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Tampa Bay Rays beat Red Sox, head to World Series - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began the 2008 season having never made the playoffs and or finishing the season above .500. Motivated by skipper Joe Madden's mathematically questionable slogan "9 = 8" ("9 players going hard for 9 innings means 1 of 8 playoff spots") but not considered a competitor for the AL East top spot by most fans and analysts, the Rays used their new name, uniforms and confidence to slowly emerge as one of the best teams in baseball this year. [more inside]
posted by null terminated at 9:44 PM PST - 115 comments

The Yahoo! 2008 World Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) Championships will be held in Toronto, Ontario on October 25. First prize: $10,000. Norway has publicly stated that they aim for a Norwegian world champion by 2010. RPS trading cards can be found here. Graham Walker, co-founder of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society, discusses the sport on CBC here. Amusing posters and other kitsch. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu at 7:57 PM PST - 29 comments

Waggish would be one of the choicest blogs around if he updated more, but I suppose I can settle for what there is. If you've never read it, you'll know how good it is when I tell you about a few of the coolest posts: an inquest on "left-brained" literature, a short review of John Williams' Stoner, an appreciation of the great Shohei Imamura and three part coverage of the ultimate film, Béla Tarr's Sátántangó.
posted by colinmarshall at 6:43 PM PST - 23 comments

Carol Blymire recently finished cooking every single recipe in the formidable French Laundry cookbook. Here are some of her reflections on the journey, including favorite recipes, recipes to break your Thomas Keller cherry, and seasonal menus.
posted by AceRock at 6:42 PM PST - 19 comments

The Simpsons movie references, side-by-side. (two, three) Site is in Spanish.
posted by starman at 6:30 PM PST - 29 comments

Caught on Video: Stealing Obama Sign , and again, and again, and again, and this crazy lady, here, here, and here.! WTF . . . over.
posted by augustweed at 6:07 PM PST - 121 comments

Elemental ‘Earth Art’: 15 Epic Land Formations. 15 Epic Water and Ice Formations and Phenomena. 12 Elemental Fire and Light Formations and Phenomena: Flares, Lightning, Smoke and Meteors. 10 Breathtaking Natural Cloud and Color Formations.
posted by homunculus at 5:45 PM PST - 10 comments

Were black cats ever in danger during Halloween? For the past decade or more, animal shelters have been holding back their black cats at Halloween, for fears of obsessed youths sacrificing them in ritualistic slaughter (or other cruelties, some involving duct tape). Some experts say it's a myth, or an urban legend with no basis in fact. The origins of the idea are often cited as ancient influence.
posted by Brian B. at 4:43 PM PST - 47 comments

Pattern Recognition, mostly serene paintings, illustrations and photographs from a variety of sources, grouped according to similar motifs: Interiors in paintings and more l moon l napes l light and shadow l moments of quiet intimacy, daydreams, dreams l very early Vogue and Vanity Fair covers 1, 2 and 3 l portraits of children and more l children's book illustrations l flora. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 3:48 PM PST - 9 comments

Christian Nymphos: Not an exploitation site but an apparently sincere, sex-positive celebration of faithful sex. Reclaiming the word Nympho, no less. (NSFW) [more inside]
posted by msalt at 1:47 PM PST - 273 comments

Yes We Carve. Barack O'Lantern stencils to politicize your Halloween.
posted by spiderskull at 1:01 PM PST - 27 comments

Harold "Herk" Harvey, a director of educational and industrial films for the Centron Corporation, was driving through Utah when he spotted the derelict Saltair Resort squatting on a mudded lakebed. The sight charged him with ideas, and when he returned home he recruited his Centron colleages and an unknown method actress to make a psychological horror movie. The atmospheric result, shot over three weeks at locations in Kansas and Utah, was 1962's Carnival of Souls. [more inside]
posted by Iridic at 12:44 PM PST - 10 comments

Military equipment drawn as anime girls. Probably SFW, but good luck explaining it to the boss. Wikipedia explains.
posted by mccarty.tim at 12:30 PM PST - 34 comments

Former US Secretary of State and retired General Colin Powell, a controversial, if reluctant supporter of the war on Iraq, offers his endorsement (Flash video) of Senator Barack Obama for the office of President of the United States. [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:08 PM PST - 730 comments

Spider eating a snake [more inside]
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:14 AM PST - 77 comments

You've been getting your sweaters out for the cold season, and finding that moths have been picknicking on them all summer. Or your significant other did the laundry and threw your favourite handwash-only sweaters into a hot water wash and/or the dryer. Or your children have outgrown the sweaters Grandma made them. However your sweaters became unwearable, it's time to make like a surgeon and do some cosmetic reconstruction. (If the old sweaters are at least 50% wool, you may be able to felt the material first.) You can make extra long gloves from sweater sleeves, mittens, a scarf, or slippers, legwarmers, a tote bag, a few handbags, or a coin purse. If the kids don't want to let go of their favourite sweaters, they can be pacified with building blocks, a bunny, snail, or seahorse, or diaper-coverup pants. If the cat feels left out, make it a pet bed. Or you can make things the whole family can enjoy: throw pillows, a quilt, or felted bowls. Since Christmas is approaching, Christmas stockings or a wreath might come in handy. If you want to get into needle felting and start sculpting with the felted fabric, you could make virtually anything, including, oh, say, a robin in a nest, Anne of Green Gables, a zebra, or art for the wall. And best of all, by the time you're done you no longer want to throttle your laundry-challenged significant other! As much.
posted by orange swan at 10:02 AM PST - 11 comments

Whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition. There's a Murphy's Law for most fields of endeavor. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 7:29 AM PST - 24 comments

Melted street signs, Art + Auction = Obama 08, Mr Brainwash's political satire, Amused Loon, Tyler Stout, and Robert Williams's Dream Detective video (parts 1, 2, 3, 4). All adds up to the latest art, courtesy of Juxtapoz magazine.
posted by internationalfeel at 3:05 AM PST - 7 comments

Stories from Hogar de Don Guido - the DX shack in the Galapagos.
posted by Taksi Putra at 12:31 AM PST - 5 comments