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July 2002 Archives
July 31
No TV ads on 9/11?
Media/TV critic Tunku Varadarajan of the Wall Street Journal thinks that the companies that have decided not to advertise on 9/11 is disingenuous and self-serving. Advertisers see it as not trying to be crassly commercial on a day of memorial. Regardless of what you think of the
Dell dude and
the other advertisers taking the day off, should 9/11/02 be commercial-free out of respect for those who lost their lives, or as Mr. Varadarajan suggests, more solemn tribute commercials? As long as advertisers aren't exploiting the tragedy like
Cantor Fitzgerald/e-speed I could care less.
posted by birdherder at 5:21 PM PST - 43 comments
I am teh mor3 l337 than yuo!
Becuase I pl4y teh QuAEK 3 on teh my NES! SUCK IT CAMPARZZZZ!
No, really, this outfit's pretty cool. For a little cash, get a
fully functional computar, uh, computer that's wrapped up in an
Amiga 1000,
Atari 2600, or original
NES. Available in Linux or Windows flavors. W3rd. More PCs should be functional, practical expressions of artistry like this. Are you listening, Dell Boy? Gateway Cow?
posted by WolfDaddy at 3:43 PM PST - 12 comments
The End of the Anti-Hit List?
"And with that, the Anti-Hit List is retiring, at least for the foreseeable future."
John Sakamoto's Alternate Top 10 (AKA
The Anti-Hit List) was one of the best top ten music lists on the net. It was short and sweet and a great way to discover b-sides, covers and alternate versions of songs from a wide variety of artists. And to think, it all started back on
March 12, 1996.
posted by boost ventilator at 3:18 PM PST - 4 comments
As the biggest, burliest SUV sold in the United States -- nearly 19 feet long and weighing about 7,200 pounds -- the
Excursion was attacked by social critics who accused Ford of environmental irresponsibility. I for one,
will not miss it.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 1:04 PM PST - 77 comments
The Woman in Hitler's Bathtub
(heres the
story) was none other than
Lee Miller, free spirit, enchantress, Vogue model and
renowned photographer. She was at the center of the Surrealist community, a lover of
Man Ray, a subject of
Picasso paintings, a muse to
Cocteau, a friend to
Agar and Ernst and Duchamp and Miro and, later, wife of the collector and critic
Roland Penrose. Overall, a
fascinating woman.
posted by vacapinta at 12:24 PM PST - 13 comments
Doubtful that the US will strike Iraq
by the end of this year, says chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph Biden (D-Delaware). "I'm convinced the administration has not made up their mind yet," Biden said. Should we go to Baghdad and topple Saddam, or not? Is Saddam an immediate threat?
posted by Kevin Sanders at 12:20 PM PST - 19 comments
Look no further than John Fiorillo's
Viewing of Japanese Prints for the definitive online resource on the art. Covering over three centuries of Japanese print making from
Ukiyo-e through
Shin Hanga and
Sôsaku Hanga,
Viewing has detailed histories and critiques of the artists, including such legendary masters as
Katsushika Hokusai. The site also includes a wealth of information on the artform itself, with essays on topics as varied as the
deciphering of prints and the various
forms of poetry found on them, as well as archival notes on
print fading. Have a question for the man himself? Shogun Gallery's
discussion board is one of his favorite haunts, where he helps users with questions ranging from signature identification to the allusions found within a specific print. Given the wealth of information and beauty of the work, this site's a treasure.
posted by J. R. Hughto at 11:03 AM PST - 9 comments
Have you considered adopting?
There are thousands of American children in the foster care system who are without permanent families. The White House has decided to
do something about it, including releasing a
public service announcement (requires RealPlayer) starring Bruce Willis to help promote a new website,
AdoptUSKids.org, which allows prospective parents to browse through detailed profiles of available foster children. Hopefully these measures will increase public awareness about the facts regarding adoption and help more children find good homes.
posted by insomnyuk at 10:49 AM PST - 32 comments
Quit for the kitty?
Dr. Antony Moore knows smokers often won't quit to protect themselves or their children. But he hopes his new study tying second-hand smoke exposure to the most common kind of feline cancer will persuade some people to kick the habit. (via bko)
Remember folks, every time you light up, God kills a...
posted by adampsyche at 10:27 AM PST - 36 comments
Security warning draws DMCA threat
Find a flaw in HP Code? Prepare to go to prison or pay a $50K fine if you tell anyone. Invoking both the controversial
1998 DMCA
and computer crime laws, HP has threatened to sue a team of researchers who
publicized a vulnerability in the company's
Tru64 Unix operating system. So now, it appears that some technology companies see "security debate" on the same level as "piracy" or "copyright controls."
posted by dejah420 at 10:13 AM PST - 10 comments
Special Operations Soldiers return from Afghanistan and kill wives.
