May 25, 2008
Beat the monday doldrums
Monday got you stressed? Tired of all the politicking? Here's something to help you relax. Remember, just like real life, yellow is good, purple is gooder and red is bad.
Remember manuals?
Lost your manuals, quick reference cards, and the like for your old games? Fear not! Replacement Docs is here!
Driving fast and jazzing it up in the 1920s.
The opening shots of 1920s New York City are wonderful, then you get a zany high-speed Harold Lloyd blazing down the avenues, and that's fun to watch, but the real killer is the horse-drawn trolley absolutely tearing-ass through lower Manhattan, full gallop. Ends badly. Then it's over to San Francisco for one last bit of homicidal vehicular activity with a bus. Well, they sure don't drive like they used to! [more inside]
Would you like obesity with that?
Bisphenol A. Canada is banning it in baby bottles, while the California State Senate recently passed a bill to ban it in child care products. Even the US Senate is getting in on the action. Bill Moyers thought it was interesting enough to run this Expose story. In addition to the previously discussed cancer risk, it may also cause obesity. Is this pointless overreaction, or is it an example of government's failure to act [PDF] in the face of industry pressure?
The FDA, was, after all, tasked with screening such endocrine disruptors over ten years ago.
Previously on the blue and green.
Is It Wrong to Lust Over an Optimus Keyboard? Yes.
The best thing about WIRED Magazine's 15th Anniversary celebration is it's not all self-congratulatory. Of course, any media entity involved in the rapidly-changing but well-archived internet is going to sometimes do silly things that we all can see - forever. In one area, at least, WIRED is owning up to its bad judgment with the Lamest (their word) Gear Ever Highlighted in their 'Fetish' Feature. 1993-1995. 1996-1998. 1999-2006. It's not that there are less lame items in recent years; they're just waiting for history to confirm what smart readers saw all along. My favorites - and why some of them may not be so lame: [more inside]
Phoenix to land on Mars.
In the blue painted of blue
Once again, the Eurovision Song Festival has taken place this weekend, giving rise to the usual recriminations about political voting. However, it is worth noting that it is exactly fifty years since Italian singer Domenico Modugno managed only third place (out of ten contestants) with a charming little ditty called "Nel blu dipinto di blu", but better known as "Volare". [more inside]
They see me co-opt'n They hatin'
Memorial Day
Memorial Day it seems is getting a bad name in recent years. But as the politicos run around like crazies, we mustn't forget the little things about the holiday, its history and what it stands for, and even its more traditional customs like grilling, and of course flag etiquette.
This are the world.
Dick Martin Passes
Say good night, Dick. Best known for the highly successful Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Dick Martin was the silly, almost child-like counterpart to straight-man Dan Rowan.
Dick "accompanies" Tiny Tim.Good night, Dick.
Another Laugh-In intro.
In the Cocktail Party scenes, Dick's specialty was delivering pick-up lines.
Soup Nazi cosplay
How to ruin a joke. A concise and surprisingly astute explanation of how referential humor works on the web and why it kinda sucks. (Warning: somethingawful.com)
Puss puss puss
Hello Kitty becomes Japan's ambassador to China. The little half-Japanese, half-English cat has become so globally recognisable that it is, perhaps, inevitable that the Japanese board of tourism has appointed her their official tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong. This is not the first time the world has looked to Hello Kitty to perform an ambassadorial role; she has been United States children's ambassador for Unicef since 1983. [more inside]
From Zadie Smith to The Kindle
Observer literary editor Robert McCrum, retiring after ten years in the job, writes about the revolution in the book world he's seen over the last decade.
Bill Henson's censored photographic exhibition.
Photographs of esteemed Sydney artist Bill Henson have been removed by police from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, and the debate over art vs pornography vs pedophilia heats up in Sydney this week.
Some of the debate is quite measured and intelligent while other sides are descending to unruly levels. [more inside]
Grief in the Rubble
Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled. "A staggering number of students died as schools collapsed in the May 12 earthquake, and grieving parents are speaking out about shoddy construction."
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