September 3, 2014

But I have nothing to read no longer an excuse

Why read an average book when you could read a great book? With so little time to read, why waste time on a so-so book? But how do you find the best books to read? Most people read whatever they stumble across at the moment. Other folks read book reviews and get recommendations from friends. Even fewer join book clubs.
For those despairing of finding enough decent science fiction to read, James W. Harris sets out how to find the best science fiction books to read, including his own classics of science fiction list. [more inside]
posted by MartinWisse at 11:54 PM PST - 113 comments

A lot of effort goes into managing BMs at BM

Meet the "Shit Queen of Burning Man," Commander of 1,400 Porta-Potties
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:08 PM PST - 28 comments

What a bottomless chasm of vacuity they reveal!

If the Beatles and their like were in fact what the youth of Britain wanted, one might well despair. I refuse to believe it – and so will any other intelligent person who casts his or her mind back far enough. What were we doing at 16? I remember reading the whole of Shakespeare and Marlowe, writing poems and plays and stories. At 16, I and my friends heard our first performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; I can remember the excitement even today. We would not have wasted 30 seconds of our precious time on the Beatles and their ilk. Are teenagers different today? Of course not.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 9:50 PM PST - 74 comments

"The present I was in right then didn’t make a lot of sense."

A Day of Speaking Truth to Power - Quinn Norton visits the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:17 PM PST - 20 comments

The Complexity of What We Are Seeing is Overwhelming

Astronomers discover that our galaxy is a suburb of a supercluster of 100,000 large galaxies they have called Laniakea
posted by shoesfullofdust at 7:50 PM PST - 63 comments

Love pancakes, hate flipping?

Let's bake pancake squares! Everything you knew about breakfast is a lie. [more inside]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:36 PM PST - 81 comments

Built for Living!

The Mar Vista Tract in West Los Angeles, California was designed by Gregory Ain in 1947, in collaboration with Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day. Ain was a significant "second generation" modernist architect who had worked with and was influenced by the first generation of California Modern masters - European immigrants Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler. Ain believed in bringing good design to the masses; he belonged to the school of thought that espoused architecture's potential to shape a more egalitarian world. He is credited as being the first architect to design a house that did not contemplate servants. A lot of Ain’s ideals were achieved in the "Modernique Homes" development, the name under which the Mar Vista Tract was marketed in 1948. The intent of the Mar Vista Tract was to create a housing development that provided cost efficient housing while advancing the cause of Modern architectural design. [more inside]
posted by Room 641-A at 7:36 PM PST - 15 comments

Yesteryear: Pacific Ocean Park on Santa Monica Pier

"The train would head back into the heart of the mountain, where more volcanic geysers lay in wait, followed by an earthquake – with a disorienting, rotating tunnel. Escaping this, the ride continued over a truly scary trestle, suspended over the ocean below, into the final scene, an indoor tropical thunderstorm, replete with lightning and strong gusts of wind. Exiting into the sunlight again, the farewell touch was the 'Goony Bird' – sitting on a clutch of cartoonish, oversized eggs – who chirped, 'Thank you for riding with us!'" [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:28 PM PST - 9 comments

So but people are going to hear from a whole lineup of bands, today...?

Boots Riley, (previously,) explain’s his band’s communist philosophy to a happy local Fox News host. Fox station reacts.
posted by Huck500 at 6:12 PM PST - 29 comments

Three Pie Charts That Prove You Shouldn't Slack Off in College

Students who did as little as possible during college continued to drift after graduation [more inside]
posted by Nevin at 5:54 PM PST - 60 comments

A Democrat and an Independent run together against a Republican

Democrat and Independent merge campaigns in Alaska governor’s race The Democratic nominee for governor of Alaska and an independent candidate announced Tuesday that they have merged their campaigns, marking the beginning of an unprecedented political alliance in the state that could put a Republican-held seat in play this fall.
posted by dfm500 at 5:48 PM PST - 9 comments

Photogrammar

Photogrammar is a web-based platform for organizing, searching, and visualizing the 170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945 created by the United State’s Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI). [more inside]
posted by ColdChef at 5:11 PM PST - 22 comments

Bah!

Ram is not fond of quadcopter, quadcopter pilot. (SLYT)
posted by griphus at 3:41 PM PST - 35 comments

Bucket Bear is Free

Bucket Bear Rescued A bear who had had his head stuck in a bucket in the Perry Township of northwestern Pennsylvania's Clarion County was freed by a group of concerned citizens who pinned it down and cut the bucket off with a bowsaw. (Video). [more inside]
posted by sweetkid at 3:33 PM PST - 50 comments

A dot of orange beneath an art-deco masterpiece.

