October 3, 2007
voudou party in Brooklyn
Stephanie Keith met a Vodou priest at a Buddhist interfaith event in New York. He invited her to photograph and experience the religious world of his Haitian culture. Ten ceremonies later, she offers her images and reflections on these late-night rituals [5 minute video]. [more inside]
"He saw the type designer as a kind of public servant"
It’s easy to talk about Adrian Frutiger in the past tense, since his most influential fonts – Univers, Egyptienne, and the eponymous Frutiger – are all at least thirty years old. But he is still alive, and in the summer of 2006, as he was presented with the Society for Typographic Aficionados’ annual Typography Award, type designer Mark Simonson gave a presentation on how Frutiger [pdf, 18 MB] affected, and continues to affect, him and all others who benefit from good typography.
Please. Do not Reply to All.
It's a lesson all listserv managers dread learning the hard way: Don't let your subscribers "Reply to All." The WSJ Washington Wire reports on an incident today in which one user's reply started all those on a Department of Homeland Security "Open Source Intelligence Report" e-mail list on a chain-reaction of replies and counter replies that offers lessons on how (not?) to run an e-mail list. Maybe Michael Chertoff was on to something last year when he stopped using e-mail at all.
Exotic Names for Exotic Shapes.
The Johnson Solids are a set of 92 semi-regular polyhedra, all of which are uniquely named and numbered. Except for the familiar square pyramid they all have exotic names like the Hebesphenomegacorona. A Hebesphenomegacorona in space. Number 26, the Gyrobifastigium, is unique in that if copies of itself are properly stacked together they will leave no gaps, thus making it the only space filling Johnson Solid.
The First Time News Was Fit to Print
The first time the Simpsons, the iPod and Microsoft were mentioned in the New York Times. Also, Times Square, Marijuana and Googling plus much more (up to 9 volumes so far-scroll down for a list with links) with links to the actual articles or PDFs. Some others are Hillary Rodham, Nintendo, the Drudge Report and the VCR.
A 4-star Ruby On Rails book is free for 60 days
"Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications" book is free for 60 days. Reader reviews give it 4-stars at Amazon. Like most first editions, there are a few typos to watch out for. [more inside]
My momma told me . . .
Picture if you will Mississippi, a state still sweltering from heat, and injustice. A place where juke joints in and around Clarksdale are still home to the blues. Junior Kimbrough redefined the blues here. He started playing at a young age, but he was 62 before he released his first album, just 5 years before he died of heart failure in Holly Springs. Sad Days, Lonely Nights [Youtube] [more inside]
Dear Ketel One Marketing Department...
"My dad started crying, I started crying, my brother started crying," says Carl Nolet Jr., who sounds on the phone like he's not kidding. "It was exactly what we wanted to say. It was simple, it was black and white, it was genuine."
Dear Ketel One Drinker
Don't You Like Our New Oh So Minimalist Ads?
Dear Ketel One Drinker
Don't You Like Our New Oh So Minimalist Ads?
Master of the TV Theme Tune
Ronnie Hazlehurst RIP. Who? Well if you've seen any of the BBC's sitcoms and light entertainment programmes from the 70s onwards, you would have probably heard his work... [more inside]
Babies are sponges
You can teach your mini-me all kinds of wonderful things. Among them to settle themselves to sleep, to use american sign language or be physically superb.
Now, you can teach them to save themselves from accidentaly drowning in the pool (flash vid).
100 wallets dropped in front of hidden cameras to test honesty...
Wallettest. "...Each of the 100 wallets contained $2.10 in real money, a fake $50.00 gift certificate, some miscellaneous items and a clearly written ID card identifying the lost wallet's rightful owner. We were curious as to how honest people would be and wanted to see how different groups would compare to each other. For example, who would return the wallets more often... men or women? Young or old?" Results.
The Man Who Didn’t Shoot Malcolm X
The Man Who Didn’t Shoot Malcolm X. Khalil Islam, formerly known as Thomas 15X Johnson, was convicted of assassinating Malcolm X and served 22 years in prison. One of the co-defendants later swore Khalil Islam was innocent. "The fact was, I was just the patsy. The perfect patsy." [more inside]
Best straight out of the car
Under the sea!
Darling it's better down where it's wetter. For $2.5 million, this beautiful home can be yours: Jelly-fish 45, designed by Giancarlo Zema is a floating dwelling unit for up to six persons. It's spacious dimensions are 10 metres high with a diameter of over 15 metres. The Jelly-fish 45 would be ideally situated in sea parks, atolls, bays and seas rich in flora and fauna. The Jelly-fish 45 allows the sea dwelling owners to live either above or below sea level in perfect harmony with the ocean environment.
The Problem with Atheism
Sam Harris critiques contemporary atheism. Harris, best known for Atheist tracts "Letter to a Christian Nation" and "The End of Faith," calls for a more nuanced, modest atheism rationality.
