April 9, 2011

She made pictures of haunting loveliness.

19 year-old Virginia Frances Sterrett was commissioned by the Penn Publishing Company to illustrate Old French Fairy Tales by Comtesse de Segur (1920). Sterrett was already ill with tuberculosis, the disease that would end her life at age 30. [more inside]
posted by nev at 8:05 PM PST - 26 comments

An Extended Saturday Matinee with Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff

YouTube user deb4tlj has uploaded seven out-of-print titles to YouTube: three silent films starring Lon Chaney -- The Penalty (1920), The Unknown (1927), and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928); two films starring Bela Lugosi -- Island of Lost Souls (1932) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932); and two films starring Boris Karloff -- The Ghoul (1933), and The Walking Dead (1936). [Notes inside] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:08 PM PST - 15 comments

Chained to their desks

Indian prison authorities in Hyderabad have opened up a call centre inside the jail with hopes of servicing customers from the UK.
posted by reenum at 6:57 PM PST - 43 comments

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that can be learned in no other way. - Mark Twain

Writers and Kitties That's pretty much it. Authors and their cats. My favorite is Mark Twain.
posted by desjardins at 6:27 PM PST - 51 comments

So Long and Thanks For All The Tunafish!

Domestic Cat and Captive Dolphin make nice [SLYT]
posted by humannaire at 6:12 PM PST - 45 comments

No Mo-99

A Political Meltdown: For decades, Canada has been a world leader in the production of medical isotopes. So why did the government announce that it was dumping the entire program? (alt)
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 5:06 PM PST - 22 comments

Show's over, folks.

75 Abandoned Theaters From Around The US
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:02 PM PST - 55 comments

The Civil War Journal of Nehemiah Wallington

The Civil War Journal of Nehemiah Wallington, digitized by the John Rylands Library, is one of the surviving diaries kept by this seventeenth-century Puritan. Although Wallington recorded a number of key events, like the execution of Archbishop Laud, the diary has garnered most attention for its report of the Chelmsford witch trials, overseen by Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins (enter "witchcraft" into the search box to see Wallington's account). For more of the intellectual context for early modern witch-hunting in the British Isles, see the Witches in Early Modern England and Survey of Scottish Witchcraft databases, as well as the handy collection of primary texts in Cornell's Witchcraft Collection.
posted by thomas j wise at 4:50 PM PST - 13 comments

Uh, can I go to the office? Please?

Double suspension action! Teen suspended for outing pornstar office assistant, and a cop wants in on the action too. All links (here at least) SFW.
posted by kneecapped at 3:36 PM PST - 73 comments

WINNERS DON'T IGNORE SAFEWORDS -- Wm. Sessions, Director, FBI.

Friday Saturday Flash Fun: Lesbian Spider Queens of Mars, by Auntie Pixelante.
posted by egypturnash at 1:57 PM PST - 9 comments

Somewhere on the spectrum between disturbing and cute

A video has been making the rounds of twin babies having a little conversation. Patton Oswalt and Michael Chiklis recreate the scene (mostly) detail for detail.
posted by codacorolla at 1:12 PM PST - 50 comments

master of information

The New Biology - Eric Schadt's quest to upend molecular biology and open source it. (via)
posted by kliuless at 11:00 AM PST - 35 comments

Amo Amas Amat

Harvard's 1869 Entrance Exam (PDF - NYT)
posted by The Whelk at 9:40 AM PST - 89 comments

Mad as Hell

I'll never forget the day that I realized that over half of the movies I truly loved were all directed by one guy. To name just a few of his brilliant films: 12 Angry Men, Anderson Tapes, Dog Day Afternoon (NSFW), Serpico and of course, the grand-daddy of conspiracy love stories Network. Sidney Lumet. RIP (prev)
posted by victors at 9:35 AM PST - 87 comments

Ah, a Lego animation about people.

Ah, or Ahhhhh, a minimalist Lego animation about people(?).
posted by Kaatridge at 9:26 AM PST - 7 comments

Chicks With Steve Buscemi's Eyes.

Chicks With Steve Buscemi's Eyes. Surprisingly horrifying.
posted by saladin at 9:16 AM PST - 77 comments

If you build it they will .....er take photos

Man builds large format camera out of lego, that is all.
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:42 AM PST - 17 comments

Recent research related to children

Recent research on children. (1) Brothers and sisters who argue a lot can improve their language, social skills and outcomes: Guardian article; paper on part of the research (pdf). (2) First findings from Understanding Society. Conclusions include: the unhappiness of children’s mothers with their partners affect children’s happiness, but this is not the case if children’s fathers are unhappy in their relationships; having older brothers or sisters doesn’t appear to affect children’s happiness, but having younger brothers or sisters is associated with less happiness; not living with both natural parents has a greater negative impact on a young person’s life satisfaction than their material situation. (3) A longitudinal study on people now in their forties has found that for these people reading is linked to career success, though not necessarily to better pay, whilst playing computer games and doing no other activities was associated with less likelihood of going to university. In particular, those who owned a ZX Spectrum or Commodore C64 were less likely to go to university. thinq interview with researcher. Guardian article. Telegraph article. (4) Poll about children’s attitudes to losing in sport. Press release. Data from children’s survey. Data from parents’ survey. (All three are PDFs.)
posted by paduasoy at 3:52 AM PST - 30 comments

Translation: It tastes like crap

Freezerburns, the video channel dedicated to reviewing frozen food, samples frozen treats for dogs and cats.
posted by mippy at 3:47 AM PST - 14 comments

I'm not worrying about whether you reject Cotton Mather's accretions on the Mosaic Law, but whether you reject the Mosaic Law.

William F. Buckley meets Hugh Hefner. A philosophical debate.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:22 AM PST - 24 comments

The Ward

The Ward (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3) is a silly little Lovecraftian sitcom from the folks who bring us the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. (previously: 1, 2, 3, 4) The guys Lackey and Fifer are also writing a graphic horror novel set in the Jazz Age, Deadbeats.
posted by JHarris at 1:46 AM PST - 11 comments

Fame

"But when Britney [Spears] got healthy, Jamie’s lawyers actually pushed for greater authority and, on October 28th of 2008, Jamie secured a permanent conservatorship. PERMANENT. HE OWNS HER FOREVER."
posted by dirigibleman at 12:49 AM PST - 101 comments

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