January 31, 2012
Topless Models, Doing Semaphore, Wave their flags as she walks by and, get ignored
One hundred and sixty five years ago, the Royal Navy closed its high-speed network.
In fairness, if they sent the message on foot it would still arrive several months before DHL.
A very small man can cast a very large shadow
Game Of Thrones Season 2: "Shadow" Teaser.
January 30, 2012
Rest in the arms of the dragon
Best known as Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) and Sherlock Holmes in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), Nicol Williamson has died.
Valerie J. Nelson: Nicol Williamson dies at 75; legendary British actor.
"I'll pay for the seats," he later recalled telling the audience in 1969, "but I won't shortchange you by not giving my best." And then he walked off.
Michael Riedel: Actor was sword of volatile. Antics at the link.
Tim Walker: Excalibur star Nicol Williamson has just six mourners at his funeral.
The star of Excalibur, whose former lovers include Dame Helen Mirren and Marianne Faithfull, fought what Luke describes as a “brave battle” against cancer for two years. “He said he didn’t want any big announcement. He hated the idea of people who didn’t know him putting together pieces about him by 'Googling’ and 'cut-and-pasting’ stuff.”
With apologies for cutting and pasting this stuff. And with respect for Helen Mirren and Marianne Faithfull.
Ad Preferences
How to find out who Google thinks you are from your web history (and how it may even have your sex wrong).
Far from infallible, Google thinks I am at least ten years younger than I am, but close to the mark in terms of my interests.
Below you can review the interests and inferred demographics that Google has associated with your cookie. You can remove or edit these at any time.
Arts & Entertainment
Arts & Entertainment - Movies - Movie Memorabilia
Arts & Entertainment - Music & Audio
Beauty & Fitness - Fashion & Style
Games - Computer & Video Games
Games - Roleplaying Games
News
News - Politics
News - Politics - Campaigns & Elections
People & Society
Reference - Humanities
Reference - Humanities - History
Reference - Humanities - Myth & Folklore
January 29, 2012
A Boy and His Dog (1975)
Based on the award winning novella by Harlan Ellison (nsfw due to imagery of sexual violence, Don Johnson).
In dog years I'm dead
"Man's best friends may have originated from more than one ancient ancestor, contrary to what some DNA evidence previously has indicated."
Painting, n.: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and exposing them to the critic
Traces of a red paint made from ochre shows Neanderthals were producing and using it up to 250,000 years ago, pushing evidence of paint use in Europe back to the same same range as examples from Africa.
Modern hunter-gatherers are known to have used red ochre for medication, as a food preservative, in tanning of hides and as insect repellent.
Joe Goes Steampunk
"It's pronounced you're a virgin, you're going to die alone."
Alexander Courage, Bob Karlan, Gerald Fried - The Ritual / Ancient Battle / 2nd Kroykah
Star Trek: Volume 2 - Doomsday Machine and Amok Time
January 28, 2012
I let them use you for their own ends
A T-shirt inspired by Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures cover art was - briefly - on sale at Disney World and Disneyland (hat tip to Rick McGinnis).
Quite possibly the greatest T-shirt ever conceived but, sadly, no longer available at the Disney Store.
It's remotely possible you might still be able to find one on, for example, eBay. Just saying.
How to get out of your own skull
Harlan Ellison names his influences.
. Read the first story, which is called “Anne,” and if it doesn’t break your heart and make you weep, I don’t know what will. Also Donald Westlake. Particularly the Richard Stark novels. You can learn more from the chapter in The Outfit
where he goes down south to buy the car . . . self-contained. I think it’s the third chapter. I teach it in writer’s workshops. I say, “I’m going to read, just sit and listen.”The name "sphinx" means "strangler"
George R.R. Martin answers ten questions about A Song of Ice and Fire
GRRM: I could, but I won't.
The battle for Earth is gonna get Nazi
Kathy Shaidle: ‘Iron Sky’ is now officially completed and will premiere February 11 at the Berlin Film Festival.
January 27, 2012
Archery - Fast Shooting (Murmansk)
"I need an archer to join my quest to kill the Glass Dragon of The Bronx...I can offer a quarter share of any treasure we find. We have a Warlock/Paladin, a half-giant & an Arcane Trickster so far."
Viking death squads
A mass grave found in Dorset contains what may be the bodies of a group of Viking killers associated with Thorkel the Tall, ambushed and dispatched by local Anglo-Saxon villagers.
But on this occasion, the men, barely into their twenties, were ambushed by the local Anglo-Saxon villagers.
