December 2007 Archives
December 31
We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day
Should I post this?
What have you changed your mind about? Why? - the latest installment of The Edge Annual Question [more inside]
The musical equivalent of sneaking around MIT late at night, solving equations left scrawled on whiteboards
You Don't Mess Around With Jim. And you don't mess around with the mysterious Fret Killer, performer of some of the best acoustic guitar playing to be found on YouTube. But who is he? [more inside]
New Year's Eve In Times Square
Times Square: Crossroads of the World is the official website of Times Square in New York City. An estimated 1 million people from all over the world are in Times Square tonight, celebrating New Year's Eve and the 100th anniversary of the ball drop (with a new eco-friendly, LED-lighted ball). Also on the site: A History of New Year's Eve in Times Square, a Then and Now interactive timeline, a Signs of the Times gallery, and much more. The FAQ is also interesting.
New York is such a pity but at Max's Kansas City we won
Max's Kansas City closed 25 years ago this night. Although Hilly Kristal's CBGB's is more iconic and perhaps better known today, Mickey Ruskin's Max's Kansas City (and its infamous back room) was every bit as important to fostering the punk scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. Located a 213 Park Avenue South, just up the street from historic Union Square, Max's played host to the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Wayne/Jayne County and the Fast, the New York Dolls, and quite a few others. What's standing there today? Why, the 213 Park Avenue South Deli, of course.
music videos from West Africa
#1 African Music Website. Africa Hit offers an extensive and varied selection of great music videos from West Africa. [more inside]
Ubiquitous, useful wooden slivers
It took Yankee manufacturing and marketing savvy to make the humble wooden toothpick a profitable business. But once it was a common item, accessories and accoutrements necessarily followed, in capitalistic, if sometimes whimsical certainty , and continue, to this day. The small wooden slivers have even become art, toys, architecture and science projects.
...GE had long done business with the bin Ladens. In a misguided attempt at corporate synergy, I called GE headquarters...
"You Don't Understand Our Audience" --what John Hockenberry (formerly of NBC, now at MIT Media Lab) learned about network news--good guys and bad guys, the "emotional center", synergy, facts, and why fewer and fewer watch nowadays.
Challenges Facing the US in the Middle East
Making a point, the pigpen way.
This guy saved all his trash for an entire year. It amounted to 96 cubic feet. Perhaps not surprisingly, his message is conservation.
Mythbusters Saves Another Life
Mythbusters Saves! "Recalling an episode of a reality TV show he recently watched, the driver waited for the cab to fill with water before lowering a window and swimming out, Mora said." (Mythbusters has been in the blue before, saving those lives through reality television). Hi, Adam!
Save A Dollar Disappoint A Kid
Did you know that the distributor of Bill Plympton classics such as The Tune, Guard Dog and Guide Dog, and Plymptoons also do full-length CGI animations?
Presenting Branscome International, LLC, your source for unique animations [more inside]
If there are homosexuals in Iran, well, whoop-de-damn-do!
The Serial Seducer
Meet Paul Janka. He has recently been featured (twice) on NBC's Today Show, as one of New York's finest lotharios. You can also read his 17-page dating manifesto (pdf). Since his television appearance, reaction has varied from highly negative to positive, with little middle ground. Could he represent a new paradigm for dating in a post-feminist world?
Climate in 2007
Climate disasters in 2007 French captions. Pictures from Norway, Greece, England, India, Nicaragua, Colombia, U.S.A., China, Indonesia.
December 30
Photos of regular people looking extraordinarily bad
Not all portrait photography studios are equal. "Total frickin' awesomeness from Olan Mills, Sears and other fine portrait studios."
Bushism
I'm a Railroad (YT) pure Bush gibberish, from the same folks that gave you "Top Ten Signs Your Country May Be Going Fascist", And FDR Rant. (More inside. NSFW for language & juvenility)
Resolutions, schmesolutions. Do what it takes to be happy.
How to learn to love exercise. How to quit smoking. How to stop drinking, or reduce your intake. How to love your body. How to feel good about yourself. How to find a career you care about. [more inside]
Archaeology in 2007
Archaeology Magazine lists its top ten discoveries of 2007, with nine runners up. Among the discoveries listed are the discovery of Nebo-Sarsekim tablet that confirms some of the details of the Biblical book of Jeremiah (while casting doubt on other details), evidence that chimpanzees used basic stone tools 4,000 years ago that suggests that the primates may have passed "cultural" information through generations, and evidence of Polynesian chickens in Chile that may confirm Francisco Pizarro's report of chickens in Peru.
Wombs for Rent
Wombs for rent: "Anand's surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies. More than 50 women in this city are now pregnant with the children of couples from the United States, Taiwan, Britain and beyond. The women earn more than many would make in 15 years."
Hugh Massingberd joins the majority.
"Hugh Massingberd, a celebrated former obituaries editor of The Telegraph of London who made a once-dreary page required reading by speaking frankly, wittily and often gleefully ill of the dead, became the recipient of his own services after dying in West London on Christmas Day." The linked NY Times obit (by Margalit Fox; print version) contains many good quotes, like "The Telegraph’s send-off of one Lt. Col. Geoffrey Knowles, 'who as a subaltern was bitten in the buttocks by a bear — he survived but the bear expired'"; The Telegraph's own obit is much longer (and, of course, unsigned) and contains, along with more good zingers, a well-written account of his life ("The inevitable consequence of his bingeing proved another triumph of style, as Massingberd, a tall, slim and notably handsome youth with hollowed-out cheeks, transmogrified into an impressively corpulent presence whose moon face lit up with Pickwickian benevolence"). [more inside]
Don't make him angry.
Mom & Pop <3 Starbucks
Don't Fear Starbucks
Soon after declining Starbucks's buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle's Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. "You're going to love it," Stewart reported. "They'll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar".Contrary to popular belief Starbucks, instead of destroying it, is promoting a thriving Mom & Pop coffee house industry. With the number of independent owned stores growing 40% between 2000 and 2005 and a less than 10% failure rate you might want to start looking for an empty storefront next to your local branch of Seattle's biggest export.
Image of the Year.
Image of the Year. From the article: "If you want to go shallow for an Image of the Year, you can't do better than Paris Hilton, seen through the window of a Los Angeles sheriff's car, weeping as she's being hauled back to prison to complete a probation-violation sentence. But when you first notice the credit on that now infamous picture, there's a double take. The image came from the camera of Nick Ut, whose picture of a little girl burned by napalm, naked and running directly toward the camera and into the conscience of the American people, became perhaps the most powerful and influential vision of the Vietnam War. Not only was the Paris Hilton image taken by one of this country's most celebrated war photographers, it was taken June 8, 35 years to the day after the devastating image of 9-year-old Kim Phuc fleeing her bombed-out village. Let's put these two pictures up on the wall together for one last, end-of-the-year look, and see if something emerges."
Nothing like a good Read.
Small is Beautiful - The best new journals. (via Guardian / Observer) selected by Stephanie Merritt. "Published out of tiny offices or even editors' apartments, funded by grants, donations or founders' savings, distributed by direct subscription or in selected independent bookshops, paying contributors little or nothing at all, these magazines have nevertheless attracted such eminent writers as to give them an international reputation far beyond their limited circulation."
Wii Want To Hack
A presentation at the 24th Annual Chaos Communication Congress convention for hackers in Germany [previously mentioned in MeFi] revealed a proof of concept: the Nintendo Wii's Power PC "Broadway" chip has been completely hacked.
(via OMGNintendo)
RIAA puts ripping of legally-owned CDs in the crosshairs
The Recording Industry Association of America are seeking damages in a federal case against Jeffrey Howell, who kept a collection of about 2,000 recordings on his PC. The RIAA's lawyer states that the files Howell made on his computer from legally purchased CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.
Is this the most beautiful bookstore in the world?
Is this the most beautiful bookstore in the world? The Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen, Maastricht opened its doors in November. Located in the city's old Dominican church - which for years had been used as a bicycle parking garage - the building has been extensively redesigned by Dutch architects Merkx + Girod. From the images you can find on the web you can see that it is a bookshop made in heaven. Many books in English too.
Strippers Blogging On The Internet
December 29
Are dead-tree magazines good or bad for the climate?
"So by this analysis dead-tree magazines have a smaller net carbon footprint than web media. We cut down trees and put them in the ground. From a climate change perspective, this is a good thing" explains Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine's editor-in-chief. While some decry this type of carbon footprint accounting as "cheating", the paper industry has lately been eager to convince the public that they are carbon-neutral.
A worthy life, deserving of re-consideration.
"At age 21, Eric Kamau Gravatt was McCoy Tyner's drummer, one of the most coveted jobs a jazz musician could hope to get. After 20 years of working as a prison guard, he's back behind the kit again as Tyner's drummer." [more inside]
Google is forcing social down your throat
A few weeks ago, Google Reader's team decided to show your private data to all your GMail contacts. This is now the default, no need to opt-in. Some people think it's not a big deal. Other's see it as a gross violation of privacy, a warning sign of more violations to come, as evidenced by the recent code updates to Gmail and other Google applications.
True Films
"This is the third version of a guide I have been developing for the past 5 years. It takes the 200 best documentaries I have reviewed on my website True Films and puts them into one handy book." Free as a PDF download, Kevin Kelly's book True Films.
Catalog Choice
Catalog Choice: one-stop shop for opting out of catalogs you don't want to receive.
Çatalhöyük, oldest city or biggest village?
Why humans started huddling together in cities is still shrouded in mystery but if the question is ever settled the answer will probably be found in Çatalhöyük, a settlement of five to eight thousand located in what is now Turkey that came into existence around 7500 BC. The current head archaeologist of the Çatalhöyük Project is Ian Hodder, one of the leading lights in postprocessual archaeology, who summarized his finding in a recent article in Natural History Magazine. The Çatalhöyük Project website is a treasure trove of information about the ancient settlement. [more inside]
The Third World Squat
The Third World Squat (Some images not 100% safe for work) When it comes to training someone who's new to the world of squats, deadlifts, and the fine art of picking up heavy stuff, I've found a substantial disparity in the learning curve between North Americans and those from third-world countries . . . There are a variety of possible reasons for this, but there's one dominant variable that's a great predictor of a trainee's immediate potential before they even step foot in the gym: The third-world squat.
How to grow and maintain the perfect handlebar moustache.
A hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities. The perfect moustache grows only on the upper lip. You may choose a pomade of wax to assist in daily maintenance.
In the early stages of growth, before the moustache is properly trained, you may choose to use a moustache cup in polite soup-eating company.
After months of patience, you will be entitled to join the brotherhood, compete at national and international level, raise money for charity and serve your country in the most difficult circumstances.
Panthera tigris altaica
The Plight of the Amur Tiger (aka Siberian Tiger), the largest living cat in the world. Only 330-370 are left in the wild, but the situation is showing improvement, and they may even be repopulating previous strongholds in China. China is doing its part to repopulate the species - but for what purpose? The park's director admits the park made money from selling parts of dead tigers and wants China to lift the ban on the trade of tiger parts. They're considering it. Meanwhile, captive tigers are illegally skinned and beheaded, and 5000 tigers are kept in farms.
Royal Navy Blue?
The Rise of China
The Rise of China and the Future of the West: Can the Liberal System Survive? "China's rise will inevitably bring the United States' unipolar moment to an end. But that does not necessarily mean a violent power struggle or the overthrow of the Western system. The U.S.-led international order can remain dominant even while integrating a more powerful China -- but only if Washington sets about strengthening that liberal order now." [more inside]
Security Question
of mice and men and women
Nine Ways to Make Your Mouse Roar l elegantly hand painted mouse l visual mouse software l Mouser: Operate your mouse with your keyboard [more inside]
Racism without the sheets...
Kinism Kinism is the belief that the God-ordained social order for man is tribal and ethnic rather than imperial and universal. In other words, they are segregationists. Can YOU tell the difference? [more inside]
Dope wars for policy wonks
Historically, drug laws have been a reactive response to a moral panic. Increasingly though, some governments are now seeking a more rational basis for drug policy. For the first time ever, all interested parties have been invited to get involved in the creation of the UK's next ten year drug strategy though many senior government advisors have been openly critical of some of the premises. [more inside]
A defining issue of this generation
2007 was a year of extreme weather records, and 2008 could be worse, for example an unrelenting southeast drought could be devastating. 2008 will also be Bush's last year, and as the evidence for global warming mounts, Bush's agenda appears to be greening. "If global warming turns out to be a defining issue of this generation, advisers said, Bush does not want to be remembered as a roadblock."
Seven Interview with Foster Children
I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state: Tristen, Andrew, Kyle, Aisha, Elnita, Ashley, Joshua. [more inside]
December 28
Ballistic Jaw Propulsion of Trap-Jaw Ants
The trap-jaw ant, best known for its powerful jaws which hold the land speed record for movement at 145 miles per hour, is brilliantly captured in a short film shot at 100,000 frames per second. [more inside]
"it gives so many talented people a chance to express themselves and makes it so much easier for the government to know who to arrest first in case of a national emergency."
Jon Swift asked everyone on his blogroll to pick what they considered their best post of 07-- ...There are posts on politics by liberals, conservatives and moderates, posts on movies, music, television, books, economics, health care, science, sports, religion and history, personal stories and slices of life, poetry, prose, pictures and video. Some are very funny, some are quite serious, some will make you angry and some will make you say "Huh?" ...
Zach Braff Quotes
Guðleifsdóttir, Photography, Flickr, censorship and happy end (?)
Guðleifsdóttir (can you pronounce this?) is a young photographer from island and she puts her pics on flickr [more inside]
The Rat Patrol
The Los Angeles Police Department are enlisting feral cats for rat patrol at police stations that are experiencing rodent problems. These hardworking kitties -- part of the Working Cats Program -- are doing a stellar job keeping the rat population in check.
No Reason To Get Excited
Written in 1967 by Bob Dylan, it was originally quiet, lowkey... and vaguely menacing. But when Jimi Hendrix redefined it the following year, even Dylan knew that the song had changed forever.
Since then, it's been covered (over and over again), praised almost as often, analyzed, referenced, and, of course, found to be encoded in the minds of Cylons.
Originally released 40 years ago, erm, yesterday: All Along the Watchtower.
Since then, it's been covered (over and over again), praised almost as often, analyzed, referenced, and, of course, found to be encoded in the minds of Cylons.
Originally released 40 years ago, erm, yesterday: All Along the Watchtower.
"Extracting Beauty From Chaos"
Skhoinarion uses his own custom software to make mathematical art, ranging from the architectural to the strikingly natural.
His animations feature digital and digitally-manipulated analog content and are also quite remarkable.
Death of a Browser, End of an Era
RIP Netscape browser, 1994-2007. AOL, who acquired the groundbreaking browser as part of a $4.2 billion deal in 1998, announced the end today. Good-bye or good riddance?
We regret the following:
Contemporary Tibetan Art
2007: The Movie(s)
Indiewire put out their second annual film critic's poll recently. There Will Be Blood tops the list, with Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, Syndromes and a Century, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days following behind. [more inside]
The 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007
Road Trippin'
"Road Trip is a short film composed of 12,397 pictures taken automatically from the back seat of a car while driving accross [sic] America from Portland, Oregon to New Hampshire."
Friday Flash: Areas
Hello Kitty is coming for your menfolk
MeFi is no stranger to Hello Kitty. Whether you are a fan or not (previously), her feline popularity, especially among young women, is undeniable. "But what about the guys?" you ask. Unless you were a Thai police officer, Puroland groom, or bought the existing merchandise, there just wasn't anything made especially for you. Sanrio heard the call, and Hello Kitty merchandise designed especially for men is coming soon.
Lilly the explorer
Lilly - The world. Incredibly cute and quite amazing.
the tighty whiteys are funny
"Zuda takes the Web publishing aspect out of the creators' hands, freeing them up to focus on writing and drawing the story. But to get Zuda to publish your comic, you first have to win a competition..." A major player enters into the fray of web comics publishing, previously populated mostly by independents. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? [more inside]
Disco Polo
World getting you down ? then why not cheer yourslef up by watching some videos By B O Y S - perhaps the greatest Disco Polo band in the world. [more inside]
Literacy and voting patterns
Library usage, newspaper circulation, and educational attainment are primary factors used by researchers to determine the 'most literate cities.' Minneapolis has regained top honors from Seattle, though both cities have ranked at the top since the original study in 2003. Other studies here and here show minor shifts in the intervening years. Most relevant now is that there seems to be a correlation between literacy and voting patterns. [more inside]
Now my advice for those who die, declare the pennies on your eyes.
Tax Info for Musicians. Musicians and taxes don’t seem to mix very well. Taxes and administrating the business of music are often last on the list of concerns for the working musician. The above link gives some helpful tips on what to look for and some simple dos and don'ts. Also, here's some information on the often confusing Section 179 Deduction and a list of common deductible business expenses
Hollywood and hotels
Francis Ford Copolla owns the Blancaneaux Lodge, Clint Eastwood owns the 22-acre The Mission Ranch, John Malkovich owns The Big Sleep Hotel, Liz Hurley owns Number 11. What is it with movie people and hotels? And where are the arthouse establishments?
Red Ball, Yellow Ball
Shuffle. Pool without pockets, simple but addictive
Are you sleeping? Well, are you?
External Delivery the Future
Parentists, the dogmatic believers that parents alone are the source of Christmas presents, may have new reason to believe, with the scientific approach of External Delivery. Of course, some skeptics have opined that External Delivery is just Santa Clausism with a pseudoscientific veneer. Other commentators are more forgiving, and point out the great strides that ED has made in the study of Yuleogy.
December 27
An Excellent Woman
Barbara Pym’s books focused on women who rarely make it into any spotlight, literary or otherwise: quiet, sensible, independent women of a certain age. Like the spinsters who populate her novels, her genius has been too often overlooked, but she does have her devotees. [more inside]
History Archives: Online.
Want to study some history and have hundreds of hours on your hands? Don't worry now. We already exhaustive know about the Valley of the Shadow project. But what about Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History, a bilingual English-French archive? If neither of these (vast) subjects tickle your pickle, don't worry... [more inside]
Carol Anne and the TV people
EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about Heather O'Rourke (December 27th 1975 - February 1st, 1988) but were afraid to ask. [more inside]
Flushing - home of mediocre baseball and Religious Freedom
"“If any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egress and regress unto our town. For we are bound by the law of God and man to do good unto all men and evil to no man.”
Today is the 350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance - a precursor of the Constitution, and "an iconic record of early Dutch colonial government that proclaimed the necessity of religious freedom of conscience and toleration." As this NYT Op-Ed notes, this document originated (and is currently on display) in "the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse borough in the most diverse city on the planet."
Today is the 350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance - a precursor of the Constitution, and "an iconic record of early Dutch colonial government that proclaimed the necessity of religious freedom of conscience and toleration." As this NYT Op-Ed notes, this document originated (and is currently on display) in "the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse borough in the most diverse city on the planet."
10 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube
Open Culture's "10 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube" features "intellectually redeemable" channels from UC Berkeley, @GoogleTalks, TheNobelPrize, TED Talks, FORA.tv, the European Graduate School, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, BBC Worldwide, National Geographic, PBS, UChannel, MIT, Vanderbilt, and USC.
The International Year of the Potato
2008: The International Year of the Potato. Why now? Because the potato is delicious previously, easy to grow, and fun for all ages. [more inside]
Ach, those damn 110 year old kids!
The Katzenjammer Kids* are 110 years old this month, the world's longest running comic. Watch 1918's Policy & Pie (pt. 2), rare animation by creator Rudolph Dirks who lost the strip to William Randolph Hearst in a court case. The strip was taken over by Harold H. Knerr, but Dirks retained rights to the characters and produced a rival cartoon under The Captain & the Kids for Pulitzer papers for several decades. Five artists followed Dirks and Knerr creating the strip for Hearst.
24c3
The 24th Chaos Communication Congress, "the annual four-day conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club is taking place in Berlin right now. The Congress offers lectures and workshops on a multitude of topics and attracts a diverse audience of thousands of hackers, scientists, artists, and utopians from all around the world." Lectures are also being streamed live (Check the CCC Tube) [more inside]
The Valley of the Dawn
Reading the January edition of Harper's, about Brasilia, I was struck by a bit about what is apparently one of many cults in around the capital city: the Valley of the Dawn. A Jewish UFO cult? The ultimate in syncretic religions? Book your flight now.They're a lot more open to foreigners than Macumba
Parmenides
Parmenides. "The pre-Socratic philosopher sparked an intellectual revolution that still echoes today. Yet for philosophy and science to continue to progress in the 21st century, we may need to embark on an entirely new cognitive journey ."
Cerebus creator Dave Sim's new comic glamourpuss
Aardvark Vanaheim presents: The Fabulous World of glamourpuss. Four years after publishing the 300th and final issue of his epic-length Cerebus, comic artist Dave Sim has announced that he is launching a new bi-monthly title debuting April, 2008. The topic? Fashion. [more inside]
A collection of unusual maps
A collection of unusual maps from Maps: Finding Our Place in the World by James Akerman and Robert Karrow, including slavery maps of the US from the 19th Century, maps of the voyage of the Pequod from Moby Dick and a mappe of Fairyland. All the maps are available in high resolutions with zoom functioning. [via The Edge of the American West]
Pictures of Plastered Women
Gimpix.com's home page title reads "exploring the sexuality of an attractive woman in a plaster of Paris leg cast"
There's something for everyone out on the interwebs, and if you're interested in purchasing snapshots of young women in leg casts, tracking cast sightings on tv and in movies, or checking out vintage images from magazines and newspapers, this might be for you.
