June 21, 2015
Always check your aircraft for cats before takeoff
The Rolls Royce of Compilations
After reading about the DJ-Kicks series earlier tonight I thought it would be appropriate to talk about a related series: Late Night Tales and its predecessor Another Late Night. [more inside]
‘Daredevil’ Star Charlie Cox Honored
Charlie Cox plays the blind superhero Daredevil in the Netflix show of the same name. He has received the 19th Helen Keller Achievement Award from the American Foundation for the Blind. Daredevil is Netflix first show to have have audio descriptions.
Phil Austin
Kim Konquers NPR. NPR Unhappy.
NPR Ombudsman Elizabeth Jensen says her job brings her "one reliable source of joy: the Monday morning email—there's at least one each week—from a listener outraged by whatever bad taste joke Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! has told on its latest episode." But last week's Monday morning email came in droves, because WWDTM's bad taste joke for the weekend of June 13th was having Kim Kardashian West on the show. [more inside]
"And the sun sets...."
"Allow us to raise your spirits with a story about the liberating and energizing effects of complete commercial failure." After 12 years, and following the release last month of their critically acclaimed game Sunset, videogame creators Tale of Tales are closing shop.
The McNuggets Rap Because They Can't Sing
Still mourning the loss of walmart.horse? Well, the hot new whimsical mix of corporate identity and new TLDs is mcdonalds.hiphop, which serves up a YouTube playlist of hiphop/rap-themed McDonalds commercials going back 30 years and including non-U.S. content from the UK, Israel, France, Czech Republic, India, Russia and South Africa. From the same merry prankster who brought us nytimes.cat, which got C&D'd in record time, this one has survived a whole week so far (and with some publicity; thanks Mental Floss). But then, Mickey D's has a hiphop history that goes beyond commercials.
A History of Failed Attraction
Just an hour North of NYC there's a nice little hike to be had up the Timp-Torne Trail to the top of Dunderberg Mountain. This is the best way to view the remains of the Dunderberg Spiral Railway. [more inside]
☠
Scan of mummified body of Swedish bishop reveals baby hidden in coffin. [The Guardian]
For almost 350 years Bishop Peder Winstrup lay quietly in his coffin in the crypt of the magnificent cathedral at Lund in Sweden, concealing a secret: the body of a tiny baby, tucked in under his feet. The little corpse, believed to be of a baby born several months prematurely, was revealed for the first time when scientists scanned the coffin and the mummified body of Peder Winstrup, believed to be one of the best preserved 17th-century bodies in Europe.
Mr. Worf... fire!
'Star Trek': The Story of the Most Daring Cliffhanger in 'Next Generation' History To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original airing of the classic cliffhanger, Ron Moore, Jonathan Frakes and more reveal how writing themselves into a corner for "Best of Both Worlds" changed Trek forever: "All of us were quite thrilled they had the balls to leave Picard on the Borg cube."
DJ-KiCKS:20 years, 50 mixes to make you move in the comfort of your home
The DJ-Kicks series was born in Berlin in 1995, and lays claim to the title of the first officially licensed DJ mix series available commercially. In the 20 years since it started, the series has covered house and techno, drum'n'bass and downtempo, and genres without convenient names, put together by musical monuments like Carl Craig, Thievery Corporation, and Four Tet to relative newcomers like Gold Panda and Maya Jane Coles. Besides the expected DJs and producers, the series also includes Daddy G (of Massive Attack) in a rare solo effort, pulling out unreleased dubplates for his mix, and Erlend Øye (of Kings of Convenience and The Whitest Boy Alive) providing his own a capella additions to the mix. For the 50th release, the series comes back to Germany with DJ Koze, bringing you his version of a "modern party mix." That's a lot of words about music, so let's hear it already! [more inside]
Minutes Matter
A Sea Change in Treating Heart Attacks (NYT) Dr. Mahesh Bikkina, the director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., tells his trainees about the old days: heart muscles that tore, with blood leaking out of holes, and valves that ruptured, leading to sudden death if not repaired immediately with open-heart surgery.
“I tell them you will read about these things in textbooks,” Dr. Bikkina said.“You will almost never see them.”
The tradition of having a giggle.
Bizarre. Floral. Witty. Futuristic. Avian. Not just for women, either. The hats of Royal Ascot 2015 are stunning works of millinery art. Just the Ladies Day pictures (cute). [more inside]
"Go Mr Bunny. Kill that snake."
Mother rabbit defends her bunnies from a snake. Relentlessly. [slyt]
A Month of Ties
"We set a few rules. The ties had to be worn all day. There would be no hiding under sweaters. And they had to be worn in order. I’d work my way down from the top layer to the bottom, taking what the box gave me, regardless of the day’s events. Also, there’d be no excuses or explanations. If asked about a tie that was as wide as a flapjack, I could say only, “It was my father’s.”"
"We don't yet know the extent"
The Other Wounds - "Most Iraq and Afghanistan veterans’ injuries didn’t occur during combat. But their ailments have become an enduring consequence of the conflicts." [more inside]
The Curse Of Stig
Can any mortal control this foul, pulsating orifice? Stewart Lee on Top Gear by way of HP Lovecraft. Stewart Lee previously on Top Gear
How one paper cup designer created the look of the 90s
"A design so commonplace you've never thought about it. It's just there. When you ask if you can get some water...when you opt for the combo meal...when you're given a drink in the hospital." That teal-and-purple brushstroke combination that you've seen thousands of times since the early 90s has a designer, and her name is Gina Ekiss. A mystery launched on Reddit, solved by Thomas Gounley of the Springfield News Leader.
Celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge
Dads are supposed to be heroes
Bob Moran ("BOB"), the political cartoonist for the Saturday and Sunday Telegraph (e.g., 1, 2, more) had an unexpected journey into fatherhood. A beautiful and touching animated memoir for Father's day.
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