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The hard drive is the new bling.
posted by delmoi at 10:58 PM PST - 60 comments

"Without any particular training or background, this patient, just prior to his enlistment, enthusiastically embarked upon the writing of novels. He sees nothing unusual in this activity." Who was the patient? A 21-year-old seaman named Jack Kerouac, who would become the author of On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Dr. Sax, Visions of Cody and many other great novels that you should be reading instead of these gaddam websites. (The diagnosis from the Navy doctors, "schizoid personality," earned Kerouac a discharge.) A hilarious and poignant find from The Smoking Gun.
posted by digaman at 8:53 PM PST - 19 comments

Sarah Polley, the little girl in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, finds out that another little Canadian girl is about to star in another Terry Gilliam film, and writes--and warns--about her experiences. Gilliam responds.
posted by amberglow at 8:42 PM PST - 93 comments

Sinking the Supership is the latest episode (airs 4 Oct) of the PBS show Nova about the IJN Yamato. I didn't know that the Yamato had been explored like other wrecks. I only became aware of it when I saw underwater scenes of the Yamato wreck in the Star Blazers 25th anniversary documentary DVD. Flash forward 250 years.

In the year 2199, Earth is under attack by the mysterious planet Gamilon. Gamilon planet bombs will render the Earth unlivable in one year's time. The IJN Yamato is rebuilt as Space Cruiser Yamato, and she undertakes a journey to planet Iscandar to save Earth. Can Space Cruiser Yamato and her Star Force crew save mankind? There are only 364 days left...
posted by Fat Guy at 4:54 PM PST - 30 comments

Party like a rock star...on the cheap. For only $12,95, a book by freelance writer Camper English reveals low-budget secrets like: * pick up money from the floor on clubs * don't pay for drinks, use a flask * take your girlfriend out to "first one free" (link may be NSFW) salsa classes * get a student ID for discounts, even if you're not a student. (Via Lifehacker)
posted by iviken at 1:27 PM PST - 28 comments

Swedish Concert Posters. Welcome to one of Sweden's largest private collections that today contains about 900+ different posters to promote concerts in Sweden! [via swedesres.se]
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:13 PM PST - 5 comments

40 Things That Only Happen In Movies!
posted by persia at 12:55 PM PST - 46 comments

Why you yellow rat bastard...When I get ahold of you, I’ll put two zigs on both cheeks. You’ll remember me for the rest of your.... I know you! Don't worry! Louis 'Red' Deutsch spouted perhaps the filthiest, yet most eloquent cursing you may ever hear. I got an underground tape of the prank phone calls from a buddy of mine back in high school. Certainly it's influenced everyone from Matt Groening to the Jerky Boys. The prank calls to Red have even had a (lousy) movie feature (with perhaps the best casting I've ever seen). More than 25 years later I still laugh my head off at even the cadence of Red's profanity.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:33 PM PST - 16 comments

ungreek.toolbot.com, alternate greeking for those days when you can't stand to read Lorem ipsum one more time.
posted by signal at 12:29 PM PST - 8 comments

Two Sciences of Mind. A good article on the emerging dialogue between neuroscience and Buddhism (previously discussed here). Allan Wallace of the Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama's plan to speak at an upcoming neuroscience conference has led to controversy and petition wars.
posted by homunculus at 11:47 AM PST - 50 comments

The Wright brothers may not have been the first to fly (fascinating articles on other claims: Sir George Cayley, Richard Pearse and Gustave Whitehead) but they were pretty decent chaps, according to Kate Carew in her strange 1910 interview and delightful caricature. '“Your $7,500 flyers,” I said to the Wright brothers, “will prove very useful, I should think, to establishing a safe and somewhat aloof aristocracy.' Perhaps less well known is the brothers' role in defending America from the Spanish, and Fu Manchu (Comedy Quicktime links).
posted by godawful at 11:30 AM PST - 13 comments

Mystery respiratory outbreak in Toronto: 73 sick, 4 dead. Yesterday the media quickly snapped up assurances [video] that ruled out influenza or SARS. Said officials, "We can certainly reassure people that this is not SARS, um, there is no SARS in the world ... Can I give you a guarantee that it's not influenza, at this time not, in a few hours, probably ... as the day goes on the public health lab has more and more results." A day has passed with no word on these tests. Affected areas are reportedly quarantined, and some Internet communities are growing alarmed over the contradictions at yesterday's press conference.
posted by rolypolyman at 11:23 AM PST - 24 comments

Free live European football streams. A Chinese website streaming all of the top European football that you can throw a stick at. Good quality realtime streams augmented by excitable Chinese commentators. Not sure of the legality of the enterprise but is worth a look all the same. If you are addicted to UEFA Champions League, or want to know how Roman Abramovich's Chelski are getting on then here is the place.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 6:16 AM PST - 14 comments

Charming and unexpected vocabulary from many languages. Why did Persians need a word, alghunjar, to express 'the feigned anger of a mistress'? Could there really have been that many insincere mistresses in Persia? Why does Russia need a word meaning, 'dealer in stolen cats'? Or 'someone with six fingers'? And who can resist the Chinese xiaoxiao, meaning, 'the whistling and pattering of rain or wind'? "These are more than funny foreign vocabularies; they are tiny windows into the way other people live, and the obsessions that drive them." [via]
posted by Slithy_Tove at 4:14 AM PST - 90 comments

A new, controversial law making its way through the Finnish parliament is confusing, but its implementation may infringe on already existing Finnish laws of free speech. With decisions set to be made later this week, a demonstration has already been planned for Tuesday. On the other hand, some sources seem to be saying that this new law should present no major issue. Thus, it seems like there's a small amount of confusing legal voodoo going on: while the law wouldn't make it illegal to copy music to MP3 players, it would mean that "the breaking of copy protection for the copying of the content of a sound or video recording for personal use would be prohibited." It looks like no one knows exactly what they want out of this law, or how to interpret it. DMCA, anyone?
posted by taursir at 1:13 AM PST - 6 comments