November 10, 2006
Roger's Mushrooms
Roger's Mushroom's Visual Key is an image map of major fungi genera that drives a gallery/field guide for a large number of species. It's fairly useful for identifying mushrooms, and the images are for sale. There's also a Mushroom Kitchen, which basically filters the database for edible and choice species, and includes a big page of recipes.
Thoughtfully, Roger also provides information about mushroom poisoning.
Thoughtfully, Roger also provides information about mushroom poisoning.
Without cows there would be no cheese in the Inland Empire
Goodbye, Ellen.
Ellen Willis was a writer and critic who wrote for the Voice, the Nation, and Dissent, among many others; her NYU homepage and Wikipedia entry link to a number of essays and reviews, all of which are worth your time. She didn't make me a feminist, but her writing gave me much of the intellectual framework of my feminism and throughout the depressing retreat of the '80s reminded me there was still humor and hope. (From her Wikiquote page: "My deepest impulses are optimistic; an attitude that seems to me as spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect.") She died yesterday, of lung cancer, at the absurdly early age of 64. I'd like to quote from her "Escape from New York" (Village Voice, July 29-Aug. 4, 1981), an account of a bus trip across the country that shows her inextricable mix of the personal, the political, and the just plain human: [more inside]
Celebrity mistaken for Taliban terrorist
So you’re in a platoon with 30 or so guys. One of those guys is the NFL player who gave up a multi-million dollar contract to be a hero in Afghanistan. He’s all broad shouldered NFL muscle. You can’t mistake him for anyone else in the platoon, much less an Afghani. So how do you put three bullets in his forehead by mistake?
Cause Dick is America, America is Dick.
Actor Jack Palance dies.
Johnny [YouTube] 'Guitar' Watson
Johnny 'Guitar' Watson on the YouTube:
Ain't That a Bitch
A Real Mother For Ya
Gangster of Love
Superman Lover
I Want To Ta Ta You Baby
Special Boogie
More Inside
Ain't That a Bitch
A Real Mother For Ya
Gangster of Love
Superman Lover
I Want To Ta Ta You Baby
Special Boogie
More Inside
Come down now, they'll say
Such Great Heights performed by Ben Folds with a piano and unusual percussions.
Probably everyone already knows the original and the Iron&Wine's cover, but have you ever listened the live cover by the Dresden Dolls (mp3 link)?
Probably everyone already knows the original and the Iron&Wine's cover, but have you ever listened the live cover by the Dresden Dolls (mp3 link)?
Fear is the dealkiller...
MSNBC soft pedalled the story while others have offered their regurgitated take on the press release. But I can't find anyone asking the tough questions about the new deal between Microsoft and Vivendi/Universal wherein MS will pay Universal a flat price for every Zune player sold.
With big names like David Geffen saying, "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material. This way, on top of the material people do pay for, the record companies are getting paid on the devices storing the copied music." are we really getting to the point where everything we think we know about property and theft is going to be re-defined in terms of someone's perceived loss?
With big names like David Geffen saying, "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material. This way, on top of the material people do pay for, the record companies are getting paid on the devices storing the copied music." are we really getting to the point where everything we think we know about property and theft is going to be re-defined in terms of someone's perceived loss?
THE DEATH OF ROCK AND ROLL VIA WEB 2.0
It's official. The raw evil of AOL has joined forces with the unbridled hubris of Web 2.0 and killed Rock and Roll. I blame BoingBoing.
Great Balls of Fire!
Fireballs are not altogether uncommon. They are often associated with known meteor showers (and other times not). They are sometimes "earth crosser" asteroids, cometary debris, or simply man-made space junk. Sometimes they are extremely well documented. The March 7, 2003 Park Forest fireball/meteorite (pdf) was recovered and recorded by police car cameras: (AVIs: 1, 2, 3) Perhaps the most incredible is the one that got away on August 10, 1972. Recorded by many still and movie cameras as it was seen in daylight over the Grand Tetons, it was also recorded by a previously secret satellite during it's 1-1/2 minute skip off the earth's atmosphere. See also: How to observe, and report fireballs.
How to get a Nintnedo Wii and Sony PS3 on launch day
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. With just a week to launch, the PS3 and Wii are almost here and there is plenty of help out there if you want to try scoring one on launch day. For the Wii, read up on this guide, or try this one for the ps3. The Wiiseeker and PS3seeker will tell you exactly how many units your closest Target, Walmart, and Gamestop will have ready to sell. Ask MeFi also offers help: 1, 2, 3. And the latest MeFi Project helps those that are sticking it out at Console Camp.
Farewell fruitcake lady
Marie Rudisill, of "Ask the Fruitcake Lady" fame, and Truman Capote's aunt, passed away last week. (Leno's farewell.)
Why I wear a white poppy
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Still The One
The Democrats' Sonny Bono? When George Bush used the 1970s Orleans hit, Still the One, as a campaign song in 2004, John Hall issued Bush a cease and desist order for using his song without permission. A founder of the antinuclear group, Musicians United for Safe Energy (best known for the 1979 concert film, No Nukes), Hall decided to run for Congress in upstate New York, winning upset victories this year in both the Democratic primary and the general election against GOP incumbent, Sue Kelly. Before his Congressional victory, Editor & Publisher posted From Soundchecks to Soundbites, an interesting discussion with Hall about music journalism vs. political journalism.
A Concrete Solution to Pollution
A Concrete Solution to Pollution With concerns over global warming and pollution control reaching an all-time high, an Italian company has developed an interesting solution. It is called TX Active: a concrete that literally breaks down pollutants in the air. The effects are significant: 'In large cities with persistent pollution problems caused by car emissions, smoke from heating systems, and industrial activities, both the company and outside experts estimate that covering 15% of all visible urban surfaces (painting the walls, repaving the roads) with products containing TX Active could abate pollution by up to 50%.' Even more significant is that the cost is only 30% over that of normal concrete. Remarkable.
Hitting the Jackpot
Htting the Jackpot A destitute post-World War II vet living in a shelter will receive $11,000, thanks to a man whose hobby it is to search old government claims' records. Tomorrow is officially Veterans' Day, formerly Armistice Day and best remembered by this poem written by
this field surgeon. The line between Memorial Day and Veterans Day seems to have blurred over the years. Unfortunately, there are ever more veterans to remember, including those who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan profoundly injured.
Aries Spears
Aries Spears channels some living rappers.
"It shook the house pretty good."
The Leica Freedom Train
Everyone by now has heard the story of Oscar Schindler, but he wasn't the only one saving Jews in the dark era of WW II. This story was kept secret for many years, until the last member of the Leitz family died.
Pronto!
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