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Thor Heyerdahl has died of a brain tumor at the age of 87. The famous Norwegian adventurer is best known for two expeditions that supported his theories on human migration. The Kon Tiki voyage took six people from Peru to Polynesia in a balsawood raft in 101 days. The reed boat Ra II made it from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days. The legends are one thing, but seeing one of the actual vessels in Oslo reinforces how incredible these journeys were.

What incredible adventure would you love to go on?
posted by ludicdruid at 9:59 PM PST - 12 comments

Email harvester poorly disguised as cute girl who started emailing her friends about great deals (and other interesting tidbits) that she found on the 'Net after she was laid off from her dot-com job. I can't believe anybody would fall for this, but I might just be angry about some one using such a nice name for evil.
posted by jennyb at 8:19 PM PST - 24 comments

The good news is that Tawny Kitaen, star of "The Perils Of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak" looks like she's about to become single. The Bad news is she may have a problem.
posted by swell at 8:07 PM PST - 12 comments

"i met ben affleck today. he's the title role in a movie we'll be shooting called gigli. i'm sure you'll hear about it sooner or later... but anyway, this affleck character - he's a pompous asshole. i have tremendous respect for him, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing wrong with this kid that a good ass kicking won't fix." Does this blog belong to the REAL Christopher Walken? I tried reading it with Walken's accent in my head but I still can't tell...
posted by timyang at 7:50 PM PST - 11 comments

Since 1995, a growing number of researchers have hunted ghosts across 4 states as South Jersey Ghost Research. Their website claims a long list of equipment. Are they huckstering hoaxers or the real deal? A 1999 New York Times article didn't make the call. What's everyone's opinion? [via gillan.blogspot.com]
posted by will at 6:41 PM PST - 27 comments

If You Ain't Got The Time You Don't Do The Crime. A mere 11 months after Robert (Barretta) Blake's wife was killed under mysterious circumstances, Blake is arrested for her murder. Anyone got Johnny Cochrane's cell phone number?
posted by MAYORBOB at 6:09 PM PST - 13 comments

Rustic lake cabin near Stillwater, MN, heart of the Lakes Country. 650 square feet with vintage 1950s appliances and furnishings---lot and woodchipper not included.
posted by nathan_teske at 5:57 PM PST - 7 comments

"horrific beyond belief" says United Nations envoy. Strong stuff from the BBC this time. Personally I suspect Jenin may end up being a turning point, i just wish I knew towards what.
posted by Leonard at 5:33 PM PST - 81 comments

ESPN's Bill Simmons spent $9.95 on Shaquille O'Neal's Celebrity Birthday Roast pay-per-view so you won't have to.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 4:00 PM PST - 3 comments

Japan To Host IWC Meeting in Whaling Port . . .the sheer volume of food they [whales] need has actually become a threat to the ocean environment.

Apparently they feel that when the rest of the world gets to taste whale bacon, or whale soup, they will suddenly realize who stupid we've been in banning commercial whaling. Am I hypocritical in eating tuna or salmon, but being horrified with the potential resumption of commercial whaling?
posted by Danf at 3:34 PM PST - 16 comments

Abercrombie & Fitch Pulls T-Shirts from store shelves! A bunch of "Wong Brothers" and "Wok-n-Bowl" shirts offended some Asians, so they are now off the shelves. The Asians are holding a protest tonight in San Fransico if any mefi members would like to attend. Anyone get one of these before they were pulled? If you did I dare you to wear it to this protest. This geocities site has pictures of all the shirts. I mirrored the site here because of geocities bandwith limits.
posted by Keen at 3:13 PM PST - 58 comments

Google Answers (BETA) goes live. Users can ask questions for a fee (pricing ranges from $4 to $50). They're also looking for paid researchers to help them with the service.
posted by kchristidis at 2:27 PM PST - 37 comments

Strike Blog! When Société Radio-Canada/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Jean-Hugues Roy was locked out by management with 1400 of his colleagues, he didn't just head for the picket line; he started his own blog (in French) to present the workers' side of the conflict. Interestingly, this isn't the first time SRC/CBC journalists have taken their argument to the web; Radio Canada International (the international section of the SRC/CBC) workers have been fighting their management for years, and last year set up a web site of their own to get the word out to interested listeners. They've also been locked out as part of the dispute, and have gone with their strengths and started an online strike radio station.
posted by geneablogy at 1:59 PM PST - 5 comments

Misunderstanding the joke.
posted by zedzebedia at 1:02 PM PST - 15 comments

Amy Hughes spent a lot of time building a church. For her cat. Out of legos.
posted by donkeysuck at 12:47 PM PST - 53 comments

The Periodic Table Of Funk. Starts with James Brown and ends with Bruce Lee's fist. Dy-no-mite!
posted by sigma7 at 12:45 PM PST - 11 comments

Was Richard Rodgers The Greatest American Popular Composer So Far? 2002 is his Centennial. He may be less cool and more bourgeois than the other greats like Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim. But even the most cursory look at the long list of the wonderful songs he wrote(try the excellent song search feature), with Hart, then Hammerstein(and some other lyricists, including himself)makes it very difficult to deny there never was - and probably never will be - a more talented and versatile tunesmith. Miles Davis was right. He was a genius. And yet...[Flash required for the (interesting) intro]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:36 AM PST - 41 comments

A bizarre chapter in the Columbia, SC flag controversy. It's not so surprising that this happened, but the guy's choice of costume is what gets me. It's been pretty warm here lately for that kind of getup.
posted by alumshubby at 11:24 AM PST - 15 comments