Troll Studies at Harvard
Walter Russell Mead is scandalized by the idea, but I think Scandinavian 102: Trolls, Trolldom and the Uses of Tradition might be one of the most useful things they are teaching at Harvard.
Pertinent: The Troll Hunter (2010).
January 26, 2012
Alexander McQueen Spring 2012 Runway
An excerpt.
Now under the stewardship of Sarah Burton. The runway show at Paris Fashion Week:
Also: The pre-collection lookbook including some exquisite bridal. Someone has been watching Downton Abbey.
H+M is awesome
Regretsy reports H+M has stolen the work of East Atlanta Village artist, Tori LaConsay.
On one side of the sign, I painted, “You Look Nice Today” followed by a little heart. This was on the side of the sign that I thought people would see on their way to work. On the other side of the sign (the side I thought people would see the most on their return back to the neighborhood) I painted, “I’m So Happy You’re Here” with another little heart. It was a small gesture that I genuinely hoped would make my neighbors feel good.
Now yours for £12.99 from H+M.
Yesterday, I wrote to H+M's PR flack Amanda Wennö, a representative for "an independent film production company, making both TV documentaries as well as press films (such as those for H&M)" (I'm on her mailing list) to ask about the problem.
She hasn't replied.
Not much later that morning: I have amended the above post to more correctly represent Amanda Wennö's relationship to H+M. She is not a PR representative acting on their behalf, only a representative for the firm that makes the H+M promotional videos she keeps sending me. Some might call this a distinction without a difference. Some might call it getting a reply only after you have published a direct link to someone's LinkedIn profile.
Not that she has bothered to reply herself (and this is not the first time). But thanks anyway to Cecilia Wirseen for alerting me to this crucial distinction and my apologies for any confusion arising from the difference between H+M public relations and H+M press films.
Note to marketing firms: If you insist on spamming me with unsolicited promotional materials, you should observe the basic courtesy of replying to your email. I gave Amanda a full day to respond to my concerns. It is the least she could have done considering the H+M press films she keeps sending me.
So, no, Cecilia, I won't be deleting anything.
Minutes later: A wild H+M Media Relations note appears!
We are sorry if we have upset anyone, we are taking this matter most seriously and right now we are looking into the situation.
We have reached out to Tori LaConsay, are in direct contact with her and we will continue this dialogue directly with her regarding this matter.
Best regards
Håcan Andersson
Press officer, H&M
My reply:
Imagine my astonishment to hear from you. Cecilia Wirseen took great pains to distance her firm from H+M, I gather they don't engage in PR for H+M, only make press films for H+M and then promote them to people like me.
And yet now I hear direct from H+M.
With respect to the issue at hand, please feel free to keep me informed as to how the work of an Atlanta artist could appear on your products without attribution or, one imagines, compensation.
I can only base my opinions on what has been reported, of course. It may be some terrible error has been committed. But I can tell you that if something comparable had happened to me, the firm responsible would hear from my attorneys and I would not be satisfied until someone had been quite publicly fired.
Directly related: I haven't set foot in an Urban Outfitters for a year. I don't expect I will be back to H+M any time soon.
If you work in a "creative industry", or hold any sort of intellectual property in any medium, I suggest you don't either.
How thick is your bubble?
| |||||||
I did not give myself points for a very brief stint in demolition, my construction gigs usually involved site tours with a hard-hat and tie. Similarly, my experience of union meetings is limited to participation in an ad hoc media relations committee for CUPE 3903, arguably the most aggressive academic union in Canada (with all the usual non-teaching related, problematical York University political commitments; we were on strike at the time). And while I used to be on Greyhound most weekdays, it was to commute to my teaching job in a cultural studies program.
In fairness, I do know I live in a bubble. It's called the Annex.
...
We have developed a new upper class with advanced educations, often obtained at elite schools, sharing tastes and preferences that set them apart from mainstream America. At the same time, we have developed a new lower class, characterized not by poverty but by withdrawal from America's core cultural institutions.
Angelina Jolie - Butterfly Knife skills
Remember when Angelina Jolie was so hot it physically hurt to look at her?
January 25, 2012
Idumea (Black Ships Ate The Sky)
Three different interpretations of the hymn "Idumea" written by Charles Wesley in 1793, from the Current 93 album "Black Ships Ate the Sky
1) Clodagh Simonds
2) Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham)
3) Shirley Collins
And am I born to die?
To lay this body down?
