October 31, 2013

The Girl in the Closet

From the Dallas Morning News, an 8-part profile of Lauren Kavanaugh, who was kept in a closet for six years before being rescued at age 8 weighing 26 lbs, and of the remarkable people and recovery that has followed. [Warning: this story and the accompanying photos and videos are immensely hard to read, watch and listen to, and this piece is a trigger for every possible kind of abuse.]
posted by DarlingBri at 9:37 PM PST - 99 comments

"Here's Johnny!" vs. "Boo!"

In celebration of Halloween, The Dissolve has devoted three long posts to The Shining: a keynote examining the film and King's relationship to it, a staff discussion, and a critical comparison of the film with the 1997 TV miniseries written by King. (Scrubbed the show from your brain? Let this episode of Nostalgia Critic refresh your memory.)
posted by Going To Maine at 8:52 PM PST - 38 comments

The Scoop on Poop

From The Awl: A look at the culture and politics of something we all do: poop.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:38 PM PST - 27 comments

Animated GIFs and other art from Matthew DiVito

Matthew DiVito is a motion graphics designer and an aspiring game developer, whose current specialty is animated GIFs that are hypnotic and beautiful. You can see a series of his animations on his Tumblr and a few individual works on Cargo Collective, which has a few of his short videos from Vimeo
posted by filthy light thief at 8:03 PM PST - 8 comments

Creating the Innocent Killer

John Kessel explores the morality of Ender's Game.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:54 PM PST - 138 comments

Hell Houses

Evangelical churches across the country run "hell houses" on Halloween. These attractions show how "sinful" activities can ruin young lives. Some churches are trying to be more positive in their messaging. For those who are interested, you can now buy your own "hell house" outreach kit. [more inside]
posted by reenum at 7:08 PM PST - 68 comments

Yanks Go Home!

Select Magazine, 1990-2000. "This is a website dedicated to my favourite 90s music magazine Select. I'll slowly be scanning in features, to give random flashbacks to the 90s music scene."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 5:36 PM PST - 28 comments

professional rock climber Joe Kinder cuts down juniper trees for sport

Professional sport climber Joe Kinder recently admitted to cutting down two Juniper trees at the base of a climbing cliff in the Tahoe, California region in order to make a climb safer. Kinder at first did not admit to the action, which may be illegal (with fines up to $500 and up to six months in jail if the tree was in the Tahoe National Forest) but has since posted an apology (My Actions, My Responsibility, And My Mistake) to his blog.
posted by gen at 5:35 PM PST - 69 comments

Your Halloween Soundtrack

Black Sabbath, live in Paris, 1970. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse at 5:19 PM PST - 22 comments

2012 sees slowdown in the increase in global CO2 emissions

From the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency... (Interactive Presentation)(Actual Report PDF) Actual global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached a new record of 34.5 billion tonnes in 2012. Yet, the increase in global CO2 emissions in that year slowed down to 1.1% , which was less than half the average annual increase of 2.9% over the last decade. This is remarkable, as the global economy grew by 3.5%. This development signals a shift towards less fossil-fuel-intensive activities, more use of renewable energy and increased energy saving. Increases in fossil-fuel consumption in 2012 were 2.2% for natural gas, 0.9% for oil products, and 0.6% for coal.
posted by Long Way To Go at 4:51 PM PST - 13 comments

United States Devil Map

Can't decide where to go trick or treating? Jonathan Hull has created an interactive map of all the places in the U.S. with words like Devil, Hell, or Satan in the name. [more inside]
posted by Room 641-A at 4:12 PM PST - 10 comments

Sad Chili Cheese Nachos

"my friend told me to watch this cooking video while listening to sad music. so i mixed a little something for you all" Hello Wildcats. Chef Steven Reed shows us how to cook chili cheese nachos in the microwave. Additionally, spaghetti, creamed corn and potatoes, and Rice-a-Roni.
posted by BeBoth at 4:00 PM PST - 23 comments

The USS You

ShapeWright Ship will take your name (or really any string of text) and generate a 3D model of a spaceship based on it.
posted by brundlefly at 3:50 PM PST - 45 comments

The Appointment

The Appointment is a horror film from 1981, starring Edward Woodward as the father of a family possessed by some sort of malevolent entity. Although it has (probably quite rightly) been largely forgotten, it does have a really fantastic opening scene. [more inside]
posted by dng at 3:33 PM PST - 36 comments

Canopy Cats

So... I have no idea how these cats got their bodies wedged into trees, or why. [more inside]
posted by halonine at 3:08 PM PST - 26 comments

We are closed. Thanks for 46 years.

The end of the Waffle House: Regulars say goodbye to Bloomington, Indiana's second oldest restaurant. Bud Powell and his wife Myra opened the restaurant, one of the first Waffle House franchises in the country, on Oct. 10, 1967.... The legends showed up from time to time — Bobby Knight, Woody Hayes — but it was the regulars who received special treatment. Everybody knew everybody. Senior night was Tuesday. You could bring your girlfriend, your kids, your mother-in-law — everyone was family.
posted by Cash4Lead at 2:07 PM PST - 35 comments

"What ironical tricks are played on the poor unsuspecting Nordics!"

76 Years Later, Maryland Tries To Right A College Football Wrong (SLDeadspin) In October 1937, Maryland administrators threatened to cancel a game with Syracuse unless the then-Orangemen benched their offensive star, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh. The problem, as Maryland saw it, was that he wasn't the right type of colored boy.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:49 PM PST - 15 comments

What could improve a Thomas Kincade painting?

