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Liger cubs attack a zookeeper while an uncle and nephew have a conversation. Liger Channel has a number of videos, so does Big Cat Rescue's ligers, tigers and lions section. For answers to the basic liger and tigon questions, Timothy J. Fuller has got you covered. I leave you with these tigon cubs: 1 and 2.
posted by Kattullus at 11:49 PM PST - 42 comments

Air New Zealand's new on-board safety video has been released and this time it features the All Blacks. (YouTube) Following on from its last innovative safety video (previously), Air New Zealand has produced another quirky safety video, this time featuring the national rugby team, the All Blacks. And the soundtrack features the iconic hit, "Why Does Love Do This To Me?" (YouTube) by the The Exponents. Pure kiwiness.
posted by vac2003 at 11:36 PM PST - 26 comments

Las Vegas as it almost was, as it was going to be, as it never will be, and as it still might.
posted by Joe Beese at 10:08 PM PST - 40 comments

"The idea behind this game was to push how large of a single Movieclip I could make each level, and in the process pay tribute to my absolute favourite game on the PS2, Shadow of the Colossus."
posted by griphus at 9:50 PM PST - 21 comments

Rock Band 3 features something new called "Pro Mode." What makes it Pro? Well, first of all, instead of the little colored flashers, the guitar and bass lines will stream down in tablature. Second, the guitar tracks in the game can also be played on the new Fender Squier Stratocaster (embedded video contains a couple of swear words), which is an actual guitar with Rock Band controller functionality.
posted by KathrynT at 9:29 PM PST - 80 comments

It's a nice day for a KRULL WEDDING. Back in 1983, a dozen lucky couples were married as a promotion for the 1983 scifi swashbuckler Krull. This is weird enough, but what's even more baffling is that Columbia Pictures scheduled this wedding before Krull even came out.
posted by Strawman at 9:08 PM PST - 86 comments

The BBC's Dimensions site lets you view a range of phenomena overlaid on different parts of the Earth. What if the moon was sitting on Alice Springs? What do the Pakistan floods look like if placed on England? What would the walls of Beijing look like around London? Much more to explore.
posted by Jimbob at 5:09 PM PST - 11 comments

Now get all your Simon's Cat needs fulfilled in one handy website. There's a new film (yay!) that would make Maru weep with envy, plus various downloads, as well as the inevitable online store and book. There's even an app for that cat. Sadly, I haven't been able to find a simple audio file of the PRRRRP! of accomplishment.
posted by maudlin at 5:04 PM PST - 32 comments

"Ever since the time of dinosaurs, man has told jokes. Humor has been evolving for literally millions of years. And many historians now believe that the current era may very well be the funniest time in the history of history. We’ve moved from an era of knock-knock jokes to a more sophisticated and mature form of comedy that represents the culmination of man’s struggle to evolve: The Deez Nuts Joke." [more inside]
posted by dhammond at 4:08 PM PST - 83 comments

The Timeless Beauty of National Geographic (and it's not about the photographs!)
posted by desjardins at 4:05 PM PST - 25 comments

Is the Trailer for 'The Shining' the Actual Film? [more inside]
posted by philip-random at 3:27 PM PST - 136 comments

Immigration crackdown creates insecure communities. The Makers of DeportationNation have a new report out calling into question the idea behind Secure Communities. Meanwhile, more immigrants are deported under Obama than Bush.
posted by history is a weapon at 3:26 PM PST - 19 comments

The Art of Videogames, a Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibit set to open in March 2012, has been featured on CNN today. But you don't have to wait until 2012 to get your fix of gaming history. CNN has let the cat out of the scanner: our very own Jason Scott (jscott) has finished GET LAMP. It's now shipping! [more inside]
posted by honest knave at 3:08 PM PST - 17 comments

The Tornado History Project: Google Maps meets historical data Tornado data turned into Google Maps that you can slice and dice any way you want: By State, by Date range, by Fujita number. Even records the path of long-track tornadoes. Hours of fun for weather weenies (like me!) and those interested in investigating trends over time. [more inside]
posted by spock at 2:46 PM PST - 14 comments

