October 27, 2009
A brief musical history of Garage
In the waning days of the Disco era, Larry Levan crafted a new style of dance music, which, like House music in Chicago, came to be named after the nightclub where it was most played, the Paradise Garage. Garage music may have started with disco, but over the decades, it's evolved in some surprising ways: [more inside]
Lucian Freud Interview
Ghost Walk
The Infamous Witch. El Protector. Opryland. The Strange Case of Scenic Drive. Blogger Aunt B. of TinyCatPants uses Google Maps to link to the "locations" of her original Nashville-area ghost stories, one for every day of October. Link takes you to the map; start with "The Infamous Witch."
Long Long Ago, before Google AdWords...
Elephant-dog friendship at elephant PTSD sanctuary
Meet Tarra and Bella, an elephant and a dog who are best friends. They live at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, a haven for elephants with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). [more inside]
Mediengruppe Telekomander
This is to teach you how to dance.
Oh No Here We Go Again
While his uncle hits the motivational speaker circuit, 33 year old George P. Bush ships off to war: other than being arrested at 18 for burglarizing the home of an ex-girlfriend, George P. Bush appears to have all the right credentials to carry the Bush legacy well into the future. And while his dad wants the GOP to shed its "old white guy" image, some are positioning George P. Bush to be America's first Hispanic president.
Gender Gap Report 2009
Gender Gap Report 2009 - The U.S. in a lowly 31st position. The United States, which prides itself on civil rights progress during the past half century, fell four spots from last year to stand at 31st place behind Lithuania and ahead of Namibia, according to the World Economic Forum, a nonprofit group based in Switzerland.
Melanne Verveer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, said at the launch of the report in New York: "In many ways we've been a model ... but we also have a ways to travel."
Iceland and three other Nordic countries lead the world in gender equality, according to a report released on Tuesday by the World Economic Forum. [more inside]
Safer Communities Together
3 o' clock in the morning, you're buying a pie from the BP station, what must you always do? New Zealand police officer delivers a stern warning on the hazards of thermo-nuclear pies and becomes a Youtube Hit. [more inside]
Lawrence Halprin: July 1, 1916 - October 25, 2009
Influential landscape architect Lawrence Halprin has died at the age of 93. "He was the single most influential landscape architect of the postwar years," said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. "He redefined the profession's role in cities." Noted projects include The Sea Ranch a 5,000-acre residential development on the coast of Sonoma county in northern California; Ghirardelli Square, the first major adaptive re-use project in the United States, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C; and a new trail from which to experience Yosemite Falls. [more inside]
This post will get you through times of no movie better than the movie will get you through times of no dope.
Looks like The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers have been slated to star in their own stop-motion animated movie, Grass Roots: The Movie, produced by bolexbrothers! Here, the Freaks' creator, Gilbert Shelton, talks about the movie. In true stoner fashion, though, it's been "in production" since 2006, but you can watch a teaser here. While you're waiting for the movie to be made, here's the youtubed version of bolexbrothers award-winning stop-motion feature length film, The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Or at least half of one.
Matthias Schlitte is a modern day popeye.
"...by only increasing the size of his one forearm and no other part of his body, he has allowed himself to arm wrestle in lower weight classes, even though his arm is as strong or stronger than much bigger men than him."
"...by only increasing the size of his one forearm and no other part of his body, he has allowed himself to arm wrestle in lower weight classes, even though his arm is as strong or stronger than much bigger men than him."
Early Animated Films, Lost and Found
While some might believe that Walt Disney had the first feature-length animated film with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, the Disney film is the fourth animated feature-length film, and was two decades late for first place. The first two animated feature-length films were directed by an Italian in Argentia in 1917 and 1918, though all prints of those films are presumed lost or destroyed. The third animated full-length feature, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed), came out the same year that the first two were lost to fire. This third animated film was a silhouette animation made by a German artist named Lotte Reiniger. The original negatives are considered lost, but a supposedly first-generation positive (from the camera negative) remains and the film has been restored from this stock (full film with limited subtitles, 5 minute preview with English subtitles and the full film viewable with Veoh plug-in). More information and videos inside. [more inside]
Don't Declaw Me, Bro!
People love their cats. Understandably so. In San Francisco, Cat-o-philia has resulted in a measure to ban declawing cats in city limits. That means San Francisco would join about 20 other nations that ban similar practices. The reason? Cat declawing is typically a painful process.
