July 30, 2014
TL;DR
Simon and Martina, of the joint blog Eat Your Kimchi, are a married Canadian couple that moved to South Korea in 2008. They have a YouTube series called "TL;DR" in which readers can submit questions about living in Korea, and they will answer them to the best of their ability. In short: "You ask questions. We make videos answering them!" Here's a couple: The Threat of North Korea, Korean Food Etiquette. [more inside]
Five Things You Learn Growing Up In (And Escaping) North Korea
Cracked interviews a NK escapee, an ambassador to NK's grandson, and a journalist covering NK. Want more, without any humor (Cracked is pretty restrained for their piece)? BBC on the people smuggling industry, Yeonmi Park on growing up in North Korea, the Guardian on an ordinary day in Pyongyang, Al-jazeera explains how the Kims rule with an iron fist and some recent photographs of ordinary people in North Korea.
A raccoon of my own
being the other
"There's no easy way to say this... I'm pregnant Trevor."
Alone
The Center for Investigative Reporting conducted a year-long investigation into the problem of teens held in solitary confinement and chronicles what it found in the short documentary “Alone.” [more inside]
On, Wisconsin History!
African American Bowling Shirt. Bra Flag. Liberace's Performance Jacket. The Oscar Mayer Wiener Banjo-Ukulele. A Bull Semen Parachute. These artifacts and their stories are part of the wonderful online exhibit of objects held by the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Enjoy browsing the collection!
World War I in photos
A 10-Part Series By Alan Taylor. "One hundred years ago, in the summer of 1914, a series of events set off an unprecedented global conflict that ultimately claimed the lives of more than 16 million people, dramatically redrew the maps of Europe, and set the stage for the 20th Century."
lucid dreamscapes of plants, creatures, space and earth elements
If you've walked along Broadway between 15th Street & 17th Street in downtown Oakland recently, your eye may have been caught by the colorful zodiac animals and enigmatic faces painted on the sides of two utility cabinets in front of 1542 Broadway. They're the work of Oakland-based artist and musician Thailan When. 2010 interview.
"He's been in the black earth now for a thousand years"
Deaths in the Iliad is an infographic by Laura Jenkinson presenting every death in Homer's Iliad. In her book of poetry Memorial Alice Oswald did something similar, writing about all 213 named men who die in the epic poem. You can read excerpts of the poem and listen to her read these excerpts at the Poetry Archive (1, 2). Or you can listen to her discuss Memorial on the Poetry Trust podcast (iTunes, mp3).
Note how at no point does she look turned on. At all.
Janet looks at 89 dicks. (SLYT) Janet, who has never seen a dick pic, is presented with a slideshow of 89 such pictures. This video is of Janet's reactions. (SFW visuals-wise, but contains close to four minutes of Janet saying "dick" and describing "dicks" over and over.
Somewhere there's music.
"How High the Moon": Drag duo CoLo and Desarae Demuir warm up to Ella Fitzgerald.
When Dutch and English Collide
Female octopuses have the saddest life spans
"For many a female octopus, laying eggs marks the beginning of the end (pdf, 1.11MB). She needs to cover them and defend them against would-be predators. She needs to gently waft currents over them so they get a constant supply of fresh, oxygenated water. And she does this continuously, never leaving and never eating. (via)."
Q: How is a drum solo like a sneeze? A: You know it's coming....
Three-year-old can-can drum. And then some.
traditional urbanism
Did you know that Hawkeye has impaired hearing?
Hawkeye, lost 80% of his hearing in West Cost Avengers #1. When a 4 year old boy refused to wear his hearing aids since no super hero wore them, this was used to help convince him. Matt Fraction has revived this story element and has dedicated the issue to Leah Coleman of Signing Time.
The American Room - Behind the nation’s closed doors, with YouTube.
It’s a standardized room. "Like Diet Coke or iPhones, American rooms are a kind of product, built as quickly and cheaply as possible to a standardized specification. " Article describing the standard American room as viewed through youtube videos.
Charmingly Antiquated comics, about love and loss, and other odd things
Charmingly Antiquated is a tumblr of the usual random sort, plus original art by Sam, which includes three one-shot short comics: a little love story about a mermaid and tattoos, a morbid little comic about a banshee, and a silly, silly little comic about a princess. If you like longer stories, you might enjoy Granted, which is also by Sam.
DIY Law School: Learn the Law Without Law School
"'Attorneys trained in this way will be able to be average people,' Ms. Orsi said, 'not just because they don’t have debt, but because law school tells us that we’re really special.'” [NYT][more inside]
We Spelled This City
In Lexicopolis, buildings are constructed from the letters that make them up. Construct buildings by typing words like "HOUSE," "OFFICE," or "PARK."
