April 13, 2015
Tiny hamster's tiny date
Who says romance is dead? SLYT. Previously. And also hot dog eating contest and Thanksgiving. I missed some.
This kid's got style!
Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux A graduation film by Gwenn Germain is a delightful, breath-taking homage to Miyazaki, Mœbius, and Syd Mead.
Seventy thousand reasons to be less unhappy
Entrepreneur sets $70,000 year minimum wage for all his employees Dan Price, the owner of a credit card processing company, came across an article showing that making much less than $75,000/yr. greatly diminished the emotional well-being of earners, and decided to do something about it. He's embarked on a three year plan to increase the salaries of all employees making under $70,000, which for some of them will be double their current wages.
You promised to kiss me on Friday. It's Friday now.
Though nowadays somewhat stereotyped as being massive group dance numbers in traditional dress, Bollywood musical sequences have tended to follow the fashions of Hollywood. Though from 1957, this Marx Brothers influenced Ina Mina Dika shows a 30s/40s aesthetic. The James Bond influenced Baithe Hain Kya Uska Paas is the spirit of the jet age. Disco is taken on with Jab Chhaye.
When Hollywood films stopped having musical numbers, music videos became the main influence. Take a little Michael Jackson and a little Madonna and see what Bollywood does with it.
When Hollywood films stopped having musical numbers, music videos became the main influence. Take a little Michael Jackson and a little Madonna and see what Bollywood does with it.
The Epic Story of Orson Welles’s Unfinished Masterpiece
The Other Side of the Wind was going to be Orson Welles’s comeback, perhaps even topping Citizen Kane—but to this day, it remains unfinished (though that may change soon). In an adaptation from a new book about the 45-year struggle to make the film, Josh Karp reveals why Welles’s last movie is the stuff of legend.(via)
Following in the tradition of Eric Idle and... um, Clint Black.
"His mother was an ice-cold wind; his pa a fiery rock."
The Highwayman (1987-88) was a 60-minute sci-fi/action tv series from Glen A. Larson starring Sam J. Jones (1980's Flash Gordon). Jones played a federal marshall with a high-tech 18-wheeler "supertruck" that had advanced weaponry, the ability to turn invisible and a cab that turned into a helicopter. He patrolled America's highways and fought crime in the futuristic world of... 1992. A pilot movie, Terror on the Blacktop (starring Claudia Christian, G. Gordon Liddy, Jimmy Smits and Rowdy Roddy Piper) kicked off the series, which lasted nine episodes before driving off into the cancellation sunset. [more inside]
“Yes, but…”
"Second, it is a mistake to pit post-modernism and social constructivism against evolutionary psychology as though they are in an intellectual death match that only one side can win. This tribalistic, us-versus-them thinking isn't helpful to science. Much like partitioning the causes of human behavior into nurture versus nature or culture versus biology or learned versus innate, social constructivism versus evolutionary psychology is a false dichotomy that may feel intuitively correct but should not be utilized very often by serious scientists (exceptions include behavioral genetics studies)."
House France writes to the Seven Kingdoms
The next king of Westeros gets governing advice from the (real, not a joke) French governement in order to build a "stronger, fairer kingdom". House France's sigil is a rooster. The text is in French so here's a quick & dirty summary:
1) Less centralization and a more efficient territorial organization
2) Less tournaments and feasts and a responsible Master of Coin
3) A well-deserved and early retirement plan for the hard-working brothers of the Night's Watch
4) A fairer justice with no death penalty or trial by combat
5) No more youngster without education
6) Winter is coming! Let's build shelters for the poorest. [more inside]
The Man Camp AKA The Profit Center
"Post Hurricane Katrina, a whole new American dream was designed for some [South Asian] Indians — how to get trapped in a guarded labor camp by an American company".
Midnight Modernism
Guaranteed puppy free
For her 85th birthday, BBC Radio 4 has broadcast a new interview with and documentary about Ursula K. Le Guin, as well as the first radio dramatisation of The Left Hand of Darkness and a a new Earthsea serial coming soon.
