November 5, 2007

A single sheet of paper, folded many times

Eric Joisel may be the greatest living origami artist. Here is how he does it. Here is a short documentary about him.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 11:04 PM PST - 20 comments

What would your phone do?

Where's my Gphone? "Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However…"
posted by tellurian at 10:04 PM PST - 48 comments

The Roots of CHICHA

THE ROOTS OF CHICHA: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru "Borrowing the well-known cumbia rhythm from their Amazonian neighbor Colombia, enterprising Peruvian musicians grafted it on to indigenous styles with emerging rock ‘n’ roll from the United States. These cumbias amazonicas migrated to the capital of Lima and their music became known as chicha (named after a fermented corn drink made for centuries and drunk by the working class). The music compiled on The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru is truly transcendent: instantly hummable melodies getting down with surf-rock wah-wah pedals, farfisa organs, moog synthesizers, and dirty electric guitars, all the while delivered with a raw sensuality and enthusiasm."
posted by vronsky at 9:34 PM PST - 31 comments

Dust off that floppy

Many, many, old computing and game magazines, free for download as pdfs, cbrs, or page scans. Computer Gaming World 1-100 ~ Atari Age and Atari Club ~ Compute! (transcribed(!)) ~ Zzap! 64 (awesome) ~ Some foreign ones ~ All the Amiga ones ~ Old Nintendo Power, GamePro, EGM, and so on (free registration required). All credit to the original poster and comments at the random Gnomes' random lair.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:31 PM PST - 27 comments

BBC Podcasts to learn about bakery fresh British popular music

BBC Introducing is an excellent way to keep tabs on what's fresh in the British popular music scene without having to live in a rainsoaked armpit. There are four podcasts for you to download, the flagship Best of Unsigned Podcast, Homegrown Mix with Ras Kwame, Scotland Introducing and BBC Radio Northampton's Weekender. All feature bands that are either unsigned or just recently signed and the music ranges from hip hop to punk rock to what sounds awfully like the soundtrack for a NES game with half-hearted chanting over it. This is an excellent resource whether you're casual searcher for new songs or the kind of anorak who knows which British indie band was first to use an 808.
posted by Kattullus at 7:47 PM PST - 9 comments

Buy them all and build it at home!

You got your Rube Goldberg machine in my department store catalogue. (Or the other way around, I'm not sure.)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:02 PM PST - 58 comments

The Anatomy Of Taste

Yummy Science. Researchers unravel the complex combination of physical and emotional reactions that influence our perceptions of what tastes good. Once upon a time, flavor research was a matter of asking housewives to munch a few potato chips... Now it's about providing an exceptional flavor "experience." And as scientists learn to exploit the ways we perceive flavor, food manufacturers will be able to refine their products to appeal to us as individuals. Welcome to the world of personally tailored mass-produced food.
posted by amyms at 5:36 PM PST - 17 comments

Remember, remember the fifth of November

Happy Counterterrorism Day.
posted by homunculus at 4:30 PM PST - 36 comments

Cool "Disco" Dan

In his own words (YouTube). In the 1980s and 90s, Washington, DC had a mayor-for-life who liked to smoke crack, a murder problem so bad that even the basketball team was renamed, and one exceptionally prolific graffiti writer named 'Cool "Disco" Dan', whose simple graffito with quotes appeared everywhere in the DC area. Now, most of his "work" has been painted over, torn down, or ripped off. Some locals wonder... which one will be the last tag standing?
posted by toxic at 4:30 PM PST - 15 comments

Voice Thread

Voice Thread Now the online world can lend support in your family argument about what really happened on your fifth birthday.
posted by Miko at 4:05 PM PST - 6 comments

Ron Paul Spam

When Ron Paul email spam started hitting inboxes in late October, UAB Computer Forensics Directory Gary Warner published findings on the spam's textual patterns and the illicit botnet used to spread it -- findings which were picked up by media outlets and tech websites like Salon, Ars Technica, and Wired Magazine's "Threat Level" blog, the latter in a set of followup posts by writer Sarah Stirland: 1, 2, 3. [more inside]
posted by brownpau at 2:16 PM PST - 307 comments

The Heeb 100

The Heeb 100 Heeb Magazine, you know that sometimes controversial magazine out of Jew York has recently released their list of the "100 people you need to know about" who also happen to be Jewish. Also, be sure to check out their reposting of an interview with art world honcho and big time heeb Zach Feuer.
posted by Cochise at 2:05 PM PST - 22 comments

Can I borrow a feelin'?

