August 12, 2013

Not Verified

Some surprising subversives on Twitter: Babe Ruth, Michael Jackson, Mahatma Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, Francis of Assisi, Marlin Brando, Martin Luther, Mary Wolfstonecraft, Pablo Neruda, Ann Landers, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Camus, Voltaire, John F. Kennedy, Bill Wilson and Socrates.
posted by Apropos of Something at 10:46 PM PST - 17 comments

Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?

Noah Veltman gives us a comparison of Google Search Suggestions By Country for America, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
posted by 23 at 10:06 PM PST - 56 comments

"Two drafts later somebody would say, ‘Does he have to die?’ ”

Damon Lindelof uses the story of American folk hero John Henry as an illustrative example of the market pressures on blockbuster screenwriting.
posted by Uncle Ira at 9:34 PM PST - 66 comments

If I Could Just Teach This to You

"Women in hip hop are more important than men in hip hop". KRS-1 recently gave a lecture at Fresno State detailing the very beginnings of hip hop in the early 1970's. Even if you've been following hip hop your whole life, you will likely still learn something incredible about the history of this art form.
posted by cashman at 7:08 PM PST - 12 comments

The tallest points in Florida: more than Disneyworld

If you ever happen to be in Florida and some challenges you to climb the tallest peak, believing they have you beat because they think Disney World's Expedition Everest is the tallest "mountain" in the state, don't worry! There are more than 50 points that are taller than the summit of Expedition Everest, with it's peak less than 200 feet above sea level. A Summit Post member chronicled their adventures to the four tallest "mountains" in Florida, and included a note about Spook Hill (YouTube; Wikipedia). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:06 PM PST - 20 comments

Daft Signz

Does what is says on the tin. The Artistry of sign spinning.
posted by skatz at 6:54 PM PST - 30 comments

Horse Opera (starring Cliff Nobles)

You may know The Horse as a groovin' RnB instrumental record from the 1960s. You may know The Horse as a popular marching band tune. But did you ever hear the vocal version? OK then, how about the other vocal version? Ever danced The Mule or The Camel?
 
Here's the story of how three records were made using the same backing tracks and how a singer named Cliff Nobles became associated with a series of instrumental records on which he does not appear. [more inside]
posted by Herodios at 6:26 PM PST - 12 comments

The sea unleashed

Recently surfaced video of the 2011 tsunami in Japan. An incredible 25 minutes of breathtaking power and destruction.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:18 PM PST - 81 comments

Oh, Zoidberg, at last you're becoming a crafty consumer!

               LEELA
A holophonor? Only a few people in the
whole universe can play that. And they're
not very good at it.

posted by griphus at 5:22 PM PST - 21 comments

Neil Hilborn - "OCD" (Rustbelt 2013)

"How can it be a mistake when I don't have to wash my hands after I touch her?" Neil Hilborn performs his piece "OCD" at the 2013 Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam.
posted by hippybear at 4:40 PM PST - 11 comments

Born and Left/Dust

A beautiful animated music video for Born and Left by Joachim Pastor [more inside]
posted by memebake at 4:39 PM PST - 1 comments

She Blinded Me ... with SCIENCE!

Our Science Fiction Movies Hate Science Fiction. An intelligent discourse from The Awl about the state of modern science fiction movies. [more inside]
posted by zooropa at 3:33 PM PST - 172 comments

An Oral History of the Breakfast Taco

From Texas Monthly, a brief oral history from Austin of The Most Important Taco of the Day (there is a recipe included!) At Slate, L.V. Anderson comments on the article noting, "Valera’s and Vasquez’s memories are proof that the mainstreaming of Mexican cuisine happened because Mexican immigrants worked hard in the face of racism, not in the absence of racism." The authors' website, Taco Journalism, has taco-related interviews and reviews.
posted by Area Man at 2:16 PM PST - 83 comments

Hyperloop

HYPERLOOP Elon Musk & SpaceX finally reveal their plan for a radical new mass transportation system, Hyperloop.
posted by GuyZero at 2:10 PM PST - 302 comments

