MetaFilter

Why New Yorkers Last Longer. Interestingly, urban theorists believe it is not just the tightly packed nature of the city but also its social and economic density that has life-giving properties. When you’re jammed, sardinelike, up against your neighbors, it’s not hard to find a community of people who support you—friends or ethnic peers—and this strongly correlates with better health and a longer life. [New York Magazine article]
posted by nickyskye at 11:32 PM PST - 81 comments

And now for something completely different: A star with a tail like a comet. (Cool pic). Don't know how we missed it. It's one of the most well-known stars in the sky and the tail is 13 light-years long, or about 20,000 times the average distance of Pluto from the sun.
posted by spock at 9:56 PM PST - 44 comments

Acrobatic kite flying (Background music: Flower Duet from Lakmé’ by Delibes)
posted by growabrain at 9:43 PM PST - 11 comments

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley so it seems somewhat appropriate that we remember not only The man King but his music as well, including Jailhouse Rock, Love Me Tender, In The Ghetto, Unchained Melody, Always on My Mind, Burning Love, Suspicious Minds, Return to Sender, Blue Christmas, Heartbreak Hotel, It's Now Or Never, Hound Dog, My Way, Don't Be Cruel, Way Down, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Amazing Grace, You've Lost That Loving Feeling, Promised Land, Viva Las Vegas and many more. Here's the lyrics if you want to sing along to any of those. Not a fan of his music? Fair enough. Why not go make yourself a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich? Just don't eat 12 to 15 of them in one sitting!
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:39 PM PST - 78 comments

My Right Wing Dad is a new-ish and rather informal blog that aims to provide "a chance for folks to examine the unrestrained rhetoric that is quietly passed from in-box to in-box in America," by hosting a collection of the emails that form an often untraceable and unacknowledged part of public discourse in the U.S., especially on the Right. Tagged by category (for example: God, college, flag, liberal, and World War II), the amateur archive presents a range of colorful opinion, not all of it strikingly accurate, and some of it offensive. In efforts to understand liberal and conservative habits of communication, it may be worth considering the role of forwarded email in the electoral process, and the reasons that the forwarding of email is popular among some people, and whether this behavior tends to correlate with particular political opinions. The emails hosted on MyRightWingDad may in any case be enlightening, unless you're already on the forward list of someone in the know.
posted by washburn at 5:16 PM PST - 105 comments

In the world of fantasy art, he is an icon. Some argue Arnold would never have become governor without him. Though his arrogance is second only to his skill, Frank Frazetta suffered for his art: for eight years an undiagnosed problem left him unable to create at all, while a series of strokes in his later years led to the artist having to learn to paint all over again, this time with his left hand. Since I was a girl, only this artist ever came close to inspiring me half so much as Frazetta did.
posted by misha at 4:51 PM PST - 33 comments

Simba Just Got His Report Card via
posted by vronsky at 4:43 PM PST - 14 comments

What's the relationship between the rise of film noir and the national mood of post-war (WWII, that is) America? "Was noir simply a way of reanimating the tired conventions of the pre-war crime film? Or did we need melodramatic illusions potent enough to overcome whatever disillusions strayed briefly into our minds as we surrendered to the mighty engines of prosperity? Or was it one of those cycles - like biopics, westerns, sci-­fi, etc. - that Hollywood mysteriously embraces and then just as mysteriously abandons?" Via.
posted by amyms at 4:34 PM PST - 8 comments

As a follow up to this post, photographer & Alaskan fisherman Corey Arnold has several amazing galleries up at his personal portfolio (and yay, it's not in Flash!). Favorite galleries include Bering Sea (1 & 2), Arctic-ness & Lofoten.
posted by jonson at 4:07 PM PST - 9 comments

Phrogging - To sneak into a house and live among its occupants without their knowledge. ^ (via the Presurfer)
posted by caddis at 2:50 PM PST - 70 comments

"A group of teenagers, en route to attend a rock concert, lose their way when their car runs out of fuel in the dead of night. They find themselves in an unfamiliar rural backwater where they are confronted by flesh-eating zombies and a psychotic cannibalistic killer dressed in a sheet. It could be the plot to a thousand Hollywood horror films but while these teenagers may dress, talk and smoke dope like young Americans they are in fact young Pakistanis, and the film - Zibahkhana or Hell's Ground - is the first modern horror film to be filmed in Pakistan."
posted by brundlefly at 1:51 PM PST - 12 comments

Pablo's Penis Prosecution, the crazy case against comic retailer Gorden Lee was supposed to start today. Only the judge was sick, or the air conditioner was broken, or maybe the prosecution wants to drop all the charges and refile...again. Interesting to note that the judge presiding over the case has ruled against Mr. Lee in a previous prosecution for comics obscenity. Previous MeFi discussion, before the original charges were all dropped 18 hours before trial.
posted by dejah420 at 1:40 PM PST - 30 comments

Charlie Rose's new website has been in development over a year as technicians worked with Google to archive over 4,000 hours of interviews all culminating in 8,000 program segments including David Foster Wallace talking about David Lynch, Christopher Hitchens badmouthing religion, and Rem Koolhaas discussing recent changes in China.
posted by four panels at 1:24 PM PST - 37 comments

Seattle is red hot and almost no other market is. So says this great data visualization that Zillow just put out. (bonus: while previewing the link I also noticed a useful page of quarterly reports for major real estate markets)
posted by jragon at 12:53 PM PST - 42 comments

Find inner serenity by making it easier to find your keys. Become an early riser. Create a "Landing Strip" to become more organized. All these and more at 100 Great Tips to Improve Your Life.
posted by Floydd at 12:39 PM PST - 45 comments

The Case for Resilience. How Efficiency Maximizes Catastrophe.
posted by homunculus at 12:15 PM PST - 23 comments

The Shoe Project: people and their shoes. Simple and sweet, I don't know why this makes me smile so much but it does. (via swissmiss)
posted by mathowie at 12:11 PM PST - 23 comments

Is there a link between donations given and bills passed? MAPLight.org aims to help you find out, giving you the ability to compare contributions with how legislators voted. [Via]
posted by djgh at 10:19 AM PST - 38 comments

The marine flatworm Pseudobiceros hancockanus engages in penis fencing [video]. SFW, I guess, unless your boss is a super uptight nudibranch or something.
posted by dersins at 9:29 AM PST - 26 comments

Bar Code Revolution! With more than just lines and rectangles, Japanese company Design Barcode works around the basic elements of a barcode and infuses real, functional barcodes with creative designs and silhouettes. See barcodes as tomatoes, stomachs, rain, pianos, guns, train tracks, waterfalls, cliffsides, and yes, even combovers.
posted by Lush at 4:31 AM PST - 46 comments

Fuerzabruta, from one of the creators of De La Guarda . Argentine 'physical theatre' , but without a plot and the term seems simply too limiting. I would call it emotional theatre. Currently in the middle of a run at the Edinburgh Fringe (tickets here). Simply Fantastic , its coming to New York soon , and Europe ...GO !! ( De La Guarda Previously)
posted by burr1545 at 3:17 AM PST - 20 comments

The largest democracy in the world celebrates its 60th anniversary, in a year which saw horrendous floods, the election of its first woman president (previously mentioned here), the signing of the 123 Nuclear Agreement, and the recent victory over England after a span of 21 years.
posted by hadjiboy at 12:03 AM PST - 23 comments