"All this gives us one way to understand the Lannister zeal for power in King's Landing. In effect, Tywin is attempting to execute a debt-for-equity swap since his debts aren't actually recoverable. But that simply underscores the extent to which the loans to the Iron Throne are, themselves, worthless as financial assets." Economics of Ice & Fire,
Part I and
Part II (minor dialogue spoilers for S03E03) [more inside]
posted by Chipmazing
on Apr 19, 2013 -
16 comments
"Gold's crash this weekend is, as Oprah might say, a teachable moment. Crashes like this are a good way to find out how markets work. It's like a game of financial Clue, a way to keep sharp your skills of deduction. You don't have to be a stock investor or a math whiz to figure it out, either – you just have to have a good grasp of news and human psychology." - the Guardian on this week's crash in gold commodity prices.
posted by Slap*Happy
on Apr 18, 2013 -
85 comments
'Often, we try to repair broken things in such a way as to conceal the repair and make it “good as new.” But the alternative “better than new” aesthetic—that a conspicuous,
artful repair actually adds value' - on kintsugi, the art of beautiful repair.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Jun 21, 2012 -
30 comments
“To all unmarried ones who would like to spend their life by my side and within all the beauties of my home. Please look below at all the magic of my home that I have decorated with taste, perhaps just for YOU. Don Milisav Juan Gonzales Brzi, Contact: +33-#########″
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on May 15, 2012 -
59 comments
Is The Shining really about the gold standard? Using unpublished info from the Stanley Kubrick Archives as a key source,
Kubrick's Gold Story [part 1 of 4] is a film analysis that uncovers economic themes encoded in The Shining with regard to gold vs fiat monetary systems. Written, narrated and edited by
Rob Ager [
Previously].
posted by albrecht
on Feb 8, 2012 -
75 comments
Bernard NotHaus has been
convicted of possessing and selling coins that resemble United States coins, violating
U.S.C. 18 § 486 and other US statutes. This follows three years after a raid on the Liberty Dollar offices. The trial took four days, the deliberation all of two hours. The US government is now pursuing a forfeiture case against Liberty Services for approximately $7 Million. (
previously)
[more inside]
posted by Hactar
on Mar 21, 2011 -
158 comments
The Digital Version Of The Nativity Story, told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon and more.
[more inside]
posted by ericb
on Dec 16, 2010 -
18 comments
"Hua Yang De Nian Hua, or
"To those who we remember fondly", is a 2000 short film by Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai that was shown at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival. It consists of a 2m 28s montage of scenes from vintage Chinese films, most of which were considered lost until some nitrate prints were discovered in a California warehouse during the 1990s, set to a song from the soundtrack of Wong's
In The Mood For Love, a golden oldie by
Zhou Xuan."
posted by puny human
on Sep 15, 2010 -
13 comments
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan. The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
posted by scalefree
on Jun 13, 2010 -
156 comments
In the early 1980s,
Roni Horn travelled to Iceland and lived alone for a few months in the (
supposedly haunted) lighthouse at Dyrhólaey. While there, she made rocky, earthy drawings. They formed the first volume of a currently incomplete, abstract
encyclopedia of the country [flash navigation] which has now progressed to include beautiful photographs of
hot pools, glaciers, lava and rivers. A river's surface has appeared in different guises within a university. She has even made
a library of water in
a little Icelandic town. However, those currently in or near London can visit
an exhibition in Tate Modern.
[more inside]
posted by paperpete
on Apr 4, 2009 -
7 comments
The Stone Roses are set to reform. It's almost 20 years since they released their extremely fine album creatively titled
The Stone Roses. The
band that was a big part of the
Madchester movement have been bumping into each other at Manchester United games and no doubt seeing the money that the footballers are making decided it was time to regroup. The rumours are not certain, but some say it is
75 percent likely and media reports
everywhere indicates it is probably happening.
[more inside]
posted by sien
on Dec 15, 2008 -
54 comments
Canal Zone Images is a collection of stories and images about the Panama Canal Zone. Did you know that the construction workers were paid in
gold and silver ('spiggoty' dollars)?
"Paper money was not used on the pay car at all. In the first place, there was always a danger of its blowing away, and in the second place paper money in the hands of negro workmen soon assumed a most unsanitary condition." [more inside]
posted by tellurian
on Feb 25, 2008 -
12 comments
Toribash is a turn-based fighting game where, during a turn, you set-up, articulate, and execute fighting moves with rag-doll characters.
Looks like a pretty cool idea. Windows based executable, Linux based server software. I've been doing this for hours, and hours now. I... I... can't stop.
Via (and description courtesy of )Negatendo
posted by boo_radley
on Aug 22, 2006 -
9 comments
The Klondike Gold Rush, the last great gold rush of the 19th century.
On August 16, 1896 huge quantities of gold was found in the remote
Yukon region of Canada. Word spread slowly, until eleven months later, the steamship Portland arrived in
Seattle from Dawson with "more than a ton of gold". Within six months, approximately 100,000 gold-seekers set off on
the perilous journey north to the Yukon. Only 30,000 completed the trip.
Resources:
Eric A. Hegg's photograph's of the gold rush,
stories from the gold rush,
women of the gold rush, Klondike Gold Rush
Historical Database,
info and teaching resources (warning: annoying frames),
links,
Librarians' Internet Index.
posted by MetaMonkey
on Jun 27, 2006 -
11 comments
The most expensive $20 you’ll never see. (Unless you happen to be kickin’ it in
Long Beach next month...) The 1933 “double eagle”, a one oz. gold coin minted by the United States just prior to dropping the gold standard, is now worth approximately $10,000,000 and is the stuff of coin collection legend. A collector by the name of Israel “Izzy” Switt acquired and held on to 10 of them—just after the last “double eagle” had officially been melted down by the government in 1937. (
Timeline.) Now, decades later, the coins are the subject of an
intense legal battle between the US government and Switt’s descendants.
“It’s a hell of a story.”
posted by voltairemodern
on Aug 29, 2005 -
20 comments
