December 3, 2010
My pointe shoes are brown because my skin is brown.
'I couldn't find one black woman working in ballet and that stunned me. I decided to do something about it myself.' What she achieved was ballet company Ballet Black and its associated school.
Cairo: Part II
Map of Metal
Know Pleasures
Joy Division bassist Peter Hook talks about performing tracks from Unknown Pleasures.
Ducks in the wind / All we are is ducks in the wind.
Apparently, ducklings do not do well waddling in wild winds. SLYT.
Become the Next K-pop Star!
MBC Star Audition, an American Idol-style singing competition show from major Korean broadcaster MBC, let aspiring contestants audition via YouTube. Audition videos can be seen through the mbcaudition YouTube channel. Videos had to be 100 seconds or less, with contestants (solo or group) singing a K-pop song. Contestants from over 25 countries submitted videos, giving viewers a glimpse of their talent (and room decor). [more inside]
"They know who we are and they don't like us"
California's ailing Republicans: A dying breed? 'Republicans are relishing the coming of a new day on Capitol Hill. But across the country in California, the party of Nixon and Reagan is drifting toward obscurity. The latest sign of imperiled health: In a year Republicans notched big victories in Congress, governor's offices and statehouses around the nation, California Democrats made a clean sweep of eight statewide contests on Nov. 2. Democrats padded their majority in the Legislature, where the party controls both chambers and no congressional seats changed parties. California counted more registered Republicans in 1988 than it does today, even though the state population has since grown by about 10 million.''It's been said the future happens first in California, and the state hit a little-noticed milestone this month that will have implications in voting booths for years to come. For the first time, Hispanics account for more than half the students in the state's public schools. They will be tomorrow's voters.' [more inside]
True Grit
"Holland Reynolds, a star runner from a small private high school in San Francisco, collapsed at the state cross-country meet and crawled across the finish line to clinch the championship for her team." Her coach, Jim Tracy, had been increasingly debilitated by Lou Gehrig's disease during the season, which made her and the team "really want to win it for Jim." The video of the race is here. Holland Reynolds approaches the finish line at 19 minutes 33 seconds into the video.
Bloody Harlan
In 1972, miners at Duke Energy's Brookside coal mine in Harlan County, KY voted to organize with the United Mineworkers of America. When the company refused to accept a contract, the workers went on strike. [more inside]
Complex Mag Cover Story: Kanye West
Kanye and I had exchanged emails days after the Taylor Swift incident, but between him being inundated with criticism and my own personal distraction—a recently discovered brain tumor, of all things—this conversation, a month later, was our first real catch-up. [more inside]
Please Fire Me
Mark Does Stuff
First, Mark read Twilight. I think it's safe to say he's not a fan. Then he read Harry Potter and likes it a lot more.
Now, he's watching Firefly, reading The Hunger Games, and rereading Harry Potter.
The reason for the season.
It’s maybe a little early yet for year’s end retrospectives, but who cares: we’ve got 157 songs, 10.5 hours, 1.12 GB of “some of the best and most notable music from 2010... covering indie, pop, rock, punk, folk, rap, R&B, soul, dance, country, modern classical, ambient and electronic music, and in many cases, hard-to-classify genre hybrids.” —Curated by FluxBlog’s own Matthew Perpetua.
Getting what we pay for
Per capita US spending on health care in 2008 exceeded $7500-- more than any other OECD nation, half again the spending of the runner-up [PDF], and double its spending in 1990. Why? Aaron Carroll of the Incidental Economist explains in 12 parts. [more inside]
Swinging Holiday Tunes
Sure, soon the sound of one more holiday song will make your ears bleed, but it’s early in the season, which makes it a great time to enjoy some classic renditions. And what could be better for the songs of the season than the Hammond B-3: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Jimmy Smith) , Greensleeves (Jimmy Smith) , Baby Its Cold Outside (Jimmy Smith with Wes Montgomery) , Santa Clause is Coming to Town / White Christmas (Jimmy McGriff) , I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause (Jimmy McGriff) , Sleigh Ride / Jingle Bells (Al Caiola, Riz Ortolani & Jimmy McGriff) and my favorite Silent Night (Jimmy Smith)
24 Hours of Hardcore Punk
The second edition of Steven Blush's American Hardcore: A Tribal History has just been published by Feral House.
