January 24, 2008

Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica School

Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica Rascals - Harmonica Specialty and Rascal Bill McBride's vocal turn on Always In My Heart are excerpts from Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica School--a wmv video file of a Vitaphone Short which with no surprise we find at Vitaphone Shorts, a subsection of Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans--which was first brought to our attention by the noble crunchland, albeit at another and now defunct URL, let it be noted. . [more inside]
posted by y2karl at 11:46 PM PST - 5 comments

F. Scott Fitzgerald in Montana

In July 1915, a fresh-faced young man got off a train and presented himself at a working cattle-and-sheep ranch on the North Fork of the Smith River, a few miles outside of White Sulphur Springs, Montana. He was slender—about 5'8," 150 pounds—and arrestingly handsome, with champagne-colored hair and blue-green eyes. He carried himself so lightly on the balls of his feet that his wife later wrote, "There seemed to be some heavenly support beneath his shoulder blades that lifted his feet from the ground in ecstatic suspension, as if he secretly enjoyed the ability to fly but was walking as a compromise to convention." The ranch hands must have been astonished at the sight. F. Scott Fitzgerald had arrived in Montana.
Fitzgerald wrote but one story set in Montana, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, but what a doozy of a story.
posted by Kattullus at 11:22 PM PST - 15 comments

Hey! Make yourself at home! I'll be right back!

Actress Dani Miura talks about what it's like to work as bait on To Catch A Predator. Previously.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:07 PM PST - 69 comments

The Year of Flops

On Tuesday, A.V. Club critic Nathan Rabin's reassessment of the rabidly ambitious Perfume: The Story of a Murderer marked the culmination of his Year of Flops project, a reviewing marathon of 104 commercial and critical failures. Here's the index of the films, sorted into Elizabethtown-derived categories of good but luckless movies, ordinary losers, and disasters of mythic proportions. [more inside]
posted by Iridic at 9:34 PM PST - 38 comments

Come, visit Rome as it once was.

In my quest to fulfill a jones for antiquity, I came across some Roman Numismatics. There are many great photos of Roman artifacts to be found here. Monetary, military, scroll down, click and scroll some more. It's almost as if ancient Rome has come back to life. (Some art is NSFW)
posted by snsranch at 9:17 PM PST - 2 comments

Organic Cuba without fossil fuels.

Organic Cuba without fossil fuels.
posted by wilful at 8:30 PM PST - 26 comments

WMD = Whoopie-cushions of Media Dysfunction

How To Fake An Atomic Bomb Blast On Public Television. [ YouTube] This past June, the early-morning live weather report on Prague television station CT2 was being delivered on top of live panning sweeps of the beautiful Czech Republci countryside and a seemingly par-for-the-course summery day. But as NYT reported today, "Then came the nuclear blast." The immediate reaction by the viewing public? Somewhere between a semi-collective shrug and minimally raised eyebrow. Yet months later, CR art-prankster group ZTOHOVEN [Czech] are presently enjoying international attention and wide-spread accolades for this classic piece of culture-jamming. [more inside]
posted by humannaire at 8:22 PM PST - 18 comments

Interfacing as humanly as possible

I'm not a computer programmer, but I love the thought and artistry that go into [computer] application design. [more inside]
posted by lonemantis at 7:25 PM PST - 54 comments

Analog photoshop

Before photoshop, there was Oscar Gustave Rejlander. He is hailed as the father of art photography and the pioneer of the combination print. [more inside]
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:40 PM PST - 5 comments

How David Banner got angry. (The Incredible Hulk T.V. Show)

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry. Yup, every single way the David Banner lost his mind.
posted by filmgeek at 6:34 PM PST - 63 comments

to morocco

One Last Journey. "Cars these days, they're like washing machines." (Not Clarkson...)
posted by parmanparman at 6:00 PM PST - 13 comments

We've got a couch, a chair, and a coffee table.

Some people have built some seriously tricked out home theaters.
posted by mkultra at 5:50 PM PST - 49 comments

Clean as a whistle!

Bleachbum: for a youthful appearance everywhere BleachBum.com is your source for information about anal bleaching products and procedures. Anal bleaching is one more way holly wood celebrities try to stay younger. While rectal bleaching isn't for everyone, some people are interested in maintaining a youthful look...everywhere.
posted by Flem Snopes at 2:24 PM PST - 90 comments

"Give us a break, you fucks"

Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World. Wired on internet asshats.
posted by dersins at 12:30 PM PST - 174 comments

Thriving Necropolis

A "thriving necropolis" - The North Cemetery in Manila is populated by thousands of families - many living in mausoleums and even making their livings in the service of the dead. [more inside]
posted by honeyx at 12:20 PM PST - 11 comments

ASCII Game Revolution

In these days of high-powered graphics, there is a ASCII gaming renaissance underway. Among the most interesting are: ASCII Sector, a remake of the classic Wing Commander Privateer; the fast-paced Doom RL; the Ultima V influenced Legerdemain; and the much-discussed strategy game/frustration simulator Dwarf Fortress (now with a new unofficial tileset and experimental 3-D visualizer that may prevent some eye-bleeding), And, of course, the classic, complex Rogue-like RPGs continue to go strong, those interested may want to check out this list of the best new rogue-like game releases from ASCII dreams or the list of releases from Temple of the Roguelike.
posted by blahblahblah at 11:12 AM PST - 41 comments

DeBeers Lawsuit

DeBeers to pay out $295 million in a class action lawsuit for price fixing. If you purchaced any diamond between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, here's how to get your cut.
posted by jpdoane at 10:25 AM PST - 92 comments

When Oral Sex becomes a pregnancy

What happens when oral sex leads to pregnancy? Apparently, this can happen 2.5% 0% of the time, although in this case, the father, Dr. Richard O. Phillips is claiming the mother, Dr. Sharon Irons secretly kept the sperm to artificially inseminate herself. He sued for emotional distress (as well as theft, though the theft charge was thrown out); Sherry Colb has written an interesting article on the bizarre case. [Colb previously on MeFi]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 9:37 AM PST - 139 comments

This is the title of this post.

