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March of the librarians: "Twice a year, tens of thousands of librarians make a trek across the United States to a meeting of the ALA. How they know to congregate in the same spot, no one knows. They come to learn, to network, to collect free stuff, and possibly to mate." (YouTube)
comment posted at 10:46 AM on Aug-28-07
comment posted at 10:54 AM on Aug-28-07

The bizarre art of Christopher Uminga. Eerie, Cute and simultaneously freaky. Bonus points for the awesome rendering of one of the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes ever, Hush. Here is a link to the whole gallery.
comment posted at 8:20 AM on Aug-28-07

The 50 Greatest movie sex scenes of all time (with clips)
comment posted at 3:24 PM on Aug-23-07

Time to make your plans to see the Perseid meteor shower Sunday night/Monday morning. 12 things you'll need. Odds are you won't see something quite as impressive as this "super bolide" in Croatia (watch it to the end), but it will still be well worth your while. A new moon that night means unusually dark skies for the event, so you will have a chance to see even the dim ones, under dark skies.
comment posted at 1:03 PM on Aug-10-07

Oscar the cat. Harbinger of death. (more info available behind registration at the NEJM)
comment posted at 3:36 PM on Jul-25-07

50 best movie robots of all time including D.A.R.Y.L, Eve VII, the Cylons, Daft Punk, Max, Box, but not Daleks, obviously.
comment posted at 10:17 AM on Jul-25-07

Edward Gorey is coming to the big screen! You may know him from his animations on PBS. You may even be familiar with his poem on child mortality. And if you’re a particularly avid fan, you may have purchased his raccoon fur coat.
comment posted at 8:53 AM on Jun-14-07

100 words every high school graduate should know (according to the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries).
comment posted at 9:08 AM on Jun-13-07

The Real Life Simpsons -- A creepy depiction of how The Simpsons would look if they were real. (via)
comment posted at 12:52 PM on Jun-8-07

Better than blood? A man-made, pure-white compound called Oxycyte carries oxygen 50 times as effectively as our own blood. An interesting development for brain trauma patients, HIV in blood transfusions, and the artificial human.
comment posted at 7:44 AM on Jun-6-07

Today begins National Accordion Awareness Month. Check out some fun accordion facts, and make sure to polka! polka! polka!. (It was big in Sheboygan).
comment posted at 8:51 AM on Jun-1-07

Inner lip tattoos
comment posted at 12:56 PM on May-31-07

Hey! Isn't that the guy from that movie? The 20 best "that guys" of all time -- according to Cracked. (via)
comment posted at 12:05 PM on May-30-07
comment posted at 12:20 PM on May-30-07

Time to vacuum the cat. (YouTube, single link, via).
comment posted at 4:19 PM on May-22-07

Former members of Luna, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, make lovely videos together. Dean also fronted Galaxie 500 and Britta was the singing voice of 80's cartoon character, Jem.
comment posted at 6:52 AM on May-22-07

"Troy is only 8, but he knows the words to Yanguna, an Arnhem Land song celebrating kava. He sings in tune with Saltwater Band's anthem to the drug as the car bumps along the dirt track. Kava came to Arnhem Land 20 years ago as a ray of hope. Aboriginal community leaders believed the calming drink from the Pacific could be a peaceful alternative to alcohol, then raging through Aboriginal communities like a cyclone. But kava became just another abused substance.”
comment posted at 1:20 PM on May-1-07

Bill Moyers interviewed Jon Stewart on April 27. The video is on the Moyers' soon-to-be great new site.
comment posted at 10:31 AM on Apr-30-07

The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, online gallery. Revealing nature's oddest and most mesmerizing creatures in crystalline detail; color photographs of deep ocean species, some photographed for the first time. An online companion to the book by Claire Nouvian. Deep-sea photography.
comment posted at 4:01 PM on Apr-26-07

Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. [more inside]
comment posted at 9:06 AM on Apr-24-07
comment posted at 9:14 AM on Apr-24-07

Design your own Chuck Taylors. Not normally a fan of corporate gimmickry. However, I grew up wearing these, and as a wee lad always dreamed of this day. (In the eighties the best that could be managed was to try to sneak a mixed pair under the nose of the sales clerk.) My Chucks were as beautiful as they were useful. And in those days they were still sweatshop-free.I knew little of the man, as the youth of tomorrow may know little of this one. I conclude with a parable.
comment posted at 6:42 AM on Apr-16-07

