January 26
An unsettling reindexing of depth and dimension
Weronika Gęsicka is a Polish photographer and artist who creates surreal, fractured variations on mid-century Americana imagery.
The Golden Sahara, a remote control custom luxury car of the 1960s
The Golden Sahara turned a wrecked 1953 Lincoln Capri into an ultimate luxury custom car in the late 1950s, with "a TV set mounted in the dash, a hi-fi radio mounted below the TV, a tape recorder installed between the driver and passenger in the front seat, and a complete cocktail bar with its own refrigerator unit installed in the back seat. Golden frieze material and white Naugahyde covered the seats, dash, and side panels. A shag rug with two-inch padding made the floor of the car luxuriously soft to the feet. All interior trim were gold-plated." If that wasn't enough, it was reworked as the Golden Sahara II, as seen in the 1960 movie Cinderfella, starring Jerry Lewis, and on June 25, 1962 it was on the TV-show I've Got a Secret (via Presurfer). [more inside]
Known man dies for unknown reason
The mystery behind the identity of a man found dead on Saddleworth Moor more than a year ago has been solved. 'Coroner says man found at Dovestone reservoir, Greater Manchester, in 2015 was 67-year-old David Lytton... In a short hearing at Heywood coroner’s court, it was confirmed that officers had checked passenger records from a flight from Lahore in Pakistan, which tallied with Lytton’s details.'
Also being covered by the Manchester Evening News. Previously.
"Thus, gentle Reader, myselfe am the groundworke of my booke"
"Que sais-je?" "What do I know?" was Montaigne's beloved motto, meaning: What do I really know? And what do we really know about him now? We may vaguely know that he was the first essayist, that he retreated from the world into a tower on the family estate to think and reflect, and that he wrote about cannibals (for them) and about cruelty (against it).–Montaigne on Trial by Adam Gopnik, an essay on a recent biography of the 16th Century philosopher who was first translated into English in 1603 by John Florio.
January 25
Monkey Adopts Adorable Stray Puppy
A rhesus macaque monkey found a stray dog puppy in the neighbourhood of Kareli, in the mid-western Indian city of Allahabad, on Tuesday, and adopted it as if it were its own baby. As the primate was seen attentively holding the pup in its arms and carrying it through the city's streets, local people gathered around to see the two animals and take pictures of them.
Both the monkey and the pup were given food and plenty of attention.
Twitter fiction
Once you lose trust in one institution.....
We see @NationalZoo 's seal pup, and raise an otter/osprey combo.
When Smithsonian's National Zoo tweeted a press release announcing the birth of a baby grey seal, Virginia's Sarah Hill challenged the Virgina Aquarium to step up. Zoos across the nation took notice, and that's how the #cuteanimaltweetoff began!
If you're looking for a shark, you're not going to find him on the land
Beautiful drone footage of surfers and the nearby sharks they are oblivious to. (SLYT, music is the only audio; no need for sound). There's a news story about the video with a little more detail too.
The tide rolls in
The O.C.E.A.N. model washes away democracies "How good a model is, however, depends on how well it can predict the way a test subject will answer certain further questions. Kosinski charged ahead. Soon, with a mere ten “likes” as input his model could appraise a person’s character better than an average coworker. With seventy, it could “know” a subject better than a friend; with 150 likes, better than their parents. With 300 likes, Kosinski’s machine could predict a subject’s behavior better than their partner."
My God, it's full of RPG screenshots
Felipe Pepe is writing a book about the history of Computer Role-Playing Games. As a by-product, he's been taking high-quality screenshots of RPG games along the way. Along with screenshots taken by The CRPG addict (previously), there's now a large collection - over 16,000 screenshots of almost 400 CRPGs, from latest releases to PLATO games from the 70's. They are on Flickr and can be used freely. Albums include Fallout, Mass Effect, The Elder Scrolls, Ultima I, Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Diablo and many more. Thank you, Felipe and CRPG addict
Everybody MARCH!!!
