt addresses "all of the comedians in the room" and "all of the gatekeepers" at Montreal’s Just For Laughs 2012 about living in a living in a "post-Louie world".
Exposing Nature Within Humanity
Christoffer Relander creates multiple-exposure portrait photographs, crossing humans and nature to haunting effect.
#nbcfail
NBC is being heavily criticized for its handling so far of the 2012 Summer Olympics. From delaying the broadcast of the opening ceremonies by four hours (and then having to endure terrible commentary) while the rest of world watched live, to cutting out a tribute to terror victims everywhere to not showing Michael Phelps' first medal attempt live (and then spoiling it on a news broadcast before the race actually aired). This is in addition to online viewers not being able to access live video online unless they have a cable subscription as well as problems with the actual stream. [more inside]
Superheroes as manatees
Poor Martian Manatee Hunter never gets any love from the mainstream. Deviantart contributor Joel Micah Harris has created a series of pictures of superheroes as manatees. [more inside]
Isles of Wonder
"Danny created a room where no one was afraid to speak, no one had to stick to their own specialism, no one was afraid of sounding stupid or talking out of turn. He restored us to the people we were before we made career choices – to when we were just wondering." Frank Cottrell Boyce writes about writing the London 2012 opening ceremony. (It's not the first time he's worked with Danny Boyle - they previously collaborated on the lovely children's film Millions.)
Sacrilege
UK Artist Jeremy Deller has recreated Stonehenge as a "...life-size replica...made as a fully operational bouncy castle" for the Olympics. [more inside]
A Problem in Emotionally Applied Semantics
The Billy Taylor Trio, live at Storyville. In 1951 legendary bass player Charles Mingus sat in with the Billy Taylor trio for a live broadcast. Here is thirty minutes of the broadcast. [more inside]
The Humble Music Bundle
You remember the Humble Indie Bundle, (previously) and the Humble Holiday Bundle (previously)? The Humble Music Bundle is out. Following the same pay-what-you-want plan, featuring six albums. [more inside]
Sharron Kraus - Thrice Toss These Oaken Ashes
« Previous day | Next day »