December 5, 2007
IdiocracyWatch
The omens and portents are appearing in your fridge and on your boob tube...Idiocracy is coming to pass. [more inside]
See It, Hear It, Smell It
Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World. From the main page, click on the various articles to access a larger left-side menu, with articles including Illusions Reveal The Brain's Assumptions, A Hot Spot in the Brain's Motion Pathway, The Value of Having Two Ears, The Memory of Smells and much more.
Time to get schooled by the professor!
Some kind soul has uploaded an exhaustive collection of Professor Julius Sumner Miller's Science Demonstrations to YouTube. This is my playlist, I thought the other fans of JSM on Metafilter might enjoy it.
For those of us who enjoy coffins
Capsule hotels (or modular hotels , if you prefer) are all the rage these days. They started in Japan in the 1980s, but have only recently spread elsewhere to places like England. They aren't the cushiest digs you'll find, but they're a cheap no-frills alternative, and they're getting better all the time.
Santastic III
Santastic I, II, and now III, holiday mash-ups, alternate treatments and bootleg remixes.
Previously
Previously
Inside the "Ron Paul" Spam Botnet.
the future is open {
Papervision3D 2.0 released yesterday. Papervision3D is an open source 3D Engine for flash which provides a lightweight, browser friendly platform for rendering 3d content in your browser window. Papervision (some examples of PV3D in use: 1, 2, 3 (this third one might be awhile to load...), however, is only the tip of the iceberg which is a very committed and talented open source flash community. [more inside]
Here Today Is The Now Sound of Yesterday
The Now Sound of the Sixties is what's groovy, baby! Even Big Bands and Canadians are getting warm, wild, wonderful with the crazy sounds of that love generation. Check out Ella Fitzgerald singing Sunshine of Your Love and Lord Sitar's I Can See for Miles. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 do Wichita Lineman and Day Tripper, while lounge act Jackie & Roy do a rare cover version of the Beatles' The Word. The Alan Copeland Singers can't stop Goin' Out of My Head, but the Back Porch Majority looks like an outtake from A Mighty Wind with the hippie anthem, Get Together. But the hippest hep daddy of them all is Bing Crosby, who has both a Beatles medley and another medley of hit '60s tunes.
Apocalypse Now
Depending on who you believe, either Guy Pearce or Viggo Mortensen will be cast in the lead role of the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's utterly brilliant dystopia, The Road. To my mind, the adaptation marks Hollywood's rekindling of the almost forgotten genre of the post-apocalyptical movie. With Mad Max, The Postman, Threads and The Day After, nuclear annihilation loomed large in the imaginations of filmmakers in the 70s and 80s. Since then cinematic dystopia has been projected in the realm of the fantastic (think 12 Monkey's, The Matrix and 28 Days Later). If dystopia is really just a satire of the present, what does the film adaptation of The Road tell us about the our times?
Ee-ee! Ee-ee! (Something slimy for you, my slimy darling.)
Some dolphins are easy and some are murderous rapists, but all of them are into the nookie. Amazon River Dolphins are the casanovas of the cetacean order, practised in selecting the finest mud glops or algae for that special cow.
Christmas Presents for New Orleans
Bulldozers for the Poor: despite being the brainchild of the chief of police, tent city, home to approximately 500 of the city's roughly 12,000 homeless, is slated to be disbanded to make room for state office buildings and a national jazz park. this comes at the same time hud is readying to demolish four housing projects, where many of the tent city residents hoped to return. meanwhile, residents of one of the swankiest neighborhoods in town are successfully protesting and receiving tax breaks.
Big man with a big heart does his part
Mark Wallinger has won the Turner Prize for 'State Britain' his recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest. [more inside]
The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich
Their days are filled with these sorts of moments, as when they go out for Chinese food and the fortune in Dennis's cookie tells him he has "integrity and consistency." ("Isn't that amazing?" Elizabeth says.) And then they turn the fortune over, and Dennis's Chinese word is "hat," and amazingly, Elizabeth just bought a hat before lunch.The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich
Gregory Blackstock
Autistic retired pot-washer Gregory Blackstock creates striking artworks of everyday items. Short YouTube interview here. If you're in Seattle, you can see him tonight at the opening of his exhibition at the Garde Rail Gallery.
Top 10 online point and click games.
Top ten point and click games based on graphics, difficulty level and overall enjoyable gaming experience. (via)
the way of the ninja
N, that dangerously addictive and simple flash game (previously # # #) is very close to being available on X-box live[IGN] and soon, on the PSP and Nintendo DS. More news about N and their next project, robotology can be found on their blog. [more inside]
Not your mama's Tupperware parties
Meetup Alliance - Meetup.com, the social networking site, probably best known for becoming a driving factor in Howard Dean's presidential campaign, has created the Meetup Alliance offshoot site, which allows local groups (whether organized through other networking sites or just locally) to link up and create global "alliances."
"My humble efforts to assist in the elucidation of the social condition of a distant and comparatively unknown race."
