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However, as I traveled and taught workshops to more and more groups of ukulele players, I began to question the conventional “C, F and G7” approach to teaching beginners. More importantly, I began to find success using what I called “Chord Twins.” Eventually, this approach became the foundation of Booster Uke. The idea was simple: one shape, two chords. Ten online lessons from James Hill are available for free through January 31st. [more inside]
posted by Shmuel510 at 10:31 PM PST - 30 comments

Still File, by Skrekkøgle, is a series of photographs staged to resemble e.g. unconvincingly photorealistic raytraced 3D graphics. Making-of photos included. Skrekkøgle hijinks previously.
posted by cortex at 10:10 PM PST - 20 comments

Pnut has Greasy Fingers
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:53 PM PST - 16 comments

The Obama's final celebration of American music, Love & Happiness, has been posted to the White House Youtube channel. The 82-minute concert features Jill Scott, Regina Hall, Terrence J., Yolanda Adams, Janelle Monae, Leslie Odom Jr., BBD, Michelle Williams, The Roots, De La Soul, Usher, and Samuel L. Jackson.
posted by kristi at 9:42 PM PST - 24 comments

Feed the Animals, Annotated. With a Y-Axis for year of the samples' release, even!
posted by Navelgazer at 8:27 PM PST - 7 comments

World's Worst Wiring [more inside]
posted by hilaryjade at 6:01 PM PST - 81 comments

Artist, animator, and kitemaker Tyrus Wong, called film’s “most significant stylist” and best known for inspiring the unique and heralded visual style of Walt Disney's Bambi, died on December 29 at age 106. [more inside]
posted by drlith at 5:37 PM PST - 16 comments

Blizzard Celebrates 20 Years of Diablo [Battlenet] “Blizzard Entertainment is thrilled to commemorate twenty years of Diablo [wiki]. We’re ready to celebrate our passion for the world of Sanctuary and the brave heroes who inhabit it! Starting soon, you can experience special in-game events and goodies in Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft to celebrate a few of the things we love about Diablo. These events and items will only be available for a limited time, so be sure to check them all out before they’re gone. A small taste of each tribute is below—keep an eye out for more details about these celebrations. . . and thank you, all of you, for allowing us to continue adventuring in the world of Sanctuary. Here’s to twenty years of loot!” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 4:23 PM PST - 52 comments

Sierra Lomuto writes about resisting the fascist, neo-Nazi, and racist cooption of medieval history in "White Nationalism and the Ethics of Medieval Studies." (similar issues previously, in the classics context) [more inside]
posted by jedicus at 4:04 PM PST - 29 comments

Kill Six Billion Demons is a Webcomic about the Multiverse. Start here. As you read, do not skip the long text posts that accompany each page, and be sure to peruse the comments for clues and other contributions from the fanatic community.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:53 PM PST - 19 comments

Bodybuilding with one arm an no legs
Surreal Worlds in Snow Globes
Generations of Falconers in Dubai's Desert
Cloud Piano
At this Sanctuary, All Dogs are in Heaven
This Robot Hitchhiked across Canada
Finding Balance in Korean Sword Making
The Yogi Practicing Body Acceptance
Welcome to Driver's Ed... for Supertankers
Making Sake for almost a Millenium
Cooking for Compton (Snappin' and Trappin')
Protecting Costa Rica's Sea Turtle Mecca
The Furniture Farmer
All stories courtesy of The Great Big Story.
posted by dfm500 at 2:15 PM PST - 19 comments

Turning Your Vacation Photos Into Works of Art. Some novel ideas for printing out your photos. For example, engineer prints - "Of all the ways to turn photos into wall art, I was most interested in trying engineer prints, named for the large, lightweight prints used by architects. For less than the cost of a couple of movie tickets, you can make huge enlargements. Mind you, it’s a particular aesthetic, one that’s most likely to appeal to people who are after an industrial, shabby chic or bohemian look. The paper is thin and the lines of the images are softer than a fine art print.") [more inside]
posted by storybored at 2:10 PM PST - 11 comments

The march of the distinguished nonagenarians continues: Art critic John Berger, perhaps best known for Ways of Seeing (TV series; book; previously), has died at the age of 90. You can get a glimpse of the man in this recent interview and the documentary The Seasons in Quincy.
posted by maudlin at 1:04 PM PST - 33 comments

pppp [more inside]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:03 PM PST - 20 comments

Melbourne landlord blasted for installing coin operated toilet.
posted by Literaryhero at 12:18 PM PST - 40 comments

Japanese comedians try to use Siri in English and the results are hilarious. Otona no Kiss eigo (大人のKISS英語) is "an 'English conversation variety show' where we get exposed to English through many kinds of variety projects week by week!!" [Episode playlist] The host, Tomohisa Yamashita (山下 智久), is a widely-known actor, singer, and TV host.
posted by AFABulous at 11:17 AM PST - 34 comments

The 1847 Irish potato famine was the first national disaster to attract significant international aid efforts. Among the donors to the Irish people were the Choctaw Nation, which collected and donated $174 to famine relief efforts--despite having themselves barely survived the Trail of Tears only sixteen years before. Indeed, it was the 1831 winter marches from Mississippi to Oklahoma that originally inspired the name "Trail of Tears". In 2015, Cork dedicated a major memorial statue honoring the Choctaw for their help. For their part, the Choctaw have continued to donate to aid efforts following tragedies like Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. Most recently, the Choctaw nation have continued their generosity by sending aid to the Sioux community of Standing Rock.
posted by sciatrix at 10:27 AM PST - 8 comments

Philosopher Derek Parfit has died. The author of the landmark Reasons and Persons was 74. If you've never heard of Parfit, you may have heard of the Repugnant Conclusion (which highlights paradoxes in how we understand obligations to future generations). Or if you've ever mused on what would happen to you if you used a Star Trek-style transporter, you may enjoy Parfit's treatment of the philosophical implications in the teletransportation paradox. For more about Parfit, read this profile by Larissa MacFarquhar in the New Yorker.
posted by Cash4Lead at 9:15 AM PST - 42 comments

לשנה טובה תכתבו. Back in October, the podcast for the Yiddish Book Center (The Schmooze) interviewed Hannah Pressman of the University of Washington, who has a longstanding interest in Jewish postcards, especially those for the Jewish New Year. [more inside]
posted by maxsparber at 8:53 AM PST - 4 comments

A 4-year-old explains the problem with New Year's Resolutions (SLYT)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 5:53 AM PST - 48 comments

The Guardian has a new series on uplifting culture for 2017 that includes films that are uplifting (rather than the often cliched 'inspirational' genre). [more inside]
posted by ellieBOA at 4:45 AM PST - 24 comments