August 17, 2012
Hungarian majesty
Georges Cziffra warms up for the BBC, mixing improvisation with a bit of the first Chopin étude. [more inside]
Le Caméléon
On June 13, 1994, blond-haired, blue-eyed Nicholas Barclay was reported missing from his home near San Antonio, Texas. He was 13 years old. In October 1997, the family received a call from a man in Spain informing them their son had been found after having escaped from a child prostitution ring.
Nicholas' half-sister immediately boarded a flight to Spain, where she was reunited with her brother and brought him back with her to Texas. There were a few things though, that seemed a bit off... [more inside]
The beginning of tyranny.
Last year, The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's Law School released a report (pdf) detailing new, more restrictive state laws that affect voting rights and are likely to impact the outcome of the 2012 elections. The restrictions "fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities." On August 3rd, 2012, they updated their analysis with a pdf of passed and pending State government legislation. Their conclusion: after a century in which the United States "expanded the franchise and knocked down myriad barriers to full electoral participation... that momentum [has] abruptly shifted." [more inside]
the Thai jakae
I just stumbled upon some Thai music performed on an instrument I hadn't heard of until just now. But the curious machine-gun rhythm patterns are kinda rocking my world. It was uploaded to YT yesterday, and at the moment has a big FIVE views. And I think two of those are mine. Anyway, here it is: เดี่ยวจะเข้ [ Jakae solo ] : ครูทองดี สุจริตกุล [ Khru Thong-dee Sucharitkul ]. Now, here's another, apparently by the same lady. She's got a seriously percussive, take-no-prisoners approach to the instrument. But in neither of those clips do we see the instrument being played. So I looked around some more, and found this one, and though this guy's style is not quite as, um, *punk*, it's still pretty badass, and you get the visual idea of what the instrument is all about, not to mention the all-important twin-percussion backing. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the world of the Thai jakae.
I think peeing on the broom is fun :(
Excuse me, what time is it? I want to be able to remember the exact moment I posted this.
Shoguns at the Sphinx, 1864
Ten years after Commodore Matthew Perry first visited Japan with four war ships and a letter from President Fillmore, Japan sent out a third Embassy to Western Nations (following the first Japanese Embassy to the United States in 1860, and the first Japanese Embassy to Europe in 1862). The third tour had the same goal as the first two: learn about Western cultures, and try to postpone the opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade. During that third tour, the group were on their way to France when they stopped in Egypt. On this stop, the members of the mission were photographed posing before the Sphinx, dressed in winged kamishimo costume and jingasa hats, carrying their feared long (katana) and short (wakizashi) swords. [more inside]
Who asked you, you turkeys?
Man Gobbles at Turkeys, Turkeys Gobble Back. A heartwarming SLYT of interspecies communication for Friday afternoon.
Get a Little Bit of Colour
"Bronzer was offered up to me in make-up stores when I started painting my face for fun, as consultants tutted over my unfortunate foundation match: invariably ’00’, ‘porcelain’, or some other snide euphemism for melaninically challenged." Memoirs of a Ghost; or, being pale in a world where only tanned is beautiful. [more inside]
The Love That Won't Shut Up
On Halloween night 1992, a skinny, gravel-voiced man in a blue dress and horn-rim glasses took the stage at a tiny Atlanta dive bar/strip club along with his band, The Opal Foxx Quartet (which was not a four-piece; around a dozen people crowded the dark, low-ceilinged space). This would be their final show, and it's a barn-burner. [more inside]
Johannes Vermeer's "Woman Holding A Balance"
Assemble the Statue
Note the erupting volcano at the bottom of the glass.
Totnes: the town that declared war on Costa Coffee
"Like a lot of locals, he says that one of his big fears is Costa serving notice that Totnes is ready to be colonised, and sparking the arrival of Caffe Nero, Subway and all the rest." A town declares war on Costa Coffee.
Electric! Copen! International orange!
Evocative definitions of colors in Webster's Third New International Dictionary and how they got there. [more inside]
August 2012 shooting at Family Research Council
Two days ago in Washington, D.C. a gunman walked into the offices of the Family Research Council and fired a shot. He was carrying over a dozen Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and allegedly complained about the FRC's conservative politics before shooting a security guard. [more inside]
You know, I think I'm too lazy to change all this back to normal, that's the real issue.
Little brother hacked your Facebook profile? Redecorate his room for a teenage girl. In Dutch, with subtitles. [SLYT]
Ballet Zoom into your consciousness
There is very little English-language information on the dance troupe Ballet Zoom aside from this post on GoRetro. But more information is not needed to enjoy their performances involving psychedelic cats, psychedelic see-saws, psychedelic vampires, psychedelic "tribal" dances, and psychedelic psychedelic. [more inside]
You wouldn't steal a policeman's helmet
SurfTheChannel.com: A Very British Miscarriage Of Justice is a [long - here's an Ars Technica summary] account of the MPAA's investigation of SurfTheChannel's owner Anton Vickerman and the ensuing court case. It was published on http://surfthechannel.com/, but that's now down and given English libel law it probably isn't coming back up. It is, frankly, a harrowing read, although FACT argue to the Guardian that much of what was stated is biased.
