January 6, 2015
A Movie For Ants
Marvel has released the first
trailer (and minimalist poster) for Ant-Man, the twelfth theatrical film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. [more inside]
we used to be friends
She Looks Like Sunday Comics: Watching The Brenda Starr movie (1989)
She Looks Like Sunday Comics: Watching The Brenda Starr movie (1989) (The Toast) Mefi's own The Whelk (John Leavitt) and Josh Fruhlinger of The Comics Curmudgeon [previously] discuss a glorious 80s flop-turned-cult-movie. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
Kirby Delauter, meet Barbara Streisand
Frederick County Councilman, Kirby Delauter, threatened to sue the Frederick News-Post if they continue to reference him by name without authorization. The News-Post's editorial on the subject is exactly as amusing as you would expect. [more inside]
In the 2000s, there will be only answers.
"We will have screens everywhere, in the kitchen, in the restrooms, in the office, in the streets." Marguerite Duras was asked in 1985 what she thought the future would be like. [more inside]
The Return of Dial-A-Song
They Might Be Giants have just kicked off an effort to produce a song every week in 2015, and they're releasing the tunes via a revived Dial-A-Song line (MLYT). [more inside]
What did ancient Babylonian songs sound like?
But how does one reincarnate music that no human voice has uttered for millennia? Conner says a key step was to really understand the language. She carefully studied historical analysis of the stresses and intonations of Babylonian and Sumerian for hints as to how it may have sounded, and researched how language is converted into music in similar Semitic languages.The Lyre Ensemble—singer and composer Stef Conner, ancient-lyre-builder and lyrist Andy Lowings, and engineer and harpist Mark Harmer—breathe life into ancient Babylonian and Sumerian literature and poetry. [more inside]
A Flying Bird that can't quite see where it's going.
On January 22nd, the Art Deco ferry boat Kalakala, from the Chinook word for "Flying Bird, will be towed to the Blair Waterway where she will be dismantled for scrap. The vessel is renowned for her streamlined appearance and storied history. The 80-year old vessel was operated at times by the Black Ball Ferry Line and Washington State Ferries. In less glamorous times, the vessel was operated as a cannery in Alaska The vessel was towed from Alaska to Seattle in 1998 for restoration. Despite ambitious plans, the restoration was never completed, resulting in what now seems her inevitable demise. Amusingly, it was impossible for the bridge crew to see the bow of the vessel while it was in operation
More Kalakala at UW Libraries Special Collections. Previously.
Don't be scary
Republicans in state governments plan juggernaut of conservative legislation - "Enjoying a majority of unprecedented breadth, Republicans plan a new tide of conservative initiatives targeting the Common Core, abortion, income taxes, labor unions and the EPA." (via) [more inside]
All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't
'Every year for the past few years, Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain has put up a list of works that should have gone into the public domain on January 1st'. Should have, that is, 'had Congress not massively expanded the law. As a reminder, when these works were created, the creators knew the terms under which they were created and knew that they would have gone into the public domain by now -- and they found that to be more than enough incentive to create those works.' 'Current US law extends copyright for 70 years after the date of the author’s death, and corporate “works-for-hire” are copyrighted for 95 years after publication. But prior to the 1976 Copyright Act (which became effective in 1978), the maximum copyright term was 56 years—an initial term of 28 years, renewable for another 28 years. Under those laws, works published in 1958 would enter the public domain on January 1, 2015, where they would be “free as the air to common use.” Under current copyright law, we’ll have to wait until 2054. And no published works will enter our public domain until 2019. The laws in other countries are different—thousands of works are entering the public domain in Canada and the EU on January 1.' [more inside]
"Yo, I had to reinvent, I put the V in vent"
I wonder what my son’s name is. Perhaps it is Jonathant.
Non-working women are more likely to spend their weekdays doing housework or caring for others, while non-working men are more likely to spend that time watching TV. Perhaps, then, it's not surprising how William Giraldi spent his paternity leave (spoiler alert: not parenting). Mallory Ortberg responds.
Okcupid post ahead
When Your OkCupid Date to the Museum Shows Up Totally Wasted.
These are speed holes. They make the computer go faster.
"Frankly, I had enjoyed the war."
Save that dance
Who Is Agent Carter? A brief history of the starring character of Marvel's latest TV show - and now also a comic.
The World at War
The acclaimed 26-episode WWII documentary "The World at War", produced by Thames Television and aired in 1973-1974, is available in full (clocking in at over 22 and a half hours). [more inside]
Still not a good idea to keep money in a bitcoin exchange.
Bitstamp halts trading after a $5,000,000 bitcoin theft. Most of the bitcoin services in the US and western countries are heavily dependent on the Bitstamp market to buy, price and sell coins. This hack may put the entire, fragile, bitcoin ecosystem at risk.
"Enhance 15 to 23."
"By zooming in on high-resolution face photographs, we were able to recover images of unseen bystanders from reflections in the subjects' eyes." Science catches up with Blade Runner.
“Wasn’t anything we could do about it.”
'the Senate women are not a caucus, but a zone of civility'
Hubble Goes High-Definition
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has revisited one of its most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. A new, higher quality image of the structure as seen in visible light recreates the original image, while a high quality image as seen in infra-red light reveals different aspects of the structure and hints of new stars being born. [more inside]
Come fry with me.
Some of you old timers here at MeFi will no doubt recall how pancakes used to play a big part around here: we loved pancakes, we respected pancakes, and we mentioned or discussed them with great frequency. In recent times, however, the noble pancake is seldom seen here on the blue. I think it's time to get back to our roots. And let's do it with monkey and ape pancakes. Beatles pancakes and beetles pancakes. The Walking Dead pancakes. Skull pancakes and zombie pancakes and, dooby dooby doo, Frank Sinatra pancakes. Not to mention pansnakes. Bon appétit! [more inside]
Of Anger and Shame in Africa
In a Ghana hotel I overheard a western-sounding white male utter the following to a listener on his phone: “The people in Africa are so simple, I can do whatever I like here. They never challenge me.” My body froze, and of course I said and did nothing.
Sex workers and the city
Despite the claims of reformers like Judge Lippman, [Human Trafficking Intervention Courts] are as controlling as any other court. Prostitutes might be called victims, but they're still arrested, still handcuffed, and still held in cages. The only difference is that they're now in a system that doesn't distinguish between workers and trafficked people. To the courts, anyone who's been arrested for sex work is raw material, incapable of making his or her own choices. Those like Love, who did sex work out of financial necessity, before leaving of her own volition, might as well not exist.Molly Crabapple: Special Prostitution Courts and the Myth of 'Rescuing' Sex Workers.
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