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"Decades ago, the Mbuti typically sold about half the meat they captured; now they sell nearly every carcass, saving only the prized entrails and heads for themselves. The hunt, in essence, has devolved into an all-out commercial endeavor, staged not for subsistence, but to feed growing regional markets. And the impact is clear."
posted by Scientist at 11:37 PM PST - 20 comments

ESPN NFL Kickoff Stuffs As Many Princess Bride References Into A Half Hour As Possible What it says on the tin.
posted by sweetkid at 9:58 PM PST - 47 comments

For those tired of watered-down, light-beer theology...Check out the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast, started by process-theologians Trip Fuller and Chad Crawford. Today's podcast interviews Old-Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann. The highlight is the lightning round finale (starts at ~61 min) where Walter gives rapid thoughts on such topics such as religious pluralism, ecological crises, immigration, homosexuality, economics, empire, and his favorite Bible story for his grandchildren. Also this week, a conversation with Barry Taylor (ACDC Sound Engineer, Episcopal Priest, and philosopher).
posted by womprat78 at 6:40 PM PST - 12 comments

The complete soundtrack to the upcoming movie, The Hobbit, is available here. "The score is composed by Howard Shore who also wrote all three films in The Lord of The Rings trilogy for director Peter Jackson. “I have looked forward to returning to the imaginative world of Middle-earth for quite a while,” says Shore of the score. “I read all of the books by Tolkien, including The Hobbit, when I was in my twenties, and his deep love of nature and all things green resonates deeply with me.”"
posted by h00py at 4:23 PM PST - 46 comments

Jay Raymond collects irons. Until 2007 he collected only streamlined irons: In the U.S. this meant irons made between 1932 and 1952. In 2007 he sold that collection of about 180 irons, and he now collects electric irons made between 1890-1925.
Alan Davies collects old bricks.
Rev Doug Dawson owns about 900 harmonicas.
Shaun Kotlarsky collects electrical and telegraph insulators. He has about 2,000 of them.
Bob Manning collects Mickey Mouse ties. [more inside]
posted by growabrain at 4:05 PM PST - 29 comments

Authentic Wm. Gibson promises “synopses for William Gibson novels that are definitely 100% real, but only in a timeline with greater authenticity than this one.”, and delivers exactly that.
posted by acb at 3:43 PM PST - 26 comments

The campaign website for Bob Dole's 1996 presidential run is still (mostly) operational. Read about the issues in tiny, centered text. See animated flag gifs. Download a 128x128 "wallpaper" bitmap. Vote Dole-Kemp.
posted by 0xFCAF at 3:21 PM PST - 93 comments

Erin Gloria Ryan asks: Is America ready for a white, male Secretary of State? She's not the only one satirically contemplating this question - John Norris over at Foreign Policy magazine has also wondered: Is America ready for a male Secretary of State? [more inside]
posted by flex at 3:16 PM PST - 46 comments

Ten Bollywood Memories I'll Take With Me To My Grave.
posted by nickyskye at 2:28 PM PST - 8 comments

I was of course already familiar with the general characteristics of Friedman’s writing—hubris, clichéd jingoism, Orientalism, favoritism of Israel, self-contradiction, a severe handicap in the realm of metaphor construction, reduction of complex phenomena to simplistic and baseless theories. However, reviewing three decades of his work made it clear just how frightening, as opposed to simply laughable, it was that such a character had accrued three Pulitzer Prizes and risen to the position of journalistic icon at the US newspaper of record.

- Interview in Jadaliyya with Belen Fernandez on her (new to me) book critiquing NYT columnist Thomas Friedman, The Imperial Messenger: Thomas Friedman at Work. [more inside]
posted by Panjandrum at 2:04 PM PST - 36 comments

"The word reclaim came up more than once to describe the rising tide. It is a revealing word, more narrative than simply descriptive: it hints at some larger backstory, some plot twist in a longer saga about our claims and the water’s counterclaims to the earth.… This story was already ancient when it was adapted for the biblical text—which is to say, it records a very old fear. Like all old fears, it has the uncanny feel of a vivid memory. It may be a memory of an actual flood in an actual Sumerian city, Shurrupal, ca 2800 B.C.E. In fact, it may be even older than that."
posted by the mad poster! at 1:40 PM PST - 21 comments

Almost Being There: Why the Future of Space Exploration Is Not What You Think
posted by Artw at 1:36 PM PST - 33 comments