A small plane has ran into a skyscraper in Milan.  CNN is reporting that a small plane has struck the 25th floor of the Pirelli building. The skyscraper apparently houses government offices. Details are still coming in.
posted by bshort at 9:34 AM PST - 68 comments

"This website comprises hundreds of documents (texts, scores, audio and video files) associated with music copyright infringement cases in the United States from 1845 forward. All of these documents have been collected, edited, digitized, organized, analyzed, and commented upon by staff at Columbia Law Library and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning." Under the discussion section, there a write-up entitled "Notation Software and Determination of Melodic Similarity". For all those music majors out there who are thinking about law school, this is definitely an alternative career waiting for you where you don't have to throw away all the music.
posted by margaretlam at 9:09 AM PST - 4 comments

The tendency toward euphemism, catchwords, bites and labels displacing description of uniquicity. Battles of rhetorical titans!
posted by semmi at 8:56 AM PST - 5 comments

"The snack that smiles back... goldfish!" I know... and it's not even Friday. But you know what? This ad campaign just makes me smile... and even though I mute all the other commercials, I turn up the volume for these absolutely ingenious jingles... la la la "until you bite their heads off"... la mmm mmm... Now that the song is stuck in your head, what's your favorite jingle?
posted by silusGROK at 8:34 AM PST - 128 comments

Highlight Word Bookmarklet allows you to highlight any word in your browser window and get a dictionary definition. Neat. (via Zeldman)
posted by gwint at 8:33 AM PST - 17 comments

Angry parents shout abuse at a 12-year-old Montréal boy as police escort him to school. This horrific, ugly scene, reminiscent of desegregation, is thanks to his school, which sent Gurbaj Singh home for three months because they discovered his kirpan (a ceremonial dagger required by the Sikh articles of faith). He won a temporary court injunction on Thursday. In the early 1990s, wing nuts protested the idea of Sikh RCMP officers being allowed to wear turbans on duty, and Royal Canadian Legion halls prevented turbaned Sikh veterans (and anyone else wearing religious headgear) from entering their premises. What is it with some of my fellow citizens and Sikhs, anyway?
posted by mcwetboy at 8:05 AM PST - 31 comments

National Fred Davis Registry - Do you know Fred Davis? How about Fred Davis? They're both on the registry, along with a whole bunch of other Freds.
posted by fnirt at 7:34 AM PST - 4 comments

Authors Guild seeks to stop Amazon from selling used books. It's the analog version of RIAA vs. Napster!

"Amazon's practice does damage to the publishing industry, decreasing royalty payments to authors and profits to publishers. In time, as we pointed out to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos when it first began this practice over a year ago, the financial loss to the industry could affect the quality and diversity of literature made available through booksellers. If profits suffer, publishers will cut their investments in new works, and authors facing reduced advances and royalties will have to find other ways to earn income. "

Read Jeff Bezos' email to Amazon Associate Members.
posted by Brilliantcrank at 7:01 AM PST - 30 comments

Recently seen on college campuses across the US: Advertisements for used hardware, apartments for rent, and that special someone. Lucasfilm takes advertisement underground.
Seen on theforce.net - sites require flash
posted by jazon at 6:46 AM PST - 5 comments

The 'Phantom Patriot' wearing a skeleton mask, body armor and a costume emblazoned with the words "Phantom Patriot," infiltrated the 2,700-acre (1,090 hectare) Bohemian Grove, site of a secretive annual retreat featuring some of the most powerful men in the United States. He was arrested after a brief stand-off with police, and later told investigators he was prompted to act after hearing a Texas-based radio talk-show host discuss possible child sacrifice at the site.
posted by Stuart_R at 6:41 AM PST - 14 comments

Steve, from the children's show "Blue's Clues," is recording an album with members of The Flaming Lips. And he's got a cool webpage (built with help from Paul Ford of ftrain). (Via pitchfork.)
posted by Pinwheel at 6:39 AM PST - 12 comments

Has Abercrombie and Fitch gone too far?
posted by disaster at 6:38 AM PST - 41 comments

Ally McBeal cancelled. There was a time when we cared, I think. If you feel otherwise then go ahead and scream in the comments but personally, I'll never forgive the show (I used to love it) for subjecting me to Sting and Vonda Shepherd adult-contemporizing "Every Breath You Take"...
posted by logovisual at 6:36 AM PST - 24 comments

Soulwalking, John Ponomarenko's Soul Review--two sites with some serious design issues on the topic of Soul music. As to the who, what. when and where of Soul Music, I direct you to Peter Guralnick's simply wonderful Sweet Soul Music. It's still in print and should be at your library or a better used bookstore, if you are near a larger urban center. (more inside)
posted by y2karl at 6:10 AM PST - 4 comments

I once read that the best way to stop wars would be to flood them with tacky tourists ... I'm afraid we need masses, though, not just a single pair.
posted by magullo at 4:45 AM PST - 7 comments

Entomology and DEATH You've read the book. Now buy the T-shirt. Wear it and bug the d00dz in the weight room!
posted by joeclark at 3:29 AM PST - 6 comments

How many instances of 'Gee Whiz' can you fit on your hard drive? With cameras mounted on eyeglass frames, he suggests, we can document every moment of our lives and create a second-by-second digital diary. "There won't be any reason ever to forget anything anymore," he says. Vannevar Bush had a similar idea 50 years ago, though in that era the promising storage medium was microfilm rather than magnetic disks.

Hate to parrot /. But this article was just way too fascinating to pass up not sharing it with any of you no-slashdot readers.
posted by crasspastor at 1:47 AM PST - 9 comments