But cats have always been loved throughout history. Some say that after the collapse of the Roman Empire, cats even started their own government. [more inside]
Toe Jam and Earl Jam
Os Gameboys are a band from Brazil who play only music from classic videogames. They are really, really good. (via waxy: "the best live Mario cover I've ever seen")
Big Brother's just a beetle on the wall
Cyborg Spy Beetles are no longer a thing of the future. UC Berkeley (funded by DARPA) has created cyborg beetles guided wirelessly via laptop. These spy beetles were created with the intent of bugging actual conversations, literally acting as the "fly on the wall". [more inside]
Asymmetrical friendship: The pressure to be positive on social-networking sites
Asymmetrical friendship: Tired of the relentless positivity of social-networking sites, where, as on Facebook, all you can be is a “friend” of someone? Greg Smith responds to a journal article that addressed the topic, among others; Smith calls for “asymmetrical friendship – this is cynicism put to good use.” Because there are times when somebody “friends” you on Facebook when what you think of them is more along the lines of “enemy combatant.” [more inside]
"What's next, suicide bomber garter belts?"
Women are choosing to wear the most revealing costumes this Halloween, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Popular family destinations now rely on seductive creatures of the night to draw in the crowds for their Halloween festivities.
Parents are seeing big changes in costumes kids want to wear. Noah Cyrus, the nine-year-old sister of teen star Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) recently raised eyebrows with her "dominatrix" costume, worn to a Halloween children's party raising money for charity.
(Of course, Noah has been called to task for her wardrobe before).
But is this all just a reflection of the way we view the holiday now? Are we intent on turning Halloween into an adults-only party?
Radio Is A Sound Sensation
Comparemyradio.com analyses the playlist data from all the major UK radio stations. If you want to know who's playing the current number one, what's the overlap between Radio One & Two or whether you should bother checking out Radio Six, this is the site for you.
Nails Goes to Wall Street
Lenny Dykstra was lauded for his heroics with the Mets and Philles. After his career, Dykstra became well-known as a post-career athlete success story. Then the truth started coming out... [more inside]
1989, revolution in Eastern Europe
The BBC World Service has put together a special report on the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe (they also have a simpler portal). There is a wealth of material, including TV reports on key events from the BBC archives, interviews, a map timeline, a report on Catholicism's role in the 1989 revolutions, a first-hand report of what it was like to gather news in East Germany during that time and much more.
The Timeslice Phenomenon
Tim Macmillan has been slicing time for more than twenty years now. His early attempts and the recent applications of his technique in nature documentaries, commercials, sports, music videos and his own short films can be watched on his vimeo page. His technique later mutated into the Bullet Time effect made popular by the Matrix movie. Watched enough? Then read an interesting article about him. Via Fleischfilm. [more inside]
Your Chance to Survive!
Duck and Cover! There are many aspects of the Civil Defense program that may seem funny today, but the period after World War II was a very scary time. Civil defense officials and volunteers during that time were very serious about their work and I believe they deserve respect for their efforts. They rendered emergency services after natural and man-made disasters and would have had an impossible task had there ever been a nuclear war.
This virtual museum is dedicated to the Civil Defense and emergency workers of the United States who worked to protect the public from nuclear attack.
High medication costs make baby Jesus cry
Reddit founders depart
Reddit founders Kn0thing and Spez have left the building. The social media juggernaut's founders Alexis (Kn0thing) and Steve (Spez) have declined to renew their contracts, prompting much discussion and speculation on reddit itself, and the incubator that helped it start up, Ycombinator.
The Rent is Too Damn High
The Rent is Too Damn High. (warning, audio)
"Healthy jealousy"
"Far from being a healthy free lover in the making, Dr. Hart says, the unresponsive infant is not “securely attached” and will have problems later on in relationships." Why jealousy can be a good thing.
How Dry I Am
Your humble clothes dryer is under attack. "Dryers are said to use 10-15% of domestic energy output in the US." "Only 4% of the homes in Italy have dryers." Can't give up the convenience? Consider a condenser dryer. As usual, Doonesbury was way ahead of the curve.
and old becomes new
In 1666 Willem Van de Velde, the Elder made a pen and ink drawing of the Council of War held on the eve of what was to be known as the four-day battle during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Maarten Platje brings it new life ( Click Paintings to enlarge).
The news of the Dutch gathering is briefly mentioned by Pepys ” … some sudden newes of the Dutch being come out”.
It is considered that Willem Van de Velde, the Elder, and his son, Willem Van de Velde, the Younger provide the one accurate record of Seventeenth Century warships, from mid-century on.
More than you ever want to know about the Anglo Dutch wars; and Related
Maarten Platje brings it new life ( Click Paintings to enlarge).
The news of the Dutch gathering is briefly mentioned by Pepys ” … some sudden newes of the Dutch being come out”.
It is considered that Willem Van de Velde, the Elder, and his son, Willem Van de Velde, the Younger provide the one accurate record of Seventeenth Century warships, from mid-century on.
More than you ever want to know about the Anglo Dutch wars; and Related
The People's Avengers
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