Erik Davis' Expanding Mind on the Progressive Radio Network is three years old
Erik and his co-host Maja D'Aoust have a weekly internet radio interview show which might be described as psychedelically eclectic covering a variety of fringe subculture topics including drugs, mysticism, music, literature, Burning Man, comic books. Amongst their more recognizable guests have been: Alan Moore (on his ties to America's founding fathers), Christof Koch (on consciousness, neuroscience, and paramecium sex), Elliot Wolfson (on dreams and Kabbalah), Lee Gilmore (on his Burning Man book Theater in a Crowded Fire), and Gary Lachman (on mystic Jung, playing in Blondie, and getting thrown out of David Bowie's apartment). [more inside]
Judging a book by the cover
Hurry Hurry
Hurry Hurry (YouTube) is the single on Boston band Air Traffic Controller's (Official Site) new album NORDO (SoundCloud). It's an insistent, catchy, exuberant anthem to all those who feel like no matter how fast they run, life runs faster. It absolutely nails the sensation of pushing oneself to the point of destruction while simultaneously feeling as though one is falling farther and farther behind. It will also lodge itself deep inside your brain and refuse to stop playing, so be warned. [more inside]
"I think she’s just a miracle.”
On August 5th, 2012 in London's North Greenwich Arena, 37-year-old Oksana Chusovitina placed 5th in Women's Vault. Thus ended her sixth Summer Olympics as a competitor, more than any other female gymnast in the history of the games. “Am I old? I don’t feel old,” Chusovitina said in Russian, through a translator, as if answering a ridiculous question. “I’m not doing anything amazing. I’m just like everybody else here.” [more inside]
Cul de Sac reaches a dead end.
Cul de Sac, (previously) generally considered the best newspaper comic strip of recent years (and which may be the last great newspaper comic strip) will end next month, due to the worsening Parkinson's of creator Richard Thompson. His illness had previously motivated an impressive artistic show of support from all kinds of comics artists (newspaper strips, editorial cartoons, magazine illustrations, webcomics and one guy who hadn't done much lately) (previously) I, for one, hope he gets to spend some time hanging out with Bill W.
bUD uGGLY Wab Design
The self-made man
Nearly a decade ago, Sun Jifa lost his hands in a fishing-related explosion (he was building a bomb for blast-fishing). He soon realized that he couldn't afford the prosthetic hands recommended by the hospital. Undeterred, he decided to build his own bionic hands. Eight years later...
Cripes!
The Economist on the decline of British boy's comics as The Dandy ceases print publication. As it circles oblivion it risks joining the ranks of Whizzer and Chips, Buster, The Beezer and subversive late entry to the genre Oink. The days of the Great British girl's comic are sadly long passed.
Hands Stained Red Like Elmo
Snack! Snack! Snack! Munch! Music from the Minneapolis Y.M.C.A. related North Community Beats and Rhymes Program just released the video of the summer: kids rapping about Hot Cheetos & Takis, their favorite snack. If you can't get enough, their website has eight whole albums to listen to and download for free (the North Community link).
How to Read a Poem
Curious about poetry, but don't know where or how to begin? We've reprinted the first chapter from the book "How to Read a Poem" by Edward Hirsch. Its 16 sections provide strategies for reading poems, and each section has plenty of links to examples of poems in our archive to illustrate the points.
Skin feels hot to touch... The light is bouncing off my face. The rush!
Musopen releases high-quality, free classical music.
Musopen, "a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving access and exposure to music by creating free resources and educational materials", have released upwards of 30 professionally performed and recorded classical works into the public domain. The new recordings are on their site listed under Goldberg Variations, Musopen Symphony Orchestra and Musopen String Quartet. [more inside]
#13 - business in the front, party in the back
Nikolaij Lund is a cellist and a photographer who takes whimsical portraits of classical musicians. [more inside]
He sighs, then shows me an ordinary handsaw in blue surgical paper marked "amputation saw"
"This conference is about, by and for people who think life is a pretty good thing and that more life is better." David Rakoff goes inside the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.
“Mother of God, Blessed Virgin, drive out Putin!”
Pussy Riot found guilty of anti-religious ‘hooliganism’ for church protest. [NYTimes.com] Previously Previously.
'Giant Size'
'By most accounts, Bill Walton stands well over seven feet tall. But during his NBA career, Walton always insisted that he was 6'11" because he didn't want to be considered a freak. When I read that fun fact in David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game, it hit a chord. I've been doing the exact same thing as Walton for my entire adult life. I'm not as tall as Walton. I'm not even one of the less-than-70 seven-footers in my age bracket in the U.S. But I'm close. Another quarter-inch, and I'd pass the seven-foot barrier. But anytime anyone asks my height, I say that I'm 6'11". I don't mention the extra three quarters of an inch. People don't need to know about that.
In any case, I'm still pretty fucking tall. And being pretty fucking tall is a weird thing to wrap your head around.' [more inside]
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