88-year old selling 400k record collection [more inside]
posted by msconduct at 2:44 PM PST - 40 comments

A comparison between my two new cameras: The $1,800 Canon 7D versus the brand new $50 Barbie Video Girl... available in the girlie aisle of your local Toys R Us. [more inside]
posted by heyho at 2:42 PM PST - 34 comments

Archon and M.U.L.E. Two of the best 8-bit games ever made, in the elder days when Electronic Arts was the best gaming company around. Play them again in modern re-creations.
posted by bitmage at 2:02 PM PST - 33 comments

Yesterday, reports leaked out that KFC was releasing a new sandwich, consisting of 5 layers of fried chicken skin between two (bread) buns. Sadly, it was later revealed to be a hoax. Undaunted, some people at the Chicago Tribune went ahead and made the sandwich anyway.
posted by reenum at 2:02 PM PST - 99 comments

Climate change and the vuvuzela leave mark on Oxford Dictionary of English. Other words and phrases introduced for the latest edition include 'toxic debt', 'staycation', 'cheesebal' and 'national treasure'. To balance them out among the 2,000 or so new items there are a few more left-field choices. Among them are 'cheeseball', which refers to someone or something lacking taste, style or originality, and the more disturbing phenomenon of 'hikikomori', the Japanese word for the acute social withdrawal that occurs in some teenage boys.
posted by Fizz at 1:47 PM PST - 18 comments

Can a stand-up comedian's performance be objectively evaluated and ranked? In the recent documentary I Am Comic [imdb | clips], Steve Roye demonstrates his product, the Comedy Evaluator Pro. A "Positive Audience Response" (PAR) score is the percentage of PAR during the time the comedian is on the stage (not taking into account other factors such as venue size, etc.). Of course, this method stirs controversy about the art vs. science of stand-up. Ritch Shydner, the protagonist of I Am Comic, thinks that booking agents shouldn't rely on PAR scores to choose who gets to be on stage, while the director of I Am Comic, Jordan Brady, disagrees, seeing PAR as a way to elevate the quality of stand-up. So, drum roll, please: Who is the world's funniest comedian? According to PAR score, it's J.R. Redwater, during this bit at the Pow Wow Comedy Jam. [agree | disagree]
posted by not_on_display at 1:38 PM PST - 116 comments

Japanese navy recruitment vs. American navy recruitment. American military advert vs. a Swedish one. Just for fun, a Ukrainian military ad. All links from this Reddit thread.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:56 PM PST - 37 comments

Christiane Kubrick is interviewed by Jon Ronson on the sad events of her life since her husbands death in 1999... After a triumplant screening of Paths of Glory in central London's Somerset House Christiane Kubrick speaks to Jon Ronson, the producer of the revelatory 'Stanley Kubrick's Boxes' documentary. Various Kubrick resources can be found on the web but one of the oldest, academicly themed resources can be found here. Previously on the blue here and here. If you are in or visiting London then the fantastic University Of The Arts archive is amazing. These developments make me sad but let's look forward.
posted by Mintyblonde at 12:46 PM PST - 16 comments

Noncoding "junk" DNA is a signature part of the genomes of eukaryotes. Scientists have now identified a case of such DNA causing a genetic disease (Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy) in certain genetic backgrounds by stabilizing the messenger RNA of a gene.
posted by jjray at 12:42 PM PST - 20 comments

The Gray And The Brown - why the baby boom generation's concerns about race may mean that it's stabbing itself in the back as it moves into retirement.
posted by Artw at 12:04 PM PST - 66 comments

What different sorting algorithms sound like. "[...] audibilization is just one of many ways to generate sound from running sorting algorithms. Here on every comparison of two numbers (elements) I play (mixing) sin waves with frequencies modulated by values of these numbers." Two older ^[previously] attempts (with code).
posted by spiderskull at 11:28 AM PST - 24 comments