Scientists are now planning their own march on Washington, date to be determined. A rundown on the reasons why from Gizmodo. Following the success of the Women's March, an entire profession looks forward to trying out public dissent.
Presidential administration/TV mash-ups
The past 10 presidencies, explained by the TV shows that defined them recollects Todd VanDerWerff, Vox
We're democratically elected too!
Dutch international development minister Lilianne Ploumen stands up to Trump to plug a $600m gap in funding after he reimposed the global gag rule. [SLTheGuardian] “These are successful and effective programmes: direct support, distributing condoms, making sure women are accompanied at the birth, and making sure abortion is safe if they have no other choice,” she said.
Ploumen admitted that replacing the $600m that Trump has pulled from family planning services was a tall order, but added: ‘You should never compromise on your aims from the outset. Six hundred million dollars is a very ambitious target but we’re committed to it.’
Scapegoating Trade Deals
NAFTA and other trade deals have not gutted American manufacturing — period. "...here in America, you can, as you definitely can elsewhere, mobilize a great deal of populist energy by identifying foreigners as the enemy. I do not think this is an impulse that it is healthy for any part of this country. I do not think this is something any political movement that seeks to do anything other than destroy can dare to encourage." [more inside]
Rene Descartes’s robot daughter
Together, as fellow members of the guild of formerly pneumatic entities — the Roombas, Hoovers, scubas, flus, and turbo-charged loofahs — we honor this important legacy, in memoriam.A biography of Francine Descartes by Dominic Pettman, third in the Conjectures series in the Public Domain Review.
I seem to recognize your face
I hate spunk
Mary Tyler Moore has died at the age of 80. Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Moore's screen credits span 60 years, including, of course, the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary Tyler Moore was the co-founder of Broadway Barks, which for 17 years has been holding all-star adoption events for homeless pets in midtown Manhattan. Moore won 7 Emmys and was nominated for an Oscar for her 1980 portrayal of an affluent mother in 'Ordinary People.' [more inside]
From then on I would identify myself on the phone as Tuna Neck.
Dan Aykroyd's memories of his former fiancée, Carrie Fisher.
How much would you pay for your right to protest?
Minnesota is the latest state legislature to introduce a bill that would increase fines levied against those exercising their constitutional right to peacefully assemble. MN State Representative Nick Zerwas (R), the bill's sponsor, does not address the potential cost of the fine that the only disruptive member of Saturday's Women's March, a counter-protester arrested by police for pepper spraying peaceful marchers, might receive.
The Magic Flute Told in Cat Gifs
Mozart's animated opera united with the Internet's most animated art form. Courtesy of the Seattle classical station King.org, which has always been at ease with the Internet. Perhaps this is how Mozart would have pitched Die Zauberflöte to the Freihaus-Theater in 2017.
Up your hole productions presents
"In a part of Dublin known as the Liberties, which is also where the Vikings settled 1000 years ago, there is a small community of rebel horse owners. And a few years ago, a travelling street musician who goes by the name, "The Musical Slave", accidentally crashed her van into the wall of one of their urban horse yards – and out came a horse and a few boys. One of them brought her for a spin with a horse and two-wheeler, and from that day on she was hooked. She ended up buying her own horse and moving him into the yard... "
I feel sorry for the judge anyway because he is a Browns fan
Defending a case in Ohio, a lawyer argued that the complaint should be thrown out as excessively verbose and containing run-on sentences. Plaintiff's counsel responded with a two-page answer consisting of a single sentence.
Version control ain't easy
Most of us in the room were dumbfounded. “What did he say?”
At the end of the original film, Rebel ships fly along the Death Star trench in an attempt to blow up the space station. Look at the photo of the Death Star at the top of this post: can you point to the trench that Luke and the Rebels flew down to fire upon the exhaust port that would ultimately destroy the space station?
At the end of the original film, Rebel ships fly along the Death Star trench in an attempt to blow up the space station. Look at the photo of the Death Star at the top of this post: can you point to the trench that Luke and the Rebels flew down to fire upon the exhaust port that would ultimately destroy the space station?
