October 2, 2013
I might have stared too long at the paintings
Comics artist Grant Snider's (previously) ongoing series Who Needs Art? is part whimsical introduction, part loving tribute to the great artists and art movements of the 20th century. [more inside]
“No, it's WEE-ner. Like a penis.”
Harsh realm.
The year was 1992. Grunge had hit the cultural mainstream, and the New York Times, overdue for a trend piece, printed an article featuring a "Lexicon of Grunge Speak." Their list featured terms such as wack slacks for old ripped jeans, harsh realm for bummer, and bloated, big bag of bloatation for drunk. [more inside]
You are what you read
Pump action oreo separator
The Slingshot Channel presents: The pump action oreo repeater, with optional separator. The toilet brush sniper rifle. The toilet brush revolver. Bonus - Can a slingshot hit harder than a handgun?
Hey, let's go see that movie soon as we get off the plane!
Swinging Sixties Film Posters from Japan - Bootleg Film Posters from Ghana - Retro Film Posters from Thailand
My God, it's full of stars
Chandra Sky Map - Joe DePasquale runs through the process of creating the map and some helpful tips for using the interactive tool.
Don't Look Down
Menace
The thing about being an unstoppable force is that you can really only enjoy the experience of being one when you have something to bash yourself against. Allie Brosh is in fine form in the latest Hyperbole and a Half, which is oddly appropriate for almost-Halloween.
Previously. Previouslier. Previouslierer. Previousliererer.
You, sir, are a fine dog.
I Was Made For Dancin'
The fever spread to fans across the country and every conceivable economic circumstance -- from an ex-Playboy Bunny to a hardcore riot grrrl, from a Park Avenue princess to an ultra-feminist dockworker. Their idol worship might have made for an innocent story of feminine fawning, but it escalated into a tragicomic odyssey, an interactive soap opera of warring Web sites, giddy cross-country road trips and existential epiphanies. A look at the twisted world of Leif Garrett fandom, from 2000.
Feminist Video/Film Artists
ROSLER, Martha: Martha Rosler Reads Vogue (1983) and Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads The Strange Case of Baby S/M (1988) are accessible works of video art created by Martha Rosler in association with Paper Tiger Television to illustrate basic issues in feminist thought. Rosler is also well-known for her video performance piece, Semiotics of the Kitchen (1975), which continues to inspire new work. Her Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained (1977) has a similar take on the measurement of a woman's body.
KREISINGER, Elisa: Pop Culture Pirate is the home of remix artist Elisa Kreisinger's feminist utopian works, including videos related to Mad Men: Set Me Free (2012); Don Loves Roger (2012); and The Evolution of Peggy Olson (2013). But also Queer Housewives of NYC (2009): One & Two. Queer Carrie (2009-2010): One, Two, & Three. The Real Feminists of Beverly Hills (2011). The Real House Husbands of New Jersey (2012). Ann Romney Loves Women (Remix) (2012). And For Your Consideration: Oscars 2011 (2012).
That's two ... [more inside]
Your face might melt before the popsicle.
Dean Martin used to make a joke in his stage shows: "I don't drink anymore. I freeze it and eat it like a Popsicle". But how exactly does that work? It's not exactly as simple as whipping up some Koolaid, poring it in a mold and sticking it in the freezer. And though summer is over and autumn is here, that's no reason not to indulge in a Tequila Lime Margarita Pop or a Havana Mojito Popsicle. And if you're feeling really daring, how about some Absinthe Pops?
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin
Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile (full album stream) is the second instalment in Matana Roberts's projected 12 part Coin Coin series of albums, "using the language of acoustic jazz to look at ideas of race, class and gender politics in American society".
Coin Coin was the nickname of a totemic figure from African-American history, Marie Thérèse Metoyer – a freed slave who founded a community along the Cane River in Louisiana in the late 18th century where people of colour enjoyed greater freedoms and opportunities than they could in most other places in the South. [more inside]
Things... that deserve a cease and desist order
Terrible Things is a party-style board game that recently finished a successful Kickstarter campaign. Yesterday Quinn & Sherry, the publishers of Things..., sent a cease and desist order to the makers of Terrible Things demanding that the game's title be changed.
