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A Review of Eyes Wide Shut (Introducing Sociology) by Tim Kreider. Also: A thorough Kubrick FAQ.
posted by geoff. at 11:47 AM - 103 comments

The "Fifth Beatle" has died... Well, no, not this "Fifth Beatle", or this one (they've both been dead a long time). Certainly not this one. In fact, on some lists, he was The Seventh Beatle. BTW, another "Fifth Beatle" is doing some strange things with the Fab 4's music...
posted by wendell at 11:40 AM - 70 comments

It's a bird, it's a plane!, no it's the Special Forces using strap-on stealth wings to zoom silently into battle. We've all fantasized about jet packs, but being dropped from a plane with wings on your back is a silent way to travel great distances before opening a parachute for landing, just like daredevil Felix Baumgartner, who soared across the English Channel. Who wants to go first?
posted by twsf at 11:24 AM - 22 comments

Othello - shot entirely in World of Warcraft.
posted by mattbucher at 11:17 AM - 13 comments

It's National Yo-Yo Day!
Forget about all this satanic stuff, June 6th every year is National Yo-Yo Day (in the US) when children of all ages pull out their yo-yos and find internal happiness in the state of yo. The yearly day of recognition celebrates the birthday of of Donald F. Duncan Sr, the man who made the yo-yo popular in the US (You do know your yo-yo history don't you?). Of course, that isn't all that Duncan did in his life. He also founded the Good Humor ice cream company, invented the parking meter and made the concept of the premium incentive a popular marketing tool on top of founding the Duncan Yo-Yo Company.

On National Yo-Yo Day yoers celebrate their skill toy of choice, cheap or expensive, simple or complex, by doing tricks ranging from the easy to learn to the completely mind boggling.
posted by DragonBoy at 10:57 AM - 14 comments

Tulse Luper Update: Twice before we’ve discussed Peter Greenaway’s “upcoming” multimedia project The Tulse Luper Suitcases: three movies, two books, a VJ tour (.wmv interview about a similar project, Nightwatching, to give you some idea of what a VJ tour is), and more. With the recent launch of the online multiplayer game, The Tulse Luper Journey , perhaps the project is no longer upcoming at all. The story centers on 92 suitcases related to the life of Greenaway’s alter ego Tulse Luper. Discovered in various locations around the globe, the suitcases illustrate the history of Uranium (and by extension the history of the 20th century). Read Greenaway’s lecture on the project here, hear an interview focused on the VJ performance here, or read stories attributed to Tulse Luper here. [More Inside]
posted by jrb223 at 10:09 AM - 12 comments

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga is a Smithsonian webpage (with a pretty cool Flash intro) about the Norse in North America. Along with highlights of the exhibit, there's also an interactive map of the Viking voyages. (Although L'Anse aux Meadows, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the only confirmed Viking colony in N.A.). The Saga of Eric the Red contains the story of the voyages and discovery, but there are other primary sources as well. The Viking Ship Museum has information on the famous longboats that made the voyages, which were as much a matter of luck as navigation. To mark the millenium, some crazy Icelanders sailed a longboat back to Norway (NPR story).
posted by OmieWise at 8:38 AM - 27 comments

The Monkey Chow Diaries. In the spirit of Seth Roberts' dietary self-experimentation, Angryman has decided that he's tired of cooking, scrubbing pots and pans, and wasting time in the checkout lines. Instead, he is looking for a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food: Monkey Chow [pdf]. [via]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 8:11 AM - 47 comments

This painting will not set you agog until you realize it's an early design for a self-righting ship by a man somewhat obsessed. Similarly, this cap pattern is pretty simple, but it represents some deep geek knowledge. In other words, digital artisans can seem pretentiously empty under the physical weight of a carefully considered compulsion.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:39 AM - 18 comments

Using enough explosives to topple 400 10-storey buildings, China has blown up [bbc news .asx file] a temporary barrier used to hold water back from the controversial Three Gorges Dam.
posted by tnai at 5:28 AM - 36 comments

George Washington once threw a knife into heaven, and other little-known facts about our first (and pimpest) President. (Link goes to an NSFW YouTube video, because George Washington doesn't care about your petty little workplace rules.) This important fact-filled documentary was created by comic book artist Brad Neely, also known for Wizard People, Dear Readers, his unauthorized soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
posted by yankeefog at 1:41 AM - 25 comments