A Grand Day Out

One of this summer's most popular holiday activities in Bristol is Gromit Unleashed, the Gromit Trail. Wallace and Gromit were created by Nic Park for his graduation film A Grand Day Out from The National Film and Television School. He completed the film after joining Aardman Animations - they took him on before he finished the piece, allowing him to work on it part-time while still being funded by the school. Ever since then, Wallace and Gromit have continued their adventures, and Aardman have continued to document them. Wallace is a Yorkshireman (he was going to be a Lancastrian but the actor who voiced him could only do Yorkshire) who loves Wensleydale cheese, Gromit is his dog. Wallace is a dreamer, a creator of fabulous inventions, Gromit (though mute) his down-to-earth and capable rescuing sidekick. The Gromit Trail is a series of 80 model Gromits placed in and around Bristol, and the activity is to try and see them all. There's a map, toys, model Gromits and an auction at the end, in aid of Bristol Children's Hospital. [more inside]
posted by glasseyes at 2:08 PM PST - 26 comments

fury, tenacity, obsessiveness, and extravagance

On the fifty-eighth anniversary of Thomas Mann's death in 1955, a YouTube playlist with almost all of his top twelve favorite recordings. [more inside]
posted by ariel_caliban at 1:36 PM PST - 8 comments

Has the camera bubble burst?

On his excellent blog The Visual Science Lab professional photographer and author Kirk Tuck give his theory for why camera sales are down almost 43% year over year.
posted by lattiboy at 12:13 PM PST - 78 comments

Edna the Inebriate Woman

The BBC broadcast a great deal of socially-aware drama during the 60s and 70s. Two of it's major successes were by Jeremy Sandford. In 1971 Edna the Inebriate Woman featured a harrowing performance by Patricia Hayes and probably opened middle-England's eyes to the problems of homeless people in general and female alcoholism/homelessness in particular. [more inside]
posted by epo at 12:04 PM PST - 2 comments

It wasn't the Facebook it was when I was seven.

"I'm 13 and none of my friends use Facebook."
posted by box at 10:59 AM PST - 252 comments

Something split and new

Njideka Akunyili's acrylic painting over photocopies combines figurative, domestic scenes with the cacophony of globalism and traditional decorative motifs.
posted by klangklangston at 10:56 AM PST - 5 comments

What happens when four guys try to cross the Atlantic…in a rowboat

They battle crosswinds and waves that attack from the side, rocking them relentlessly and slamming the oars into the rowers’ shins until they’re bruised and bleeding. They go ashen with seasickness, but Hanssen is the worst. “I can vomit and row at the same time,” he notes cheerfully. -- Rowing across the Atlantic Ocean
posted by Chrysostom at 10:45 AM PST - 16 comments

The US 'cannot incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation'

Sentencing reform for drug offences is expected be announced by the US Attorney General. Eric Holder will announce Monday that he is mandating the Justice Department modify its policies so that certain non-violent drug offenders will no longer endure “draconian mandatory minimum sentences,” according to excerpts of his remarks to American Bar Association. [more inside]
posted by arcticseal at 10:33 AM PST - 72 comments

Even a stopped clock...

"Spot checks and being demanded to show your papers by officialdom are not the British way of doing things. Yes, of course we want to deal with illegal immigration, but what's the point of rounding people up at railway stations if at the same time they're still flooding in through Dover and the other nearly hundred ports in this country.
I'm astonished that the Home Office has become so politicised that they're actually advertising 'another 10 arrested'. Before long they'll be live video-streaming these arrests. I don't like it. It really is not the way we've ever behaved or operated as a country. We don't have ID cards; we should not be stopped by officialdom and have to prove who we are." -- Even UKIP leader Nigel Farage thinks the home office goes too far with its politically motivated immigration raids at railway stations.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:55 AM PST - 19 comments

We’re lucky enough to be living in that moment

Behind the scenes at Warby Parker, the "Warby Parker of Glasses" for the post-wealth generation.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:54 AM PST - 53 comments