NSFW, although not a Spanking The Monkey sort of NSFW
gnignis sdrawkcab
Apparently there is no trickery here; just a lot of practice, which allows this guy to sing backwards. [more inside]
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed
"This book runs the full gamut from the mediocre to the ludicrous to the merely bad." So begins philosopher Colin McGinn's review of Ted Honderich's On Consciousness. "It is a pity that his own efforts here are so shoddy, inept, and disastrous." The harsh words are the latest conflict between the radical externalist and new mysterian views on consciousness, but Honderich traces the disagreement to a conversation the two men had 25 years ago: "I suggested to him that his new girlfriend was not as plain as the old one, and I could see the blood drain out of his face." The feud is discussed at the philosophy blog Leiter Reports. [more inside]
Benazir Bhutto Assasinated
Benazir Bhutto was killed in an apparent assasination.
Previously thought to have escaped the blast unscathed, she was killed by a shot to the neck. [more inside]
December 26
Brainwashed by a parasite
Brainwashed by a parasite A look at Cordyceps, a parasitic fungi that infects insects and other arthropods. Don't miss the videos, especially this one. They're the best part.
quoting with image maps
Kwout, Use it to grab a quick quotation or other screen shot from a web site and embed it into a blog or other website (one click to Flickr and Tumblr).. [via/via] [more inside]
Many Retirees May Lose Benefit From Employers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act [more inside]
Plesiosaur
Signs?
The number of accidents at one intersection dropped by 95 percent, from 200 a year to about 10... "You can't deny the numbers," he added. "Half the world is eager to see what's going to happen with this program." Apparently, people in India can handle it. (Surely you saw this on Reddit?)
Human Album Covers
Half-human album covers. Also known as "sleevefaces."
When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross
American Fascists: A CBC interview with author Chris Hedges regarding the Christians Right's onward march toward political power.
The Imperial Presidency
Candidates on executive power: a full spectrum. Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on presidential signing statements, surveyed the major 2008 presidential candidates about their views on the limits of executive power. [BugMeNot, via Huffington Post.] [more inside]
Do You Smell What I Smell?
77 year-old Robert Schoff spent Christmas Eve wedged upside down in the opening of his septic tank. And how was your Christmas?
Photoshopped pictures of people with mouths instead of eyes
Photoshopped pictures of people with mouths instead of eyes via Neil Gaiman who may or may not have pioneered the concept with his nightmarish creation The Corinthian.
Tales of marrying the devil
Did you ever hear the story / of Belinda O'McHugh / She was courted by the Devil / And she didn't know what to do / He came a courtin' ev'ry evenin' / So Belinda got to thinkin' / She would be the Devil's wife / It was better far than bein' / An old maid all her life
Bacon-licious
So long and Thanks!
Some of the inventors and creators that died in 2007 who leave behind something for us to remember them by:
David H. Shepard (Optical Readers, Farrington B numeric font),
J. Robert Cade (Gatorade),
Herbert Saffir (The Hurricane Scale),
George Rieveschl (beta-dimethylaminoethylbenzhydryl ether hydrochloride --- a.k.a. Benadryl),
Arthur Jones (Nautilus machines),
Jack Odell (Matchbox Cars),
Raymond Douglas (Color in the NY Times),
George Kovacs (The ubiquitous halogen torchiere lamp),
Martin J. Weber (The Posterization technique),
Edwin Traisman (Cheez Whiz and McD's French Fries),
Ed Yost (Modern Hot-Air Ballooning),
Theodore Maiman (The Laser),
John Billings (The Rhythm Method),
Paul C. Lauterbur (The M.R.I.),
John W. Backus (Fortran),
Florence Z. Melton (Slippers),
James Hillier (The Electron Microscope),
Iwao Takamoto ("Scooby-Doo"),
and
Momofuku Ando (Instant Ramen).
So it goes.
Silicon implants for your Tattoo
Any idiot can tattoo a busty woman on his flesh. It takes committment to give your tattoo silicon implants.
"MY DOG SOPHY" by Thomas Monahan
"MY DOG SOPHY" by Thomas Monahan This boy, 9, died in a house fire while attempting to rescue his dog Sophie. This article contains a scan the book he wrote for his companion. Devastating.
Make me a Muslim ...wait, what ?
Make me a Muslim. The recently aired three episodes show takes a glamour model who wants to experience being completely hidden under a dress ,a skin therapist looking for meaning of life, a taxi driver that strongly feels islam is threatening UK lifestyle, a school teacher who wants to learn, an interracial interreligion couple and a flaming gay hairdresser tired of shallow party life.
Take this colourful bunch and have two imams, a preacher and a converted woman lead them through an "islamic lifestyle" experience. You can watch the results here , I guess at least for a while.
US Census Bureau's DataWeb
TheDataWeb - a network of online data libraries on topics including census data, economic data, health data, income and unemployment data, population data, labor data, cancer data, crime and transportation data, family dynamics, vital statistics data
Straight on Till Mornin'
"23 days, 12 states, five Canadian provinces, and 10,923 miles. We came within a hundred miles of the Arctic Circle and 500 miles of Russia. And we saw the most beautiful place that can be imagined." In June of last year, Clint and Robin drove from Chicago to Alaska and back again. Last August they headed into the great American west. Along the way they took some beautiful photos and made some inspired observations. If you've got some time on your hands, and some wanderlust in your heart, read along.
Clock Evolution Model
Natural selection and evolution in clocks(youtube) - Video of the details and results of a program written to model the evolution of clocks (if they were alive). [more inside]
December 25
Ondes Martenot, or, When Maurice Met Leon.
When Maurice Martenot met Lev Sergeivich Termen in the early 1920's and heard his revolutionary new musical instrument the Theremin, he was inspired to create his own electroacoustic instrument , which he christened Ondes Martenot. Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the first performance of this remarkable hybrid keyboard which, aside from its lovely and ethereal sound, is also aesthetically pleasing visually, with its handsome collection of multiple speakers. See and hear the instrument being played and explained in this video interview and demonstration by Jean Laurendeau, which closes with a lovely rendition of the theme from Star Trek. And, here's the instrument in use, live, alongside who else? Radiohead. [more inside]
Human History in 60 Seconds
Man killed by escaped tiger at San Francisco Zoo
One man was killed and two others critically injured when Siberian tiger Tatiana escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo. The men were eating at a cafe on the Ocean Boulevard end of the zoo. The tiger was shot to death by police at the scene. Tatiana, allegedly not known for violence, mauled her keeper one year and three days ago, after which the Lion House was closed for ten months for a $250,000 safety upgrade. It reopened in September, 2007.
Tiny buildings made of paper.
Tiny Buildings - "a collection of tiny buildings handcrafted from business cards, packaging and other nice papers."
Faces of the Divine
India's Ancient Art. "Fifth-century painters created stunning murals in dim man-made caves. A gifted photographer brings them to light." [more inside]
the hellidays spirit
A good chuckle about surviving the hellidays: Dysfunctional Family Holidays, the music l an interactive karaoke with several songs l What exactly is a dysfunctional family? l What are the roles for the kids? [more inside]
A reading of "In the Late December," by Greg van Eekhout
"In the Late December" (MP3 link), by Greg van Eekhout, is a Nebula award-nominated story about Santa Claus and the end of the universe, and is Escape Pod #138. (By the way, this is a very dark story -- there's no sex or violence but this probably isn't suitable for kids, where "kids" is defined as a stereotypical aggregate of child-like characteristics. Yours may be different.)
Merry Christmas, Rabbi!
Inspired by this article, I thought Christmas would be the perfect (huh?) day to introduce the late poet, author, spiritual leader, thinker, and civil rights activist Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Liberation Army Against Freedom!
Friends and foes, witness the true firepower of the Liberation Army Against Freedom. We have been amassing a fearsome arsenal, and soon the world will tremble at the Mother of All (Fireworks) Rockets. [more inside]
A reading of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas
Audio of Dylan Thomas reading his poem "A Child's Christmas in Wales". (real media and mp3)
December 24
OLPC
Oy vey, no Kwanza specials... sorry.
Time to kill while waiting for Santa to arrive/dinner to digest/family to leave? Well, here's a Very Special Holiday Episode fpp just for you. God bless us, every one. [more inside]
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo...
It's easy with the excessive shopping, TV specials, nonstop music, etc. but tomorrow we honor one of mankind's most important people. A man who told parables to the masses of how the meek shall inherit the earth, how to serve man, and how to face our own personal demons. People have built monuments to him, even died in his name. I am, of course, referring to Rod Serling (born 12/25/1924). Merry Serlingmas!
A Motherlode of Ancient TV
A motherlode of ancient TV has been found at a web address near you! Journey now to the dim, poorly produced, and poorly preserved, but somehow incredibly sweet primitive ancestors of today's tv travesties.
See Captain Video hawk his amazing ring. Or gape as Foodini and Pinhead perform acts impossible for mere flesh-and-blood creatures. And these are not 10-second clips--they're whole shows.
And ads.
And Variety (that means a bunch of unrelated entertaining music, dance, or comedy segments, each a few minutes long)--in English, not Spanish like nowadays (cf Sabado_Gigante) [more inside]
And ads.
And Variety (that means a bunch of unrelated entertaining music, dance, or comedy segments, each a few minutes long)--in English, not Spanish like nowadays (cf Sabado_Gigante) [more inside]
Photographs of Authors
Pictures of writers in a thread on I Love Music. Lots and lots of pictures of lots of writers. Another thread from the same board with more pictures (some duplicates). Author photos are most often seen on dust jackets or in the back of books, a practice Frances Wilson wishes to see abolished. One famous connoisseur of pictures of writers is Javier Marías who wrote a whole book on the subject, Written Lives. Here are a few excerpts from the book: William Faulkner, Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen) and an edited extract covering a whole lot of authors. [more inside]
Judge a book by its cover.
Site for Henry Sene Yee, book designer. Site includes finished pieces and rejected proofs.
King William College Quiz
The King William College Quiz, apparently now my only FPP in a year (since the last quiz), hopefully as hard as ever, but unlikely to reward my brand of laziness. Merry Christmas! See previous posts for laying out answers, I'll post the Guardians' answer sheet in January.
Moustache Monday
Alices in Wonderlands
Santa visits some interesting places
Oscar Peterson 1925 - 2007
a parable of rodents and men
Peace on Earth - 1939 Disney animation directed by Hugh Harman. And Goodwill to Men, a 1955 remake by Hanna-Barbera.
Clement Clark, No More?
What to my wondering eyes should appear but the suggestion that "A Visit From St. Nicholas," the classic poem which has defined the American Santa Claus, from red suit and big belly to reindeer and chimney-delivery method, was written not by classics professor Clement Clarke Moore but by poet and military man Henry Livingston. Though some think the authorship controversy is sugarplum vision of Livingston's descendents, other scholars the claim: literary 'detective' Donald Foster agrees (though his sleuthing record is not unblemished). Leading historian of Christmas Stephen Nissenbaum, says that either way, St. Nick is the product of the same social world, that of the wealthy white elite in the New York of the early Republic. If the claim is true, then in the convoluted history of the manuscript we've gotten some reindeer names wrong.
Hogfather
He's not, like, a garden item.
Potrait of an internet troll (with actual potrait of the internet troll). Includes one-bedroom apartment, dead-end and part-time jobs, and not-so-secret underground lair.
Totally circular, dude.
Alexander Overwijk draws a perfect circle. Is it really "perfect"? Hell, I dunno. But if it ain't, well, it's pretty close. And see big Al get rounder than everyone else, as he takes top prize at the 2007 World Freehand Circle Drawing Championship. WARNING: Pearl Jam audio on 2nd link. Volume mute is advised.
Santa's Ghetto
Santa's Ghetto: Stirring art from behind the Jerusalem Wall.
December 23
Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
Auggie Wren's Christmas Story, by Paul Auster. Read by the author and brought to life in the movie Smoke.
Make sure to clean your logfiles.
Ever admired those hard-working hackers, toiling away to get you the programs you've always loathed to have? Have you ever dreamt of exploring the innards of someone else's computer but have held back due to those pesky legalities? If you said yes to either of the above questions or just want to play an online hacking simulation, then SlaveHack is the website for you. [more inside]
Jack Benny Christmas Shows
Enjoy a heaping helping of old time radio with classic Christmas specials from The Jack Benny Show. [more inside]
The Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen: Just in time for holidays, enjoy a pleasant chat between the world's most famous atheists - Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett.
The Marines Will Like My Shooting. And They Are Going to Like Me.
Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a Flickr set of the pages from Helen Palmer Geisel's (Dr. Seuss's first wife) now out of print children's book that gained notoreity for its depiction of children doing fun & very dangerous things like joining the marines, playing with guns & fighting American Gladiator style.
I'm too sad to tell you...
A site for artist Bas Jan Ader (wikipedia) who was last seen in 1975 when he took off in what would have been the smallest sailboat ever to cross the Atlantic. Site includes his most famous piece, I'm Too Sad to Tell You.
and other Curiosities, Antiquities and Gadgetry too numerous to mention!
Virtual Tour of Steve's Weird House. "Stephen resides in a Victorian home that is a cluttered combination of museum, library and art gallery, decorated with that old-world Addam's Family charm. Not only is every inch of every wall covered with art, but all the ceilings are also decorated." (Via.)
eclectic galleries
artjob.ru is a Russian site worth exploring with some pretty awesome, eclectic galleries (some nsfw). Naoto Hattori, 134 paintings of surrealistic Mona Lisas transformed and more l Child Soldiers Dream Simply of Being Children ads for Amnesty International/photographs by Michael Lewis l Christian Lohfink's playfully mischievous and dark humor photographs l Elliott Erwitt's superb black and white photographs, many iconic l [more inside]
Robinson Jeffers
Electric Christmas Trees
Eric Volz Freed
Eric Volz Freed. Following a thirty-year sentence and a later appeal, Eric Volz was set free by a Nicaraguan court. As discussed in The Blue previously. His family's statement.
Walldogs
"Wall Dogs" were sign painters that crafted ads directly on the walls of buildings (in time becoming Ghost Signs, previously posted on Mefi 1, 2, 3) and their craft is not dead.
Privatize profit. Socialize risk.
Push Capitalism. Bill Moyers' interview with Dr. Benjamin Barber about the state of our modern capitalist society and how he believes capitalism threatens American democracy. PBS.org streaming video. [more inside]
3D Animation Short Films in Spanish
One Gorilla Drumming
It's an advert for chocolate. It's a man in a gorilla suit drumming to a track by Philip Collins Ltd. It's been very popular. It's won awards. It's been spoofed. And it's been mashed-up... some bad (Metalica (sic), ACDC, Guns and Roses), some good (Bonnie Tyler, Subsource, A Skillz, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple, Nirvana) and some utterly sublime ('Enders, Bodyrockers, Cameo). But great adverts don't always equal great sales. Bonus: Monkey Drummer. (Previously)
Тхундербирдс являются дороге!
Russian cold war bombers - The Tu 95 Bear and
Tu 160 Blackjack, based in central Russia, which resumed long range patrols in August.
Street fighting men first had to pay their dues
You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you can get what you need. [more inside]
Stand up! Stand up and be counted...
Census sensitivity. The Economist takes a look at the politics of enumeration.
Proof positive that Japan is a sick, sick place.
After I posted this article, many people asked me who listens to that berserk music. Well, it's most popular with Japanese girls lumped under the general term "gyaru". It is not really a fashion movement per se, as it has fractured into scores of rapidly-evolving subgroups--usually hostile to each other, even though many appear the same to the uninitiated. In fact, the book Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno, published in 2007, is already said to be out of date. This website is a bit more current.
What do "gyaru" look like? There are now quite a few slideshows of gyaru on the streets of Tokyo on YouTube. Examples: here, here, and here. And for those who need to buy these "fashions", the primary bibles are FRUiTS and Egg. There is something wrong with that country.......
December 22
Gravel's F**king Dope!
"Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Team Fortress 2 Trivia!"
I Waterboard!
I Waterboard! If I had the choice of being waterboarded by a third party or having my fingers smashed one at a time by a sledgehammer, I'd take the fingers, no question.
Proliferation, house by house
The hippies next door are installing solar panels. Me, I'm waiting for my Toshiba Home Nuclear Reactor. I'm no early adopter, either; up in Galena the grizzlies have been keeping their dens warm and hot for several years. Thinking of becoming the first nuclear power on your block? Lots of bullet points, links, and some pretty pix and diagrams in this .pdf and this wiki. (Via Instapundit.)
Her majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say.
"I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct." The queen of England launches her own YouTube channel.
I, for one, welcome our new Wii remote hacking overlords
Still aren't sure if the Wii is worth the wait in line? That's okay, the Wiimote is all you need for: Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote,
Tracking Your Fingers with the Wiimote, and the latest:
Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote (extremely cool and the easiest to implement). From the maker of the $14 steady-cam [prev. here], Johnny Chung Lee is taking Wiimote hacking to a whole new level, and giving away all necessary software and instructions for free. Wii games are about to get a whole lot cooler. [more inside]
Short dutch films
The short films of Floris Kaayk and Sil van der Woerd blend live-action footage and computer animation. Metalosis Maligna. Swim. Duet.
Order Electrum. [more inside]
He's Making A List, He's Checking It Twice...
Ho[over]! Ho[over]!Ho[over]!
According to a document that was one of many declassified [PDF] by The State Department yesterday, “Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had a plan to suspend the rules against illegal detention and arrest up to 12,000 Americans he suspected of being disloyal....The plan called for the FBI to apprehend all potentially dangerous individuals whose names were on a list Hoover had been compiling for years. ‘The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven percent are citizens of the United States,’ Hoover wrote in the now-declassified document. ‘In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the writ of habeas corpus.’” [habeas corpus previously -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.]
According to a document that was one of many declassified [PDF] by The State Department yesterday, “Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had a plan to suspend the rules against illegal detention and arrest up to 12,000 Americans he suspected of being disloyal....The plan called for the FBI to apprehend all potentially dangerous individuals whose names were on a list Hoover had been compiling for years. ‘The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven percent are citizens of the United States,’ Hoover wrote in the now-declassified document. ‘In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the writ of habeas corpus.’” [habeas corpus previously -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.]
Words words words. (And symbols!)
Editor wars are some of the most divisive debates among programmers and writers. These days, the battles are between proponents of IDEs like NetBeans, Eclipse, and the like as often as they are between proponents of vi and Emacs, the traditional battlegrounds. That fight hasn't ended, of course. The support of the vi camp has largely solidified behind Vim, the largest and most feature rich (or bloated, if you like nvi) variant, and GNU Emacs has essentially vanquished its internecine rival. Are you a traditionalist? You can find an argument if you really want to.
Of course, a lot of people now vote for third parties. There are candidates for the ignorant, for the masochistic, and the insane. Some people are more comfortable with familiar interfaces. Still others are obsessed. [Previously]
A World Fit for Children
Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children Statistical Review "reports on how well the world is doing in meeting its commitments for the world’s children. This UNICEF special edition analyses progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in four priority areas for children: promoting healthy lives, providing a quality education, combating HIV and AIDS, and protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence." [more inside]
Collage: online image database
Collage is an online image database from the collections of the City of London Libraries and the Guildhall Art Gallery. Images cover the last five centuries. You can search by key word or browse by theme, artist/engraver, person or place. [more inside]
The Weird World of Backstreet Boys fans (pre USA fame)
While the Spice Girls are currently inflicting their 4th division nightclub appearance act on their poor fans I was rather surprised to see a tiny little ad in the newspaper announcing a UK tour by the Backstreet Boys. While on the surface it seems that this reflects the popularity of one over the other, I can't help thinking that this is pretty much the way they want it (hee!) having observed how completely insane their fans used to be. [more inside]
The Bus reaches the Cross-road.
They were polite to us. They were more than happy for us to come to the rallies and stand in lines for hours to cheer on the candidates.... But when they got elected, behind closed doors, they would laugh at us and speak with scorn and derision that we were, as one article I think once said "the easily led." So there's been almost this sort of, it's okay if you guys get a seat on the bus, but don't ever think about telling us where the bus is going to go.[more inside]
I want a pony, I want a pony ...
The Grinch
You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch l The Grinch Song lyrics. l How the Grinch Stole Christmas documentary: a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this perennial favorite. Featuring never-before-seen animation tests and interviews with director Chuck Jones, Audrey Geisel (Dr. Seuss' widow), composer Albert Hague, vocalist Thurl Ravenscroft, and Seuss aficionados Tim Burton & Danny Elfman, this 1994 special from cable channel TNT contains a sleigh-load of information for Grinch fans. [more inside]
Maybe Rap Really is the Poetry of Our Time...