What if there was a Robot cheering for those fans?
The Hanwha Eagles, a much beleaguered South Korean major league baseball team have introduced Fanbots, jersey-clad robots who lead cheers, display messages (and selfies where the robot would otherwise have a blank screen) sent in from fans at home, and generally stand in for fans who aren't there. [more inside]
No stakes, not relatable. I think I'm realizing: Shakespeare sucks.
Ira Glass tweeted that John Lithgow was "amazing" as King Lear in Central Park, but added, "Shakespeare: not good. No stakes, not relatable. I think I'm realizing: Shakespeare sucks." Then ProPublica reporter Lois Beckett had an idea: This American Lear.
You must be this tall to Ride or Die
There's a lot of tragedy in the world lately. Please enjoy a video of DMX on an amusement park ride.
“Uncouth, untuneful, and unmusical.”
Sean-nós singing: a bluffer's guide. While the future of the Gaeltacht is in question, sean-nós singing is alive and well in Ireland and beyond. [more inside]
For just the price of a cup of coffee you can buy a dude a cup of coffee
Actress and writer Melissa Hunter's Youtube channel is worth a look for her Adult Wednesday Addams series in which the grown-up Addams explores life in contemporary LA. Bonus: 1-800 Adopt A Dude
Bad Mothers Anonymous
Motherhood is not all sunshine and jellybeans, and sometimes you do it badly. Bad Mothers Anonymous is a collection of confessions. [more inside]
"I'm attempting to be the Episcopalian Guy Fieri."
Going Deep with David Rees (yes, that David Rees) is a TV series about mundane things examined in a far from mundane manner. Episodes to date have explained how to tie one's shoes, how to make ice, and how to dig a hole, among other things. In an interview in The Atlantic, Rees explains his philosophy for the show: There are NO fake facts in our show. The humor comes from my interactions with the experts, who have all been incredibly good-natured and (sometimes) silly without compromising the integrity of the information they're sharing with me. That's important to us, because we really do want this show to be a celebration of everything that's right under our noses—and for that mission to succeed, we need to honor the topics by not bullshitting our way through them.
How We F*** Now
Argentina and the future of sovereign debt
In 2000, Argentina defaulted on international debt, and then renegotiated with most of its bondholders. Some of the rest of the bonds were snapped up by hedge funds at deep discounts. Recently a U.S. district court judge, Thomas Griesa, ruled that Argentina couldn't pay the renegotiating bondholders -- and no bank or other agent could help it pay them -- without paying the hedge funds, too, in full. The 2nd circuit affirmed, the Supreme Court denied appeal, and the ruling could have a major impact on the future of sovereign debt and on the role of the U.S. as a world financial center. If a solution is not found, Argentina will default again today.
Bill Clinton Swag Generator
What are Bill Clinton's favorite records? The actual answer is immaterial, since you can generate your own with the Bill Clinton Swag Generator.
The ethics of animal aesthetics
From toygers to GloFish This author says harm to the animals and risk to the environment are more important factors than means the of modifying an animal's appearance. So "docking" the tail of a horse or dog is worse than making a GMO pet. Surprise, genetically modified GloFish are already on sale in pet stores. (Previously.)
the statement that stands in for physicality
The cameras faded out and wrestling fans exhaled. It was more than just a promo; it was a virtuoso performance for the ages. It was shocking on several levels: that a monologue could have so much more power than a match; that WWE was launching the promotion of the main event of its second-biggest show of the year without either of its competitors speaking; and, perhaps most surprising, that Paul Heyman was doing the heavy lifting.David Shoemaker does a close reading of the WWE SummerSlam promo to try and explain the rise of Paul Heyman as the face of WWE.
I wouldn't know where to begin.
"A Truncated Story of Infinity," a short film about the infinite possibilities contained in a day. [more inside]
Markov chains explained with interactive simulations
Now you can make the Kessel Run in less than 12...hours
YouTube user crysisknife007 has apparently spent the last several weeks compiling 12 hour clips of various ambient (and some transient) sounds. Hits include 12 hours of keyboard typing, a hair dryer, and various alarm sounds, each lasting for 12 hours.
But the real draw here is his collection of Extended Ambient Space Sounds. Many of your favorite spaceship sounds are here, from both the Star Trek and Star Wars universes, as well as Alien and 2001.
Also notable: Jabba The Hutt laughing for 12 hours.
"This is why white people are so healthy"
What happens when some Ivory Coast cacao farmers get to taste the end product of their labors for the first time? A rather touching mini-doc shows their reactions.(SLYT)
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