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Late July 2011, would-be guests of the historic and storied Chelsea Hotel (also known as Hotel Chelsea or simply The Chelsea) were informed on their reservations were suddenly canceled, in preparation for a year-long renovation project, which some people speculate is a union-busting strategy. Given the concerns for the future of The Chelsea, some came to throw last-minute parties, while long-term tenants held more somber gatherings. On August 1st, current guests were abruptly escorted out, increasing anxieties about the plans of the new owner, elusive real estate investor Joseph Chetrit. Even if this is the end of the era, the hotel's long and varied legacy lives on ... [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:49 PM PST - 50 comments

Riots have broken out in the Tottenham area of London Saturday night after a protest over a fatal police shooting on Thursday. A double-decker bus and several police cars have been set on fire, and one policeman is said to be in hospital. Shops have been looted, and several buildings have been set on fire.

BBC and Sky News camera crews have moved away from the scene for safety reasons, but LBC Radio is reporting live.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:40 PM PST - 1394 comments

For sale: Philip K Dick's Bible, with handwritten annotations.
posted by scalefree at 4:14 PM PST - 47 comments

Decades before "You Got the Love" was covered by Florence and The Machine, it was a little known gospel record originally recorded for an 80's dieting video by Candi Staton. [more inside]
posted by empath at 2:53 PM PST - 27 comments

Nothing to do this coming week? Head over to Galax, Virginia to catch the Old Fiddler's Convention, a mountain music festival & competition that has been ongoing since 1935. Galax, located on Virigina's Crooked Road is in the heart of Virginia's musical heritage trail, a well mapped excursion that takes you way off the interstate's beaten path to experience old time Appalachian music in some of the most beautiful settings in the Blue Ridge Mountains. If you take the trail outside Galax, make sure you stop at the Floyd Country Store for daily (and nightly) jams inside the store, much like the Fiddler's convention's campgrounds' awesome impromptu jams
posted by priested at 2:13 PM PST - 14 comments

AMC's Hell on Wheels is an upcoming series created by Joe and Tony Gayton, centered around the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Joe: "I think what a lot of people think of when they think about the Transcontinental Railroad is the contribution of the Chinese immigrants." "But, it’s just so American". So the show focuses on railroad construction from the East, and the Chinese laborers story? They "ended up getting excised". [more inside]
posted by cashman at 1:41 PM PST - 69 comments

Thailand’s Moment of Truth: A Secret History of 21st Century Siam, a massive, multipart, Wikileaks-fueled exposé of the royal family and government of Thailand. Brief overview here. [more inside]
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:13 PM PST - 9 comments

Where Federal taxes are raised and spent. "Some American states receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes; others receive less. Over twenty years these fiscal transfers can add up to a sizeable sum." A graph of the United States, color-coded to indicate surplus or deficit.
posted by dubold at 1:10 PM PST - 52 comments

In Focus: Dogs featuring canine photography from Isabella Rozendaal - On Loving Animals :: Irina Werning - Chini Project :: Dietmar Busse - Dogs of New York :: Bernd Opitz - Dogviews :: John Divola - Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert :: Robin Schwartz - Pets and Strays :: Sean Ellis - Kubrick the Dog :: Nadin Maria Rüfenacht - Nature Morte
posted by puny human at 12:32 PM PST - 5 comments

One Job for America. Carla Emil had a good idea. PBS has this report.
posted by GrammarMoses at 11:38 AM PST - 43 comments

In October of 1951 a fan snuck a color 8MM camera into a taping of I love Lucy. The footage has resurfaced, here intercut with the actual episode.
posted by pjern at 11:18 AM PST - 51 comments

Stanford's 'Introduction to Artificial Intelligence' course will be offered free to anyone online this fall. The course will be taught by Sebastian Thrun (Stanford) and Peter Norvig (Google, Director of Research), who expect to deal with the historically large course size using tools like Google Moderator. [more inside]
posted by jeffburdges at 10:41 AM PST - 39 comments

Film Class 101: Cake comes before the fall. [more inside]
posted by griphus at 9:43 AM PST - 43 comments

Wrapped in Light -- Using the deep field of pinhole photography, objects painted with a photoemulsion can be illuminated with a panoramic view of their surroundings, then developed and fixed.
posted by 0rison at 8:27 AM PST - 15 comments

Bookfessions: [tumblr] "These are confessions and/or thoughts of a book lover, bibliophile, book addict, reader, lover of literature, nerd..."
posted by Fizz at 7:38 AM PST - 20 comments

Premiering on IFC last night (and rebroadcast regularly throughout the week) is Whisker Wars, a "docu-comedy" about competitive bearding. The series runs 7 episodes, new each week on Friday night. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 7:06 AM PST - 26 comments

Life, as we might experience it, is here warped by the closeness of death. [more inside]
posted by Ahab at 6:37 AM PST - 7 comments

Enter the Cyber-dragon. "Hackers have attacked America’s defense establishment, as well as companies from Google to Morgan Stanley to security giant RSA, and fingers point to China as the culprit. The author gets an exclusive look at the raging cyber-war—Operation Aurora! Operation Shady rat!—and learns why Washington has been slow to fight back. Related: Michael Joseph Gross goes inside Operation Shady Rat."
posted by homunculus at 1:46 AM PST - 46 comments