When not pressing the valves on his trumpet or the record button on his tape recorder, Armstrong’s fingers found other arts with which to occupy themselves. One of them was collage, which became a visual outlet for his improvisational genius. ... These little stories, illuminating and entertaining syntheses of Armstrong’s passions, now reside in the Louis Armstrong Archives at Queens College in Flushing, New York. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Oct 28, 2009 - 11 comments

4 different kinds of rice planted carefully in deliberate patterns == art. [more inside]
posted by Chocolate Pickle on Jul 14, 2009 - 29 comments

EXTREME RICE
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Jun 28, 2009 - 57 comments

Farewell to All That An illuminating and depressing Oral History of the Bush White House from Vanity Fair
posted by CunningLinguist on Dec 30, 2008 - 88 comments

Play Trivia to Help Save Abandoned Animals. Free Rice set the standard for on-line charity games and Free Poverty soon followed by donating water. Now you can play for free kibble to be donated to either Rocket Dog Rescue or The Urban Cat Project.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Dec 17, 2008 - 9 comments

Wall-E in bento box lunch form. But wait, there's more! [more inside]
posted by chunking express on Dec 8, 2008 - 51 comments

Of all the People in the World "uses grains of rice to bring formally abstract statistics to startling and powerful life" . via
posted by Dormant Gorilla on Oct 30, 2008 - 13 comments

Give ten grains of rice for each word you get right. It builds up very quickly.
posted by divabat on Oct 17, 2007 - 131 comments

McHenry and his "roommates" -- GOP Rep Patrick McHenry (NC), co-owner of a DC home with Scott G. Stewart, former chair of the College Republican Nat'l Cttee (and bilker of many senior citizens), received a DC home-ownership reduction improperly. McHenry's actual home in North Carolina was apparently also home to quite a collection of young men: (convicted fraudulent voter) Michael Aaron Lay, Neil Everett Capano, Matthew Allen Hamilton, and (multiple violations, including "death by vehicle") Jason Jent Deans. Also, McHenry's 04 consultant Ralph Gonzales was one of the men involved in a recent FL murder/suicide, and links to Robert Drake, the killer (political work in NC and escort service connections), are still being documented. Stay tuned! [more inside]
posted by amberglow on Sep 28, 2007 - 67 comments

Fueled by Rice - Five recent grads from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's Unviersity recently set off from Beijing to bike across Asia and Europe. The goal of their bike trip is to spread international good will on the local level and advocate reducing carbon emissions and living slower-paced, more enjoyable lives. Along the way they will bike through rural areas and play music in villages. As they travel, the group is posting photos, a blog, and will attempt to get a podcast up and running. They've even got the site up in Chinese, though the site seems to be blocked for most folks in China.
posted by pithy comment on Sep 17, 2007 - 11 comments

In January 2006, small amounts of genetically engineered rice turned up in a shipment that was tested ... by a French customer of Riceland Foods, a big rice mill based in Stuttgart, Ark. Testing revealed that the genetically modified rice contained a strain of Liberty Link that had not been approved for human consumption. What's more, trace amounts of the Liberty Link had mysteriously made their way into the commercial rice supply in all five of the Southern states where long-grain rice is grown. Aventis Crop Science had contracted with a handful of farmers to grow the rice, which was known as Liberty Link because its genes had been altered to resist a weed killer called Liberty, also made by Aventis. Then, the French pharmaceutical giant that owned Aventis Crop Science decided to sell the U.S. biotech unit and abandon the very emotional business of reengineering the foods we eat. "We didn't want to take any chances," says a former Aventis executive. "We burned and buried enough rice to feed 20 million people." Last November, the USDA retroactively approved the Liberty Link rice for human consumption.
posted by Kirth Gerson on Jul 23, 2007 - 92 comments

"Pimp my rice paddy." Crop art for aliens, instead of by them.
posted by dersins on Jul 20, 2007 - 24 comments

Tanada! Sure, the real shit is in Southeast Asia and China, but Japan's got a few beauties of her own. There's the fields of Yuya, the gentle slopes of Ukiha, and of course The Thousand Paddies of Chiba. It's not just an art--it's science. Want more? Listen to some of the "sounds of Japanese rice paddies, watch a slightly obnoxious slide show, or download some of these gorgeous wallpapers in a bunch of different formats. But best of all: they have calendars!
posted by odasaku on Jan 30, 2007 - 9 comments

Bonofilter: Yesterday, May 16, U2 front-man Bono was a guest "editor" for the UK newspaper The Independent. Called the "RED Edition," half of this issue's proceeds went "to help fight HIV and AIDS among women and children in Africa." Highlights included US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice offering her take on "The Ten Best Musical Works" and an interview with Eddie Izzard on immigration in Europe. Is there a downside to celebrity editing, or is it a win-win-win for Bono, The Independent, and some people in need?
posted by bardic on May 17, 2006 - 33 comments

