October 23, 2012

uromancy

Urine flavor wheels of yore.
posted by latkes at 11:32 PM PST - 43 comments

R.I.P. Lincoln Alexander

Lincoln Alexander has died at 90 years old. Among his many accomplishments, he was the first Black MP elected in Canada (1968 -- re-elected 4 times, in his last term appointed Cabinet Minister), served as Ontario's Lieutenant-Governor, was chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and that is just scratching the surface of his many contributions. A beloved citizen in Hamilton, the city named a Highway after him "The Linc" ... a running joke with him since he did not drive. [more inside]
posted by chapps at 10:51 PM PST - 10 comments

Angel Haze Cleans Out Her Closet

[trigger warning//NSFW-audio] In a year where Frank Ocean makes headlines by being forthcoming about his sexuality and Community star Donald Glover delivers a celebrated performance (warning: autoplay) on the BET Hip-Hop Awards, it may seem that honesty is a prevailing trend in a genre consumed by braggadocio. New York rapper Angel Haze continues this with a heart-wrenching rap that transforms Eminem's "Cleaning Out My Closet" from an adolescent boy's angry confessional to a young woman's crushing autobiography.
posted by raihan_ at 10:48 PM PST - 35 comments

The Animal Matrix

What's in the bear row and the wolf column? A wolf cub wrestling a bear cub. What's at the intersection of monkey and raccoon? This meeting of rascals. Just some of the many videos you will find at the amazing Animal Matrix.
posted by painquale at 9:49 PM PST - 14 comments

Mad About The Boy

During the first weekend of October, at a Connecticut campground, a group of women gathered. As part of a pilot program organized by the federal government, these women, self-arranged into groups of three called "triads," were finalists for an experimental parenting program. Two of the triads would be selected for the right to be artificially inseminated, the resulting child to be raised by all three women as equal co-parents. While no one was certain how the experiment might turn out, every one agreed that something had to be tried since all of the men were dead. [more inside]
posted by GameDesignerBen at 9:42 PM PST - 25 comments

He is a little person. He is an exotic dancer. He has a foot fetish. His name is Corn Pop.

Some of the excellent audio stories/interviews from the first season of Strangers, the latest project from Lea Thau, creator of The Moth Podcast (mp3s): The Teacher who Couldn't Read (part 1 and part 2); Big Jim and Smokey Joe (NSFW - A Hollywood waitress, a former bomber pilot, and a retired railroad engineer from the Midwest take the trip of a lifetime); And Justice for All (A booker for court TV shares highs and lows from the merry-go-round of daytime justice) [more inside]
posted by I, Credulous at 9:10 PM PST - 7 comments

The Annotated Justinian Code

The Corpus Juris Civilis, also called the Code of Justinian, is a foundational document in (continental) Western law. Perhaps because of its limited impact on the common law, no English translation existed until the 1930s. The best English translation of the two main parts of the CJC, the Codex Justinianus and the Novels, was the life's work of a single Wyoming Supreme Court Justice, Fred H. Blume. [more inside]
posted by jedicus at 7:23 PM PST - 16 comments

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis. "An exclusive TwistedLamb (nsfw) editorial exposing unknown creatures living inside their domain." [Via]
posted by homunculus at 7:07 PM PST - 9 comments

Lots of Lincolns

Looking Like Lincoln - photographer Greta Pratt shoots nineteen Lincoln impersonators, drawn from participants in The Association of Lincoln Presenters
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:50 PM PST - 24 comments

Sandpaper not included

Today saw Apple has enter the competitive 7" tablet market with the iPad Mini. But what if your tablety desires run to something larger, not smaller? Sony has you covered with a 20-inch, 11-pound "tabletop PC".
posted by Artw at 5:31 PM PST - 265 comments

Blogging About Parenting

Blogging about parenting. Little Seal is about Emily Rapp's son Ronan, who is 2 1/2 and has Tay-Sachs disease. Count on Rapp for a jolt of humanity and perspective amid the mundane. Her Bad Mother is Catherine Conners, a working mom devoted to her husband and children, who chronicles the ups and downs of parenting, balancing it all with humor and poignancy. She is not afraid to speak out against mothers who believe that their way is the best way to raise kids. These blogs are among the 25 Best Blogs 2012 per Time magazine.
posted by netbros at 4:46 PM PST - 4 comments

teenage girls: "...they haven’t been living, they’ve been performing."