And as my trembling spirits fly
Into a world unknown
A land of deeper shade
Unpierced by human thought
The dreary region of the dead
Where all things are forgot
Soon as from earth I go
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my fortune be
Waked by the trumpet's sound
I from my grave shall rise
And see the Judge with glory crowned
And see the flaming skies
Disney Princesses vs. Hayao Miyazaki Characters
"To me it's telling that most Disney princess stories fail the Bechdel Test while Studio Ghibli stories do not. You don't have to be a feminist to appreciate well developed characters with their own independent story arcs."
Run, Johnny Depp! Run!
"You know, when I eat three peas, I'm pregnant.
When I visit a city, I'm buying a house.
In the winter I separate, in the summer I marry.
It's been fifteen years since I've been getting married every year.
In addition I have to answer all these rumours!"
Air Chanel
"The elaborate setting for this season's Couture show saw the Grand Palais in Paris transformed into a 'private jet' - complete with numbered seating, floor-level lighting and even a slatted roof which revealed a 'faux-sky'." (images at the link)
January 24, 2012
Shock-and-awe Shakespeare
Ralph Fiennes irritates me but, as a fan of Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus and Ian McKellen as Richard III, Coriolanus looks promising (hat tip to Paul).
Miranda Kerr's Grazia "Australia Day" cover shoot
It turns out Wonder Woman has an Australian accent.
January 23, 2012
For all your cadre needs
The RedPad is China’s first working platform exclusively for government cadres and officials.
At around one and a half-thousand dollars in the old empire, ten thousand yuan is a bit steep even in comparison with an iPad (though, in fairness, the RedPad probably supports Flash and offers more freedom of choice than Apple's closed ecology).
Uncensored
Episode 34 of I Hit It With My Axe features Mandy Morbid wearing a Captain Canuck t-shirt (hat tip to Mark).
This works on several levels.
Talk this way
When did Americans lose their British accents? (Or rather, the other way round.)
January 22, 2012
Christopher Hitchens on Mormonism
Excerpted from 'Lowly Stamp of Their Origin - Religion's Corrupt Beginnings' from Hitchens' God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Fascinating even for folks familiar with the Mormon story; I had not heard of the Burned-over district or Emma Smith's first reaction to her husband's revelation.
Ghost of a Flea
William Blake's best loved spiritual visitant finds a new lease on life in Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy (hat tip to Pascal).
Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut
If you have never experienced LSD, this is the nerd version.
Poncho - Please me
Quite possibly the perfect pop music video (hat tip to Beautiful Atrocities).
January 21, 2012
Kari Tauring - Kjerringa med Staven
"Researching vardlokkr (songs or calls to lure nature spirits), Kari Tauring came across the Norwegian Folk Song, "Kjerringa med Staven," or "Dear Lady with a Staff." This children's song describes the traditions of the volva kona, living outside of community, talking to the goddess Frigg as the hare, and working with jotun energy (giants, primal nature energy)."
The Fantasy Novelist's Exam
"Answering 'yes' to any one question results in failure and means that the prospective novel should be abandoned at once."
Related: Just how heavy were swords from the Middle Ages and Renaissance? (both via The Wingnut Musings)
January 20, 2012
What the Tudors Did For Us - Ep. 3, War Machyne (2002)
Adam Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and inventions of the Tudor Age. This episode addresses weapons of war, torture devices and Hart-Davis test fires a replica of a cannon cast of iron.
That's no moon
George Lucas has decided to build another studio for all those blockbusters he won't be making.
Some of the neighbours are unhappy. So, on the one hand, Grady Ranch is Hearst Castle redux. On the other, it is annoying people in Marin County.
So that's a win-win.
Well played, George Lucas. Well played.
Napoleonland
A theme park in honour of Napoleon Bonaparte will be a daily reminder of French defeats.
They will also be able to take in a water show recreating the Battle of Trafalgar.
This stuff writes itself folks.
January 19, 2012
Jason Chaffetz: Nerd Whisperer
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on SOPA: 'Bring in the Nerds' (via the Armored Facilities Manager).
From the House Judiciary Committee markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), December 15, 2011. For more information.
Twirling, twirling into the future
"An online appeal for ordinary people to help find unknown planets has resulted in the discovery of a new world.
"Chris Holmes, from Peterborough, found the planet after logging on to Planethunters.org, an Oxford University project that asks the public to sift through images from Nasa's Kepler telescope."
Wagyu Cheesburger with Fried Egg and Crisp Onions
* It will have to be a Flea version. Sadly, no Capital Grille locations north of the border.