Additionally, Steven has posted 911 mp3s of hardcore punk as a soundtrack for your reading.
Elaine Kaufman (1929-2010)
Elaine Kaufman, who became something of a symbol of New York as the salty den mother of Elaine’s, one of the city’s best-known restaurants and a second home for almost half a century to a bevy of writers, actors, athletes and other celebrities, died Friday in Manhattan. She was 81.
A Plate of Dots
To locate Inky’s target, we first start by selecting the position two tiles in front of Pac-Man in his current direction of travel, similar to Pinky’s targeting method. From there, imagine drawing a vector from Blinky’s position to this tile, and then doubling the length of the vector. The tile that this new, extended vector ends on will be Inky’s actual target.Understanding Pac-Man Ghost Behavior [more inside]
Brackenwood
Brackenwood is six short (and award winning) flash animations by Adam Phillips that develop story lines around creatures that live in a fictional forest planet called Brackenwood (previously and previously). There are more recent episodes, and a game based on the world has been made. [more inside]
If you are not from Indiana, read carefully. You are about to learn a deeply held Hoosier secret.
If you are from Indiana, you know what happens next. An argument can be made that this is Indiana's state food. It probably came from the culinary influence of this community. People in Illinois eat this too, but my Mother, who hails from the "City of Firsts," insists that they don't do it right.
There are others who scoff and insist that Indiana's state food must be this. Some just insist that it should be made the Official State Sandwich.
Either way, they're both delicious and are best followed by a ubiquitous Indiana dessert.
Does it all sound simple and boring? You have no idea until you try it. Does it all sound horribly unhealthy? Well, you have to die of something and you might as well have a good meal first.
Strange CW Keys, a collection of interesting and totally unique Morse Code keys made by Jari Vainio, OH6DC in Finland.
Strange CW Keys, a collection of interesting and totally unique Morse Code keys made by Jari Vainio, OH6DC in Finland.
Funky Ukraine
Only 6 grams of fat, HALLELUJAH!
Food Court Flash Mob sings the "Hallelujah" chorus.
What do they here
Declaration on the Notion of “The Future” is the most recent of many manifestos broadcast by the mysterious entity The International Necronautical Society. [more inside]
B List, D List, and Beyond
Celebrities do odd commercials, and not just in Japan. (SLYT) The same Norwegian program has brought similar joy (?) to the world before.
Microcontroller Merriment
Robert Quattlebaum shows how to hack GE Color Effects Christmas lights and makes the source code for his work available.
Bargain Junkies Are Beating Retailers at Their Own Game
A new brand of super shoppers use coupons and other discounts to get products for absurdly low prices. The Web has turned this group from a series of independent operators into cohesive groups, frustrating retailers.
Explorations of a Recreational Mathematician
Let's say you're me and you're in math class, and you're supposed to be learning about factoring. Trouble is, your teacher is too busy trying to convince you that factoring is a useful skill for the average person to know with real-world applications ranging from passing your state exams all the way to getting a higher SAT score and unfortunately does not have the time to show you why factoring is actually interesting. It's perfectly reasonable for you to get bored in this situation. So like any reasonable person, you start doodling.[more inside]
The cutaway drawing and its artists
Let's talk about Scotch Whisky
Previously on Metafilter, we unearthed hundred year old scotch. So let's talk about scotch. There's a lot to say. [more inside]
Cageling
If you enjoy games like Myst and Riven, take a crack at Cageling. It's a good thing your prison is a luxurious rococo palazzo, because you'll probably be there for a while. [more inside]
Fan Art
We've all seen Harry Potter fan art before. But Constantine Michael also offers up Inglorious Basterds, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Doctors, and Mad Men. [Via.]
Pushing the boundaries of logo manufacturing for lots of years.
When you receive your Logonom logo, you’re not just opening a symbol, a brand or a small representation of you, you’re also opening peace of mind. And that’s something we’ve worked hard for 113 years to pack into each and every box.
A Hall-of-Famer to all Cubs fans
Ron Santo, legendary Cubs third baseman and longtime broadcaster has passed away due to complications of bladder cancer. He was the first player in the major leagues to play with type 1 diabetes, a fact he kept secret for years. "This Old Cub" is a documentary which (in part) detailed the Hall of Fame's snubbing of Santo. Number 10 will be remembered for his pizza, the millions raised for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, but most of all his passion for Cubs baseball during good times and not so good times.
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