July 24, 2014

Prove your music nerd cred

Slate wants to know if you can name those 70s, 80s, 90s or more recent hits from hearing just the first second of them.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:40 PM PST - 58 comments

Big Hair is like so 1770s

Wigs filled with maggots, hair filled with mice and tiny battleships - twonerdyhistorygirls have The Truth About the Big Hair of the 1770s and How they Did It. Inspired to make your own bone powder and pomatum? You can use the original recipe or these recipes, or just buy some pretty lemon-lard at Etsy, or pick up a modern substitute from the drugstore.
posted by viggorlijah at 11:14 PM PST - 24 comments

Recreating everything in Sun Records sound

Studio engineer Matt Ross-Spang wasn't even born when most of Sun's most famous records were cut. Nonetheless, he's thought a lot about what makes them sound the way they do (transcript). Matt has been buying up old gear for a few years, returning the Sun Records studio to a vintage state (with a few exceptions), and he is still practicing "sonic archaeology," trying to figure out how Sam Phillips made records sound like Sun Records. There's more to it than the Sun tape echo. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 10:59 PM PST - 11 comments

Mid-climb. What of it?

"A set of towers, spread across the globe, have given goats the opportunity to make good on their evolutionary heritage and farmers a chance to leave an unforgettable impression on visitors. And don't worry—there hasn't been a single report of the goats falling." From Modern Farmer. [Previously]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:24 PM PST - 36 comments

Ever wonder what it feels like to be old?

Ever wonder what it feels like to be old? "I am the same age as Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood. In Dog-years that is really really ancient..."
posted by banished at 10:10 PM PST - 45 comments

Jeff VanderMeer interviews Bronson Pinchot about audiobooks

"I gently lay my mind on the text as if the text is a Ouija board and let it move me around. And my eye circles the page precisely the way your eye circles the landscape when you are anxiously looking for someone in a crowd: You scan for red hair, for a hat, for someone towering above the others, whatever it is. I pick up adverbs out of the corner of my eye. "How wonderful to see you, Jeff" may be the opening of a chunk of dialogue that ends with "... she muttered hostilely." You look for that like a helicopter rescue team looking for a dehydrated Cub Scout in the mountains."
posted by colt45 at 10:01 PM PST - 21 comments

He Who Loves an Old House Never Loves in Vain

CIRCA's "You Should Move to ..." series is a charming exploration of "beautiful, under-the-radar old house towns where big charm can be had for little cost." [more inside]
posted by batmonkey at 9:38 PM PST - 19 comments

1.5 meters of segmented NOPE

Stephen "Hoppy" Hopkins reports finding a large-bodied earthworm, tentatively identified as Martiodrilus crassus, in Provincia de Napo, Ecuador. The internet weighs in: real or fake? [more inside]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:57 PM PST - 19 comments

Burger King Is Run by Children

Burger King's CEO is 33 years old. Its head of investor relations is 29 and its CFO is 28.
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear at 8:46 PM PST - 80 comments

Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum

Who wants elephants and candy? Inspired by the post on the troll museum... if you're ever driving Route 30 in Pennsylvania, heading towards Gettysburg, you may pass by Mister Ed's Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium. [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:06 PM PST - 4 comments

I Don't Get These Birds For Free

Mary Poppins Quits with Kristen Bell
posted by nadawi at 7:23 PM PST - 46 comments

Imagen all this ppl

Finally the important question of our time is answer: What if Jary Senfild were emoji on i-phone toady? [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:01 PM PST - 18 comments

Do you think it's getting weird around here?

The fragments of information that have filtered out make it clear that the building houses one of the largest fusion experiments now operating in the United States. It is also one of the most unconventional. Instead of using the doughnut-shaped 'tokamak' reactor that has dominated fusion-energy research for more than 40 years, Tri Alpha is testing a linear reactor that it claims will be smaller, simpler and cheaper — and will lead to commercial fusion power in little more than a decade, far ahead of the 30 to 50 years often quoted for tokamaks. The Fusion Upstarts.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 5:44 PM PST - 39 comments

"It's a nice reminder of the impermanent nature of our flesh."