Uh Uh Oww Oww Squee Squee Eee Eee Da Da Bang bang
Forget the Wilhelm scream, here's the Jackson squeal (warning: 1:17 of John Wick violence)
January 24
Daphnis, the Wavemaker
Tireless Cassini, now in its last cycle of death-defying orbits through Saturn's rings before its spectacular September 2017 Grand Finale, has captured an astonishing picture of tiny Daphnis making waves in Saturn's rings; Daphnis is one of the seven moons discovered by Cassini during its 20-year mission. Of course it already has a meme (with accompanying rhapsody). [more inside]
They find humour where others find only sadness. Or potatoes.
British Drunk People Are The Best Drunk People (SLBuzzfeed)
Second hand enforcers of a creditor's paradise...
Mark Blyth is the Eastman Professor of Political Economy at Brown University.
Author of the book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Previously on the blue.
He has written extensively about the creditor's revolt that begin in the late 70s.
He has become more well known over the last year after he called Brexit, Trump, and the Italian referendum, and is now warning about the French presidential election. He sees the current global trend as creditor-debtor stand-offs. He has referred to many center left and right parties as enforcers in a creditor's paradise For instance, in a speech to the center left, German Social Democratic Party. After they gave him an award for "thinking differently" about economics. [more inside]
Author of the book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Previously on the blue.
He has written extensively about the creditor's revolt that begin in the late 70s.
He has become more well known over the last year after he called Brexit, Trump, and the Italian referendum, and is now warning about the French presidential election. He sees the current global trend as creditor-debtor stand-offs. He has referred to many center left and right parties as enforcers in a creditor's paradise For instance, in a speech to the center left, German Social Democratic Party. After they gave him an award for "thinking differently" about economics. [more inside]
Who's a good Chocodile? You are!
Lucky Peach magazine's Official Hostess Power Rankings: "Per usual, I have ranked these items in order of tastiness. I have also judged them by a metric I simply like to call “Is It A Good Pet Name?” which ranks these products in order of how cutely they would serve as a name for your new puppy or kitten (adopted from a shelter, of course)." Bonus song: Larry Groce - Junk Food Junkie
Democratic vs. Republican occupations
There’s no “Mr. President” out there
Best YouTube Videos Ever
Warm, warm, warm, cold as fuck
Youtube has been obsessed lately with various red hot things, but this one is actually worth watching: 20 kg of red hot steel vs a frozen lake, from your favorite Finnish machine shop duo (previously.)
Cheat Sheet for the Brain
The Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet. Derived from the wiki article, the cheat sheet consolidates and classifies 175 biases into four groups. "Every cognitive bias is there for a reason — primarily to save our brains time or energy. If you look at them by the problem they’re trying to solve, it becomes a lot easier to understand why they exist, how they’re useful, and the trade-offs (and resulting mental errors) that they introduce. [The] four problems that biases help us address: Information overload, lack of meaning, the need to act fast, and how to know what needs to be remembered for later." [more inside]
The Spirit of Standing Rock and The Never-Ending Indian Wars
The Spirit of Standing Rock on the Move. "People from more than 300 tribes traveled to the North Dakota plains to pray and march in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux. Back home, each tribe faces its own version of the “black snake” and a centuries-old struggle to survive." [more inside]
Get Back
Back in the Sixties, English MP Eddie O'Hara taught Latin. To make the language relevant, he put Beatles songs into Latin.
