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Hand Crafted Films, DOCOMOMO Louisiana and the Tulane School of Architecture present: A Plea For Modernism from Evan Mather (U.S.A., 2011, 11:59 [alternate YouTube link]).
The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School served the historic New Orleans African-American neighborhood of Tremé since it opened in 1955. Celebrated worldwide for its innovative, regionally-expressive modern design – the structure had sustained moderate damage during the storms and levee breach of 2005. DOCOMOMO Louisiana (autoplaying video) advocated for its restoration via adaptive reuse (For the Roots of Music). A Plea For Modernism is narrated by actor Wendell Pierce (“The Wire”, “Treme”). [more inside]
posted by infinite intimation at 11:04 PM PST - 6 comments

Many would agree that the advent of CGI has made movies worse, not better. Blogger Gin and Tacos makes the argument eloquently: "The fundamental problem is that CGI, rather that being a tool that allows directors to explore new creative possibilities, just enables laziness."
posted by bardic at 8:53 PM PST - 189 comments

"I had to stand in front of 92 people and say 'Not only do you not have a job anymore, you don't have a house anymore'". On June 20th, the United States Gypsum Corporation will shut down its plant in Empire, Nevada, the last Company town in America.
posted by MattMangels at 8:15 PM PST - 73 comments

Puppet Anarchy's 2010 take on Calling Occupants (of Interplanetary Craft) [The Official Anthem Of World Contact Day]. 5m48s. Watch to the end. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 7:55 PM PST - 23 comments

The B-Master Cabal is a site that aggregates some of the best bad movie review sites on the web and puts together for themed movie roundtables. Most of the sites focus not only on mocking bad films but also praising obscure horror, fantasy, action and science-fiction. B-Masters Roll-Call! Teleport City covers everything from Turkish spy movies to kung-fu rarities to Japanese whiskey. 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting has in-depth, critical reviews of classic horror and genre films. And You Call Yourself A Scientist! examines who movies handle from the perspective of a female scientist. Badmovies.org features a Marine dissecting crap film with copious quotes and clips. Jabootu.net posts excruciatingly long reviews of excruciating films, and is one of the few sites to cover contemporary trash like Gigli. The Unknown Movies Page unearths films too obscure even for the rest of the cabal. Cold Fusion Video, Stomp Tokyo, and Brain Eater round out the group
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:16 PM PST - 3 comments

"...authorities would try to find the culprits and would seek to clean up the monument, but it was unlikely to happen right away."
posted by griphus at 7:02 PM PST - 27 comments

In an effort to preserve the rich story behind this landmark film, CONELRAD has spent the last two years thoroughly researching DUCK AND COVER's production history as well as its initial public reception in 1952. Interviews were conducted with living participants involved in the making of the film as well as surviving family members of those key players who had passed away. In the course of our research, CONELRAD also uncovered a wealth of archival material that leaves no doubt that a tremendous amount of thought went into the making of this nine minute motion picture that has been the subject of so much dismissive ridicule over the years. (More CONELRAD goodness previously)
posted by Trurl at 6:29 PM PST - 12 comments

Britain Is More Germanic than It Thinks, and Kon-Tiki explorer was partly right – Polynesians had South American roots. [more inside]
posted by stbalbach at 5:56 PM PST - 51 comments

The World's Worst Records: an arcade of audio atrocities, including such classics as Hamsters for Jesus, Christmas in the Stars (Star Wars Christmas Album), Homer the Happy Little Homo, Someone Walked over My Grave, and many more! Slightly NSFW.
posted by bwg at 5:49 PM PST - 15 comments

Party Politics: How Conservatism Lost Touch with Reality from Time.com
posted by blue_beetle at 5:46 PM PST - 92 comments

The iconic BBC Television Centre is up for sale. Reaction is not muted. [more inside]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:25 PM PST - 25 comments

"The conventional wisdom, promoted by government and echoed by the subservient media, is that UFOs are mysterious objects which by definition are unknowable. Anyone attempting to explain them is a charlatan perpetrating a hoax and using 'junk physics' . That may not be so." [more inside]
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:19 PM PST - 51 comments

