February 20, 2007

His gift survived it all

Today is the centenary of W.H. Auden, one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Why not commemorate it by attending one of the many events honoring the man and marking the day? Auden wrote about anything and everything; his poems addressed such topics as the advent of World War II ("September 1, 1939", which gained new resonance after 9/11), grief ("Funeral Blues", used to great effect in Four Weddings and a Funeral), physics ("After Reading a Child's Guide to Modern Physics"), commencement addresses ("Under Which Lyre: A Reactionary Tract for the Times") unrequited love ("The More Loving One"), and the way life goes on ("Musée des Beaux Arts"). [more inside]
posted by Vidiot at 10:57 PM PST - 37 comments

You think Aqua Teen Hunger Force are Terrists? Wait'll you see THIS!

You think these were bad? Wait till the terrists get these!
posted by pjern at 9:42 PM PST - 30 comments

That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know.

Donald Rumsfeld, Revealed - Parts 1 and 2. A nice, brief historical roundup of the man who - in the words of John McCain - is "one of the worst secretaries of defense in history."
posted by nevercalm at 9:39 PM PST - 40 comments

Claws and Combinatorics in the Ancient World

We've talked about the Archimedes death ray, but it is not the only mysterious ancient war machine the Greek scientist constructed. A contemporary Greek historian describes a wide number of clever devices developed by Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse by Roman forces - most notably a mysterious "Claw" that destroyed invading ships. You can see animations and scale models that attempt to reconstruct the Claw. Other, less-warlike, Archimedes secrets are being revealed as the Archimedes Palimpset, an overwritten text of some of the scientist's mathematical writings, has been gradually recovered using new techniques. Among the suprises is the Stomachion, a mathematical puzzle (tangrams, anyone?) and early discussion of combanitorics.
posted by blahblahblah at 8:07 PM PST - 18 comments

Sex Toys are Just Like Prostitution

Sex Toys are Just Like Prostitution
posted by expriest at 7:33 PM PST - 74 comments

Ship in a Bottle

Got a few hundred hours to kill? (pdf) A Ship in a Bottle is a type of impossible bottle. No, not this Ship in a Bottle. Have you ever wondered how it gets in there? Or thought about building one yourself? Here's some tips and tricks. If you are not mechanically inclined, how about making a PSP version? Or, heck, just go buy one.
posted by figment of my conation at 6:07 PM PST - 10 comments

Reliability vs. the Status Quo

In an attempt to address reliability problems with the M-16/M4 rifles currently employed by the US military, German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch developed the H&K 416. Considered by many who have used it to be vastly more reliable than the current weapon systems, it seems like the Army would be interested in giving it a try. Unfortunately they aren't.
posted by quin at 5:40 PM PST - 59 comments

Free music - SXSW 2007 artists

Tons of bands playing at this year's SXSW. Not going or going and don't know what to check out? They've put up a torrent of 739 MP3s by 739 artists. The organization also has plans for an upcoming torrent of trailers for scheduled films. {via waxy}
posted by dobbs at 4:30 PM PST - 39 comments

I think it might be time to get my own cow - or goat.

What's in your milk? Estradiol, testoerone, and growth hormones (IGF-1) IGF-1 is what Fox News doesn't want you to know is in your milk.
posted by bigmusic at 3:43 PM PST - 65 comments

I LOVE sweaty basketball players!

George Takei responds to Tim Hardaway's recent comments.
posted by EarBucket at 3:37 PM PST - 86 comments

Bill Richardson forms exploratory committee, nobody cares

Matthew Yglesias: Bill Richardson--former ambassador to the UN, former Energy Secretary, and current governor of New Mexico--is "clearly more qualified for the White House than anyone else in the race," so why isn't anyone paying attention to his candidacy? Includes link to a recent speech by Richardson on foreign policy at CSIS.
posted by russilwvong at 2:01 PM PST - 54 comments

Who's boning your mother?

