On the 29th January 1942 the first ever
Desert Island Discs was broadcast. Surpassed only by the
Grand Ole Opry it is the second longest running radio show in history. Beautiful in its simplicity - each castaway is asked to choose eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item for their imaginary stay on the desert island. For those who have not come across it before aquaint yourself with its iconic theme tune 'By the Sleepy Lagoon'
here. Then for newcomers and old hands aquaint yourself with the wonderful new
BBC website with searchable archives of 2852 episodes detailing castaways choices, and
now with more than 500 episodes available for free download.
posted by numberstation
on May 3, 2011 -
23 comments
Old school hardware hacker, Postscript enthusiast, electronics writer, woo debunker, all around geek, and now amateur archaeologist
Don Lancaster (prev
1,
2) needs you. And maybe some of your nerdy gadgets.
[more inside]
posted by 2N2222
on Nov 2, 2010 -
6 comments
From these various anthropological approaches,
a basic dichotomy has emerged between two types of societies from very different ecosystems: societies born in rain forests and those that thrive in deserts.... Begin with religious beliefs. A striking proportion of rain forest dwellers are polytheistic, worshipping an array of spirits and gods.... But desert dwellers... are usually monotheistic. Of course, despite allegiances to a single deity, other supernatural beings may be involved, like angels and djinns and Satan. But the hierarchy is notable, with minor deities subservient to the Omnipotent One. This division makes ecological sense.... Desert societies, with their far-flung members tending goats and camels, are classic spawning grounds for warrior classes and the accessories of militarism.... Rain forest cultures also are less likely to harbor beliefs about the inferiority of women; you won’t be likely to find rain forest men giving thanks in prayer that they were not created female, as is the case in at least one notable desert-derived religion.... (
Previously,
previously,
previously)
posted by orthogonality
on Jul 12, 2009 -
73 comments
The Dzrtgrls explore mines, ghost towns, rockhounding spots, petroglyphs, geocaching and metal detecting sites, and take lots of great pictures in the process.
posted by rollbiz
on Apr 26, 2009 -
12 comments
Jonson takes pictures of The Salton Sea, which is a
strange place, like some kind of huge, perpetual,
Burning Man, but by a
huge, salty, polluted, manmade lake with
distant shores,
dying fish,
has-been resort towns,
Salvation Mountain,
fundie dinos,
fountains of youth, and
nice churches.
[via mefi projects] [previously] [howdy]
posted by brownpau
on Jan 30, 2007 -
36 comments
The moral terrain of the desert. Mary Austin describes a desert "where the borders of conscience break down... where the boundary of soul and sense is as faint as a train in a sand-storm... [where] the senses are obsessed by the coil of a huge and senseless monotony” -- is that the desert of photographer
Richard Misrach?
Joan Didion describes a "country so ominous and terrible that to live in it is to live with antimatter, [where] it is difficult to believe that 'the good' is a knowable quantity... [T]here is some sinister hysteria in the air out here tonight” -- is that the desert of photographer
Bill Lesch? Possibly the most depressing are these
suburban deserts.
posted by salvia
on Sep 10, 2006 -
7 comments
Coso Rock Art: "The Coso Rock Art District, a National Historic Landmark deep in the U.S. Navy's testing station at China Lake, contains one of America's most impressive petroglyphic and archeological complexes . . . . Coso rock art has become famous for its stylized representational symbolic system, a system that has intrigued—and baffled—archeologists and lay observers for decades." A guide to the rock art types
here. See also
A Guided Tour of Coso Rock Art and the
Coso Gallery.
posted by LarryC
on Jul 30, 2005 -
8 comments
Grand Challenge The research arm of the US Department of Defense,
DARPA, is sponsoring a $1 million winner take all contest to build a completely autonomous vehicle which can navigate a roughly 250 mile course in the desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in under 10 hours. Teams from
Caltech and
Carnegie Mellon have formed, though anyone is allowed to enter.
posted by split atom
on May 13, 2003 -
8 comments
Deserts are dry? Sue. "The families of 11 immigrants who died [while] illegally crossing into Arizona from Mexico have filed a $41 million claim against two federal agencies, saying the government's refusal to put water out in the desert contributed to the migrants' deaths." Do they have a case?
posted by darukaru
on May 11, 2002 -
53 comments
How long would it take you to run 135 miles? In more than 120 degree heat? Up more than 8,000 feet in elevation? Every year some very determined people run the
Badwater Ultramarathon from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in California. It almost makes the Everest Marathon and Ironman Triathalons look easy.
posted by euphorb
on Oct 11, 2001 -
12 comments
In the desert on the U.S.-Mexico border,
charity becomes political protest as humanitarian groups seek to put hundreds of gallons of water in the form of "watering stations" -- a few gallons of water and a blue flag -- on federal, military, private, and Indian lands.
posted by sudama
on Jun 11, 2001 -
3 comments
Burning Man. Does anyone really care anymore? It always seemed like a bogus 'artsy' version of Spring Break to me. Plus it pisses me off that a bunch of rampaging fools trash a perfectly good desert.
posted by Mr. skullhead
on Sep 2, 2000 -
5 comments
The Burning Man website has undergone a massive redesign, it seems. Much better than before, and with only 12 days left to BM2K. I could cry, really... I can't make it this year, nor did I make it to
Defcon,
H2K, or any other gather.
Bring back stories from the fire for me, people.
posted by Jairus
on Aug 15, 2000 -
10 comments