Watch Sam Harris read "Soulja Boy" in....a unique style. (YT, slightly NSFW due to language) (skip to 0:15 for the actual video) And the original song. [more inside]
Working Cats in NYC
Working Class Cats documents the lives of gainfully employed felines in NYC. There is, of course, some controversy.
[via]
Home "Sweet" Home
Home "Sweet" Home : Bake For a Change challenges readers to build a sustainable gingerbread house. [more inside]
fewer books, more forum
The bookforum site deserves to be brought to the attention of right thinking MeFis everywhere. It like a collection of really good front page posts: annotated collections of 10 or so links from disparate sources on a common theme. [more inside]
Straight 8
Straight 8 challenges anyone to make a 3 minute film on one cartridge of super 8 film, editing only in-camera, with a separate original soundtrack.
The best of each year is shown at Cannes Film Festival. [Some NSFW videos] [more inside]
December 21
Yahoo's new BravoNation
Yahoo's new BravoNation brings Xbox Live type achievements to the world outside of gaming. You can send or receive homemade awards from any user. They are banking on third party sites using their API to hand out bravo awards to people for doing various things. Our own waxpancake has the exclusive first look.
13 shot venti soy hazelnut vanilla cinnamon white mocha with extra white mocha and caramel
The real life Papa Smurf?
The man with blue skin. No, not these posers, but this guy. Fifty-seven year old Paul Karason has blue skin. He drinks colloidal silver which can cause a medical condition called argyria.
Who is naming who?
This Flash tool from the New York Times shows you how many times each candidate has named each of the other candidates, suggesting which candidates the others perceive as worthy of addressing. It's a very neat and efficient visualization tool. Guess who everyone can't stop mentioning?
to ascertain what degree of resolution was necessary in order to place one’s self in formal opposition to the most sacred laws of society
Stand and Deliver! Dick Turpin was the quintessential highwayman, perhaps not as flamboyant as "Swift Nick" Nevison or as low profile as Jerry Abershaw, but legends abound about his exploits. He was buried (several times) in York after throwing himself off the gallows. 'Course, he's got his own heavy metal band, and his own swashbuckling t.v. adventure series (from 1979 to 1982) in which breathless maids said with heaving breasts "Dick 's been taken" (but of course, you can't hold Dick for long).
This list will eat itself.
Fake news is dead! Long live fake news!
'Werewolf Boy': The Wild Child of Russia
Like Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron (made famous through François Truffaut's film L'Enfant Sauvage), a modern-day feral child, known as 'werewolf boy ' "who snarls and bites [has] escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after being rescued from the wild." "The boy, who looks about ten, moves around with his legs half bent and 'was running with wolves and searching for food with them.' Police, who named him Lyokha, said villagers found him in a lair made of leaves and sticks in freezing temperatures." * [Feral Children previously on MeFi - 1, 2]
1961. The Alvin Show
The Alvin Show, 1961. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late).
The Witch Doctor, Pop Goes The Weasel, Chipmunk Fun and The Alvin Twist
The arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
Armed guards in church? Colorado's New Life Church: "The church's undercover security force is made up of an undisclosed number of volunteers with military or law-enforcement backgrounds, who carry radios and concealed weapons when they attend services." One of these guards recently shot a deranged gunman. [more inside]
Unidentified?
The Dec. 13th cover of the Lewiston Tribune [pdf] features an "unidentified thief" under a picture of a familiar looking window decorator [via waxy via vsl] [more inside]
"Moving The Homeless Forward One Step At A Time"
"When we're running, you can't tell. When people look at us, they don't point and go, 'Yeah, he's homeless, she's not, she's educated.'" Mahlum explained, "You look and say, 'Oh, look at the runners.' That's a positive association, because there's no separation." [more inside]
Scooch closer, children.
Christopher Walken riffs on a Christmas classic.
Free online games, courtesy of Slate
Just in time for Flash Friday, Slate lists the best free online games. The first one they mention, The Tall Stump, has been on MeFi previously, but there's more—even an Infocom-style text-based game.
Family Adopts Slain Son's Military Dog
"Lex has had two tours in Iraq," Jerome Lee said. "He's been through a lot, and we just want to get Lex home to our family and let him have a happy life." It is the first time a working dog has been granted retirement to live with a handler's family. [more inside]
O Wholly Night
In a small triumph of humanity/common sense over technology, a supermarket experiencing a computer crash gives customers their "purchases" free of charge until the cash registers are up and running again.
Let These Earth Creatures Have Their Fun - For Now!
Invaders from the Ice World is a Silver Age DC Comics story (available here as a PDF in its entirety) about the time living Snowmen who shoot lasers from their eyes came to attack the Earth. Merry Christmas!! (found via I'm Learning To Share)
"You scumbag, you maggot / You cheap lousy *BEEP*"
Fairytale of New York... censored! No, not now... Shane will make 50 this Christmas... Sadly not Kirsty.
Bureau of Communication
Send messages to friends with fun, bureaucratic fill-in forms! Bureau of Communication has funny faux-bureaucratic forms that you can send to your friends. Whether you need to communicate a problem, send an invitation to an event, or simply apologize for a transgression, our easy-to-use forms will ensure that your message is clearly conveyed.
The "attractive nuisance" in the red suit.
He keeps his white gloved hands where parents can see them. And buys liability insurance, just in case.
Arabella Spencer-Churchill, RIP
Arabella Spencer Churchill, granddaughter of Winston Churchill and co-founder of the Glastonbury rock festival is dead at 58. Sadly, on this very same day, her son was sentenced to three years prison in Australia on drug charges.
Let The Bells Ring Out For Christmas
The experiments of Sergei Bryukhonenko
After inventing the autojector, the worlds first artifical heart-lung machine, Sergei Bryukhonenko began to experiment on keeping severed dog heads alive and bringing dogs back from the dead, as shown in the film Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (some links contain mildly ghoulish stills from film).
The Flash days of Christmas
December 20
Dragon's Feathers
Vintage Soviet Christmas Cards
Creepypasta: Scary microfiction for the internet age.
BEKs, "Easter Eggs," The Holders... Welcome to the world of creepypasta -- short, oft-repeated scary stories, anecdotes, and "facts." [more inside]
Underwater Sculpture
British artist Jason de Caires Taylor creates an underwater sculpture park in the West Indies, not only to "explore the boundaries between art and the environment" but also to portray a beautiful process that happens to be doing nice things for the ecosystem. You can see a video of the sculptures on YouTube.
"Flynt is arguably the greatest student of the American underbelly since J. Edgar Hoover."
Vanity Fair sits down with Larry Flynt --his history and hits and misses, how much he pays for scandals involving hypocritical public figures, and a new (and limp) Nixon anecdote -- and tons of other juicy tidbits, of course).
Very petite, like a potato
Weng Weng Rap is a musical tribute to the Philippines's beloved 2' 9" tall superspy, the star of such films as For Your Height Only (audio clips). (Some lyrics mildly NSFW.)
What act / That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
This one's for all the editors out there! Remember when index cards were actually used to create... indexes?
Four out of Five People Wash Their Hands.
Four out of Five People Wash Their Hands. Don't be that Fifth Guy. While you're at it, cover your mouth when you cough and stay home when you're sick. Really, how many times do we have to tell you? Wash. Your. Hands. Seriously. [more inside]
Put Wet Towels On The Sensor
Stop making sense of this business of music
David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars Where there was one, now there are six: Six possible music distribution models, ranging from one in which the artist is pretty much hands-off to one where the artist does nearly everything. [more inside]
Life Imitates Satire
In the increasingly surreal battle between the RIAA and music listeners, reality and satire can be hard to discern.
wonderful ecards
It has now been several years since Jacquie Lawson, an English artist living in the picturesque village of Lurgashall in Southern England, created an animated Christmas card in 2000. The e-card, featuring her dog, Chudleigh, her cats, and her 15th-century cottage, was sent to a few friends for their amusement. Those friends sent the e-card to others, and within weeks Jacquie was inundated with requests from all over the world to design more e-cards. [more inside]
Annotated Asterix
Ya heard me?
From the Magnolia to the Calliope to the Melph (part 2, 3, and 4), New Orleans projects are notoriously violent, but through the haze of murder and decay there is a project culture of dancing and revelry. Now the projects are being torn down in a mix of protest and unrest.
Take your forms wrestled from the void and get the hell out
The Open Government Act
Secrecy no more? The first major overhaul of the Freedom of Information act in years is awaiting President Bush's signature. It will finally create an "independent" government agency to handle to disputes between records holders and information requesters. The passage of the act comes after, ironically, after an Arizona senator used a "secret hold" to block the bill. He was ferreted out by a group of journalists.
Lakota Indians Declare Independence
The Lakota People have withdrawn from their treaties with the United States, citing numerous violations of those treaties by the US. They plan to start their own country, issuing passports and drivers' licenses and living tax-free.
Europa über alles?
Von der Maas bis an die Memel,
Von der Etsch bis an den Belt.
Deutschland, Deutschland Europa, Europa über alles, Über alles in der Welt!
Von der Etsch bis an den Belt.
Some Digital Doritos for a lazy Thursday afternoon.
IM IN UR MANGER KILLING UR SAVIOR. And for those who finish watching that video thinking "A lawful evil Paladin? WTF?", here's a video response. And, just because it's too good not to share... honor! [more inside]
Rocking around the Christmas Tree
If you couldn't Guitar Hero III or can't afford Rock Band, or even if you're just not into rocking out, there's still one thing available make your holiday bright.
December 19
Scoutmaster
Scoutmaster is a blog from a long-time troop leader in which he talks both about practical scouting tools, such as how to make a fire and how to lash a tower together, and about current issues with discrimination in the BSA.
Saturnalia
Wanna get ripped off? Buy from these guys!
Touch not my anointed.
Brooklyn Storefront Houses Of Worship. Amateur photos of 100 storefront houses of worship in Brooklyn, NY.
The Trophy World Tour
Back in 2005, I (a trophy) was awarded to a team I didn't think deserved me. So I set out across the world in search of owners. Over the course of two years, said trophy visited throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, including celebrity visits with Phyllis from The Office and Shawn Marion of the NBA's Phoenix Suns. An exercise in dedicated pranksterdom.
Cool art russian artists found on livejournal
The livejournal group ru_graphic has been showcasing great artists for years, such as soamo, desmonych, floksystar, malli-ly, olliwander, omie-yomie, zuza1, ya-ya, varka, solntsev-gleb, adul and names.
"I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man."
Who was Alexander Hamilton? Bastard, immigrant, Federalist, Secretary of the Treasury, speechwriter, philanderer, industrialist, duelist.
Make your own flag!
Michel Gondry on the making of "Declare Independence" (also, YouTube), his seventh collaboration with Björk. It makes their romp with a Paint Piano a couple years ago seem oddly prescient. [more inside]
The chimp sat on its haunches, making "ook-ook" noises, while Gordon circled, his gloves held high.
Lucius Shepard has a terrible website, but he tells good stories. For example, his friend Gordon once fought with a chimpanzee. (Cecil Adams said such a fight would be unwise.)
Best Buy Bodhisattva
limits
The dangers of living in a zero-sum world economy - naked capitalism reprints (with added commentary) an FT article by Martin Wolf on why it's vital for (civilised) society to sustain a 'positive-sum' world, otherwise: "A zero-sum economy leads, inevitably, to repression at home and plunder abroad." Wolf's solution? "The condition for success is successful investment in human ingenuity." Of course! Some are calling for more socialism, while others would press on to build more megaprojects. For me, at least part of the solution lies in environmental accounting and natural capitalism :P
40 Blogs a seguir en 2008
Wow, isn't that... doing...? Wait.
World Orgasm Day
December 22 is World Orgasm Day. "WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible instantaneous surge of human biological, mental and spiritual energy."
Impress your dolphin girlfriend
And here I am kicking my own legs like a sucker. From DEKA Research the folks that made the Segway and DARPA the little defense department that could (bomb you) comes Power Swim which uses an oscillating foil to develop vortices that...uh, it makes you go faster in the water. Some pictures, here. [more inside]
Does anybody remember she loves you?
I Wanna Hold Your Stairway The Beatnix perform Stairway to Heaven... as the Beatles might have done it. Probably not much different than the Rutles might have done it.
To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice.
2-plankers beware
Enjoy snowboarding but upset over restrictions at certain premier ski areas? Burton Snowboards [embedded sound warning] has a favor to ask...
Rockin' the Paradise
The Paradise Theater opened on Chicago's West Side on September 14, 1928, and was billed as the world's most beautiful theater for its stunning interior and exterior beauty. [more inside]
math for dummies
Pepsi BlueCross BlueShield
The Prepaid Healthcare Visa® Gift Card, for that special someone without insurance on your holiday list. Rejoice! Terry Gilliam's dystopian future is now! [via]
There's definitely a method to my madness. Definitely.
Lightning calculator and "mathemagician" Art Benjamin goes through his paces in a 15 minute video.
beautiful old illustrations
Packed full of galleries of beautiful illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, Aubrey Beardsley, William Morris, Gustave Doré, Arthur Rackham and others with prints one can buy of any illustration, Artsy Craftsy includes a sumptuous collection of Victorian Fairies illustrations. The site also has the illustrated Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde, illustrations of cats in fairy tales, Magic Cats, and a selection of beautiful free ecards as well. [more inside]
Nellis AFB Air Show.
Wikipedia: COO wanted
It was revealed last week that former Wikipedia Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Doran was a convicted felon, her prior record includes four convictions for driving under the influence, two of check fraud and petty larceny, one hit and run with fatality, one unlawful wounding for shooting a former boyfriend, suspect in a murder case, and some suspicion surrounding the drowning death of her newlywed husband. Senior Wikipedians are "shocked", and the waves are still reverberating as apparently something totally secret and big is going down at the Foundation (that runs Wikipedia) that may radically alter the board for better or worse.
Post the past
Gutenberg-e now offers open access to Columbia University Press history ebooks. "These award winning monographs, coordinated with the American Historical Association, afford emerging scholars new possibilities for online publications, weaving traditional narrative with digitized primary sources, including maps, photographs, and oral histories." Found via a link to How Taiwan Became Chinese, one of the books available.
glass art
101 Simple Appetizers in 20 minutes or less
The Minimalist: 101 Simple Appetizers in 20 minutes or less NYT. Registration etc.
December 18
Irish traditional flute music on video
Everything you want to know about Irish traditional music played on flute, including a guide to the instrument, a guide to styles and a rather comprehensive collection of the best Irish traditional flute videos on the web. And if you like these, perhaps you'd like to learn how to play too. [more inside]
A weakness for Iowa
…you are brilliant and subtle if you come from Iowa and really strange and you live as you live and you are always well taken care of if you come from Iowa. [more inside]
Movie prop collecting as a business
It's a bigger business. than you knew. International even. So big that there’s a secondary market of replicas of originals. Some are big, but some are tiny yet very ambitious about collecting. Many choose to build their own, and often they painstakingly document the process.
And yes, there is a main watering hole where they ALL gather.
Footnote to History
Footnote (mentioned previously but briefly on MeFi) is trying to be the latest big destination for history buffs and family historians on the web, where... "you can view the most exciting original source documents," over 22 million of 'em, some of which are "available for the first time on the internet"!
Sure, you have to pay to get to a bunch of the genealogy stuff, but they've also got digital scans of lots of cool American history documents for FREE! A current, more-or-less chronological list of the free docs follows... [more inside]
When you care enough to send the very bewildering.
If you're looking for a good prank this holiday season, why not have someone living in Europe send cryptic, bizarre postcards to your friends. Bidding has commenced.
There and Back Again
Middle Earth Filter: Peter Jackson and New Line to produce The Hobbit and a sequel. After a lengthy legal dispute between the director and the production company behind the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, the two parties have come to a resolution - and Middle Earth will be back in cinemas in 2010 and 2011.
Reuters Photos of the Year, Aught Seven
Oswald has been shot
An archive of raw footage and news reports concerning the assassination of JFK and the guy most people think that did it, Oswald.
Sustainability
Our Decrepit Food Factories. Michael Pollan on what sustainability is really about. [Via Gristmill.]
The Ultimate Paranormalist
Henry Steel Olcott is best known as one of the founders of the Theosophical Society, along with Helena Blavatsky. He died 100 years ago. [more inside]
The Best Music of 2007 According to
The best music of 2007 according to Stereogum, Pitchfork, All Music, NME, PopMatters, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, TIME, MTV, the Guardian, eMusic, Amazon, Spin Magazine, Q, Largehearted Boy, and more. Among the most frequently listed are Radiohead, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Of Montreal, Feist, and The National.
ITAPPMONROBOT
"So, at our meeting earlier, you suggested building a robot. Is that something we can really do?" [more inside]
Tacky Christmas Yards. REALLY Tacky.
Tales from the Booze Bus
"It is binge drinking. We don't see people who've had just two drinks. People have had 20 shots of vodka." In central London, "Alternative Response Vehicle - or Booze Bus, as it's more commonly known - draw on their reserves of composure, ingenuity and stoicism to treat more than 20 dazed drunks," over the course of a 12-hour shift. [more inside]
Self-publishing in an Internet Age, or, Web Comics Without the Pictures.
Pages Unbound is a portal for serialized web novels, similar to web comic portals such as Buzz Comix and Top Web Comics, if not nearly as fancy. It is a new project by Tales of MU author Alexandra Erin. Note: Tales of MU and some of the novels found on Pages Unbound may be NSFW, as they contain explicit material of various sorts. MU, specifically, is concerned with LGBT issues and racism in a fantasy setting.
top ten stories
Here are the ten stories you probably missed this year From Foreign Policy. I certainly missed a lot of them. Sorry about the single link.
20 years of line noise and here's to 20 more
#!/usr/bin/perl
@d = localtime(time);
if ($d[4] == 11 && $d[3] == 18 ) {
print "Happy ".($d[5]-87)."th Birthday, Perl!\n";
}
if( $ARGV[0] eq "love" || $ARGV[0] eq "hate" ) {
print "$you can't deny its contribution to our culture\n";
}
New iPod speaker complete with tortured fish
iCruel: "Even if it does live it's not [a] life worth living ... it's really just a torture box."
Feliz Nahbehblah
Victims of the Rising Tide
As the immigration debate rages, Anti-Latino hate crimes rose by almost 35% between 2003 and 2006. Here are a few dozen of them. To some, this trend may seem perfectly FAIR.
I'll Remember Mingus
Even if he was a world-class weirdo (or, if you take his words literally, three world-class weirdoes) who spent time in Bellevue, enlisted his psychotherapist to write his liner notes, and allegedly taught his cat to use the toilet (h/t to MeFi's urbanwhaleshark), I'll best remember Charles Mingus for giving me his 1960 take on "I'll Remember April", featuring the most exciting four minutes of music in my entire collection (starting at the 9:25 mark of the video). [more inside]
For your consideration
Fox Searchlight has made the screenplays to The Darjeeling Limited, Juno, The Namesake, Once, The Savages, and Waitress available online. Paramount Vantage has done the same for A Mighty Heart, Into the Wild, and Margot at the Wedding. (Note: All links are to pdf files.) (Via.)
Hammer Has Risen From The Grave!... er Rave!
Hammer films are back! ... The classic British horror film company has returned from the dead with the first new film in 20 years to be first broadcast in instalments via MySpace. This has allowed some news programs to camp it up just a little... See the trailer here. Behind the scenes. [more inside]
Salvation Lies Within
The holes in the men’s cells were covered by revealing photographs of women in bikinis, which officials displayed at Monday’s news conference.
Grudgingly, Mr. Romankow acknowledged the similarity to the film “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Literacy & Thought
Is it time to unwrap Oxfam Unwrapped?
Do The Collage
When he's not recording more songs than Bob Dylan, former Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard is busy creating collages, many of which can now be seen online in an exhibit from Studio Dante in New York City. [more inside]
December 17
These forum members are more dedicated than us
Great job!
Polite Dance Song by The Bird And The Bee, directed by Eric Wareheim, co-creator of Tim and Eric Nite Live, Episode 5 and Mahanahan's Child Clown Outlet.
Hitchcock on Hitchcock
Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock reflects on his career in movies, discussing among other things, the origin of the term "MacGuffin", his creative process and what his earliest fear was.
Who Gets to Tell a Black Story?
Prior to his critically acclaimed program The Wire, creator Edward Burns wrote the HBO miniseries The Corner, which also focused on the drug trade in Baltimore. Charles S. Dutton, an African-American Baltimore native and former convict probably best known to most as TV's "Roc," was chosen to direct the miniseries. Who Gets To Tell a Black Story?, part of a Pulitzer-prize winning NYT series on race in America, examines Dutton's take on how to make a TV program which portrays a mostly African-American cast of characters, the struggles and differing perspectives of Dutton and Burns, and how race is portrayed in Hollywood. [more inside]
Television keeps you warm
OPENhulu has copied many of the shows featured on hulu, the NBC/Fox joint internet television service that is still in closed beta. While it lasts, watch all of Firefly, the first seasons of Buffy and Arrested Development, and the second season of Heroes. There are also several recent episodes of The Office, Family Guy, House, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, and more, plus new shows from hulu's list will apparently soon be added. For bonus points, compare the original Battlestar Galactica to the new series, or just watch every darn first season A-Team episode.