How to put on your face: in which youtuber Anna Akana shares her beauty routine. [SLYT]
posted by ocherdraco at 5:25 PM PST - 17 comments

"the sorry state of “default” imagery"

no more “put a skirt on it”
In a historical vacuum, we would not project gender onto images with no visible gender signals. But we’ve inherited, and perpetuated, the idea that a blank person is a Man. Unless you add decorations. Then you have yourself a Woman. Yes, it’s 2014, many women have short hair, pants, and no makeup. We know this intellectually. But it doesn’t seem to translate into how we actually represent men and women.…

Good news: the next time you draw a person or create a user avatar, you have an opportunity to fight the sexist patriarchal bullshit! Like many instances of patriarchy-smashing, it’s not actually that hard once you get the principles down.
posted by Lexica at 4:46 PM PST - 51 comments

Current marketing buzzword: Feminism

Not too long ago feminist ideals and other (mainly) women's issues like body image, street harassment or double standards in the workplace would have left most advertisers and brands running for the hills. The current fourth wave made feminism so popular that major brands discover it's actually a great way to sell stuff and are joining in with feminist messages in their advertising. Dove, Nike or Special K are fairly successful. Others not so much. Their "new and improved approach to gender equality [is] packed with 83% more cliches, 92% more hashtags, and 103% less meaning."
posted by travelwithcats at 4:39 PM PST - 25 comments

Finding the Dinosaur: A 'Step Brothers' Appreciation

"[F]rom the vantage point of a 12-year-old, adulthood is something best avoided. The key question, then, is how long can you run?" Rolling Stone launches their new monthly feature, "Be Kind, Rewind" with a new look at Step Brothers. [more inside]
posted by Tevin at 3:35 PM PST - 27 comments

Time magazine explains it all to you.

Yesterday, Time magazine apparently felt it important to inform its readership what the slang term "bae" means. Black Twitter has responded with #timetitles. A few examples:
Let me HOLD SOME MONEY...Asking for a loan from someone who clearly has it with no intentions of paying it back. #TimeTitles
I Can't Even: understanding the Black community's bias for odd numbers #TimeTitles
"Don't Make Me Come Up There: Is Time-Out Not Working For Your Child?" #TimeTitles
In case you've been wondering, according to Time, "A good rule of thumb for now at least: if you would use the words boo or babe in some circumstance, you can probably use bae." [more inside]
posted by fuse theorem at 2:57 PM PST - 115 comments

Are the baby sandwiches made from free-range babies?

Here's What Every Trendy Restaurant Menu Looks Like
posted by rtha at 2:56 PM PST - 162 comments

"I mean, what does real liberation look like?"

Mey from Autostraddle interviews actress and advocate Laverne Cox on her Emmy nomination, the epidemic of violence against trans women of color, and how to create a more supportive and loving community. [more inside]
posted by Juliet Banana at 2:54 PM PST - 3 comments

'gave me joy to be able to remember and know how beautiful life can be'

Windows from PrisonMark Strandquist asked hundreds of prisoners a straightforward question—if your cell could look out on one scene, what would it be? [more inside]
posted by yeoz at 2:46 PM PST - 3 comments

"Sharing is not a crime"

Colombian student Diego Gomez faces four to eight years in prison for sharing an academic article online. [more inside]
posted by sockermom at 2:25 PM PST - 23 comments

FREEDOM vs #DONTTALK

Greg Abbott is running for governor of Texas. He's campaigning in Regal Cinemas as a pre-movie ad. Alamo Drafthouse, a competing chain, has a long history of making PSAs asking patrons not to talk or text during a movie (previously). They felt they had to respond. [more inside]
posted by Lemurrhea at 12:48 PM PST - 55 comments

Reinhart at Rest

RIP Thomas Berger. If you know only one book by Thomas Berger, it's probably Little Big Man, which was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Dustin Hoffman. [more inside]
posted by Francis7 at 12:09 PM PST - 19 comments

...is what brings us together, today.

Misleading on Marriage: how gay marriage opponents twist history to suit their agenda - "Much of what you hear about the purpose of marriage is ahistorical. Lisa L. Spangenberg on what the institution was traditionally fit for."
As someone in a same-sex relationship, I followed arguments for and against the overturn of DOMA with some interest. As a medievalist, my attention was particularly caught by arguments against DOMA on Twitter and elsewhere that asserted that Christianity and history unilaterally agreed that marriage means one woman and one man and coitus. This simply isn't historically accurate even within the context of Christianity and European history.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:53 AM PST - 47 comments

'I wanted to put a stop to it'

Betrayed by Silence — In a four part investigation, MPR News details the cover up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Minneapolis and St. Paul. [more inside]
posted by supermassive at 11:34 AM PST - 17 comments

"I don't want to be a girl."

A young girl's questions about the Boko Haram abductions reveal an increasing consciousness of a misogynist world. How can her mother—a survivor of kidnapping and abuse—respond?
Lacy M. Johnson writes for Dame Magazine: "I Don't Want to Be a Girl."

