December 14, 2011
60 Days to Live - to record the journey--however long or short it may be.
I've been advised by doctors to prepare for death. "I believe that there is strength in facing reality, and then planning your demise on your own terms as best you can. And hey, if a miracle happens and we beat the odds, that is only a bonus. Facing reality doesn't mean denying a possible happy outcome. Look at my case for instance--I have surpassed 60 days, and I am not dead yet. I haven't counted how many days I am past my expiration date, but one could say that each day is a miracle now." [more inside]
Applied Ultrafinitism OR Amending a Forgotten Parameter
S. Ekhad , E. Georgiadis, D. Zeilberger. "How to Gamble If You're In a Hurry." arXiv:1112.1645v1 (pdf), 7 Dec 2011. [more inside]
What Women Want: Porn and the Frontier of Female Sexuality
What Women Want: Porn and the Frontier of Female Sexuality [NSFW] James Deen is a young, handsome porn star who is becoming famous for actually appealing to women. Due to his boyish, slightly skate-punk aesthetic, naturally toned body, and ability to connect emotionally (or at least appear to) with his female co-stars, Deen has garnered a following of devoted young women in an industry that in most cases ignores them entirely. via
The climax starts at 3:13
Matt Mulholland performing "My Heart Will Go On" on the recorder. That is all. (SLYT)
The paintings of Don Van Vliet
Don Van Vliet is self-taught. He neither expects allowances for the amateur’s lack of dexterity nor permits any technical deficiency on his own part to limit his scope. Nobody's understanding or forbearance sets limits to what he does - any more than does the fear of going wrong. The lacerations, transgressions, and awkward moments that he introduces are unpredictable, as is their duration; when he takes the figures that confront him and tugs them out of shape, he simultaneously tugs himself out of shape - and out of his own limitations. - Roberto Ohrt
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Tomorrow marks the official end of the Iraq war. The Obama administration describes it as a 'promise kept'. The war resulted in a great many casualties. Although the final troop movement out of the country is not scheduled to begin for a few days, history will record December 15 as the end of the war, as the flag of the American military mission in Bagdhad is lowered and returned to the US. Scholars at Brown University estimate the total cost of the war at 265,000 dead and $3-4 trillion dollars. The main contenders for the Republican party's 2012 nomination both expressed approval and disapproval. Previously, 339 times.
Special Snowflakes
Hobo With A Shotgun plus some others
Prrrrrrrrana
Robots
Why are Indian Reservations So Poor?
Why are Indian Reservations So Poor? Forbes writer John Koppisch says it's because of a lack of individual property rights. In a detailed response, the executive director of non-profit organization Village Earth says: "I find it ironic how academics and journalists try to come up with new theories to explain poverty on reservations but fail to take into account the obvious. The government owes Native Americans at least 45 Billion dollars yet, in the settlement offered by the Obama administration, they are being compensated for less that .06% of that." [more inside]
Or just ten reasons why Donna Summer is awesome in general
This is a subject of but small importance; and I know not whether it will interest any readers, but it has interested me.
CN Turbo Train Part 2, part 3, 1970 Film.
Canada Off the Rails: You know the story of the Avro Arrow, now discover how Canada fell from leader to laggard in another cutting edge, vastly profitable, globally relevant transportation industry, where Canadians had held a strong lead, until this Canadian homegrown industry was derailed; high-speed derailed...
CN Turbo Train - "3:59" - The Lost Film
(the high speed rail flickr pool is recommended viewing). [more inside]
La Cite D'Arkadia
Here is the pilot episode of Les Mondes Engloutis (Part 2), a French animated sci-fi/fantasy televison series from 1985. Here is its iconic theme song. In English it translates into "The Sunken Worlds," but English-speakers know it better as Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea. More information can be found on Tripod fansite The Lost Archives of Arkadia. [more inside]
Panoramic Virtual Tour of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Take a Panoramic Virtual Tour of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Available as a full-screen virtual tour starting entry rotunda and navigating from there, or jump to individual rooms.
Thus ending years of speculation.
