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Somewhere along the line you've probably heard Bobbie Gentry's brilliant signature tune, Ode To Billy Joe, but unlike previously, now you can see a sad-eyed Bobbie perform it live, displaying the understated Southern soul delivery that, in addition to the delicious lyrics, lazy tempo and no-drums arrangement, made the tune such a milestone in US pop music history. But there was another side to Bobbie: down-home sex kitten! The gal could work a fire-engine red catsuit. Check her out! Go Bobbie!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:33 PM PST - 22 comments

Trulia Hindsight merges real estate data showing the year properties were built with animated maps (US Only). Search for your town by name; here's mine.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:19 PM PST - 10 comments

You are most welcome. sigh. Bill Gates must feel like several billion dollars.
posted by longsleeves at 8:15 PM PST - 48 comments

The most amazing Google thing in awhile launched today. Walk the streets of New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, and Miami using Google's new Street View. You can look and move in any direction, and the detail is good enough to read license plates. It is getting lots of attention, though it makes some people a little afraid and has others scrambling. [Requires Flash. Click on the city names, really, it is worth it.]
posted by blahblahblah at 8:13 PM PST - 107 comments

The artwork of Shaun Tan. Of particular interest is his work on the award winning new picture book The Arrival, which uses photo-realistic graphite drawings alone to tell the story of a man who leaves an impoverished town to travel around the world. [via]
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:58 PM PST - 21 comments

The Brickfactory. Hundreds of instruction booklets for LEGO kits, organized by year, theme, number and name. If you're like me, just seeing the covers of some of these old kits will make you teary-eyed. (#268, the 1979 Family Room kit did it for me.)
posted by Lucinda at 5:45 PM PST - 67 comments

The new video for Paul McCartney's UK single, "Dance Tonight" starring Natalie Portman.
posted by semmi at 5:26 PM PST - 64 comments

"All Creeds. All Breeds. No Dogmas Allowed." Whether you are a dog person or not, you have probably seen Stephen Huneck's woodcut illustrations, sculptures, furniture or children's books. The man clearly likes his canines. About eight years ago, a wild idea came to him shortly after he returned home with his wife and three dogs following a near-fatal illness that left him in a coma for two months. He was inspired to build a non-denominational chapel on his 400-acre mountain-top farm in St. Johnsbury (named "Dog Mountain," naturally), and to style it in the manner of a small village church built in Vermont around 1820. He then opened Dog Chapel to the public. "I look at this chapel as the largest artwork of my life, and my most personal." he says. It looks cool. Woof.
posted by miss lynnster at 4:29 PM PST - 16 comments

Famed Arabic calligrapher Khalil al-Zahawi murdered. (Arabic: خليل الزهاوي‎; 1946 - 25 May 2007) Khalil al-Zahawi was the most famous practitioner in Iraq of the art of writing classical Arabic script. He was shot to death Friday as he left his home.
posted by psmealey at 3:18 PM PST - 54 comments

In just a year his bodycount has risen to 32. Jeff kills in Shadow Hills, California. He hunts them, disembowels them, decapitates and dines on them. Each killing is meticulously photographed and posted for your viewing pleasure. The site is not for the squeamish. via
posted by Sully at 2:28 PM PST - 101 comments

Peggy a redo of the Lichtenstein modern classic using 2788 hand cut, sanded, and painted dowels mounted on a wall, forming a 3 x 7 foot work of art.
posted by mathowie at 1:40 PM PST - 38 comments

Joan Rhodes, strong woman. Born ca. 1920 in England, as Josie Terena, ‘Joan Rhodes became famous in the 1950s and 60s as a strong woman,’ sometimes billed as The Mighty Mannequin. ‘She performed in cabaret, variety and vaudeville, stunning audiences with her amazing feats of strength. She could bend heavy steel bars that no man in the audience could even dent, she could break six-inch nails with her hands, and she could tear the 1000 page London phone book not merely in half, but into quarters.’
posted by misteraitch at 1:13 PM PST - 9 comments

If this album cover quiz frustrates you, you might enjoy watching some album art wars instead.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:32 AM PST - 38 comments