Albir & Sarah - Kizomba
"For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union."
kizomba from Nicola Meninno on Vimeo.
January 18, 2012
Exeunt George Lucas
Lucas says he won't make any more Star Wars films. Whereas I was under the impression he hadn't made a Star Wars film since 1977.
Combine that experience with the cool reception the three “Star Wars” prequel films received in the late 90s and early 2000s, and Lucas says he’s done making new films in the canon.
“Why would I make any more,” Lucas says, “when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?
There's a "George Lucas fired first" line in here somewhere but it's not coming to me.
Why is Wikipedia blacked-out?
"Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media."
That said: Not everyone at Wikipedia agrees with the blackout.
No GTA V, therefore list is invalid
The ten most anticipated games of 2012.
Transparent aluminum
Almost. Also, worth watching the Voyage Home clip for a demonstration of how Mac people think computers work.
January 17, 2012
The Oseberg Priestess Burial
Maria Kvilhaug makes a convincing case for the identity of the occupants of the Oseberg.
Investigative challenge
The UK Security Service has posted an online investigative challenge as a recruitment tool. It's a fun test to take though IMHO flawed both in its conception and suggestive of a peculiar mission brief at MI5.
Fair warning: If you meet the eligibility criteria the pay for intelligence officers is still crap.
Skyrim Kinect - Fus Ro Dah
Buddy has hooked up an Xbox Kinect to his PC.
January 16, 2012
Stories from the Stone Age - Ep. 1, Daily Bread (2003)
Two things; first, something the writers get consistently wrong. Early farmers were not inadvertently mimicking natural selection in their plant and animal husbandry, quite the opposite. Early farmers were quite intentionally ("advertently"?) choosing strains to encourage and strains to discard. Natural selection is design without a designer, farming is selection by design.
Second, something they got exactly right (I suspect, inadvertently). The writers describe the first intentional planting of grain seeds as a "sacrifice" of precious food. This is not only correct on its face but correct in a profound figurative sense as well. I have never come across a satisfying explanation of sacrifice (my favourite has been George Batailles' description of sacrifice as a form of communication) but here it is at last. I sacrifice food I could have eaten by burying it in the ground and if all goes well my sacrifice returns to me many times over at the harvest. It is a short leap from there to imagining other kinds of sacrifice - of meat, say - returning in the form of a successful hunt.
Finally, an observation. Those early farmers were not burying their dead under the kitchen floor. They were planting them.
If you stare into the abyss, George Lucas will stare back at you
Producer Rick McCallum reveals the working title - and other details - about the live action Star Wars television series.
It turns out George Lucas hasn't finished raping what's left of our childhood.
Fuck you, George Lucas. Just fuck you.
January 15, 2012
Christopher Hitchens on Holocaust Denial, Religion and Free Speech
"Pick a number, get in line, and kiss my ass."
Therion: Kali Yuga III
Put your backs to it, my brothers! The Wheel of Cheese must turn!
January 14, 2012
Dimensionally transcendental
Own your own TARDIS purse to "carry with you time and space wherever you want (and bigger on the inside!)"
January 13, 2012
An ok back up ninja forearm machete blade full tang knife sword
The Blood Rayne Arm Blade W/ Sheath & Adjustable Handle
I was a bit disappointed for several different reasons when this product arrived at my secure compound.
First, this product is sold by a company called ‘Martial Arts Land’, which is the same name I gave to my home in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I wish the company had done more research into other entities who are also using that name before naming their company. The post office had quite a time, seeing as the shipping label read ‘From: Martial Arts Land’ and ‘To: Martial Arts Land’. I hope they are not the people who have been getting my missing issues of ‘Soldier of Fortune’ magazine, as the ‘help wanted’ section is crucial to my ability to earn a living.
Second, when I saw the description of a ‘hi-tech’ strap in the product description, I was fully expecting something computerized and perhaps operated by hydraulic machinery that would maybe shoot spikes into the arm if someone besides the owner attempted to use it. Imagine my disappointment when it was shipped to Martial Arts Land (my secure compound in DRC, not the original shipping company, see how confusing this is getting?) with a simple Velcro strap. There is no failsafe in the weapon as-shipped to prevent an enemy skilled in the use of ninja weapons from taking this particular NFMBFTKS from you and using it against you.