World War II: Before the War. Part 1 of a forthcoming weekly 20-part retrospective of World War II from The Atlantic's In Focus.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:07 PM PST - 13 comments

Laura Nyro - singer, songwriter. Covered by others: "Eli's Coming" - Three Dog Night ; "And When I Die" - Blood, Sweat & Tears. An occasional performer: "Poverty Train" - Monterey Pop Festival ; "He's A Runner" (TV) ; "Blowin' Away" and "Wedding Bell Blues" - Pittsburgh, 1994 ; "Save the Country" (TV). And media glitz: "Stoned Soul Picnic" - The Fifth Dimension ; "Sweet Blindness" - The Fifth Dimension w/Frank Sinatra. Video quality and loudness vary.
posted by Ardiril at 4:03 PM PST - 19 comments

Kurt Jooss' lament for the futility of war, The Green Table: A Dance of Death in Eight Scenes is a masterpiece of modern dance that premiered in 1932--just month's before Hitler's rise to power would propel Europe inexorably toward chaos for the second time in as many generations. A performance by the Joffrey Ballet is available on YouTube in five parts. [more inside]
posted by jefficator at 4:03 PM PST - 1 comments

This morning "The Daily Show's Jon Stewart entered the proverbial lion's den, appearing live [video highlights | 01:43] on Fox News Sunday to debate 'media bias' with host Chris Wallace." "The interview [video | 24:11] got off to a rousing start with Wallace almost immediately calling Stewart out for his criticism of the network and its brand of news coverage and went exactly where you'd expect it to from there." [more inside]
posted by ericb at 3:56 PM PST - 102 comments

The Typewriter Art of Keira Rathbone. (Video)
posted by cashman at 2:52 PM PST - 9 comments

Is Apple bypassing the Web? Maybe so, and the inventor of the Web's fears are one step closer to being realized.
posted by doctornemo at 2:46 PM PST - 123 comments

From bouffants du jour and shampoo secrets of the stars to yesteryear's 'dos and you-know-you-want-it accessories, if it's about hair, you'll find it at the always entertaining Hair Hall of Fame.
posted by madamjujujive at 2:28 PM PST - 6 comments

Scene and heard: Electro champeta | Champeta.net | I came across this dream collection of picós pictures on Africolombia's blog. Picós are these huge, powerful, customized, hand painted, highly fetishized sound systems from the Colombian Carribean Coast (Barranquilla, Cartagena, Palenque de San Basilio...). | Sound Systems, World Beat, and Diasporan Identity in Cartagena, Colombia [pdf] | Techno Tribal guarachero | Bonus cool link: Brazilian Dual Mix Dance Free Step. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 12:10 PM PST - 3 comments

OSHA's 1984 Fatal Facts report comes illustrated with surprisingly sangfroid cartoons of workplace accidents.
posted by The Whelk at 7:45 AM PST - 99 comments

Steve Goodman-My Old Man Happy Father's Day.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:44 AM PST - 22 comments

Solaris, Stanislaw Lem's 1961 masterpiece, has finally been translated directly into English. The current print version, in circulation for over 4 decades, was the result of a double-translation. Firstly from Polish to French, in 1966, by Jean-Michel Jasiensko. This version was then taken up by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox who hacked together an English version in 1970. Lem, himself a fluent English speaker, was always scathing of the double translation. Something he believed added to the universal misunderstanding of his greatest work. After the relsease of two film versions of the story, and decades of speculation, a new direct English translation has been released. Translated by American Professor Bill Johnston 'The Definitive Solaris' is only available as an audiobook for the time being. Copyright issues, hampered by several, widely available, editions of the poor English translation may mean it is some time yet before a definitive print edition makes it onto our bookshelves.
posted by 0bvious at 4:29 AM PST - 64 comments

In 1991 during the publicity tour for Harlot's Ghost, Martin Amis interviewed Norman Mailer (pt. 2, pt. 3, and pt. 4). Topics covered include the CIA, the Democratic Party, liberalism, communism, the writing life, being Jewish, feminism, the men’s movement, homosexuality, George Bush, and the Kennedys.
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear at 12:27 AM PST - 7 comments