November 5, 2011
That's showbiz!
Cowboys Vs Aliens and Wolfman stank, Scott Pilgrim deserved better, 3D is a gimmick, awards are not a priority, and theme parks may be - Universal Chief Ron Meyer gives his unusually frank opinons while at the Savannah Film Festival.
Ornette Coleman's "The Shape of Jazz to Come"
"Ornette in '59" - a BBC documentary segment about Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come. [more inside]
Dali at the World's Fair: "It is man's right to love women with ecstatic fish heads"
Salvador Dali's Dream of Venus, one of the earliest full-scale art installation pieces, raised some eyebrows at the 1939 World's Fair. Visitors entered beneath the spread legs of a woman in high heels to find a grotto featuing Venus, a topless sleeping actress on a red satin bed surrounded by lobsters and champagne bottles. Her dream, visible through the nearby window, included cavorting (again topless) mermaids flapping their rubber fins and playing a woman-shaped piano. Murry Korman took many iconic photos of the spectacle. What few knew was that Dali was engaged in a battle of creative crontol with his sponsor, a rubber tycoon and creator of rubber mermaid tails among other things. Dali would appear on site while the exhibition was being created and snip the tails off of the mermaids (pdf). While he was not around for the opening of his creation, he purportedly hired a plane to drop printed leaflets over New York: "The Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and the Rights of Man to his Own Madness," a protest against efforts to interfere with his vision. [some links NSFW, via]
Eat The Strawberry
James Fallows on what it's like to have your webmail hacked
Hacked! James Fallows writes in the Atlantic Monthly on how his wife's Gmail account was hacked, and years of email were deleted. Summary: if you have Gmail, you should be using its new 2-step verification; use strong passwords; don't re-use passwords. [more inside]
Asymptote Journal
"Asymptote is an exciting new international journal dedicated to literary translation and bringing together in one place the best in contemporary writing. We are interested in encounters between languages and the consequences of these encounters. Though a translation may never fully replicate the original in effect (thus our name, 'asymptote': the dotted line on a graph that a mathematical function may tend towards but never reach), it is in itself an act of creation."
Peek-a-boo!
Seth Rogan's furry self and demeanor makes him prime gazing material for the bear community. He recently talked about this (and a resulting portfolio of fantasy nude drawings of himself) with Conan O'Brian. More samples and ordering information for that publication (as well as uncensored images) can be found here. (NSFW) [more inside]
I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into cats cats cats cats cats
KEYBOARD DRUMSET FUCKING WEREWOLF
cactus (aka Jonatan Söderström) is a prolific independent videogame developer. His games are known for playing against genre expectations and their surreal storytelling qualities (as in David Lynch surreal). His latest effort (a collaboration with his brother and FUCKING WEREWOLF ASSO) is called KEYBOARD DRUMSET FUCKING WEREWOLF. It's about an eskimo that that turns into a werewolf and the events that follow. Sound weird? It is. Available in pc and mac flavours.
Nov 5 is Daft Punk Mashup Day
Intergalactic Beastie Rock, Deadmau5, Depache Mode, Bruno Mars, Ke$ha, The Beatles, Queen, Stardust, Radiohead, Madonna, Chemical Brothers
Sorry, I don't see Eric in your contacts.
“Why do we eat shrimp and crawfish but not their brethren on land?”
The San Francisco Street Food Festival is an annual Summer event in the Mission District that features around 60 different Bay Area vendors and is attended by tens of thousands of foodies. This year the usual mainstays were joined by Don Bugito, which served up insect-based dishes and billed itself as the first "PreHispanic Snackeria." When the food truck commences permanent operations this month, it may be the first eatery in the country devoted exclusively to preparations involving insects. But they're not the only entomophagy pioneers in San Francisco, where Bug Cuisine is Booming. So just how tasty are insects? (Via) [more inside]
Crazy (quilt) to the max!
Pin Tangle is the blog of Australian quilter Sharon Boggon, whose style is decidedly maximalist. Her crazy quilt projects include a lace quilt (current a work in progress) and a "I drop the button box" quilt made with 2001 different elements and hand embroidered seams.
Some of the blocks I like best: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7，8，9.
Brother, can you spare a masterpiece?
Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci are among the rarest and most coveted treasures in the museum world. So how did the National Gallery manage to assemble two thirds of the world's supply for its new show Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan?
Video of Afghanistan
"As each of us has his own impression of Afghanistan that is predominantly marked with pictures of foreign forces, explosions and terror, we were privileged to have access to capture daily life and portrait some people of Afghanistan." Afghanistan-Touchdown in Flight (5m39s, full-screen).
Computers should sound like they're doing something
Relays are simple electrical components that turn on an electromagnet with a small current to trigger a switch for a circuit usually capable of handling a larger current. For example, a relay can be used by a 5 volt DC microcontroller to turn on a 120 volt AC heating element in a rice cooker.
Since relays can be used for logic, they can also be the primary components of gloriously clicky computers(see this for details on the last one). [more inside]
Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit
Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit "My goal is to inspire people to get fit, teach them how to do it and give them hope that it IS possible to get fit and stay fit. " [more inside]
Andy Rooney passed away at the age of 92
Drops
Markus Reugels takes amazing pictures of drops of water. For example, Dancing Colors or Cherry on Top or Into the Coffee. Check out the whole photostream. [more inside]
If you thought just the movies these days were unoriginal...
Thirteen movie poster trends and...what they say about their movies. Included are the Sexy Back, the Text In Your Face, and the Legs Wide Spread. [more inside]
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