Fly me to the moon!
Astronaut Candidate Program. "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces the opportunity to apply for the position of Astronaut Candidate to support the International Space Station (ISS) Program." [more inside]
Y'ha N'thlei is deeper than they know.
Finally: government surveillance that we can be thankful for!
Curious about what creepy crawlies your kids might be bringing home? Follow the real-time trends for all of the best respiratory and enteric (GI) viruses! [more inside]
Trying to look ecofriendly
Nestle claims that it now puts it's water in ecobottles. "But how much lighter is the bottle?"
Fiji also claims a commitment to the environment, but it's still "Bottled in Fiji. Shipped to you".
Couldn't we just drink from the tap? Previously.
How Many Five Year Olds Could You Take in a Fight?
The Evolution of the Joker
Sometimes I think nothing is simple but the feeling of pain.
an abstract image that the eye tricks the mind into believing has meaning
New York No Wave Archive. "No Wave was a short-lived but influential music and art movement in downtown New York in the late 1970s and 1980s. The name was a reaction to the sanitized Punk Rock trading under the name 'New wave' for those people who wanted a sanitized version of punk." Also, outside of "No New York."
I still say it's basically the A-Team
The Losers Cover Gallery showcases the bold design sense and unique art style of UK comics artist Jock, who also produced much of the interior art for the VERTIGO series. Losely based on a WWII comic of the same name it became a fast paced action caper with a political edge under writer Andy Diggle, and the covers reflect both the themes and the cinematic style of the comic.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Radio Radio - Saturday Night Live
It was 30 years ago today that Elvis Costello and the Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live. They'd wanted to play Radio Radio but SNL said no as it was thought to be 'anti-media.' So they started playing Less Than Zero, but stopped eight seconds in and played Radio Radio anyway, which led to them being banned from SNL for 12 years. Tip o' the hat to the Post Punk Progressive Pop Party.
Two black eyes
Forced to fight for other's amusement, it's a sad world for pandas. Either scuffling
or denigrating themselves for food sources, are they approaching the downward slide of species extinction?
"I'm not a look-alike."
Children's Hospital Boston
There I stand 'neath the Marquee Moon just waiting, hesitating... I ain't waiting
Punk Guitar Heroes - Television's Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd Television, and its guitar pas de deux between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, fit into the punk scene only because they are the ones basically responsible for CBGB becoming a punk rock club. Verlaine convinced Hilly Kristal to let them practice there and play shows, and the rest is history. [more inside]
Jan Terri, where are thee?
Jan Terri, an enigmatic outsider musician from Chicago, became a dubious celebrity in her own right after releasing a number of self-produced songs and accompanying videos on VHS in the 1990s. Among her "hits" were Losing You, Baby Blues, Get Down Goblin and the must-see Rock-'n'-Roll Santa (which has been covered by Yo La Tengo). Her music videos were so earnest and popular for their camp value that Marilyn Manson eventually enlisted her to sing at a birthday party of his and the Daily Show invited her on. However, she hasn't really been heard from since. Has Jan Terri given up her dream?
This X is something you need a Y to understand
Snowclones (as you may know) are "some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames": for example, "X is the new Y," "He's a few Xs short of a Y," or "If Eskimos have N words for snow, X surely have Y words for Z." The Snowclones Database collects and traces the origins of lots of these.
I'll have the ham
"It serves 125, takes eight hours to cook and is stuffed with 12 different birds..."
[via Cynical-C]
Of Artilects, Kolmogorov and the Hutter prize
Three AI researchers:
Hugo de Garis: Home - Wiki
Jürgen Schmidhuber: Home - Wiki
Marcus Hutter: Home - Wiki
Hugo de Garis: Home - Wiki
Jürgen Schmidhuber: Home - Wiki
Marcus Hutter: Home - Wiki
Magic Highway U.S.A.
Magic Highway U.S.A. Disney's May 1958 view of the future of transportation. Some recaps at 2719 Hyperion and Paleo-Future. [IMDB; via]
Excel + Python
Resolver One looks and feels like an Excel clone, except that it stores all the data and formulas as a Python program. You can add more code, or export the whole thing.
It's in public beta now, and the commercial release will be free for open source and personal projects.
Latte it Forward?
The other day, I overheard someone marveling at this story: Impatient jack-ass in Starbucks drive-thru (no, not always synonymous) honks and shouts repeatedly at driver in front of him, a tai-chi master who decides to "change the consciousness" of the jerk by paying for his coffee. The jerk is so moved, that he pays for the coffee of the person behind him, and this "chain of kindness" winds up lasting all day, with everyone paying for the drink behind him. Nice story, right?
How odd that the same thing (minus the Jewish zen-master) ccurred almost simultaneously in another part of the country. In this version, the "cheer chain," as the Starbucks employee calls it, was a near-perfect (except for this guy) example of holiday cheer. I guess pre-caffeinated Starbucks customers must possess a surprisingly high amount of holiday spirit.
Or maybe it's just the red cups.
MetaFilter, Albania
MetaFilter: A small city in Albania? This is, to be perfectly clear, a link to a site designed primarily with the intent of getting people to link to it.
net.art generator
net.art generator [via William Gibson] The art is created through a Google image search and some automatic image manipulation. For examples, go here.
Large Marge sent him.
He was born in 1980, during a risqué Groundlings show. After cameo roles (NSFW/language) in two Cheech & Chong movies, he earned his own HBO special. Four years later, Pee Wee Herman made his first feature film. Love him or hate him, his tv show won 22 Emmys... it seemed he was the luckiest boy in the world. Until one fateful day. Since then he's kept busy, and has regularly started and then nixed rumors of the bow tie's return. Recently he's changed his mind though, and in June a middle-aged Pee Wee made a surprise appearance after 15 years. Now he's promising two upcoming Pee Wee films... but will Johnny Depp take over his giant underpants? [more inside]
December 16
Laughs Tracks Being Used For Good, Not Evil
Laugh tracks making things funny: Friday the 13th | The L Word | Mitt Romney | Star Trek | The Wire | FOX News
Bronson
Part 1 of 6 It is 1969...I'm watching TV and here's this guy on a Harley. Darn...this was new...major characters on TV shows did NOT ride motorcycles! He pulls up at a light and a fellow in a station wagon (remember station wagons???) says.. "taking a trip?", Bronson says "yeah"..the guy says "where to?" Bronson says "I don't know, where ever I end up, I guess"...
That was the beginning of 26 episodes of "Then Came Bronson", I've wanted to take that trip ever since! [more inside]
Yes, this is something you need an iPhone to understand
It has been awhile since we had an iPhone post, but for the couple million people who own one, and despite Apple's best efforts, there is lots of exciting (if hard to find) free software being developed for people have have jailbroken their iPhone: read comics and manga; play NES , Gameboy, or LucasArts adventure games; experiment with crayon physics; download files; emulate HP calculators; and sync without iTunes. In early form: send an MMS, Playstation emulation, and video recording. There are also many web applications. [Yes, you need an iPhone to run these applications] [more inside]
Crafts are HOT!
Handmade 2.0. NYT magazine article discusses crafting, Craft Magazine, etsy, Stitch & Bitch, Church of Craft, getcrafty, Austin Craft Mafia, Craft Congress, and more.
The Wall
Israel vs. Palestine: Against the Wall is a six-part series on VBS.tv about the separation wall which divides Israel from the West Bank. [more inside]
Physics Models
"I am, of course, gratified that this sordid southern-hemisphere tale of sex, plagiarism, quantum mechanics, and printers could be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction." If that doesn't grab you maybe you are on the wrong internet. [more inside]
Don't View Unless You Love Jazz
These cats, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, say SO WHAT that this is a single link U-tube post. Get some Sunday Evening Jazz on, my brothas and sistas.
Run for the Roses
The Leader of the Band is tired and his eyes are growing old. But his blood runs through instrument and his song is in my soul. [more inside]
10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On
10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On. "Celebrating the death of somebody you disagreed with pretty much makes you a dick."
fix or repair daily
The evolution of one American song. First was Arkie Shibley's Hot Rod Race. Covers followed by Jimmie Dolan and Red Foley, with other artists coming up with their own answers. Charlie Ryan's Hot Rod Lincoln was the most well known, later covered by Johnny Bond, and of course Commander Cody.
Race and Intelligence, Redux
About a month ago, a MeFi FPP on this article sparked a controversy here on the usefulness of the concepts of IQ and race in determining whether some ethnic groups can be shown to be intrinsically less intelligent than others. Now James Flynn, discoverer of the Flynn effect, has written a book, What is Intelligence?, that settles many of the issues of this controversy. In this week's New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell summarizes Flynn's arguments succinctly in a review entitled "None of the Above: What IQ doesn't tell you about race."
"No, son, that is a transvestite."
Moneygami
Hi, I'm Muzzy. Big Muzzy.
Over the years millions of children have been introduced to a foreign language by Big Muzzy [wiki], a friendly, green, clock-eating monster. Here's the complete British English version of Muzzy in Gondoland on YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
The NYT asks six people whether the US is in a recession
You Can Almost Hear It Pop, by Stephen S. Roach
The Facts Say No, by Marcelle Chauvet and Kevin Hassett
Bet the House on It, by Laura Tyson
Not if Exports Save Us, by Jason Furman
Nobody Knows, by James Grant
Wait Till Next Year, by Martin Feldstein
Stolen, HTML and all, from Calculated Risk.
The Facts Say No, by Marcelle Chauvet and Kevin Hassett
Bet the House on It, by Laura Tyson
Not if Exports Save Us, by Jason Furman
Nobody Knows, by James Grant
Wait Till Next Year, by Martin Feldstein
Stolen, HTML and all, from Calculated Risk.
Pictures from the land of my country's supposed enemy
Mammoth shrapnel
New evidence (Nature) has been discovered in support (BBC) of the North American Comet Catastrophe of 10,900 BC (previously). "We think that there was probably an impact which exploded in the air that sent [meteorite] particles flying into the animals.. the fragments unlikely originated on Earth." The discovery was made by Allen West using a magnet at an Arizona motel during a sale of Mammoth tusks. "It was just a tiny magnet on a string, but very strong. It would swing over [mammoth tusks] and stick firmly to these little dots."
Charlie 1-26
Blood Brothers: 15 months of combat hell forever change the members of Charlie 1-26. Part 1: To Adhamiya and back. Part 2: ‘I’ve seen enough. I’ve done enough.’ Part 3: ‘Not us. We’re not going.’ Part 4: Picking up the pieces. [Via Danger Room.]
how to talk to a friend with cancer
How to talk to a friend with cancer, Time interview. Author of the excellent, Help Me Live: 20 Things People With Cancer Want You to Know [now a free, readable online Google book], Lori Hope, also lectures on compassionate communication and blogs for the practical and supportive CarePages.com, "free, personal websites that connect family and friends during illness and injury. Top 10 Dos and Don'ts.
this was our president
Bill Clinton on Charlie Rose - on display: Thoughtful Visionary as well as Political Animal; cf. Howard Dean and Jimmy Carter.
The Decline in African-American Land Ownership
In 1910 African-Americans owned 16-19
million acres of land in the United
States, much of it rural farmland. Today, that figure has dropped to less
than 8
million acres overall, and less than 2 million farm acres. What
happened? In some cases, violence— whites
would forcibly take farmland, a homestead, or a home from the black
residents, who were often powerless to fight back in the face of systemic
racism, threats of retaliation, and the 'enforcement' of the thefts by
the Ku Klux Klan. More perniciously, many of these losses were the result
of forced partition land sales.
Many legal
scholars and activists today
are working to reverse the
trend. [some pdfs]
"Bad news sells best. Cause good news is no news."
At least the shipping's free.
You can own your very own AOL 1.0 floppy disk for the low price of $4,995.00. Think this is absurd? Well, it's been done before.
December 15
The perfect foil for abstinence-only initiatives
Abstinence: 98% effective in preventing HIV/AIDS, STDs and pregnancy (when used consistently and correctly) "If you're having sex, thinking about having sex or trying not to think about having sex, try Abstinence....the condom."
A series of sacrifices in which the victims are words.
Eclipse is a free on-line archive focusing on digital facsimiles of the most radical small-press writing from the last quarter century. [more inside]
It's not over until the falafel sings.
Too tall!
Moreover, based on the empirical distribution of height and wages, the optimal height tax is substantial: a tall person earning $50,000 should pay about $4,500 more in taxes (pdf) than a short person earning the same income. Draw what inferences you will.
Computing In Dark Rooms
Courtesy of Daniele Gallifa's Mentegrafica, a video demonstration of Multi-User Interaction using Handheld Projectors. An update to the classic Ghostbusters toy, this set of position-aware hand held projectors lets users share information by shining light onto walls. Some of the smart details in the video include: sharing calendars by overlapping light from two projectors, adjoining projections to create larger screens, and blurring private information when outsiders are nearby. No mention of applicability to first person shooters.
Maybe she likes Wittgenstein...
The Most Wanted Song - Finally, thanks to Ubuweb, Komar & Melamid's Most Wanted and Most Unwanted Songs (recorded in 1997) are now available online! Komar & Melamid have been featured on Metafilter before for The Most and Least Wanted Paintings. Thanks WMFU!
Medieval Church Wall Paintings
The Mills-Kronborg Collection of Danish Church Wall Paintings, courtesy of Princeton University's Index of Christian Art, includes descriptions and images of medieval and early modern church frescoes. There are more church frescoes at Painting and Sculpture in Medieval Hungary. (Another site features a fine panorama.) Anne Marshall has developed an extensive site devoted to similar paintings in England, many of which were whitewashed during the Reformation. The University of Leicester hosts a much more specialized database devoted to the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy (no images); La Mort Dans L'Art/Death in Art has some Continental examples of The Three Living and the Three Dead.
Pretty Good Pornography
A Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court in Vermont has ruled that a man allegedly caught with child pornography on his laptop need not reveal his PGP password (yes, authorities shut down the laptop and now can't get at the alleged porn) pursuant to the Fifth Amendment's protections against self incrimination. The decision is here[PDF]. A decent write-up (from CNET of all places) is here. This appears to be the first decision ever to directly address this issue, and many commentators had thought it would come out differently. The major question is whether revealing one's PGP key is "testimonial" or not. According to the Supreme Court, giving up fingerprints or blood samples isn't, nor is standing for a lineup, nor is handing over the key to a safe, but if it's combination safe, well maybe that's different. Never let it be said that your Fifth Amendment rights are easy.
"I think I was Ed Wood trying to be Steven Spielberg."
Art Binninger was a sci-fi buff in the 1970s with the resources of the audiovisual squad at Vandenberg Air Force Base at his disposal. The result was Star Trix, a claymation Star Trek parody, that spawned three short films and Star Trix: The Flick (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). Art Binninger himself explains the whole saga on his web site.
Red Crow goes to the next world
Actor/folk singer/Native American Activist Floyd Red Crow Westerman died of complications from leukemia on Thursday. Westerman, a member of the Sisseton-Wapheton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, was best known for his roles in Dances With Wolves, The X-Files and Hidalgo, but apparently viewed acting as an avenue to make money to apply to his other endeavors in support of Native American issues.
Measure your bandwidth in liters.
USB Wine. French comprehension not required.
Other Things Equal by Deirdre McCloskey
How to Be a Good Graduate Student, How to Organize a Conference, Economical Writing: An Executive Summary, Why Don't Economists Believe Empirical Findings?, The Bankruptcy of Statistical Significance, The A-Prime, C-Prime Theorem, and many other articles in PDF format (scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the others) originally published in the very entertaining “Other Things Equal” column by Deirdre McCloskey in the Eastern Economic Journal.
A Christmas Dirge
"Don't tether her branches to the chair or kitchenette..." (mp3) This weekend many of us will buy Christmas trees. MeFi fave Nellie McKay humorously, sweetly, but a dash of "you aught to know" musically urges us not to. She's also has thoughts on dogs and zombies. And humorless feminists (at 1 minute into interview).
caturday fluff
30 Years of LucasFilm Christmas Cards
Frank Morgan disappears
Frank Morgan died yesterday. He was 73. Interview. Some sounds. (another beautiful american saxophone stylist).
The Sound of Cambodia, pre-Khmer Rouge.
The 1960's and early 70's saw an explosion of creativity and an astonishing variety of stylistic influences coming together in the pop and rock music of Cambodia.Tragically, almost all of the artists of that era were executed (or otherwise perished) during the nightmarish Khmer Rouge years. The following MySpace Music pages will help you to get acquainted with some of the wonderfully eclectic and adventurous music of this fertile period: Pen Ron, Yos Olarang, Rous Sareysothea, Sin Sisamouth, Vor Sarun, Houey Meas, So Savoeun, Eng Nary, In Yeng, Choun Malai, Mao Sareth, Sem Touch, Chea Savoeun, Toche Teng, Teth Sombath, Pen Rom, Em Songserm and Choun Vanna. Also, these related pages: Cambodian Rock, Radio Khmer Sitya, Cambodian Style and Cambodian Soundtracks. NOTE: For personal recommendations, check the hover-overs accompanying each link.
Warp Drive, When?
Warp Drive, When? "Have you ever wondered when we will be able to travel to distant stars as easily as in science fiction stories?"
December 14
How To Be A Good Host
Bot flies are large, stout bodied, hairy flies that resemble bumblebees. But how they reproduce is what makes them interesting: 1) An egg-laden female botfly captures a night-flying female mosquito and glues her eggs on to it. 2) When the mosquito is released and bites a victim, the host's body heat triggers an egg to hatch. 3) It falls off and burrows in. Even more interesting is that sometimes, this happens on humans! [YouTube/NSFSqueamish] And on humans sometimes, this happens in the most inconvenient [pdf] of places.
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture from 1967 to 1979. Douglas is still alive and making posters for the cause, in this case the San Francisco 8, who were arrested earlier this year for the murder of a police officer in 1971 -- despite the fact that evidence was thrown out of federal court in 1976 because "officers stripped the men, blindfolded them, beat them and covered them in blankets soaked in boiling water," and "used electric prods on their genitals." The SF Weekly published a detailed 5-page story about the case in November 2006.
The most banal, grotesque, ironic, twisted, or perverse creations of the capitalist marketplace.
Fuzzy Mail
Fuzzmail records your email as you type it and provides the actual composition for the person, or people on the receiving end. [via]
All fucking Violet!
Kidsploitation Komedy
Camp Liberty: exposing the dire fate of the littlest enemy combatants. Another chilling (albeit fictitious) video from Jon Benjamin. [more inside]
Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology: Implications for Politics and Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka
David Giral photography
What Happened to My Forty Acres and a Mule, Fool?
40 acres and a mule has been a slogan of African-American economic aspirations ever since the legislation creating the Freedman's Bureau promised ex-slaves parcels not exceeding forty acres each, to the loyal refugees and freedmen. General William Tecumseh Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15 decreed that the land on slave plantations be seized and distributed to freed slaves, but Andrew Johnson rescinded the order and vetoed expansion of the Freedman's Bureau. Both Henry Louis Gates and Dalton Conley have associated the failure to grant freed slaves their "40 acres and a mule" with the wealth gap between black and white Americans, but now an economics grad student, Melinda Miller, has brought important quantitative data to the debate in a new research paper. [more inside]
Google's Knol
A star as big as a window.
On December 24th, 1951, NBC aired television's first annual Christmas tradition and the first opera created specifically for TV, Amahl and the Night Visitors, composed by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911 – 2007). Maybe the cast recording, the children's book or one of the hundreds of local performances staged each year have been a staple of one or more of your holiday seasons. If so, you might be pleased to know that a kinescope of the original 1951 broadcast, long assumed lost, has in fact been found, restored, added to the Museum of Television and Radio and (most importantly) put on YouTube. [more inside]
China and India have reported massive finds of frozen methane
China and India have reported massive finds of frozen methane clathrate off their coasts and, along with Japan and other countries, are spending large sums to develop it into a new source of fossil energy. This is important for developing countries as there may be more frozen methane in the world than all the oil, gas and coal combined, and it is available right off their coasts. Some believe it can be extracted in a carbon neutral manner, but methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the scarily named clathrate gun hypothesis provides some fuel for thought about digging this stuff up.
Travelling by mouseclick
"Happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace." Aristotle
Fonts at the movies
free Yale courses online
Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to seven introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University:Astronomy, English, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies: a full set of class lectures produced in high-quality video, syllabi, suggested readings, and problem sets. [more inside]
BBC launch Flash version of iPlayer
BBC launch Flash version of iPlayer The BBC have developed iPlayer as a vehicle for online distribution of its programs. Originally this involved downloading a stand-alone application for windows users only. This application has had a troubled beta launch and has drawn criticism from Linux and Mac users who were unsupported. The Flash version is an attempt to placate these users (though I believe you have to be in the UK)
Duelity - Creationism/evolution 2.0
Duelity - the beginning in two parts The Vancover Film School does a really cool visual retelling of creation.
The 'biblical' version with a science edge.
The 'evolution' version with a biblical edge.
And you can watch them both at the same time!
Gissa job la? Go on, I can do that. Gissa job?
