February 22, 2010
Endangered Species Condoms
“Wrap with care, save the polar bear.” Endangered species condoms: exactly what it says on the tin. Use them to prevent human overpopulation and leave some room on the planet for everything else!
The Grand Orbital Table
BEHOLD: The Grand Orbital Table (single link pretty picture)
We don't need no stinking flashcards!
Ever wanted to know how you would do on the SAT verbal? Feel like showing off at cocktail parties that you know the capitals of Africa and the Middle East? Now you can! [more inside]
Robots and aliens and people slaughtering superheroes
Kevin O'Neil, classic 2000ad artist, co-creator of Marshall Law, frequent colaborator with Alan Moore and the only artist ever to be outright banned by the Comics code Authority ("there’s nothing you can change — the style is unsuitable!”) talks at length in an epic interview at the comics journal: Part one, part two, part three, part four, part five.
FINALL PLACEMENTTT!!
File this under terrible, but in just the right way: Say hello to teen Christian rockers Final Placement! They want to share their joy with the world, actual tunes be damned. (via A.V. Club) [more inside]
More Letters of Note
In this day of twitters, emails, and SMS messages, there is something suddenly strangely fascinating about reviewing written personal correspondence. For example, consider this this letter from artist Winston Smith to a young fan named Austin Kleon. On the other side of the "inspiration coin" is this letter in which San Francisco's Harvey Milk defends cult leader Jim Jones. But perhaps the most bizarre correspondence to hit the Internet of late is this letter from Supreme Court Justice Scalia to an aspiring screenwriter, in which Justice Scalia declares that the concept of secession is not something he can help the writer understand.
The Fetishising of Tape Begins Now
"I only listen to cassettes," Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore told CBC radio last summer: an article on the merits [or otherwise] of releasing new music on cassette. [more inside]
Juggalo News
Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword
Soon there will be a sword for every man, woman, and child in the city. But come on, it's not like they're dangerous. OR ARE THEY? In six episodes of Cautionary Tales of Swords, Trip Fisk makes the case for the danger of nature's hell sticks and while they'll fucking slice a baby in half.
Strong enough to break free of a CGC seal?
PhRMA is ... exactly what it sounds like
The Legacy of Billy Tauzin: Paul Blumenthal of the Sunlight Foundation details the complicated set of meetings that allowed the now retiring head of prescription drug lobby group PhRMA (derided in a popular Obama campaign spot) to secure influence on the health care bill in exchange for their endorsement. The White House officially announced its health care plan today. [more inside]
An Interactive Film
Each day, we are surrounded by seemingly insignificant objects, taking them from one place to the other, or leaving them on a table for weeks, without paying any attention to them. We ignore or forget them, using things only when we need to, making sure they don’t interfere or inhabit our space. But what if they were not so stable and subservient? What if they could swivel, bounce or even fly? And what if they did so all at the same time? This experiment is about re-discovering our daily surroundings. Each object is assigned to a letter on the keyboard, and can be activated or deactivated at any time. [more inside]
Sahannah Lions, Seht's Tigers, Grizzly Bears
Online booster drafts at Le Bestiaire Here you can draft (the) Magic the Gathering game by selecting the editions of the virtual boosters you want to open. This Magic Draft website simulates other players of the draft which allows you to play against 'bots'.
From rarities like Arabian Nights to Worldwake, The Bestiary's monsters are not merely beautiful paper tigers but gamepieces guided by gestalt player logic into a compelling simulation of the Magic booster draft game. With over 15 years of cards to admire and miser over, in French, English, Chinese, German, and more. Have fun drafting Ali from Cairo.
IE6 Funeral
A Brick of the Emerald City
Today, Gemfields, operator of the Kagem mine in Zambia has announced the discovery of "Insofu". Coming in at 6225 carats, Insofu is one of the largest (currently uncut) emeralds ever discovered (behind the 7025 carat Colombian emerald Emilia, and the very poor quality 1182 lb. Madagascar emerald). Insofu means elephant in the language of the Bemba people who are indigenous to the area, and was named because of both its amazing size and in honor of the World Land Trust's "Wild Lands Elephant Corridor Project" in India which Gemfields participates in. [more inside]
Straight outta @&#*!
My Vermonts, Let Me Show You Them
Here and St. Elsewhere
Run, Hercules, Run!
"He was one of the first great chefs of Philadelphia - in fact, of the young nation. The chief cook in President George Washington's home in 1790 had only one name: Hercules." [more inside]
In My Arms
In My Arms: a site about unconscious women carried in the arms of monsters, bad guys and other creepy individuals. [Google Cache]
We love the Dalai Lama. We also love french fries.
Why Americans Love the Dalai Lama : an insightful piece from CNN preceding his appearance tonight at 9PM EST on Larry King Live. [more inside]
A+++ WOULD PRAY AGAIN
I'm sure this'll end well....
We may soon be able to clone Neanderthals. But should we? An essay from Archaeology Magazine examines the ethical, scientific and legal ramifications. (Via Heather Pringle's Time Machine blog, where essay author Zach Zorich posted a reply and elicited a response.) [more inside]
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python
He aimed for the stars and often hit London.
Many are familiar with Operation Paperclip - the secret U.S. program that brought Nazi scientists to our shores in order to develop the American space program. However, the details surrounding the Nazi V-2 program has always been a little murky in the eyes of the American people - it turns out that more people were killed building V-2 rockets than from actual V-2 rocket attacks. A new photography exhibit called Dora and the V-2: Slave Labor in the Space Age aims to transform perceptions in one of the American communities most affected by the influx of Nazi scientists... [more inside]
unknown unknowns
Outside the Box
Ann Weber makes curvy, bulbous, towering organic forms, some as tall as sixteen feet, entirely from carboard. Beautiful. One week left to catch her exhibit in San Francisco.
Adolfo Farsari
In the 1880s at a time when most Europeans were denied access to the Japanese interior an Italian photographer managed to capture many images of Old Japan. These were then beautifully and realistically hand painted and serve as a remarkable record of a world long since disappeared. Victorian-era photos of Japan.
Let's hope that they have good aim
A runway that intersects with a major road.
A short runway that begins and ends with cliffs over the ocean.
All in all, the most ridiculous runways you will ever touch down on. [more inside]
Like a Polaroid Picture
Sticks and stones can harm your poll ratings
The Observer publish an excerpt of Andrew Rawnsley's new book, in which he alleges that Gordon Brown has been aggressive and volatile in power. Immediately up pops a representative of an organisation called the National Bullying Helpline, which says it has received calls from "inside Downing Street", garnering TV news appearances. However, is the NBH all that it seems? [more inside]
Wall Street's Bailout Hustle
"The reality is that the post-bailout era in which Goldman [Sachs] thrived has turned out to be a chaotic frenzy of high-stakes con-artistry, with taxpayers and clients bilked out of billions using a dizzying array of old-school hustles that, but for their ponderous complexity, would have fit well in slick grifter movies like The Sting and Matchstick Men. There's even a term in con-man lingo for what some of the banks are doing right now, with all their cosmetic gestures of scaling back bonuses and giving to charities. In the grifter world, calming down a mark so he doesn't call the cops is known as the "Cool Off.""
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