May 25, 2008

Beat the monday doldrums

Monday got you stressed? Tired of all the politicking? Here's something to help you relax. Remember, just like real life, yellow is good, purple is gooder and red is bad.
posted by oxford blue at 11:46 PM PST - 32 comments

Remember manuals?

Lost your manuals, quick reference cards, and the like for your old games? Fear not! Replacement Docs is here!
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:06 PM PST - 12 comments

Driving fast and jazzing it up in the 1920s.

The opening shots of 1920s New York City are wonderful, then you get a zany high-speed Harold Lloyd blazing down the avenues, and that's fun to watch, but the real killer is the horse-drawn trolley absolutely tearing-ass through lower Manhattan, full gallop. Ends badly. Then it's over to San Francisco for one last bit of homicidal vehicular activity with a bus. Well, they sure don't drive like they used to! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:53 PM PST - 37 comments

Would you like obesity with that?

Bisphenol A. Canada is banning it in baby bottles, while the California State Senate recently passed a bill to ban it in child care products. Even the US Senate is getting in on the action. Bill Moyers thought it was interesting enough to run this Expose story. In addition to the previously discussed cancer risk, it may also cause obesity. Is this pointless overreaction, or is it an example of government's failure to act [PDF] in the face of industry pressure? The FDA, was, after all, tasked with screening such endocrine disruptors over ten years ago. Previously on the blue and green.
posted by wierdo at 6:08 PM PST - 58 comments

Is It Wrong to Lust Over an Optimus Keyboard? Yes.

The best thing about WIRED Magazine's 15th Anniversary celebration is it's not all self-congratulatory. Of course, any media entity involved in the rapidly-changing but well-archived internet is going to sometimes do silly things that we all can see - forever. In one area, at least, WIRED is owning up to its bad judgment with the Lamest (their word) Gear Ever Highlighted in their 'Fetish' Feature. 1993-1995. 1996-1998. 1999-2006. It's not that there are less lame items in recent years; they're just waiting for history to confirm what smart readers saw all along. My favorites - and why some of them may not be so lame: [more inside]
posted by wendell at 4:38 PM PST - 43 comments

Phoenix to land on Mars.

Phoenix is set to land on Mars at 2353 UTC. Video coverage: NASA | CNN
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:13 PM PST - 97 comments

In the blue painted of blue

Once again, the Eurovision Song Festival has taken place this weekend, giving rise to the usual recriminations about political voting. However, it is worth noting that it is exactly fifty years since Italian singer Domenico Modugno managed only third place (out of ten contestants) with a charming little ditty called "Nel blu dipinto di blu", but better known as "Volare". [more inside]
posted by Skeptic at 4:12 PM PST - 42 comments

They see me co-opt'n They hatin'

We've discussed fixed gear bicycles before. [more inside]
posted by wfrgms at 1:56 PM PST - 99 comments

Memorial Day

Memorial Day it seems is getting a bad name in recent years. But as the politicos run around like crazies, we mustn't forget the little things about the holiday, its history and what it stands for, and even its more traditional customs like grilling, and of course flag etiquette.
posted by msaleem at 11:46 AM PST - 24 comments

This are the world.

The Japanese master intercultural stereotyping. Is it racist when non-whites do blackface?
posted by parmanparman at 11:32 AM PST - 71 comments

Dick Martin Passes

Say good night, Dick. Best known for the highly successful Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Dick Martin was the silly, almost child-like counterpart to straight-man Dan Rowan.
Dick "accompanies" Tiny Tim.
Another Laugh-In intro.
In the Cocktail Party scenes, Dick's specialty was delivering pick-up lines.
Good night, Dick.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:36 AM PST - 40 comments

Soup Nazi cosplay

How to ruin a joke. A concise and surprisingly astute explanation of how referential humor works on the web and why it kinda sucks. (Warning: somethingawful.com)
posted by es_de_bah at 10:12 AM PST - 69 comments

Puss puss puss

Hello Kitty becomes Japan's ambassador to China. The little half-Japanese, half-English cat has become so globally recognisable that it is, perhaps, inevitable that the Japanese board of tourism has appointed her their official tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong. This is not the first time the world has looked to Hello Kitty to perform an ambassadorial role; she has been United States children's ambassador for Unicef since 1983. [more inside]
posted by infini at 8:55 AM PST - 18 comments

From Zadie Smith to The Kindle

Observer literary editor Robert McCrum, retiring after ten years in the job, writes about the revolution in the book world he's seen over the last decade.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:21 AM PST - 16 comments

Bill Henson's censored photographic exhibition.

Photographs of esteemed Sydney artist Bill Henson have been removed by police from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, and the debate over art vs pornography vs pedophilia heats up in Sydney this week. Some of the debate is quite measured and intelligent while other sides are descending to unruly levels. [more inside]
posted by robotot at 2:06 AM PST - 61 comments

Grief in the Rubble

Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled. "A staggering number of students died as schools collapsed in the May 12 earthquake, and grieving parents are speaking out about shoddy construction."
posted by homunculus at 12:36 AM PST - 24 comments

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