Animator vs Stick figure [This is Flash]
posted by ajbattrick at 12:33 AM - 31 comments

A Montage of Perfect Strangers clips (YouTube flash video) I stumbled across this clip of Perfect Strangers clips. I had forgotten the show was so physical.
posted by jragon at 11:12 PM - 49 comments

"Brands are an important influence on our lives. They are central to free markets and democratic societies. They represent free choice. They also have a profound impact on our quality of life and the way we see our world. They color our lives. They reflect the values of our societies. Global brands can even embody the spirit of many nations, if not the spirit of an age. Most importantly, strong brands bestow value far beyond the performance of the products themselves. Brands that do this possess an idea worthy of consumer loyalty. The more inspiring the idea, the more intense and profound the commitment. And the more the consumer believes in the brand, the more value the brand returns to its owner."
posted by j-urb at 10:53 PM - 53 comments

Stripping The Gurus. Sex, violence, abuse and enlightenment. Chogyam Trungpa, the Dalai Lama, Zen masters, exposing the reality behind the facade of various spiritual teachers. Geoff Falk also writes about the spiritual beliefs of rock stars.
posted by nickyskye at 10:41 PM - 65 comments

'The Helmet Project web site is an attempt by its creator, a completely amateur graphic artist and a long-time fan of football at all levels, to create and maintain an on-line "catalog" or "atlas" of uniform-sized, accurate, and up-to-date images representing the football helmets worn by college football teams and teams from a few professional leagues in the United States and Canada.'
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:34 PM - 15 comments

Magic realism, "in which magical elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting." A few galleries to peruse, but these are my favs.
posted by JPowers at 5:55 PM - 31 comments

Stephen Colbert's Knox College Commencement Speech. In a similar vein to Jon Stewart's William and Mary speech and Conan O'Brien's Harvard speech.
posted by cloeburner at 5:20 PM - 55 comments

The truth about Kitty Genovese. They say she was the woman stabbed to death before 38 witnesses who did nothing. They "didn't want to get involved." To many, her name rings synonymous with "public apathy" and the "bystander effect." Unfortunately, the details - and the meat - of her case are largely misunderstood. None of that, however, diminishes the tragedy of her death, not only for her family and friends, but also for her lover.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:18 PM - 40 comments

Pickles - The dog who won the World Cup. There were two amazing events that happened in London in 1966 that focused on the Jules Rimet Trophy (aka The World Cup): 1: England won; 2. the 15 inch, solid gold trophy tall was stolen, held to ransom, and then discovered in a bush by a dog called Pickles. The English FA had commisioned a base metal replica, which - after the Queen awarded the trophy to Bobby Moore - was substituted for the priceless trophy in the England dressing room, when a copper swapped it with legendary Manchester United & England fullback Nobby Stiles. That was the one which toured the country over the next few years - not the the real one. The replica was sold £254,000 by Sothebys in 1997... to FIFA, whereas the original was stolen again in Brazil, and has never been seen since. The replica is on long term loan to the National Football Museum in Preston, Lancashire - though they don't always tell you: it's a fake.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:02 PM - 12 comments

Coming off of The Deer Hunter, and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Director/Screenwriter Michael Cimino looked like a rising star. His next film, Heaven's Gate would prove so disasterous as to change the industry forever. [more inside]
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:19 PM - 57 comments

Et in Arcadia ego (flash). Photographs of the scars of war (Afghanistan/Iraq/Bosnia/genocide/Israel-Palestine/Liberia/refugee camps). Also: Afghanistan (no flash version), Thailand/tourism/raves.
posted by carter at 1:18 PM - 9 comments

BusRadio has a simple dream: to improve the safety of school bus rides for all students. Or, wait, maybe the dream is to exploit our kids for profit. To be fair, they aren't the only ones who think this is a great idea. Thanks, Massachusetts!
via CommercialAlert, which we've talked about before.
posted by gurple at 9:26 AM - 35 comments

Cory Doctorow visits a Radio Shack. via keswick and MeCha
posted by loquacious at 9:06 AM - 144 comments

U.S. workers will leave an average 4 vacation days on the table this year, one more than last year, according to the 6th annual Vacation Deprivation Survey sponsored by Expedia. This despite the fact that at an average of 14 days total, we are already deprived, trailing Australia (17), Canada (19), Great Britain (24), Germany (27), and France (39) in holiday time. Why don't we get more time off? And why aren't we using the time we do get? [Full results (PDF))]
posted by madamjujujive at 8:29 AM - 88 comments

