July 15, 2014

"You need to DROP the HATE."

"Why don't you read your own book, and actually follow the teachings to the letter of GOD? And learn to support and love?" [SLYT] Drag queen Mama Tits spontaneously walks up to religious anti-gay demonstrators and confronts them at the recent 40th annual Seattle Pride Parade. Demonstrators were attempting to block the start of the parade.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 9:38 PM PST - 53 comments

"C'est good for you, c'est bad for me"

"C'est La Vie" an ABBA parody by French and Saunders. A tiny bit of pitch-perfect delightful fun for your Tuesday evening.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:37 PM PST - 23 comments

Not the Mario you were expecting

Mario: animated short An animation of a chilling Italian children's (?) song, created by painting frames on glass! [via mefi projects]
posted by ignignokt at 7:55 PM PST - 4 comments

The ABC's of Theology

Atonement, Baptism, Christology, Deconstruction
The ABC's of Theology, an ongoing blog series from the folks at Homebrewed Christianity. (previously) [more inside]
posted by womprat78 at 7:10 PM PST - 6 comments

The State of the American Dog

Reviled, pit bulls have become representative. There is no other dog that figures as often in the national narrative—no other dog as vilified on the evening news, no other dog as defended on television programs, no other dog as mythologized by both its enemies and its advocates, no other dog as discriminated against, no other dog as wantonly bred, no other dog as frequently abused, no other dog as promiscuously abandoned, no other dog as likely to end up in an animal shelter, no other dog as likely to be rescued, no other dog as likely to be killed. In a way, the pit bull has become the only American dog, because it is the only American dog that has become an American metaphor—and the only American dog that people bother to name.
posted by latkes at 7:02 PM PST - 156 comments

DIY Sexism, Subverted

Sexist 60's embellish-your-own-suggestively-posed-women notepads, subverted. David Jablow takes vintage novelty doodle pads with the outlines of nude women and gives them awesome contexts. (Original image is arguably NSFW)
posted by jzed at 6:22 PM PST - 12 comments

We get off the Number 10 bus at a pub called 'The Fox and Hounds'.

MeFi favorite David Mitchell ("Cloud Atlas," "Ghostwritten," "Number 9 Dream") is this week publishing a new short story, "about a boy tripping on his mother's Valium pills." He is publishing it in a series of 280 tweets. [more inside]
posted by jbickers at 6:19 PM PST - 14 comments

Japanese design magazine, circa 1902

Shin-Bijutsukai, The new monthly magazine of various designs by the famous artists of to-day, 1902. View gallery of selected pages; download full PDF.
posted by not_the_water at 5:46 PM PST - 6 comments

Happy Rex Manning Day!

'Dance party USA teeny bopper' type of shit: Rex Manning, "Say No More, Mon Amour"
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 5:40 PM PST - 36 comments

Why do we have blood types?

"Isn't it amazing?" says Ajit Varki, a biologist at the University of California, San Diego. "Almost a hundred years after the Nobel Prize was awarded for this discovery, we still don't know exactly what they're for."
Popular science writer Carl Zimmer investigates: Why do we have blood types? [more inside]
posted by divined by radio at 5:01 PM PST - 66 comments

The Ebb and Flow Of History

A dynamic map of world history since 3000 BC. Link starts at 338 BCE, the year before the first conquests of Alexander.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 4:59 PM PST - 25 comments

Mysteries that will not collapse into solutions

Tao Lin became very interested in Terence McKenna over the past two years, and now he's writing a weekly column about the man and his ideas for Vice. Part I: Beyond "Existentialism". Part II: Terence McKenna's Memes, featuring 30 of Lin's favorite memes propagated by the philosopher-explorer, touching upon entheogens, consciousness, evolution, belief, language, the internet, and mankind's search for meaning. If you have time on your hands, here's over ten uninterrupted hours of McKenna as referenced in the first column.
posted by naju at 4:45 PM PST - 14 comments

He actually is a rocket scientist

Bored with salad? The Willy Wonka of edible leaves offers help
Graham Clarkson talks about salad as though it were the new rock'n'roll, uttering sentences like: "I get too excited about rocket", "I eat salad bags like they're crisps" and "I have a PHD in baby leaves" (thus making him a "rocket scientist", geddit)? Clarkson is keen to show off his contenders for next year's salad crops – "the future of salad" – and is full of leafy inspiration.
[more inside]
posted by Lexica at 4:30 PM PST - 21 comments

