April 20, 2012
Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular takes over the streets of Liverpool
In 1912, ten year old May McMurray wrote a letter to her father saying how much she missed him and ending in "Dada this is my first letter". Her father never saw it, perishing aboard the Titanic two days later. This weekend, French company Royal De Luxe tells her story with the Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular in the streets of Liverpool, England. [more inside]
Full Screen!
This video features a series of time lapse sequences photographed by the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station. Set to the song "Walking in the Air," by Howard Blake, the video takes viewers around the world, through auroras, and over dazzling lightning displays.
Prince's "Sign O The Times"
We shrugged when friends told us Prince's Sign "O" the Times was the greatest rock concert movie ever. There are limits to how great a rock concert movie can be, and we figured Jonathan Demme's--and Talking Heads'--Stop Making Sense had stretched them as far as they were liable to go. But even though Sign "O" the Times was directed by the artiste, whose previous cinematic exploits haven't exactly put him in Demme's class, Prince has come up with a contender. Where Demme goes for a sinuous, almost elegant clarity, Prince's movie is all murk, scuzz, steam, and, oh yeah, sex. With all due respect, which one sounds more like a real rock concert to you? - Robert Christgau [more inside]
Spoiler Warning: He did.
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, great-grandson of African nobleman and military strategist Abram Petrovich Gannibal, is well known for the tremendous influence his writings have had on both Russian and American literature. What is somewhat less known is that Pushkin, a notorious firebrand, fought in a total of twenty-nine duels in his youth.
Imagine how different the world would be if he had died as a result of one of them.
Imagine how different the world would be if he had died as a result of one of them.
Wanna test a friendship...?
Have a seizure. The non-disabled can have a lot of trouble coming to grips with a friend's disability, especially if it's something that doesn't show up well from the outside. As the writer puts it, "... she knows I have MS, but she's never actually seen my disease, and there are miles between those two things." There are a whole host of bad ways for someone to react to seeing the disease. And then there are the good ones.
Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts PWND
"SPARX is an effective resource for adolescents with depressive symptoms. It is at least as good as treatment as usual, would be cheaper and easier to disseminate, and could be used to increase access to therapy. It could provide access to treatment for young people who may be reluctant to have more conventional therapy."
It's a video game that teaches cognitive behavior theraputic techniques.
It's a video game that teaches cognitive behavior theraputic techniques.
Only those in love would know what a town without pity can do
I prepared for my first-ever trip to Japan, this summer, almost entirely by immersing myself in the work of Haruki Murakami. This turned out to be a horrible idea.
For his cover article on the novelist Haruki Murakami, Sam Anderson visited some key places from Murakami’s life and work.
Murakami's Tokyo.
The Fierce Imagination of Haruki Murakami. [more inside]
Bank for America
And when the day comes that you, the American taxpayer, own this Bank, you will be ready to make it a Bank for America—one that brings benefits not to the privileged only, but to all of our customers, and to all of our stakeholders too.
Another Night to Remember
Spherical Panoramas by Carel Struycken
As an actor, Carel Struycken is known as Mr. Homn on Star Trek: TNG, Lurch in The Addams Family movie, and The Giant in Twin Peaks, but that is largely his past. Currently, he makes spherical panoramas, and "Picture Bubbles" with Josh Korwin. Struycken also posts his panoramas on 360 Cities. [more inside]
What do you get when you cross ...
Even damp it looked sticky.
In the spring of 1977, a Lockheed Lodestar crashed into a lake in Yosemite National Park carrying six tons of Mexican marijuana. The US government recovered most of it. Camp Four got the rest. A true stoner fable by Kief Hillsbery. [more inside]
On the Box
Little footage exists of early Wire performing live. Here is a full concert on German TV, from 1979. [more inside]
"Fenway is the essence of baseball"
Fenway Park, in Boston, is a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark. Everything is painted green and seems in curiously sharp focus, like the inside of an old-fashioned peeping-type Easter egg. It was built in 1912 and rebuilt in 1934, and offers, as do most Boston artifacts, a compromise between Man's Euclidean determinations and Nature's beguiling irregularities.
So wrote John Updike in his moving tribute to Red Sox legend Ted Williams -- an appropriately pedigreed account for this oldest and most fabled of ballfields that saw its first major league game played one century ago today.
As a team in flux hopes to recapture the magic with an old-school face-off against the New York Highlanders Yankees, it's hard to imagine the soul of the Sox faced the specter of demolition not too long ago. Now legally preserved, in a sport crowded with corporate-branded superdome behemoths, Fenway abides, bursting with history, idiosyncrasy, record crowds, and occasional song. [more inside]
Art will Out
Two Cubans are exhibiting their art in Britain – despite being imprisoned in the US.
The pair are members of the so-called Miami Five, who were jailed in the US in 2001 at the conclusion of a controversial trial.
They are Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernández and their work will be exhibited alongside that of many other cuban artists.
There is a National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.
The pair are members of the so-called Miami Five, who were jailed in the US in 2001 at the conclusion of a controversial trial.
They are Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernández and their work will be exhibited alongside that of many other cuban artists.
There is a National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.
Don't Be That Guy at the Gym!
