February 10, 2008
Guqin, Confucius' favorite musical instrument
One of the songs on the Golden Record included on the two Voyager spacecraft was Flowing Water performed by Guan Pinghu on the guqin. The guqin, Confucius' favorite instrument, has been played in China for at least 3000 years. There's a lot of guqin videos out there but the two players I listen to the most are jts1702a and Charlie Huang (who is the main contributer to Wikipedia's excellent guqin article).
Roy Scheider, RIP
But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was released 10 years ago today. Happy Neutral Milk Hotel day. [more inside]
The jolliest indoor games. . .demand a floor.
Floor Games. H.G. Wells and miniature gaming.
Before the AT, Joseph Knowles was Naked in the Woods
"It was now dark and here I was in this spruce thicket without food or fire, naked, and miles from a camp." It was 1913, and Joseph Knowles had with cooperation of the Boston Post, decided to prove that man could survive in the wilds. Pictures and courtesy of Google Books, Knowle's own account, Alone in the Wilderness.
It's National National Awareness Month Awareness Month!
I'm going to kill myself in 90 days
"I'm going to kill myself in 90 days." A blogger calling herself "Jane" sets up a blog to chronicle her final 90 days, and is calling on the internet for suggestions on how to do it.
Disturbed blogger? Or another "viral campaign" for something soon to be revealed? [more inside]
Is Rice Right?
Biofuels worsen global warming
Biofuels worsen global warming, according to two studies published in Science last week. Current US biofuel policies would double carbon emissions over the gasoline alternative. More details: ScienceExpress fulltext pdf of study #1, powerpoint summary of study #1, abstract of study #2, summary of both, policy recommendations pdf (via: 1, 2). [more inside]
Actually, sometimes you can tell
This week I've been perseverating on Chuck Berry's great 1964 song "You Never Can Tell", so now you get to too! Unless you're over 50, you probably know it from the Thurman/Travolta dance in Pulp Fiction, but here are some other versions worthy of your attention: [more inside]
Video and photos of spacewalks
The environment does terrible things to the human body and it smells. Many people go for that
walk anyway. [more inside]
Mr. Good Enough
"Everyone laughs a little too hard for a little too long, not because we find these sentiments funny, but because we’re awkwardly acknowledging how unfunny they are. At their core, they pose one of the most complicated, painful, and pervasive dilemmas many single women are forced to grapple with nowadays: Is it better to be alone, or to settle? My advice is this: Settle!" [more inside]
web 2.0 Genealogy
Kindo - Web 2.0 Genealogy
Don't shoot him - you'll only make him mad
Invasion of the Jellyfish The box jellyfish [AKA Sea Wasp] is so packed with venom that the briefest of touches can bring agonising death within 180 seconds. And if comes under sustained attack it responds by sending its compatriots into a super-breeding frenzy in which millions of replacements are created. The really bad news is that the box jellyfish and another equally poisonous species, Irukandji, are on the move. Scientists are warning that their populations are exploding and will pose a monumental problem unless they are stopped. First aid for stings.
1,780 Cult-Movies Online
1,780 Cult Movies Online ~ A huge repository of online movies described as cult classics.
Reconciliation of church and state?
I think its time that we joined a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern pluralistic society. Obama on religion and politics. (SLnonYTP)
Space shuttle does a back flip
Great Depression, Nostalgia, Futurism
Hank Stuever's 3000-word Washington Post article thinks about the Depression and what it means to the U.S. now. via Snarkmarket
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