Like Taking A Step Into a Sci-Fi Future

Captain's Log: June 30, 2014 "There are times when human language is inadequate, when emotions choke the mind, when the magnitude of events cannot properly be conveyed by the same syllables we use to navigate everyday life. Last night, the evening of June 30, 2004 was such a time." [more inside]
posted by Michele in California at 2:40 PM PST - 4 comments

The Headbanger's Library

The eleven best metal songs about literature. [more inside]
posted by gingerbeer at 2:12 PM PST - 56 comments

Before Google maps: Six hundred miles of highways

The photographs in this set depict roads and highways in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1892 to 1893. The photos accompany the "Report of the Commission to Improve the Highways of the Commonwealth" published in February of 1893. [more inside]
posted by jessamyn at 1:51 PM PST - 25 comments

I never could have imagined how that phrase would explode

"I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to pop culture: I’m sorry for creating this unstoppable monster. Seven years after I typed that fateful phrase, I’d like to join Kazan and Green in calling for the death of the “Patriarchal Lie” of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. [more inside]
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:43 PM PST - 122 comments

Urban Inclusivity: Women's Mobility in the City

What does a city for women look like? "In the city for women, a woman can sit alone in parks, linger, run, jog, without much diminished fear at any time of the day. Women too can be flaneurs and have the right to loiter. Rather than just prioritise safety and freedom from harassment, women can prioritise speed and convenience of mobility. Women’s mobility is not just about getting from point A to B, but also about social mobility. Greater physical mobility for women is conducive for social mobility and self-actualisation." [more inside]
posted by rue72 at 12:50 PM PST - 23 comments

Whosoever wields this hammer, if she be worthy...

Marvel Announces New Thor In an interview on The View, author Jason Aaron and artist Russell Dauterman announced a new ongoing Thor series. [more inside]
posted by kagredon at 12:17 PM PST - 128 comments

“I went with the mustard instead of the ketchup.”

What Happened When We Gave Our Daughter My Last Name [more inside]
posted by supermassive at 11:26 AM PST - 146 comments

Don't hate this post, make this post hate you

Artist Leaves Cute Motivational Sticky Notes On The Train
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM PST - 14 comments

what if a 40-something secretary was secretly James Bond all along?

Ed Brubaker on Velvet (his new comic book series with Steve Epting): “I loved the idea of flipping the typical male-oriented spy story, and doing one about a woman who was also a mature, middle-aged woman.” [more inside]
posted by flex at 10:35 AM PST - 32 comments

Haiku Salut

Haiku Salut are an English instrumental band who make Yann Tiersen-esque pop. Their current touring show utilises "20 or so vintage lamps which are programmed to flash, flicker and fade in time to the music".
posted by dng at 10:22 AM PST - 4 comments

The only IDs I have: Philippine passport and my pocketbook Consitution

Pulitzer Prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas has been detained attempting to leave McAllen Airport in Texas. As Mr. Vargas wrote in Politico on July 11, he had traveled to Texas to document the crisis of undocumented immigrants before realizing that he might, in fact, be stuck there. His film, Documented, which just began airing on CNN last month, "chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hasn't seen in person in over 20 years."
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:55 AM PST - 95 comments

Church of England approves women bishops

"The General Synod today gave its final approval for women to become bishops in the Church of England," paving the way for appointments in the near future, and perhaps as soon as later this year. The vote comes after a long and contentious debate on the subject. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby: "My aim, and I believe the aim of the whole church, should be to be able to offer a place of welcome and growth for all. Today is a time of blessing and gift from God and thus of generosity. It is not winner take all, but in love a time for the family to move on together." A round-up of responses can be found here and here. NPR coverage.
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:37 AM PST - 24 comments

Able was I, ere I saw Elba ROCK THE FUCK OUT!!!

'Some bands are ambitious. And then there’s Lazer/Wulf. The concept behind the prog-metal trio’s new album, The Beast Of Left And Right, is more than ambitious; it’s kind of insane. Guitarist Bryan Aiken, bassist Sean Peiffer, and drummer Brad Rice have constructed an entire, full-length work of technical yet melodic metal that forms a palindrome.' They've also attracted attention for having a very famous and unlikely fan. [more inside]
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 9:29 AM PST - 26 comments

"we’re not used to seeing fat people represented positively in media"

Doing this – fucking the programming – is actually really freeing. It means I can stand up at a reading and give a performance in a loud, snarky voice. It means I can sit on and moderate panels without fear. Because I know how fat shaming works. I know that if somebody wanted to try and shame me using the “fat” call-out, the same person would say that whether I was 70lbs lighter or 70lbs heavier.
Science fiction writer Kameron Hurley on public speaking while fat.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:16 AM PST - 151 comments

Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the mostly forgotten groundbreaking sportswoman

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias has, in many ways, become America's all-but-forgotten sports superstar. You might have seen the round brick museum built in her tribute as you zip along Interstate 10 in Beaumont, Texas (Google maps), or remember she ranked #10 on the ESPN SportsCentury top 50 athletes of the 20th century, but that was back in 1999. So if this is all news to you, here's a bit more about Babe. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:01 AM PST - 13 comments

Another way the school testing regime is rigged against the impoverished

Meredith Broussard at The Atlantic discusses another way the system of standardized testing is rigged against the underclass - thanks to the incestuous relationship between testmakers and textbook manufacturers, the tests are easy to pass - if the students are taught from the right textbooks, which many poorer districts simply cannot afford. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:43 AM PST - 36 comments

Single-body horror

Metafilter favorite David Cronenberg (previously, previously, previously) has lately been making short films for festival exhibition. Most are aggressively simple, with only a few actors and even fewer locations. But they're all unmistakably Cronenberg films. [more inside]
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:39 AM PST - 7 comments

Yeah, hail Satan!

The Pulp Zine explains how to do a stick and poke tattoo.

Pink Tapes does stick and poke tattoos of whimsical subjects such as pretzels, pizza, ghosts and treasure maps, and kitties.

Marissa Paternoster of the band Screaming Females talks about drunkenly giving DIY tattoos in comic form.

posted by Juliet Banana at 8:09 AM PST - 29 comments

The Other Major Sport Signing Last Week

While everyone was distracted by LeBron James returning to Cleveland, World Wrestling Entertainment pulled off an even bigger coup* by signing seven-time Global Honored Crown champion KENTA. Kenta Kobayashi (he capitalizes his ring name to differentiate himself from his mentor, Kenta Kobashi) was one of the biggest stars of Japan’s Pro Wrestling Noah promotion before resigning in April, leading some to wonder whether he would be returning to the bigger All Japan Pro Wrestling. Instead, Hulk Hogan personally signed Kobayashi to a developmental contract while on a WWE event in Osaka. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 7:32 AM PST - 28 comments

It Ain't No Fairy Tale

42nd St., NYC ca. 1988-1991 (Vaguely NSFW)
posted by griphus at 7:11 AM PST - 72 comments

. . . is an A̶m̶e̶r̶i̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶j̶o̶u̶r̶n̶a̶l̶i̶s̶t̶ Russian propagandist

congress-edits (@congressedits) is a Twitterbot broadcasting anonymous Wikipedia edits made from Congressional IP addresses. [more inside]
posted by ryanshepard at 6:58 AM PST - 30 comments

Our Schizoid Culture

Read Bain, professor of sociology at Miami University in Ohio and a founding editor of the American Sociological Review, wrote these words in 1935. We praise competition, but practice merger and monopoly…. We praise business organization but condemn and prevent labor organization…. We give heavier and more certain sentences to bank robbers than to bank wreckers. We boast of business ethics but we give power and prestige to business [disruptors]…. Everybody is equal before the law, except … women, immigrants, poor people.…We think of voting as the basis of democracy, but … seldom find more than fifty per cent of eligible voters actually registering their ‘will.'… We value equality, but tolerate greater inequality of wealth and income than has ever existed in any other society…. We drape nude statues and suppress noble books…. We try to foster participative recreation, but most of it is passive, much of it vicious, and almost all of it flagrantly commercialized…. This is the age of science, but there is more belief in miracles, spirits, occultism, and providences than one would think possible…by Debra Morris
posted by lazycomputerkids at 5:51 AM PST - 10 comments

we’re not going to see that on tv

In an interview during the Television Critics Association’s press tour on Sunday, Daniel Cerone, executive producer of NBC's Constantine, has revealed that there are no plans for John Constantine to be bisexual in the upcoming series. While Constantine's sexuality may come as a surprise for many casual DC fans, it has been a more-or-less stated fact throughout his canon. Many LGBTQ comics readers consider Constantine to be an important and iconic bisexual character and were hoping for a better result.
posted by fight or flight at 3:47 AM PST - 73 comments

They all have optimal strategies but pursue different victory conditions

Big Game Theory! Board games that tell stories. The Bored Gaymer. A girl likes games. HiveGod's Yell Matrix. QWERTYUIOP. 365 Days of Gaming. Those are a few of the most favorited current blogs on BoardGameGeek, and these are a few of their most favorited posts. [more inside]
posted by Monsieur Caution at 3:25 AM PST - 17 comments

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