September 20, 2007
70s and 80s Soul Music
4 Brothers Beats. This is a tribute to all the original music that built hip-hop – the best beats in soul, funk & jazz collected by four brothers. An amazing collection of out-of-print releases from the 70s and 80s.
The Sumerian Language
Sumerian is the first language for which we have written evidence and its literature the earliest known. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, a project of the University of Oxford, comprises a selection of nearly 400 translated literary compositions recorded on sources which come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and date to the late third and early second millennia BCE. Not enough for you? Why not impress your friends (and confuse your enemies) by translating some english words into Sumerian?
Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.
COLOURlovers blog - science, design, art, culture, travel - you name it, they can relate it back to color. [more inside]
Neutron = negative exterior + positive middle + negative core
Particle accelerator experiments show that the neutron has a negatively charged exterior, a positively charged middle, and a negative core. Abstract from Physical Review Letters.
A Tribute to a Friend, and A Plea
Even Astronauts Commit Suicide. Former Navy doctor, astronaut and Space Shuttle mission specialist, ham radio operator, and one time flight surgeon of The Blue Angels, Dr. Chuck Brady, was denied a hip replacement by the Navy shortly before he took his own life in July, 2006, and, according to his friend Dr. Ed Drum, this was a pivotal point in the depression that led Dr. Brady to apparently take his own life. [more inside]
Bose Electromagnetic Suspension
"The grand finale was something out of a Matrix-style movie. A two-by-six piece of wood was placed on edge and the Bose car drove toward it at moderate speed and then leapt over the board as elegantly as a cat, touching down softly." Edmunds reviews the new Bose electromagnetic automobile suspension.
The kids're skee-ratchin'.
DJ Sara and DJ Ryusei. Sara is 8 years old. Ryusei is 5 years old. I reckon maybe those are papa's hands working the platter and fader in this clip? Also on the vinyl tip, and coming at ya outta Japan, the SOUNDWAGON.
All the World Loves a Bronson
Playboy. Cowboy. Mandom. The late Charles Bronson and his perfect chest, in one of his finest early pre-Death-Wish roles. And look out for Percy Helton. Here's a shorter version with more horse. Via here. [more inside]
Greatest Interviews of the 20th Century
The Greatest Interviews of the 20th Century according to The Guardian. The interviews are with Princess Diana, John Lennon, Marlon Brando, Dennis Potter, Francis Bacon, Marilyn Monroe, Sex Pistols, Malcolm X, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margaret Thatcher and Fidel Castro. You know who else is interviewed? That's right, Nixon. Oh, and there's a Hitler interview, too. Apparently he likes tea. So do I. Funny ol' world. [via Neil Gaiman]
Landis Guilty
Say It Ain't So, Floyd. Landis found guilty of doping, must surrender 2006 Tour de France title.
previously on MeFi: the original thread about his apparently heroic stage comeback, and the first thread about the doping
A tony ward?
The photography of Tony Ward: Erotic; Candid; Striking; Blunt; Intimate; Whimsical; Louche.
Galleries: Portraits; Alternative; Wasteland; Close-ups; Fashion; Tableaux Vivant.
some images NSFW
Galleries: Portraits; Alternative; Wasteland; Close-ups; Fashion; Tableaux Vivant.
some images NSFW
The New New Environmentalism
Not ones for subtlety, the Death of Environmentalism guys (previously) are at it again with a Manifesto for a New Environmentalism. Their Apollo Alliance is getting early support from both Clinton and Obama.
But it's not the only "new environmentalism" out there. There's this New Environmentalism, while others would include both market-based approaches among the the idols of old environmentalism.
Oh, bollocks! Now I have to MULTI-TASK!!!!!!
"Tammy Wynette was quite wrong when she sang 'Sometimes it's hard to be a woman'. It's not. It's always hard to be a woman. Especially if you're a man." Hard-hitting journalism from The Daily Mail. [more inside]
Cui bono?