With all the talk about going to war with Iraq, is it time to take a serious look at what the effects of modern combat have on the soldiers who we send to fight? In the past six weeks four soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg (all recently returned from Afghanistan) killed their wives by shootings (2), strangulation (1) or stabbing (50 times) and burning the body (note - not a special opps soldier for this one). Are these killings just the tip of the iceberg for a future trend, and what can the US military do to make sure that the training they give to soldiers not turn them into domestic terrorists upon their return?
posted by DragonBoy at 9:17 AM PST - 34 comments
"Al Qaeda Scotland"
targets the Edinburgh Festival with a leaflet campaign and no-one seems to be doing anything about it. Don't like this man's chances of getting away with it in London or New York.
posted by Summer at 9:08 AM PST - 12 comments
Back from a vigorous and exhausting vacation of petty but life sustaining activities, I find
this overview of our larger reality, without the noisy claptrap of narrowly self serving ideologies, yet worrisome enough to shake the world's boat I'm travelling in with some comfort and some reasonable concern spiced with anxiety. (NYT)
posted by semmi at 7:48 AM PST - 5 comments
Heather Champ is the Queen of the Known Universe.
Someone in Brazil really likes some of Heather Champ's photographs. They like them so much that they put them prominently on the top of the main page of their website. But they didn't just put them on the website, they direct linked to them on Heather's server, and this is how Heather found out. So she's done what most webmasters do --
she's replaced the images with new ones. The only thing is, aside from the lack of control one has over access to the original file, isn't direct linking to images (and other content) on servers that aren't your own
the whole effing point of the world wide web?!
posted by crunchland at 7:41 AM PST - 56 comments
White House acts to shed arrogant image.
The White House will set up a new office to try to salvage America's plummeting image abroad, it was announced yesterday as an independent taskforce reported that even the country's allies saw the US as "arrogant", "hypocritical" and "self-absorbed".
This autumn, an office of global communications will take over the job of selling "Brand America" from the state department, which the White House believes has failed to do the job effectively.
Propaganda to garner support for an invasion in Iraq, genuine desire to promote the image of the country, or a meaningless facade that's a waste of money? You make the call.
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:39 AM PST - 68 comments
The Emmy nominations are out
and the news nominations go to the biggest story, September 11. No surprises there. PBS has 41 nominations and Fox has 0. No surprises there either. Does this say something about the news industry and it's ability to discern serious news from chaff? Is Bill Moyers a national treasure? Do you think perhaps Murdoch should rethink the direction of his media empire?
posted by nofundy at 5:59 AM PST - 19 comments
Don't watch this.
Dreamworks is starting up the hype machine for their remake of the Japanese horror film
Ringu (aka The Ring), and it looks like they're taking the A.I. route with it. The movie centers on a mysterious videotape that causes those who watch it to die seven days later.
Websites are popping up all over the place that seem to connect to the 'mystery'. The first link up top goes to a flash teaser of the actual video from the film, but if you're brave, you can
watch the whole thing at iFilm. I'm curious if this will indeed turn out to be an online game like
the Evan Chan mystery from A.I., or just some better-than-average Web marketing for what looks to be a damn creepy movie.
posted by toddshot at 2:54 AM PST - 29 comments
July 30
Mentor of Steve Jobs is dead
Kobun Chino Roshi died tragically a few days ago.
There is a mention of Kobun Chino in the book
"Infinite Loop".
According to the book's author, Michael Malone, Steve Jobs
contacted Kobun Chino due to his discomfort at being so immersed in capitalism.
Chino advised that he would find little difference between life in a
monastery and life as an entrepreneur (pg 85, "Infinite Loop").
posted by fletcher at 10:18 PM PST - 10 comments
Typorganism.
Type as an organism.
Predictable name, but amazing nonetheless. This is just so pretty and fun, I had to share it.
posted by fnord_prefect at 5:38 PM PST - 12 comments
What happens when you combine plywood, 1200 pounds of concrete, and 500 pounds of steel? How about a MadCat BattleMech at 38% scale of a real one?
These lucky kids get their father to
build them their own BattleMech.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 5:35 PM PST - 19 comments
"If we sort out Iraq and Detroit develops a hydrogen engine,"
says a U.S. diplomat, "Saudi Arabia will go back to being a fascinating, benighted part of the world that people don't visit."
posted by artifex at 3:59 PM PST - 19 comments
Psssst...He's a Democrat
OK, I know there are scummy politicians of every stripe, but why did this article take 172 words before it identified this loud mouthed, bribe-taking, jail-bound congressman as a Democrat?
posted by nobody_knose at 2:22 PM PST - 57 comments
The Vancouver Company that created
ReBoot will be making a
CGI Spider-Man cartoon for
MTV. Neil Patrick Harris as Spidey, Lisa Loeb as Mary Jane and Ian Ziering as Harry Osborn will inhabit a
"seemingly realistic neon lit city of the immediate future". Will this show set a new standard of production for cartoons based on comics? Will MJ wear glasses?
posted by will at 1:19 PM PST - 23 comments
What you watch
can now get you arrested. 115, yes
115 people were jailed for attending a club where there was a live sex show on stage. Of course, the cops watched the show for
three hours before busting them all.
I wonder how many murders were committed that same night in Atlanta..
posted by eas98 at 1:04 PM PST - 37 comments
The upside-down world of the INS.
On September 12th Deena Gilbey (the wife of Paul Gilbey, a EuroBroker that died when the towers collapsed) received a letter from the INS stating that she was now subject to arrest and deportation because her husband no longer retained a valid visa (he was dead). And so the
story begins of one Deena Gilbey and of her two children (born in the U.S.) and of the
Visa Express pilot program in Saudia Arabia and the UAE that permitted three of the hijackers to obtain a visa without having to go through a consular official.
posted by ( .)(. ) at 12:40 PM PST - 21 comments
Man hijacks al-Qaida Web site.