Thirdly, I did not find the handle to be particularly ergonomic. After using this product as intended for approximately 8 hours a day, I have developed ‘repetitive ninjitsu stress disorder’ in my rotator cuff caused, I believe at least in part, to the lack of adequate wrist support. I saw an occupational health ninja who agreed with my assessment and suggested I spend hours on end standing under an icy water fall in the middle of the woods in the dead of winter doing ninja poses to help it heal.
All in all, I can see myself using this as a back up ninja forearm machete blade full tang knife sword day-to-day, or maybe on light trips to the grocery store or library, but I will not be replacing my primary ninja forearm machete blade full tang knife sword any time soon.
Pro:
Powerful Ninja Weapon
Machete Blade
Full Tang Knife Sword
Con:
Velcro strap not hi-tech
Lack of good ergonomics
Company name ‘Martial Arts Land’ is a problem, as I as my home address is also ‘Martial Arts Land’
Sadly, this device does not ship to Canada.
Our ships were British oak, And hearts of oak our men
Britain’s most advanced warship HMS Daring sets sail for the Gulf (video at the link).
It is armed with high-tech Sea Viper anti-air missiles and will be able to carry 60 troops. There is also a large flight deck which can accommodate helicopters the size of a Chinook as well as take on board 700 people in the case of a civilian evacuation.
Related: Building the Queen Elizabeth Class. Featuring rather large sponsons.
In Russia, Burger is King
I feel so ripped off by Canadian Burger King.
January 12, 2012
Jorge Luis Borges - Borges and I
"The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and this literature justifies me. It is no effort for me to confess that he has achieved some valid pages, but those pages cannot save me, perhaps because what is good belongs to no one, not even to him, but rather to the language and to tradition. Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things.
"Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in many others or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him.
"I do not know which of us has written this page."
Here: Borges y Yo and an alternative translation.
No Gods or Kings. Only Man.
Hey, Scientology, Andrew Ryan called. He wants his architectural plans back.
A few renderings of Scientology's expensive new "mecca" were published as long ago as 2007, but that release, and a few since, have included only a few images of how the building's interiors will look once it is finished.
Images at the link. Remember: The squirreling of tech basics is a suppressive act. Search your 4th dynamic, your knowingness is trying to warn you it is true.
Tangentially related Objectivism in BioShock. Not that I'm not blaming Ayn Rand for L. Ron Hubbard. He was if anything her antithesis.
"I started thinking about utopian civilizations," he said. "You have these traditional utopian notions. I've always been a fan of utopian and dystopian literature. The more I started thinking about making a compelling place and compelling villain, someone who had a real concrete set of beliefs made sense."
Enter Objectivism. Levine said he had been reading Ayn Rand's books over the past few years and was fascinated with her "intensity and purity of belief."
"The surety she has in her beliefs was fascinating," he said. "She almost spoke like a super villain, like Dr Doom."
Keep the lasagna flying
It's Robert Anton Wilson week at Boing Boing. This link aggregates the whole week's RAW posts.
Dick Tracy Detective (1945)
Dear i'm Watch, I don't want an awkward smart phone, I want a hard boiled accessory.
Related: Dick Tracy: Phony Pharmers (1961)
January 11, 2012
Lady Gaga - Marry The Night
If you haven't figured out Lady Gaga is trolling you, I rest my case.
World of Warcraft, Pencil and Paper Version
In which Ace reveals a suspicious familiarity with the Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition controversy and the problems that arose from making the 3rd edition Open License.
And further, the anger over D&D 4 was so great people flocked to support this competitor company, which was actually simply publishing D&D 3rd edition under a different (lame) name, Pathfinder. And I hear that Pathfinder is actually... outselling the actual D&D game it's knocking off. Or at least it's too close for comfort.
Warning: Sexy elf at the link.
We search, you view: Another sexy elf girl!
Hallaton helmet
After a decade long process of reconstruction, a rare Roman helmet has gone on display at Harborough Museum.
Alain Vinnytsia feat. Kievelektro - Walk, Slavs!
Hat tip to Beautiful Atrocities!
January 10, 2012
Mia Love - Give Back
This is what a Tea Party President sounds like (i.e. Margaret Thatcher).
Good luck, Extreme sleeve!
"Attached to a weather balloon, an Apple iPad was lifted to over 100,000 feet and dropped back down to Earth encased in G-Form Extreme Edge case. It remained on throughout the drop and landed fully functional."
.The Presets - Steamworks
I'm not saying I'm ready for the new term. I'm saying I aim to kick ass anyway.
