April 6, 2007
Shuntee.
The Hostile New Age Takeover of Yoga [print version]. Standard "omg commoditization" rant, but has a delectable anecdote wherein someone mistakes clingy navel-gazing for reflection. ("What part of no don't you understand?" his note said. "I never want to hear from you again.")
Happy Easter Metafilter!
Easter postcards from 1898 until today. See also Russian Easter postcards and the history of the Easter postcard tradition.
Google makes your life better again.
Call 1-800-GOOG-411. Google Labs rolls out an experimental, free voice-based 411 service, where you can search by category ("Thai restaurants") or name. Unlike Free 411, there are no ads. Nifty service while we wait for Futurephone to return from the dead.
Darth Cheney Strikes Back
Hussein's Prewar Ties To Al-Qaeda Discounted. A newly declassified report (PDF) by the Pentagon's inspector general claims that Iraq was not working with al-Qaeda before the U.S. invasion and that the intelligence was manipulated by then-Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. On the same day as the report came out, Dick Cheney claimed that they did have a relationship via Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi may be dead, but he's still useful. [Via TalkLeft.]
George Saunders liked it
Lodger
www.lodger.tv, the official website of the Finnish band Lodger (wikipedia, myspace), best known for their flash videos about love, death, crime and sex. I love death (flash) has been mentioned previously, but look out for God has rejected the western world (flash) and 24h candy machine (flash).
They also made a video (flash) for LeLabo Fragrances, set to the tune of 24h candy machine.
All flash movies are NSFW with music, same goes for the myspace link.
Peak oil?
Doggy Freestyle
[Bustfilter] Follow the Pretty Soap Bubbles to the Pokey
Don Bolles arrested for soap possession? Germs drummer Don Bolles likes Dr. Bronner's Soap. Or maybe that should be past tense, as Orange County police have arrested him for drug possession, apparently over the hemp oil in his soap bottle. Friends are rallying to raise his bail, and asking sympathetic souls to spread the word.
H
Malaysia, Politics, and Bloggers
An Indonesian TV crew was invited to Malaysia for their Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign but encountered many problems. They write up about it - and start a flurry of comments and controversy across the Malaysian government about blogging. [more inside]
Redoing the Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's 2.0. fourty years later, BBC 2 is preparing a recording session (with the original recording instrumentation and Geoff Emerick) to be aired on 2 June. Oasis, The Killers, Razorlight, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Travis and the Kaiser Chiefs are the artists currently announced.
Not the first time someone covers the Beatles (there's even a mashup, previously covered on Mefi).
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Public domain books published 1923-1963
Stanford's new Copyright Renewal Database makes searchable the copyright renewal records of books published from 1923-1963, previously very difficult to do. Between those dates, a renewal registration was required to prevent the expiration of copyright, so books not renewed are now in the public domain. Publishing scanned books on Internet Archive.
Party at NASA!!!
Bay Area Yuri's Night 2007 Bay Area Yuri's Night 2007 Yuri's Night Bay Area will be held at Moffett Field in the NASA Ames Research Center's massive SOFIA hangar, home to the world's largest aerial observatory. Our host for the evening is pioneering space traveler Anousheh Anasari, the first privately funded female to reach orbit. She is joined by Dr. Chris McKay, world renowned expert in astrobiology and terraformation with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames Research Center, as they welcome you to a dazzling array of interactive art installations and science demos, interwoven with musical and acrobatic performances by some of the world's finest entertainers. Complete write up. Partially via MeFi's own lannanh.
blogswarming for freedom
Blog Against Theocracy --a blogswarm dedicated to the separation of church and state, ... Easter Weekend, April 6-8, 2007. Also see the non-profit joint venture between The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, First Freedom First.
To Each, His Own ... Country
In 1980 artist Lars Vilks began construction of two sculptures in Skåne, Sweden. The works—once they were found—were considered houses by the local authorities and therefore condemned because they were built on a nature reserve. After many lost appeals, Vilks protested by declaring the area as the micronation of Ladonia with the motto of suum cuique. And while there is no possibility of receiving work or actually living in Ladonia, you too can become a citizen of Ladonia. For a nominal fee you can even become nobility, and choose your own title!
“A Congresswoman must look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, speak on any given subject with authority and most of all work like a dog.” -- Rep. Florence Dwyer, R-NJ, 1957-73
Holy Week in Spain
Spain's El Mundo newspaper has an online photo gallery of beautiful, haunting images from Holy Week celebrations around Spain. (More) 20 minutos also has a great gallery. Even for nonbelievers, the spectacle is impressive. Wikipedia explains a little about the traditions, and addresses the sartorial similarities between the procession participants and Klan members.
Tonight We're Gonna Design Like it's 1999
Where is Kai Krause? If you were a web designer back in the day, you probably used Kai’s Power Tools (my how web design has grown). A user interface visionary, Kai bailed at the dot.com peak (just in time) and retired to Byteburg, a 1000 year old castle in Bonn, where he peacefully lives and works today.
Minigame Burnout
An Open Letter to Devs: "Minigame compilations. How many of these games can we possibly be expected to buy? On my Wii alone, I've already gone through Rayman Raving Rabbids, Super Monkey Ball, Warioware and Sonic, with Mario Party and who knows what else on the horizon. As for the DS, just about every other game I own has some kind of mini-game compilation."
Global sweatshop lobby
"In a historically unprecedented visit, the influential Chinese scholar and labor law expert Liu Cheng arrived in Washington, D.C. this week to garner support from US legislators and labor leaders for a law that is pending not before the US Congress but before the National People’s Congress in China."
Global Labor Strategies' recent report Undue Influence has prompted comment that US corporate advocacy in China is retarding democracy. The US-China Business Council rejects this characterization of their lobbying efforts (China Law Blog broadly agrees). Their European counterparts think better compliance and implementation are key to improving protection for Chinese workers.
Global Labor Strategies' recent report Undue Influence has prompted comment that US corporate advocacy in China is retarding democracy. The US-China Business Council rejects this characterization of their lobbying efforts (China Law Blog broadly agrees). Their European counterparts think better compliance and implementation are key to improving protection for Chinese workers.
Trick-shot bowling
"Off with his suckers!!"
Behold,
a new episode of Dave Lovelace's most infamous creation. (warnings: use headphones if at work, and do not attempt to consume food or drink during the cartoon. Thankyew.)
From the bizarre to the ridiculous to the downright scary...
Louis Theroux, the man that brought you The Most Hated Family in America, has more to offer from his BBC2 documentary series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Gangsta Rap, UFOs and...Swingers. Some footage may not be safe for work, obviously.
Who Watches The Watchmen Wank?
BOG VENUS VERSUS NAZI COCK-RING: Some Thoughts Concerning Pornography Alan Moore, renowned comic author and creator of a recent work of unapologetic smut waxes at length on the history and role of pornographic art and literature, asserting "our impulse towards pornography has been with us since thumbs were first opposable".
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