He offers it to the FBI to use for intelligence gathering, but the FBI stumbles around for a week trying to find somebody with the technical abilities to take advantage of the site. By then, the site's militant Islamic visitors had discovered the ruse. Go figure.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 11:28 AM PST - 24 comments
Get laid off in public.
Vanguard Airlines suspends operations; posts its system-wide pink slip on its HOME PAGE for you all to see. "Wages and salaries owed you as of today are "prepetition wages" and likely will not be paid for a matter of months, if not longer.... Any Vanguard stock you hold (including stock purchased in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan) is almost certainly worthless and it is likely you will be entitled to claim a capital loss on such stock this year." But not all is gloomy: the CEO "wish[es] you the best in your future career. You will be in our prayers." Aww, shucks.
posted by PrinceValium at 11:03 AM PST - 29 comments
Weatherpixie
is a cute, customizable weather report graphic, populated by a single pixie/stortrooper for attitude. Does anyone know of other similar weather services which offer regularly updated remote weather reports for your page, whether in text or graphic format?
WUnderground's weather stickers, for example.
posted by brownpau at 10:06 AM PST - 21 comments
D-O-S attack disables RIAA site.
Do you think someone's trying to make a point about one group lobbying for the power to shut down individual's computers if they SUSPECT them of doing something they don't like, and another group ALREADY having that power?
posted by thunder at 9:55 AM PST - 25 comments
Harry Partch: "
iconoclastic American composer, musical theorist, philosophic instrument builder, raconteur, hobo, artist -- presents unique challenges and aesthetics." A huge influence on the weirder work of
Tom Waits and a great
craftsman, his work is still being performed
today, albeit with some difficulty.
And, of course, there's always
controversy.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:58 AM PST - 4 comments
Play The Britney Spears vs. Shakespeare Game:
This is more than a bit of fun from
The Philosopher's Magazine. After answering a few questions on your definition of what makes a great work of art, you get to choose two artists and rate them both. ( Yes, you can even pit Britney against Shakespeare). You'll then get a final score on who is, according to your criteria,
il miglior fabro.
Julien Baggini's essay,
Who's The Greatest?, is well worth reading beforehand. [
I pitted T.S.Eliot against Miles Davis and Miles Davis won hands down...]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:48 AM PST - 19 comments
Open source music?
Give away the songs without copyright, sell the audio source files dirt cheap and waive the copyright. That's the idea behind
Brad Sucks. Are any bands you know of doing something like this?
posted by Leonard at 7:52 AM PST - 5 comments
America's CEOs aren't greedy enough,
argues Elan Journo:
"Far from being too 'greedy,' too many of America's CEOs are not greedy enough. They are pragmatic corner-cutters, who fail to recognize that there is far more wealth to be achieved by a consistent, long-range policy of honesty - by creating a good product and maintaining the company's reputation over many years - than by squeezing out some momentary advantage."
posted by dagny at 7:46 AM PST - 33 comments
Bin Laden alive and planning attacks...
I don't think so! Bush should publicly issue a direct challenge to Bin Laden. Just go on every TV and proclaim him dead! "We killed him." Period. If Bin Laden is still alive he would have to respond or be considered a joke.
posted by emorawski at 7:29 AM PST - 32 comments
You've got Jail is a light hearted, easy summer reading and informative article which explodes the myth that malfeasing CEOs get sent to "Club Fed", a prison so minimum in insecurity that its really like an enforced vacation in the country rather than the
more typical round of
incarceration. Required reading for the Skillings, Rigas, Taubmens and every college student considering an MBA.
(So is the
MeFi fascination with Prison life an
idle one or am I keeping the wrong company?)
posted by BentPenguin at 7:08 AM PST - 5 comments
Dishonesty
in defense of tax cuts. Paul Krugman sets the record straight with refreshing honesty. If only he were in charge of our country's economics... From the CEO White House to our Banana Republics to our largest corporations budgetary dishonesty abounds and we'll eventually have to pay the bill.
posted by nofundy at 5:48 AM PST - 7 comments
It is not a crime to look at bomb-making websites...
or so says Lieutenant Jason Ciaschini, police spokesman in Punta Gorda, where a Briton who was using a computer to look at bomb-making websites is now being held at Charlotte County Jail on immigration violations.
Florida police had evacuated the library and arrested him after he looked at bomb-making websites, and found suspicious liquids in his backpack.
"
Looking up stuff on the Internet - everybody has freedom to do that," he also said.
posted by Blake at 4:15 AM PST - 6 comments
Heaven-or-hell argument ends with shotgun slaying
An argument over who was going to heaven and who was going to hell ended with one Texas man shooting another to death with a shotgun, police said Monday.
So now we'll never know who was right - or does murder 1 and effective suicide suggest a spell in the "other place"?
posted by zimbobzim at 1:40 AM PST - 18 comments
July 29
So you think you know the blues? Well then take the quiz.