Perhaps following the original Stig, the current masked driver on Top Gear announced they would write an autobiography. Un/fortunately the secrecy clause of his contract has been brought up, and the lawyers rear their heads. There is talk-talk of 'human rights' issues. British radio talk shows seem to be amused (no links fellows, alas)
posted by LD Feral at 11:27 AM PST - 27 comments

rage is a weekend-only night-time music video show on Australia's ABC1 that started back in 1987. The presentation was minimal, with an intro, hours of music videos, and then the outro, no adverts, and a few variations from this no-frills format. The format remains largely unchanged to date, and you can check the archive of playlists (back to 1998) and see a mix of local talent and international hits, but one thing was missing: the videos. Enter the rage YouTube playlist generator. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 11:02 AM PST - 26 comments

There comes a time in every child's life when they must dance to 'Thriller' at a roller rink dance party
posted by jtron at 10:49 AM PST - 10 comments

Goodwill: Monetary policy for the 21st century
Here's my proposal. We should try to arrange things so that the marginal unit of CPI is purchased with "helicopter drop" money. That is, rather than trying to fine-tune wages, asset prices, or credit, central banks should be in the business of fine tuning a rate of transfers from the bank to the public. [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 9:56 AM PST - 20 comments

'Jazz' is the best word to use in hangman.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:26 AM PST - 97 comments

Over the course of four months earlier this year, Dave at Goodfella's Movie Blog posted 100 (!) sharply written analyses of a wide range of classic Noir films. The top position was a bit of a surprise amid the obvious standards, but the real meat is in his informative takes on dozens of lesser-known gems. [more inside]
posted by mediareport at 5:43 AM PST - 62 comments

Space Settlements collects various resources relating to the human colonisation of space: online books (including NASA studies from 1975, 1977 and 1992), a contest for schoolkids (so NASA can steal their ideas, natch), but most importantly, kitschy 70s pictures of proposed space colonies (toroidal, spherical, OR cylindrical!).
posted by Dim Siawns at 4:57 AM PST - 17 comments

Although Americans' appetite for local, grass-fed beef is growing, regional livestock farmers face a nagging problem: a shortage of slaughterhouses. Now some of them are turning to mobile operations to butcher their animals on their own farms. Mobile slaughter units feed the local food movement
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:40 AM PST - 63 comments

Reflections on expat parenting in China
posted by bardophile at 3:08 AM PST - 23 comments

Yeasayer's first album was so deeply 'World Musicky' you'd be forgiven if you thought they were from Kathmandu or Uzbekistan rather than Brooklyn. Their second album is somewhat more accessible, but their videos...well, "Ambling Alp" is full of people without clothes (semi-blurred NSFWness!) or without faces or made of clay or liquid metal, and "O.N.E." is a visit to a sci-fi rave and a game of tetra-dimensional-backgammon with a CGI morphing dude. But their newest, "Madder Red" features Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell and her pet... uh... welll... WTF IS THAT THING?!?
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:52 AM PST - 27 comments

The last combat troops have left Iraq. Civilian contractors are expected to continue the effort.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:18 AM PST - 165 comments

The Story of Hanny So Far [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:10 AM PST - 12 comments

On August 28th 1990, between 3:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. a devastating tornado ripped a 16.4 mile-long path through portions of Kendall and Will counties in northern Illinois. At its strongest, the tornado was rated F5, the highest rating a tornado can be given. A total of 29 people were killed and 350 more were injured. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor at 1:40 AM PST - 23 comments

Health, Grooming, and Medicine in the Viking Age. "John of Wallingford, the abbot of St. Albans Abbey wrote in his chronicles that the Norse invaders in England were far more attractive to Anglo-Saxon women since, unlike Anglo-Saxon men, they combed their hair daily, took baths weekly, and laundered their clothing regularly."
posted by rodgerd at 12:28 AM PST - 48 comments