August 30, 2002
The Zymoglyphic Museum
The Zymoglyphic Museum including the works of Frederik Ruysch.
Ruysch made about a dozen tableaux, constructed of human fetal skeletons with backgrounds of other body parts, on allegorical themes of death and the transiency of life.... One fetal skeleton holding a string of pearls in its hand proclaims, "Why should I long for the things of this world?" Another, playing a violin with a bow made of a dried artery, sings, "Ah fate, ah bitter fate."
Ruysch's work was eventually purchased by his student and admirer, Peter the Great.
Ruysch's work was eventually purchased by his student and admirer, Peter the Great.
Paper of Record
Paper of Record provides a hi-res, searchable(!), archive of historical newspapers, generated from microfilm collections. Looks like one for Cory at Wrote['nother couple of similar links there]. Kind of new and largely Canadian at the moment, but worth watching, and subscriptions are cheap. Remember, those are Canadian dollars.
Ray would stay.
Ray would stay. Hawai'i actor Ray Bumatai's brain tumor hemorrhaged on stage. He finished the show blind and returned, after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, to finish the run of the play. Is this taking the old "the show must go on" adage a little too far?
Flocks of sperm turning to the left indicates possible memory.
Flocks of sperm turning to the left indicates possible memory. Does this mean every sperm really is sacred?
SPPLAT Attack!--the largest ever paintball game.
SPPLAT Attack!--the largest ever paintball game. Tomorrow hundreds of Federation paintballers will take the field for eight hours of glory against Klingon hordes and Borg legions outside of Chicago (details) led by the inimitable Cap'n James T. Kirk himself! (Onion interview :) "If the weather holds, I will set sail with this 70-pound lawn mower engine on my back, run like hell, float the parasail, gain flying speed and fly into the venue," wow :)
Women Rockin' 4 Women 2002 Festival.
Women Rockin' 4 Women 2002 Festival. THIS IS BIG. Over twenty talented women. Eight female fronted bands. Nine solo female artists. Third annual event. Two sound stages. One venue. One night. Benefitting shelters for victims of domestic violence. More estrogen in one place than you can shake a stick at. You're not busy on September 28th, are ya? Granted, it might be a bit of a commute for some, but... Heaven's gonna touch Earth.
The trailer for the new Seinfeld movie is the first I've seen which really takes the piss out of the whole trailer "In a time that land forgot.." sort of thing. I laughed, but I download these things from apple every day and then forget about the actual movies. I just know I'm alone...
The Twinkies Project:
The Twinkies Project: "Tests With Inorganic Noxious Kakes In Extreme Situations." Kids, do try these at home.
A search engine to help you find things you don't know about.
A search engine to help you find things you don't know about. gnod stands for The Global Network of Dreams, and is a test of artificial intelligence. Building a database from the user choices, it helps you find books, music and misc. other by having you enter in things that you like, and based on what other people like, it shows you stuff you ought to like, too (which is slightly different from what Amazon does, showing you what other people have bought). Don't know if all the Amazon Associate links detract from it all or not
From The Slow Wheels of Justice [Department]
From The Slow Wheels of Justice [Department] we read that "there have been persistent complaints of excessive force by officers of Prince George's County Police Department, Maryland over many years. Cases of concern include police shootings; deaths in custody from dangerous restraint holds or other force and unresisting suspects mauled by police dogs....In November 2000 the US Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the police department to determine whether it engaged in a "pattern and practice" of brutality and racial discrimination....However, after 20 months of investigation, the Justice Department has not yet issued any public findings or recommendations to the police department."
Bubble Wrap: The Nation vs. The Weekly Standard
Bubble Wrap: The Nation vs. The Weekly Standard "Back in the '60s, the left was the home of humor, iconoclasm, pleasure. But over the last two decades, the joy has gone out of the left -- it now feels hedged in by shibboleths and defeatism -- while the right has been having a gas, be it Lee Atwater grooving to the blues, Rush Limbaugh chortling about Feminazis or grimly gleeful Ann Coulter serving up bile as if it were chocolate mousse"
Is Google's use of cookies unnecessarily invasive?
