June 29, 2008

Nobody knows Emperors and Queens more intimately

Pictures of 100 poems by 100 poets, explained by a Wet Nurse - Hokusai's pictures describe what the poems do in the head of a wet nurse. With high resolution scans.
posted by tellurian at 11:39 PM PST - 9 comments

Shall We Play a Game?

Toronto Game Jam posts the entries and winners of their 2008 Competition. [more inside]
posted by Lord_Pall at 11:33 PM PST - 4 comments

Secret moves against Iran

Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.
posted by homunculus at 10:00 PM PST - 148 comments

Police State, take one step forward.

Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.
posted by Mr_Zero at 8:51 PM PST - 57 comments

The Black Godfather

Agile Mobile Hostile [ Mov. file] A year with Andre Williams the documentary. The wiki entry, some clips from the film. [more inside]
posted by nola at 8:42 PM PST - 11 comments

Mighty mouse conquers cancer

1999: Researchers at Wake Forest University discover an incredible oddity: a mouse resistant to many forms of cancer. The resistance is found to be inherited (Pubmed link). 2006: They show that cancer resistance can be transferred (Pubmed link) to non-resistant mice. 2008: They've found that the resistance is mediated through blood cells called granulocytes, and that some humans potentially have the same ability to resist cancer. Now they need your help. [more inside]
posted by greatgefilte at 7:49 PM PST - 20 comments

"I was walking down the street; something caught my eye... and dragged it fifteen feet."

The original Emo. Wikipedia states that much of Emo Philips' standup comedy "stems from the use of paraprosdokians and garden path sentences." And, while there are plenty of quotes to support this, it doesn't quite do justice to the man who wrote the best God joke ever--it's in the way he delivers these lines. Experience true Emo here, through these links which I like to call, "Audio and Video Clips from Emo Philips' Website." [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 5:56 PM PST - 72 comments

Anger Management Gas Station

"Your anger just earned you a car wash, ma'am." Gas prices in California are hovering around an upsetting $4.58 per gallon. One gas station in the Bay Area is offering stress relief: a chance to dunk a Shell employee and an Express Rant for an Express car wash. The owner, Bobak Bakhtiari, tells NPR: “Cashiers are trained to really encourage all forms of expression during the rant. Well, except for throwing a chair through the window.”
posted by msamye at 4:36 PM PST - 140 comments

"All he ever talked about was building that vestibule for his maw"

Low Plains Drifter is an award-winning short film featuring artistically photographed 8" custom and kitbashed action figures in painstakingly crafted scale sets. It's the first of a series of Wee Westerns, the latest project from Jason DeWitt, a man who believes very strongly that toys are for playing.
posted by MegoSteve at 4:18 PM PST - 3 comments

Righteous among the Peoples

In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied its ally Hungary and immediately began preparing the extermination of Hungary's Jews. A small band of diplomats from neutral countries and the Red Cross put their lives at risk to try to smuggle as many Jews as possible out of Hungary from under Adolf Eichmann's nose. While Raoul Wallenberg remains the best known of these "Righteous among the Nations", there's no doubt that the most intriguing character was Giorgio "Jorge" Perlasca. [more inside]
posted by Skeptic at 3:59 PM PST - 4 comments

Spain - 2008 European football Champions.

Felicidades España! [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:49 PM PST - 25 comments

Tracking, and now mapping, the entire world.

Remember They Rule, the now-stale site from 2004 that mapped connections between executives and corporate boards? OK, now remember NNDB, the constantly updated collection of unsubstantiated dossiers on "Notable Names" of all sorts? Behold the NNDB Mapper; a They Rule-like visualization tool that integrates the entire database of people and connections. It's fun for conspiracy theorists, gossip hounds and political junkies alike. [more inside]
posted by contraption at 3:27 PM PST - 6 comments

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Joss Whedon's latest project is a family affair. Seems that Mr. Whedon got a little bored during the writer's strike and called up some friends and family to help him make a low-budget web-series:
The story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. Featuring Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens. Written by Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon. Directed by Joss Whedon. Produced by David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon. Music by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. Lyrics by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. Score and Orchestration by Jed Whedon.
Make sure to watch the trailer, and read Joss' announcement. And if you're so inclined, there's an official MySpace page, and a fan page.
posted by vertigo25 at 3:09 PM PST - 93 comments

CDN military to gays: Join us!