- This is the Title of this Story
- Self-reference in 'Self-reference in...'
- This is Not the Title of this Essay
- How I explained infodumps and saved humanity [more inside]
posted by cortex at 9:36 AM PST - 75 comments

Sweet Adelines

Pride of Toledo - 2004 Contest Pictures of barbershop harmony female singers from Lake Erie Region 17, encompassing parts of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. (All are part of Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization of women singers, which was mentioned before)
posted by growabrain at 9:27 AM PST - 15 comments

A Brokered Convention, President Jeb Bush and southern Protestant prohibitionist

The process and history of "brokered conventions," for both the Republican and Democratic parties: What if no candidate gets a majority (2025 delegates for the Democrats, 1191 for the much smaller Republican convention)? This is where "brokered convention" comes in. Actually, it is more like "All hell breaks loose." All delegates are now up for grabs. All the candidates try to grab as many delegates as they can ... but after the first ballot, the delegates are free agents don't have to obey their chairman or anyone. Some might not care about dams and bridges but might trade their vote for a promise to insert a plank in the platform to [ban voting machines, build a 20' electrified fence on the Mexican border, declare the chicken to be the national fowl, you name it].
posted by geoff. at 8:01 AM PST - 65 comments

Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine

Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine Or, if you prefer, here is his Official Site
posted by psmealey at 7:58 AM PST - 15 comments

Now I labia down to sleep

Couch for sale.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:35 AM PST - 77 comments

Caution or deception?

A Planned Parenthood health center opened its doors to patients [in October], two weeks later than planned, after anti-abortion activists raised questions about how it received its building permits. Planned Parenthood is claiming victory, but :prolife/antiabortion: activitists are still smarting. But is the Aurora clinic just about abortions, or is it filling an unmet need in one of the largest population centers in Illinois? Illinois is ground zero for :prolife/antiabortion: activism
posted by nax at 7:24 AM PST - 40 comments

Zulu Warrior, Dub Extremist

Jah Shaka, self-styled Zulu Warrior, has run one of London's top reggae sound systems for nearly 40 years. Playing rare dubs on a hand built, awesomely loud sound, creating earthquaking bass and exorcising tops. Shaka stuck with the conscious Rastafarian message through a lean 1980s, while most of his contemporaries turned to dancehall and ragga. He was rewarded in the 90s with a new following and countless musicians and producers claiming him as an inspiration. Despite burning his hands in a fire and having his equipment stolen and being nearly 60, he is still playing, inna king david style.
posted by criticalbill at 7:09 AM PST - 18 comments

Crayfish Beware!

Hellbenders and Giant Salamanders live in various places around the world: China, Japan, and the United States. Some are only 12 inches long. Some are over 5 feet long. The National Zoo in Washington DC now has them too.
posted by onhazier at 6:13 AM PST - 18 comments

Logical Explanation?

Why do the poor commit more crime? Is it because they are irrational? (via marginal revolution) [more inside]
posted by wittgenstein at 5:56 AM PST - 106 comments

Gay cuisine - is it tops?

GayHappinessFilter: Early studies on the subject concluded that "heterosexual relationships may have a great deal to learn from homosexual relationships." (pdf) But even so, do gay relationships tend to end sooner? Perhaps, but according to recent research, gay and lesbian couples are just as committed in their relationships as heterosexuals. (pdf) In fact, same-sex couples are actually more satisfied with their relationships, (pdf) and reported more positive feelings toward their partners and less conflict than heterosexual married couples. (Probably just as well, since just because you can be a gay newlywed doesn’t necessarily mean you can be a gay divorcee.) So what’s the secret to gay happiness? Most likely not ”the most satisfying orgasm you can get ... pure sexuality ... almost like pure heroin,” although that’s a heck of an endorsement from a “researcher” who claims to be against it.
posted by kyrademon at 4:24 AM PST - 35 comments

Oh, the humanity!

HorribleEconomicNewsFilter: Rogue trader costs his bank 7 billion dollar. Take that, Nick Leeson!
posted by Skeptic at 2:57 AM PST - 55 comments

Video Chronology of The History of British TV Comedy

For the past 50 years, The British have made some of the funniest Comedy TV Shows. Come inside for A Video Chronology of The History of British TV Comedy. [more inside]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:38 AM PST - 97 comments

"Of course I don’t like Hitler but…"

It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi.... Mr. B has risen beyond his real abilities.... His code is not his own; it is that of his class–no worse, no better, He fits easily into whatever pattern is successful. That is his sole measure of value–success. Nazism as a minority movement would not attract him. As a movement likely to attain power, it would.... Mr. G is a very intellectual young man who was an infant prodigy.... Mr. G will never be a Nazi,... [h]e will certainly be able, however, fully to explain and apologize for Nazism if it ever comes along.
"Who goes Nazi?" via sott.net, with added context. [more inside]
posted by orthogonality at 12:43 AM PST - 76 comments

Comic Sans is Illegal

Design Police : Bring bad design to justice
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:25 AM PST - 44 comments

Advice To Sink In Slowly

Use your library. Make more GIF files. Trust the process. Make art - it's good for your heart. from advice to sink in slowly.
posted by divabat at 12:03 AM PST - 8 comments

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