October 22, 2011

How the Potato Changed the World

Charles C. Mann on How the Potato Changed the World. Photo Gallery. Video. Alfred Crosby Interviewed on the Columbian Exchange.
posted by Rumple at 10:36 PM PST - 38 comments

Barbarian from Beyond the Clouds Collects Tribute from Barbarians Beyond the Seas.

The Eunuch Admiral: A Ming cup leads to a Berkeley scholar and the marvelous tale of China’s greatest seafarer.
posted by Winnemac at 9:39 PM PST - 14 comments

GeekGirlCon Power!

Was GeekGirlCon 2011 the most important con of the year? [more inside]
posted by Artw at 7:39 PM PST - 91 comments

Outside Consensus Reality

In 2003 and again in 2009, Director Andy Glynne, with Mosaic Films and BBC4 created Animated Minds, a series of animated documentaries to express the subjective experiences of various kinds of mental health disorders. [more inside]
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:54 PM PST - 5 comments

Hervé This

Reconstructing nostalgic childhood food at Grant Achatz Next Restaurant. Background on 'Eater'. Previous menu of 1906 Paris. The business behind Next. Moléculaire!
posted by growabrain at 4:37 PM PST - 33 comments

Everything is a remix, but you gotta start with something

So you want to try and remix someone else's songs, but all you have are a random collection of instrumentals and acapellas to work with. Fret not! First, you can find inspiration from the folks who share their reworkings at Tea's Björk Remixes, as there aren't many Björk acappelas to start with, but they still find a way. Then check out the Acapella Archives blog, for a lot of indie hip-hop acapellas and more vocal tracks. If you've browsed those archives, you might notice a link to Beastie Remixes, a community for remixers of Beastie Boys. They have an acapellas page which has more than just vocal tracks: there are also copies of show vinyl, with the tracks that the Boys have used to back up their live shows.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:18 PM PST - 13 comments

Save us, Wonder Woman!

Gory images of Gaddafi. Exotic pets being slaughtered. The EU on the verge of a financial meltdown... Your 90-second mental health break, courtesy of Lynda Carter.
posted by wensink at 12:32 PM PST - 94 comments

LA vets demand housing at giant VA campus

There are an increasing number of homeless military vets living in Los Angeles. The VA in Los Angeles has a 400 acre parcel of land meant to house vets. Slight problem: the VA has decided to lease the property to various area businesses instead of using the land for its intended purpose.
posted by reenum at 11:52 AM PST - 36 comments

The Big Shroom

City Pages NYT: A very rainy summer results in NYC being overrun with mushrooms
posted by The Whelk at 10:47 AM PST - 23 comments

Tying it all together for those on the right

Karl Denninger (founding Tea Party member, origin of teabag idea, Obama-voter, supporter of OWS) breaks it down for his right wing readers: Even better, the press reaction, especially from the right wing, can be counted on to get this wrong and claim that the government had stolen capitalism. The truth is much simpler: The taxpayer was just plain robbed by the government and banks acting together.
posted by 445supermag at 9:45 AM PST - 81 comments

Throwing molten iron for fun and profit

"To do this work all you need is strength. So long as you're not afraid to die, it's ok"
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:35 AM PST - 35 comments

Pirate Driving

"I had to drive with only one eye open as the camera was blocking my other eye, quite tricky," he said. Luca DiGrassi tests an eye-level camera in an old Toyota F1 car.
posted by juiceCake at 6:58 AM PST - 58 comments

"It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize"

The Economist wants to know: Are four new translations of Homer’s “Iliad” a bit much? After nearly 3,000 years, does the “Iliad” really need translating again?
posted by Fizz at 5:29 AM PST - 71 comments

60 Second Adventures in Thought

60 Second Adventures in Thought is an animated series exploring famous thought experiments. More on: Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel, Schrödinger's cat, the Grandfather Paradox, the Chinese Room Argument, the Twin Paradox, and Achilles and the Tortoise. [more inside]
posted by bluefly at 3:19 AM PST - 72 comments

The other 1%

This guy lives off of $20,000 a year. This guy lives off of $11,000 a year. [more inside]
posted by elemenopee at 1:33 AM PST - 128 comments

YAD KCOL SPAC

OCTOBER 22 IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!!! EVERY YEAR WE GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SALMON FOR TOAST, EVERY YEAR WE GET A CROCKETY BLOAT, EVERY YEAR WE GET DRUNK ON THE DOCKS, AND EVERY YEAR WE HAVE SEX WITH OUR CAPS LOCKS!!!!
posted by eyeballkid at 12:13 AM PST - 213 comments

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