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American Brandstand. Bling bling is alive and well and living in Billboard lyrics. Of course, this has been going on since at least 1903: 'Come, Come, Come and make eyes with me / Under the Anheuser Bush / Come, Come, drink some Budwise with me / Under the Anheuser Bush
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Dec-26-03

"When Tchaikovsky heard the celesta during a trip to Paris, he wrote a letter to his publisher saying, "get me one of those before another composer steals it." The Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker couldn't dance without it. We have the history of the celesta -- and hear it in a special performance by Lambert Orkis of the National Symphony Orchestra." From NPR's Morning Edition a look at this relatively obscure instrument that young wizards music are made of. If you can't play or afford the real thing, try the chime.
comment posted at 7:42 AM on Dec-24-03
comment posted at 7:44 PM on Dec-24-03

The USDA has announced the first 'presumptive positive' result of a test of a cow for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, in Washington state. CNN hasn't caught up yet, but USDA themselves have a page on the issue, as do the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the EU, and the World Health Organization. My advice? Buy Chik-fil-A; sell Burger King. :-)
comment posted at 8:18 AM on Dec-24-03

Iceblog! "Antarctica: the best place in the world to be naked" (and take a bunch of awesomely beautiful pictures, too).
comment posted at 10:33 AM on Dec-23-03

The Greatest Week in Rock History (Salon link) - 34 years ago today, Billboard Charts had a outstanding album lineup - perhaps not the best albums ever, but for a single point in time, arguably unmatched for quality, originality, and longevity. Take a look back at the roster: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Stones, Santana, the Temptations, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Easy Rider.
comment posted at 8:03 AM on Dec-20-03
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comment posted at 5:37 AM on Dec-22-03

There's a Ghost in King Henry's Court and it was caught on film. "Security staff heard alarms ringing near an exhibition hall, indicating fire doors had been opened. But on investigation they found the doors closed. Perplexed, they examined CCTV footage and that is when it got spooky. The cameras showed the heavy doors popping open but no one there. Then, suddenly, the long-coated figure appeared and slammed the doors shut." [More links]
comment posted at 8:17 AM on Dec-20-03

New York Subway Musicians go to Korea (from ArtsJournal.com)... And they can stay there, as far as I’m concerned. When you’re an out-of-towner, or just use the subway once a year, buskers are so quaint and picturesque. But if you’re a commuter who rides the subway every day of your life, they are stupendous annoyance, preventing you from concentrating on your reading, and generally adding to irritating cacaphony of an already inhuman environment. The subway is not some cute audition club for aspiring mimes. As Serious Danger points out, "approximately one in seven people waiting on your train platform is a face-slasher or a gut-stabber who will cut you with scant provocation, and less warning."
comment posted at 12:10 PM on Dec-16-03
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comment posted at 6:34 AM on Dec-17-03

Louise Brooks: With a new biopic in the works, the spotlight will soon return to this silent-movie legend. The beautiful and enchanting Brooks set the mold for the stereotypical bobbed-hair flapper of the 1920s, though her Hollywood work is largely forgettable. Her most famous film, Pandora’s Box [script, mirror] (directed by G.W. Pabst) was filmed in Germany. She didn't make a successful transition to talkies, and after a long reclusive period, she had a second career writing essays. -- For further reading, Ken Tynan's 1979 essay "The Girl in the Black Helmet" [mirror] in the New Yorker gives an excellent overview of her life.
comment posted at 6:24 AM on Dec-16-03

Emotional rescues. An article by Susam Tomes questions how much distance is required by a performer in order to communicate emotion effectively. Does the on-stage show of emotion by some musicians distract from their performance? Compare and contrast: cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Jacqueline du Pré with the immobile, stone-visaged Jascha Heifetz. [via Arts & Letters Daily]
comment posted at 12:23 PM on Dec-11-03
comment posted at 1:21 PM on Dec-11-03

Powerful anti-war flash animation from the Kucinich campaign. A bit heavy handed, but when dealing with life and death, literally, its best to just come out and say what one thinks.
comment posted at 7:58 AM on Dec-9-03

Slavery Ended in the 1960s, not the 1860s The Civil War made slavery illegal, but that didn't wipe it out completely. White farmer, John Williams, forced his black overseer to murder 11 slaves in the wake of a 1921 federal investigation. The Dial Brothers were also convicted by the Justice Department for "African slavery" in the 1940s. In another case, a black genealogist found a 104-year-old man who claims he and his family were enslaved until the 1960s. It's not necessary to rehash the entire reparations debate to realize that some of these post-Civil War slavery cases may finally have a day in court.
comment posted at 6:45 AM on Dec-6-03

Why Isn't Ted Gärdestad's Beautiful Music More Well Known? Everyone has a favourite musician who, for some reason, remains unknown and unfairly overlooked. At least for some swedes it might be this musical giant who worked alongside with the well known Benny & Björn of ABBA fame. warning: first link a 2.7 meg mp3
comment posted at 5:13 PM on Nov-29-03

SEE! Harvey Pekar, file clerk extraordinaire, wrestle with mortality. DREAM!! with Harvey as he plots to re-sell his used books and records for absurdly inflated prices. FEAR!!! for your sanity as Harvey takes you deep into the bowels of a Cleveland veteran's hospital. RAGE!!!! with Harvey at the aggression and general obtuseness of people around him. He's a reasonable guy. He's also a noted jazz critic, book reviewer and radio commentator. Now Playing At A Theater Near You.
comment posted at 10:00 AM on Aug-21-03
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comment posted at 5:58 PM on Aug-21-03

We're number one! We're number one! From a source quoted in the article: "We have the wealthiest society in human history, and we maintain the highest level of imprisonment. It's striking what that says about our approach to social problems and inequality." (apologies for the usual US-centrism)
comment posted at 11:29 AM on Aug-18-03
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comment posted at 1:59 PM on Aug-18-03