1962 Seattle World's Fair Turns 50
This weekend Seattle kicks off six months of celebrations marking the 50th Anniversary of the Century 21 Exposition, more commonly known as the 1962 Seattle's World's Fair. Conceived in the shadow of Sputnik, the Fair promoted better living through modern science with futuristic rides and exhibits including the Bubbleator, the Gayway (previously on mefi) and of course the Space Needle, which this week returns to it's original color. [more inside]
Loose lips blink bits
I am widely credited as the inventor of the <blink> tag. ... I won't deny the invention, but there is a bit more to the story than is widely known. Previously.
Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3720 to 1.
A new Seattle-base company called Planetary Resources (twitter), created by several billionaires, apparently has a lofty goal in mind ... to bring a 500-ton asteroid to Earth by 2025, for the purposes of mining its resources. And according to a recently released report (pdf) by CalTech, it's not all that outlandish an idea.
The National Map (US)
"The U.S. Geological Survey has just released more than 161,000 digitally scanned historical maps spanning in excess of 130 years and covering the lower 48 states. This Historical Topographic Map Collection provides a comprehensive repository of the landscape of our Nation..."
FFFMMMMMMVVVVVV
FFF: MMMMMM is a flash game that takes the game mechanics of the indie hit VVVVVV and transforms them from a fast-twitch platform game to a puzzle platformer. [more inside]
Feistodon Cometh
Superbummed
"iZombie will be the last time I’ll ever write for DC... I decided quite some time ago, but waited until after the cancellation of my book was announced to discuss it. The short version is, I don’t agree with the way they treat other creators and their general business practices." writer Chris Roberson ends his relationship with DC Comics, pointing at a post by David Brothers as a summation of his ethical concerns. Roberson's work at DC has included turning around Superman after J. Michael Straczynski left mid-story, iZombie and a spin-offs from Vertigo's Fables featuring Cinderella as a super spy. He is currently working on the creator owned Memorial, published by IDW.
Would to God I had never opened your loathsome missive or any of the others!
Flash Friday
Snowball! Friday afternoon has arrived and what better way to celebrate that on a Spring day than with a snowy flash pinball game...
Dynamic Range
Former Broadway actress Carrie Manolakos performs a cover of Radiohead's 'Creep', and hits all the notes.
We're good. But we're not as good as David Apppenboroow
Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot. I must be a creature. I must be a creature of the night.
The character of an urban area
LiveHoods: Using Social Media and Machine-Learning to Study Cities [via mefi projects] [more inside]
Parting is such sweet sorrow...
"The world's most important story" – A decade of environmental journalism in China, by Guardian environment reporter Jonathan Watts.
The British Les Paul is no more.
A Perspective on Death
Here's a thought-provoking interview with Philip Gould in which he describes his reaction to his impending death from oesophogeal cancer. [more inside]
A Sticky Situation
Jaguar's real ad agency punks Don Draper. It's a (spoiler alert) sticky situation that Carrot Creative takes advantage of. This harkens back to other displays of advertising infighting that Mad Men portrays.
Not After Eight
A new initiative recently proposed by the Royal Canadian Mint proposes to create the MintChip, a digital currency that’s similar (to BitCoin), but is backed by the Canadian government.
Aiming to become “the digital equivalent of the coins we use every day,” in the Canadian Mint’s own words, the MintChip will target micro- and nano-transactions conducted both online and offline, whether at the physical point of sale, on mobile devices, or among peers. Via
Willie 'n Kris 'n Jamey 'n Snoop got a message they'd like to share
Friends, why don'tcha take your boots off and jes' kick back for a coupla minutes while Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and Snoop Dogg lay down a little bit of up-tempo, feel-good country music? Go on, take a hit! It won't kill ya! Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.
"The truth, the absolute truth, is that the chief beauty for the theatre consists in fine bodily proportions."~ Sarah Bernhardt
Derelict Cinemas and Theatres by Adam Slater: Since 2008, Adam Slater has been on a quest to photograph Britain’s abandoned and derelict cinemas and theatres before they are gone for good. Below are some examples from his astonishing set of beautiful yet grotesque ruins, which you can see in full on his flickr page. His blog, Reality Trip, features more fantastic photographs of old power stations, quarries and more. Be sure to check it out. [kubrickontheguillotine.com]
Yoshi really grew into some serious anger management issues
They took his son. Destroyed everything he loved. Now... it's time for him to take his revenge. They'll pay. They'll pay dearly. It's time for the Roar Rampage!
Reading Markson Reading
Reading Markson Reading: ‘Exploring the mind, method and masterpieces of David Markson through the marginalia found on the pages of the books in his personal library.’ (previously: 1, 2)
Slanted and and and Enchanted
Stop-Motion Waveform
For his video "I Will Never Change", London-based musician Benga used 960 records to create a stop-motion waveform of the song. [more inside]
Everything is better with a bag of weed
Let's go smoke some pot! Started by a group of high school stoners looking for a pot field in the 70's, the 420 meme has propagated to cover the globe. 420 Tours, 420 communities, Senate Bill 420 which legalized medical marijuana in California, 420 is everywhere. Sure, there's plenty of 420 buzzkills; the 1775 Siege of Boston, the 1914 Ludlow Massacre, the day Americans learned about 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, and of course Hitler's birthday. But don't let it get you down man, everything is better with a bag of weed.
Sorting seat
Somebody's been graffiting the Central Line. Along with the now-jailed Tox's tags, you can see some sticker fun on your commute. The artist Michael Landry has already been working, as part of the Art on the Underground project, to promote the Central Line's friendliness.
A beautiful way to say yes.
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