October 22, 2014
"My father directed his stupid humor at me."
Louise Bourgeois Peels an Orange. A short film about her father, a little girl, and an orange.
Sexagenarians
Playboy models from Miss March 1954 to Miss January 1979 on meeting the male gaze then—and now. (NSFW!) "There is, according to Playboy magazine’s official style guide, no such thing as a former Playmate." [more inside]
Dogs reenacting U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments
If there is any justice in the world, this will revolutionize the way you consume Supreme Court news. Fed up with the Supreme Court's refusal to allow cameras at oral arguments, John Oliver has proposed an alternative to existing television coverage that relies on artists' renderings of the justices. Oliver has released more than ten minutes of raw footage of dogs dressed up like the members of the Court, and has challenged news outlets to use the footage to create less-boring recreations of oral arguments. [more inside]
When Baby gets that first haircut, Mother saves the hair.
"Hair work mourning jewelry served as a sentimental and tangible memorial to the deceased. In the late 1700s, hair work started to become professionalized, but tradesmen were soon deemed untrustworthy. Customers would send the hair of a loved one by mail, expecting it to be returned worked into a piece of jewelry. Instead, some tradesmen returned pre-made pieces containing anonymous hair... Some makers even replaced human hair with sturdier horsehair—leaving the jewelry with none of the sentimental attachment Victorian women coveted." [more inside]
Nothing Lasts Forever
"The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God."
Antonio Gaudi [YouTube] a 1984 Japanese documentary film by Hiroshi Teshigahara about the works of Antoni Gaudi. In the film the director visits the buildings including houses in Barcelona and the Sagrada Família. [more inside]
Detroit with a Boardwalk
"Wonder why Atlantic City is failing? The better question, the one asked by people who know the town: Why did anyone think it would ever succeed?"
The Kids At Duke Are Going To Love This
Over a period of 18 years, 3100 students at The University of North Carolina were afforded the opportunity to pad their GPA by taking classes that had no actual requirements, and never even met. Over 1/2 the students were athletes, who without the help presumably would not have stayed eligible to compete make money for the University.
FTDI driver destroys devices
USB-to-serial chip manufacturer FTDI has deployed a new version of their Windows device driver, with a small bug: it doesn't work with many Arduinos and is damaging devices that used to work. Turns out that it isn't a bug -- FTDI's new driver is deliberately "bricking" devices if it thinks the chip is counterfeit (which is fairly easy to see). FTDI says it is in the license agreement and claims that they are "definitely not targeting end users", despite the fact that their actions are destroying end-user devices where the purchasers had no idea about the provence of the chips inside. Various communities respond and some question if the new driver is malware.
"Portraits carry a weight, they are seen as markers of respect"
South African artist and activist Gabrielle Le Roux is in San Francisco for the first time to show the "Proudly African & Transgender" portrait and story series she co-created with trans* activists from Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya in 2008, together with a selection of portraits from the "Proudly Trans* in Turkey" collaboration with eighteen trans* activists from across Turkey. The portraits and stories will show at the SF LGBT Center at the invitation of the Queer Cultural Center and SFSU Sociology Dept. Galería de La Raza will be showing the 18 part video installation of the Proudly Trans* in Turkey exhibition, through which trans* activists from across Turkey explore the issues they want to discuss on film. [more inside]
If I'm unworthy
Blake Mills is a Venice Beach-based guitarist who combines lo-fi folk with smart pop-rock song craft. Described by Eric clapton as "the last guitarist I heard that I thought was phenomenal" Premier Guitar interview (long), Rolling Stone interview, soundcloud: If I'm unworthy
Woof.
“unusual horrible hand”
It's been a big couple of months for very large (and very strange) theropod dinosaurs. The eight-foot-long arms of Deinocheirus mirificus were discovered in the Gobi in 1965 and the animal has remained a source of speculation since then. Now a team of paleontologists from the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources has discovered two well-preserved specimens, and it seems that Deinocheirus was even weirder than we thought. Here's the Nature link.
You're Doing It Wrong: Peeling Oranges edition
...just don't try this at home and don't take it too seriously
"A hypocrite knows right from wrong; they know they sin when they sin," Chmielarz said. "They find excuses for these sins just like we find excuses to mow down another hundred enemies in a video game. And even though they don't follow it, deep down they know which way the moral compass is pointing. Hatred takes the excuses away from us and asks us to enjoy the sin out there in the open." Outrage and debate over the announcement of the upcoming video game "Hatred," in which players take the persona of a mass shooter. (Disturbing content in both video and company website.) [more inside]
the lifeblood of our business
In the Billfold: a tale of a day-long tryout for an early stage startup, the author dubs The Start-up From Hell. The COO responds in Valleywag, "While it posted today (October 21), the article [...] relates to an experience she says she had 15 months ago. [...] At that time, Handybook employed less than 15 people. Today, Handy is two and a half years old and employs 200 people. [...] In short, as we continue to grow we're working every day to ensure the happiness of our customers and employees." [more inside]
Pay Any Price
Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 Iraq deaths
Seven years after American security contractors killed 14 unarmed Iraqis by firing machine guns and grenades into a Baghdad traffic circle, a jury in Washington on Wednesday convicted all four Blackwater Worldwide guards charged in the incident on at least some of the charges.