Teenage girls try to navigate the minefields of desirability, attractiveness, and self-objectification in the age of Facebook. [more inside]
posted by flex at 4:36 PM PST - 81 comments

She The People

Democracy Distilled: A History of America's Voting Rights. Remember to vote this November. Women in America, let's rise up. [more inside]
posted by cashman at 3:27 PM PST - 32 comments

Simple Question

Can I Buy You a Coffee? "Harassment isn’t once. Harassment comes from a lifetime of dealing with people constantly doing things to you, whether you wanted them or not, at random intervals. You learn not to trust people. And what might have been pleasant, once, as an isolated incident, starts to feel pretty oppressive when it’s something you deal with on a weekly basis. It changes you, and then guys call you bitchy when you don’t feel like playing along and pretending this is just about the coffee."
posted by sweetkid at 3:24 PM PST - 524 comments

Red Bull Rampage 2012

Mountain biking
posted by roofus at 2:30 PM PST - 28 comments

Tar, mmmkay

Smoking, stop! (SLYT)
posted by Clementines4ever at 2:08 PM PST - 24 comments

Meet Jim and Steve

Eight Families Fighting For the Right to Get Married (Single Link Buzzfeed)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:04 PM PST - 12 comments

The Fact of the Matter?

On September 24th Radiolab posted a new episode, The Fact of the Matter. It included a segment titled Yellow Rain. Radiolab's website says that it's "a detective story from the Cold War, about a mysterious substance that fell from the sky in Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam war." Robert Krulwich's interview with two of the segment's guests has prompted outrage at his treatment of them. One of the guests, writer Kao Kalia Yang, talked with Hyphen Magazine.
posted by FatRabbit at 1:06 PM PST - 136 comments

Killing Bill and Lou

Two oxen are slated for slaughter at Green Mountain College (VT). The Oxen, named Bill and Lou, have worked for 11 years on the rural campus. Now Lou is injured and, consistent with college policy, both are scheduled for slaughter to provide hamburger for the student dining hall. This has provoked much discussion, including editorials and opinions from many sources. Many of the students, even vegetarians, support the decision.
posted by Michael_H at 12:26 PM PST - 71 comments

the birds of paradise

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has released a trailer for their upcoming documentary, "The Birds of Paradise" (SLYT) [more inside]
posted by sarastro at 12:02 PM PST - 23 comments

Forty-two years later, a new high school yearbook and some closure from bullying

In 1970, Robin Tomlin opened his Argyle Secondary School yearbook to his graduation picture. Next to his picture, instead of the quote he had submitted about his future plans, there was one word: "FAG." The classmates who had tormented him with homophobic bullying for years had managed to get their final shot immortalized in print. After Tomlin's daughter found her father's yearbook in 1999 and broke down in tears over the bullying her father had experienced, Tomlin asked the North Vancouver school district to apologize and replace the original yearbook copies still held in the Argyle school library. Frustrated by a lack of response, Tomlin shared his story on an alumni message board and a lawyer offered to represent Tomlin pro bono. The school district originally balked, stating its "regret" over what had happened but declining to offer an apology. After a recent suicide of a bullied BC student and increased public pressure, yesterday Tomlin finally received an apology from the school district and a new yearbook with the slur replaced by the inscription he had wanted all along. Tomlin, who has terminal liver disease, said "now he can put behind him the slur that has bothered him his entire adult life....Tomlin also said he hopes the apology will give other victims of bullying hope."
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:00 PM PST - 69 comments

Paul Kurtz dead at 86

Paul Kurtz, noted secular humanist, has died. Kurtz was a philosophy professor who was instrumental in the founding of a number of skeptical and humanist organizations. These include the Committee for Scientific investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (publisher of Skeptical Inquiry), the Council for Secular Humanism (publisher of Free Inquiry magazine), and the Center for Inquiry. [more inside]
posted by TedW at 11:22 AM PST - 28 comments

Small Is Beautiful

[raises envelope to temple] Human bone cancer. Sea gooseberry larva. Bat embryos. [tears open envelope, blows inside, removes paper, reads] Some of the winners of the 38th Nikon Small World microphotography competition.
posted by Egg Shen at 11:11 AM PST - 16 comments

Nine French Toast Squares for Mortal Men Doomed to Die

Denny's will soon be launching a Hobbit inspired menu. Featuring such delights as Bilbo's Berry Smoothie and Radagast's Red Velvet Pancake Puppies, second breakfast and elevenses will never be the same! (via boingboing)
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:58 AM PST - 93 comments

On the importance of learning from past movements

Gideon Oliver spoke to me of the devastating effect this kind of surveillance has had on activists. “People fear that detectives are following them around. They panic. It’s a movement-dismantling tactic.” Most Occupy protesters are new to activism and are emotionally unprepared to deal with this kind of intimidation. Nor, so far as I have seen, are they inclined to seek the advice of older activists who were under surveillance in the 1960s and 1970s, before the protections of the original Handschu Decree, which prohibited political spying, were put in place. Those activists nevertheless found ways to continue their political work.
From an article on the NYPD's Intel Division. [more inside]
posted by eviemath at 10:35 AM PST - 37 comments

