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Here we are now, entertain us. An all-ukulele cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. From their Web site, "Sugar Plum Fairy" [mp3]. But can UOGB hold a candle to "While My Ukulele Gently Weeps," discussed previously?
posted by BackwardsCity at 10:34 PM PST - 33 comments

Though not the first time golf has been played in space, Russian cosmonauts are still planning to go ahead with the world's longest drive (3-4 years in orbit) from the International Space Station, as sponsored by the golf company Element 21 [link is to a rather neat CGI video of the shot, in wmv format. Coral Cache version.] The only problem -- it might hit the space station with the force of a 6.5 ton truck moving at 60 mph, though others are more worried about what the stunt means for the space program.
posted by blahblahblah at 9:21 PM PST - 15 comments

Taylor Hicks wins American Idol.... It could be something worth talking about given how powerful the show has become: #1 show on television, contributed to over 30 million records (records -- yes records not itunes singles) sold, and a show where Queen, Rod Stewart, and, tonight, TAFKAP (or he could be Prince again) are clamoring to be on it. Moroever, some conventional wisdom seems to support that the show is not karaoeke-izing pop music and instead contributes to it surprisingly positively. While it might not lead to debates on metafiler, arguments as to what makes a good Idol can be seen here.
posted by skepticallypleased at 8:54 PM PST - 148 comments

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he'll no longer give news conferences for the national media, after a dispute led a number of journalists to walk away from an event when he refused to take their questions.
posted by EarBucket at 5:52 PM PST - 89 comments

Defend DeLay (link to embedded video). Tom DeLay needs your help to fend off the rabid liberal media. He appreciates the fact that Stephen Colbert is doing his part by taking on Robert Greenwald, maker of the upcoming "The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress" and previously "Outfoxed." (via)
posted by bardic at 4:42 PM PST - 62 comments

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained eye.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 3:50 PM PST - 56 comments

I'm a huge fan of clever unintended uses for things, and loloroy's favorites reuses a page/interface I've seen hundreds of times before in a cute way. It may take a second to figure out, but should be worth it [via tmn].
posted by mathowie at 2:44 PM PST - 50 comments

Hercules uses eminent domain to keep out Wal-Mart (previously). Fueling the eminent domain fire, now WalMart finds itself on both sides of the debate.
posted by analogue at 2:15 PM PST - 33 comments

"Covers is dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design."
posted by dobbs at 1:36 PM PST - 16 comments

His 15 minutes are up but he must be regretting them now. His fans are rooting for him though.
posted by beno at 1:06 PM PST - 18 comments

The Wizard - a movie of nostalgia and product placement, is coming to dvd and this article has some great clips from the movie.
posted by nile_red at 12:14 PM PST - 36 comments

Richard Tomlinson is a former spy. Jailed under the Official Secrets Act in 1995 for publishing his memoirs, famed for claiming there's a cover up surrounding Princess Diana's death and allegedly leaking a list of active MI6 agents, he is still fuming about his dismissal from the Secret Intelligence Service. So he started a weblog, complete with posts containing sensitive information. The British authorities are displeased.
posted by jack_mo at 8:11 AM PST - 33 comments

Bill Frist <3s gorillas. I find this quite charming.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:11 AM PST - 80 comments

The inventor of the internets (no, not Al), weighs in on the topic of net neutrality, previously discussed here, here, here, and here. (hope I didn't miss anyone)
posted by allkindsoftime at 8:01 AM PST - 32 comments

The Sheep Market -- 10,000 sheep drawn by online workers. Or, if you prefer to be out of step.
posted by OmieWise at 7:13 AM PST - 31 comments

There's a move afoot to censure Jimmy Carter instead of, say, anyone actually responsible for making the world a more dangerous place. I call "attacking the messenger by proxy," or at least, some serious Rove-ian misdirection.
posted by jpburns at 4:01 AM PST - 166 comments

Joseph Cornell was enamored with ballerinas and starlets, the subject of many of his celebrated boxes. "He handed them, personally, to his most loved ballerinas. And they were almost uniformly sent back. He was rejected, laughed at, and, in one unfortunate case, tackled." Anecdotes about Cornell and his muses, via robot wisdom. [more]
posted by madamjujujive at 3:30 AM PST - 52 comments

Wal-Mart fails in South Korea. As a student of business and a resident of Asia, I am fascinated by the examples of "foreign" businesses who either succeed or fail in Asian markets. Recently, Vodafone failed in Japan but in a strange twist has signed a J-V with Softbank to keep their presence in Japan. eBay failed in Japan as did Memoirs of a Geisha. I'd love to have a discussion on the successes AND failures of non-Asian businesses in Asian markets and what, if any, lessons can be taken away for those of us who are in Asian markets or wish to enter Asian markets. (Yes, I realize that "Asia" is too broad of a region but I don't want to limit the discussion to just one nation.)
posted by gen at 2:17 AM PST - 52 comments

A WTO victory came last week for the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) industry. HFCS is that controversial stuff that seemingly permeates everything in American consumer foods, from Gatorade to cough drops. Mexico had slapped tariffs on HFCS dumping in 1998 but agreed to revoke them in 2007, a move that will expand HFCS outside what is almost exclusively a U.S. market. The industry is quite firm that HFCS is safe, but there are some naysayers.
posted by rolypolyman at 2:15 AM PST - 45 comments

Global warming underestimated by up to 78%. Scientists analyzing historical climate data for Europe have established the existence of a greater-than-anticipated positive feedback mechanism between high temperatures and global carbon dioxide levels. This provides more scientific evidence to support previously-expressed concerns that as global warming intensifies, a chain-reaction of considerably higher temperatures may occur. This corresponds with a new report released by the Australian government, claiming that "there is now perceived to be a greater risk that the upper end of the well known IPCC TAR estimate of a 1.4 to 5.8°C temperature rise will be reached or exceeded by 2100." "Estimates of future warming . . . may have to be raised by about 50 percent."
posted by insomnia_lj at 2:10 AM PST - 40 comments

SaveLivesInMay - "I have received information psychically, which is corroborated by scientific data, according to which on May 25, 2006 a giant tsunami will occur in the Atlantic Ocean, brought about by the impact of a comet fragment which will provoke the eruption of under-sea volcanoes. Waves up to 200 m high will reach coastlines located above and below the Tropic of Cancer." Are you at risk? Meanwhile, FEMA just happens to be preoccupied on the Wrong West Coast.
posted by jahmoon at 12:31 AM PST - 51 comments