Help Joe Find the Best Shirt Ever
Joe Archibold, 12, is hunting for a specific polo shirt. He has a little less than a year to find it, and he needs your help.
It has blue, white and gray stripes and a blue collar, and it's pretty much the best shirt ever. Joe has the same shirt in size small and medium. He needs a large, to be able to keep intact his now five-year tradition.
Joe has worn the same shirt for every school picture since second grade.
(Related previously.)
style blogger fashion babes
Lydia is a black Canadian queer femme and in-betweeny who writes about fashion for Autostraddle.
Rosariummm sews herself adorable crop tops and throws the cutest cat parties ever.
Chelsea has a wicked sense of humor and gives dating advice.
Rosariummm sews herself adorable crop tops and throws the cutest cat parties ever.
Chelsea has a wicked sense of humor and gives dating advice.
Gunmen on loose in Downtown Ottawa
The Canadian Parliament and several blocks of Downtown Ottawa are unlocked down following shootings inside Parliament Hill and at the War Memorial a block away. A soldier at the memorial was shot. One shooter is dead inside Centre Block of Parliament Hill but at least one is still on the loose.
Reports that shots have been fired inside the Chateau Laurier. University of Ottawa and large chunks of downtown Ottawa are on lockdown. Said one officer: "if you can see Parliament Hill, you're not safe."
Live coverage from CFRA in Ottawa.
Footage of exchange of gunfire inside Centre Block (Via Globe and Mail).
This comes a day after another Canadian Forces officer was deliberately killed by a car that targeted him.
There were angels dining at the Ritz
Tim Hauser, founder of the jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, has died at the age of 72. [more inside]
What It’s Like To Be Stoned At The Grocery Store
What It’s Like To Be Stoned At The Grocery Store (Buzzfeed video)
The results confirmed her findings: Thomas had Rh-null blood.
Rhnull blood was first described in 1961, in an Aboriginal Australian woman. Until then, doctors had assumed that an embryo missing all Rh blood cell antigens would not survive, let alone grow into a normal, thriving adult. By 2010, nearly five decades later, some 43 people with Rhnull blood had been reported worldwide.
Hurrell-Harring v. New York
After seven years of litigation, the New York Civil Liberties Union has announced a settlement in Hurrell-Harring v. New York, which will reform the way in which low income criminal defendants are represented in court. [more inside]
Increase Your Trumpet Range With This One (Stupid) Trick
Getting a double G on Trumpet (SLYT, stupid trick)
To modern ears they sound like nothing short of anarchy
The BBC looks back on the Free Schools movement
There would be no timetable, no compulsory lessons, no uniform, no hierarchy. Teachers would be called by their first names. The children would make up the rules and decide what they wanted to learn.
There'd be no fees, fixed hours, term times or holidays. They were to be schools without walls - and open whenever the community wanted them.
Many of them quickly folded - with some communities not receptive to the idea of educational anarchy. But a few put down solid roots.
one of the most boring things in the world is watching a person write
Hayley Campbell: nobody cares about you writing a novel.
\|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ practical (& fun) conservation in coppicing \|/ \|/ \|/
It is easy to think of woodlands as wild places, but in the UK and Europe, most have been carefully managed for centuries. If you visit an ancient woodland in Europe at this time of year, you may well see small areas where the trees are being cut down to the base, but the stumps left behind. This is likely to be part of a traditional woodland practice called coppicing. Until about 150 years ago, most deciduous woodlands in the UK were coppiced to produce wood for use in a variety of industries, but today coppicing is largely only practised for woodland conservation. [more inside]
Let me tell you about being publicly separated from your truth.
"But having survived myself, what I want to do now is help other victims of the shame game survive too. I want to put my suffering to good use and give purpose to my past."Monica Lewinsky gives her first major public speech to speak out against online abuse. Full transcript here.
The answer: TB
While volunteering for the Peace Corps in Ukraine in 2010, I contracted a severe version of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Two years of painful, isolating treatment taught me the vital role social media may play in finally eradicating this disease.
Inconspicuous Consumption, a longform autobiographical essay.
!!!YADKCOLSPAC
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!!!!
I own five hundred Moleskines.
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