In 1980 artist Lars Vilks began construction of two sculptures in Skåne, Sweden. The works—once they were found—were considered houses by the local authorities and therefore condemned because they were built on a nature reserve. After many lost appeals, Vilks protested by declaring the area as the micronation of Ladonia with the motto of suum cuique. And while there is no possibility of receiving work or actually living in Ladonia, you too can become a citizen of Ladonia. For a nominal fee you can even become nobility, and choose your own title!
comment posted at 2:09 PM on Apr-6-07

Twenty-two browned, hollowed-out loaves of Italian white bread. Twenty-two pounds of bacon. Twenty-two jars of peanut butter. Twenty-two jars of jelly. Forty-eight tablespoons of butter. A case of Perrier. A case of champagne. And the King.
comment posted at 3:42 PM on Apr-5-07
comment posted at 4:26 PM on Apr-5-07

Hacking the Senses: The brain is far more plastic than we commonly realize. Presenting new 'senses' via the old inputs works extremely well, to the point that long-term volunteers are a little lost without their new abilities to feel magnetic north or absolute orientation. Tasting direction; feeling pictures. Fascinating stuff. In a loosely related article, genetically modified mice are able to see the full color range visible to humans, even though the last natural mouse able to see this way died out a hundred million years ago. Add the new sensors, and the brain reconfigures. [via]
comment posted at 8:34 AM on Apr-5-07

The Purgegate Primer is a helpful document from The Morning News to assist all us armchair pundits in making sense of the U.S. Attorney scandal. Brought to us by the letter Q and recently-mentioned defective yeti, who it seems is about more than just laughs. (Also see his Plamegate Cheatsheet.)
comment posted at 10:38 AM on Apr-3-07

Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl A little Burton, a little Seuss, and pretty darn enjoyable. If you don't like youTube, you should probably stay away.
comment posted at 1:34 PM on Mar-30-07

That's pretty underground. (video)
comment posted at 9:58 AM on Mar-30-07

Are you a gamer-widow? Here is your lonely corner of the internet, with forums and resources to help you find help. Inspired by AskMe.
comment posted at 12:54 PM on Mar-28-07

The Virtual Absinthe Museum What is there in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? ... Even in ruin and in degradation it remains a thing apart - Aleister Crowley. The Virtual Absinthe Museum has the whole fabled history plus literature, art and antiques. The accoutrements: spoons, glasses, brouilleurs and zoomorphic pichets. Classic art-nouveau posters, postcards showing Les Perils of France, French poetry, English fiction, and American pulp magazines.
comment posted at 8:21 AM on Mar-28-07

The Worst Films of "The Modern Era?" There are dozens of places to start - do you go by cost of production to theater revenue? Here's a list of criterias to make it the worst of the worst. Or perhaps by continuity errors? Blatant ignoring of the laws of immutable physics? This Christian Group has their criterias ... (American Psycho-ZERO). IMDB's "people" votes? man, there's lot of hate for "Crossover." It didn't get any noms at the "Razzies." And if your memory fails, check out the previous "losers." Is Everyone a Critic? Or the best film critic - here's Ebert's list (though I SERIOUSLY disagree on TOMMY BOY!). Many others weigh in: Digital Dreams; Maxim, Rotten Tomatoes, Stinkers (in alphabetical order); Metacritic and Leonard Maltin for your PDA/mobile (you'll have to do a sort on BOMB). And of course, (NSFW) the worst porn titles. Er, Enjoy!
comment posted at 3:02 PM on Mar-27-07
comment posted at 4:27 PM on Mar-27-07

One Pancake at a time. I don't think pancakes get much more ridiculous than this.
comment posted at 12:55 PM on Mar-24-07

i haven not slept in 126 hrs. my mental aptitude is completely shot. words that come out of my mout are completely random ; nonsensicle...dropping into bed will be GOOD FEELNGI.. How long can you stay awake? This guy made it just over 5 days, and kept a journal. Randy Gardner holds the world record of 11 days, which he set as a high school student in 1964. On the fourth day he had a delusion that he was Paul Lowe winning the Rose Bowl, and that a street sign was a person. Previously: [1], [2]
comment posted at 12:58 PM on Mar-23-07