Teddy Bear(trailer) is a movie about a Danish bodybuilder in search of love. Kim Kold, actual bodybuilder, stars. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:57 PM PST - 7 comments

Poet Jack Gilbert has passed away; he was 87. [more inside]
posted by eustacescrubb at 12:47 PM PST - 15 comments

"You know it’s that time of the year again in Holland, when you are greeted by some Dutch person on the street, whose face is painted completely black and is sporting an afro wig, bright red lips and a ridiculous clown-like costume. What is possibly more strange than this very sight, is the fact that many Dutch person finds it a completely normal and acceptable occurrence. Yes, Dutch people love their Zwarte Pieten." (previously, previously) Now combine them with Gangnam parodies and you have the latest Sinterklaas trend.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:35 PM PST - 163 comments

Ever wished your favorite song could be extended infinitely? Well, today's your day. Behold: The Infinite Jukebox. [more inside]
posted by SomaSoda at 12:11 PM PST - 137 comments

Surviving the World is a photocomic education by Dante Shepherd (and his team of experts) which provides brief useful observations about life and its lessons. [more inside]
posted by quin at 11:23 AM PST - 9 comments

In last night's episode of Independent Lens on PBS, filmmaker Alex Gibney presented the case that America's richest citizens have "rigged the game in their favor," and created unprecedented inequality in the United States. "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream" [video, website]
posted by nowhere man at 10:23 AM PST - 51 comments

U.S. Champion Barista Katie Carguilo shares her secrets on making the perfect cup of Joe
posted by Renoroc at 9:23 AM PST - 130 comments

Santana’s Supernatural was 1999’s most surprisingly successful album.
posted by josher71 at 8:56 AM PST - 742 comments

"Murdering the Impossible" - a 2006 National Geographic profile of Reinhold Messner, "the greatest climber in history". [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen at 7:07 AM PST - 22 comments

Hamish Steele! Be moved by his brief-yet-poignant award-winning animated film The Right Time. Be charmed by his commissioned portraits of couples and their pets. Be inspired by his loose and fresh superheroes (Batman, Phoenix, Hawkeye)! And it wouldn't be Tumblr without an appearance by Sherlock Holmes (not that one).
posted by overeducated_alligator at 7:03 AM PST - 4 comments

Directions to Last Visitor is an online installation by Charles Broskoski. (via)
posted by shakespeherian at 6:54 AM PST - 20 comments

Meet the flamboyant players of the East/West Collegiate Bowl.
posted by griphus at 6:22 AM PST - 69 comments

Real Oviedo, the Spanish football club that recently brought to you the talents of Juan Mata, Cazorla, Adrián or Michu, is facing bankrupcy. The 86-year-old club had to raise near 2 million euros by november 17th, an impossible challenge for a third division team in Spain. But surprisingly, in under just two weeks old and new fans from more than 60 countries have raised more than a million euros. Instrumental in this unexpected worldwide attention has been Sid Lowe. The Guardian's reporter for all things Spanish Football is an ardent supporter of Real Oviedo, ever since his Erasmus stay in the city, and has been spreading the good word from his twitter account. Last Sunday, the team defeated Real Madrid's C team with an attendance of more than 20 thousand. The same weekend, there were significantly less people seeing Barcelona play in Mallorca. last two links in Spanish
posted by valdesm at 6:03 AM PST - 15 comments

Anthony Bourdain is "fighting mad" at the Travel Channel for editing him into a commercial without his permission. He expressed his rage on twitter first, and then in a long post on his tumblr blog: "All of us on the show would have preferred to go out on a high note—and we tried to do that as best we could, turning in a strong, final season that we are very proud of. We wanted to go leaving a lot of great shows—and nothing but good memories and good will behind...But things just didn’t turn out that way." [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:13 AM PST - 95 comments

Don't like gay marriage? Fine. Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends. [SLCollegeHumorP]
posted by Leucistic Cuttlefish at 2:23 AM PST - 182 comments

Terence McKenna’s Final Earthbound Interview
posted by analogtom at 2:03 AM PST - 19 comments

‘On May 24th, 2012, I set out on a musical and physical challenge. My aim was to find inspiration for the recordings on this album. I cycled to the four furthest points of mainland Britain, a journey of more than 2000 miles.On my bike I carried a mobile recording rig and, as I discovered locations along the way that provided inspiration for my songs, I was able to record (free-tracking) performances you can hear on these tracks.’
posted by RegMcF at 12:36 AM PST - 4 comments