January 09, 2012
Resurrection
Preserved in Antarctica since 1907, and resurrected as Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, the Scotch that Ernest Shackleton drank is now available in stores* (via Quotulatiousness).
* Though not, it seems, at Ontario's thieving, useless state liquor monopoly.
Reviewed: "Overall: If I were weathering a snowstorm at the South Pole, I’d sure like to have several cases of this stashed under my cabin."
Insight
If you have to use a flourescent bulb it might as well look like this one.
Pizza Principle
Since 1960, inflation and other factors have caused the the price of both a slice of pizza and a single ride on the subway to rise at a nearly identical rate.
January 08, 2012
Xbox 720 & PS4
"Microsoft and Sony's new games consoles could be launched at this summer's E3 games show in Los Angeles, according to industry website MCV."
January 07, 2012
Mark Bramley - Lost in Tokyo (2012)
Lost in Tokyo from Mark Bramley on Vimeo.
"Had 2 days to myself in Tokyo so I decided to take about 10,000 photos. All shot on a Canon 5D MkII. All the video footage was shot handheld."
If famous writers had written Twilight
My high school experience was a Dorothy Parker Twilight LARP (I played several characters).
I love the new Gmail look!
"Just kidding. I hate the new look. Got your attention? Good."
Seriously, Google. This is why I don't use Apple products. I don't have to do business with you either (all these ads could go, for a start).
Michael O'Leary at the Innovation Convention 2011 - Brussels
The EU accidentally invites a good speaker (via AoSHQ).
January 06, 2012
Kôsçak Yamada - Symphony in F Major "Triumph and Peace" (1912)
This rendition of Triumph and Peace
I. Moderato - 00:00
II. Adagio Non Tanto E Poco Marciale - 8:45
III. Poco Vivace - 20:07
IV. Adagio Molto - Molto Allegro E Triofante - 25:56
English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité
"If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.
"After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud."
Hat tip to the Sister of the Flea.
Everything you need to know about the Nobel
New documents have revealed JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was criticised by the Nobel prize jury of 1961 for its "poor prose and bad story-telling."
Judges eventually named Ivo Andric, a Yugoslavian writer whose writings were inspired by the folklore of his native Bosnia, as the winner.
January 05, 2012
The Roman Family
Garrett Fagan, Ph.D. The Pennsylvania State University, History of Ancient Rome - Lecture 39 - The Roman Family.
Adam Carolla - Women Don't Know Anything About Wars
Before you click play, name as many World War II era aircraft as you can (warning: possibly illegal to laugh at this in Canada).
January 04, 2012
For Skyrim and the Nine
In early days, I would scrounge gold coins and battered armour from the shrines I would find around Skyrim. It felt wrong but needs must. Just now I came across a shrine to Talos, perched high above Arcwind Pass on a path leading nowhere looking down on nothing in particular. It was just there, where the designers had placed it, as part of the landscape, the home of the Nords. Without realizing what I was doing, I searched my inventory and dropped a potion in offering. It fell there, joining scattered coins and battered armour and I realized my chest was tightening and my eyes misting over. One hundred and sixty hours in Skyrim and at last I know what I have to do.
Aviatr
The $715 million Aviatr is designed to fly over Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Unlike a balloon - the rival method proposed for missions to Titan - Aviatr would allow scientists to precisely control its altitude, and build up a library of 3D images of the surface and Titan's weather.
Best Roofs 2011
The best photographs taken from the roofs throughout Russia in 2011. The first one is my favourite.
January 03, 2012
Lisbeth Salander’s closet
Designed by Trish Summerville, H&M has released a Girl With The Dragon Tattoo line.
Google news
Google is revamping their main search page. It's going to be two clicks to get to those Kate Beckinsale images.
Also: GDrive. I wants it.
Sh*t yoginis say
I just got some really great eyeshadow for my 3rd eye!
January 02, 2012
Bettany Hughes - The Spartans (2003)
It's a bit slow to start but picks up once Hughes gets into Spartan social organization. What is most interesting to me is not so much the enduring appeal of Spartan sado-tourism, but how life in Athens was, if anything, even more alien to our everyday assumptions than Sparta.
by Paul Cartledge accompanied the series.Episode I, Episode II, Episode III.
The 5 Most Depraved Sex Scenes Implied by "Harry Potter"
And that was the day Harry learned that you do not mess with Hermione Granger.
January 01, 2012
I resolve to eat more meat, butter and desserts
This information is now my Koran.
Directly related: Nigella Lawson talks dirty (nsfw in Canada due to humour).