June 28, 2010
Storms over the Windy City (video)
Last Wednesday, a series of thunderstorms rolled through downtown Chicago. At least once, the John Hancock Building, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and the Willis Sears Tower got struck simultaneously (vimeo). [more inside]
Berlin is colorful
Matthias Heiderich takes colorful pictures of Berlin, among other things. I think this one is my favorite. [via] [more inside]
Gaile Owens
Three months from today, Gaile [Part I] Owens [Part 2] will be dead in Tennessee after 25 years on death row. The mother of two boys went to the rough side of Nashville to find a hitman to kill her abusive and cheating husband. Due to a series of events, the jury never heard of or believed the abuse. She pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but will die on September 28. [more inside]
Best Blogs of 2010
we alone have the power to conjure up at will erotic, orgasm-inducing scenes in our theater-like heads
One reason why humans are special and unique: We masturbate. A lot
"Today is a victory for every poor person": Jon Burge found guilty
It took a few decades, but today a federal jury has found former Chicago police commander Jon Burge guilty on all counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in covering up his knowledge of and participation in the systematic torture of suspects in the 1980s. (Previously.) [more inside]
Thanks, Carla!
There is a before and an after André Markowicz. In the early 1990s the translator, born to a Russian mother and French father, began translating the complete works of Dostoyevsky for Babel / Actes Sud. By the time he finished the mammoth undertaking in 2002 he had proved something: what people had been reading by Dostoyevsky wasn’t Dostoyevsky. - an interview with André Marcowicz, writer and translator. [more inside]
Mix your own Tunes: Soundation and Aviary
Ever wanted to mix your own tunes? Soundation Studio is "a powerful online sequencer with 11 real time effects, 3 synthesizers, a drum machine and a fully integrated Sound Shop." Want more? "Use Aviary's music creator to simulate dozens of musical instruments including piano, guitars and drums. Create music loops and patterns for use in Aviary's audio editor (Myna) or as ring tones."
Someone forgot to tell 'em the Cold War ended....
The US Department of Justice has announced arrests in four states of ten alleged members of a “deep-cover” Russian spy ring whose ultimate goal was apparently to infiltrate U.S. policy-making circles. So much for burger diplomacy? [more inside]
Between the round and the square
World Wide Wes
If William Wesley says LeBron James is going to play for the Chicago Bulls next year, it is probably true. Known as World Wide Wes, insiders call him the most powerful man in the NBA. And nobody really knows what he does. “I don’t have any clue what he does or how financially he benefits from this. I don’t know. But he’s just there. He’s around. He knows all the pro guys, their agents, the sneaker people, the coaches, general managers, media people. There’s no one he doesn’t know." [more inside]
Don't Cry For Me, Subotai
At least we know what we don't know
Eating Well On $1 A Day
Jeffrey believed that with couponing, he could live on $1 a day for food and have plenty to eat. [more inside]
El Santo: I only do what I can, to wipe out injustice and crime
The history of lucha libre in Mexico is hard to pin down, some citing the French invasion of 1863 as a origin of modern wrestling in Mexico, with two Italian business men making it commercial in the 1930s, while others take it back to the ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures and credit the modern rebirth with a retired revolutionary army colonel from the United States. But no matter who gets credit as the father of the Mexican sport, El Santo was it's hero for decades, in the ring, in comics, in the movies, and in life. [more inside]
Storytime with Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman has been busy lately, winning the Carnegie Medal, defending libraries, fighting Todd MacFarlane in court again, and admiting that his first book was about Duran Duran. He's also taken time to ask the question: Shouldn't good writing tell a story too?
A lengthy engagement
"Wow, what a long engagement that was!" During a chance second encounter in Baltimore in 1945, Henry Schalizki, now 88, and Bob Davis, now 89, met and fell in love. More than six decades later, the couple finally legalized their union.
Infographics of the organic food industry
Infographics of the organic food processing industry. Infographics of the organic food retail and distribution industry. Infographics of the organic farming industry. Infographics of the seed industry structure. A QuickTime animation of the consolidation of the organic food industry. A QuickTime animation of the seed industry consolidation.
'Cause It's Known to Give a Brother Brain Damage
Chris Henry, the Cincinnati Bengals player who died last December, was found to have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), almost certainly as a result of his football career. Many other deceased NFL players are known to have suffered from CTE, but Henry was the youngest diagnosed thus far. Henry was infamous while alive for his repeated legal troubles and erratic behavior, and other notable NFL concussion victims, such as Ben Roethlisberger, may also be exhibiting symptoms of CTE. This news will only increase scrutiny of the NFL's much-criticized concussion policy, although the problem is not limited to football players. (Previously)
It's twice as good as Pi!
Beat Stilled
Mexican gubernatorial candidate assassinated
Rodolfo Torre Cantu, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate for the governorship of the border state of Tamaulipas, was assassinated in an ambush yesterday. He was presumed to be the virtual winner of next sundays election (no opposition candidate has ever governed the state).
"Canada’s tragically unhip"
The new documentary about their career won a Tribeca audience award, and now, the little power trio from the Great White North has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. [more inside]
The Philosophers' Game
Alas, Middle-Earth didn't make it through qualifying
...and you have my BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! Taking the Hobbits to South Africa. (SLYT)
Breaking Down Film
Sebastian Pruiti offers the sort of analysis many of us like to see from the sports media. Instead of manufacturing controversy, his blog teaches us have a fuller appreciation of the game on the court. For example, instead of obsessing on Cousins' personality, we get a look at his sophisticated post game. [more inside]
Don't it make your short hair long!
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Check. Guest appearance on Sesame Street? Check. Big-deal awards for her work? Check. Sibling even more famous than she? Check!
But what do people remember Crystal Gayle for? [more inside]
The State of the Internet Operating System
Judgement Day 2010
Today, June 28, 2010, marks the last day of the 2009-10 session of the Supreme Court of the United States. This day will mark a number of historical events, not only in terms of the cases to be handed down. [more inside]
Surely you can't be serious?
“There is one line in ‘Zero Hour!’ where a stewardess says, completely seriously, ‘The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn’t have fish for dinner,’ ” Mr. Abrahams said. “That was the essence of the movie. We just repeated the line. We didn’t have to change a thing.”
Airplane! (known in Australia as Flying High!) turns 30 [more inside]
Airplane! (known in Australia as Flying High!) turns 30 [more inside]
Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92
Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92 Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died early on Monday. He was 92. He was the longest-serving Senator as well as the longest-serving member in congressional history. In his younger days he joined the Ku Klux Klan when he was 24 in 1942.
Diary of a Very Bad Year
Keith Gessen of n+1 Magazine interviewed an anonymous hedge fund manager. [Previously]. HFM provided many more insights than were published back in 2008. [more inside]
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