Another legend passes

Eydie Gormé dies at 84. They met as cast members of the Steve Allen Show in the 1950s, and it was the start of something big. Known ever since as "Steve and Eydie," they became fixtures of Las Vegas and television variety shows. But Eydie had many hits of her own along the way, such as Blame It On the Bossa Nova, and she became famous in Latin America for her Spanish recordings like Amor. [more inside]
posted by dnash at 9:44 AM PST - 21 comments

These are the riches of the poor

The Smiths Poster Exhibition is at BarcelonaNQ in Manchester until August 31, 2013. It features art from the personal collection of obsessive Smiths fan Marc Capella. The Guardian has a slideshow of some of the more famous pieces.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:40 AM PST - 10 comments

How Georgetown Law gets Uncle Sam to pay its students’ bills

In the realm of higher ed, law schools are at the forefront of finding creative ways to maximize revenue. Georgetown Law has pioneered an academic Ponzi scheme where they are able to essentially use the Federal loan money given to new students to pay for public interest law graduates' loans.
posted by reenum at 9:19 AM PST - 48 comments

Under the Sea

The NOAA's Okenaos Explorer is surveying the ocean floor off the East Coast of the United States. Livestream 1. Livestream 2. Livestream 3.
posted by dortmunder at 9:14 AM PST - 38 comments

"Texas is heaven for men and dogs, but it’s hell for women and horses.”

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives. "In 2011 the Texas state legislature slashed family planning funds, passed a new sonogram law, and waged an all-out war on Planned Parenthood that has dramatically shifted the state’s public health priorities. In the eighteen months since then, the conflict has continued to simmer in the courts, on the campaign trail, and in at least one PR disaster. Meanwhile, what will happen to Texas women—and their fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands—remains very much unclear."
posted by zarq at 9:04 AM PST - 35 comments

Stop-and-frisk on trial

Stop and Frisk violated the constitutional rights of New Yorkers, federal judge holds. The ruling comes after the two-month trial in Floyd v. City of New York and finds the tactics and policies of the NYPD in conducting stop-and-frisk systemically violates both the 4th and 14th Amendments of New Yorkers of color. Stopping short of striking down stop-and-frisk more broadly, already upheld numerous times by the Supreme Court, Judge Scheindlin ordered an independent monitor to oversee reforms to the practice.
posted by likeatoaster at 8:06 AM PST - 69 comments

SunCalc - a solar azimuth calculator

Suncalc is a nifty online app that lets you input a geolocation and a date, and then uses google maps to graphically display the azimuth for the sunrise, sunset, and current time, for that particular date. Example: the sunset for the May 28 Manhattanhenge.
posted by carter at 7:35 AM PST - 28 comments

"Some things...can only happen once."

The Blip: What if everything we've come to think of as American is predicated on a freak coincidence of economic history? And what if that coincidence has run its course?
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:35 AM PST - 108 comments

Achilles sat on the shore and looked out to the wine-dark sea

That Homer used the epithet "wine-dark" to describe the sea in the Iliad and Odyssey so puzzled 19th Century English Prime Minister William Gladstone that he thought the Ancient Greeks must have been colorblind. Since then many other solutions have been proposed. Scientists have argued that Ancient Greek wine was blue and some scholars have put forward the case that Homer was describing the sea at sunset. Radiolab devoted a segment to the exploration of this issue, saying that Gladstone was partly right. Another interpretation is that the Ancient Greeks focused on different aspects of color from us. Classicist William Harris' short essay about purple in Homer and Iliad translator Caroline Alexander's longer essay The Wine-like Sea make the case for this interpretation.
posted by Kattullus at 4:41 AM PST - 108 comments

'Ploughboy's Lunch, Harry, please'

'The ploughman's lunch is a UK pub meal who's core components are cheese, chutney, and bread. It can also include such items as boiled eggs, ham, and pickled onions, and is accompanied with beer.' [more inside]
posted by panaceanot at 4:39 AM PST - 92 comments

More Than Just Books

MetaFilter's own Jessamyn West (jessamyn) interviewed in today's NPR feature, For Disaster Preparedness: Pack A Library Card?
posted by jim in austin at 4:27 AM PST - 60 comments

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