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Four Decades in North Korea: The Far Eastern Economic Review interviews Charles Robert Jenkins, who deserted the US Army in South Korea in 1965 and spent almost 40 years in North Korea. Enjoy a fascinating story that parallels the history of the Cold War and is still unfolding.
posted by gen at 11:39 PM PST - 4 comments

Zell Zell Zell
posted by Addiction at 10:34 PM PST - 138 comments

Half the man he used to be or Copper John can't go to the john anymore.
posted by Bag Man at 9:21 PM PST - 8 comments

Fruity
posted by swift at 7:42 PM PST - 22 comments

Userplane: A blog about online dating trends. Be the first to find out if an online site is tanking financially, new site launches, and miscellaneous finds like Apprentice Friendster profiles, services like lemondate (see if others thought your date was a lemon), and animalattraction.com (a dating service for pet lovers). See also Online Personals Watch for similar online dating news.
posted by onlyconnect at 5:19 PM PST - 4 comments

The inauguration of September heralds the opening of the current opera season within the United States. Predictable mainstays of standard repertoire will return, but a few notable performances will make their debut this season. One of the new performances that has been already generating excitement is Margaret Garner, to be hosted by Detroit’s Michigan Opera Theater in May. With the libretto composed by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, the opera is a musical extrapolation of her 1987 novel Beloved. Margaret Garner is the autobiographical account of a Kentucky slave who journeys to Ohio with her family to live in freedom. However, the Garner family is intercepted during their pilgrimage by slave traders who threaten capture, and rather than have her daughter live in bondage, Margaret murders her. Top mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves stars as the lead, and it will be directed by Kenny Leon, last seen conducting P. Diddy in Broadway's Raisin in the Sun.
posted by naxosaxur at 2:15 PM PST - 13 comments

Geography Olympics "Thanks to its global accessibility, the Internet is the perfect medium to hold an international competition such as The Geography Olympics. To join the challenge in support of your country, you simply need to select which country you will be representing and take the quiz. The quiz consists of trying to locate 10 randomly selected countries on a map of the world. It is different every time."
posted by Lizc at 2:07 PM PST - 27 comments

Somebody is keeping count of nearly everything. A valuable suppliment to Harper's Index, because you know statistics don't lie. via Those Damn Dirty Apes
posted by wendell at 1:53 PM PST - 4 comments

After swearing off his (five-part) "Jersey Trilogy" forever with the release of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back in 2001, Kevin Smith (already busy with Fletch Won and The Green Hornet has announced that View Askew is preparing a Clerks sequel, entitled Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks. The movie "is about what happens when that lazy, 20-something malaise lasts into your 30s." Since many of us were among those the "lazy 20-somethings" that launched Smith's career, this raises a few questions, most of which are inside. The simple one, though, is this: Is anyone still buying what he's selling? For what it's worth, I am.
posted by Sinner at 1:49 PM PST - 40 comments

Did NASA fake the moon landings? I'm convinced!
posted by glenwood at 1:26 PM PST - 19 comments

Paul Stamets (previously discussed here) says mushrooms are potent antiviral and antibacterial agents, and they also might end up saving the Earth. I wonder what the fungi would say (or sing.) [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus at 1:08 PM PST - 4 comments

A new newspaper for London. The first edition of The Line comes out today - apparently, despite its size, the UK capitol lacked an independent paper until now (please feel free to correct this if it is wrong). It's still thin, but does provide an interesting alternative look at issues both local and global.
posted by jb at 12:19 PM PST - 17 comments

Bando is the brutal fighting style of Burma. Trouble is, its Grandmaster may be a fantasist and a fraud.
posted by the cuban at 12:13 PM PST - 4 comments

NSFW: Childhood misconceptions about sex. Both the male and female (linked as this post's title). I found them quite amusing. In a similar vein, we also have I Used to Believe, which I think has been MeFied previously.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:55 AM PST - 18 comments

Columbus swift boat vet angry about letter Swift boat veteran Bob Anderson of Columbus is ticked. It bothers him that Sen. John Kerry's swift boat history has become such a political hot potato. But he's even more irritated that his name was included - without his permission - on a letter used to discredit Kerry. "I'm pretty nonpolitical," the 56-year-old Anderson said Tuesday. So, when he found out last week that his name was one of about 300 signed on a letter questioning Kerry's service, he was "flabbergasted."
posted by Postroad at 9:04 AM PST - 78 comments

I demand four minutes and twenty seconds of your life. [via ni.vu ni.connu]
posted by lagado at 9:01 AM PST - 24 comments

1001 Things To Hate About The Convention. Funny, and exhaustive, stuff from New York Press.
posted by fungible at 7:12 AM PST - 28 comments

Canto do Brasil [Flash, sound, MiguelCardosoFilter] is a street-level view of Brazil made by photographer Geoffrey Hiller, more precisely a view of Salvador Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo.

Another amazing project of his is Burma, Grace Under Pressure [Flash, sound], exposing Burma's beauty and sadness.

Also check Eastern Europe: Visions & Icons [Flash] ,where Hiller's post-Berlin Wall photographs are accompanied by Lev Liberman's moving text, New York City: After The Fall [Flash, sound], an elegy to New Yorkers affected by 9/11, and his journal from Vietnam.
posted by Masi at 6:44 AM PST - 3 comments

Sir Clive Woodward to switch from rugby to football? Sir Clive Woodward is the head coach of the England rugby union team. Appointed in 1997, he has had stunning success, including winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. On Tuesday, the Daily Mail carried an incredible story: Woodward was planning to turn his back on rugby in favour of association football (soccer). Premiership club Southampton appear to be his next port of call with his ultimate aim, the England football team. Is it possible for a head coach to switch sports like this? Many experts think not. Is there any previous example of a coach switching sports like this?
posted by salmacis at 5:42 AM PST - 24 comments

The world's ten worst dictators -- this year anyway. Saddam, who was No. 3 Worst last year, has dropped off the list. Charles Taylor of Liberia (No. 4), also out of power and gone. Moammar Gadhafi (previously No. 8) and Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko (No. 10) also miss the new A list not because, according to the compilers, "they have improved but because other dictators have gotten worse."
posted by jfuller at 3:54 AM PST - 20 comments

2 people making noise {hover yer mouse, click blind, or check the key inside}
posted by dobbs at 2:46 AM PST - 28 comments