Canadian music icon Randy Bachman hosts a weekly two-hour program called Vinyl Tap on CBC; on the program, he plays older music and talks about the stories behind the creation of the tracks. In 2010, he hosted a live episode called Guitarology 101 from the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. The episode was devoted to various aspects of guitars and included a story about his visit to Abbey Road Studios where Giles Martin offered him a chance to hear anything he wished from the masters of the Beatles catalogue. His choice: to hear the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night. After listening to each separate track, he walks his audience through how the the chord was constructed. [more inside]
Mohammed el Gorani
Mohammed el Gorani, the youngest prisoner held at Guantánamo, has written a memoir of his time there, the lead up to his imprisonment, and subsequent release years later.
Elizabeth Taylor's jewels huge success at auction
Tuesday at Christie's, Elizabeth Taylor's collection of jewelry brought $115.8 million most of it earmarked for her AIDS and other charities. [more inside]
"It’s not clear why police decided to hone in on punks."
In Indonesia, a punk rock concert is raided and attendees are arrested, shaved, de-pierced, bathed and sent for re-education.
The Little Anarchist Collective That Could
George Whitman, founder of the Parisian landmark bookstore Shakespeare And Company, has died at the age of 98
Hang in there till at least 00:48
Sloth Sanctuary is a documentary about a sloth orphanage in Costa Rica that will air on Animal Planet on December 18th.
Trailer
For the person who has everything....
Say Hello to My Little Friend. Mary Roach examines the history of head shrinking among Amazon tribes and Americans' fascination with the little things. She also includes a handy DIY guide.
Thanks for taking care of it for me.
What are the odds? When Jim showed up to buy Eric's 63 VW convertible, he already had the key in his pocket. [more inside]
The Night of The Hunter
The Science of Bones
The TV show Bones is loosely based on the life of forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs. But how much science does the show get right? Can you really use the mandibular angle to figure out the sex of the victim? What about diagnosing Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva from a tiny bone fragment? Biological anthropologist Kristina Killgrove dissects the science of each episode on her blog, Powered by Osteons.
The crime against women that no one understands
The crime against women that no one understands "They would be 10 educated, professional women versus a demonstrated liar—a man who had pretended to be a doctor, a CIA employee, even an astronaut—whom a court-appointed psychologist would decide met the legal definition of a "sexually violent predator." And yet the most remarkable thing about both trials wasn't the way they exposed the alleged tactics of a serial date rapist. It was that despite the outrageousness of the accusations against Marsalis, the testimony of 10 women wasn't enough to get a single rape conviction against him. The verdicts in these cases would be far lighter than his accusers sought—and victims' advocates say the outcome reveals a disturbing truth about the justice system. Nationwide, despite all the legal advances of the past three decades, little has changed for women who report a date rape. Because in far too many instances, juries don't believe date rape exists."
Bearded dragon lizard playing Ant Crusher on cellphone
The Season 2 Winds Are Rising
HBO's Game of Thrones was a huge hit (with some controversy and rebuttals of same), securing a second season only two days after its debut.
Filming of said season finished on December 11th and now the production crew is pulling all the pieces together for the April 2012 start of season 2. A few details have officially and unofficially come out, details after the jump: [more inside]
Felis catus
Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special
Merry Christmas! Merry Merry Christmas! In 1988, the Writers Guild of America had a strike, the longest in its history, lasting 155 days. The strike had some fallout -- both Moonlighting and Kate and Allie lost audience members due to long hiatuses during the strike, which may have led to their cancellation. And while it generally did not affect children's television, one show, in particular, was hard-hit by the strike: Pee Wee's Playhouse, which had a season of only two episodes, plus a Christmas special. [more inside]
All Together Now
All Together Now. Every Beatles tune, played together, sequenced in order of lengths, with the longest starting first and all 226 tunes ending together. This is a single link SoundCloud post.
Daytrippers
Vacations, diversions and roadtrips: On The Way suggests attractions and reststops for any route. The Weekend Map shows events and activities for 27 American cities for the coming weekend. Nerdy Day Trips (previously) suggests trips for geeks of all kinds, while Trazzler suggests daytrips for where you live. Don't have a car? Mapnificent (previously) shows you where you can get to from any point in a given time using public transit. EveryTrail suggests walks, rambles, strolls and hikes. Google's new HotelFinder service locates places to stay in a sketched area on a map, with a range of options. via
And It's Caffeinated
You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything esle. You use FIGHT CLUB brand soap.