Black Hawk Down Revisited : (newsfilter) giving cladstine support to the warlords, The American Operation is in breach of the United Nations’ arms embargo on Somalia and therefore in breach of international law. The islamists are claiming victory in Mogadishu. Meanwhile the Somali "leader" sacks Ministers. While the people .... well what do they matter anyway. There's always more from Somali News.
posted by adamvasco at 6:16 AM - 14 comments

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is pumping out a pile of podcasts that have covered the importance of offensive comics to Art Spiegelman, 600 bands over 54 shows, Captain America versus the American government, Amy Sedaris and geekdom, the journey of young immigrants, French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut and Harper's publisher John MacArthur discussing Europe and America perspectives since 9/11, the after life, sex with monkeys, what radio producers do, the french word "corps", Bonnie Fuller's "The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For the Big Life — The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You've Ever Wanted (Even If You're Afraid You Don't Have What It Takes)", Veteran Washington reporter Helen Thomas and some other bits & bobs [Breakdown inside]
posted by boost ventilator at 5:44 AM - 25 comments

The Phaeno is a science playground for kids. The architecture by Zaha Hadid is simply stunning. More here.
posted by namagomi at 5:27 AM - 7 comments

The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Conventions that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.
posted by EarBucket at 4:39 AM - 77 comments

Mispronounced words seem to be making their way into general speech. Newscasters say Febyooary and Artic and of course there are the politicians. Even some grammarians are loosening their standards to include words like gonna and hafta. TV commercials seem to be the worst offenders, with sloppy diction urging us to use claridin and visit our dennis every six months. Maybe we all need lessons. Previously touched on here.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 2:37 AM - 218 comments

Art of Science 2006 'images, videos and sounds—produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science.' Previously on MeFi.
posted by dhruva at 12:27 AM - 4 comments

Mapping the StarMaze A tale of mathematical obsession: "Before I can explain my decades-long quest to map the starmaze I must acquaint you with a small puzzle...I have a habit of seeing everything (cities, organizations, computers, networks, brains) as a maze, so I named this puzzle the starmaze....The first problem I ran into was that there were a lot of rooms...I invented wacky names for each room...But something funny happened...In that instant I finally grasped that the starmaze was arranged on the edges of a nine-dimensional hypercube..."
posted by vacapinta at 9:10 PM - 37 comments

HumanitarianCrisisFilter; Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor, is on the brink of civil war today. The crisis began after a group of soldiers from the western part of the country claimed that they were being discriminated against in favor of soldiers from the eastern part of the country. During a protest they and their supporters were shot at by security forces after the soldiers apparently attacked a market run by people from the eastern part of the country. What followed was a campaign of violence and intimidation against both soldiers loyal to the government and many innocent civilians, led by the renegade soldiers and their supporters. After gaining permission from the Timorese government, a multi-national task force led by Australia has been operating in Timor Leste for the past two weeks, but the violence has shown little sign of stopping. But even with warnings coming from Australia that Timor Leste must not be allowed to become a failed nation lest it become a haven for terrorists and other criminal activity, at least the situation has provided us with one good laugh (video link).

For those interested in a more comprehensive overview of how the crisis in Timor Leste has unfolded, check out the ABC's timeline of events leading up to the crisis currently engulfing the worlds youngest nation.
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:30 PM - 25 comments

Can 1,335 bad lens photographs be wrong? Or 8,516? There are even more if you count Holgas, Dianas, and the like. I'm not sure that digitalsucks, but I applaud the desire to cast off the tyranny of perfection; to expose for the secrets and develop for the surprises with toy cameras, trash cameras and homemade wonders.
posted by cccorlew at 4:18 PM - 45 comments

LBJ and the helium filled astronaut. In 1964, the Skylab project wanted to send a phone call to the president. They had a hard time convincing the operators to put the call through. (g2 real audio link from npr) But today, 2 college students in florida discovered that helium can be dangerous.
posted by pyramid termite at 1:23 PM - 23 comments

