September 30, 2014

Two farts, both alike in dignity/In fair Hoboken, where we lay our scene

Mad:)Takes - 188 Free Online Mad Libs™
posted by not_on_display at 10:07 PM PST - 14 comments

Dream detected. Dream detected.

Kichwateli (Kenya, 2011; 07:46), The Day They Came (Nigeria, 2013; 03:59), The Tale of How (South Africa, 2006; 04:28; previously), Alive in Joburg (South Africa, 2006; 06:22; previously), Umkhungo (South Africa, 2010; 30:34; trailer alt. link), Evolve (Egypt, 2014; 24:17), Mwansa the Great (Zambia, 2011; 23:11; two trailers as alt. links), and Pumzi (Kenya, 2009; 21:51): eight short works of SF/fantasy via The Skiffy and Fanty Show.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 9:12 PM PST - 1 comments

Identity of Accuser, Shrouded by City, Is Sought

For five years, Kenneth Creighton was held in jail, suspected of involvement in the killing of a bystander outside a bodega in the Bronx. In 2012, the charges were dropped. Mr. Creighton was released from Rikers Island. He has since filed a lawsuit against New York City for false arrest and malicious prosecution, and has sought the name of his accuser — a man who told the police that he had seen Mr. Creighton hand a gun to his brother, Dior, who was charged in the shooting.
posted by wondrous strange snow at 8:06 PM PST - 16 comments

Sweet Mother of Preston Tucker!

The Middleman might have only lasted 12 episodes (and one follow up comic) in 2008, but it has not been forgotten. The cast reunion and live reading of the new comic, Pan-Universal Parental Reconciliation, is now online. [more inside]
posted by dinty_moore at 6:32 PM PST - 13 comments

In Over 50 Sex Tips, My Vagina is Not Mentioned Once

Desireé Dallagiacomo & Kaycee Filson - "Real Sex Tips" SLYT (NSFW) Two women give their take on magazine sex tips in a tandem button poetry piece.
posted by Michele in California at 6:17 PM PST - 42 comments

The name Kristian Matsson is in fact an anagram for Taekwondo Steve.

Swedish fly fisherman and filmmaker Rolf Nylinder takes a trip to Slovenia with Kristian Matsson (Tallest Man on Earth) and friends. [more inside]
posted by jimmythefish at 4:04 PM PST - 7 comments

how the rich fly

what it's like to fly the $23,000 Singapore Airlines Suites Class (includes lots of photos) [more inside]
posted by flex at 2:55 PM PST - 175 comments

In Another Thousand Years the Dogs Will Actually Speak

This dog wishes to continue playing in the water. (SLYT)
posted by Ipsifendus at 2:30 PM PST - 43 comments

A "revolution in a cornfield", or a "failed experiment"?

This Is What's the Matter With Kansas: Sam Brownback tried to create a conservative utopia. He created a conservative hell instead. [more inside]
posted by tonycpsu at 2:22 PM PST - 106 comments

The Future of China's Confucius Institutes

As Western universities drag their feet, the future of China’s soft power push might be in the developing world. Confucius Institutes have been under close scrutiny recently, as many academics argue the Chinese government-funded institutes wind up restricting academic freedom at their host universities. In July, the American Association of University Professors published a report blasting the Confucius Institute model as a partnership “that sacrificed the integrity of the [host] university and its academic staff.” The AAUP recommended shutting down U.S. Confucius Institutes unless they could meet certain standards of academic freedom and transparency.
posted by Nevin at 1:48 PM PST - 14 comments

I can't deal with jam hands.

293 Thoughts I Had While Watching “Gilmore Girls” For The First Time. Gilmore Girls begins streaming on Netflix tomorrow.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:07 PM PST - 108 comments

Everybody say, "Is he all right?" And everybody say, "What's he like?"

"Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Long Suicide of Montgomery Clift" by Anne Helen Petersen for Vanity Fair. (Warning: graphic description of car accident in the link.) [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:30 PM PST - 21 comments

OMG WATER

The Happiest Dog EVAR (SLHUFFPO)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:48 AM PST - 21 comments

Retweet or share if you believe in heroes

"The marine is already back in his seat when the professor comes to. His indignation cuts immediately through the fog of having been knocked unconscious, and he is pissed. Why, the quite-probably-concussed professor sputters, would the marine do such a thing?" The Ballad of Marine Todd
posted by Legomancer at 10:45 AM PST - 111 comments

DIY Ramen

The Food Lab: Make Your Own Just-Add-Hot-Water Instant Noodles. "Wouldn't it be great if you could get all of the convenience and pleasure of instant noodles—the portability, the just-add-water cooking, the lunch-sized portions—but pack it full of fresh vegetables and real, honest-to-goodness flavor? Here's a secret: you can, and it's easier than you think."
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:53 AM PST - 105 comments

Ambridge: the MMORPG

But consider how much of videogaming is controlled by corporations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Apple. Their influence is far-reaching, and their decisions often show little regard for their audience. That’s dangerous. The PC is a fine and flourishing alternative, but it’s an anarchic ecosystem. There ought to be a third way, an organisation with the influence of a corporation but the interests of the people at heart. That’s what the BBC can represent. That’s what I feel we need in games.
In an impassionate editorial at Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Graham Smith draws on the Corporation's pioneering role in television as he sets out his reasons for wanting the BBC to enter videogaming.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:22 AM PST - 37 comments

Cooking is really stupid.

Of course long before my boyfriend cheated on me or I made awful carrot/goldfish cum pasta sauce, cooking shame and sexual shame have gone together. For each, you put the very core of yourself out there in a very pointed attempt to give someone a one-of-a-kind sensual experience, and to differentiate yourself, to declare, "Please notice and appreciate my singular talent" and when at your urging they sample and reject, well, it is not good.
An Argument for Never Cooking Again
posted by almostmanda at 9:17 AM PST - 292 comments

The story of America’s most pliable, pernicious, irrepressible myth.

Slate's Jonathan Swansburg has an interesting piece on the mythos and myth of the Self Made Man.
posted by Trochanter at 9:00 AM PST - 32 comments

The 50 Weirdest Movies Ever Made

Inspired by the recent Criterion re-release of Eraserhead on Blu-ray, Flavorwire offers up The 50 Weirdest Movies Ever Made — "many that rival Lynch’s strange aesthetic."
posted by Otis at 8:38 AM PST - 86 comments

We are continuous with everything here on Earth.

The Illusion of "Natural": In an excerpt from her new book On Immunity, Eula Biss deconstructs desires to flee from "toxins" and embrace what is "natural". Where the word filth once suggested, with its moralist air, the evils of the flesh, the word toxic now condemns the chemical evils of our industrial world. This is not to say that concerns over environmental pollution are not justified—like filth theory, toxicity theory is anchored in legitimate dangers—but that the way we think about toxicity bears some resemblance to the way we once thought about filth. [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:23 AM PST - 45 comments

◕︵◕

The Eyes of Hitchcock (SLVimeo)
posted by griphus at 7:49 AM PST - 11 comments

Mine tastes like a doctor's office.

Irish People Taste American Junk Food for the First Time
posted by Evilspork at 7:21 AM PST - 173 comments

The "electronic tongue," which tastes food.

Her political party has since been thrown out of office, in a May military coup, but her initiative in culinary diplomacy lives on.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:35 AM PST - 6 comments

I hear he made it to France, eventually.

A squirrel goes swimming (SLYT). A mesmerizing video of a squirrel at the beach. It's hard not to wonder exactly what is going on in that fuzzy little creature's head. Also, what's up with the birds?
posted by vernondalhart at 1:22 AM PST - 69 comments

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