From the real-life Omni Consumer Products Corporation, a product development company focusing on "licensing, defictionalization, and reverse-branding". Previous products include Brawndo, Tru Blood and Stay Puft Marshmallows (giant monster mascot not included).
Disclaimer: This post is NOT intended to help sell the product, just to inform you that it exists in this atrophying universe. Previously.
From the real-life Omni Consumer Products Corporation, a product development company focusing on "licensing, defictionalization, and reverse-branding". Previous products include Brawndo, Tru Blood and Stay Puft Marshmallows (giant monster mascot not included).
Disclaimer: This post is NOT intended to help sell the product, just to inform you that it exists in this atrophying universe. Previously.
With special guest stars: Beatrice Arthur, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, The Jefferson Starship and Harvey Korman!
The Star Wars Holiday special, in its entirety, complete with original commercials. You are welcome. [more inside]
"If I am kept away from writing I become physically unwell. It is art and the creation of art that sustains me." Russell Hoban 1925-2011
Depending on when and what you started reading you may know Russell Hoban as the author of the children's book Bread and Jam for Frances or the post-apoocalyptic sci-fi novel Riddley Walker. Hoban also wrote Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas which was made into a one-hour Christmas Special originally aired by HBO in the 70's and re-released as recently as 2008. He published one book of poetry, The Last of the Wallendas, which included many dark poems such as The Dream of the Kraken. Hoban died in London last night, aged 86. [more inside]
You have a hook for a hand and can buy multiple hats
Treasure Adventure Game is a free 2D game of exploration on the high seas from independent developer Robit Studios. Dig, sail, fight, and dive across dozens of islands in search of a lost treasure. Download link here.
How to talk to boys at parties
"It was Alan Flusser who pointed out, a whole generation of men in the '70s stopped getting dressed, so they didn't teach their children how to get dressed. More and more people have found, 'Oh, I can go read about this stuff.' " The Oral History of Menswear Blogging. With Michael Bastian, Scott Schuman, Michael Williams, Lawrence Schlossman, Jesse Thorn, and others.
Don't even THINK about it...
I am under 21. If you are underage, Black Acre Brewery doesn't want you drinking their beer, or viewing their website. But they do want you to rock out.
Wide-eyed Wonder
Gustav Leonhardt, last recital
On December 12, 2011, world-famous harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt played what appears to be the last recital of his sixty-one years long career in the Théâtre des Bouffes in Paris. Clips from the concert were uploaded on youtube yesterday.
Suitable for the sad event, a melancholic Prélude by d'Anglebert first. [more inside]
GigaPan Time Machine
Not to be confused with a hot tub time machine, the GigaPan Time Machine enables simultaneous exploration of space and time across massive datasets that could not previously be interactively explored at full spatial and temporal resolution. Here is a short demo of the GigaPan Time Machine website. [more inside]
Really? Are you kidding?
Stuff to keep nerds up at night
Citizens United: the impact.
Red money, blue money: The making of the 2012 campaign. "More than 80 percent of giving to Super PACs so far has come from just 58 donors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics analysis of the latest data, which covers the first half of 2011." This Salon piece details who the (surprisingly small) number of large donors are, and the SuperPACs they donate to.
How Fox is helping Obama
Jamie's Cryin' (because mom wouldn't let her meet Michael Anthony at the record store)
Ye olde rock and roll time machine: recently found photos of a Van Halen in-store appearance from 1978.
Man the Fat Hunter
Did the disappearance of the elephant caused the rise of modern man? Humans are not good at extracting energy from plants or converting protein to energy. Without fire to allow for better conversion, fat was a vital part of early man's diet. Elephants being slower and larger than many other prey was a prime hunting target. When the number of elephants declined, man had to find other sources. Hunting smaller, faster prey resulted in a change in human evolution. Man became lighter and their brain size increased to handle the requirements for hunting enough animals to provide the necessary fat.
The Labyrinth of Genre
The Labyrinth of Genre A browseable and searchable map of music genres, with short samples.
The Western Soundscape Archive
"The Western Soundscape Archive [...] features audio recordings of animals and environments throughout the western United States." "The project's geographic focus includes eleven contiguous western states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming - as well as baseline sound monitoring in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska." [more inside]
Dogs winding down the electric windows
Dogs. In Cars! [sl vimeo] Watch whilst in your stuffy office and feel jealous of our canine friends.
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