Halfway through my three-week, 417-mile journey down the “most endangered” river in America, the water began flowing backward and the mud started talking. It spoke in baritone gurgles, like Barry White trapped in a bong. You know what this is, John? No, Barry White mud. This is QUICKSAND.
posted by lonefrontranger at 2:48 PM PST - 10 comments

Breaking Madden 2: Break Harder

The 2014 NFL season begins tomorrow, and with it comes the return of MeFi Favorite Jon Bois' weekly quest to destroy the laws of God, man and video-game football, Breaking Madden. The first installment, in which he seeks to record 201 sacks in a single game with Houston Texans rookie Jadeveon Clowney, is already up. Breaking Madden previously. His similar basketball series, NBA Y2K.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:39 PM PST - 37 comments

Nicky Da B, Dead At 24.

NOLA bounce artist and rapper Nicky Da B is dead. Nicki was best known for his colorful, aggressively infectious music and videos, including Hot Potato Style (previously), Express Yourself with Diplo (previously), and his collaboration with photographer Clayton Cubitt Go Loko (NSFW, strobe and flashes warning)
posted by The Whelk at 2:11 PM PST - 29 comments

The Future Gets Closer, Part VII

Direct brain-to-brain communication in humans has been demonstrated for the first time. DARPA begins work on miniaturized implants to control and regulate the nervous system. Researchers study using brain signals to operate drones. [more inside]
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:56 PM PST - 56 comments

One County, 90 police forces

Drive along an approximately 10-mile stretch along the east-west Route 115 (also known as the Natural Bridge Road), and you’ll cross through sixteen different municipalities. “Theoretically, you could be driving home from work on this road, and if you have expired tags or no inspection sticker, you could get pulled over 16 different times in 16 different towns, and written up for the same violations each time”. How St. Louis County, Missouri profits from poverty.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:54 PM PST - 71 comments

"The difference between knowing and understanding"

Matt Zoller Seitz writes about his personal experience with coming to understand his own white privilege, in particular with interactions with police. [more inside]
posted by Librarypt at 12:25 PM PST - 8 comments

Idiot Ruins Game?

Brief Interviews With Not-So-Hideous Pitch Invaders. Pitch invaders previously on Mefi.
posted by josher71 at 11:25 AM PST - 17 comments

Ron Jeremy, a not terribly tiny pianist and a harmonica man

If you heard about the 7" record released for Record Store Day, "Understanding and Appreciating Classical Music with Ron Jeremy," you know Ron Jeremy plays piano with some level of proficiency and flair, and you could probably guess that he throws some crass humor into his act (yes, that's his favorite classical music/pianist joke, he drops it a lot). Ron f*cknig Jeremy also blows the harmonica (NSFW words and vaguely unsafe images), and shares his love of Christian worship music with a fairly rough rendition of Amazing Grace on the harmonica. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 11:18 AM PST - 17 comments

"The decision of this Court is but one studied decision among many"

"Public attitude might be becoming more diverse, but any right to same-sex marriage is not yet so entrenched as to be fundamental." U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman posts a ruling that Louisiana’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages is constitutional. [more inside]
posted by komara at 9:53 AM PST - 114 comments

It's turtles all the way down

Pixels, by Randall Munroe [more inside]
posted by mysticreferee at 9:30 AM PST - 63 comments

Carry That Weight

Emma Sulkowicz is a student at Columbia University; she was raped by a fellow student during her sophomore year, and is one of 23 Columbia and Barnard students who filed a federal Title IX complaint in April alleging that the university mishandled sexual assault cases. Now a senior, Emma plans on carrying an extra-long, twin-size mattress across the quad and through each New York City building – to every class, every day – until the man she says raped her moves off campus, as her senior art thesis, "Carry That Weight" [more inside]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:33 AM PST - 185 comments

Rise like a phoenix

During the late 1970s, the Warsaw Pact states had the Intervision Song Contest, an ideologically-sound Communist alternative to Eurovision, held in the Polish seaside resort of Sopot and attended by mostly Soviet-aligned and non-aligned states. The contest as such last ran in 1980; 1981's was cancelled due to the rise of Solidarność and the protests in nearby Gdańsk and it never returned as an international spectacle. But now, Russia is reviving the Intervision contest, after a 34-year gap. [more inside]
posted by acb at 6:54 AM PST - 31 comments

"There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality."

The Science of Truthiness
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:05 AM PST - 26 comments

Black Males, Autism, and the Police

"He’s black, male and autistic," she says. "[I] never know if he’ll be accosted. You ask questions later and you shoot first. It’s happened too many times all over this nation." In the wake of Ferguson, parents of autistic young men of color discuss their fears. [more inside]
posted by magstheaxe at 5:54 AM PST - 13 comments

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