The ten worst album covers of all time (picked by Mental Floss).
posted by SassHat at 1:32 PM PST - 69 comments

A giant puzzle and practical joke

“In most games, you trust that the designer is guiding you, through the usual signposts and landmarks, in the direction that you ought to go. In the Real Super Mario Bros. 2, you have no such faith. Here, [game designer] Miyamoto is not God but the devil.” Slate assesses the true sequel to Super Mario Bros.
posted by tepidmonkey at 1:26 PM PST - 60 comments

We're sorry, this portmanteau device is currently out of order. Please coin a new word.

Believe it or not, there was a record for running the fastest 50 mile ultra marathon while juggling. And this guy just beat it. I present to you: joggling. [more inside]
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:13 PM PST - 11 comments

Come on Down

Drew Carey defends medical marijuana.
posted by Curry at 11:48 AM PST - 61 comments

The Floating Neutrinos

"An extended family of nonconformists travels the world on rafts, teaches its own brand of philosophy, joins the circus, starts a popular jazz band, and sets a new world record along the way." And now, the movie (previously)
posted by janetplanet at 11:22 AM PST - 7 comments

Peddling toward Utopia

“Our intentions are to be as sustainable a city as possible,” said Mr. Adams, Portland's city commissioner in charge of transportation. “That means socially, that means environmentally and that means economically. The bike is great on all three of those factors. You just can’t get a better transportation return on your investment than you get with promoting bicycling.” Many city planners agree that bikes make sense, but after two riders recently lost their lives in Portland one must wonder, is there a better way?
posted by Toekneesan at 10:49 AM PST - 69 comments

smiles from the Death Star

Darth Vader Helmet Art. Outfits for Darth Vader in Love? [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 10:33 AM PST - 10 comments

Fortyone

Music to perk up those Monday-blunted ears of yours. I like music that puts an expression on my face similar to the this dog's. Fortyone is in "Waynesboro [PA] living right across the street from a park into which he'll occasionally Frisbee-toss some of his CD's for some unsuspecting strangers to stumble upon." [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 10:15 AM PST - 17 comments

Impostor Syndrome

Do you feel like a fraud? Holden Caulfield used to hunt phonies a few blocks from here, but times have changed. Now the phonies — or people who think they are, anyway — hunt themselves.
posted by davy321 at 9:42 AM PST - 84 comments

Great balls of everything

The Minor History of Giant Spheres is an illustrated timeline of, well, giant spheres, including the spherical republic of KugelMugel and the great Darwin Twineball. Also online is the Minor History of Miniature Writing, and the related timeline of timelines [prev.].
posted by blahblahblah at 7:43 AM PST - 26 comments

Please help me find her!

NYGirl of my dreams. Romance in the technological age. :)
posted by Phire at 7:25 AM PST - 118 comments

The Feminist Art Base

The Brooklyn Museum's Feminist Art Base presents online the work of over 150 artists "whose work reintroduced the articulation of socially relevant issues after an era of aesthetic formalism", including Janine Antoni, Tracy Emin, Ghada Amer, Ida Applebroog, Sue De Beer, Guerrilla Girls, Yasumasa Morimura, Carrie Moyer, Eva Hesse, Pipilotti Rist, Sheila Pepe, Faith Ringgold ... and of course, an online tour of The Dinner Party, and a Feminist Timeline.
posted by R. Mutt at 7:24 AM PST - 19 comments

They see dollar fallin', they hatin'

Is Jay-Z signaling a recession? There is something quite alarming on the recently released “Blue Magic” music video ... it wasn’t sex, drugs, violence or explicit language that shocked my conscience. It was the Euros. The Jay-Z video flashed large stacks of $500 Euros. When I start seeing rap stars flashing euros instead of U.S. dollars, I know our economy is in trouble.
posted by azazello at 6:41 AM PST - 88 comments

Honking Duck - Listen to Old Time Music from 78s

Hill Billie Blues by Uncle Dave Macon and his Fruit Jar Drinkers is under 1924 at Honking Duck. You could search that by title as well. Or you can look up by Artist as in Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters.
Need I mention all are in RealAudio ? Hate Realplayer ? Well, as noted before, fight the power and use Real Alternative aka Media Player Classic instead. It's not exactly my favorite style of interface but they certainly do afford a large selection.
posted by y2karl at 5:35 AM PST - 6 comments

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