Greenpeace doesn't know it has a new ad campaign that asks "Who's f***ing Mother Earth," but their logo is on it. The copywriter admits he hasn't told the organization yet about the ads he's designed in their name. "It's probably not legal, but there's too much paperwork, meetings and phone calls involved to get the campaign approved in time for Earth Day," he explains. "I figure Greenpeace is too busy getting sued by conglomerates to bother suing a few people who are trying to promote the cause. They can always officially deny the vulgarity."
posted by jbickers at 2:00 PM PST - 36 comments

An Unlimited Supplyyyyyyyyyyyy

The Big Four Become to Become the Big Three? EMI confirms Warner Music takeover offer.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:41 PM PST - 26 comments

All about our six- (and eight-, and no-) legged friends.

Circus of the Spineless [more inside].
posted by expialidocious at 1:31 PM PST - 9 comments

Drew Marshall

Drew Marshall hosts Canada's "most listened to" spiritual radio program. As a former pastor who is fed up with phony church culture, he does an interesting job of critiquing North American Christianity from the inside. This fair-minded interview with Richard James, the high priest of the Wiccan Church of Canada, is worth a listen, as is the longest interview ever recorded with the late James Brown. Those unfamiliar with Marshall can get a feel for his style by watching his interview on 100 Huntley Street, a Canadian Christian talk show. It aired only once and was then pulled due to the ensuing controversy.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 1:16 PM PST - 23 comments

The Cave Castle

The Castle in Front of the Cave is, unsurprisingly, a castle in Slovenia fully integrated with a cave system; built in several stages beginning in the 13th century, the castle serves as the front to a large network of caves in the side of a mountain. This excellent flickr photoset has plenty more detail about the castle's history, defense systems & more. For those who want more detail, a series of QTVR panoramic images of the insides of the castle available on this Slovenian site. Via.
posted by jonson at 11:49 AM PST - 24 comments

Contemporary Art and the End of Japanese Whaling

The Nisshin Maru is on fire. After being rammed by the Greenpeace Ship Sunrise, chased and harassed by anti-whaling activist Captain Paul Watson, and playing set to contemporary artist Matthew Barney's film Drawing Restraint 9 (which co-starred Barney's wife Bjork), the Nisshin Maru, flagship of Japan's whaling fleet has been crippled by an onboard fire fueled by whale oil, spelling a possible end to whaling in Japan.
posted by AtDuskGreg at 11:42 AM PST - 105 comments

Trippy Dogs

Looking Rather Unworldly, the pharaoh hound, believed by some to have originated in Egypt, is the National Hound of Malta and is claimed by the Maltese. This love of hunting is used to advantage in lure coursing, which seems like a blast, for the dogs. They are the only breed in the sighthound group never to place at the Westminster Kennel Club's dog show.
posted by Danf at 11:29 AM PST - 19 comments

One link youtube post

Youtube stars NSFW MC Mack, Little ***king Kev and Ginger Joe getting more fame then they could have possibly imagined. More inside...
posted by asok at 11:08 AM PST - 42 comments

Crime doesn't pay.

Tighter restrictions on damage awards. The two questions presented to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on whether or not the highly reprehensible conduct of a defendant is analogous to a crime and can "override" the constitutional requirement that punitive damages be reasonably related to the plaintiffs harm. The answer is no. (21 page pdf) Held: 1. A punitive damages award based in part on a jury’s desire to punish a defendant for harming nonparties amounts to a taking of property from the defendant without due process. The majority: Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Souter, and Breyer. Dissenting: Ginsburg, Scalia, Stevens, and Thomas.
posted by three blind mice at 11:03 AM PST - 40 comments

Ben and Nate do Asia...