Is Google's use of cookies unnecessarily invasive? Daniel Brandt, described by Salon yesterday as Mr. Anti-Google, says Google "has inadequate justification for planting a cookie that expires in 2038 on every user, and also recording that user's search terms, IP number, and time-date." Brandt is the man behind the NameBase conspiracy database (previously discussed here), and also uncovered the CIA's illegal use of cookies last March. He insists that Google's use of cookies, combined with the Patriot Act, allows U.S. authorities to "do a 'sneak and peek' search of a Google user's hard drive when he isn't home, retrieve a Google cookie id, and then get a keyword search history" specific to the user's computer. Oh yeah, he also thinks PageRank is undemocratic.
Government favors at Auction Prices.
Government favors at Auction Prices. The Bill Simon campaign gets it... they really get it.
PlasticMonkey.com
PlasticMonkey.com I mean, it is Friday, isn't it?
Who was Ellen Raskin?
Who was Ellen Raskin? Even if you don't recognize the name, you've probably read her Newbery Award-winning YA novel The Westing Game. You might even have her illustrated edition of A Child's Christmas in Wales, which she printed on her own as a sample to show publishers when trying to jump-start a freelance career. She listed some of her influences as "Blake, Conrad, Hawthorne, James, Nabokov, Piero della Francesca, Calude Lorrain, Gaugin, Matisse, Fantasia, baseball, hockey, zoos, medicine, and Spain." [more inside]
Essex
Essex is the New Jersey of England, but is trying to change the public perception of my beautiful home county. Not all Essex girls are slappers and it's not all industrial wasteland. But why tell the rest of England about our beautiful secrets?
Where's Marlon Brando?
Where's Marlon Brando? Wonder no longer: he's making bad acting videos and is just as nutty as ever. Very interesting and personal Rolling Stone article about one of America's finest (and one of my favorite) actors (I'm talking On the Waterfront and The Godfather here, not that Dr. Moreau crap. Also, there's a companion RealAudio piece from This American Life here, about 3/4 through). He's still every bit the enigma he's been for the past twenty years.
"Nothing so sharply distinguishes philosophers and Kabbalists as their attitude toward the problem of evil and the demonic."
"Nothing so sharply distinguishes philosophers and Kabbalists as their attitude toward the problem of evil and the demonic." A widely informative study of the historical background and on the mythic passions of the great Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholen by a writer I much enjoy, Cynthia Ozick. (zip up Miguel, my uncle Zen sent this as a contribution to your Sacks)
So what if my cool factor drops 10 points cause I'm still curious about Axl Rose who surprised us by performing live on MTV last night. And now I really need to know the real story about that guy replacing Slash who wears a chicken bucket on his head. And could baldness really be the reason behind Axl's madness?
Here I am so elegant ... upside down, I'm quite different.
Here I am so elegant ... upside down, I'm quite different.
Just for the "cool!" of them (and not just because it's Friday) - a nice collection of reversible matchbox portraits.
This man patronizes us ... This man wishes he had.
Just for the "cool!" of them (and not just because it's Friday) - a nice collection of reversible matchbox portraits.
This man patronizes us ... This man wishes he had.
"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered "Fraud!" But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed. They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain, and they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again. But will there still be joy in Mudville?
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, You May Be Very Liberal But Are You Gay Or Lesbian Enough?
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, You May Be Very Liberal But Are You Gay Or Lesbian Enough? And, if you're a sufficiently gay man (congratulations and all that) what kind exactly are you? And are you convincing enough? Not because it's Friday or anything, but you might as well know before you go out tonight, no?
I'm the world champion and you're not.
