February 20, 2016
Put the Beatles record down.
Salon interviews music critic Jim Fusilli:
“We’re surrounded by people who, despite a narrow perspective, insist the music of their youth is superior to the sounds of any other period,” he writes. “Most people who prefer old music mean no harm and it’s often a pleasure to listen to them talk about their favorite artists of the distant past. But others are bullies who intend to harangue us into submission, as if their bluster can conceal their ignorance. They ignore what seems to me something that’s self-evident: rock and pop today is as good as it’s ever been.”
No electrons were harmed.
For over 35 years, Roy Underhill has shared his love of American woodcraft. Using only the hand tools of early America, Roy proves that woodworking doesn’t have to be noisy, dangerous or expensive. His insights into the principles of the craft reveal the enduring relationship between tools and material — between the human hand and the creations of culture. 142 episodes of the Woodwright's Shop is available free of charge from PBS. Each episode features construction of a woodworking project using traditional methods or a lesson on use of a traditional tool or technique. [more inside]
"Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten"
The original 1977 release of Star Wars has long been the holy grail for fans. George Lucas famously made numerous changes for each release and once declared, "A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition]." Even the National Film Registry (created in response to the pleas of filmmakers like Lucas) which inducted Star Wars in 1989 does not have a copy. Fans resorted to creating "despecialized" editions (previously) in an attempt to recreate the original. Understandably, fans were delighted when Team Negative1 completed a digital scan of an original 35mm print. [more inside]
*DUNK* Ohhhhhhhhhhh *DUNK* Ohhhhhhhhhhhh *DUNK* Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
“You don’t know what you just saw, but when you see it in slow motion you’ll know what you just saw.” The NBA released a mix-tape of last weekend’s All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest. The highlight of the weekend was Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon's Slam Dunk Duel but even the All-Star's kids got in on the action. For the greatest of all time, there's the Ultimate Slam Dunk Contest Mixtape. You can also view it in 360 FreeD Angles. [more inside]
Ayn Rand, Worst Aunt Ever
Ayn Rand's letter to the collection of chemicals with delusions of grandeur that is her niece is what you would expect. [more inside]
The fine art of making wallpaper by hand, in the "machine mad" 1960s
Two short, incomplete clips of making patterned wallpaper, largely by hand, in the 1960s from British Pathé: Wallpaper (1963) made by routing sycamore wood blocks hand block printing, seen again in Perfect Match (1968) where "color mixing is still a primitive pour and stir method." Bonus: Out Takes / Cuts From Cp 433 - Wallpaper, Feather Flowers And Perspex Sculpture (1963) and see also: Lino Decor (1958)
Overthinking a plate of beans: Vine Edition
"Mini mystery! I've hidden 6 clues of who killed kitty. High 5 if you can solve my little crime story :)" - Ian Padgham explains all in "The Shortest Mystery You’ve Ever Watched" (spoilers!)
Moments Of Weightlessness
The Inside-Out Piano. Pianist, inventor and performer Sarah Nicolls developed her unique ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to explore the belly of the instrument and to coax out some of its hidden sounds. In Moments Of Weightlessness, she explores the extraordinary unexpected characteristics of the instrument, moving it around the stage to gradually reveal her parallel journey into motherhood.
I am like you. You are like me.
"For 3 year old Clark Reynolds, Thursday began like most others." Janell Ross on Pete Souza's photograph of Obama and his "little visitor." [more inside]
"I can't afford to buy groceries..."
Dear Jeremy... starts the open letter from [former] customer service representative Talia Jane to Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, highlighting her inability to live in the San Francisco's Bay Area on the wages paid by Yelp subsidiary Eat24. [more inside]
We’re not doing science, we’re doing magic.
How many trees are on our planet?
The total number of trees is close to about 3.04 trillion - "Crowther's group looked back in time and calculated that the Earth has actually lost nearly half its trees since the start of human civilization. 'We're losing 10 billion trees every year and that's a net number'. So how did the group with the lofty goal of planting a billion trees react to these numbers? Their new goal is to plant a trillion trees." (oh and be sure to Meet Hyperion, the World's Tallest Tree! ;)
Canada’s prisons are the ‘new residential schools’
In Canada, the Indigenous incarceration rate is 10 times higher than the non-Indigenous population—higher even than South Africa at the height of apartheid. 75 years after First Nations were given permission to travel freely, 50 years after being given the right to vote, and just 20 years since the closing of the last residential school, our history of colonization has been quietly forgotten. [more inside]
It's not instagram, it's analog!
Kodak's Analog Renaissance with Super 8 Camera
"Kodak’s Super 8 project tells an interesting tale about opportunity and value in today’s post-digital economy."
"Kodak’s Super 8 project tells an interesting tale about opportunity and value in today’s post-digital economy."
Ice stacking on Lake Superior
“You’re not operating a justice system here."
When the Public Defender Says, 'I Can't Help'
"Eight-five percent of these defendants are unable to afford their own lawyer and will need a public defender to represent them. But in New Orleans, where I am in charge of the public defender’s office, we simply don’t have enough lawyers to handle the caseload. Last month, we began refusing new cases."
"Eight-five percent of these defendants are unable to afford their own lawyer and will need a public defender to represent them. But in New Orleans, where I am in charge of the public defender’s office, we simply don’t have enough lawyers to handle the caseload. Last month, we began refusing new cases."
Swooce Into Skooks
Of the countless video edits under the umbrella of YouTube Poop (previously), few have shown such consistent quality as the Scooby Doo parody The Misadventures of Skooks. Episode One, Two (alternate version if blocked in your region), Three, Four, Five. Epilogue: ReBooB. (Warning: contains swearing, sexual references, violence, drug use and Batman). [MLYT]
The ongoing problem of the Sexy Douchecanoe
"The Sexy Douchecanoe isn’t an official trope, as such; at least, it’s not one that I often find people analyzing, subverting, and/or railing against. It is one, however, that I run into constantly because, while they’re often unfairly associated with strapping, half-dressed men on paperback covers, Sexy Douchecanoes actually pop up in every medium and every genre."
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