During the latter half of the twentieth century, Liverpool writers made an enormous contribution to television drama. Writers like Willy Russell and Jimmy McGovern have been hugely influential. But the daddy of them all was unarguably Alan Bleasdale, whose television dramas dominated our screens during the latter half of the 20th century in a manner that was unmatched by anybody besides the late Dennis Potter. [more inside]
Who loves ya, baby?
B s f t e W b + e t o h e = The full picture
Essential Video Resources - primers, guides and links for the video editor and technician [more inside]
December 13
DOOOOOM! Oh wait, Nevermind. We're fine. You're still doomed though.
Some see an economic apocalypse. Others see an err.. economic apocalypse. But have no fear! A solution is at hand. [more inside]
salmonerd to nsynchottie503
MOMA's Collection of Illustrated Books
MOMA has around 400 images from its collection of illustrated books available online. It's heavy on the works of the early 20th Century European avant-garde, especially the Russian Futurists, though it extends into the present day. Here are a few of the images that I liked: Aleksei Krucenykh and Kirill Zdanevich, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Olga Rozanova, Ekaterina Turova, El Lissitzky, Max Ernst, Raymond Pettibon, Vasily Kandinsky and Natalia Goncharova. [more inside]
Do Do ... DoDoDo ... Do Do ... DoDoDo
Merry Christmas, Mefites! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, you might enjoy this fun bit of flash goodness.
Astronomy Pictures
Lay out!
New Jersey abolishes the death penalty
New Jersey abolishes the death penalty. Just one step in a long nationwide move away from capital
punishment. Now, New Jersey hasn't actually executed anyone since it first instated its death penalty - but this move is hardly symbolic, as the state has spent about a quarter billion dollars on its death penalty, revealing a counterintuitive fact: the death penalty is far more expensive than life without parole.
"Next Christmas we're spendin it with Duncan Hunter"
Lobbing rocks, lighting fires, talking to himself - Mike Gravel has had a troubled relationship with artsy online message videos this year. Now that he's being barred from debates again, he's reaching out across the aisle and appealing to the common man by dressing up as Santa and delivering Budweiser to the boys at Red State Update.
The asterisk wing of Cooperstown.
So, who doesn't use steroids or HGH? So what do you do when MVP winners, Cy Young award winners and some World Series winners all have cheated?
Any ideas? [more inside]
Vintage Christmas
Vintage Christmas Wax The Edison Concert band never sounded so good.
Just drawings of bears in ill-fitting hats
"Christmas Makes Me Blue": Simone White
Simone White can help calm your holiday rage. White is a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter whose new CD, "I Am The Man" has been inching its way up the indie charts; people have been comparing her voice to Karen Dalton and Billie Holiday, but she's really her own creature, as you can tell from this dreamy new video, well-timed for the seasonal onslaught of consumerism and carols: "Christmas Makes Me Blue."
Ted Corbitt, "the father of American distance running," dies.
"In 1968, I received an invitation to the hundred-mile run at Walton-on-Thames, England, scheduled for October 1969. I pulled out all the stops for this one, running every marathon possible and enduring unheard-of training mileage when not racing. In July alone I ran a thousand miles, two hundred short of my goal[...]My only goal was to break the existing American record of 16:07:43." (Which he did, finishing in 13:33; still the U.S. 45 to 49 100-mile record.) Ted Corbitt, Olympian, American Record holder at 100 miles, died yesterday. NYT obit. [more inside]
Historic Celestial Atlas Illustrations
In 1627, Schiller's Coelum Stellatum Christianum attempted to replace the mythical constellation figures with Christian figures. More from the Linda Hall Library Digital Services Unit. Art, illustration, and astronomy aficionados will appreciate the beauty of historic celestial atlas illustrations: Bayer's Uranometria 1603 (also the 1661 Edition), Flamsteed - Fortin Atlas Celeste - 1776 (text intro), Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson. HubbleSource is cleaning up scans from one historic atlas and making them available in web and hi-res versions for use in non-commercial applications. (See also: David Rumsey Map Collection, and the exhibition Out of this World (index & T.O.C.), more Images, Artwork and Historical Objects at the US Naval Observatory. [more inside]
Justified?
The rush to clear police in shootings. An eight-month Chicago Tribune investigation of 200+ police shootings going back 10 years. (h/t Radley)
Wrecked & Abandoned Sci-Fi Models
The winners of StarshipModeler.com's "Wrecks" challenge are a mixed bag, with some absolutely incredible destroyed sci-fi models, both kit-built & free modeled, and dioramas. And then others that are less impressive.
snowflakes in socal
40 years ago today. The day it snowed in San Diego.
Flip a coin
If you need a foolproof way to decide whether to kill someone or are simply curious as to whether probability is still operating as a factor in your existence (and find yourself out of change but near a computer with an internet connection), you can just use flip a coin.
Google Answers rises from the ashes
After shutting its virtual doors, Google Answers is set to return, this time modeled on Yahoo Answers' no moderators, no limits, no rules concept. If paid researchers is what you need to answer your question, go to Uclue. Or just keep it green.
Sprinkle with water to make it look more realistic
Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the uninvited guest
Who invited the dog? People who think their pets are people vs. people who don't.
w00t!
How Africa's desert sun can bring Europe power
How Africa's desert sun can bring Europe power. A £5bn solar power demonstration project called Desertec is being developed by Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) that would send solar energy northward from African deserts. The goal is in 30 years to provide a significant fraction of Europe's electricity needs.
Audible Illusions
Holophonic sound is an audio recording technique which operates on a principle similar to Holography. The result has been reported to be realistic and life-like three dimensional sounding audio recordings. [more inside]
Coffee Bukkake Man Arrested!
Girlfriend just broke up with you? Feeling a little stress? Be careful how you relieve it - you may end up on the wrong side of the law (or be the subject of a cartoon depiction).
The warmth of your love's like the warmth of the sun
"I edited this short film set to the tune of The Zombies' "This Will Be Our Year" featuring Super 8 footage shot by my parents between 1965-1979."
Have you got a receipt for that inflammatory literature...
The Hijacking of British Islam (PDF) has been widely reported in the British media. However, it appears that the story is not all it seems. Newsnight (A television news program) has unearthed evidence that receipts for extremist literature supposedly bought from mosques were faked. Despite this new evidence, The Policy Exchange stand by the report.
December 12
Movable Type is Open Source
Movable Type has gone open source.
When Music Lived in Nice Houses
Record Envelope is a blog devoted to the bygone era of creative sleeves for vinyl 45s.
And So This Is Christmas?
George W. Bush covers John Lennon's War Is Over (If You Want It) in a collaboration with Wax Audio. Another coverversion of John Lennon's God is included on the B-side of the new limited edition 45. On the other hand, Yoko sez, "Vote Kucinich!" (previously on Mefi)
"Unclean"
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel says in its annual report that Israel has reached "new heights of racism". Embedded WMV video, article, and, typically for Ha'aretz, some very interesting reader comments. [more inside]
The naked and the drunk
Local newsrag covers Tufts annual Naked Quad Run and posts video of event to YouTube. Outrage ensues. (privacy! ethics! wah!) See also: Local LJ community's take. (video embedded in body of article is NSFW) [more inside]
Press the pound key if you would like a pearl necklace
Phone sex in these modern times. A short YouTube bit. Language NSFW
OMG ... RFP Kitty!
It all started in 1994 with GFP (green fluorescent protein) labeled E. coli and C. elegans (roundworm) cells. Once people realized that you could express the gene for a jellyfish protein in other cells without any other jellyfish-specific factors, it was possible to label any cell green simply by inserting the gene. Biologists realized the endless possiblities soon enough. GFP zebrafish (1997) [.pdf]. GFP mice (1998). GFP Bunny (more art than science, and previously ...) (2000). GFP monkey (2000). Fluorescent green pigs (2006). But nothing combines cuteness and transgentic more than the newly announced RFP (red fluorescent protein) kitty! And not only are they red fluorescent, but they're cloned to boot!
Is that my stomach growling, or is it just the impending collapse of civilization?
The End of Cheap Food: Ethanol subsidies, carnivores, and price controls caused the Mexican tortilla riots.
A DNA-driven world
Voices Inside My Head
Hearing Voices? It May Be an Ad. Ok . . . this isn’t make-believe. A company is really doing this for an A&E promo. For just how long has this technology been in existence? How have people been manipulated with this?
The advertisement company, Adage, is using a device they call, Audio Spotlight from a company called Holosonics. Sounds perfect for conditioning crazed gunmen or for tricking feeble minded leaders into believing God is talking back to them.
If you are skeptical, the company owner replied to my email saying the Seattle Art Museam and the Space Needle are also using his product.
Would I like it? What a DREAM! But hey, what happens if I push this red button?
In the early 1950's, Monsanto Chemical Company, MIT and Disneyland collaborated their resources and creative brainpower to build "the house of 1986." Using 30,000 pounds of plastic (The building's structure, carpet, chairs, sinks, appliances and floors were all plastic. About $7,500 to $15,000 worth.), the Monsanto House of the Future* was opened to an excited public in June of 1957. It was closed in 1967 as ideas of the future were beginning to change. Let's take a quick tour, shall we?
*(Not to be confused with Xanadu Homes of Tomorrow.) [more inside]
*(Not to be confused with Xanadu Homes of Tomorrow.) [more inside]
Grieving Widow
Brenda is broken hearted, but not everyone thought he was a saint. Some of his closest colleagues barely knew him. Farewell, Bruce Evanick, whatever kind of person you were.
The World of Tomorrow
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939). The Original Futurama. Featuring Elektro, the Smoking Robot.
Sure, I've slapped Tina... There have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I never beat her.
Ike Turner, 1931-2007 Though his music was overshadowed later in life by the success of his ex-wife and his personal demons, his undeniable innovations continue to resonate this day.
Keep your ISP off my Google!
Rogers communications has started putting their own messages on the Google homepage. Rogers communications is one of Canada's main ISPs (as well as mobile phone and cable companies). They recently decided to place a message on their subscribers' Google homepage - and neither Google nor the users are happy about it. [more inside]
Wot, no Gorbachev?
Guess Who? Noma Bar depicts famous faces using symbols of what they are known for as facial features. More samples here (scroll down), and on the publisher's site. [more inside]
Spirit's Swan Song?
Real robot drama is happening on Mars today. Spirit, racing for her life to find shelter before winter, injured and underpowered after four years of hard labor, may have made her most significant find yet. The broken foot she's dragged behind her for the past two years unexpectedly uncovered evidence of a once-wet Mars with conditions theoretically hospitable for primitive life.
the prize is a prosthesis
Miss Landmine: We are currently preparing the live Miss Landmine Angola 2008 pageant in close collaboration with the Angolan government (CNIDAH) and supported by the European Union. The crowning of the world's first Miss Landmine will be taking place in Luanda, Angola on April 4th, 2008, the UN International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Stay tuned! The web voting for Miss Landmine Angola is open until April 3, 2008. [more inside]
A Look Back at Jon Stewart's Greatest Lesbian Moments
Since we've seen Jon Stewart's Greatest Gay Moments (previously on MeFi), how about Jon Stewart's Greatest Lesbian Moments?
Thirteen Days of Christmas
Straight No Chaser (Indiana University men's acapella group) performs this hilarious rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Want to perform it with your own acapella chorus? You're in luck. The sheet music is available as an inexpensive digital download.
Extreme Oxygen, dude!
The Big Ox. Power oxygen for real extreme athletes... available in a variety of flavors: Polar Rush, Tropical Breeze, Mountain Mint, and Citrus Blast. Is this The Next Big Thing? [more inside]
Raiding the office supply closet perhaps not as a bad you think... relatively speaking.
Worst employees of 2007 Among the winners: a business that manufactures pot-laced candy shut down by the DEA, an airline employee who groped a sleeping passenger next to him, an ambulance driver charged with DUI, Manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit DVDs,
Immigration employees committing green card scams, USPS letter carrier stealing cash from gift cards, a man strangling his boss at a cocktail party and a Catholic priest arrested for indecent exposure for naked jogging at the high school track.
Some saxophonists.
Here's a chance to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with the music of some of the great saxophonists who've made their mark in American improvised music. The following MySpace Music pages feature audio, video, photos and text aplenty, to get your jazz mojo working. In no particular order: Lester Young, Hank Mobley, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Don Byas, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Charlie Parker, Joe Henderson, Earl Bostic, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Johnny Hodges, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Stitt, Benny Carter, Sidney Bechet and David Murray.
Terry Pratchett diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's
Terry Pratchett diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Turns out last month's stroke was a symptom of a greater illness. While there's still some time to go before we have to worry about Discworld substitutions, it has been a pretty tough year for fantasy authors. [more inside]
110%, Québec sports french TV show posted online daily
110% is a classic convivial québécois sports Habs-centric debating talking heads french TV show, broadcasted every weeknight on TQS from 22:45 to 23:30 and daily episodes are posted online almost in their entirety (usually only missing some minor bumpers) at around 00:30 AM everyday, if you can figure out how to start the weird flash player (tip inside) and stand the chopping of the main part of the show in four randomly-sectionned parts. [more inside]
December 11
To Infinity and Beyond
Visual in jokes from Pixar Animation.
Do Not Resuscitate
Do Not Resuscitate. "For families facing the impending death of a loved one, few topics trigger more anguish than the Do Not Resuscitate order... There is little ambiguity in a DNR order: Emergency medical staff must withhold CPR and other life-reviving treatments if the patient's heart or breathing stops, allowing death." But, DNR orders aren't always cut-and-dried. There are many situations that complicate the medical professional's decision to comply. Related: Some people have opted to get a "D.N.R." tattoo, but others have wondered if it will hold up in court as a legal directive. [First link Via].
You'll put your eye out!
Jean Shepherd was one of the greatest storytellers ever to be heard on radio. The Jean Shepherd Project collects recordings of these historic broadcasts, converts them to mp3 files and makes them available to be revisited by his longtime fans and by those who wish to discover what great American storytelling is all about. [more inside]
"turn to page 69 of any book and read it. If you like that page, buy the book."
The Page 69 Test --inspired by Marshall McLuhan's suggestion to readers for choosing a novel, a new blog, inviting authors to describe what's on page 69. One says: Not the best, but not the worst. If my pages were presidents, I’d put page 69 somewhere in the James K. Polk range.
Life Is Short
The Unsung Joe: Where bit--part actors go when they die
The Unsung Joe: Where bit-part actors go when they die. Biographies of the most obscure micro-stars of 1940s and '50s cinema, all remarkably well-researched and richly illustrated.
Burnt Face Man
The Gay Adventures of Burnt Face Man.
To Snitch or Not To Snitch: That Is The Question
Stop Snitchin' may be the hidden link between hip hop and the 1980s alternative rock group, House of Freaks. According to the New York Post, journalist Ethan Brown has accomplished "making the Stop Snitching movement seem reasonable" in his new book Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice. Brown argues that harsh mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses have created a "cottage industry of cooperators" and informants who fabricate evidence, because Provision 5K1.1 of federal sentencing guidelines gives leniency in exchange for "substantial assistance to authorities." According to Brown, two of these criminal cooperators included Ray Dandridge and Ricky Gray, the perpetrators of the Richmond spree murders that ended the life of Brian Harvey of House of Freaks, his wife, and his two children. On the other hand, Mark Kleiman argues that the Stop Snitchin' movement has driven homicide clearance rates so low that, in some cities, "you have a better than even chance of literally getting away with murder." [more inside]
Beyond Belief: Enlightenment 2.0.
Beyond Belief: Enlightment 2.0. Video of the five sessions of the 2007 Beyond Belief conference on science and religion has been posted at The Science Network's website. Each Google Video runs about four hours. (This year's speakers; this year's agenda; previously.)
Is adoption the best option?
After outrage was sparked by a Dutch couple who abandoned their Korean adopted daughter in Hong Kong (and they wouldn't be the first couple to consider returning an adopted child like a shelter puppy) some may start to wonder whether adoption is an unmitigated good. Foreign adoptions are especially prone to accusations of child buying, and some adoptees are mad as hell at the racism inherent in the adoption trade. Even domestic adoption is criticized by some for being traumatic to both mothers and their children.
The Life and Adventures of Zamba
"It will no doubt be deemed a strange circumstance that an African negro should attempt to write a book, and that he should presume to offer his production to the enlightened people of Great Britain."
The Life and Adventures of Zamba, an African Negro King; and His Experience of Slavery in South Carolina. Written by Himself.
The Life and Adventures of Zamba, an African Negro King; and His Experience of Slavery in South Carolina. Written by Himself.
The Megacity
"The really disturbing thing about Lagos’s pickers and venders is that their lives have essentially nothing to do with ours. They scavenge an existence beyond the margins of macroeconomics. They are, in the harsh terms of globalization, superfluous."
The Megacity, George Packer in Lagos.
popculture advertising ephemera
From about 1875 to the 1940s, cigarette cards spurred tobacco sales. Sets offer a glimpse into the popculture of the times, spanning newsmakers, cinema celebrities, and sports stars; cute illustrated subjects, like "frisky" and children with rosy cheeks; handy info like air raid precautions, first aid, and amusing tricks; and neat stuff like famous escapes, exotic races, and figures of speech. Browse more fun sets of vintage images.
1954–2007
Building a mandolin from start to finish. A beautiful documentary in three parts on the work of the late great Portland luthier John Sullivan.
Merry Christmas, Mayor Daley
Last week, the Chicago Reader laid off four of its best journalists: John Conroy (previously), Harold Henderson, Tori Marlan, and Steve Bogira. The cuts almost certainly mark the beginning of the end of the paper's role in Chicago as an investigative force and a corruption watchdog. The New York Times responds with a salute to Conroy and a defense of muckraking's relevance. [more inside]
Probably not quite a fiasco!
Bonnie and Clyde my ass...
Old Clothes
Puzzled about what to get the history buff, throwback or Luddite on your holiday shopping list? Explore the sutler's wares in the world of historic reproduction clothing! Strut your eighteenth-century style with Jas. Townsend & Son, or dress for the Lewis & Clark expedition with Smoke & Fire. USHist.com provides the finest in Mexican War and Cavalry/Indian War apparel, as well as fashion to end all wars in theWWI collection. Don't forget the ladies (and weak-minded gents) left at home - Blockade Runner offers fine Civil War civvies. [more inside]
Giant, Angry, Moving Mountains
Maverick's, (previously: 1, 2, 3) the legendary birthplace of big-wave surfing, saw one of its biggest, scariest days ever one week ago today. While I sat at a desk, the pros and the stone crazy were cheating death, not once, but twice on fog-shrouded, moving mountains. All in a day's work.
The Golden Dreydl
The Golden Dreydl (streaming audio): a wonderfully... different arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. [more inside]
Led Zeppelin live - December 10, 2007
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know.
The piper's calling you to join him.
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know,
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind...
Led Zeppelin live - December 10, 2007
The piper's calling you to join him.
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know,
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind...
Led Zeppelin live - December 10, 2007
This post has been innovisioneered by trained professionals.
Worst Word Mashup Trademark Filings. From the guy who brought you the FARK NSFW shenanigans and the Dreamcast 2 foofaraw. Innovisioneering? Really?
Best-Designed Sites on the Web by Popular Vote
CommandShift3 is like Hot or Not. Except, instead of clicking on hot babes, you click on hot websites. It's actually a pretty nice way to check out good design on the web. [more inside]
I Got Stoned and Missed It
Shel Silverstein, songwriter. "A Boy Named Sue," as performed by Johnny Cash; "One's on the Way," performed by Loretta Lynn; "The Unicorn Song" performed by the Irish Rovers. (All YouTube links) [more inside]
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a flying puppet!
Carl Rankin builds awesome RC planes out of straws, plastic wrap, tape, and foam take-out boxes. (via)
The Bible According to Google Earth
The Bible According to Google Earth A new artwork imagines four scenes from the Bible as if captured by Google Earth
大家要節約用水喔!
Food Photoblog of the No Shower Family. Representing Tainan, Taiwan on the food blogging map!!
Eight Bars of Soul
Proceeding Otis by two years and 364 days, Sam Cooke was shot and killed on this day in 1964. Much controversy still surrounds his death, but his legacy is untouchable and influence sweeping. From gospel to pop, he did it all. You Send Me, Ain't That Good News, Cupid, Chain Gang, and Bring it on Home to Me were some of his biggest hits and (along with Ray's work) the early foundations of soul; but it was one song, inspired by a white boy's passion, that gave a posthumous voice to a broken nation. Today and forever, Sam Cooke is yours, he'll never grow old.
Experimental Philosophy
The New New Philosophy. "Philosophers are increasingly eager to go out into the world and conduct experiments. But will their results settle any arguments?" [Via Mind Hacks]
December 10
The confining dark...
The Enigma of Amigara Fault is an absolutely compelling and terribly creepy short manga story by Junji Ito about mysterious human-shaped holes exposed in a cliff by an earthquake, each perfectly matching the outline of someone who is then compelled to enter the confining, claustrophobic darkness. For more of Ito in English, there is Falling. Make sure to read from right to left.