[TW: graphic recountings of gendered violence] [more inside]
posted by divined by radio at 10:03 AM PST - 47 comments

A quantum leap in computer games from Protovision.

1980s computer hacking supercut. [more inside]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:40 AM PST - 49 comments

Draculas? Draculae? Draculii?

The gals at Anglo-Filles have an entertaining (and epicly long) talk about the history of Dracula and vampires as characters and symbols throughout the ages and throughout fiction - topics discussed include Varney The Vampire, The Vienna Vampire Scare, Where Does Sunlight Killing Vampires Come From, The Secret Spanish Dracula, and Jonathan Harker As An Abuse Survivor.
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 AM PST - 30 comments

Fashion Solutions for Hiding from SkyNet

In Anti-Surveillance Camouflage for Your Face, technology reporter Robinson Meyer details an experiment in which he tried actually going about his day to day life in downtown Washington DC while wearing CV Dazzle, (previously on MeFi) makeup and hairstyles to confuse facial recognition software. The technique is inspired by the old naval technique of dazzle camouflage, which sought not to conceal a ship, but to confuse viewers as to its size and heading. Similarly, CV Dazzle aims to confuse software by making your face look less like a face and more like a confusing collection of shapes. This proves to have unanticipated effects on how Robinson is perceived by humans as well, leading to insights about how our appearance signals our privilege and place in the social hierarchy, and how that can overlap or conflict with the digital wakes we leave.
posted by Naberius at 9:25 AM PST - 78 comments

Warning: Here be trolls

In a sixth floor walk-up on New York City's Lower East Side, you'll find The Troll Museum. Run by a woman in elf ears named Reverend Jen Miller, along with her pet chihuahua, Reverend Jen Jr., it's dedicated to her admitted obsession with vintage Troll Dolls and memorabilia. Admission is free, however there is a suggested donation of $3000. [more inside]
posted by Mchelly at 8:29 AM PST - 24 comments

Make reservation by phone for the greatest dinner of your life

Where Restaurant Reservations Come From: Why did the practice develop? In the startup terms of our day, what problem did the institution of restaurant reservations solve? Well, the answer boils down to... sex and propriety.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:11 AM PST - 36 comments

“I think it was such a fluke that I got published at all,”

You Are Now Entering the Demented Kingdom of William T. Vollmann: [The New Republic] Home to goddesses, dreams, and a dangerously uncorrupted literary mind.
posted by Fizz at 6:44 AM PST - 29 comments

Roman à clef

David Simon runs into Governor Martin O'Malley on the Acela. O'Malley, current governor of Maryland and former mayor of Baltimore, was one of the inspirations for Tommy Carcetti, the ambitious Baltimore politician in Simon's series The Wire. O'Malley hates this connection, and has let Simon know. Still, both Simon and O'Malley were able to put aside differences and share a beer and a photo. [more inside]
posted by spaltavian at 6:02 AM PST - 45 comments

The Guardians of the Bay

Narrowly saved from the scrapyard just a few years earlier by then-mayor Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco's historic fireboat Phoenix has been credited with saving the Marina District from a blaze in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Following this heroic feat, two anonymous residents donated $300,000 towards the purchase of a second fireboat, Guardian, and a $50,000 gift from a Buddhist temple in the Marina funded her refurbishment. While Guardian's 1,200-mile journey from Vancouver did not go entirely smoothly, the crew arrived safely to a hero's welcome in San Francisco, including a water display from Phoenix. Now, with a recent vote, city supervisors have approved funding to build the city's first new fireboat in 60 years. [more inside]
posted by annekate at 3:11 AM PST - 18 comments

I had been in the arms of my best friend's wife

Unlike most murder ballads, The Long Black Veil doesn't retell the story of an actual murder. Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin borrowed bits of stories about Valentino and a murdered priest and a Red Foley chorus and crafted their own story in 1959 to create what he hoped would be a folk song for the ages. [more inside]
posted by julen at 1:39 AM PST - 48 comments

A Man From The Future

Pet Shop Boys, still going strong after over 30 years, and still as inventive as ever, debuted their "orchestral pop biography in eight parts for electronics, orchestra, choir, and narrator" at the BBC Proms last night. A Man From The Future [audio only, BBC3 recording, available for 4 weeks, 1h55m] is an exploration of the life of Alan Turing. The performance includes Chrissie Hynde performing classic PSB accompanied by a full orchestra in the first half, and the premiere of AMFTF as the second half.
posted by hippybear at 12:30 AM PST - 24 comments

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