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution." Despite Theodosius Dobzhansky's succint description of natural selection at the core of biological research since Darwin's fateful trip to the Galapagos, evolutionary biologist Michael Lynch respectfully dissents, asking "whether natural selection is a necessary or sufficient force to explain" the complexity of multicellular organisms we see today, where mutation, recombination and genetic drift are often overlooked, but critical factors in evolutionary theory and understanding.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:05 AM PST - 90 comments

lolcats are great but now they can code!
posted by jeffburdges at 11:01 AM PST - 69 comments

Russia on Tuesday test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile The points to note are:- It could penetrate any defense system, the statement did not specify how many warheads the missile can carry, it's either a decoy or something that has been developed in complete secrecy.
posted by chrisranjana.com at 10:27 AM PST - 54 comments

Justin.tv, the 24/7 live webcam attached to the head of a San Francisco resident, is growing. Justine will be joining him in what will be one of several planned spinoff shows.
posted by drstein at 10:20 AM PST - 16 comments

"Good Riddance Attention Whore" Cindy Sheehan is done protesting. CNN Story [via]
posted by muckster at 9:10 AM PST - 173 comments

Fontfilter -- ever wondered what font a logo uses? Wonder no more. (site's in German but the chart is simple--there's also a reversed one, by font instead of by company)
posted by amberglow at 8:46 AM PST - 14 comments

Ichiro Hattori makes the finest knives in the world. Chef knives (gyuto KD series) start at $860 USD and top out at $1175. This hunting knife is priced at $2150. These are not collector knives. They are made for everyday use. Text and images of the process and a YouTube vid of same (23:40 mostly in English).
posted by sluglicker at 8:18 AM PST - 63 comments

For those of you curious about the newly opened $27 million dollar Creation Museum, but unable or unwilling to travel to Kentucky for a visit, Zachary Lynn has posted a photo essay of his visit (sadly missing is the opening diorama or human babies playing with dinosaurs).
posted by jonson at 7:24 AM PST - 92 comments

Al Columbia has finally updated his site . Previously, there had been ominous hinting at a more fleshed-out web experience, but no follow-up. Rumors of a documentary by Kevin Belli have been in the air for years, but nothing has been announced beyond this (scroll down). In March, the Fantagraphics blog brought more news of the documentary's progress and hints of publishing Columbia's sketchbooks. Columbia himself confirmed the Fantagraphics book at the beginning of April in an Inkstuds interview (audio), describing it as a large-format collection of most of his unpublished work from the last ten years. Promises, promises. His contribution to Mome 7 and 8 seem to be a bit more concrete. If you've been waiting on A.C. all these years, you'll want to hear that interview: he brings you song (his own Percival Cook), much nervous laughter, meandering descriptions, and dream revelations (at age 12, a dream of having sex with Felix the Cat). [more inside]
posted by ibeji at 6:13 AM PST - 12 comments

It's a sad old story but the reading of literature continues to decline. Prospero's Books - a Kansas-city used bookstore - is so desperate to thin out its collection it has started to burn books. Co-owner Tom Wayne says he is unable to sell many of his thousands of books, or even to give them away to libraries and thrift stores, so he started a pyre in protest.
posted by stbalbach at 5:45 AM PST - 66 comments

Heterodoxy is by definition not widely popular, and so it goes in the field of economics. Lately, though, the orthodoxy has been on the defensive against a faction that's named itself post-autistic economics. Arising in France, it has spread around the world, capitalizing on the widespread feeling that all's not well in the field of economics. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus at 4:58 AM PST - 57 comments

Line Rider does Mario Bros.
posted by reklaw at 4:28 AM PST - 18 comments

Eric Kraft might be he best writer you've never heard of. While at Harvard in the early sixties he imagined a boy on a broken down dock trying to place the soles of his feet as close as possible to the surface of the water without touching. What emerged was literary genius: the saga of Peter Leroy and the associated characters of the clamming town Babbington. Initially distributed as a newsletter to friends in the know, it was ultimately published in a series of remarkable novels.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:18 AM PST - 9 comments