February 28, 2010
Orbital XX
That High Lonesome
Bluegrass, it's said was invented by Bill Monroe,(yt) but where
would bluegrass have been without the banjo style of Earl
Scruggs?(yt) Together they created a sound that has become known
as Bluegrass. In 1945 George Elam Scruggs joined up with
Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, two years later Scruggs left to form
a group with Lester Flatt(yt), but not before gifting Monroe with
the amalgam that was and is Bluegrass. Other players like
Chubby Wise born 1915, Lake City, Florida(yt), and bassist Howard
Watts became known as the "Original Bluegrass Band". [more inside]
Some good viewing
Have you checked out Crackle lately? If not, you may want to go ahead and check out a couple of these goodies; The Bannen Way, Angel of Death starring Zoë Bell, or Star-ving with David Faustino and Corin Nemec. [more inside]
Iconography of Contagion
About a hundred years ago, public health took a visual turn. In an era of devastating epidemic and endemic infectious disease, health professionals began to organize coordinated campaigns that sought to mobilize public action through eye-catching wall posters, illustrated pamphlets, motion pictures, and glass slide projections. An Iconography of Contagion.
Now this is stepping!
The Shattuck Crack Squad (be sure to turn on your sound) started in 1882 as the "Far Famed Fancy Drill Squad" at Shattuck School, a military prep school in Faribault, Minnesota. It has included famous members, such as Marlon Brando. Based on a drill manual developed by John J. Pershing, the squad marches using the "Zouave" step at 250 steps a minute and uses Springfield 45-70 breech-loading rifles from the Civil War era (pdf). They have won many drill competitions, and their performance is thrilling and fascinating. It even has its own Facebook page. [more inside]
Bohemian Suburb Rhapsody
Veteran Australian pop satirist New Waver, best known for covers of pop songs rewritten from a pessimistically neo-Darwinian point of view, has a new album out. Titled Bohemian Suburb Rhapsody, it looks at the subjects of gentrification, the explosion of revivalist styles in "hip" music, contemporary white-collar culture, the ideology of the "creative class" in the post-industrial age and the resulting oversupply of cultural products, through the medium of cover songs and musical montage. The album is free for dowloading from New Waver's web site; there is a more detailed explanation here, and a video for the song "Hey Dude" (which explains the dynamics of gentrification through the medium of a Beatles cover) here.
Hold Your Horses! with a Pearl Ear-ring
A Survey of Western Painting with Song Attached (SLYT)
kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi...
Kabaddi is an ancient team sport, originating in South Asia, that requires nothing but an open area and a bunch of people [wikipedia]. It combines the skills of tag and wrestling with the ability to hold your breath while doing so: raid your opponents' side of the court, tag as many of the defenders as you can, and then run back to your side, avoiding the defensive tackler--all in one breath, while chanting "kabaddi-kabaddi-kabaddi". [extended rules].
Footage: [ 2006 World Cup (with music) • 2005 World Cup 1 2 3 • 2004 • 9 minutes of footage from a Tauranga, NZ tournament • From the USA 1 2 ]
"Kabaddi Kabaddi" by Babbu Mann from the film Hashar • Another song
The British Army uses Kabaddi as a recruiting tool. • Representing Team MeFi
Footage: [ 2006 World Cup (with music) • 2005 World Cup 1 2 3 • 2004 • 9 minutes of footage from a Tauranga, NZ tournament • From the USA 1 2 ]
"Kabaddi Kabaddi" by Babbu Mann from the film Hashar • Another song
The British Army uses Kabaddi as a recruiting tool. • Representing Team MeFi
AFOL A Blocumentary
AFOL A Blocumentary. Passion combines with creativity in this documentary that features a selection of AFOLs (Adult Fans Of LEGO) from the Pacific NorthWest. [30 minutes, Vimeo, via Kempa.com]
Cockeyed's Photographic Height/Weight Chart
SR-71A Flight Manual
Online SR-71A Flight Manual. Included in sr-71.org's excellent Blackbird Archive is a scanned copy of the actual "Dash-1" flight manual for the famous SR-71A reconnaissance plane. [more inside]
David Bailey's World of Escher-like Tessellations
I feel like my whole life is ridiculous really.
"We only smash stuff outside." A SLYT illustrating the perils of mixing art and Judge Judy.
The Data Deluge
According to one estimate, mankind created 150 exabytes (billion gigabytes) of data in 2005. This year, it will create 1,200 exabytes. Data data everywhere and possibly too much to drink?
Books! How we will miss you.
Of the bookshelves I’ve inspected in my life, two stand out as particularly consequential. [more inside]
Keli Carender has a pierced nose.
You might mistake her for the kind of young person whose vote powered President Obama to the White House. You probably would not think of her as a Tea Party type. But leaders of the Tea Party movement credit her with being the first. “She’s not your typical conservative,”, “She’s an actress. She’s got a nose ring. I think it’s the thing that’s so amazing about our movement.”
Her fiancé, Conor McNassar, urged her to channel her complaints into a blog, which she called Liberty Belle. It was not enough.
She's been profiled by NPR. Some of her articles can be found in American Thinker. [more inside]
Queen of Sheeba's town house abandoned.
Dating back to 6 Centuries before Common Era; Sana'a ( some photo links borked ) in Yemen will become the World's First modern Capital City to Run Out of Water.
Apart from drought Yemen's lack of water is a direct result of growing the stimulant Qat. (wiki ).
Yemen is well on its way to becoming the world's next failed state.
( History and Qat related.
( History and Qat related.
White Sorority Girls win Step Off
An all white-girl Arkansas sorority's win in an Atlanta step competition has started a fiery debate over whether or not white girls should be allowed to win in a traditionally black step competition. Sprite, the sponsor of the show, ended up having to award two first place winners, claiming there was a scoring discrepancy.
Big Brother: The Sequel
The Patriot Act was originally signed into law by Bush in 2001, following 9/11. This bill gives law enforcement agencies the power to search your email, telephone records, medical records, record your telephone conversations, without your consent. It's allowance of indefinite detention of immigrants has been a major point of criticism from opponents. Today, President Obama, who previously promised to protect our civil liberties, has quietly extended the bill for another year.
Debunking the myth of Lady Jane Grey
Debunking the myth of Lady Jane Grey. And it's not just that Guildford was never as beautiful as Cary Elwes. [more inside]
33 billion dollars sitting on the lawn
Pavement: So much style that it's wasted
Tomorrow, in Auckland, mellow jazz docents Pavement will play their first live show in a decade. A week later, Matador Records will release the band's first-ever best-of collection, Quarantine the Past. But what about all the B-sides, live takes, and rarities that didn't make the cut? An extensive selection follows, but you can start with these superb live recordings from their last tour: Gold Soundz, Range Life, Here. (Previously.) [more inside]
The Twain Shall Meet
Asia Snapshots "is a blog that examines topics in Asia through the perspectives of interesting people interviewed by a group of bloggers in Mainland China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and more." Meet Gao Qingrong and family, who along with seven other households are part of an organic farm co-op in Anlong Village, Sichuan. Or there's the tale of how one of the bloggers met Jun Jun, a male prostitute in Beijing; an encounter with Silang Laji, a road maintenance worker in Kham, a Tibetan region of China; and Gege, an enterprising journalist in Chengdu.Via
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