Former pupil and current Latin teacher Keith Massey sings one or two in an older language. And not just Beatles [more inside]
HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US
The most electrifying new exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens isn’t inside the museum; it’s a black orb attached to an outside wall. Above it is the name of the newest LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner art project, “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US.” That orb is a camera connected to a 24/7 livestream, an invitation for anyone anywhere to bear witness. [more inside]
“Charred food always draws you in more, whets your appetite,”
Charred, Browned, Blackened: The Dark Lure of Burned Food [The New York Times] “From the blackened avocados at Nix to the lamb heart ashes at Aska, burned and charred foods may seem like just another fad sweeping through pyrotechnically inclined restaurants. But burning, a technique that can involve a surprising amount of shading and subtlety, has deep roots in many cuisines. A great kazandibi, the Turkish milk pudding, requires a totally scorched bottom to fulfill its delicious potential, the milk pushed to the same shade as a fire-licked marshmallow. Any dessert that relies on a touch of burned sugar, from flan to crème brûlée, will go limp and lifeless if that caramel is cooked too lightly. And there are few primal delights like the burned ends of a barbecued brisket, crisp-edged and fierce with smoke.”
"We should put this on a website or whatever"—A Homestar Runner History
Having revived their signature Flash-driven cartoon, Homestar Runner, creators the Brothers Chaps recount its seventeen-year history in a winding tale of snark, underground popularity, no real business plan, creative burnout, and unlikely success. "A few weeks ago we got to spend all day 3D printing a fake action figure and filling it with beef stroganoff for the Walt Disney company. Once you hit that point, I don’t think you’re allowed to complain ever again." (previously)
From 360 lb. teenager to (likely) NBA first round draft pick
Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan was 360 pounds in 8th grade, living under the constant specter of shelter and food insecurity, with a drug addicted father and an overwhelmed mother.
6 years later he is a successful college student at Purdue University, leading contender for college basketball player of the year, and will likely be a multi-millionaire professional basketball player by the Fall.
His journey is kind of inspiring.
Monsieur le Pepe
Inside the Private Chat Rooms Trump Supporters Are Using to Manipulate French Voters : Buzzfeed reports on a Discord channel called "The Great Liberation of France," the associated /r/the_Europe/ subreddit, as well as on 4chan and 8chan, and the tactics underway to move public opinion in advance of the upcoming French elections. [more inside]
Not A Parking Spot
A South Philly photographer has setup instagram and twitter accounts documenting illegal parking in the city. Philadelphians are handling this in their usually polite manner. (via Atrios)
Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich
Even after the world ends, we won't be rid of these people. Some of the wealthiest people in America—in Silicon Valley, New York, and beyond—are getting ready for the crackup of civilization. [more inside]
Homelessness & menstruation: making a tough situation tougher
“You never see a bowl of tampons and maxi pads, but you always see a bowl of condoms.” [more inside]
How Chicago Bars Got So Many Old Style Signs
What's the deal with all of those bars in Chicago with Old Style signs outside?
Happy birthday, Finland! I got you a mountain.
Battle for Birthday Mountain (video) A lot of Norwegians want to give Finland a mountain to celebrate 100 years of Finnish independence, moving the national boundary 31 feet. Right now the highest point of Finland is on the side of the mountain-- this would give them the summit as well. Is it legal? Maybe not! But now there's a touching film about it.
Eighteen year old plays Pink Floyd's Echoes. By himself.
Eighteen year old Ewan Cunningham covers Pink Floyd's Echoes by playing every instrument. His video pays homage to Pink Floyd's famous Live at Pompeii version of the 25-minute long masterpiece.
Link to the Ewan Cunningham YouTube channel.
America First. The Netherlands Second.
Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach has made a short video welcoming Trump to the Netherlands in Trump's own style . The introduction to the video is in Dutch with subtitles; the video itself is in English.
January 23
10 FUCKERING LIGHTS
"Yes, my brother was gay. Yes, he died of AIDS. Yes, I love him."
Nell Carter, the Broadway and 80s sitcom superstar who died too young in 2003 after a life of many highs and lows, was born today in 1948 . In 1992, ABC, in partnership with Elizabeth Taylor, presented "New Light: A Call to Action in the War Against AIDS" (1992 New York Times article) and Ms. Carter sang a perhaps odd choice: Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life Again", which she dedicated, against her family's wishes, to her gay brother Dr. Bernard Taylor, who had died of the illness in 1989. (poster's note: if this interests you in the least, please forgive the poor quality and make it to the end around 3:48 because it is worth it) [more inside]