Canadian military to gays: Join us! They're even setting up recruiting booths at Gay Pride events (when they are allowed) Note that CBC moderators deleted some of the comments on that first link, but you get a hunch on what they said from the other comments. You may also have heard about two gay soldiers who wed on a military base.
posted by SSinVan at 2:47 PM PST - 15 comments

night people vs. day people

Jean Shepherd has been mentioned before but WFMU's Beware of the Blog has finally dug out an mp3 of Shepherd himself telling the story of "I, Libertine" (mp3 link) (wiki). I, Libertine was a literary hoax that began as a practical joke. Shepherd asked his listeners ("the Night People") to go into bookstores and ask for a book that didn't exist. Fueled by bewildered bookstore owners and distributors, I, Libertine eventually did end up as a genuine bestseller, proving his point that the process of choosing bestsellers was flawed.
posted by krautland at 2:17 PM PST - 11 comments

Nazigarten

Nazi German Bunker in my Garden: "[...] the previous owner told us that there was a tunnel built by the germans during WW2. He said it was big enough to drive into, [...] So I traced some WW2 reconnaisance photos of the property, which appeared to show the entrance road to my bunker. [...] And that's where the quest began....." (Original thread here, first link is to condensed but more readable blog.)
posted by orthogonality at 1:38 PM PST - 23 comments

Fancy a little story?

On this page
you can make a choice
out of several little stories
in different languages.
Most of them however can be enjoyed without speaking the used language.
posted by carsonb at 11:12 AM PST - 1 comments

A History of Techno

The 25 Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century. From the instrument that was created by Leon Theremin, to the Moog Guitar that's been named after the legendary Bob Moog (the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer), Electronic music has come a long way since its early days. YouTube [a, b, (extreme caution advised: graphic images of death, destruction and 9/11 c), d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y] (Previously mentioned here, here, here, here, here and here)
posted by hadjiboy at 10:36 AM PST - 84 comments

El tango del siglo XXI

Dancing tango to Eminem [more inside]
posted by ruelle at 9:03 AM PST - 47 comments

Killing The Indian In The Child

Canada has apologised for forcing more than 100,000 aboriginal children to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools aimed at assimilating them. Controversial former Minister Kevin Annett has written two books on the subject of residential school abuse in Canada [Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust and Love and Death in the Valley]. Unrepentant - Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide reveals Canada’s darkest secret - that the Canadian residential school system, the Christian churches along with state authorities implemented a policy of genocide against Canada's native population. Related: Deliver Us From Evil
posted by chuckdarwin at 8:39 AM PST - 28 comments

The political-economy perspective on women's rights

Women's rights: What's in it for men? - "Women in rich countries largely enjoy gender equality while those in poor countries suffer substantial discrimination. This column proposes an explanation for the relationship between economic development and female empowerment that emphasises changes in the incentives males face rather than shifts in moral sentiment. Technological change that raises demand for human capital may give men a stake in women's rights." [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 7:48 AM PST - 29 comments

We can be heroes just for one day

Christiane F was a 1981 German film that portrayed the life of young heroin addicts growing up in 1970's Berlin. Notable for the collaboration of David Bowie, the film became well known for its realistic portrayal of drug use. [more inside]
posted by panboi at 5:01 AM PST - 28 comments

Leaves of jade

Miss Neddy's tea blog — all about tea. Insightful and pleasant tea commentary from Singapore.
posted by Wolof at 4:08 AM PST - 13 comments

the tail wagging the dog

webofdeception.com is a bizarre, timecubesque linkdump maintained and updated by private investigator and domain squatter Joseph Culligan. In addition to sleazy dirt-digging on various celebrities and politicians, Culligan also includes a huge resource list of links to databases and public-record searches. [more inside]
posted by sergeant sandwich at 3:08 AM PST - 14 comments

Waxing and Waning

The New York Moon is an internet-based publication adhered to the lunar phases. It is a collection of experimental, reflective, and imaginative projects produced with every other month’s full moon. In the current issue visit the 6th Borough interactive map to discover imaginary precincts, find ephemeral street sculptures on The Trash Map, browse sketches of the moments in between Waiting, or redesign your neighborhood in Blueprints. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 3:03 AM PST - 7 comments

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