Ben and Nate do Asia...or does Asia do them? Ben and Nate are a couple of food and wine freaks on a mission from God: to find the best bowl of noodles in Asia...if they survive to tell about it.
posted by darkstar at 10:30 AM PST - 12 comments

Ahh, the Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ahh, the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. The classic stands as the benchmark: but are there better? Many think so: Sherry Yard, David Lebovitz, the folks at Cooking Illustrated, Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton, beloved New York bakeries, intrepid webloggers. Alton Brown in an episode of Good Eats shows how to get them thin, puffy, or chewy. Cookbook after cookbook and competition after competition try to ferret out the best of this american icon. Web recipe sites have their own favorites. Some people swear by secret ingredients: cornstarch, pudding (which has cornstarch in it), oats, great chocolate. Two thirds of Americans prefer their chocolate chip cookies "nutless." Others find technique of greatest importance. Is there any end to this quest for one of baking's holy grails?
posted by shivohum at 9:46 AM PST - 53 comments

"You get what you pay for." - Mercedes-Benz S-Class ad.

Jet Blue Unveils its Image Revival/Damage Control Plan. The low-fare airline rolled out a customer bill of rights Tuesday that promises vouchers to fliers who experience delays in a move it hopes will win back passengers after an operational meltdown damaged its brand and stock price.
posted by wfc123 at 9:14 AM PST - 43 comments

The Train of Reconciliation

The Samjhauta Express was fire-bombed yesterday night, killing 68 people as of now, of which 17 have been identified. Two of the suspectsfaces have been released to the media, and the governments of the two countries (India and Pakistan) have vowed to work together, for the time being at least. Further fears of attacks have increased security at Railway stations, and the Bus service from Delhi to Lahore.
posted by hadjiboy at 7:46 AM PST - 23 comments

Whatever you call it, it goes best with free pancakes!

Happy National Pancake Day! Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday (or Mardi Gras), Paczki Day, Sprengidagur (Bursting Day)... Whatever you call it, today is the liturgical equivalent of a foodie free-for-all. Today is the last day before the season of Lent so Christians are supposed to only eat the plainest of foods for the next forty days. To celebrate it's time to use up all the eggs and milk and flour. What better way than to make a steamy stack of pancakes, or Paczkis or doughnuts? Better yet, head to IHOP tonight for a free stack of their pancakes.
posted by DragonBoy at 7:05 AM PST - 35 comments

Not just for weight loss any more!

The fascinating world of the tapeworm. Everyone has heard of these parasites, but what do you really know? Not much, if you get your medical information from House. They are a menace to pets as well as humans, but they may have some hidden benefits. They have even been discussed on MeFI before! Is there anything they can't do?
posted by TedW at 6:42 AM PST - 33 comments

"I am very glad I live where I do, so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."

These are links I found a long time ago, and they're all sorta old, but it's nice to know they're available whenever I want a refresher on the physiological implications of travel in an airplane wheelwell, generally because yet another poor dead stowaway has made the news. That first Slate link is short and sweet and sums it up pretty well, but, for those of you who want more details, here is a PDF of an FAA report on the subject.
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:15 AM PST - 9 comments

Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football

Royal Shrovetide Football is a traditional ball game played each year in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on a 'pitch' three miles long, lasting the two days of Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. It's been going since at least 1683 and likely much earlier.

After a ceremonial rendition of Auld Lang Syne and God Save The Queen, the cork-filled ball is thrown from the starting plinth into the crowd, and then it's the Up'ards versus the Down'ards, forming giant scrums (or 'hugs') of people moving up and down the River Henmore, with the aim of 'goaling the ball' at their respective goal post.
posted by chrismear at 4:22 AM PST - 15 comments

Johnny Storm: Revealed.

Flame wars as psychopathology. What's behind those flaming hot e-mails or UseNet flame wars or MetaFilter comments?. Perhaps, as John Suler suggested, there are a number of factors, including dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection (altered self-boundaries), dissociative imagination, and minimzation of authority, as he discussed in his fascinating 2004 paper (note: .pdf). Is there, as the NY Times piece asks, "a design flaw inherent in the interface between the brain’s social circuitry and the online world"? Flaming previously covered by MeFi here, here, here, and of course, here.
posted by scblackman at 2:11 AM PST - 39 comments

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