"Is your position that any board game published with "Things" in the title infringes on Quinn & Sherry's trademark?"
Their answer was a simple "Yes." [more inside]
"Is your position that any board game published with "Things" in the title infringes on Quinn & Sherry's trademark?"
Their answer was a simple "Yes." [more inside]
The Perils of Presidentialism, in Action
Political theorist Juan Linz died Tuesday at the age of 86. His work focused on comparative government, including studies on totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Linz was also a prominent critic of the presidential system of government used in the United States and in much of Latin America. In his essay, "The Perils of Presidentialism" (later expanded into book form as The Failure of Presidential Democracy), Linz argued that presidential systems are inherently unstable, as they invariably lead to standoffs between the president and the legislature, each with competing claims to legitimacy. Thus, as in many Latin American countries, presidential systems frequently collapse, and often are replaced with dictatorships. The one exception to that pattern has been the United States--at least until recently. In an interview in January of this year, Linz argued that the US was succumbing to the same dysfunction as other presidential regimes. In Slate, Matthew Yglesias commemorates Linz by warning that the American system of government may be doomed to an endless cycle of crisis and constitutional disintegration, as evidenced by the government shutdown. Dylan Matthews concurs, arguing that the shutdown is "James Madison's fault."
Ten movable bridges (plus two bonus items)
Ten movable bridges for you.
“I tell them you learn to write the same way you learn to play golf...”
Silk Road shut down, owner indicted
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized the domain of the popular online black market site Silk Road (previously), and indicted the site's owner, Ross Ulbricht, better known as Dread Pirate Roberts (previously).
"This is just a fashionable jacket."
There has been much debate about how to respond to Russia's recent anti-LGBT laws in the context of the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics. This previous post on the Blue covers it all in fine detail.
In potentially related news, Germany unveiled their uniforms their athletes will wear during the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as during medal presentations. [more inside]
Applying Nicoll's Law
"Voyager's main transmitter shines at a feeble 22 watts, which is comparable to a car-mounted police radio or -- in visible light -- a refrigerator light bulb. Though incredibly weak by the standards of modern wireless communications, Voyager's signal is astoundingly bright when compared to most natural objects studied by radio telescopes." -- Even as Voyager 1 has left the Solar System (again), it can still be easily detected by telescopes on Earth, showing once again there ain't no stealth in space.
The Leidenfrost Maze
When a liquid is dropped onto a smooth plate that is heated to a specific temperature well above its boiling point, boiled vapor will get trapped underneath the remainder of the droplet insulating it from the hot plate, allowing it to dance around the plate like oil on a wet surface in what is known as the Leidenfrost effect. Intriguingly, surfaces that are grooved into the shape of a saw blade will cause droplets suspended by the Leidenfrost effect to predictably skitter in the direction of the groove, allowing University of Bath undergraduate students Carmen Cheng and Matthew Guy to build a fascinating maze. [more inside]
"Between the pit of man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge."
On this day in 1959, The Twilight Zone premiered. Here is the orginal pilot with a long pitch from Rod Serling to sponsors explaining the show, and previewing the first season up front
Mutual Interests: Running, Balls, Water, Rolling
Need six minutes of idyllic friendship, peace, and harmony in your life? Horse and dog are friends.
(dance break)
Marina V. Shifrin, a news clip producer, was frustrated with her job. So she made a video, and using the power of interpretive dance, she sent her boss a message. It is awesome. [via]
The sound of graph paper
GaMuSo is an application of BioGraph-based data mining to music, which helps you get recommendations for other musicians. Based on 140K user-defined tags from last.fm that are collected for over 400K artists, results are sorted by the "nearest" or most probable matches for your artist of interest (algorithm described here). [more inside]
Taco Bell Telephone
Logo Mashups mixed famous brand names with somebody else's famous logo. Some were subtle, others obvious, some ingenious, other hilarious and some that will change the way you look at a logo forever. And then there's the simple mashing of two brand names together for the merger that must never happen.
"You are only as much as you settle for."
Four days before her death in 1970, Janis Joplin spoke with The Village Voice's Howard Smith for what was to be her last interview. PBS Digital Studios presents an animation (SLYT) of that interview. (via BoingBoing; PBS Digital Studios animations previously)
« Previous day | Next day »