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"With respect to landscape design, art, and the quality of spectacle, the picturesque 1,000 acres of Gibbs Farm afford one of the most intriguing, tastefully presented, and well-thought-out private collections of site-specific sculpture of the modern era." - Sculpture Magazine [more inside]
posted by maxwelton at 11:21 PM PST - 16 comments

If the Body Parts of Individual People category or the List of Fictional Plants don't do it for you, you're sure to find something on Wikipedia's List of Lists or perhaps even the List of Lists of Lists. If none of that does the job, then give the List of Unusual Articles a try. (previously)
posted by 23 at 10:23 PM PST - 29 comments

This is powerful writing. "This isn't an essay or simply a woe-is-we narrative about how hard it is to be a black boy in America. This is a lame attempt at remembering the contours of slow death and life in America for one black American teenager under Central Mississippi skies. I wish I could get my Yoda on right now and surmise all this shit into a clean sociopolitical pull-quote that shows supreme knowledge and absolute emotional transformation, but I don't want to lie."—A piece by Kiese Laymon, an Associate Professor of English and co-director of Africana Studies at Vassar College. [more inside]
posted by Moody834 at 10:17 PM PST - 57 comments

The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books catalogs the top ten favorite books of over 140 major authors and growing, including Louis D. Rubin, Jim Harrison, David Foster Wallace, David Leavitt, Paul Auster, Michael Chabon, and many more. Here's the list of books rank-ordered by frequency and here are other lists compiled from the statistics.
posted by shivohum at 10:16 PM PST - 40 comments

Orlando, FL - 10 ac, 90K sq ft, 13 bed, 30 bath, 20 car garage, 3 pools, 2 tennis cts, bowling alley, skating rink - $100M [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen at 6:53 PM PST - 143 comments

Miles Kimball tells the history behind the Mormon church's close ties to the GOP through his twitter account. [more inside]
posted by scunning at 5:40 PM PST - 29 comments

Are professional writers going the way of milk deliverers, shoeshiners, and chimney sweeps? “I’ve been making culture professionally for 20 years, and going back to working on spec again seems to be a very retrograde step,” Morrison says. “But it’s something a lot of established writers are having to do.” The Globe and Mail asserts that there will be no professional writers in the future.
posted by xenophile at 2:28 PM PST - 121 comments

Four Micro-Essays on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 2009 (contains spoilers), a look at the concluding part of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's 3 part LoEG: Century series in which the league face off against a headline grabbing villain (extreme spoiler warning) and which spookily presaged some of last nights Olympic opening. Previous Moore and O'Neill. Obligatory annotations from Jess Nevins.
posted by Artw at 11:26 AM PST - 40 comments

Fall, Mortality, and the Machine: Tolkien and Technology From the beginnings of modern fantasy, in the work of Tolkien, technology has always been the enemy of the good life. But does it have to be that way?
posted by infini at 10:57 AM PST - 82 comments

Son. This is how you make a Ron Swanson quilt.
posted by pie ninja at 10:43 AM PST - 14 comments

Jim Holt asks John Leslie why is there something rather than nothing? [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 9:41 AM PST - 84 comments

Anthony Lane cattily encapsulates Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy in a review for the New Yorker
posted by The Whelk at 9:17 AM PST - 171 comments

Culture, delusions, and the early treatment of schizophrenia.
Greg Downey: Living in the prodrome, part 1, part 2. [more inside]
posted by nangar at 9:03 AM PST - 20 comments

Goddammit it, I wish I'd written this deliciously nail-on-the-head, brilliantly insightful and sweeping overview of American musico-cultural history, seasoned with heavy dollops of personal remembrances and observations that I identify with so much that it's almost scary. But alas, I didn't. Still, I'm really, really grateful that William Hogeland did: Coons! Freaks! Hillwilliams! : 200 Years of Roots-Rock Revival (a Memoir).
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:50 AM PST - 22 comments

Need some cuteness in your day? Teru Teru Bozu are small handmade dolls loosely resembling bald monks, which are traditionally made in Japan and hung up, to [allegedly] bring good weather. There's a cute song that goes along with the tradition. Want to make your own?
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 7:19 AM PST - 11 comments

With the approaching 45th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Film School Rejects have taken the boring old original trailer and updated it as a contemporary summer blockbuster (other remixes come in Inception and Prometheus flavors). [more inside]
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:52 AM PST - 25 comments

Sorting Out Sorting [more inside]
posted by Ad hominem at 6:17 AM PST - 22 comments

Ever wonder what Stormtroopers do on their day off? Motocross. [more inside]
posted by quin at 6:08 AM PST - 8 comments

Should a photographer document or intervene? In the wake of the recording of a sex attack in India, The Guardian interviews several photojournalists who have experienced doubt and regret over their actions. [more inside]
posted by Magnakai at 3:18 AM PST - 106 comments

What happens when you mash up Cinderella, Disney songs, queer culture, and top 40 hits? This, apparently. [SLYT]

Warning for general ear-worminess. I'll be humming this all week.
posted by MeghanC at 3:07 AM PST - 12 comments