Is Chillwave the Next Big Music Trend? -
Wiki: Chillwave is a debated genre of music where artists are often characterized by their heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic lines. Its musical predecessors are diverse and include the synthpop of the 1980s, shoegaze, ambient, musique concrète and various types of music outside of the Western World. In this case, nostalgia of 80s synthpop is filtered through a distorted lens, re-envisioning the era in a more vague and lo-fi sense. Just don't
call them that. You can always check in at the
Hipster Runoff (the birthplace of the term) for news about the vaguely new subgenre.
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posted by Christ, what an asshole
on Dec 9, 2010 -
103 comments
One of the hardest things for people to understand about the universe is just
how big it is. There are three approaches typically used in describing its size. The first, the song, was pioneered by
Monty Python (NSFWish, wireframe of naked woman) and then done just as masterfully by
the Animaniacs. The second, the zoom method has been featured
twice before here on the blue. The third method is the
comparison method (skip to 1:30, unless you like looking at a image of the solar system with terrible distorted orbits), yielding some truly
beautiful videos (this one found via the fantastic
Bad Astronomy blog). These videos go, at most, as far as looking at the local cluster or the Virgo Supercluster. There are two videos that attempt to show the size of the entire universe,
one unsuccessfully (although with great music) and
one successfully. (Warning, all links except the first one, are to YT videos).
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posted by Hactar
on Jul 1, 2009 -
74 comments
ASmallWorld is a very exclusive world, where participants seek advice on where to charter a private jet for a single person and use 'summer' as a verb. This
invite-only website for the well-connected, famous, or just stinking rich has an alternate however. When an aSmallWorld member is no longer welcome, they are unceremoniously dumped to a less restricted set of forums called aBigWorld. I don't expect to get an invite anytime soon, so I can't tell you of their
Illuminati-like plans to keep their lofty power. (
via1,
via2)
posted by Kickstart70
on Aug 12, 2005 -
45 comments
Zepto science Scientists have developed a device able to measure the weight of a single cell, and they intend to weigh a virus next.
posted by mcgraw
on Apr 7, 2004 -
4 comments
Nice Whisk(e)y: Shame About The Size! Behold a wonderful, almost infinitely explorable repository of miniature bottles of whisk(e)y; a Japanese one-guy Smithsonian that's quite probably the only resort for those looking for labels of ancient and/or abandoned delights. American straight whiskey fanatics (like me) will be specially surprised. Worth exploring, though exploration isn't easy: it's full of unexpected riches, but never easily had. [
Previously offered in the course of a classic languagehat post.]
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Mar 10, 2004 -
9 comments
Between
Wellstone and
Veblen, I got to thinking about my
alma mater.
There are a
few others, off the top of my head, that this tiny,
out-of-the way school can lay claim to. How many other prodigal children come from small colleges?
Kofi is one, from another small Minnesota college. Who else? Schools with more than 2,500 students need not apply.
posted by RKB
on Oct 30, 2002 -
18 comments
Small house, big ambitions. I've always lived in small houses and flats so this would be the perfect little place for me. As people are progressively continuing to stay single for longer into their lives, are homes like these what they'd be looking for to settle into?
posted by feelinglistless
on Sep 28, 2002 -
23 comments
Guimp.com claims to be the world's smallest web site. And it probably is.
Jakob must be spinning in his crypt.
You don't have to scroll, though.
posted by Su
on May 27, 2002 -
17 comments
Goliath lost. This and other pro-small billboards are popping up in downtown Atlanta. No doubt they have cousins (little ones, I'm sure) springing up in your cities. I couldn't believe my eyes, because the billboards seemed to be promoting the ever-so-British
Mini Cooper.
The Mini is... well... just like it says, the veritable opposite of the stereotypical American SUV. Yes, it is the type of car
Mr Bean would drive. But when you see them in their natural Anglo habitat, you can't help but notice they're just perfectly suited to zipping to and from wherever. The site lets you find a dealer, build your own Mini and save it for future reference. The catch is that you have to fill out an opt-in form, but with lines like this as part of your agreement, how could you resist?
"- I agree to chase squirrels around the park now and then and giggle like a madman while doing it."Yeah. I want one. But will the American public?
posted by grabbingsand
on Mar 14, 2002 -
77 comments