This is a 42 question quiz that is a nice mix of easy and not so easy questions. Sample:
Which performer called his or her band "The Honeydrippers"(plural)?
a. Jimmy Reed
b. Joe Liggins
c. Charles Brown
d. Big Mama Thornton
Email addy is requested to process the quiz and results are tabulated immediately.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:25 PM PST - 11 comments
So I'm watching Dog eat Dog tonight
Mostly for the incredibly tasty
Brooke Burns. And for the contestant to win, one of the losers had to miss the question "Which 32'd president said '
We have nothing to fear but fear itself?'". Now the guy said he was guessing and answered "Roosevelt", but he didn't clarify, Teddy? or FDR? They said he got it right so the contestant lost. Personally I think a retraction or apology is due.
posted by bitdamaged at 10:05 PM PST - 20 comments
The History of the Boycott.
The very first boycott took place as a part of the resistance in colonial Ireland, against the eponymous
Capt. C.C. Boycott, beginning a long line in the use of personal ethics by aware 'actors' to make economic choices in pursuance of social and/or political ends. As such, this type of action marries the libertarian attitudes of personal responsibility and Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', with the quasi-socialist collective action and 'power to the people'.
[There have been a number of MeFi threads on specific boycotts: however none have dealt with the concept as a whole.]
What's your favourite boycott? (",)
More inside>>>
posted by dash_slot- at 7:51 PM PST - 6 comments
Artemis Records waives Internet royalty fees.
"Artemis Records [the label for Steve Earle, among others] has agreed to issue licenses to internet radio for one year for the master use of songs by all Artemis recording artists. This announcement was made today by Danny Goldberg, Chairman and CEO, Artemis Records and Daniel Glass, President, Artemis Records. During this period, beginning August 1, 2002, Artemis will waive the royalty payments that would otherwise be due them. "
posted by mikewas at 5:47 PM PST - 17 comments
The Times has a story about a preliminary UN report claiming there could have been a cover-up regarding the "wedding-party airstrike" earlier this month. Reuters/Yahoo also has
the story but it's not getting much coverage in US media.
This blog claims the story is front page material in a few european countries. The US military
denies any cover up.
posted by rhyax at 5:47 PM PST - 13 comments
There are ethical ways to cut costs,
and then there is executive greed. Your comment at the recent shareholder's meeting will be your legacy, like it or not (I have to make that much money, I have an expensive wife.).
says a disgruntled EDS employee to his CEO, Dick Brown in an internal company memo.
FuckedCompany rides the corporation bashing bandwagon and
branches out to give you further insight into some of your favorite companies. Subscribers to the mother site get complete access. Non-subscribers can view the free rotating posts.
Described in NYTimes (password).
posted by found missing at 5:27 PM PST - 9 comments
Drop the marker and back away from the CD-RW drive.
Add Senator Joe Biden (D - Delware) to the list of politicians eager to put the brakes on technology, kowtow to Hollywood and otherwise stop the Earth from turning:
Biden's new bill would make it a federal felony to try and trick certain types of devices into playing your music or running your computer program. Breaking this law--even if it's to share music by your own garage band--could land you in prison for up to five years. And that's not counting the civil penalties of up to $25,000 per offense.
Biden's bill is on the fast track and not getting the same press attention that
Sen. Holling's CBDTPA bill had earlier this year.
posted by scottandrew at 4:42 PM PST - 28 comments
Real reality tv.
OneWorld TV has launched. "The site features short, Video Nation-style contributions from film-makers, both amateur and professional, from around the world. Subjects range from Aids and global warming to the conflict in the Middle East and the plight of child gold miners in Burkina Faso". You can create your own story line, with different perspectives and sources.
posted by papalotl at 4:02 PM PST - 4 comments
"
It is not an overstatement to describe the arrests in Tulia as an atrocity. The entire operation was the work of a single police officer who claimed to have conducted an 18-month undercover operation. The arrests were made solely on the word of this officer, Tom Coleman, a white man with a wretched work history, who routinely referred to black people as "niggers" and who frequently found himself in trouble with the law."
posted by artifex at 1:29 PM PST - 29 comments
Armstrong Among Best Ever.
Mike Celizic at
MSNBC states his case for Lance, counteracting an earlier
Ron Borges column questioning if Lance was an athlete at all. I'd like to think Mike went into Ron's office and maybe cuffed him once or twice... Score one for the cyclists (earlier discussion
here).
posted by jalexei at 12:59 PM PST - 13 comments
One Man's Meat Is Another's Person.
There are certain words which evoke powerful images and emotions. One such word is
Cannibalism. There is a lot of
myth and truth about this nearly universally distained practice. But it has happened in the
United States and virtually everywhere, at one time or another. If religion were removed from the equation would cannibalism still be wrong? Is the fear of cannibalism learned or is it a self preservation instinct which might get in the way of self preservation when starving to death? Is it the last
taboo?: We eat meat and we are meat.
posted by Mack Twain at 11:24 AM PST - 76 comments
The Dead Zone's Michael Piller
is probably one of the most under-appreciated creative talents in Hollywood. One of the most egalitarian executives, he always lets the fans of his shows have a chance to get behind the scenes. (
Acrobat required for download you'll find at link, and more inside)
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:18 AM PST - 17 comments
Comic-Con is coming
If you live on the west coast and are even tangentially interested in comics, you should head to San Diego this week. The biggest convention in the country starts Thursday and there WILL be costumed weirdos. (and even worse, web cartoonists)
posted by clango at 7:24 AM PST - 7 comments
July 28
Intimate Media.
As computers steadily move into every aspect of personal life, MiME proposes that instead of allowing intimate media to disappear into the computer, artifacts and systems should be designed to better promote human experiences around the collection, storage and sharing of intimate media.