I'm the world champion and you're not. Don't worry though, NOVA members may seem to be high and mighty, but don’t be fooled; each of use is human and have our faults. Want to host a tournament? Better learn how to run one. Maybe you'll want to host one at Paradise Racetrack where the recent addition of split levels and spiral curves has the local racing crowd abuzz with joyful anticipation. Is this a Sports Filter post about auto racing? No, it's an eerie look into the world of a Car Wars chapter. (Ever walk into somewhere that you wish you could run out of, but you just can't stop exploring...)
Giant asteroid hurtling toward your planet? Don't know what to do? Don't call Bruce Willis. Just build a giant airbag and nudge the sucker away.
Marijuana: Fires' timing could devastate crops, locals say...
Marijuana: Fires' timing could devastate crops, locals say... CAVE JUNCTION -- Flames are consuming a bit more than towering trees and the occasional cabin as two wildfires roar through the Siskiyou National Forest. At least some of the vegetation that has made Southwest Oregon famous -- and long ago took a generation of hippie kids off welfare -- also is going up in smoke. Which leads to the question: "Am I Eligible For Disaster Assistance? How Do I Apply?" Friends, FEMA is there for you.
Is anyone going away for labor day weekend? Taking a flight? Check out what your airline may be serving at AirlineMeals.net
Is this the big one?
Is this the big one? With some 18,000 sick and over 700 people having died of the flu in a country the size of France over the past couple of months, I find it odd that the media seems obsesessed with the US / Iraq thing and missing children.
The 1918 flu epidemic killed some 675,00 Americans alone, with a global tally in excess of 20 MILLION killed. Some of the photos taken back then are pretty grim. It seems the power of influenza is that it (ahhem) mutates and thats why it could once again be a big killer. Cynical as it might sound, as a race maybe we need something like this to teach us that we've got a lot more in common with each other than skin colour and religion might otherwise lead us to believe. ObDisclaimer: I'm unemployed right now, have maybe six months of canned goods in the flat; if this hits London, I ain't opening my door to nobody.
Down with Free Speech?
Down with Free Speech? Poll shows American support for the first Amendment down. Would any politician be stupid enough to try to capitalize on this sentiment? Should we all be watching our words?
A humorously lowbrow Friday cocktail: mix equal amounts of Lucha Libre with the Sport of Kings. Add a jigger of Rock and Roll, shake vigorously and pour into a frosty mug. Garnish with sweaty, hairy lechery (find yer own link), and you've got Los Diablos Guapos. Bottom's Up!
Scientists ruin mouse's day.
Scientists ruin mouse's day. Or maybe, "discover the end of all ends"? or something. This story is begging for clever headlines, and I cannot think of any. Too embarassing. But still, the possibilities raised by this study are endless. Oh, there you go, another pun...
Looking a gift horse in the mouth?
Looking a gift horse in the mouth? Saudi Arabia is considering giving a million-dollar racehorse to the families of the September 11 victims. Patronizing gesture or genuine humanitarianism? Did the Saudi's really pay off al-Qaida to the tune of $200 million to leave them alone? Are we preparing to invade the wrong country?
Sinister cult hijacks Weblogs.com?
Sinister cult hijacks Weblogs.com? While working on an application that finds patterns in the data supplied by Weblogs.com, Mo Morgan found some disturbing patterns:
"[...] between midnight and five there had been over 60 pings to Weblogs.com from sites that contained the string "srichinmoy" in their URI."
At first it just looks like some idiot abusing the ping system. Or could this be something altogether more sinister?
"[...] between midnight and five there had been over 60 pings to Weblogs.com from sites that contained the string "srichinmoy" in their URI."
At first it just looks like some idiot abusing the ping system. Or could this be something altogether more sinister?
Doctor found guilty of offering kidneys-for-cash...
Doctor found guilty of offering kidneys-for-cash... though the case against him sounds a little dodgy. It raises all sorts of questions (not least about supposed organ rationining, something discussed in this link) - what level of evidence should industrial tribunals require for a guilty verdict? How legitimate is the kind of journalism pursued here - is this entrapment? And even if it was, does it matter if the guy does say he can get what's needed?
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