July 27, 2006
Huh, your world, maybe, pathetic earthlings!
The Size of Our World. A brief study in pictures of the relative sizes of some astronomical bodies.
Madame in center quare for block
Fans of Hollywood Squares may remember Wayland Flowers and his homely, tiara- and rhinestone-bedecked puppet Madame (they replaced the similarly bitchy Paul Lynde as center square.) Madame also briefly enjoyed her own show Madame's Place (1982, with Corey Feldman!), and also, incomprehensibly, hosted Solid Gold. It's not easy to find video of Madame nowadays -- YouTube, as an example, only has one. Her public visibility has decreased since the 1988 death of her puppeteer. (The rumor -- untrue -- is that she was buried with Flowers.)
But even if a puppeteer dies, it's possible for the puppet to live on.
But even if a puppeteer dies, it's possible for the puppet to live on.
Yo' X-Ray So Fat...
Newsfilter: According to a new research from the United States, increasing numbers of Americans are becoming too fat to fit into X-ray machines. Whoa. Heavy...
It was...
It was an important consumer product in the 18th century. Rich and poor “took” it and it was processed in several locations. Outside Bewdley, a mill was created to grind the raw material. The history of the industry is linked to early 20th century photographs, which show the abandoned and derelict mill and machinery.
Shouldn't retard be singular?
etc.
How Tos now on Fecal Face
I've linked their site before, but now Fecal Face has instructional How Tos: Stuff a Mouse, Make an Oil Painting, Screen Print a Poster, Make a Mini-Comic/Zine. The site has many other features as well but remember that where there's art, the occasional nsfw image may wait, brooding.
im in ur sub base killin ur d00dz
Woman escapes from jail, blogs about her jailbreak on Myspace
I just escaped from prison - and I'm blogging about it! Farah Damiji, 39, a former magazine editor from the UK, megawealthy scion of a real estate dynasty and "international conwoman", was given a 3.5 year sentence last year for credit card fraud and identity theft. She was given a day pass from Downview Prison in Surrey to attend an educational event and never returned. That's when an English magazine found out that Ms. Damiji was blogging about her jailbreak on her Myspace page. Her Majesty's Home Office is not amused.
When the marmot comes, he will find me gone.
Everybody please read about marmots. "Marmots are large, about the size of a housecat, charismatic sciurid rodents found in the Northern Hemisphere." [Much, much more inside]
Art Isn't Monkey Business.
It's made out of people('s hair)!
Waiter, there's hair in my soy sauce! A new soy sauce from China is raising eyebrows in Asia and elsewhere. Why? IT'S MADE OUT OF PEOPLE! Well, people's hair. Someone ought to tell these guys. [via BoingBoing]
Fun Movie Quiz, Part 33 1/3rd
A new iteration of the Fun Movie Quiz has been posted. For those unfamiliar, single frames from films are shown, and the users must guess what movie the image comes from. Previously.
What if transit were free?
What if transit were free? For six days last month in San Francisco, it was. At a cost of about $14 million (USD) for all six Spare the Air days, about 1.3 million (15%) more people took transit. Festivity ensued. Now LA's mayor is proposing a Free Transit Week. More opinions.
In the future, everyone will be internet famous for five minutes
The internet has been hailed as a great media equalizer; no longer do you have to have the huge budgets & backing of major news outlets, record companies, movie studios, etc.. One attempt to formalize that process, IMince seems to be a bit of a YouTube/Project Greenlight combination, where users submit their funniest/most compelling (five minute max) digital video in the hopes of being discovered. I assume the site will be community content driven & user voting (digg like?) to separate the good from the bad, but until they start getting/posting content, it's hard to tell.
2006 Elections, interactive style
New York Times 2006 interactive elections map. A really impressive guide to the current House, Senate, and governor races with all of the poll data and analysis a political junky could ask for; plus the ability to modify the maps by population, ethnicity, and income levels. It also allows you to play out scenarios. [registration may be required]
Food for thought
The new war on hunger. No strangers to controversy, the Food Not Bombs Network generated further discord while distributing meals to others. In the course of its work, FNB's food lines often neglect the issue(s) of sanitation disposal. In response, Legislation has been swiftly drafted to correct problem; feeding the destitute in public gathering areas has since become a criminal offense in a number of cities.
Tour winner disgraced?
Atlanta, Ten Years Ago Today
"There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes." Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Initial (and unwarranted) suspicions notwithstanding, the July 27th bombing would prove to be just the first of four such acts of domestic terrorism committed by 5-year fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph.
Witness: holocausts and genocides as told in art
The Ghetto Diary of Eli Lesky, The Fifth Horseman, the Buchewald Series, artwork by Joseph Bau; Paintings of the Hmong Migration; Visualizing Otherness - Nazi and other racist propaganda - all this and much, much more from the University of Minnesota's The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Man of Honor
"We have many traditions. In my career, I have encountered most of them. Some are good, some not so good. I would, however not be here today were it not for our greatest tradition of all... honor." Carl Brashear, the US Navy's first African American diver and the subject of the 2000 movie Men of Honor has died at age 75.
Arbëresh - Albanians Without the Albania
Ever heard of the Arbëresh? Regis Philbin's mother was one. Even if you're not a fan of Regis or his morning show, you might find the Arbëresh interesting. They are ethnic Albanians who had fought under the great Albanian general George Kastrioti, better known as Skanderbeg (The Russians even made a movie about him). Six hundred years ago, they were invited to settle in Southern Italy and Sicily and became one the one many forgotten groups of Europe. If you have the time, listen to some Arbëresh music.
I'm going to make you squeal like a scruffy nerf herder.
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