November 9, 2007
Way to make a "boldly go" joke, NPR.
Leonard Nimoy's new photography book is not what you'd expect. In this NPR interview, Nimoy discusses his new book, The Full Body Project. [more inside]
Finally the B-Boys are Taking Acid
¡Fœtalmania!
Foetus may, or may not be, a band that once consisted of two Brazilian statistics collectors, their penpal Frank Want, and temperamental singer Phillip Toss. As it stands today, Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka J. G. Thirlwell is the driving force behind the band known as Foetus. Expounding on the underlying themes of "aesthetic terrorism" and "positive negativism," the name has gone through many deviations, but the concept remains the same. [more inside]
Mad Man with a Diary: Would-Be Assassin Arthur Bremer Released from Prison
Arthur Bremer was released from prison today, after serving a 35 years of a 53-year sentence for the attempted assassination of George Wallace. After Harper's Magazine published Arthur Bremer's diary in 1973, the manuscript inspired both the character of Travis Bickle in the film Taxi Driver and the Peter Gabriel song "Family Snapshot". After Bremer shot Wallace, Nixon obsessed about the shooting on his audio tapes and pestered FBI agent Mark Felt for information, which Felt a.k.a. "Deep Throat" leaked to cub reporter, Bob Woodward. Woodward's relationship with Felt would later crack the Watergate scandal wide open, but Nixon's plan to portray Bremer as a George McGovern supporter remains less well-known.
That's not funny.
Did you hire Silly the Clown for your kid's upcoming birthday party? Well, he may not be able to make it. And it's probably just as well.
Growing up sexually: a world atlas
Growing Up Sexually: A world atlas and encyclopedia of cross-cultural practices in the sexual enculturation of children. The project overview gives context for the site, which is a subproject of the frighteningly comprehensive International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Primary author of site is an M.D. No images, text may not be safe for work.
A Study in the Trickyness Involved in Rocking a Rhyme
Serein v3
First Do No Harm
Newsweek's "Packaging a Tragedy" After which, two Darfur experts, John Prendergast and Alex De Waal have a heated debate over the role of the Save Darfur Campaign, wondering whether its advocacy has helped or hurt the chances for peace in the region. De Waal has argued that the seduction of humanitarian intervention has impeded progress in Darfur, while Prendergast has urged more robust intervention. Both want the same thing, an end to the killing, but both get extremely heated in disagreeing about how.
Corporate Magazines Still Suck
Happy 40th Birthday Rolling Stone. On this day in 1967, the first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine was published, and it came with a roach clip. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason It embraced and reported on the hippy counterculture during the late 1960s and 1970s, and its rise to fame was synchronous with such bands and artists as the Grateful Dead, Beatles, Doors, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. It is the magazine that trashed Eric Clapton, broke up Cream and ripped every album Led Zeppelin ever made!"
Ectype's End
Ectype's End. A cute animation about 3C70, a worker in a clockwork world whose life is turned upside down by a strange flower. You can download the hi-res version from Rhubarb Zoo. [Via ectoplasmosis.]
Proust, Cezanne, Sacks, and Umami - Lehrer's World
Jonah Lehrer is becoming one of the most interesting science writers around. The 26-year-old Rhodes scholar and former Le Bernardin cook just published his first book, Proust Was a Neuroscientist [first chapter excerpt - NYT], an investigation of the ways poets, novelists, and artists accurately modeled the brain and memory before science did. This week he hilariously reenacted Escoffier's distillation of umami-rich veal stock [hit the audio link] with NPR's Robert Krulwich of Radio Lab. He also just published a very insightful profile of Oliver Sacks in SEED (addressing the pioneering neurologist's own recent struggles with an eye ailment) and writes a wide-ranging science blog. A new writer to watch.
Deepavali
Diwali: the festival of light. Go ahead, light a diya (no, not that Diya) or something a bit more festive. Burn a few firecrackers, but be careful not to harm yourself. And be sure to have a taste of those mouth savouring sweets.
Tags for this game: "Holycraptoofasteyesbleeding"
Ever felt like flying a missile down a tube filled with rotating obstacles? No? Well, here’s your chance.
Nature Creates a River
While God was fooling around with his celestial SimCity control panel, he accidentally built a river right through the middle of a road. [more inside]
Try not to smile
Just a gentle little clip to make you smile on a Friday - a 30 sec spot for Oregon's Humane Society. [via]
TroutUnderground Battles for Your River Access
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the bed and banks under all rivers, lakes, and streams that are navigable, for title purposes, are owned by the states, held in trust for the public. Mineral extraction interests and other parties often challenge this 'public use' designation by using/abusing the navigabilty designation to keep out fisherman and other recreational users in order to exploit the rivers for private gain.
The Upper Sacramento River and McCloud Rivers of Northern California are the latest battleground in recreational river access. In what has become all too common, an ugly fight pitting sportsmen and nature enthusiasts against private interests is unfolding.
One blogger has led the good fight to keep the rivers public. He could use your help... but it doesn't look good, and there is not much time!
I had to tell some one.
Artistic renditions of spam subject lines — A Flickr photoset (of sorts)
Nothing says "Christmas" like a serial killer!
Gallup poll, Bush worse than Nixon
Gallup: Bush 'strongly disapprove' 50% > Nixon 48% Gallup notes that the two ratings are statistically equivalent. A newspaper industry site noted it, and Raw Story,
while Uruknet (which is not unbiased) felt the story was under-reported.
Math classes with a cause.
Breathe in, whistle.
The History of the Super Mario Franchise.
With the release of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, now is a perfect time to look back at the History of the Super Mario Brothers.
"He'd zap the programme off and holler/ 'Go and read some Emile Zola."
No way! Cary Grant ate toast!
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