Homeland Security for Sale
Heckuva Job DHS! 5 Years of Corporate Cronyism. CREW and Brave New Foundation have joined forces to create this video and a report, Homeland Security for Sale, documenting five years of waste, fraud and abuse at the Department of Homeland Security. [Via Think Progress.]
I got a letter from the government the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers
Landlord tenant law in every US state
A Geek for Every Season
When "Being Green" takes on a different meaning
I'd heard before about green blood and green urine, but now- green sweat? I know the whole world is going greener these days, but really!
Flying with the green fairy
Meet St. George Absinthe Verte, "the first American-made absinthe on the market in almost a century." Since Absinthe was legalized earlier this year, various brewers have moved into the market--but is is really the same thujone-enhanced drink that drove many-an-artist to madness?
The Patent Troll And The Anonymous Blogger
"$5,000 to anyone that can provide information that leads me to the identity of Troll Tracker" is the offer from Ray Niro of Chicago plaintiffs firm Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro. Niro doesn't like to be called a "troll," but Troll Tracker started referring to Niro that way. So Niro pulled out an old weapon. He e-mailed the blogger, informing him that he may be infringing on patent number 5,253,341.
Broadway Deconstructed
Musical fans, meet Seth Rudetsky. Watch him (YT links) deconstruct "Turkey Lurkey" and Barbra Streisand or accompany Raul Esparza on "Defying Gravity." Learn from his Broadway 101 parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6a and 6b.
Shoot First, No Questions Asked?
"I've got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop 'em?" On November 14, 61-year old Joe Horn saw two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He called 911, told the operator what he could see through his window. As Horn watched the men, he grew more and more agitated, saying he was going to go outside and shoot them. When the men left the neighbor's home, Horn went outside and did just that.
Now, Texas gets to argue over the hero or villain status of Joe Horn in the public square (a debate made more volatile by concerns that race was been a factor), while weighing the merits of that state's recent adoption of Castle Doctrine (aka "Stand Your Ground" Law). First adopted by Florida in 2005, Castle Doctrine is now law in 19 of 50 states. So what does this mean for Joe Horn? Public accusations of vigilantism aside, what Horn did is arguably legal under Texas law ... or, at least, it would be had he shot the two men after dark.
McGee Online
For all your culinary information needs, search through Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking for free online. Also, in a more limited capacity, Larousse Gastronomique.
The Wire Prequels
This link is parked
YouParkLikeAnAsshole.com : Got a notice? Give a notice. Contains Galleries for regular asshole parking to super duper asshole parking. Some of these offenses are benign, and indeed some are egregious, but let it be a lesson to you, bad things can happen to your car if you block the hydrant.
Do They Know It's Advent?
Word Magazine's Advent Calendar. The Man in Black in a field of white. Diana + (Flo and Mary) in Santa hats. "Weird Al"'s post-apocalyptic Xmas. Thin Pistols/Sex Lizzy serenade Kenny Everett. Grace Jones uncrated for Pee Wee.
And that's just the first five days.
the moment before you fall in love
Sarasate Plays "Zigeunerweisen". A recording from 1904.
This Kids' Blues Band even Impresses BB King
Can three happy kids (15, 13, 9) REALLY play the blues? (and without knowing how to read music). Hell yeah! They placed 2nd (out of 157 bands) at this spring's International Blues Challenge in Memphis. (Featured: CBS Sunday Morning video) Even BB King is impressed. More YouTubery (this has to be a parent's posting page) - not the place for high fidelity, but you'll get the idea: Harvest Blues Festival performances.
Al Odah v. U.S. and Boumediene v. Bush
Al Odah v. U.S. and Boumediene v. Bush go before SCOTUS Streaming on C-Span today. The Center for Constitutional Rights (great podcast) will argue before the Supreme Court today:
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision in Rasul, The Center for Constitutional Rights and cooperating counsel filed 11 new habeas petitions in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of over 70 detainees. These cases eventually became the consolidated cases of Al Odah v. United Statesand Boumediene v. Bush, the leading cases determining the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Rasul, the rights of non-citizens to challenge the legality of their detention in an offshore U.S. military base, and the constitutionality of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
Dance Craze
Courtesy of Youtube, here are some performances from the 1981 movie Dance Craze: Nite Klub, Too Much Too Young & Concrete Jungle by The Specials; Three Minute Hero & Too Much Pressure by The Selecter; Ranking Full Stop & Mirror in the Bathroom by The (English) Beat; The Prince & Swan Lake by Madness; (Lets do the) Rock Steady & 007 (Shanty Town) by The Bodysnatchers and; Nee-Nee-Na-Na-Na-Nu & Lip Up Fatty by Bad Manners. [more inside]
Renato Carosone, pride of Napoli.
This is just too charming and endearingly goofy to miss: Renato Carosone's Tu Vuo' Fa' L'Americano (You're Acting All American). See also: O Sarracino, Torero and Maruzella.
Hunting Rebel Gold
A man seeking Confederate gold and his own family's hidden history uncovers a cryptic trail that may stretch back to a secret society and Jesse James.
Tis the season for stuff.
...you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely. The story of stuff.
Terry's Chop Shop
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