Nature is so fucking horrible.
posted by jonson at 12:19 PM - 79 comments

My earliest memory was when I was three. I had a fever and my mother was wiping a cold wet rag on my body. There were fish swimming in my room, as though I was underwater, but I could breathe just fine. That's why I was surprised to find this. "The contemporary art in Japan (english) is naturally influenced by the world contemporary art. But the power of the Japanese traditions, the oppressive presence of a dense urban environment and the various traumatism undergone by Japan for 60 years (defeat of 1945, Hiroshima, earthquakes, economic crisis, etc.) involve a production very rich, original and little known."
posted by sluglicker at 11:59 AM - 6 comments

How the hell did Fuzzy sink this hole-in-one?! It hangs for looooong seconds in the rough, then accelerates directly to the hole. I swear, there were magnets involved! Quite possibly the most amazing hole-in-one ever.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:15 AM - 54 comments

The Future Just Happened A series of four BBC programmes about the internet from five years ago watchable online (via pre-broadband 56k real) that provide a snapshot of a time when AOL was 'at the heart of the new world', Marillion were releasing music through fan subscriptions and Monica Lewinsky was talking about how she didn't trust email anymore. Amazing.
posted by feelinglistless at 9:06 AM - 9 comments

"The sky turned orange as the storm approached, until total darkness blanketed the ground." Sandstorms in Iraq -- caused by heating of the desert sand and a northwesterly summer wind known as the shamal -- can kill. (A similiar storm over Interstate 5 in California in 1991 caused a deadly 164-car pileup.) They can also be uncannily beautiful and dream-like when seen from a distance (WMP link).
posted by digaman at 8:46 AM - 35 comments

GAM3R 7H30RY is an online book in progress about computer games. With subjects such as The Sims as allegory for everyday life in gamespace and GTA: Vice City as utopia (or not), GAM3R 7H30RY tries to answer two questions: 1) Can we explore games as allegories for the world we live in? 2) Can there be a critical theory of games?
posted by sveskemus at 2:35 AM - 52 comments

How bad does All-Star Batman and Robin suck? Super-bad, apparently. Tales from the Long Box (and it's predecessor Hey Dork! Let's talk comics - all about halfway down the linked page) at i-mockery.com continue the fine tradition of providing perspective on both the anciently awful (such as the transcendental Superman Jr and Batman Jr's Excellent Adventure - Saga of the Super Sons) and the up-to-the-minute. So why is it more fun to read about comics these days than to read the things themselves?
posted by Sparx at 10:52 PM - 54 comments

Mona Lisa's voice finally heard. Even if you can't read Japanese, you can still click the buttons underneath each portrait to get playback. Works with Internet Explorer. Suzuki — a co-winner of the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for promoting harmony between species by inventing the Bow-Lingual, a dog-to-human interpretation device — undertook the project as part of activities promoting the Japan release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code."
posted by nickyskye at 9:00 PM - 16 comments

The new lies about women's health (image slightly NSFW) according to Glamour. More on why every egg is sacred to the Bush administration. [via Wired's Sex Drive Daily]
posted by boost ventilator at 6:43 PM - 90 comments

The Summa Theologica Of St Thomas Aquinas VERSUS St Augustine's City Of God .(you tube link)
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:07 PM - 51 comments

101 Two Liters of Diet Coke. 523 Mentos.
posted by empath at 2:09 PM - 70 comments

Well, wouldja, punk? "6/6/06 is only days away! If you were tied to the goat head alter and forced to differentiate between Grind Skronk and Math Prog Metal, would you be able to do it?"
posted by goo at 12:02 PM - 28 comments

"Even though everything we did, we made sure was always legal, it still had a sort of illicit quality to it." An interview with Allan MacDonell, author of Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine.
posted by bardic at 11:50 AM - 11 comments

Rough draft or a copy made by a Da Vinci acolyte? A painting entitled, "La Gioconda" which bears a striking resemblence to this one hangs in the distinctly non-Parisian Portland Museum of Art (Portland, Maine). Technical studies indicate that it was painted in 1510 (3-7 years after the orignal Mona Lisa). The Portland museum recently decided to re-display the painting [NB: link to public radio story] (having last hauled it out of the basement when the book came out).
posted by scblackman at 11:28 AM - 16 comments

Goatse Stickers. Surprisingly SFW, except for a slightly gross toilet picture in the corner of the front page. Some flash and music.
posted by brain_drain at 11:17 AM - 8 comments