The Whale Hunt
A photographic catalog of a traditional whale hunt. (Flash, photos include whale hunting in all its bloody detail) In order to develop an experimental interface for storytelling, photographer Jonathan Harris accompanied a family of Inupiat Eskimos on a subsistence whale hunt. During his week long journey, he took 3,214 photographs, including pictures taken every 5 minutes while he was sleeping. The navigation allows for for very quick navigation through the series, using a heartbeat metaphor and a number of filtering constraints so that you can narrow your search to cast members, locations on the journey, and even something as loose as a photo's "concept".
via
Three Years. Fifteen Suicides.
Prison and the Mentally Ill in Massachusetts: The Globe reports on the pitfalls and consequences of using a retribution-based correctional system on the criminally insane in MA, as inmates in the state kill themselves at triple the national rate.
Part I. Part II. Part III (in tomorrow's Globe). Photos of the system's most troubled. Last words of some disturbed inmates. [more inside]
The Last Battlefield
Why does the WGA hate freedom and democracy so much?
On December 7th, talks between the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down. From AMPTP.com: "We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down."
Animal Planet investigates alcoholism in monkeys
Humans are evolving rapidly
Humans are evolving more rapidly than in the distant past, according to a new study published in PNAS. "The massive growth of human populations has led to far more genetic mutations, and every mutation that is advantageous to people has a chance of being selected and driven toward fixation. We are more different genetically from people living 5,000 years ago than they were different from Neanderthals", says lead author John Hawks. [more inside]
American Idol. Err... American Icon.
American Icons from Public Radio International's Studio 360 is host/author Kurt Andersen's "...survey into the books, movies, art, and architecture that have come to represent American culture and character."* For example, in the episode on 'Moby-Dick,' listen to Ray Bradbury, Tony Kushner and Frank Stella talk about Melville and his literary masterpiece. Listen to Laurie Anderson compare 'Moby Dick' to 'Star Trek.' In a segment on 'The Great Gatsby,' listen to the only known recording of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Then witness Salman Rushdie as he credits 'The Wizard of Oz' as his first literary influence while Bobby McFerrin performs snippets from his eight-minute medley condensing the entire movie.*
Jew - Not a Jew.
4) Don't touch me there!
The Four Essential Travel Phrases in 435 languages + 242 dialects + 49 conlangs!
Including Popculture English and more!
See also: I Can Eat Glass...it does not hurt me.
Including Popculture English and more!
See also: I Can Eat Glass...it does not hurt me.
Earle of the land of Imagination
4 Artists Paint 1 Tree, a segment from Disneyland included on the recent DVD release of Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, features the artistic process of one of my favorite painters and cartoon modernists, Eyvind Earle. If you've seen Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Paul Bunyan or Peter Pan, you're familiar with the fantastical and brilliant landscapes he produces. His paintings show a particular fondness for Big Sur and Central California.
Black, in white stripes
"Newman's prediction that I am gone for life, to be buggered by American criminals, will not come to pass," said Lord Black.
NewsFilter: American criminals pleasantly surprised.
NewsFilter: American criminals pleasantly surprised.
Reading Anna Karenina in Africa
Doris Lessing's Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech. "The storyteller is deep inside everyone of us. The story-maker is always with us. Let us suppose our world is attacked by war, by the horrors that we all of us easily imagine. Let us suppose floods wash through our cities, the seas rise . . . but the storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us - for good and for ill. It is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed."
The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing
The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing "I've documented the journey of Billy, a young, happy lad who believes he's going off to have fantastic adventures at summer camp... This is a literal and practically contextual account of what happens to poor bastards sent to Animal Crossing."
The Wheel Turns
Brandon Sanderson has been selected to write the twelfth volume in the Wheel of Time, having been chosen on account of his previous books Elantris and Mistborn
Live Japan Rail Cam
Rage, Rage, Ted
Being But Men. Every year around this time, this interstitial runs and I am reminded of the genius of Dylan Thomas and how much fun it must be to make interstitials for TNT. [more inside]
Hi, this is the Big O, Otis Redding....
Cat Coiffure
"If you have any creature in the house with a head bigger than a walnut
(including boyfriends), you need a Kitty Wig™."
The whore you know...
Hieronymus Bosch Action Figures: Bosch action figures; a perfect gift for that special niece or nephew whose tastes tend toward the demonic and grotesque.
Reflection's Edge
Reflection's Edge, a monthly fiction zine (back issues), has many resources for writers, including slang/dialect (don't miss the links to Texas Talk, the Internet Guide to Jazz Age Slang, or the 1736 Canting Dictionary), writing advice and interviews, and advice on how to sell your story.
dance like nobody's watching.
The Virtual Tourist in Renaissance Rome
The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae A collection of over 900 zoomable print engravings, organized around the work of Antonio Lafreri and other Italian publishers, whose documentation of Roman ruins and statues helped fuel the Renaissance. The itineraries are a good place to start for detailed discussion, or just browse away. [via the wonderful Bouphonia]
Cheers, Big Ears!
The first known film of the long-eared jerboa, an endangered Mongolian rodent with legs like a kangaroo, was released today by the owners of London Zoo. Previously
Philip Beesley
Philip Beesley is an architect who also creates wonderful kinetic sculptures. You can see them in motion on his Youtube page.
Pictures of Bicycles
Pictures of bicycles. And previously.
Please be advised, there some pictures of girls that might be considered Not Work-Safe, but mostly just lots and lots of really sexy bicycles.
December 9
Maximum Fun
Maximum Fun! Interviews with all sorts of interesting people. John Hodgman and Henry Rollins, Brendon Small and Peter Molyneux, Terry Jones, Jonathan Katz and Jonathan Goldstein, Patton Oswalt, Elmore Leonard, They Might Be Giants, Ira Glass, and many, many more, from all areas of the arts and sciences and stuff. Something for everyone! [more inside]
Marry Me
"What if I could get Neil Gaiman, our most fave author and fantasy writer, to help propose to my girlfriend?" A sweet tale of how Jason got Neil Gaiman to stage the proposal. (Video here. From Gravity Lens)
Double the songs for half the space!
Mashups are a genre of music in which one or more songs by other artists are mixed together into a (hopefully) better whole.
aka The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck
Celebrity Hypocrisy
Deceiver is a blog that exposes the hypocrisy of celebrities.
The shrimp and the cabbage are very intimate.
Language log has uncovered the reason for the inappropriately common appearance of the word fuck in English translations on Chinese signs. One more Chinglish phenomenon explained.
It's making me blush
The Politics of Posters
Award-winning ad exec Rich Silverstein (Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners) who is known for creating the "Got Milk" campaign -- among many -- has created three posters designed with input from the public to depict "The Bush Years". The results - Events, Slogans and People. Of the project Silverstein said: "Here is my thinking. What if we could TiVo the last six-plus years and play them back - without comment -- for the American people, and let them connect the dots?"* Republicans respond with posters of their own: Posterizing the Democratic Party.
Gomboc
The Gömböc is the first known convex, homogeneous shape having just one stable and one unstable point (i.e. altogether two points) of equilibrium. A little like some turtles' shells (or weebles), it's self-righting, but for purely geometric reasons. [more inside]
Repression in Burma
Web2.0 vs. the 4th Dimension
Miomi (beta) is taking all the world’s information—including the personal history of as many people as possible—and putting it all in a big fat timeline. [more inside]
Sad.
What I Killed Today. I work with a lot of injured wildlife. Also not wild animals that are just in a lot of pain. Sometimes I have to euthanize them. I decided to record each animal I euthanize here.
Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age
December 8
...because any course of action can be made out to accord with the rule...
Tanks for the Holidays.
The Urge
Al Scaduto , illustrator of anachronistic comic They'll Do It Every Time passed away yesterday at the age of 79. An impressive tribute by the band of irrepressible cynics who warmed to his style and generosity despite themselves and had recently comprised a great deal of the participating audience component of the strip, joined by family and friends.
Lake Michigan First, Last Stop on Dream Voyage
Pavel Bernek had grand plans for his newly-refurbished, 34-foot sailboat.
"He schemed to cross the Atlantic, blow through the Strait of Gibraltar and drop anchor in the Mediterranean Sea, where he hoped his girlfriend would be waiting for him.
But here in reality - in Milwaukee - the wounded "Falcon" lies on its side, in shin-deep water, ravaged by more than a month's worth of wintry punches from an ornery Lake Michigan." [more inside]
50 Answers
50 Answers. Like AskMe, but not helpful, and in comic form.
I want you now on a silver platter
Unknown Hinson is the stage name of Stuart Daniel Baker. The persona is "dark parody of the country western stars from the early/mid 20th century." according to a Wikipedia entry. Playing this archetype his songs expose the often misogynistic, and violent life between the lines of "Old school country artists". [more inside]
Two interviews for 'Blade Runner' fans
This link goes to an discussion with 'Future Noir' author Paul Sammon... then this one goes to a Q&A with 'BR' director Ridley Scott, talking about the upcoming re-release.
War Games
What Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs to survive politically is possibly a War. However the possibility that plans for military action have been torpedoed have brought 'howls' from the neocons.
American Elf free for all
The archives of American Elf, the celebrated online comic diary of cartoonist and rocker (audio) James Kochalka, are now free. There's the occasional NSFW-ish cartoon nudity and swearing. [more inside]
1st OLPCs in Uruguay
First OLPC deployment, in Uruguay.
`Love the fucking baby, yourself.`
Ring Cycle - Superheroes, Steroids and Suicides
"'It's been a magical evening,' Joel says as the Great Khali hits the Undertaker with a dustbin lid." Jon Ronson (and son) journey into the world of WWE to investigate the death of Chris Benoit.
Wally Deane: rockin' 'n' rollin' 'n' coppin' a cartoon riff.
Hey daddy-o, when you hear that big brash horn section pump out that oddly familiar riff, only to stop cold and make way for that that prescient single note from an electric guitar, followed straightaway by a twangy voice in perfect rockabilly delivery proclaiming "well, she's got a dress that looks like a sack!", then brother, you're listening to the hoppin' boppin' sound of Wally Deane's Drag On. Once you hear it, you'll wonder why Quentin Tarrantino never put it in a movie. Wally Deane: one of the greatest rockabilly acts you never heard of.
Luc Sante blogs
Luc Sante has started a blog (according to Sasha Frere-Jones). Two entries so far, the first on a book cover from the 60's and the second on a picture of a rockabilly band. From the 2nd blog post:
And that is why we come here once a year to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown rockabilly band: to persuade them to rest, and lay off the young. But just have a look at them--they were never meant to be! They should never have tried occupying the same stage, and they should have left music to find its own way home. The piano player, with his incipient Mickey Mouse ears, was clearly destined for a career working with puppets. The twins on guitar and bass were natural-born casino greeters. The other guitarist has the fine tapered hands of a pest-control agent specializing in silverfish. And the drummer--he was meant as an example. What happened to him should have been shown to driver-safety classes in every high school in the country. [more inside]
The Zen Mind
The Zen Mind - An Introduction. A Day in the Life of a Zen Monk. Zazen - A Guide to Sitting. Interview with a Zen Buddhist Priest (previously). [more inside]
December 7
Bakin' cookies with bacon!
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies. Other bacon cookies have been mentioned before, but considering how well-received bacon and odd food pairings have generally been (among other unapologetic monstrosities), I decided this was worth sharing. [via]
Atari Games, A good place to stay on your way to EA
10 Years of Atari/Atari Games VaxMail . For a glimpse of the Atari plant ca. 1992, view the cheesy internal 20th Anniversary video (part 1, part 2).
Kleenex(tm) in aisle NSFW(tm)
Incompatible
High quality re-creations of medieval armor
A few examples of high-quality re-creations of medieval armor. Much of this is created using historical techniques (youtube,) by men (slightly NSFW) who can only be called masters. But it ain't cheap. [more inside]
The three together is God. That's the same thing with us three.
Imagine being born into a set of triplets. You are all inseparable... for an entire lifetime the three of you live together, work together, play music together... your bond is so unique and people find you so endearing that you all even become famous together. Now imagine that time has passed and you have become a frail 85 year old, left alone for the first time in eight decades... Send Milly Del Rubio a Christmas card. [more inside]
Personal submarines
I think the trouble is telling them what the project is about. People think you are mad. Once I started telling people it was for “an oil tank”, they started to take me seriously. Guernsey Submarine documents the building of a homemade submersible. You can also watch another K-350 in action, read about how to design them, or buy plans, if you're truly inspired.
Inshallah
"Hundreds of thousands of Americans have endured tours of duty in Iraq. They are returning home with a new word on their lips. It will have an impact on the American Experiment, inshallah."
Right Wing Rock!
Right Wing Rock! (Download links at the bottom of the page.)
me and whoever down at the schoolyard
Can I Sit With You? The stormy social seas of the schoolyard
BONUS: The Game is Really Fun to Play!
Iron Grip: The Oppression is a multiplayer total conversion mod for Half Life 2 that blends real time strategy and first person shooter elements along the lines of Natural Selection. One player takes control of “The Oppression,” playing the game primarily in a top down view, building and then issuing orders to AI units such as the stormtrooper-like Grenadiers, and tanks. Every other player on the server forms “The Resistance,” taking on, with a traditional FPS play style, the persona of one of ten freedom fighters and vying with the RTS controlled units for map control. [more inside]
Crackdollhouse? Dollcrackhouse?
The Baltimore Block Real life in miniature.
2.2 Square Miles, Most of It 6 Feet Deep.
Colma, CA is a necropolis created when San Francisco banned burials within the city limits in the late 1800's because of space and public health concerns. A town of 2.2 square miles, 73% is devoted to cemetaries and the dead outnumber the living thousands to one.
Buckethead named an album after it. There's a musical about it (sort of).
Other necropolises around the world.
Rule 34 for photos of bacon on people
Food and Beauty is a series of portraits of models with meat (and fish, and other kinds of food). It's strange, it's off-putting, it's sometimes sexy, but mostly ewww. Somehow I bet somewhere there is a Rule 34 site dedicated to weird shit like this (via Serious Eats)
Karlheinz Stockhausen Dead at 79
Run-Stop/Restore
The Commodore 64, many geek's first love, is turning 25. You can relive the glory, and still find a lot of the old software.
Even more surprising is how much is still being done with it. Someone ported vi to it (obviously not EMACS). Somone else wrote a browser. For the ultimate, a souped up motherboard merges the C64 with contemporary peripherals.
Obscure timelines and curiosities
Artslynx's theatre resources section is a goldmine of links to research and support sites for every aspect of theatrical production and dramaturgy. Especially useful are the Artslynx timelines. Need to know when cling wrap came into usage? Check out the prop timeline. Lots of additional links to outside timelines and history sites for anyone with a thirst for obscure sociological information, a love of craptacularly designed scrolling pages, and generally and too much time on their hands. For example: food, fashion, ephemera, and people who have died onstage [more inside]
Ain't superstitious, baby.
Meet Mojo, a runaway who was finally buried 80 years after his death. Visit with the Orviss family in their spacious mausoleum. Don’t mind the whispers; there’s no reason to be superstitious. It’s just Calvert, Texas.
Yet more B&W NYC (and Paris) photos for your enjoyment.
Louis Stettner: Atmospheric black and white photos of Paris and New York by Brooklyn-born photographer who now lives in France. Some are sexy, some amusing, some poignant.
A series on Penn station in the 1950s is especially nice, and a big contrast to the candy colored Mad Men palette. Beware mispelled main url. via.
Not that Big Box Armor you're used to.
"Your dog will need to be a pitbull shaped dog around 65 lbs or Ill need your dog here in person to get the right fit." Armor with a personal touch. A full suit of armor for $610! And you your pitbull shaped dog can even match. Oh, and in case you share a hobby with the janitor from Scrubs, you can get this as well. [more inside]
Blondes have more fjords
The blonde map of Europe. According to this map at least 80% of the population is fair-haired, in the central parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. So make your reservations to see the blondes now, as the BBC reports that we'll be out of blondes by 2202. Though, Snopes calls BS on this. [more inside]
Cry "Havoc!"and let slip the cats of war
Cats in Wartime on land, at sea, and memorialized. (With discussion of some of the most famous-- like Simon and Oscar.) Also, What Cats Know About War, previously on metafilter. [more inside]
¡ASK A MEXICAN! Not Playing in Peoria
life in Bangladesh
SOS-arsenic.net has excellent recipes, visuals, articles and information about life, history, living in Bangladesh, which borders India, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, Burma and is near the Himalayan country of Bhutan. Among the many interesting things included in this site is disturbing information: mustard oil, whose production and consumption were until recently integral to India's way of life, has been banned, so as to provide a market for Monsanto's soya oil and the poisoning of between 85 and 125 million people with arsenic.
Evin is a Kurdish female name, meaning "love".
Incompatibility between French bread and German Nutella
Are you a Nutella connoisseur? Can you tell the difference between French and German Nutella? An informative 4 minute lesson on YouTube.
....nothing but the truth so help you yourself
A judge has issued a court summons for Lord Hanuman and Lord Ram, two Hindu gods, to settle a dispute over ownership of a temple. The initial summons were rejected due to an incomplete address, following which adverts were placed in the local press. [more inside]
A different album every night
The brothers Ron and Russ Mael a.k.a. Sparks intend to play their entire back catalogue of albums over 21 nights in May 2008 in London. The 'hugely talented Los Angeles wideacres' have crossed many genres in their career, combining a fine ear and eye for pop culture with fantastic lyrics. They have influenced Morrissey and Franz Ferdinand among many others. A youtube playlist pulled together for anyone who wants to see some great videos, tunes and some bizarre footage. [more inside]
Indexed on US Politics
Jessica Hagy, author of indexed (previously) covers the 2008 Presidential Election for McClatchy's "alt.campaign" site.
Mark Wahl Blog
Flash Friday
Angular Momentum Get balls into holes, using curves, walls, levitating thingies, accelerators. (Via)
December 6
1988: 50k dead, 2007: 3k-5k still homeless
19th Anniversary of Spitak Earthquake At 11:41am on December 7, 1988, a 7 point scale earthquake shook the Soviet Republic of Armenia.
A massive Soviet-wide aid campaign began. Aid workers from outside of the Soviet Union were allowed in, for the first time in Soviet history.
Many argue that the 50,000+ deaths were in part due to poor construction of the Soviet era buildings. Any hope for reconstruction fell apart with the collapse of the Soviet Union though. 19 years later, many people are still living in "temporary" housing, called "Domiks" , estimates are around 3000-5000 people still homeless after 19 years.
A child of the earthquake remembers.
ABC News coverage and Time Magazine coverage.
Skarabej is an online museum of old family photographs
Skarabej is an online museum of old family photographs from all over the world. Thousands of them. Some are creepy, others depressing and then a few happy ones to break it up a bit.
'If, in a government agency, anyone has to wait in line for more than 15 minutes, the official in question is obliged to humbly apologise, and explain the reason for the delay.'
Nobel Laureate Gerardus 't Hooft has an asteroid named after him. Dr. 't Hooft has drawn up a constitution. [more inside]
Pre-Friday Flash Fun
Paul and Dave, creators of the extremely popular Desktop Tower Defense flash game, have just opened up their new flash games site to the public! [more inside]
MetroDream
Russos takes photos of Moscow Metro construction. Also of a half-abandoned river port, a cool bridge being put together, and an old underground nuclear submarine base. But mostly of the Metro, behind the scenes. (Don't ask me how he gets access.) [more inside]
Brian Eno: A Sandbox In Alphaville
The United States does not {video tape} torture.
Quiz: are you an asshole ?
Are you an asshole ? Of course you are not ...but what if you look, walk, and quack like an ....asshole ? You may be seen as one ! Fear not, for this King of All AssHoles that goes by the name of Bob Sutton wrote a test for you. He also wrote a book and he dares teach at Stanford and even has spare time to run a blog. What a royal ass !
Theft recovery
Juststolen.net "was created by police officers to provide the best possible asset tracking and property recovery services in the world. JustStolen.net is an innovative tool designed to easily register assets in order to facilitate their recovery if they are lost or stolen. JustStolen.net joins forces with online auctions to help identify stolen property."
The Ten Doctors
The geekiest thing you will see this month is this fan-made comic called The Ten Doctors. Unexpectedly awesome, though!
Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act
Yesterday, the US House passed the SAFE Act. No, not that one. Points of note:
- If signed into law, the SAFE Act will require people offering WiFi at their cafe, library, or even allowing their neighbours to use it, who notice that someone appears to have viewed certain dirty cartoons, or pictures of fully-clothed children looking sexy, to immediately make a comprehensive report to John Walsh's CyberTipLine, and retain the images, or face a fine of up to $150,000.
- ISPs or email services have the same obligations, and must store all data relating to the user's account, to be handed over to the authorities.
- The Democrats rushed the legislation through using a mechanism intended for non-controversial legislation. There was no hearing or committee vote. The legislation changed significantly before the vote and was not available for public review.
- The bill passed 409-2. Opposed were Paul Broun (R-Georgia) and Ron Paul (R-Texas). The Senate is next, so consider telling them what you think.
- If signed into law, the SAFE Act will require people offering WiFi at their cafe, library, or even allowing their neighbours to use it, who notice that someone appears to have viewed certain dirty cartoons, or pictures of fully-clothed children looking sexy, to immediately make a comprehensive report to John Walsh's CyberTipLine, and retain the images, or face a fine of up to $150,000.