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5%. Wall Street aggressively demanded the cut to stop the sub-prime mortgage contagion from triggering a credit crisis among large US and foreign investment banks and the collapse of their over-leveraged hedge funds, which ultimately threatened to drag the US economy into recession. The market rallied this week in response to the Fed's move. But there is no free lunch. [more inside]
Canadian Money becomes Real Money
Parity - The Canadian Dollar is (almost) at equal value to the American Dollar for the first time since 1976.
Immortal soul prisoned in a house of clay
The Por-Bazhyn Fortress (meaning “clay house” in Tuvan) is believed to have been built in the 8th century CE at the behest of the Uighur kagan Mo-yen-çur. Its remains occupy a 3.5 ha location on a spectacular island location in Lake Tere-Khol in the south west part of the Republic of Tuva. This summer a project to excavate and ultimately preserve the site began [Embedded video] (attracting some notable visitors). Via
Lost New York City
Randall's Lost New York City Collection "documents the destruction of many of New York City's 19th century tenement and other buildings, so that we can mourn the lost [and] appreciate the endangered." Gallery 1, 2. [more inside]
Run away the ray-gun is coming
"It is a horrible device nonetheless, and you are forced to wonder what the world has come to when human ingenuity is pressed into service to make a thing like this." Raytheon says, "The system is available now and ready for action." [more inside]
Rephotographing Vietnam
Vietnam Then/Now. The enormously talented photographer courtneyutt traveled to Vietnam with her father, who served in 1970-1971. courtneyutt turned his Vietnam photo album into a rephotography project, revisiting pagodas, roundabouts, waterfalls, etc. etc. Ain't never been there, but I can tell you, Vietnam has really changed.
Nothing warlike here -- she says, "my father was mostly interested in buildings! which makes sense, because after he returned from vietnam he became an architect." (See previous rephotography projects on mefi here and here. Nothing as personal as courtneyutt's.)
Netanyahu Speaks
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
Randy Pausch is a pioneer in virtual reality, a computer science professor, a Disney Imagineer, an innovative teacher, and the co-founder of the best video game school in the world. One year ago he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and after a long and difficult fight he's been given just a few more months to live. This week he gave his powerful, funny, and life-affirming last lecture to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon University, entitled "How to Live Your Childhood Dreams". The WSJ's summary, and a direct link to the complete video of the lecture (2 hours, and unfortunately streaming WMV). Warning: hilarious jokes about dying.
Vintage scenes from the life of Satan
Diableries: bizarre tabletop dioramas of scenes from the life of Satan, made around 1870. [via the nonist] [more inside]
Stephen Fry, tech blogger
Stephen Fry just started blogging. His first post? A post on the iPhone, the history of PDAs and the nature of technological innovation and desire, that's roughly the length of a medium-sized novella.
Not The Grey Variety
Lastgraph
Lastgraph takes your username at Last.fm and generates a beautiful chart of your musical listening habits. [via] [more inside]
Lament-Wow
Lament of the Highborne (divx)
A haunting machinima from Blizzard Entertainment. It tells the story of Sylvanas Windrunner, one of the last defenders of her civilization. She was killed and resurrected by Arthas, the Lich King. In his moment of weakness she rebelled, and now reigns as queen of the undead. [more inside]
Spock It To Me
Mr. Spock's MUSIC FROM OUTER SPACE. The original sixties classic, "Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space" is perhaps the most sought after Nimoy album. Like a piece of fine blue cheese, thirty years have added another dimension to this remarkable debut." "Can you believe that this record was created by the same label that brought you Pat Boone?" The complete collection.
Scenes from "The War Tapes"
TED presentation: "Filmmaker Deborah Scranton talks about and shows clips from her documentary The War Tapes, which put cameras in the hands of Charlie Company, a unit of the National Guard, for one year in Iraq. The soldiers' raw footage and diary excerpts tell a powerful, unsettling story of modern war.
A Plague of Mice
Sweet mother of Christ that is a lot of mice. The Guiness Book of World Records' official record for worst mouse infestation ever (with video) will freak the shit out of you. Literally millions of meat-eating pig devouring Australian biblical plague mice!!
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