Interesting research by Philips. How will you share your personal artifacts in the future?
posted by hockeyman at 6:56 PM PST - 8 comments
The catch-22 of prison therapy.
The biggest criticism of sex offender justice is that imprisonment does not mean rehabilitation. In Massachusetts because of stringent anti-sex offender laws, lawyers are advising their clients to turn down prison therapy because it will be used against them. Even used against them after they're done with their sentence. These are serious violations of double jeopardy and doctor patient privilege.
posted by skallas at 4:38 PM PST - 9 comments
Clinton Fires Back at Republican Accusations
"There was corporate malfeasance both before he took office and after. The difference is I actually tried to do something about it and their party stopped it. And one of the people who stopped our attempt to stop Enron accounting was made chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission." He also talks about the Middle East and the related "Blame Clinton" movement. I can hear the teeth gnashing already.
posted by owillis at 4:19 PM PST - 60 comments
"Granted, we're a long way from resembling the kind of authoritarian state Orwell depicted, but some of the similarities are starting to get
a bit eerie."
posted by jjg at 11:54 AM PST - 54 comments
Good! It's "Let's Make Fun Of Wall Street" Day At The Miami Herald!
Can it be a coincidence that the two funniest columnists in Miami,
Carl Hiaasen [
Imagine if the entire board of Arthur Andersen were rounded up, blindfolded and flown to Guantánamo Bay for interrogation.] and
Dave Barry [
Wall Street is in trouble, and things are not going to get better until you, the small investor, stop selfishly thinking about yourself all the time.] have chosen this Sunday to raise a few laughs at the expense of poor, old beleaguered Wall Street? Let's hope not.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:50 AM PST - 10 comments
July 27
The Kid Stays In The Picture
is the recently released documentary based on the auto-biography by Robert Evans. The book, read shamelessly by Evans himself, became an instant classic inside Hollywood. Sure, this site is pure marketing, but the virtual Robert Evans is classic. While Evans may have been an egocentric nut, weren't movies better when colorful personalities like his called the shots, rather than todays CEOs and the yes-people reporting to them?
posted by herc at 3:56 PM PST - 2 comments
I posted about it
before and there was a mixed response. But
Blogathon 2002 actually started this morning at 6 am PST. Bloggers with a gimmick have posted details
here and it's not too late to
sponsor. Are you watching? And what's your favorite blogger doing?
posted by dobbs at 1:08 PM PST - 13 comments
Is Fast Track Back?
The House of Representatives voted 215-212 to give "Fast Track" trade agreement authority to W in the "early morning hours." Is this the return to all that 'globalism' stuff that was newsworthy before 9-11?
And, most of all, what is the Senate going to do about it?
Tell him to take a flying leap, or jump on the corporate bandwagon?
posted by kablam at 8:14 AM PST - 7 comments
Is bin Laden dead?
Some people in the intelligence community are apparently beginning to think so and are even quietly speaking to reporters about it.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 5:58 AM PST - 77 comments
Generative Art
The musician
Jem Finer (formerly of The Pogues) has created a musical composition,
The LongPlayer, that will play, without repetition, for a thousand years (made with
SuperCollider). It is currently playing live at a
London lighthouse. The
Dream House is another example of a generative art piece, in this case one that was set to run for eight years. These are both examples of Generative Art, Art generated by rules.
The GA community
is an active one. Also, see
Virangelic - a random composition generator.
Art generated by Artifical Life swarms.
NewZoid - A false News Headline generator. And,
N-Gen - computer generated Graphic Design.
posted by vacapinta at 2:27 AM PST - 11 comments
9 Beet Stretch
- What if you took Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which normally runs about 70 minutes (this is, incidentally, the reason CDs are the length they are), and stretched it out to
24 hours using digital audio processing? The pitch remains intact; only the length is changed. What you end up with can only be called majestic and ethereal, kind of an orchestral version of loveliescrushing. For your convenience, you can listen to the work in one-hour, twenty-minute RealAudio chunks. Hm, I wonder what other music might work well with such radical time-expansion...
(via interconnected)
posted by kindall at 1:14 AM PST - 43 comments
July 26
Batman vs. Superman movie rumored to be in the works.
(scroll down for the good stuff)
"It is a clash of the titans," Petersen told Daily Variety. "They play off of each other so perfectly. (Superman) is clear, bright, all that is noble and good, and Batman represents the dark, obsessive and vengeful side. They are two sides of the same coin and that is material for great drama."
I'm excited. The Batman vs. Superman comic books were always some of the most fascinating ones I'd ever read.
posted by SilentSalamander at 10:14 PM PST - 31 comments
Ryan Leaf retires from NFL at 26
This article calls him one of the biggest busts in NFL history. When signed in 1998, he said "I'm looking forward to a 15-year career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego." Instead he got interceptions, fights related and unrelated to his job (for which he blamed everyone but himself), and a lot of disappointed fans. What happened?
posted by GaelFC at 8:01 PM PST - 23 comments
Marketing, meet Marketing.
An Austin Powers-themed PowerPoint template (bottom of the page). The mind boggles. Something tells me the pitch for this was made with PowerPoint.
posted by shecky57 at 4:43 PM PST - 6 comments
I am fat and its your fault
Has america really degraded into such a victim society that this is a valid reason to sue?