- ISPs or email services have the same obligations, and must store all data relating to the user's account, to be handed over to the authorities.
- The Democrats rushed the legislation through using a mechanism intended for non-controversial legislation. There was no hearing or committee vote. The legislation changed significantly before the vote and was not available for public review.
- The bill passed 409-2. Opposed were Paul Broun (R-Georgia) and Ron Paul (R-Texas). The Senate is next, so consider telling them what you think.
The Lost Border: Photographs of the Iron Curtain
The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars
I'm tired of using technology, why don't you sit down on top of me?
From aquarium toilets to sself-cleaning toilets to intelligent toilets and musical multi-buttoned Japenese toilets, toilet technology has come a long way, baby.
Polaroid Composites
... Part 2?
Dr. Seuss 2.0 NYT's blogger, David Pogue, expounds on the un-creative Seussification of 2.0 website names. Entertaining and right-on... except that the Washington Post featured the very same article a week earlier! Ouch.
The Source of all the Music in your Head
Are You Not DEVO? You Are Mutato! LA Weekly goes behind the scenes of Mutato Muzika, the commercial music studio owned by Mark Mothersbaugh. Mark is a visual artist, composer, oh, and front man for a little band called DEVO who is "spending December at Mutato trying to create an album’s worth of new material and contemplating a method of dispersal in the post-record-company world."
Google Chart API
Google's new Chart API makes images of various charts based entirely on URLs. There's no key required, so it's very easy to start adding charts to the 86% of statistics we're making up. As a starting point for chart play, MetaFilter as a chart.
You know you hate them, or love them
The New England Patriots. Not The Patriot, or a Patriot, Rather the Patriots!
Some folks *HATE* them. There's even a game. (About the game.) [more inside]
Richard Beymer's Twin Peaks photos
Photographs taken on the set of Twin Peaks by Richard Beymer (who played Benjamin Horne).
Nicole Carroll doing bodyweight x15 in the Overhead Squat
Nicole Carroll is a CrossFit trainer who works out of Santa Cruz. Here is a video of her aiming for 15 reps of her bodyweight in the Overhead Squat, which is a very impressive lift. (In .wmv format) [more inside]
first facebook, now microsoft?
You want me to eat what?!? It's fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else. To see if you have permission, sign in. Or just add northpole@live.com to your IM. Failing that, see what Howard has to offer.
Get them to sign on the line which is dotted
The earliest recorded noncompete case was brought in England in 1414. Since then their power and utility has depended on which line you were signing. While some have shown they impede mobility of "superstar" talent could it also be they prevent entire geographic areas from maximizing their potential?
Best of lists
Lists of Bests. Track your progress through "Best of lists.." of movies, books, etc.. add your own lists, compare your progress with others.
Hell's Gate and Beyond
A Fingerprint-Protected Social Network for Girls
Some fancy security for 6 to 14-year-old girls Anne's Diary is a Canadian social network for 6 to 14-year-old girls (I read about it on the CBC's Spark blog). It has two interesting security features to fend off child molesters and the like. To sign up for the service, kids need to get a non-parental adult professional as a 'sponsor' who validates their identity and age (much like applying for a passport). Secondly, you get a USB fingerprint scanner with your initial package, and I gather the kids use this to log in to the service. And yes, that's Anne with an 'e'. No Prince Edward Island gable was ever this secure. [more inside]
Take a drag of pot, kid. You ain't chicken are you?
Hooked! Trapped! Teenage Booby Trap! Users Are Losers! Vintage anti-drug comics scanned and posted by Ethan Persoff. Plus dozens of other "Comics with Problems"-- like "Rex Morgan, MD Talks About Your Unborn Child" and "Capt Veedee-O and Ms. Wanda Lust in VD Claptrap."
"Dr. Freud gave me a narcissus." -Virginia Woolf
a seasonal cinemtatic imbroglio
The Bloody Olive - a 10 minute film noir in the spirit of the season. An interview about the film with director Vincent Bal.
No More Phoning It In at the Times
[archaic tech filter] Foreign correspondents and reporters in the field at the New York Times say goodbye to the paper of record's recording room.
Don't Look Back In Anger
Rhino Releases The Brit Box It's hard to explain in 2007 what it feels like for music to be both uniting and important. Having spent nearly three years of the '90s living in London, it's with honest nostalgia and wonder that we examine Rhino's The Brit Box. The set's mission is rather broad: it attempts to examine the whole of UK indie rock from 1985-1999 and devotes a disc each to '80s indie, shoegaze, Britpop, and the late '90s. [more inside]
WGBH makes historic videos available online
"Open Vault provides online access to unique and historically important content produced by public television station WGBH for individual and classroom learning. The ever-expanding site contains video excerpts, searchable transcripts, a select number of complete interviews for purchase, and resource management tools." (Requires QuickTime) [more inside]
Hear the Tintinnabulation of the Bells
Public sound sculptures can be beautiful ways of drawing passersby into creating music. Whether they're melodic chimes in subway stations, theremins in public parks, or the sounds of rivers and clocks in a art museum, all of them can add a little bit of magic to the everyday world.
Paul Matisse is an artist who has created multiple public sound sculptures across the Boston Area. He built three sound sculptures in the Kendall Square subway station in Boston, and another in Charlestown, called the Charlestown Bells. [more inside]
"With the right access and equipment you can do anything."
Creature discomforts. Aardman Animations has created a charming campaign for Leonard Cheshire Disability that plays off their much-loved BBC series Creature Comforts (for a sample of the original, try birds singing in Welsh or a classically disgruntled Brazilian jaguar). Be sure to check out the voices behind the characters.
Restoring the right to protest with your keyboard
The Government are clear that there should be no unnecessary restrictions on people's right to protest and it is right to review provisions which have generated such concern. Two years ago, the British government effectively removed the right to spontaneous peaceful protest around the UK Parliament.
Now, that legislation is under review, with a public consultation open until mid-January. [more inside]
RIP That Guy Who Was in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Though best known for his role as hunky Lance Rocke in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, the actor/author was also distinguished by a career as a beefcake pin-up boy. Sadly, he has passed away at the age of 67.
Canadian artist Norval Morrisseau died yesterday.
Norval Morrisseau died on Tuesday. Known also as Copper Thunderbird, the Picasso of the North, and the Father of the Woodland Indian school of Art, he was the first to record his culture's oral traditions in his paintings.
Graphical explanation of CDOs
A graphical, animated explanation of how collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) work, by Felix Salmon, Maryanne Murray, Jeffrey Cane, Jacky Myint, and Shazna Nessa. The collapse in CDO valuations and the resulting losses to investors played a major role in the recent banking crisis. Via Paul Krugman.
December 5
IdiocracyWatch
The omens and portents are appearing in your fridge and on your boob tube...Idiocracy is coming to pass. [more inside]
See It, Hear It, Smell It
Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World. From the main page, click on the various articles to access a larger left-side menu, with articles including Illusions Reveal The Brain's Assumptions, A Hot Spot in the Brain's Motion Pathway, The Value of Having Two Ears, The Memory of Smells and much more.
Time to get schooled by the professor!
Some kind soul has uploaded an exhaustive collection of Professor Julius Sumner Miller's Science Demonstrations to YouTube. This is my playlist, I thought the other fans of JSM on Metafilter might enjoy it.
For those of us who enjoy coffins
Capsule hotels (or modular hotels , if you prefer) are all the rage these days. They started in Japan in the 1980s, but have only recently spread elsewhere to places like England. They aren't the cushiest digs you'll find, but they're a cheap no-frills alternative, and they're getting better all the time.
Santastic III
Santastic I, II, and now III, holiday mash-ups, alternate treatments and bootleg remixes.
Previously
Previously
Inside the "Ron Paul" Spam Botnet.
the future is open {
Papervision3D 2.0 released yesterday. Papervision3D is an open source 3D Engine for flash which provides a lightweight, browser friendly platform for rendering 3d content in your browser window. Papervision (some examples of PV3D in use: 1, 2, 3 (this third one might be awhile to load...), however, is only the tip of the iceberg which is a very committed and talented open source flash community. [more inside]
Here Today Is The Now Sound of Yesterday
The Now Sound of the Sixties is what's groovy, baby! Even Big Bands and Canadians are getting warm, wild, wonderful with the crazy sounds of that love generation. Check out Ella Fitzgerald singing Sunshine of Your Love and Lord Sitar's I Can See for Miles. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 do Wichita Lineman and Day Tripper, while lounge act Jackie & Roy do a rare cover version of the Beatles' The Word. The Alan Copeland Singers can't stop Goin' Out of My Head, but the Back Porch Majority looks like an outtake from A Mighty Wind with the hippie anthem, Get Together. But the hippest hep daddy of them all is Bing Crosby, who has both a Beatles medley and another medley of hit '60s tunes.
Apocalypse Now
Depending on who you believe, either Guy Pearce or Viggo Mortensen will be cast in the lead role of the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's utterly brilliant dystopia, The Road. To my mind, the adaptation marks Hollywood's rekindling of the almost forgotten genre of the post-apocalyptical movie. With Mad Max, The Postman, Threads and The Day After, nuclear annihilation loomed large in the imaginations of filmmakers in the 70s and 80s. Since then cinematic dystopia has been projected in the realm of the fantastic (think 12 Monkey's, The Matrix and 28 Days Later). If dystopia is really just a satire of the present, what does the film adaptation of The Road tell us about the our times?
Ee-ee! Ee-ee! (Something slimy for you, my slimy darling.)
Some dolphins are easy and some are murderous rapists, but all of them are into the nookie. Amazon River Dolphins are the casanovas of the cetacean order, practised in selecting the finest mud glops or algae for that special cow.
Christmas Presents for New Orleans
Bulldozers for the Poor: despite being the brainchild of the chief of police, tent city, home to approximately 500 of the city's roughly 12,000 homeless, is slated to be disbanded to make room for state office buildings and a national jazz park. this comes at the same time hud is readying to demolish four housing projects, where many of the tent city residents hoped to return. meanwhile, residents of one of the swankiest neighborhoods in town are successfully protesting and receiving tax breaks.
Big man with a big heart does his part
Mark Wallinger has won the Turner Prize for 'State Britain' his recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest. [more inside]
The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich
Their days are filled with these sorts of moments, as when they go out for Chinese food and the fortune in Dennis's cookie tells him he has "integrity and consistency." ("Isn't that amazing?" Elizabeth says.) And then they turn the fortune over, and Dennis's Chinese word is "hat," and amazingly, Elizabeth just bought a hat before lunch.The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich
Gregory Blackstock
Autistic retired pot-washer Gregory Blackstock creates striking artworks of everyday items. Short YouTube interview here. If you're in Seattle, you can see him tonight at the opening of his exhibition at the Garde Rail Gallery.
Top 10 online point and click games.
Top ten point and click games based on graphics, difficulty level and overall enjoyable gaming experience. (via)
the way of the ninja
N, that dangerously addictive and simple flash game (previously # # #) is very close to being available on X-box live[IGN] and soon, on the PSP and Nintendo DS. More news about N and their next project, robotology can be found on their blog. [more inside]
Not your mama's Tupperware parties
Meetup Alliance - Meetup.com, the social networking site, probably best known for becoming a driving factor in Howard Dean's presidential campaign, has created the Meetup Alliance offshoot site, which allows local groups (whether organized through other networking sites or just locally) to link up and create global "alliances."
"My humble efforts to assist in the elucidation of the social condition of a distant and comparatively unknown race."
Homeland Security for Sale
Heckuva Job DHS! 5 Years of Corporate Cronyism. CREW and Brave New Foundation have joined forces to create this video and a report, Homeland Security for Sale, documenting five years of waste, fraud and abuse at the Department of Homeland Security. [Via Think Progress.]
I got a letter from the government the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers
Landlord tenant law in every US state
A Geek for Every Season
When "Being Green" takes on a different meaning
I'd heard before about green blood and green urine, but now- green sweat? I know the whole world is going greener these days, but really!
Flying with the green fairy
Meet St. George Absinthe Verte, "the first American-made absinthe on the market in almost a century." Since Absinthe was legalized earlier this year, various brewers have moved into the market--but is is really the same thujone-enhanced drink that drove many-an-artist to madness?
The Patent Troll And The Anonymous Blogger
"$5,000 to anyone that can provide information that leads me to the identity of Troll Tracker" is the offer from Ray Niro of Chicago plaintiffs firm Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro. Niro doesn't like to be called a "troll," but Troll Tracker started referring to Niro that way. So Niro pulled out an old weapon. He e-mailed the blogger, informing him that he may be infringing on patent number 5,253,341.
Broadway Deconstructed
Musical fans, meet Seth Rudetsky. Watch him (YT links) deconstruct "Turkey Lurkey" and Barbra Streisand or accompany Raul Esparza on "Defying Gravity." Learn from his Broadway 101 parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6a and 6b.
Shoot First, No Questions Asked?
"I've got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop 'em?" On November 14, 61-year old Joe Horn saw two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He called 911, told the operator what he could see through his window. As Horn watched the men, he grew more and more agitated, saying he was going to go outside and shoot them. When the men left the neighbor's home, Horn went outside and did just that.
Now, Texas gets to argue over the hero or villain status of Joe Horn in the public square (a debate made more volatile by concerns that race was been a factor), while weighing the merits of that state's recent adoption of Castle Doctrine (aka "Stand Your Ground" Law). First adopted by Florida in 2005, Castle Doctrine is now law in 19 of 50 states. So what does this mean for Joe Horn? Public accusations of vigilantism aside, what Horn did is arguably legal under Texas law ... or, at least, it would be had he shot the two men after dark.
McGee Online
For all your culinary information needs, search through Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking for free online. Also, in a more limited capacity, Larousse Gastronomique.
The Wire Prequels
This link is parked
YouParkLikeAnAsshole.com : Got a notice? Give a notice. Contains Galleries for regular asshole parking to super duper asshole parking. Some of these offenses are benign, and indeed some are egregious, but let it be a lesson to you, bad things can happen to your car if you block the hydrant.
Do They Know It's Advent?
Word Magazine's Advent Calendar. The Man in Black in a field of white. Diana + (Flo and Mary) in Santa hats. "Weird Al"'s post-apocalyptic Xmas. Thin Pistols/Sex Lizzy serenade Kenny Everett. Grace Jones uncrated for Pee Wee.
And that's just the first five days.
the moment before you fall in love
Sarasate Plays "Zigeunerweisen". A recording from 1904.
This Kids' Blues Band even Impresses BB King
Can three happy kids (15, 13, 9) REALLY play the blues? (and without knowing how to read music). Hell yeah! They placed 2nd (out of 157 bands) at this spring's International Blues Challenge in Memphis. (Featured: CBS Sunday Morning video) Even BB King is impressed. More YouTubery (this has to be a parent's posting page) - not the place for high fidelity, but you'll get the idea: Harvest Blues Festival performances.
Al Odah v. U.S. and Boumediene v. Bush
Al Odah v. U.S. and Boumediene v. Bush go before SCOTUS Streaming on C-Span today. The Center for Constitutional Rights (great podcast) will argue before the Supreme Court today:
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision in Rasul, The Center for Constitutional Rights and cooperating counsel filed 11 new habeas petitions in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of over 70 detainees. These cases eventually became the consolidated cases of Al Odah v. United Statesand Boumediene v. Bush, the leading cases determining the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Rasul, the rights of non-citizens to challenge the legality of their detention in an offshore U.S. military base, and the constitutionality of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
Dance Craze
Courtesy of Youtube, here are some performances from the 1981 movie Dance Craze: Nite Klub, Too Much Too Young & Concrete Jungle by The Specials; Three Minute Hero & Too Much Pressure by The Selecter; Ranking Full Stop & Mirror in the Bathroom by The (English) Beat; The Prince & Swan Lake by Madness; (Lets do the) Rock Steady & 007 (Shanty Town) by The Bodysnatchers and; Nee-Nee-Na-Na-Na-Nu & Lip Up Fatty by Bad Manners. [more inside]
Renato Carosone, pride of Napoli.
This is just too charming and endearingly goofy to miss: Renato Carosone's Tu Vuo' Fa' L'Americano (You're Acting All American). See also: O Sarracino, Torero and Maruzella.
Hunting Rebel Gold
A man seeking Confederate gold and his own family's hidden history uncovers a cryptic trail that may stretch back to a secret society and Jesse James.
Tis the season for stuff.
...you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely. The story of stuff.
Terry's Chop Shop
December 4
The Bone Trade
For 200 years, the city has been the center of a shadowy network of bone traders who snatch up skeletons in order to sell them to universities and hospitals abroad. In colonial times, British doctors hired thieves to dig up bodies from Indian cemeteries. Despite changes in laws, a similar process is going strong today. (More on the unsettling subject of the human bone trade from the author of the first link, and his Wired article too. And Photos.)
Via the excellent Sepia Mutiny.
The tiny pieces are under the sofa cushions
Won't You Blog About This Song? Sure!
"Here Comes Another Bubble" a very 2.0-savvy song parody with a 'catch all the in-jokes' video. [more inside]
3.14159265itwasthebestoftimesitwastheworstofti...
Ever wondered if and where a specific set of numbers could be found in pi? Maybe you'd like to know where your birthday is? Or maybe just something funny. [prev. here, here] [more inside]
French language ephemera and visual miscellany blog
Agence Eureka is a French language image-blog with hundreds or even thousands of scanned illustrations, mostly from mid-20th century French schoolbooks, educational material, magazines, and ephemera. The current front page is slightly NSFW. Some of the categories include anatomy 1 & 2 (mildly NSFW); chocolate wrappers/trading cards; bricolage; decoupage (cut-outs); math education; playing cards; books and magazines; cars; cinema; orientalisme; sport; mild pin-ups; and many others (scroll all the way down the right to see the tags). [more inside]
Tomb of tomes
An obscure 1911 British law requires a copy of every published book, journal, newspaper, patent, sound recording, magazine etc.. to be permanently archived in at least one of five libraries around the country. The British Library has the most complete collection and is currently adding about 12.5km of new shelf space a year of mostly unheard of and unwanted stuff. A new state-of-the-art warehouse is being constructed with 262 linear kilometers of high-density, fully automated storage in a low-oxygen temperature controlled environment. It is not a library, it is a warehouse for "things that no one wants." BLDG Blog ponders on what it all means.
the blob invades prague!
The proposed new home of the National Library of the Czech Republic. The old one looks like this. The new one ... well ... is it an octopus? What the hell is this thing?
Amazing discoveries in plain-text Tor exit traffic.
This is an ironic tale of the consequences of inept application of cryptographic tools. Or is it? Dan Egerstad, a Swedish hacker, gained access to hundreds of computer network accounts around the world, belonging to various embassies, corporations and other organizations. How did he do it? Very easily: by sniffing exit traffic on his Tor nodes. [more inside]
Freaky Flicks
Freaky Flicks is a p2p community with a radical mascot that collects arthouse and cult cinema.
Browse the selection on The Pirate Bay or look at their list of Red Letter Directors.
The FF Forum is pretty good for recommendations and links to non-p2p and legal online video.
Browse the selection on The Pirate Bay or look at their list of Red Letter Directors.
The FF Forum is pretty good for recommendations and links to non-p2p and legal online video.
Post a joke, go directly to jail
Post a controversial comment, get arrested. "Some were disturbed by the post police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending."
Maestro Twang
The Maestro FZ-1 Fuzztone was one of the first stomp boxes a guitar player could use. Released in 1962 by Gibson, sales didn't take off until a British band used it in the introduction to one of their songs in 1965. But if it weren't for a Marty Robbins song and engineer Glen Snoddy, the pedal might have never been invented and country music wouldn't have been the same. [more inside]
Football's Ironman. (Sorry, Cal.)
Through alcohol and vicodin addicition, trauma, grief, and loss, Brett Favre has thrown the ball for the largest muncipally-owned professional sports team in the United States. After reinventing himself several times over, and leading his team to an improbable string of wins and accomplishments a year after almost retiring, he is Sport's Illustrated's sportsman of the year.
Antonio de Felipe, Spanish pop artist
Antonio de Felipe is a Spanish pop artist whose work is heavily influenced by pop culture, Hollywood, classic art and movies, animation, advertising, and simply growing up in Spain. Among the actresses he frequently depicts are Audrey Hepburn (as well as melding different sources) and Marilyn Monroe. He has also recreated some international masterpieces in pop art form. Some may be familiar with his work from the art he created for Pedro Almodóvar's film Live Flesh. Altogether, his work transcends national boundaries while still maintaining a distinct Spanish flavor. [more inside]
The Saint Nicholas Center: Discovering the truth about Santa Claus
One day you're here, but the next day you're gone.
Pimp C , one half of Texas rap group UGK (along with Bun B) was found dead today in a hotel room in Los Angeles.
Mizuko Kuyo
Mizuko Kuyo, meaning "water-child memorial service" is a memorial service held by or for those who have experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion, and has become widespread in Japan since the 1970's. (Wikipedia definition). Peggy Orenstein relates her experience with miscarriage and this ritual in Mourning My Miscarriage - In Japan, I Find a Culture Willing to Acknowledge My Loss. [more inside]
Chip Reese Cashes Out
In the future, we're still all raging dirtbags.
