January 24, 2016
Euler's Disc
Netflix's Chelsea Does
This weekend Netflix released Chelsea Does, a new documentary series that follows comedian Chelsea Handler as she explores the topics of marriage, racism, drugs, and Silicon Valley. Some reviews have been quite positive whereas others are much more negative.
Surfboard + bells + whirlies + tap
Walk Off The Earth + two tap dancers cover "Hello." Gets more impressive as it goes along. (Walk Off The Earth previously. No autotune on this one, though [that I can discern].)
Meet Ted Cruz’s Secretive $11 Million Donor
Critics warned that Citizens United would bring about a new era of corporate influence in politics, with companies and businesspeople buying elections to promote their financial interests. So far, that hasn’t happened much… Instead, a small group of billionaires has flooded races with ideologically tinged contributions.
Zachary Mider profiles the enigmatic Bob Mercer, the single biggest donor of the current campaign, for Bloomberg: “What Kind of Man Spends Millions to Elect Ted Cruz?” [more inside]
"Uptown Funk"
Inflatable Air-tube Men: Dancing ambassadors from Trinidad
They're nearly ubiquitous - plastic tubes with "arms" and painted faces, writhing around from the air blown up from below. You could imagine a number of origins for these advertising .. things - innovative leaf blower who started with plastic bags, a bounce-house designer who wanted to branch out. But the real story involves two artists, one from Trinidad & Tobago, the other from Israel, and the 1996 Olympics. For the short version, here's the Tale of Tall Boy: The Origin of the Inflatable Man (1:32). For a longer take, 99% Invisible got an interview with Peter Minshall, and a piece for re:form.
Such a good doge
If you like Shiba Inus, and you like slow-paced videos, you will love this hour-long video of a doge on a leisurely walk through a Japanese village. They visit a temple, stop for some noodles, take some photos, and create some paw print art. No dialogue, only music. No Japanese knowledge required. [more inside]
Inside Outsider Art
This weekend, New York City hosted the 24th Annual Outsider Art Fair. Director Rebecca Hoffman shares some highlights, the New York Times provides an overview, and Bloomberg Business considers whether Outsider Art has gone mainstream. Meanwhile, a Christie's Ousider Art auction the same weekend brought in over 1.5 million dollars. [h/t]
A library of illusions, misdirections and prestidigitation
The Conjuring Arts Research Center is a research library in Midtown Manhattan with over 12,000 volumes devoted to the arts of magic. They publish a semiannual journal by the name of Gibeciere. And for those who prefer not to wait for the mail, there's Ask Alexander, a searchable database of over 2,500,000 pages of magic instruction.
Chill Communication
Netflix and Thrill - does the streaming TV company face a rocky future, or are its traditional competitors, desperatly trying to pin down its ratings, just suffering from jealously?
Unfortunately, for various reasons, the project got cancelled.
On my last day at Ubisoft, while I was saying goodbye to my colleagues, nobody asked why I was leaving to work on my own games. Even people who barely knew me had a pretty good idea. A lot of them were actually envious, although they worked on Syndicate too, realizing one of their own dreams. I’m sure that many professional game developers might have a clue about why I made this move.
So, I decided to write about the reality of AAA games development or: how I learned to stop worrying and go indie.
The Road Everyone Hates
The devil's innovation on the snake
A Reader on Black Revolutionaries in the United States
SNOW FROLIC
The claw was coming from inside the house!
Kittens star in far superior remakes of classic horror films.
#freekesha
Wondering why pop star Kesha (or Ke$ha) hasn't produced any new music since 2013? Sony refuses to release her from her contract, which bars her from producing music with anyone else but producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, until she's made eight more records. So why is she refusing to work with Dr. Luke? Because, she alleges, he coerced her into drinking and taking drugs and sexually assaulted her when she was just 18, and his ongoing abuse led her to develop an eating disorder. Sony has called the allegations a "transparent and misguided attempt to renegotiate her contracts." [more inside]
Millions of sushi, sushi for me.
What lift lines?
Sheer Innovation: The iconic L'Eggs egg
"The plastic shine of the L’eggs egg pantyhose package is instantly recognizable to anybody who browsed grocery, drug, or convenience store shelves during the 1970s and ‘80s. First introduced in 1969, L’eggs brought women’s hosiery out of the specialty shop and to the mass market, providing women with an alternative to the frippery of garters and stockings and simultaneously creating a merchandizing phenomenon that changed not only the hosiery industry but those of package design and visual retailing."
I'm a graph just like you
[In late 2015], László Babai, of the University of Chicago, announced that he had come up with a new algorithm for the “graph isomorphism” problem, one of the most tantalizing mysteries in computer science.
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, And The Terribly Cursed Emerald
In this 15 minute game by Crows Crows Crows, a team led by William Pugh (The Stanley Parable), slip into the soft-soled shoes of the mastermind responsible... ... silently cross the darkened lawn of the mansion... ... hold tight to the tranquiliser gun in your pocket, and commit the most audacious heis-- oh god I can't do this any more, i'm joining the strike. i didn't want to - i honestly didn't want to, but it's gone too far [more inside]
Does this mean I have to be /me/ for all eternity?
"No more I hear thee purr and purr as in the frolic days that were"
Cat Funerals in the Victorian Era: "During the early 19th century, it was not uncommon for the mortal remains of a beloved pet cat to be buried in the family garden. By the Victorian era, however, the formality of cat funerals had increased substantially. Bereaved pet owners commissioned undertakers to build elaborate cat caskets. Clergymen performed cat burial services. And stone masons chiseled cat names on cat headstones." Ends with a lovely elegy for Peter, aged 12, by poet Clinton Scollard. [more inside]
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