Artist Jeff Bennett has found the best way to make Thomas Kincade artworks palatable. You add some Star Wars!
posted by Joh at 1:45 PM PST - 36 comments

Words are weapons

"Unspeak is language that deliberately loads the dice. War on Terror. Weapons of mass destruction. Climate change. Failed asylum seekers. File sharing. Austerity measures. Oil spill. Erectile dysfunction. Once we tune in to unspeak we start seeing and hearing it everywhere" -- UK journalist Steve Poole's book Unspeak has been turned into a six part interactive documentary series by Dutch new media group Submarine Channel, narrated by Poole himself. [more inside]
posted by MartinWisse at 1:12 PM PST - 37 comments

Creepy things in a museum? Never!

Including the wind-up friar automaton repeatedly claiming his faults and not one but two creeping baby dolls, the Smithsonian lists the 11 collection objects giving them the creeps this Halloween.
posted by Katemonkey at 12:45 PM PST - 10 comments

"Miss Kate helps me."

A Month of Witches Tennessee author Betsy Phillips (previously) (previously) is back again with a month's worth of spooky stories.
posted by emjaybee at 11:59 AM PST - 2 comments

Its eyes are bigger than its.. everything

Mouse versus biscuit [slyt, via]
posted by estherbester at 11:16 AM PST - 51 comments

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your font..."

The story behind the Cheers logo and opening titles.
"A clever Halloween costume triggers nostalgic memories of classic TV typography."
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:10 AM PST - 24 comments

Legato Gelato = Smooth and Cool

Have some slang you want to insert into the popular consciousness? Rappedian (Comapper?) Zach Sherwin shows you how to do it in his pukka new music video, Legato Gelato.
posted by carsonb at 11:01 AM PST - 5 comments

A Freeform Chicken-Flavor Explosion

Real Kitchen as Alinea -- This Halloween, Chicago take-out cafe Real Kitchen is dressing up as modernist Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea.
posted by neroli at 10:41 AM PST - 13 comments

Meet badBIOS, the multi-platform malware that jumps airgaps.

"It looks like the state of the art in intrusion stuff is a lot more advanced than we assumed it was."
posted by fings at 10:28 AM PST - 133 comments

oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh

Text Messages From A Jack O'Lantern.
posted by mightygodking at 10:01 AM PST - 34 comments

For sale: baby shoes. Baby doesn't have feet

Shit Rough Drafts
posted by ook at 9:34 AM PST - 47 comments

New Kindle feature: doesn't cause the plane's wings to fall off anymore!

Just in time for holiday travel, the FAA now approves use of portable electronic devices for the entire duration of your flight.
posted by phunniemee at 9:09 AM PST - 95 comments

Why I quit major league baseball

Why I quit major league baseball.
posted by josher71 at 9:01 AM PST - 38 comments

Surely THIS ... Rob Ford documents released, video described by police

A Rob Ford video has been found by Toronto cops. Toronto police chief Bill Blair says the video cannot be released or described, and will be placed before the courts because some unnamed person will be charged with extortion. While he never mentions the word "crack", he does say that the video is congruent with what has been described in the media and does not appear to have been doctored. [more inside]
posted by maudlin at 8:55 AM PST - 2036 comments

Grand Illusions

Grand Illusions presents spooky toys in time for Halloween. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla at 8:50 AM PST - 4 comments

"Everybody's doing a brand new dance now."

"The Lurch", performed by Ted Cassidy, on Shindig, 1965. You might remember him from a television show.
posted by timsteil at 8:45 AM PST - 16 comments

'You need to say, 'I'm Devin Wang and I'm the person in that picture."

Portrait of a Rescue (marathon bombing photos) [more inside]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:21 AM PST - 16 comments

OK Win!

Question: How good would you have to be to win an OK GO video contest? Answer: Very good indeed. See the winning video for OK Go's "I'm Not Through' here
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:20 AM PST - 9 comments

The History Of Baseball, In One Weird, Beautiful Drawing

Craig Robinson of Flip Flop Fly Ball (previously: 1, 2, 3) takes to Deadspin to show off his latest creation, an Árbol de la Vida (Tree of Life) capturing many of baseball's important historical figures, places, and events.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:10 AM PST - 17 comments

Prison Architect flash mob

Everyone's favorite prison simulator Prison Architect wins Halloween with an awesome Easter egg.
posted by Artw at 8:01 AM PST - 49 comments

Are you a dark dreamer?

Dark Dreamers was a series of interviews with horror writers and directors and other icons. Several of them are on youtube: Clive Barker; Wes Craven Harlan Ellison (1, 2, 3); Richard Laymon; Richard Matheson; Julie Strain (MLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:59 AM PST - 4 comments

Love Is Lost

Just in time for Halloween, David Bowie releases the kind of creepy video for Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA). The original track comes from his most recent album, The Next Day. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 6:50 AM PST - 13 comments

WWI in Color

World War I in Color is a documentary designed to make the Great War come alive for a 21st-century audience. The events of 1914-18 are authoritatively narrated by Kenneth Branagh, who presents the military and political overview, while interviews with historians add different perspectives in six 48 minute installments annotated within. [more inside]
posted by Blasdelb at 3:50 AM PST - 61 comments

they were everywhere

Out of Skin, a new horror comic from Emily Carroll (previously). Warning: gore & body horror.
posted by fight or flight at 3:31 AM PST - 15 comments

Halloween Google Doodle

Google's Doodle is a fun Halloween themed game. Add different combinations of ingredients into the witch's cauldron for some spooky surprises. [more inside]
posted by JujuB at 1:13 AM PST - 20 comments

Somehow not sponsored by Red Bull

Meet the guy who drove across the USA in a record 28 hours 50 minutes.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:51 AM PST - 132 comments

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