The Right (wing) to Voice an Opinion
Clear Channel backs Rush Limbaugh regarding his comment about troops who speak out against the war as being "phony soldiers." Clear Channel CEO Mark P. Mays said in a letter to Rep. Harry Reid: "While I certainly do not agree with all views that are voiced on our stations, I will not condemn our talent for exercising their right to voice them," Mays wrote. This appears to be a flip-flop from when Clear Channel blacklisted the Dixie Chicks.
Green Grass
Cry of Brazil
Choro (the Portuguese for 'crying', pronounced "shoh-roh") is a style of Brazilian music that originated in Rio de Janeiro in the nineteenth century. Choro combines Afro-Brazilian rhythms with conventions of European dance music. It is primarily instrumental music with great scope for improvisation and is traditionally played by flute or clarinet, guitar and/or cavaquinho (page includes English translation), although banjo or bandolim are also commonly heard.
Some names to know in choro are Pixinguinha (1897-1973), Jacob do Bandolim (1918-1969), and Paulinho da Viola, (born 1942). [more inside]
Not for acrophobes.
Human flight. Birdman suits enable the wearer to fly. You can jump from land or sky. If that's not exciting enough for you, add a rocket.
Leave them all behind
Shoegazer 101 Shoegazing (also known as shoegaze or shoegazer; practitioners referred to as shoegazers) is a genre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted until the mid 1990s, peaking circa 1990 to 1991. The British music press (notably NME and Melody Maker) called this genre "shoegazing" because the musicians in these bands often maintained a motionless performing style, standing on stage and staring at the floor while playing their instruments; hence, the idea that they were gazing at their shoes. The shoegazing sound featured extensive use of guitar effects, and indistinguishable vocal melodies that blended into the creative noise of the guitars. Some notable bands are Ride, Lush, Swervedriver, Slowdive, Curve, and American bands Lilys and the Swirlies. [more inside]
So you like electronic music?
If you like electronic music, you probably already know about some of the blogs that offer free live set downloads. You might even know about mpiii. But, they all pale in comparison to the one and only mixes db.
Vikings come to Boston
Why is there so much Viking-themed architecture in Boston? The answer lies in racism and baking powder. Eben Horsfeld revolutionized bread-making in the 1890s when he developed Rumford's Baking Powder. Inspired by a Norwegian superstar and nationalist and a mysterious stone, he became convinced that the Viking Lief Ericson had landed in Cambridge, which he called Norumbega, and funded monuments and research to that effect. The Boston elite, threatened by new Irish immigrants, quickly seized on this concept, since it showed that the cleaned-up Viking, and not Catholic Columbus, that had first settled their sacred city. A century later, it was discovered that the Vikings did reach America first, though never Boston.
Doody Calls
So you want to own a dog, but without all the hassles of dog ownership? Well, there's always doggy
daycare, dog walkers and even bakeries that cater to Cujo. But in the end, you're still stuck with the
worst chore of all - picking up all the yard mines that Poopsy has left for you. Not anymore.
criminals, corpses & crime scenes - a vintage collection
Crime and punishment - a curiously compelling and quirky collection of historic crime photos, including unusual mugshots, corpses & crime scenes. A few favorite characters: idle and disorderly persons; "something amazing" about Harry; a cocky quartet; an illicit drug trader who "drives his own motor car and dresses well"; a subject who refused to open his eyes; charged with conspiring to procure a miscarriage; and guilty of unlawfully possessing cocaine.
This is just one of many marvelous vintage image sets from a historical consultant from Amsterdam - a mammoth treasure trove!
This is just one of many marvelous vintage image sets from a historical consultant from Amsterdam - a mammoth treasure trove!
What "overweight" looks like and why BMI is nuts.
Illustrated BMI Categories, a Flickr project where you can see what "underweight," "normal," "overweight," "obese," and "morbidly obese," BMI categories look like on real people (safe for work) (mostly women). I think that many people would be surprised by what 180lbs looks like.
In addition to not looking what you might have expected fat to look like, it may also not mean what you thought it meant: [more inside]
Handbags of Horror
Handbags of Horror High-fashion handbags: They're expensive and ugly. So ugly, in fact, that they could only have been inspired by monsters from horror movies. Radar compares and contrasts.
Free as the wind
There are several ways to roam the world. But if you want to do it like a king, you have to master this. Maybe mix it with that. Or this (spanish spoken here). Then, you can bring your old acoustic guitar, hit the street and sing.
The Alternative Nobel Prize
The Right Livelihood Award "celebrates and supports people of vision. People who have ideas and apply them in concrete initiatives for the public good. They give hope for tomorrow, for a world in peace and balance. They demonstrate how we can overcome oppression, war, poverty, the destruction of our environment, and a widespread sense of meaninglessness and fear."
The coolest man alive.
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