August 3, 2004
QX buddy, the Lensmen are here to save Civilization
If you like Science Fiction, if you like Star Wars, Babylon 5, or the Green Lantern, then you've probably heard of E. E. "Doc" Smith Ph.D., the man credited with getting powdered sugar to stick to donuts and with creating several of the most influential tales to ever spring from the "pulps" of the 1940s. The grandfather of Space Opera his Lensmen books, while badly written and horribly dated, still create that sense of wonder that all SF junkies crave.
Hair is superfluous dead cells
How some female celebrities would look bald — Surprisingly attractive in some cases, terrifying in others. via memepool.
Garland of Song
The Scriptorium's American Sheet Music. North Carolina's Duke University maintains a wonderful, sprawling archive of ephemera, as you, chers linkeurs, know well. But perhaps you didn't know of the vast collection of American sheet music, most attractively explored via these cover galleries (viz.), that awaits within.
Fool's World Map
Fool's World Map: "This is a project visualizing the world map which many fools in the world imagine. If you can see this map comfortably, you are definitely a fool." The creator updates and reformats the malleable map based completely on capricious, erroneous geographical inconsistencies found within oblvious statements from his comment logs. Examples: (095. Upper right side of Germany became Australia due to a posting by another stupid American thinking "Australia is beside Germany.") and (001. Due to a Texan who thinks "Japan is accessible from Texas by car", Japan and Texas is land-attached."). He also has a page of user-submitted maps, where he encourages you to create your own global eyesore and send it to him.
The Book Art of Richard Minsky
The Book Art of Richard Minsky found by helcat who shared it in #mefi.
Where have all the fireflies gone?
Fireflies in Houston. As a kid growing up in Houston, I remember going out into the front yard every evening and seeing hundreds and hundreds of fireflies dancing through the air, one of the most magical memories of childhood. As I grew older, their numbers declined, slowly but surely (in fact, at one point as a kid, I thought I was partially responsible as I'd caught so many of 'em in Flintstones jelly jars). Now back in Houston as an adult, I haven't seen a one, and am wondering, where have all the fireflies gone? This site aims to tell you, and it's not just for Houstonians.
Makes a good spread
Firefox extension for Allmusic
Last month, people voiced their disappointment with AllMusic's for-the-worse facelift, and a week later someone at holovaty.com wrote a Mozilla Firefox extension that "routs around the damage" and allows for cleaner browsing. Some are pondering the legal consequences.
Come as you are . . . quickly!
I often try and explain it by quoting Barbarella
I mean, who wants to transform themselves into an alien, you know? Joshua does. With disturbing results.
Q: And his ears?
A: I cut them off. It was not hard.
300 Love Letters
Reimaging Dick.
The Extreme Dick Cheney Makeover (Quicktime req'd)
Beauty in print
Browsing at my local library, I just came across a display of the winners of this year's Canadian Awards for Excellence in Book Design.
I was blown away by the design and content of The Gryphons of Paris, a limited edition collection of black-and-white photos of surpassing beauty. This led me to the web page of the photographer, Ronald Hurwitz, his city vignettes and remarkable portraits. A good reminder that not everything of value can be found on the internet.
the space between us
Starchitects. "There's a point where an architect crosses the line to the nether side of celebrity. The projects become less about exploring the unknowns inherent in a new commission and more about giving clients the sort of signature piece they're paying for."
The long bike ride
The Long Bike Ride is a cross-country charity ride (which is short of its goal, kick in a few bucks) by two guys that have never ridden a bike more than 15 miles in one sitting. They're already halfway done, having ridden 50-75 miles everyday for the past couple months, probably thanks to riding high-end ultralight recumbent bikes. Their tour updates are extensive and looking at the photos they look quite relaxed. Then I realized if you're getting your 50-75 miles done in about 4 hours, the rest of the time you can just party! party! party! Still, a pretty amazing feat to do this entire route, especially considering their lack of experience and training.
Cuban vs. Google: It's On!
Mark Cuban, who obviously just has too much time on his hands, is teaming up with Icerocket in an attempt to thwart Google for search engine dominance.
We try not to think think of it
No Pity. No Shame. No Silence.
"I wondered for a moment what it would look like if just for one day, everyone who had survived sexual violence were visible as a survivor, if we could actually see the extent of it, if we could all know just how very not-alone we are. I wondered how angry and sad it would make me to know. I wondered how much power there might be in the truth."LJ user, misia decided to out herself as a survivor of sexual violence, and offer a place where people could stand up and become visible as survivors as well. The results are a compelling and haunting read.
Mosaikker
A million little pieces. The University of Oslo -- Norway’s largest and oldest institution of higher education -- has put together a very interesting page with amazing images of the (5,000 years old) dying art of Mosaics. Among many master-pieces (heh, sorry, couldn't resist the bad pun) we can admire the Empress Theodora from S. Vitale in Ravenna, the starry sky in Galla Placidia, the Virgin Mary and the famous Jesus of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, St. Peter in Hossios Lucas. There's also the St. Anna of Chios, the harrowing of hell of St Mark's in Venice. Scroll down, at the end of the main page there's a lot of good external links. (more inside)
Manly, yes, but I like it too!
Stickfighting Irish Gangs, Wrestling Fashions, The Punching Bags of Pugilism, How Old England Trains Her Red Coats,
and much more, in The Journal of Manly Arts - European and Colonial Combatives, 1776 - 1914 .
Does MetaFilter Cause You Concern Or Needless Anxiety?
Britain - Stamping Out Terrorism. One Peaceful Protestor At A Time. "The Home Office proposes "to make it an offence to protest outside homes in such a way that causes harassment, alarm or distress to residents" [PDF & HTML] This sounds reasonable enough, until you realise that the police can define "harassment, alarm or distress" however they wish. All protest in residential areas, in other words, could now be treated as a criminal offence. The government will also seek to "suggest remedies" for websites which "include material deemed to cause concern or needless anxiety to others"."
Around the world in a motorglider
Photographer and pilot Matevž Lenarcic is travelling around the world in an ultralight motorglider. Here are some of the pictures he's been taking.
Terrorist Alert Level: Red Herring!
Terrorist Alert Level: Red Herring! The New York Times reported today that much of the information that led to the heightened alert in New York and Washington D.C. is actually three or four years old and that authorities have no evidence or recent communications indicating an upcoming terrorist attack.
George Pataki and Michael Bloomberg, who are both speaking at the upcoming Republican convention, are making political hay off of people's fears of another 9/11. Some New Yorkers are worried about the enormous cost of the alert to the local economy, as bridge traffic snarls to a crawl.
Who needs foriegn terrorism when we can just make our own! Are we scared yet?!
Who needs foriegn terrorism when we can just make our own! Are we scared yet?!
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