"They said `100 percent beef.' I thought that meant it was good for you," Barber told Newsday. "I thought the food was OK." common people, how about getting a clue with that super size.
posted by vincentmeanie at 4:13 PM PST - 77 comments
A ray of hope: Internet Radio Fairness Act .
Disappointed in the Librarian of Congress' recent imposition of high fees on web radio broadcasters and the resultant shutdown of many web radio broadcasts (including KIRO and KMTT in Seattle), U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee [right] (D-WA), George Nethercutt [below] (R-WA), and Rick Boucher (D-VA) introduced new legislation to change existing web radio laws.
posted by y2karl at 12:54 PM PST - 22 comments
House likely to approve homeland security bill that erodes labor protections
"But the Senate, which likely takes up the matter next week, so far has pursued a much different course. On Thursday, the Democratic-led Senate Governmental Affairs Committee crafted legislation that would protect all current civil service protections and make it more difficult for the president to move workers out of unions. Bush and other Republicans said the measure would give the president less authority than he has now."
The House seems to be so much more conservative and extremist than the Senate. Heck they're
still working on trying to ban selected types of abortion procedures even when there's a strong chance it won't pass constitutional muster and the Senate isn't likely to support them.
Is it your perception that the House is more conservative? If so, why do you think that's true?
posted by Red58 at 11:23 AM PST - 19 comments
Are English Men The Worst Lovers In The World?
Oh yes, absolutely, says Canadian columnist and "acknowledged beauty"
Leah McClaren after her disheartening experience in London. And, truth be told, I've never heard any woman friend, whatever her nationality, actually praise their enthusiasm, sensitivity, or prowess. But are Canadians any better? Are Italians really the best of the latin lovers? Are Frenchmen only at their best when adulterous? Are American liberals too self-conscious?
Stereotypes are fun and, like clichés, methinks there may be something to them...
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:19 AM PST - 60 comments
Gore questions timing of Iraq concern
Is it proper to invade Iraq? This would be an unprecedented move for the US military as Iraq has not attacked the US anyone the US has defense treaties with.
"Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke called Gore's comments "irresponsible."
"This is no time to attack the president or Republicans for their handling of the war for political gain," he said."
Hmmm..so he admits the Iraqi attack IS for partisan political gain, eh? I would have never suspected it.
posted by nofundy at 11:16 AM PST - 27 comments
Wars and propaganda in gaming: you've all heard of
America's Army by now, but what about
Under Ash where you can fight the IDF (no civilians targets here) as a palestinian rambo? Perhaps you'd prefer a more spiritual route, and want to
convert heathens? Or the truly repulsive
Ethnic Cleansing game? Artists are getting into too with the likes of
Cultural Revolution Doom, and some politicians considered
doing it the direct way. Clearly, folks with an agenda have realized that games are a way to get their message out, and maybe noticed the success of
"realistic" but largely apolitical shooters.
Fortunately for gaming peaceniks (kill pixels not people!), the games mostly suck.
posted by malphigian at 10:41 AM PST - 6 comments
Maxim Saves Journalism
"The reason the notion of Maxim saving journalism is funny is because everyone buys into this holier-than-thou notion that Maxim, because it dares to package itself in an easily digestible format and obsess over the real concerns of real people instead of operating on a higher theoretical plain, is anti-intellectual, maybe even partly responsible for whats being called the dumbing down of America. Thats the squawking canard Im going to try to chop the head off of today. Im going to take you behind the titillating eye candy and show you what Maxim really is, and how its part of a growing movement already blowing the cobwebs out of a truly ancient and intransigent industry." (via
medianews)
posted by owillis at 10:01 AM PST - 36 comments
Smoke 'em if you can get 'em?
Philip Morris' decision to support FDA regulation of cigarettes has smoke coming from between my ears trying to figure it out. Good, bad, victims of the cigarette tax money-grab?
posted by fncll at 10:01 AM PST - 33 comments
What happens when crude Flash animation meets an absurd sense of humour? The surreal serial
Weird Emma, that's what. If Emma's not up your alley, maybe you'd prefer the static cartoons of
Wulff Morgenthaler.
posted by dobbs at 9:59 AM PST - 1 comments
Has Friday Flash lost its spark? Can't buy a thrill? Then what you need is some
Friday Frank (as in Zappa).
Broadcast by the good folks at radio station WNCW 88.7, out of Spindale, NC, the show is one hour of crispy live cuts from the wealth of boots in circulation. The show starts at 12noon Eastern Time Zone. (Its a Real Audio Stream, here's the
Windows Media feed as well.
posted by BentPenguin at 8:22 AM PST - 2 comments
Bait and Switch?
(Quicktime Movie) - One of the Mac Faithful at
fury.com makes a funny (but true) statement about the new
.Mac service charge that Apple recently announced. How far can Apple push their core consumer market with this type of thing? In a
News.com report, Apple predicts losing up to
90% of their existing .Mac users. That's some public relations plan. They are indeed thinking differently.
posted by Argyle at 8:05 AM PST - 27 comments
Great feat, but not a great athlete.
Let the Cyclist bashing continue.
As a follow up to the pointless
Bicycles and cars don't mix column, Ron Borges over at
MSNBC wonders if Lance Armstrong is even an athlete.
He says Athletes must do more with their bodies than pump their legs up and down. For his money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description.