The 10 Most Magnificent Trees in the World.
comment posted at 8:39 AM on Mar-22-07

It's Hazzardgate! While Dukes Fest '07 is still set to go off without a hitch, John Schneider and Tom Wopat have apparently been blacklisted from their scheduled July 14th appearance at the Cincinatti Pops after the local NAACP branch complained about the original tv show's "racist overtones." But of course the big questions are... what does Cooter think about it all? How will the Hazzard fans cope? And what about the Ukes of Hazzard? Are they involved? Boss Hogg remains silent on the issue.
comment posted at 4:27 PM on Mar-19-07

"If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control" writes, of all people, public radio darling Garrison Keillor (first link Salon). Dan Savage responds: "F Garrison Keillor," who it turns out is an adulterer who's been married three times.
comment posted at 8:06 PM on Mar-14-07

Fishing Hurts is a new website from PETA aimed at getting people to stop fishing. No one would consider doing to a dog what some so casually do to fish—trick them into impaling themselves in the mouth and pull them into an environment where they can't breathe. But the fact is—fish feel pain just as all animals do. When it comes to feelings, a child is a dog is a fish.
comment posted at 11:29 AM on Mar-12-07

Elf Defense. A man accused of a stealing underwear from a shop in a knifepoint raid believed he was a female elf at the time. He was found guilty. The man believed he was playing Shadowrun at the time.
comment posted at 4:22 PM on Mar-9-07

Feline Reactions to Bearded Men: Cats do not like men with long beards, especially long dark beards. Cats are indifferent to men with shorter beards. Cats are confused and/or disturbed by men with beards that are incomplete (e.g., Bork) and to a lesser degree by men whose beards have missing parts (e.g., Crafts). via
comment posted at 2:09 PM on Mar-9-07

Is Your Baby Gay? Southern Baptist theologian Albert Mohler has come out to support stem cell research: If a biological basis [for homosexuality] is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever developed, we would support its use as we should unapologetically support the use of any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin.
comment posted at 2:16 PM on Mar-8-07

Is it racist to condemn fanaticism? Phyllis Chesler, the Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the City University of New York, writes of her time as bride of a charming and Westernised Afghan Muslim.
comment posted at 8:34 AM on Mar-7-07

It was a cold day on Mount Washington in New Hampshire today, where the weather can really suck. With a temperature of -37F and a peak wind gust of 117mph, it was cold enough to turn boiling water to snow (youtube). Also, previously on MeFi.
comment posted at 3:45 PM on Mar-6-07

Monologues: tons of great monolgoues here including Coffee's for Closers, How To Fake Like You are Nice and Caring, a 12 inch proboscis, Winocki kept his word, and many others.
comment posted at 2:38 PM on Mar-5-07

It begins in the paraventricular nucleus. It has been observed in the womb. Muslims believe it's an indication of Satanic possession. Too much of it might be a bad thing. Pandiculation sometimes occurs. In terminal rabies cases and in five percent of Clomipramine users it leads to spontaneous orgasm. Previous wisdom held it was caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood and mirror neurons make it contagious. And yet still nobody knows precisely why it happens.
comment posted at 1:25 PM on Mar-2-07

Saturn is gorgeous. And humans have never seen it from this angle before. (Full sized version)
comment posted at 1:11 PM on Mar-2-07

Vanity on the rise among young people today. Findings from a recent San Diego State University workshop shows that a couple decades worth of self-esteem parenting, may have engendered an entire generation of narcissists.
comment posted at 10:10 AM on Feb-28-07

Rebecca Riley died of a drug overdose in December. The police charged her parents with murder, alleging that they poisoned her with an overdose of clonidine. What's clonidine? A drug used to treat hyperactivity. You see, Rebecca was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was prescribed clonidine. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on valproic acid and Seroquel. Rebecca was diagnosed with both disorders by a psychiatrist when she was 2 1/2 years old. She died when she was 4 years old. Some in the psychiatric community are outraged.
comment posted at 2:09 PM on Feb-26-07