Northampton, Northampton, Northhampton
Three people who've never been in my kitchen
This Tuesday through Thursday (April 14th to 16th) is the latest Jeopardy! online contestant test. Are you ready? [more inside]
Girl Guides In War
Girl Guides, known in the US as Girl Scouts, are an organization for young girls founded in 1910. Almost from the beginning they were involved in wartime efforts. British Girl Guides served in World War I as spies for MI5. They also served both covertly and openly during World War II as Resistance members, medical staff, and support staff for refugees. Some of these were part of Guide troops which were stationed in invaded territories, such as Polish members who organized anti-Nazi propaganda efforts and smuggled Jewish children to safety. Others were volunteers who came from the UK to bring medical aid and supplies to care for refugees.
Community Veterinary Outreach: supporting homeless people and their pets
The most common question I get asked is, "Should homeless people have pets?" And my response is always, "Should we have people who are homeless?" Ottawa veterinarian Michelle Lem talks about the Community Veterinary Outreach program and its model of community medicine for people and pets. At CVO, volunteer veterinarians, vet techs, social workers and public health nurses work together to connect with marginalized people by providing free veterinary care for their beloved pets. You can watch a brief timelapse video of a day in the life at the busy mobile clinic. [more inside]
Timeless VHS
Today's TV and movies as 80s VHS covers. Worth it for the Breaking Bad one alone.
"History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'"
Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan chronicler of Latin American history, politics, and football, has died at the age of 74 today in his hometown, Montevideo. [more inside]
"...when CPS gets a call, we have to follow up on every single one."
In December, the Meitiv family, advocates of "free-range" parenting, were investigated for allowing their children to walk home from a park in Silver Spring, MD (previously). Yesterday, they again allowed their children to play in a nearby park. When the 6- and 10-year-old kids didn't arrive home at 6 pm as planned, their parents went looking for them. Two hours later, they received a call from Child Protective Services, who taken custody of the children after "a concerned resident" notified the police.
Additional reporting and commentary from Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak.
Talking about the patriarchy tends to have a slightly terrifying effect.
The Women
I Pretend to Be, by novelist and game writer Naomi Alderman (previously):
No one in tech has ever been as sexist toward me as teachers and rabbis before I was 12 years old. But I've come to notice more and more how working within the particular masculine sexism of the tech industry has nudged the way I present myself, just a little. I've noticed how, very slowly, I've started to acquiesce into playing roles that get assigned to me. I've noticed how I disappear behind these masks.
What follows is not a horror story. It's a series of moments.
♬… C a t h e r i n e … ♩♪
Catherine: A Story in Twelve Parts is a short video series by actress/comedian Jenny Slate (previously) and her husband, director Dean Fleischer-Camp. It has been described as "banal," "sincere," and "menacing." [more inside]
The Three Gandalfs
It’s time to take her out back and stick her in the ground.
From The Bitter Southerner: Dixie Is Dead
The Parent Rap
Laura June, a "writer and a real cool mom", writes a column for The Awl on parenting her new daughter Zelda.
Tagline: An endearing column about the fucked up and cruel world of parenting.
Follow the delightful account of her life as she contemplates motherhood aging her; philosophises on gender and babywear; realises although her daughter shares her face, she has her own personality; discovers Zelda's taste in music; wonders if they will get along; and celebrates milestones. [more inside]
Tagline: An endearing column about the fucked up and cruel world of parenting.
Follow the delightful account of her life as she contemplates motherhood aging her; philosophises on gender and babywear; realises although her daughter shares her face, she has her own personality; discovers Zelda's taste in music; wonders if they will get along; and celebrates milestones. [more inside]
"The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open."
Günter Grass, German Novelist and Social Critic, Dies at 87 [New York Times]
Günter Grass, the German novelist, social critic and Nobel Prize winner whom many called his country’s moral conscience but who stunned Europe when he revealed in 2006 that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS during World War II, died on Monday. He was 87.Previously. [more inside]
The Paradox of the Necktie Resolved
You Remember Vira, the She-Demon, don't you?
If you've ever felt that the remake/reboot/reimagining of your favorite story/character/fictional universe sucks, just imagine how Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke felt when Jack Kirby and Marvel did "2001: A Space Odyssey: The Comic" in 1976-77.
Well, maybe Clarke more than Kubrick.
Well, maybe Clarke more than Kubrick.
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