Anyone who has ever been in a bike race (Road or MTN) knows it does indeed take all that and more. Anyone who writes about sports, rather than participating, would of course have no clue it takes more than moving your feet up and down.
posted by Blake at 8:03 AM PST - 48 comments
Challange the Church
is a Catholic youth group working to bring a very different set of messages to
world youth day. Even though pilgrims have been encouraged by event organizers to
"ask tough questions", the church establishment seems to have very little patience for the provocative measures of Milton Chan (Catholic), which include passing out condoms to worshipers. Is this an indicator that the Catholic faith is changing to reflect modern realities, or is the Church too rigid and doomed to irrelevancy?
(via existential dishwasher)
posted by astirling at 4:30 AM PST - 17 comments
blog.hotornot.com.
call it a sophomoric joke. but i'm betting everyone included in the beauty pageant is afraid of a low rating. the only thing about this i find surprising is that
neale hasn't done it already. (via
victor.)
posted by patricking at 2:58 AM PST - 15 comments
Chicago Rat Patrol.
No, not
this kind of rat patrol; for this crew,
rat spotting is just a sideline. What these guys skulk in alleys for, though, is
discarded bike parts to kludge, especially in strange and
unexpected proportions. Most of them work. As a result of their experiments, they're attuned to the
kitbashed contraptions used by (mostly) economically marginal folk. Additionally, or superfluously, they're sort of
anarchist anti-corporate critical-mass types. Updated until almost a year ago.
Note: Geocities site. Tread lightly. And stay away from the "Rodeo" link, where there's a quicktime video, until tomorrow.
posted by dhartung at 2:08 AM PST - 4 comments
Skin flicks?
Close. Ok, not really. Not at all. Someone had a little too much time on their hands and deconstructed a bevy of actors and their skin conditions.
posted by mikhail at 12:05 AM PST - 6 comments
July 25
give jack saturn his old job back!
of course one could assault me for posting something found from the infamous
j.ko that has to do with
blogger - and lord knows there's enough of those threads already - but i found this to be too interesting to pass up.
if you weren't already aware, pyra [blogger's parent company/alter ego] is
looking for someone to handle customer support and jack saturn [who had the job before and hasn't had one since] is looking to get his job back. i don't know about anyone else, but i'd like to see the old team have the chance to come back....
posted by boogah at 10:20 PM PST - 62 comments
Ashcroft's lunacy knows no bounds.
In the midst of touting TIPS, he continues to defend his proposal "to immediately destroy government records of people who buy guns, disputing a congressional report that said his idea could help criminals get firearms illegally."
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:35 PM PST - 37 comments
"Well then, can we fight the old-fashioned fun war,
where you and an enemy choose up sides, and you pick out a place, and you throw bombs at them, and they throw bombs at you for four or five years, and then you decide who wins and who looses, who pays the indemnity, and who does the helping... Can't do that anymore, because nobody's got the gasoline for it. Except the Arabs. And they can't fight a war unless somebody gives them something to put the gasoline in. So we are already in a world without war. The only thing is that what we need in the 21st century is a world that realizes it's a world without war." - Issac Asimov circa 1974 [more]
posted by ZachsMind at 10:58 AM PST - 6 comments
Food For Thought For Serious Foodies And Would-Be Pros:
Egullet.com is mainly written
by professional cooks
for professional cooks
but obsessive, perfectionist gastronomes like you and I can join in too. It's delightful and delicious; like a MetaFilter for fussy gluttons, over-curious gourmets and gastro-porn addicts. Today, celebrated chefs
Dan Barber and
Michael Anthony, currently wowing New Yorkers at the
Blue Hill restaurant, will be answering questions from hoi-polloi such as ourselves. My question's already in...[
From the August issue of Food and Wine magazine, where Michael Anthony was interviewed as one of the best new American chefs.]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:53 AM PST - 12 comments
"EX-DICTATOR BROKE, LIVING WITH MOM":
This is not an
Onion link. In the Washington Post, read the story of Valentine Strasser, former Sierra Leonean military dictator, who took power at 25, was ousted four years later, lived in exile in Britain, went to law school on a UN scholarship, dropped out, lived in London under an assumed name until his student visa ran out and he was deported. He's now back home, unemployed, living with his mother.
"The government says Strasser is not entitled to benefits because he took power by force. Strasser concedes the point but says he should be treated better.
Last year, the government called on citizens not to throw stones at the former head of state, who without a car, was wandering around Freetown on foot."
Link via Sasha, in turn via Glenn.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:49 AM PST - 22 comments
The Cook, the Egg, the server and breakfast.
Emeril, eat your heart out. This enterprising chef/computer geek has managed to fry an egg using only the heat sink on his server, some tinfoil and a collection of copper 1p and 2p coins. Sure the egg took 11 minutes too cook, but it did taste "loverly!" Photo's galore!
posted by DragonBoy at 9:02 AM PST - 13 comments
From NPR (The MetaFilter giveth, the MetaFilter taketh away...)
Remembering Tuskegee
600 low-income African-American males, 400 infected with syphilis are monitored for 40 years. Even though a proven cure (penicillin) became available in the 1950s, the study continues until 1972 with participants denied treatment. Perhaps as many as 100 died of syphilis during the study (Allen, 1978).