The Boy in the Moon
The Boy in the Moon: Ian Brown writes about the living with his son Walker, who was born with a rare and serious genetic disorder called Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, or CFC. The first part of a three-part feature is available, and includes pictures and video.
This is serious-- we can make you delirious
Retrostatic is a treasure trove of 80's (and 90's) TV commercials--from PSAs of singing pills to the Post cereal Create-A-Villain contest (and so much more). Also, cartoons, with descriptions and opening sequences of everything from Alf Tales to Thundercats.
Afrigator.
Afrigator. An Africa Aggregator.
A mouthful of bytecode
Bytecode-based virtual machines are the Next Big Thing in programming. You can run
Lisp, Ruby, Python, OCaml, and yes even COBOL on the JVM. Or if you prefer your languages to be a bit more melodic there's J#, A#, P# and F#. Even C/C++ has a bytecode compiler now. That's not to mention languages that have their own VMs like Erlang or that are writing their own like Parrot or PyPy. [more inside]
Splinter your sides with laughter
Joseph Conrad reviewed
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary since the birth of Joseph Conrad [Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim etc], The Guardian's Giles Foden makes a fair attempt at assessing the great novelist's legacy. [via]
Squaring the square
Nowhere-neat tilings are actually pretty neat. We all know you can't "square the circle", but do you know the story of squaring the square? (And by the way, even if you can't construct π with a ruler and compass, you can come awfully close without too much work.)
Somebody get me a 15-year old to explain these.
PISA results are in. Finland and Canada high five and make awkward polite bows and gestures towards The Far East. For education policy Programme for International Student Assessment is the research about how 15-year old students are being educated. Briefings for UK and US.
Results escape easy answers, but you might test your theory against interactive data tool. [more inside]
Osocio
Osocio is a blog that covers some of the best social marketing and non-profit advertising worldwide - whether it be through a careers fair, a "beauty" ad, or even through sex education.
December 3
Propacrayonda
Coloring is fun! Engage kids and get your message across with soothing, simple style!
Print these .pdfs for the little ones in your life to color. Together, learn a little grown-up wisdom about Being a Witness in Federal Court, Disaster Preparedness, Food Safety with Thermy™, Why Elephants Cry, Biomedical Research with the Lucky Puppy, or how the United Nations is a very bad organization made up of foreign countries who do not want you to be free, with Brasco!
Print these .pdfs for the little ones in your life to color. Together, learn a little grown-up wisdom about Being a Witness in Federal Court, Disaster Preparedness, Food Safety with Thermy™, Why Elephants Cry, Biomedical Research with the Lucky Puppy, or how the United Nations is a very bad organization made up of foreign countries who do not want you to be free, with Brasco!
Blackwater: Our Stories
The Blackwater USA weblog. A blogger sets up a blog for Blackwater so they can enter the conversation about their operations in Iraq.
Frank Zappa smiles from heaven
Transgendered women in lingerie made from taxidermied rats. NSFW unless John Waters is your boss.Via Ectomo, natch.
oodles of... whatever that thing is.
The Foodle! Bassetoodle! A Chi-Poo and a Pomapoo!! Poogles, Doxiepoos, and Miniature Labradoodles! (oodles more here)
Spherical Storytelling
She without arm, he without leg - ballet - Hand in Hand
Simply amazing dance duo. Hand in Hand - Performed by Ma Li (馬麗) and Zhai Xiaowei (翟孝偉). via MonkeyFilter
The Dark Edge of the North
Carta Marina - From 1518 to 1519, Olaus Magnus made a journey across Sweden. On his journey, he encountered fish the size of elephants, sea serpents, demons and a tribe of pygmies.
Chimpanzee Memory
Face Your Pockets
Face Your Pockets. "Our goal is to not only bring all these objects into light but show the owner of them. During the scanning process it is recommended not to open your eyes."
And you thought Guitar Hero was cool...
With the wild success of the Guitar Hero series, using video game controllers shaped like guitars is nothing new. However, the duo at Modal Kombat actually use guitars as video game controllers. They won't reveal all of their tricks, but you can read a bit about their technology here and at this interview with Urban Guitar. The results are awfully impressive. View the original Modal Kombat here, and their newest installment, the admittedly trippy GuitarKart here. via
Radio to the People
The Prometheus Radio Project focuses on building a large community of low power FM stations and listeners. Co-founder Pete Tridish (interview) and Prometheus won a major victory recently as the FCC Moved to Protect Low-Power FM Stations. Check out a couple short films about Prometheus "barn raisings," or launching small community radio stations in Woodburn, Or, Nashville, TN and (especially fascinating) Arusha, Tanzania.
R.I.P. gigantic tree.
The Klootchy Creek Giant was the tallest sitka spruce in America (although some disagree), and a popular stop for those traveling out to the Oregon coast. Last year it was harmed in a storm, and on Sunday it finally snapped in half.
Lightly smooshed will get you lightly tased.
"What do you think of that, Santa?" Yet another case of student 'art projects' out of control . . . other incredible violations of mall-Santa lap etiquette:1, 2, 3, and no doubt the most flagrant example, 4. Be careful out there.
Conservative Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue!
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was an animated drug prevention television special starring many popular cartoon characters from American Saturday morning television. Airing in 1990 and financed by McDonald's, it was simulcast on all three major American television networks. The VHS home video edition of the special also opened with an introduction from then-President George Bush Snr and Barbara Bush. And thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, you can watch the whole thing here. And you really should. After all, where else are you going to get to hear cartoon characters like Garfield and Winnie the Pooh talking about smoking crack and shooting juice? [more inside]
A Big Cheese for a Big Cheese
The Mammoth Cheese of Cheshire was the most unusual gift ever given to a President of the United States. In the aftermath of the "Revolution of 1800", the eccentric Baptist preacher John Leland decided to celebrate the presidency of Thomas Jefferson by convincing the predominantly Baptist farmers of Cheshire, Massachusetts to create a giant 1,235-pound block of cheese as a monument to small-"r" republicanism and religious freedom. [more inside]
James Barber, 1923-2007
The Urban Peastant dies at 84. I don't know if the show ever got any play in the U.S. but here in Canada I learned to cook as a student from James Barber's show, The Urban Peasant, and from his books. They remain some of my all time favorites. [more inside]
Yeti footprints found near Everest
Yeti footprints found near Everest by Joshua Gates (SciFi Channel TV presenter) and his nine-member paranormal investigation team. They discovered three anthropomorphic prints on the bank of Manju near Mt. Everest, after spending one week in the Khumbu region. Stopping short of declaring a belief in the Yeti, Gates doubts the prints were man-made or that they came from a known creature. (See also: AP/Yahoo , IMDB, TV.com, Fortean Times Message Forum, SciFi Channel Destination Truth forum)
Get off my lawn photograph!
Kitchen Budapest is a collective that is aiming to render photographs on land through robotic grass cutting. The project is called Landprint. [more inside]
Life imitates soap opera
John Darwin disappeared while canoeing of the coast of North Yorkshire in 2002. He was presumed dead, until he walked into a police station on Saturday with no memory of where he has been for 5 and a half years. [more inside]
From Poker to Preachers
Learn how the most opulent casino in the North American hemisphere, complete with guard turrets and escape tunnels, became a Baptist College in 1956. [more inside]
Howling Mob Society
The Howling Mob Society. Looking out over the burning Strip District from the safety of his office in Pittsburgh's Union Station, Thomas Alexander Scott must have been humbled. Only days before, as president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Scott famously suggested that impoverished and striking railroad workers be given “a rifle diet for a few days and see how they like that kind of bread.” Now, with the local Pittsburgh militia all but mutinied and the State Militia rapidly retreating, he must have wondered if his hard-line stance had backfired… [more inside]
Dakota, the Last Dinosaur
Scientists find a 'mummified' Hadrosaur in North Dakota "He looks like a blow-up dinosaur in some parts," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England who is leading the inquiry. "When you actually look at the detail of the skin, the scales themselves are three dimensional. . . . The arm is breathtaking. It's a three-dimensional arm, you can shake the dinosaur by the hand. It just defies logic that such a remarkable specimen could preserve." [more inside]
" It is my goal to have the most complete collection of gaping animal maws that anyone can have"
Consider the pixies....
Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by distinctively "elfin" facial features, an uncanny ability to socialize with strangers, and, often, enhanced musical abilities.
Best of Web... or so it claims
Best Web Gallery is an inspirational gallery site where we collect a wide range of quality design websites (Flash & CSS). What is quality design means to us? Quality Design = Visual + Technical + Creativity. Also, Best of CSS design for 2007.
Happy Birthday Big Yin!
Billy At 65: I owe it all to Glasgow.
But Glasgow and Scots in general owe Billy Connolly for all the laughs at our own expense...Tourism,
Economy,
Music,
Religion,
Sport,
Social life,
Education,
Language,
Cuisine,
History,
Transport and
Sex.
(Rampant YouTubery: All links potentially offensive and NSFW) [more inside]
Alice in Civil War Land
John Tenniel and the American Civil War. Best known for his illustrations for Alice in Wonderland, John Tenniel also produced political cartoons for the British magazine Punch. This sites collects 54 of Tenniel's cartoons dealing with the American Civil War. In addition to the cartoons themselves, the site gives an explanation of the symbols and props in each cartoon and places them context with then-current events and issues. [more inside]
Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?
Gathering mountains
Docu-Images of China and Tibet. Thomas H. Hahn is a Cornell professor and an excellent photographer. Themed collections include Chinese modern art, urbanisation and architecture, sacred mountains, religion, and historical photographs.
Bejeweled beauties
Form and Pheromone - truly lovely beetle mosaics and insect art. (via recogedor) Previously: Living Jewels.
6A sells LJ to SUP
December 2
Music and Muppets
The Muppet Show featuring performances: by Johnny Cash (and two more), Steve Martin on banjo, Elton John (and two more), Alice Cooper (also some skits), Debbie Harry (and another), Liza Manelli singing Copa Cabana, REM, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich vs. Animal, Rita Moreno vs. Animal, Harry Belafonte (vs. Animal), Julie Andrews and more, Mac Davis, Nureyev singing and tap dancing,Sandy Duncan, John Denver, Paul Simon (on lute!), and a somewhat freaky version of The Gambler. [more inside]
Cephalopods Galore
Like squid? What about the good ol' octopus? The cuttlefish and nautilus? If you answered yes to these questions Dr. James B. Wood's Cephalopod Page is your go-to site, with information on and pictures of 25+ species of cephalopods including the aptly named (I'm sure) vampire squid from hell. The site also hosts many articles. Not sure where you stand on the coolness of cephalopods? Why don't you start by watching this video of an octopus squeezing through a one inch hole (previously on MetaFilter).
Silent Film
Enjoy some silent film this week: Battleship Potemkin. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The General. The Immigrant. Haxan. Intolerance (1, 2, 3). Nosferatu.
The 100 best mystery novels of all time
mermaid and prince, simultaneously
The New Games Journalism
"Mr. Gerstmann, we saw your 6.0 review of Kane & Lynch." After a less than stellar review of Kane & Lynch, 10 year veteran game reviewer Jeff Gerstmann seems to have been fired from his position at Gamespot due to pressure from Eidos, publisher of Kane & Lynch. This also has been confirmed by a freelancer for Gamespot.
Reaction has been massive. K&L is now rated 2.0 by users on Gamespot. Many subscribers are cancelling and there's a move to boycott Gamespot advertisers, which seems to be having some effect. [more inside]
Making Machinima Movies
Machinima (muh-shin-eh-mah or ma-shin-i-ma) is a hybrid filmmaking technique where people utilize game engines and environments to create videos. At first, it was little more than screengrabs and screencasts of in-game action, but it has now grown to include sophisticated storylines independent of game action. Shows and entire series have been made from The Sims, Halo, The Movies, Quake, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament and Second Life to name just a few. Actually, some Team Fortress 2 machinima was recently mentioned (October 9th). Over the years, there have been some really amazing productions, such as the now legendary 100-episode Red vs Blue series (also previously mentioned) which was created with Halo 2. A lot of machinima can be found and viewed for free on machinima.com. The Internet Archive also maintains a machinima section. The recently-released BloodSpell, a "punk fantasy" from Strange Company, is believed to be the first feature-length movie released using the Neverwinter Nights game engine. (watch online free, free divx download - 847 MB, free quicktime download - 903 MB). Two of the people behind BloodSpell, Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram have co-written the just-published "Machinima for Dummies". [more inside]
Excavation Ballet
Pretty Big Dig
A dance film by Anne Troake that gently illustrates the assimilation of technology. QT video [more inside]
A dance film by Anne Troake that gently illustrates the assimilation of technology. QT video [more inside]
1898 baseball cursing policy, amply illustrated
"In terms of language, it is also the most offensive official Major League baseball document that we have ever seen." An auction house obtains a one page letter sent to baseball players in 1898, outlining the league's new anti-cursing policy. Includes lots of examples of the kind of language that is not allowed. Nervous auctioneers not sure how to exhibit it. Purely of historical interest, naturally. [more inside]
Armoogeddon
Food Pairing
How to pair foods, if you've ever wondered whether oysters go with chocolate but didn't want to end up with an expensive mess
Gar!
Gar are a carnivorous fish found in North and Central America and some parts of the Caribbean. The fish is closely related to its Jurassic ancestors, can live for twenty years, grow to be as big as ten feet or more, and live practically anywhere, breathing through their gills or assisted by their air bladders. Gar are considered a "trash" fish, but people have been catching (or not), cooking, and eating gar for centuries (use the whole fish!). Despite, or perhaps because of, their rows scary teeth, they make great pets.
Mr Paxman at the Cafe Royal
"You haven't seen true competition until you've watched editors of broadsheet newspapers, distinguished novelists and the controller of Radio 4 locked in furious argument about which was Frederick the Great's favourite musical instrument and what was the name of Jade Goody's range of perfumes." Jeremy Paxman, host of BBC's Newsnight, reviews the events of his week.
Choices, constraints, and the 'mommy track.'
Insightful, sociological, bitter: A scholar reflects back on her entry into the academic 'mommy track.' An interesting blend of meditation-on-resentment and just-plain-resentment, worth a read both intentionally and un-. [via] [more inside]
One Cold Hand
One Cold Hand seeks to reunite lost gloves with their owners.
Not in the turning into a cockroach type way
Independent Filmaking: Kafkaesque Nightmare? Tom DiCillo's new film Delirious stars Steve Buscemi, is currently rated at 85% at Rotten Tomatoes, and yet, it only made $200,000. DiCillo asks Roger Ebert why.
Move Over, Electronic Arts!
What happens when Vivendi buys a $9.8 Billion dollar stake in Activision? You get the largest pure-play online and console game publisher in the world.
Footprints in the Collective Unconscious?
Footprints in the Collective Unconscious? Brooklyn writer Rachel Aviv presents an interesting summary of the disputed 'facts' behind who it was exactly that God inspired to write those ubiquitous religious-themed and -memed "Footprints in the Sand" poem(s). [more inside]
Fade to black
"One Paramount veteran compared the studio's vault to a teenager's chaotic bedroom. In fact, a visitor accidentally stepped on the negative of "Rosemary's Baby," which was unspooled on the floor." [more inside]
Boy Howdy, what a mess
You'd think news of a Creem Magazine retrospective book would be greeted with cries of glee. You'd be wrong. Occasional staff shutterbug Bob Matheu licensed rights to use the name of the beloved, iconoclastic Detroit rock zine years after it ceased to be relevant, but despite occasional "Creem is back" announcements, only produced a website. [more inside]
Just shoot ... and shake!
Polanoid "We are building the biggest Polaroid-picture-collection of the planet to celebrate the magic of instant photography." {stolen from notcot
Gossip of the Sewing Circle
Gossip of the Sewing Circle Profound cattiness from 1903. Learn to use such snarkily coded terms as embonpoint in everyday conversation. Need to shame a beautiful rival who hasn't produced an heir for her much older husband? Describe her in The Newsaper of Record as owning "an extremely clever parrot." PDF, link from the NYT Archives.
Slip Sliding Away
The Mystery of the Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa. One of the most interesting mysteries of Death Valley National Park is the sliding rocks at Racetrack Playa (a playa is a dry lake bed). These rocks can be found on the floor of the playa with long trails behind them. Somehow these rocks slide across the playa, cutting a furrow in the sediment as they move. Some of these rocks weigh several hundred pounds. That makes the question: "How do they move?" a very challenging one. [Via]. For more in-depth information, including maps and additional pictures, see Paula Messina's website about the Sliding Rocks.
HobbySpace
HobbySpace hosts an exhaustive collection of information and links about space-related hobbies, including amateur astronomy, satellite design, and rocketry for both beginners and experts.
December 1
Cut The Knot
Interactive mathematics miscellany and puzzles, including 75 proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem, an interactive column using Java applets, and eye-opening demonstrations. (Actually, much more.)
Stuck in a child’s playground
Is Web2.0 a wash for free speech in China? "Lately I've given a few talks around town titled 'Will the Chinese Communist Party Survive the Internet?' My answer - for the short and medium term at least - is 'yes.'"
Like Tetris, but chain-y
Chain Factor - a disappearing-piece Flash puzzle game that may also cause your time to disappear. I am trying to treat my addiction by passing it onto you.
Canadian beer responsible for global warming
No wonder why Canada won't meet their Kyoto targets A University of Alberta researcher is calling on Canadian beer drinkers to go green and toss their energy-guzzling beer fridges, found in one of three households across the country.
Stompo online
Serious Pest Locators And Terminators (S.P.L.A.T.) are the take-no-prisoners rival pest control company.
Here are some stopmotion animators.
[more inside]
Here are some stopmotion animators.
[more inside]
Friends with God
Comedy: The Bastard Break Up, "Being Gay" Commercial, Pointless Profanity Ep. 2, all by Canadian comedian Jon Lajoie. Total of 17 YouTube videos
See answer key on back.
It's Saturday night. You're here browsing on the internet. Why not do something intellectual for a change? [more inside]
(It's missing a few) TV Theme Songs
Name That TV Theme Song
Need help? Television Tunes has 3000+ themes available in mp3 format. [more inside]
Need help? Television Tunes has 3000+ themes available in mp3 format. [more inside]
US to allies: "Suck it, haterz!"
US has right to kidnap any defendant, anywhere, anytime, says it's UK lawyer. Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington. [more inside]
"The War on Terror will be as successful as the War on Drugs."
To be standing by the flag not feeling shameful, racist or partial.
Morrissey makes some controversial remarks to the NME. Defensive explanations by the interviewer, attempts at defusing the situation and threats of legal action ensue, as does satire.
bff
For sale: One useless cat.
"Poking Facebook"
02138 Magazine is "Poking Facebook" with court documents and Zuckerberg's potentially embarrassing online journal (pdf). Facebook responds.
Stop abuse...
Bears is a series of portraits by Kent Rogowski showing teddy bears that have been turned inside out and restuffed. There are more images here. Is it any wonder that stuffed animal abuse is a serious problem in more than two countries?
Needs More Evil
E-How to be an evil villain, The Ultimate Evil Villain Role Model, Top Reasons to Become a Supervillain, Vote Evil, Supver Villain Ethics, and Forbes Management Secrets of the Super Villains. [more inside]
Talkin' World War III
Amnesty International ad campaign against FGM
Amnesty International has a powerful new visual ad campaign against Female Genital Mutilation. Close-ups (SFW) of the ads in question are here and here. [more inside]
Read it or hear it? Say it or type it?
Is this a +2 dagger I see before me?
Arden: The World of William Shakespeare is a Neverwinter Nights mod created by the Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University. You can play it, but it's kinda boring.
I'll take "Famous Driveways" for 100, Alex.
If you remember this scene, then this will be sad news. It's always sad to lose trees, but these are landmarks.
how to make a bacon loincloth
Salami Fighting Association - "Because food does not only give life, it can also kill." via Buzz [more inside]
A great Leporid-American gets his due
Bugs Bunny, greatest banned baseball player ever. A close analysis of recently rediscovered historical footage makes it clear that the little-known Bugs Bunny would have been one of history's greatest baseball players, had MLB's notorious speciesism not prevented him from competing. [more inside]
Train Runs Through Market
Get a Glow on Tonight
Earlier this week this story about illegal uranium sales was in the news. Had they been thinking they could have ordered online here and here. BTW, check out what else customers are buying.
The Fossil Finders
Dinosaurs preach Young Earth creationism. "The Fossil Finders are a group of eight homeschooled children on a search for the [Biblical] truth on fossils." (This shorter excerpt cuts to the main argument, involving the discovery of flexible T. Rex tissue. Scientists remain interested in the find.) The video was produced by World's Biggest Dinosaurs, the people who now own the roadside landmark, Cabazon Dinosaurs -- and have turned it into a creation museum. [Previously]
"A single person can profoundly touch the lives of so many people."
"Dear Miss Breed..." the letters begin. Clara Estelle Breed was the children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library from 1929 to 1945. When her young Japanese American patrons and their families were forced into relocation camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942, Miss Breed became their penpal and their lifeline, sending them books and supplies, assisting with various requests, and "serving as a reminder of the possibility for decency and justice in a troubled world." [more inside]