July 31, 2009
Parkinson's Law
Why bureaucracy, like gas, fills up all available space. From the archive of The Economist, 1955 [via ArchiveDigger.]
Katie is a vampire. And?
Janet Reid is a literary agent who helps aspiring fiction writers pitch their work in a public forum. Her feedback can be kind of brutal, but there are a few winning queries in there and it illuminates a part of the writing process that we civilians don't often get to see.
Crazy Japanese advertisements
The makers of Ninja Gaiden 2 have decided on an unorthodox ad campaign. The game is being advertised by two white breasts protruding from a wall facing the street (SLYT).
There are predictably funny reactions from passers by. Obviously, this is NSFW.
Roots Reggae 7in's
Daft Punk is playing on my Game Boy
Do you like Daft Punk? Do you like 8 Bit tribute albums? Then you'll probably dig Da Chip, a Daft Punk tribute album. [more inside]
Huh, so you do.
You Only Live Once - Happy Belated Flash Friday.
Moonlight, wine, a kiss, and handcuffs.
The Mormon church's plaza walkway runs through the heart of downtown Salt Lake. It was originally a public sidewalk, and is still used as such by the city's downtown residents. It is common to see couples holding hands and walking arm in arm as they stroll. This hasn't been a problem, until recently. The church claims the couple was necking and groping. Video obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune doesn't show this., but it does show Mormon security in action. Charges were dropped, and the city's gay community is weighing in with a series of "kiss-ins."
60 sticker-plastered Apple laptops
kitty graffiti
The Third Replicator
10 KICK-ASS MOVIE PREACHERS
Sly like a fox
Friday Flash Fun: William and Sly is a relaxing and fun side-scoller, reminiscent of Knytt and other recent "atmospheric" flash games. You play as Sly, the pet fox of William, and the game involves exploring the mountains and forests around William's house.
What, a raw frog?
Friday Frivolity. We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose. A recipe for the infamous Crunchy Frog. No frogs were killed in the making of this recipe. (via Neatorama)
You Don't Have to be a Rockefeller to Collect Art
Herb & Dorothy Vogel is a documentary about a postal clerk and a librarian who amassed over 4000 works of conceptual and minimalist art on their modest income. Their only criteria: it had to be affordable, and it had to fit in their apartment.
His brain's overloading / It has a chocolate coating / Textbook case for Sigmund Freud / Freakazoid! Freakazoid!
Freakazoid! tells the tale of a hyperactive teen super hero whose personality is a bit of Jerry Lewis, Chris Farley and Batman. The show ran for two seasons from September 9, 1995 to June 1, 1997, with Cartoon Network airing reruns until March 8, 2003, and is available in full, online (YouTube Playlist). The love for the show lives on, with an amateur movie adaptation, memories from the cast, and other bits of show history. [more inside]
"A man who, in order to escape death from hunger, kills another for the purpose of eating his flesh, is guilty of murder"
Some famous cases of cannibalism at sea: 1816 The Medusa. 1821 The Essex. 1878 The Sallie N. Steelman. [pdf] 1884 The Mignonette [pdf] 1889 The Earnmoor. [pdf] 1988 Bolinao 52 incident. [story starts on page 2] 2008 Vessel not named. As a bonus here's the legal decision in the case of The Queen vs. Dudley and Stephens, who were on The Mignonette.
Lernert Engenberts produces tiny, beautiful and exquisitely cruel films.
Lernert Engenberts produces tiny, beautiful and exquisitely cruel films. Revenge on an innocent egg. Three ways to melt a chocolate bunny. Teasing the colour blind with colour correction. Abstract artists explain their work to their parents. But this may be the cruelest one of all. See more, including an ode to Alaska via AOL, on his site.
Cash for clunkers
Senese Challenge From the BBC
"A wooden stake's going easy on him. Let's fuck his shit up."
It's Fat Wife!
A Day in Hand
The latest tool to challenge homophobia: same-sex hand-holding. This past weekend, a same-sex hand-holding relay was held in London, to coincide with Olympic-related events. It's not just for gay and lesbian couples; sympathetic heterosexuals are encouraged to join in and take a stand, or rather a stroll, for tolerance.
Watch out for falling icicles, Helvetica Man!
Symbolic Gestures. How, exactly, does a simple picture go about telling you, "Be careful here. It's cold, and sometimes ice forms on the roof, and it can fall off, and it can be sharp, and that can hurt you"? Inspired by the upcoming Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Jesse Smith of The Smart Set examines the pictograph designs that convey important information to park visitors. [more inside]
Football legend Sir Bobby Robson dies
Football legend Sir Bobby Robson dies, following a long battle with cancer. Further tributes via the Guardian.
Donate to his foundation via here.
I shot a man in Weeno, just to watch him die..
Search Patterns
Peter Morville is widely recognized as a father of the information architecture field, and he serves as an advocate for the critical roles that search and findability play in defining web user experience. His recent project titled Search Patterns, is a sandbox for collecting search examples, patterns, and anti-patterns; for example spime search, the ability to query objects in motion and find things in the real world. Morville is also on the editorial board of the new Journal of Information Architecture.
A Teachable Moment
With tensions high on both sides, it might be time for a teachable moment. What made Pabst Blue Ribbon in alcoholic fuel of choice of the stereotypical hipster? Some think it is its No Marketing Marketing strategy. But Pabst's avoidance of advertising wasn't always the case (previously). Pabst marketed pretty heavily on TV back in the day, but given the quality of one of their final commercials, one could see why they gave it up. [more inside]
Beyond the Front Page of Reddit
Apologies in advance for yet another reddit link, but I thought these were worthy enough to post for the uninitiated. Reddit, a link aggregator site, is often dismissed as another digg, 4chan, or fark, perhaps justifiably so. Users, however, know there's some excellent subreddits (among the thousands) lurking beneath the main page... [more inside]
Alien Resurrection?
Fox have offocially announced that Ridley Scott has officially signed on to direct the new 'Alien' prequel. He certainly did a great job on the original but can he match his previous truimph? Given the number of projects he has in gestation (heh) maybe any celebration is premature...
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