January 26, 2018
studied the natural world and able to replicate the aesthetic somehow
Their work would gain a small, dedicated following during the ‘80s and ‘90s but little else. Set against a backdrop of unprecedented economic growth in Japan, the music that emerged from the country during this period would benefit from this burgeoning wealth while also rallying against some of its consequences.On the resurgence of Japanese ambient composers from the '80s. Many listens inside. [more inside]
Envío
Envío offers information and analysis on Nicaragua from Nicaragua, on Central America from Central America, on the larger world we want to transform and on that other possible world we are working to bring about.
Assume any link is NSFW
"There were the trade schools—construction, agricultural—and emergency services. Then there were the jockeys and the stable boys, the theatre troupe, the nurses, and the members of the Russian women’s biathlon team." The New Yorker tells the story of Satisfaction, a 2002 song from Italian d.j. Benny Benassi for which some cadets at an aviation academy made a parody of the video which caused a governmental uproar and a threatened investigation because of illegal homoerotic content. But then... [more inside]
“At Lelystad airport ten thousand counterfeit video games were crushed.”
Images Resurface From 1994 Showing Nintendo Destroying Counterfeit Games With A Steamroller [Nintendo Life] “Nintendo games seem to be a particularly popular option for counterfeit product makers; the chances of finding a whole host of knock-off goods from any car boot sale or eBay search is scarily high. While we don't always see how companies such as the 'Big N' deal with such matters, these recently rediscovered photos show what is possibly the best method we could ever imagine. Enter the steamroller. Found by the archivists at Gamegeschiedenis (@gamegeschied), these images of counterfeit Nintendo products being crushed were reportedly taken in the Netherlands back in 1994. The photos featuring some lucky employee whose job was to go around stomping on the fake games in a Mario outfit stood out as a particular highlight to us, although that actually does seem like a good way to put across a strong message to potential fraudsters.”
"Awwwwwwwwwwww!"
my moms kindergarten class watching a chick hatch and then singing happy birthday to it
Twitter | ThreadReader
Twitter | ThreadReader
Sweaty Tacos, Mouth Bags, and Risotto with Smallpox
"From “chicken in her juice” to “chicken wok way” and “baba with old rum,” menu translations ran the gamut from slightly-dirty to just plain surreal. It wasn’t until I became a culinary translator myself that I realized just how hard this job is. ... [E]ven for fluent experts, food and menus are uniquely challenging to translate." South Korea has a task force; Bored Panda has receipts; Thrillist has more.
Queer Kid Stuff
AI-Generated Fake/Revenge Porn is Becoming Increasingly Easy to Do
This VICE article outlines a scary scenario: being able to easily take video footage of a celebrity, and attach their head to a pornstar's body in a porn video clip.
"An incredibly easy-to-use application for DIY fake videos—of sex and revenge porn, but also political speeches and whatever else you want—that moves and improves at this pace could have society-changing impacts in the ways we consume media. The combination of powerful, open-source neural network research, our rapidly eroding ability to discern truth from fake news, and the way we spread news through social media has set us up for serious consequences."
Disaster Tourism - an exploration of "dark travel"
Long form HuffPo (via Highline) article that explores, first-hand, the world of Disaster Tourism. Long, (mostly) well-written article with just enough self-awareness to ask some important questions.
Warning - a lot of drunken bro-ness, combined with hungover observations - but how else could one partake of such a trip?
Healthcare Is A Human Right
On Tuesday Jan 23rd, Senator Bernie Sanders held a Town Hall to discuss Medicare For All and the problems of the American Healthcare system “ The majority of the 90-minute town hall focused on laying out the pragmatic case for single payer: It costs less and it works better. The United States spends about 17 percent of GDP on healthcare, versus roughly 9 to 11 percent in other G7 industrialized democracies. But for all its spending, the United States lags far behind in outcomes.” (In These Times)
“The event was noteworthy not just for its substance -- 100 minutes' worth of wonkish discussion of the fine points of universal healthcare models from Canada, Norway and elsewhere -- but for the incredible audience it drew, more than a million people tuned into the livestream.” (Boing Boing) Direct link to video (1:39:58)
snarking in the face of oppression
Ski Director Warren Miller Dead at 93
Legendary ski filmmaker Warren Miller died Wednesday night at his home in Orcas Island, Washington. He was 93. [more inside]
the 80's called
"Finnish baseball" doesn't quite cover it.
Pesäpallo (aka pesis) is a bat-and-ball sport that was invented in Finland in the 1920s. It's sort of like baseball, except the pitcher stands a couple feet from the batter and then gets the hell out of the way after tossing the ball into the air. And there are other differences. You can learn the rules and see demonstrations in this video, or watch this entertaining and informative video about the history of the sport. [more inside]
She was once a true love of Bob's.
RIP Echo Helstrom Casey, 75. The original 'Girl From the North Country,' Bob Dylan's high school sweetheart has died.
She went and made a thingy from a little bit of stuff
That little plastic doodad that keeps the lid of the pizza box from sticking to the cheese is called a Pizza Saver and it was invented around 1983 by Carmela Vitale. Everyone sing along! [more inside]
JSNES
A JavaScript NES emulator, by Ben Firshman. Castlevania, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, and many more. Via kottke.
Searching for the lost crops of North America
Hunting for the ancient lost farms of North America (Annalee Newitz for Ars Technica) -- 2,000 years ago, people domesticated these plants. Now they’re wild weeds. What happened? One notable archaeologist and ethnobotanist in this field (heh) is Natalie Mueller, researcher (The earliest occurrence of a newly described domesticate in Eastern North America: Adena/Hopewell communities and agricultural innovation; Growing the lost crops of eastern North America's original agricultural system - both abstracts) and blogger, who investigates the Eastern Agricultural Complex in the American South with the Midwest. [more inside]
Hawker of Historical Hokum Funds Digital Home for Hermetic Hardcopy
The author of "The Davinci Code" is funding the digitization of 3500 historical documents on Hermeticism. [more inside]
PetrosyanXBlack Sun Empire
Two popular things in Russia are a long-admired comedian/writer/television presenter named Yevgeny Petrosyan, and a flavor of drum and bass called neurofunk. So naturally here's the mashup.
After Hours
But off-peakers are generally not hoping to be completely solitary in their pursuits; most people don’t want to be the only person in their step-aerobics class at two in the afternoon. Instead, they want to be one among a smaller, more manageable group than urban cohorts tend to allow. Subcultures offer the pleasure of being different along with the pleasure of being the same; variation becomes a passport to acceptance. The two people who encounter one another at the aquarium on a Wednesday morning appear to have more in common than the two hundred people who see each other there on a weekend. Like other choices that divide people into subsets, off-peaking allows its adherents to discover a kinship that may or may not reveal a significant similarity in worldview.
Frog of the Week
Every week for the last two years Gone Froggin has named a different species Frog of the Week. This week's is the Common Rain Frog. The blog has a bunch of other resources and regular features including a breakdown of frog and toad species found in each state, looks at the art of froggin, a Herper of the Week, and a Non-Frog Amphibian of the Week. You can also try your hand at figuring out whether this is a frog or a toad. [more inside]
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