April 30, 2007
writers week at moistworks
Great cache of interesting you tube clips including Alex Chilton, Paula Abdul stoned, The Pogues and James Brown drunk, Husker Du, John Lennon, and Captain Beefheart. And when was the last time you read something worthwhile on a music blog? Check out the Susan Choi post at moistworks.
[And bonus essay from mefite gwint's wife!]
I'm sure they disapprove of this post.
Disapproving Rabbits! Maybe they disapprove of the war in Iraq. Maybe they disapprove of abortion. Maybe they disapprove of Ann Coulter. Maybe they disapprove of Ann Coulter going to Iraq to have an abortion. But I'm quite sure they disapprove of this post.
The Crying Game.
The Crying Game. The Japanese proverb Naku ko wa sodatsu says that "A crying child thrives." During the annual Konaki Sumo ("Crying Sumo") festival held at certain temples in Japan, babies are held facing each other and encouraged to cry by priests and sumo wrestlers. The one who bawls first, or loudest, is the winner, thought to be blessed by the gods with good health.
Meet Mark Penn.
Meet Mark Penn. Pollster to Hillary Clinton and Corporate America. Penn came up with terms like "Soccer Moms" and "Office Park Dads", and if you're reading metafilter you're probably an e-fluential (you can take a quiz to find out. And don't forget about the momfluentials! Oh, and remember, when talking about the war, don't ever use the word mistake. Hillary Isn't)
Meditation In Schools
The David Lynch Foundation via the man himself will announce, on May 1st, at 12 noon (EDT), the foundation's plan to stop school violence. Their plan? Teaching students how to meditate.
...when there is nothing left to take away.
The website of London's Design Museum contains a wealth of resources. Explore the illustrated history of architecture and design, from the Anglepoise lamp to Buckminster Fuller. Read an interview with Dan Houser of Rockstar Games. Ponder the evolution of the humble chair.
Cake to person ratio = infinite
To celebrate the 17th birthday of the Hubble Space Telescope, please feast your eyes on a very detailed (Flash) picture of the Carina Nebula.
Will Self's writing room in excessive detail.
A 360 degree view in 71 photos of Will Self's writing room. Damn, that's a lot of post-its. (related)
Lower, lower, lower, no - that's too low!
Is my penis too small? Am I gay? What does ______ mean?
Sensible, snark-free* sex advice and
information from the
practical to the
spiritual.
Plus,
links
galore and, sex advice for teens. *Although in that particular link, no longer updated and near-impossible to search by topic
Enter the Velodrome
Two wheels, no brakes, no gears... Unstoppable. They're fixed-gear bicycles, and they're an environmentally friendly mode of transportation for those with a sense of style (or a death wish).
soundwaves
The Sea Organ (YouTube) is located on the shores of Zadar, Croatia, and is the world’s first pipe organ that is played by the sea. Simple and elegant steps, carved in white stone, were built on the quayside. Underneath, there are 35 pipes with whistle openings on the sidewalk. The movement of the sea pushes air through, and – depending on the size and velocity of the wave – musical chords are played (YouTube). The waves create random harmonic sounds.
The Black Swan is episte-riffic!
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb is out. Reviews in the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, and Financial Times. Just in time with those of us with a love of Hume's problem of induction, non-Gaussian distributions and financial intellectualism. Read an early draft of chapter 16, The Bell Curve, That Great
Intellectual Fraud. Read Taleb's "philisophical and literary notebook." Then, in a feat of metanarrative rarely seen outside of Metatalk, read his comments on comments on the book. Previously on Metafilter: Languagehat has already made his thoughts on Taleb known, it wasn't pretty, and someone with "vested interests in Taleb" responded. Taleb, refreshingly, does not shy away from debates about his work.
The rarest play in baseball
Baseball fans were treated on Sunday to the rarest gem in the sport, a confluence of chance and circumstance which had only occurred twelve times previously in modern major league history. If you blinked, you may have missed it. Colorado Rockies rookie shortshop (and subject of future trivia questions) Troy Tulowitzki turned an unassisted triple play.
The Internetless Life
Stephen Elliott describes life without the internet.
Particles and waves in your basement
Demonstrate one of the weirdest quantum effects in your home using a laser pointer, some tinfoil, a piece of wire, and a $7 polarizer. The device, called a quantum eraser, operates in a way very similar to the famously mind-blowing double slit experiment that was voted the most beautiful experiment in physics.
The low-tech way around RFID
The guy over at Make Your Nut is facing a dilemma I've wondered about myself: what to do about the security risks that are inherent in the many RFID-chipped credit and ATM cards that banks are so keen on issuing today? There's a lot of evidence out there that indicates that the highly personal information these cards (and the new US passports as well) carry can be stripped away by a thief with a little motivation and access to relatively low-cost equipment. You can go with the nifty RFID-blocking wallets (discussed here previously), or, according to some, you could just grab a hammer.
Peak Performance
Peak Performance is a website featuring dozens of articles on just about every aspect of sports science, including large sections devoted to cycling, swimming and sports psychology. Some of my own favorites deal with the beneficial effects of Omega-3 fatty acids, the Chinese government’s plan to dominate the Olympics, Veronique Billat’s 30-30 running workouts and how to increase growth hormone levels naturally.
How to interview
How to conduct a job interview. 5 steps to conducting good job interviews and finding the right candidates. Contains answers to the infamous why is a manhole cover round question. Also, 10 common mistakes managers should avoid when conducting same. On the flispide, here are some tips for interview preparation, the 25 most difficult questions an interviewee can prepare for and some things to avoid saying in interviews.
Limited edition coolness
20ltd.com is a new and unique online shop. They have 20 limited edition items for sale at any time, and each item is a limited edition made exclusively for 20ltd.com. And they have a jukebox with some great tunes on to shop by.
Cigar box guitar
Let's take a moment to consider that humblest of American musical instruments, the cigar box guitar. Many of the most important names in American guitar artistry got their start on the unprepossessing little instrument. And let's not forget its cousin, the cookie tin banjo. By the time you've heard some of those boxy tones you might just want to join the growing legions of players and make one of your own. Not the DIY type? There are lots of folks out there who'll make one for you. And friends, don't forget to pay a visit to the National Cigar Box Guitar Museum, and tell 'em flapjax sent'cha! In closing, if you've got a big stack of cigar boxes but none of this guitar stuff piques your interest, you can always try this.
Beltane Fire Festival
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