I'd like your smallest painting. No, smaller than that. Even smaller. Wait, that's too small.
posted by justkevin on Mar 23, 2006 - 21 comments

Bush administration admits denies making mistake! Starts off new relationship with conservative German chancellor by personally insulting her. "We are not quite sure what was in her head." - a senior Bush administration official, referring to Merkel. This after Condoleeza Rice gave Merkel private assurances and made a public statement in which she said "when and if mistakes are made, we work very hard and as quickly as possible to rectify them. Any policy will sometimes have mistakes . . . we will do everything that we can to rectify those mistakes." Obviously, Condi was mistaken. The Bush administration does not make mistakes.
posted by insomnia_lj on Dec 6, 2005 - 54 comments

It just keeps unravelling ...Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Mr Powell until last January, said: “What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made". I suppose now we have extra proof of the bumbling and fumbling of GWB, but now it's almost overkill.
posted by Kickstart70 on Oct 19, 2005 - 56 comments

Cheney to step down in favor of Rice? Don't hold your breath. Play a round of Indictment Bingo if you need to pass the time sorting through all the stories flying around, but don't hold your breath.
posted by bitter-girl.com on Oct 18, 2005 - 34 comments

Nana, may Mr P go pee?
posted by mr.marx on Sep 14, 2005 - 153 comments

In a surprise move, Anheuser-Busch has gone up against some of the biotech firms that would like to grow genetically-modified (GM) rice containing human DNA. The biotech firm that grows it says that their rice contains synthetic human genes which the company hopes to harvest and refine for use in medicines to fight diarrhea and dehydration.

Anheuser-Busch's concerns are not with the science of biotech, but rather the risk of crop-contamination, as has happened with farmers not only in the U.S. and Canada, but all over the world. The USDA has issued rice-tweakers Ventria Bioscience and 300 other biopharmers permission to plant various augmented plants around the country since 1995, but Anheuser-Busch is the first large corporation to threaten a boycott - unusual, because poultry and beef stock (PDF) are fed this kind of thing every day, and have been for the past 20 years. I guess the Budweiser brewers just don't want to see 'dead people' in their suds...

On the flip-side of this occurrence, the response of the anti-stem cell activists has been nothing short of sensory-deprivation. Shouldn't six-packs, cornfields and Porky be given the same human rights as the unborn?

Also related: Contaminated: The New Science of Food (quicktime movie)
posted by vhsiv on Apr 14, 2005 - 31 comments

Condi's plan for Iraq: cut and run. Conservative columnist Robert Novak -- the same guy who hung Valerie Plame out to dry -- launches the media campaign to prepare the US electorate for withdrawal even if, as he puts it with exquisite understatement, "what is left behind does not constitute perfection." (I'll say.) US commander Gen. George Casey seems to be on the same page.
posted by digaman on Mar 28, 2005 - 64 comments

Hey kids! Guess who's first cousins with our new Secretary of State? why, it's Vaginal Creme Davis! Juicy tidbits from the multitalented first cousin Ms. Rice would rather you not know about, and who wishes that Ms. Davis wouldn't mention to anyone. Very juicy, and NSFW probably. : >
posted by amberglow on Jan 28, 2005 - 32 comments

Time for Rice The fact and figures. It appears there is no connection to Iraq. Well, I still like Rice anyway. How 'bout you?
posted by strangeleftydoublethink on Mar 30, 2004 - 19 comments

At the tone, please leave your snark... This is a pretty cool application of technology. We all have heard of the slow rise of the audioblog (indeed, it was discussed here!): people posting to their blogs or journals or whatever via their phone. Eric Rice of Slack Street (previously discussed here) has taken things one step further, and added the ability to call a toll-free number and have your audio comments strung together with others, and put on his audioblog site. Still kind of wonky (gotta listen to every recorded item, instead of being able to cue between tracks, looks like comments have to be approved first using some interface, etc.), but neat! Now, instead of bitching about people's poor grammar and spelling, we can rant about crappy pronunciations and accents! And for IraqFilter fans, his newest entry is actually begging people to leave him messages on the one year anniversary. Obviously he has no idea what he's getting into. Hurrah for tech-nol-o-gee!
posted by tittergrrl on Mar 19, 2004 - 6 comments

Cancer and Carbohydrates (per FT) may be closely linked according to recent international study - and not just any carbohydrates but those that are our favorites - deep fried potatoes, rice, and bread all may contain high levels of cancer causing acrylamides. What's your average carb eater to do?
posted by zia on Apr 26, 2002 - 13 comments

Got Rice? If you've ever lived in any metropolitan area in North America with a small Asian population, you've likely seen some of these cars on the streets.
posted by PWA_BadBoy on Apr 16, 2000 - 8 comments