August 5, 2009
Doo-doo-doo-doo / Can touch this
Iä, iä, Cthulhu nom.
Dreamtigers
Jorge Luis Borges: The Mirror Man "This program examines the life and literary career of the charismatic Argentine writer, as well as the thematic, symbolic, and mythological underpinnings of his works. Archival interviews with Borges; his mother, Leonor Acevedo de Borges; his second wife, Maria Kodama; and collaborator Adolfo Bioy Casares provide insights into the private Borges, while readings from The Mirrors, Dreamtigers, The Plot, The South, The Aleph, and other landmarks of Latin American fiction demonstrate his virtuosity as a transformer of experiences." (ubuweb)
Everyday life in the USSR
Real USSR is a blog containing commentaries on everyday life in the former Soviet Union. The liberal use of family and other amateur photos provides unusual insight into the daily experience of Soviet life. Topics range from 1940s homemade double-exposure photography to queueing to USSR - the birthplace of feminism. via
"Life! Hope! Escape! Whoops! Obstinacy!"
Charlie Chaplin [previously, except the primary link from blogspot is down] has a grandson, James Thiérrée. Growing up in his parents circus Le Cirque Imaginaire (later, Invisible), the acrobat evolved into performer/director/choreographer of soon to be four full-length works. (Full disclosure: the first three are all from La Veillée des Abysses--Bright Abyss--and the latter is a preview for his upcoming solo act Raoul.) He's also made forays in movies you've probably seen. More? Check out this Au revoir Parapluie (Farewell Umbrella) medley, and how about some trapeze? [more inside]
Neil Armstrong: One Badass Mother Fucker.
Neil Armstrong was a test pilot before he was an astronaut. He had his pilot's license before he had his driver's license. But even he had some trouble getting used to that darned Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). [more inside]
Human Motions
Kenyan Birth Certificate Generator
Kenyan Birth Certificate Generator (Birther approved!)
Iran and the West
Three part BBC documentary analyzes and documents the revolution and the long struggle of Iran and the West to come together ever since the revolution. The documentary shows interviews with a wide range of world leaders who reveal the inner dealings of all governing adminstrations from the past thirty years, both from within Iran’s own adminstration and from the Western counterparts.
Nurturing Creativity
The Seven Vices of Highly Creative People vs. Elizabeth Gilbert on How We Kill Geniuses [more inside]
"That would not kill Dracula!"
Vampires are over, argues Neil Gaiman. (Via the Guardian, who rather oddly suggest the similarly over-exposed zombies as a replacement)
Tough young guys, sinewy bodies, and their.....fingers and.....teeny toes.
Penny Arcade: "Automata" inspired works
The guys at Penny Arcade often refer to their sequential comics as "dreaded continuity," but some of their storylines have created their own microcosms apart from the usual commentary on things in the broad world video games. Prime examples of these storylines include Cardboard Tube Samurai and Song of the Sorcelator, the latter has spun into a world made by its fans. The newest sequential work started from one of three short "treatments," set in a nineteen-twenties crime fiction which unfolds in a time where "machine intellect" has been outlawed. The first page of Automata was set to music that was composed and performed by Christoph Hermiteer. The second fan creation is a short radio program, based on a script written by the Penny Arcade folks.
Consider the Source
"It's a different way of thinking about 'local' that's not quite as literal," says a consumer research consultant in an article running this week in alternative newspapers nationwide. The piece (by Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance) describes the response of global and national companies to the reality that consumers are moving more of their dollars into purchasing at locally owned businesses, representing both a threat, and an opportunity for companies that can successfully rebrand themselves as 'local'. As with greenwashing before it, 'localwashing' seeks to lure customers based on perception of values alone, resulting in such phenomena as Frito-Lay highlighting farmers from 27 states as the "local" growers for its potato chips and Hellman's Mayonnaise piloting a campaign in Canada to present its product as 'local' because most of the ingredients are from North America.
Inner Space
Where I Write 'Fantasy & Science Fiction authors in their creative spaces' Photography by Kyle Cassidy
"Walk the most cutest male Pomeranian...oh, and he wants a cute and sexy girl, send photos!"
Looking for work? Avoid this job.
Harry Patch and Radiohead
We've covered Harry Patch before but as you might know he died recently. Now Radiohead have released a track in tribute to him and the fallen others.
Kemp Folds: Ross Kemp's Face, Folded
On the Trail of a Serial Killer in Macedonia
Then, in November 2007, exactly three years after the disappearance of Simjanoska, another woman from Kičevo went missing. Fifty-six-year-old Lubica Ličoska was, like Simjanoska, a custodian, and she also lived in the same section of town. When the similarities were noted, locals suddenly remembered Gorica Pavelska. She was seventy-three, a retired custodian who went missing in May 2003. No one had thought much of it at the time. She might have suffered a stroke in some remote place, they had speculated, or gone to work in Skopje. No trace of her was ever found and the whole business had been forgotten. But now it appeared that little Kičevo was home to a serial killer, and Vlado Taneski’s editors smelled a big story.- The Mask of Sanity: On the Trail of a Serial Killer in Macedonia by Dimiter Kenarov. An account of the Kičevo Monster and the killer's surprising identity. [Warning: Descriptions of the murders include graphic details]
Some new dance moves for next year's prom!
An unreliable narrator tells his story
Large-scale homeless organization: the hot new thing for August?
A group of 25 homeless Polish men are building a boat with the intention of sailing around the world. Meanwhile, over in the New World, around 80 Providence, R.I. homeless people have formed their own government.
High Frequency Trading
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