2 fried amps, a drummer playing lead, and brains full of boo: The Dead C.'s Harsh 70s Reality turns 20

One of New Zealand's greatest-ever exports of experimental music, The Dead C. have built a huge catalog of challenging "rock" music over the last 25 years that offers massively dosed psychedelic excess, improvised all-night flights, blistering free noise and deconstruction of blazing garage punk for adventurous listeners. They've cheekily called themselves "The AMM of punk rock" and it's not far from the truth. Their high-water mark -- the double-LP Harsh 70s Reality -- has reached twentieth anniversary status and has just been reissued on vinyl by legendary US imprint Siltbreeze, restoring a few cuts that didn't make it to the late 1990s CD re-release and offering this fearless free music to a new generation of fans. [more inside]
posted by porn in the woods at 9:39 AM PST - 24 comments

Horse e_shirts

Idakoos is an online t-shirt store that automatically generates t-shirts based on animal types, hobbies, adjectives, and occupations (among other categories). This can lead to some relatively strange combinations.
posted by codacorolla at 9:17 AM PST - 158 comments

Ever wonder what happened to Fukushima Storage Unit #4?

Ever wonder what happened to Fukushima Storage Unit #4? You remember, the one filled with 1,500 wet stored and combustible fuel rods that threaten a total of ~134 million curies of radioactive cesium137 and, at least as of last April, seemed to be in maybe not such great shape? (PREVIOUSLY) This August, TEPCO released a comprehensive and easily understandable report on the condition of the structure as well as measures being done to both reinforce it against likely earthquakes and ultimately remove the fuel rods, which are still hot enough to require wet storage elsewhere (PDF). On the other hand, Kohei Murata, the former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland who had the attention of the world during the crisis, remains both unimpressed and eschatological.
posted by Blasdelb at 8:05 AM PST - 24 comments

Goodbye Cruel World

Ceefax, the world's first teletext information service will be turned off today. [more inside]
posted by arcticseal at 7:59 AM PST - 46 comments

Sets for a film I'll never make

Daniel Agdag, a Melbourne based artist and filmmaker, is presenting his first solo show, “Sets for a Film I’ll Never Make”. A playful nod to his short career as an animator, “Sets for a film…” presents a meticulous industrial world of his own imagining. The unassuming use of boxboard as a medium belies an elaborate world of transmission and communication that preserves the incessant redundancies of the modern industrial world. His short films have screened worldwide, and garnered a Dendy Award and an AFI nomination. His work has been described as architectural in form, whimsical in nature and inconceivably intricate. [more inside]
posted by jillithd at 7:37 AM PST - 2 comments

Life Without Father.

My mother finished with, “If Jesus came to you and said that he had found your perfect spouse, what would you say to him?” She paused for effect. “Now, how much more is Father?” Photographer Jen Kiaba writes a first hand account of courtship and a mass wedding under the direction of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church. Not every arranged marriage story is unhappy, but inside and outside observers are curious to see what happens to the organization (and its finances and investments) after Moon's death this past September. Oh, and of course there is a goofy TLC special. Previously. (And previously, on the Moonies and the Washington Times.)
posted by availablelight at 6:10 AM PST - 30 comments

The Last Thing You'll Ever Desire

Derek Smart has been making games for over 20 years. He sold his first games in plastic baggies at hobby stores. Yet his longevity is somewhat of an anachronism. Many gamers today don't even know who is is, in spite of the fact that his games have sold well enough to keep his company in business since 1992. And the games themselves, well they're mostly terrible. Especially his first, Battlecruiser 3000AD. The Verge takes an in-depth look at the hotheaded perfectionist millionaire game developer whose impenetrable, terminally overhyped games sparked one of the most legendary flamewars in internet history.
posted by Rhaomi at 5:26 AM PST - 37 comments

Ira Glass Makes Balloon Animals, Discusses Blow Jobs

At the request of Tavi (wiki) and his wife Anaheed, This American Life host and MetaFilter favorite Ira Glass has contributed an Ask A Grown Man segment (NSFW audio) (AAGM previously) to Rookie. As an added bonus, he instructs viewers on how to make balloon animals, based on a pamphlet he used as a young man entertaining at parties. When not dispensing balloon advice in this clip, he discusses Buffy & Angel's age discrepancy and blow jobs. (via)
posted by knile at 1:16 AM PST - 12 comments

Most children: 13 - Samwise Gamgee & Rose Cotton

Lord Of The Rings: Statistics (part of LOTRProject)
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:05 AM PST - 23 comments

« Previous day | Next day »