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Today is the 240th anniversary of the acquittal of Lord George Gordon for treason. As Chair of the Protestant Association he had presented a petition to parliament on 2nd June 1780 against The Papists Act of 1778, which was the legal start of Catholic emancipation in Britain. Riots subsequently broke out, the government was underprepared, and the suppression was fatal to hundreds. The defense was Lord George is a good chap, can't be held responsible for what the rabble does. 50 minutes of BBC discussion on Riots. [prev MeFited by XMLicious] The Gordon Riots were central to Dickens' Barnaby Rudge.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:29 PM PST - 5 comments

"African Cypher" A documentary about street dance in South Africa. From Isipantsula, B-boying, Krump or Sbhujwa, this is a raw, inspiring, and simply beautiful film with a fantastic soundtrack. [more inside]
posted by Zumbador at 10:40 PM PST - 2 comments

After he dropped out of two high-profile projects – which Variety hears from multiple well-placed sources he was asked to leave – it’s not clear if his career can, or will, recover. “He’s not Tom Cruise,” a high-powered publicist says. “He keeps getting cast, but it’s never a hit at the box office. Who is going to fight in this day and age for a star who has this complicated of a story surrounding him?”
posted by folklore724 at 6:15 PM PST - 141 comments

【全盛舞蹈工作室】帅气折扇《大碗宽面REMIX》中国风爵士编舞练习室
TranScend Dance Studio don't have much web presence beyond their Youtube channel, but wow do they have some beautiful videos there. [more inside]
posted by Lexica at 5:39 PM PST - 4 comments

Acapella Jingles "A Korean acapella group called Maytree that does impressions of famous cultural jingles and sound effects" [more inside]
posted by kathrynm at 5:32 PM PST - 4 comments

"Madeleine L’Engle’s mail arrived in prodigious batches by the summer of 1976, 14 years after the publication of A Wrinkle in Time. From her study in Manhattan’s Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, where she served as librarian, the 57-year-old author attended to editorial correspondence, fan art, manila envelopes stuffed with middle-school-reader responses, royalty statements, and speaking requests from around the world. >Amid the usual haul, one correspondent stood out: Ron Irwin, inmate #130539 at the State Prison of Southern Michigan, a 25-year-old former member of the Black Panther Party." Abigail Santamaria for Vanity Fair on the writing relationship between the prolific author of A Wrinkle in Time and a Black Panther imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:55 PM PST - 6 comments

Street Writer is an homage to Street Fighter II, except with some NYC writer friends battling it out in some famous book locales. (maxnc.itch.io) "In Street Writer you can play with one of eight “fighters” who are, in fact, writers: Saeed Jones, Alexandra Kleeman, Chelsea Hodson, Amy Rose Spiegel, Jia Tolentino, Tony Tulathimmute, and Arabelle Sicardi. Once you’ve chosen your writerly avatar you can set your literary battle against such sacred bookish backdrops as the East Village’s KGB Bar, used bookstore Housing Works, and an imaginary “bookstore row” in which Greenlight sits across the street from WORD. Sure, it’s really weird to watch Tony Tulathimutte land a roundhouse kick on Alexandra Kleeman while she holds a book in one hand and punches him in the nuts with the other but… it’s also super-fun." (Lit Hub)
posted by not_the_water at 4:38 PM PST - 1 comments

"Michael Goldhaber is the internet prophet you’ve never heard of. Here’s a short list of things he saw coming: the complete dominance of the internet, increased shamelessness in politics, terrorists co-opting social media, the rise of reality television, personal websites, oversharing, personal essay, fandoms and online influencer culture — along with the near destruction of our ability to focus. Most of this came to him in the mid-1980s..."
posted by COD at 4:06 PM PST - 7 comments

Ian Danskin's latest video essay describes the power structures in Guillermo Del Toro's four films, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, and The Shape of the Water. ( 14 minute Youtube) (spoilers for all four films)
posted by rebent at 3:12 PM PST - 3 comments

My favourite species of birds are the ones named by people who clearly hate birds. [sltwitter]
posted by Pyrogenesis at 2:44 PM PST - 21 comments

Cleveland's Zubal Books has a pretty snazzy penthouse. [more inside]
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:15 PM PST - 12 comments

New Hampshire-based Eris Drew and Octo Octa (Maya Bouldry-Nelson) are lovers, co-founders of T4T Luv NRG Records, and two of the most prominent DJs boosting the house and rave scene.
(Slight derail: In essay, interview, and recording, Drew has described how the spiritual ecstasy provided by dance music has impacted her.)
This past year, Octa & Drew have been resident DJs at the BBC.
On February 1, they wrapped things up with 60 minutes of old-school house bangerzzz.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:32 AM PST - 15 comments

Noted internet maths person Matt Parker explains the Minecraft speed running controversy: How lucky is too lucky?
posted by Pendragon at 10:46 AM PST - 36 comments

A colorized, 1440p60 compilation of several of the Lumière Brothers films, starting with La petite fille et son chat ("The Little Girl and Her Cat", 1899). Don't mind the stock sound effects. [more inside]
posted by one for the books at 10:31 AM PST - 14 comments

3:45pm, a beautiful short film about having an existential crisis by Alisha Liu (via Kottke)
posted by Stark at 8:37 AM PST - 10 comments

Jane Li on why Chinese youngsters, subjected to “996 hours” (9am to 9pm for six days a week), are embracing a philosophy of slacking off or “touching fish”, a Chinese phrase synonymous with lazing around at work (Quartz) [more inside]
posted by adrianhon at 6:43 AM PST - 34 comments

Scenes From a Marriage, Patinkin-Style | Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody’s charming, irreverent pandemic-era posts led to unlikely social media stardom. Will the vaccine end their run? Sarah Lyall writes for the NY Times about the past Patinkin year. “There’s no question,” Patinkin said. “Being with my family holed up for 11 months has been one of the true gifts of my life.” (psst - the photos/clips are the best part) [more inside]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:41 AM PST - 14 comments

But it’s a new era: the transgressed-upon of the world are speaking, and the world is listening. This changes many things, profoundly. It’s been a long time coming. As to whether injury will prove a wellspring of cultural vitality or a wellspring of platitudes and kitsch, that is what’s being negotiated at the moment. Long 6300-word essay by Laura Kipnis for a journal called Liberties, edited by Leon Wieseltier. [more inside]
posted by cgc373 at 1:46 AM PST - 28 comments