Additional resources.Thirty years ago is not that long a time.
posted by y2karl at 8:35 AM PST - 27 comments
Brian's been a very naughty boy...
i would like to tell you lot about brian the watford fan. i have been going out with him for 3 years and he has been cheating on me and i found out last week that he hase given me hepatitis after his holiday in Greece. i know he spends a lot of time on here. some of you will know him.
[a few 100k of download]
A young woman takes revenge on her ex by reporting his activities on the message board of the football club they both support. Global hilarity ensues.
[Warning: contains crude language, allegations of g0at se.x and terrible spelling]
posted by i_cola at 8:33 AM PST - 13 comments
The Moon Also Rises.
Or how about: Ask Not For Whom the Moon Rises...
Both Karl Marx and Mohammed agree, he da' man..err...True Parent! He's serious but I'm laughing. Please God, make him stop!! Falwell and the right wingers actually suck up to this guy!
posted by nofundy at 8:26 AM PST - 9 comments
When Rock bands leave their irony at home
(or potentially never had any). An outrageously hilarious collection of musicians taking incredibly self-concious photographs of themselves. All of my fellow musicians on metafilter, you will find this particularly hilarious (and cringe-worthy, as you wait to see if the next pic will be...you!)
posted by glenwood at 7:44 AM PST - 53 comments
A New Way to Catch Hepatitis
"Israeli doctors have discovered a gruesome new way to catch hepatitis
and possibly other blood-borne diseases - from the flying bone fragments of suicide bombers." (empahasis added)
posted by Irontom at 6:27 AM PST - 9 comments
The Website of Anti-Porn Guy
Welcome to my site! My name is David McNamara and I am 19 years old. I have 2 cats and I am a senior at Royal Palm Beach High School in Royal Palm Beach, Florida......I want to ban pornography with a 10-year prison term for viewing or participating in pornography, as well as oral and anal sex with a 1-5 year prison term for oral sex and a 1-10 year term for anal sex. I also want to ban the manufacture and sale of contraceptives (birth control) with a prison term of up to 1 year in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000 for violating this ban. None of these laws will be retroactive. Wonder what he's doing now - his site was last updated 12-10-00. Discuss? Dismiss?
posted by Corky at 4:19 AM PST - 52 comments
On media darlings.
Do you think this was deliberate or a coincidence? Who do you think are the other darlings of the mainstream media in USA and elsewhere (i.e. if you accept Slate's premise)?
posted by justlooking at 3:01 AM PST - 5 comments
the choice of
dr rowan williams as the new archbishop of canterbury is inspired and his
acceptence speech filled me with hope.
so, i am hoping that the new archbish will bring some sense of moral guidance to the country and remind us of what the church is for. the guardian has an illuminating introduction to the man and his beliefs:
the head of the anglican church in his own words has extracts from his many books.
here is a short quote from
Writing in the Dust: reflections on 11th september:
"Last words. We have had the chance to read the messages sent by passengers on the planes to their spouses and families in the desperate last minutes; and we have seen the spiritual advice apparently given to the terrorists by one of their number, the thoughts that should have been in their minds as they approached their death they had chosen (for themselves and for others).
Something of the chill of 11 September lies in the contrast. The religious words are, in the cold light of day, the words that murderers are saying to themselves to make a martyr's drama out of a crime.
The non-religious words are testimony to what religious language is supposed to be about - the triumph of pointless, gratuitous love, the affirming of faithfulness even when there is nothing to be done or salvaged."
there is a larger extract online:
part one and
part two
posted by quarsan at 1:01 AM PST - 6 comments
July 24
Independent Music Owners in Favor of Internet Radio
"This is a list of artists and small record labels who own the rights to some independent music, who have signed up to be counted. This list is to indicate that there are many music owners who view internet radio as desirable, and that they would like to enter into discussions with internet radio to allow their music to be played, and to circumvent the CARP fee . This is not an agreement or release-- it is just a list of interested parties."
posted by lbergstr at 10:46 PM PST - 4 comments
The clash of battling war plans.
"Imagine Operation Overlord for D-Day splashed all over the front page of the New York Times. Unthinkable, you say. Then imagine the German high command's plans to repulse the Allied invasion announced by Adolf Hitler himself in a meeting with his closest advisers and then leaked to a London newspaper. Equally unthinkable. But this is how the invasion of Iraq by the United States and Saddam's plans to counterattack have been played out in the New York Times and a Kuwaiti newspaper â?? all before a single shot has been fired." First there was the
parade of leaks from the U.S., even an
influential insider making predictions on TV. Then there was the apparent counterleak of
Saddam's war plan. What is going on? Is the Iraqi leak credible? And if so, what price are American civilians going to pay?
posted by homunculus at 9:01 PM PST - 18 comments
Set your conspiracy phasers to
stun!
"If
this recollection is correct, the entire incident, and its absence from the public record, raises new questions about
the FBI investigation of Moussaoui and even the 1995 destruction of the Federal Building in
Oklahoma City." What's the credibility of Jim Crogan and this publication - it's new to me, but seems to undertake
serious investigative journalism, and publish
'weighty' names.
Now, remind me again,
why doesn't the Bush 'administration' want the air crashes on September 11th 2001 (
uniquely, it appears) to be subject to the
ususal Air Transportation investigations? Aren't there enough unanswered questions?
[NB: Not a troll: it's gentle
ribbing....]
posted by dash_slot- at 7:49 PM PST - 7 comments