Opining that third-world farmers "need a better deal", the Guardian has launched kickAAS, a blog to abolish all agricultural subsidies.
comment posted at 10:06 AM on Aug-18-03

Health Physics Instrumentation Collection. A shoe-fitting fluoroscope, Geiger Mueller detectors, civil defence items, atomic movie posters, radioactive quack cures, radiation warning signs, etc.
Much more in the way of historical scientific instrumentation at the University of Toronto Museum of Scientific Instuments : exhibits on psychology, acoustics, and early electron microscopy; more in the collections.
American Artifacts has some interesting articles and illustrations on antique scientific and medical instruments, such as these quack eye massagers.
comment posted at 7:28 AM on Aug-18-03

Think you're losing your head? Then you might want to avoid elevators for a while. Especially old elevators. This makes you wonder what happened here. Perhaps these should be mandated. These things happen more than you might think.
comment posted at 12:05 PM on Aug-17-03
comment posted at 12:50 PM on Aug-17-03

Chicago 1968 - This month marks 35 years since the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Hope was at a low ebb in the wake of a turbulent year that saw the assassinations of MLK and RFK. Peace activists and yippies took to the streets to protest the Viet Nam war and to nominate a pig for president. Police responded with shocking brutality. The ensuing Chicago Seven Trial was theatre of the absurd, with a colorful and prominent cast of characters. So what's changed in 35 years? Can next year's conventions be expected to generate outrage or apathy? - more -
comment posted at 8:31 AM on Aug-17-03

Visit Madison, Indiana. Why? We're not New York City! Sure you can be opportunistic about selling gas masks if you're an internet entrepreneur, but what if you're a small town in Indiana and you want to cash in on fear of terrorism. Why, tout what you don't have, of course. "A safe place to visit...When you visit Madison you will discover that we have no tall buildings to fear, no nuclear power plants, airports or anything anyone would want to blow up."
comment posted at 2:57 PM on Aug-16-03

Welcome to the Blackout History Project. With all the hub-bub today, josh m. marshall of talkingpointsmemo posted a link to an associates history of two other nyc blackouts. marshall says:

The Blackout History Project...which covers the social history of these events, what happened, people's reminiscences in written and recorded formats, and so forth. The site also has a great deal of information about just how blackouts happen, what these 'grids' are that folks are talking about, and how various forms of electricity deregulation which have taking place over recent years have made an event like we've seen today much more likely.

take it easy nyers and anyone else blacked out.
comment posted at 7:17 AM on Aug-15-03

Massive New York power outage? Boing Boing is among the first to report that a massive power outage just hit much of the Northeast, including New York, Cleveland and Detroit. CNN's breaking news just confirmed it.
comment posted at 7:06 AM on Aug-15-03

It's official: 98% of people have had songs stuck in their heads. What about the other 2%? They don't have to contend with top offenders like the Mister Softee song, "Whoomp, There It Is" or "It's A Small World After All" ringing in their ears for hours.
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Aug-12-03

"Buildings of Disaster are miniature replicas of famous structures where some tragic or terrible events happened to take place. The images of burning or exploded buildings make a different, populist history of architecture, one based on emotional involvement rather than scholarly appreciation."
comment posted at 11:00 AM on Aug-11-03

SINGLES FROM CD LOOKS TO BE A SMASH HITS! We’ve seen some silly side projects from wrestlers before, from Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman to Jesse Ventura to Pastamania to the Ultimate Warrior’s "University"(He defines such terms as destrucity. You can’t make that stuff up). But Randy “Macho Man” Savage’s new rap album ought to take the cake. Of course, comedy gold of all types is mined at Wrestlecrap, which makes even non-fans weep with laughter.
comment posted at 12:28 PM on Aug-8-03

Mammoths (Mammuthus) have been discussed here before and for those modern explorers who hunt the long extinct tusker in the field there is the 3rd International Mammoth conference where you can learn about things such as Mammoth Hunters and Ice Age Dogs.
comment posted at 12:38 PM on Aug-8-03

Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black You might not think to make a movie about the life and times of a font, but someone did.
comment posted at 11:26 AM on Aug-7-03

Damn your eyes, Harry Paget Flashman lived through and thrived in spite of his involvement in almost all of the sticky and and unpleasant incidents involving agents of the British Empire from the late 1830s to the beginning of the last century. Although a fictional creation, his tales seem to ring as true as anything written about any other Victorian Gent, whether he got his V.C., took a jezail bullet, or even knew 'little Vicky' herself.
comment posted at 9:06 AM on Aug-7-03

Medical fotolog. [warning -- graphic surgical photos]
comment posted at 9:13 AM on Aug-7-03

The High Hat is a new online magazine covering culture, the arts, and politics. Looks promising.
comment posted at 12:09 PM on Aug-5-03

Why I Hate Advocacy. Baseball, politics, and programming languages? Mark Jason-Dominus created a classic article that is really about the general human tendancy towards flawed dialogue and the pitfalls surrounding evangelism, even though it's specifically directed towards the perl programming community. Indeed, as in the past, some may see the "spectre of Metafilter itself" in Mark's words.
comment posted at 11:33 AM on Aug-4-03

I always thought that starting the day by tying a rope around your neck made no sense. No it turns out that wearing a tight tie may damage your eyesight
comment posted at 8:12 AM on Jul-29-03
comment posted at 8:53 AM on Jul-30-03

"Global warming is now a weapon of mass destruction. It kills more people than terrorism, yet Blair and Bush do nothing." So writes Sir John Houghton, former chief executive of the Meteorological Office and co-chair of the scientific assessment working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
comment posted at 1:57 PM on Jul-28-03