September 24, 2011
Use the hints. Find me!
A playful mystery has been unfolding in Atlanta for a few months now, and has spread to other cities. Packages have been anonymously mailed to various writers, bookstores, publications and organizations around the city. [more inside]
Give the drummer some...pipe down, give the plumber some
"The Phonte mixtape to end all Phonte mixtapes. 70 tracks, 78 minutes, covering the past 10 years of my career all mixed and selected by DJ Flash." Phonte is a singer, rapper, one third(ish) of the rap group Little Brother, and the collaboration Foreign Exchange.
I am your stalwart African brother
Red Song King Hao Di (Good Brother) sings "Without the Communist Party There Would Be No New China" (traditional recording), "The Words of Chairman Mao are Memorized by Heart” (info and lyrics), "Lake Water". [more inside]
I really dig infectious diseases (much to the dismay of those dining with me).
How did hookworm infections slow the economy of the postbellum South? Do body mites play a role in diseases such as rosacea? Did fermenting seal flippers in Tupperware instead of traditional containers increase Native Alaskan botulism rates?
Body Horrors is the blog of microbiologist Rebecca Kreston, who aims to explore the intersection of infectious diseases, the human body, public health and anthropology.
How WIDE is your love?
The Smallest Hotel in the World [autoplay of 'La Traviata']. So here's the story: it's 1728 and you live in Amberg, a little Bavarian town somewhere north of Munich. You and your lady friend really, really want to get married, but there is a little snag; the council laws permit only homeowners to marry, and you're still stuck renting a place. But all is not lost! You pick up a little strip of empty land between two other buildings - just 2.5 meters wide. You run up a quick wall on the front, another on the back, slap a roof on top, and presto - you're a homeowner. The council falls for it, and allows you to get married. [more inside]
The price of defending the Euro.
Greek Crisis Exacts the Cruelest Toll. 'Two years into Greece's debt crisis, its citizens are reeling from austerity measures imposed to prevent a government debt default that could cause havoc throughout Europe.' 'The most dramatic sign of Greece's pain, however, is a surge in suicides.' 'Recorded suicides have roughly doubled since before the crisis to about six per 100,000 residents annually, according to the Greek health ministry and a charitable organization called Klimaka. About 40% more Greeks killed themselves in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year, the health ministry says.' [more inside]
Reaching high altitudes with trash bags
Oh hello, I'm Las Vegas high school student Manuja Gunaratne and I built this aircraft using trashbags and helium. Btw, I put a GPS tracker on this thing and had a digital camera takes pictures during the entire flight. Check out Project T.B.A.C. [more inside]
Grab the goat, bring it around the pole and put it in the circle.
In northern Afghanistan, here are goats, horses, men and dusty plains, and they have been there ever since Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde swept into the neighborhood in the 13th century. Their game, then, is simple. Men on horseback grab a goat from a chalk circle, carry it around a pole and drop it into another circle. No downs or innings. Sometimes there are teams, and sometimes there aren't. Sometimes the field is 200 meters by 200 meters, and sometimes it isn't. And the goat might be a calf, but it's always dead, with its head and hooves cut off.
Grab the goat, bring it around the pole and put it in the circle. That's buzkashi.
A perfect example of how visuals and audio come together in a divine interplay.
The band Thulebasen succeeds in matching a rambling audio side with just as rambling visuals. I have never seen anything like this before. Seriously! It's a monster!
We can be sheroes
Superheroes are for girls too! (sltumblr) "Superheroes aren't just for little boys. Here you'll find lots of images of little girls from past and present who also love them." We've been talking a lot about gender and comics on MeFi lately, especially with respect to superheros. Here is a tumblr full of righteous babes. [more inside]
Dancing Guy
This guy is really good at dancing. SLYT. Watch in fullscreen if possible.
I Told You Maine Coons Are Awesome
It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be.
In honor of Jim Henson's 75th birthday, let's celebrate bein' green: Kermit. Ray Charles. Kermit and Ray Charles. The Boston Pops. Lena Horne and Kermit. Lena Horne. Oscar the Grouch. Bob McGrath. Audra McDonald. Chuck Findley and the Metropole Orchestra. Shirley Horn. Cibelle. Frank Sinatra. Thurl Ravenscroft. Van Morrison. Sophie Milman. Andrew Bird. Big Bird.
Mixed Glands, No. 2 (Female)
The 100,000-item Victorian curio collection other museums refused to take. 'The “merman”, a chimera made from bits of fish, fowl and monkey, is identified as “possibly Dutch or Japanese, possibly a Javanese ritual figure, possibly 1801-1900”. A paper label classifies it under veterinary medicine.'
The ketchup killer
So you are a hired assasassin, but what happens when it turns out the victim you are supposed to kill is a childhood friend and / or someone you fall in love with? Well obviouisly you fake-up evidence of your killing with the help of a machette under the armpit and lots and lots of tomato ketchup...
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