February 29, 2012
Jodorowsky on Dune (1975)
"Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean "Moebius" Giraud discuss the failed 1975 Dune project that was to have used the talents of HR Giger, Chris Foss, Dan O'Bannon, Pink Floyd and Salvador Dalí."
Also: Dan O'Bannon on Jodorowsky's Dune.
HR Giger: I am afraid of my visions.
Dan O'Bannon: It's only your mind.
HR Giger: That's what I am afraid of.
What might have been: Ridley Scott on Dune.
And then: David Lynch on Dune. He'd never heard of the book. Can't say I'm surprised.
The passenger
Sailors from ice patrol ship HMS Protector tackled a deadly fire which raged through a Brazilian Antarctic research base.
Which was more than I would have done for the ungrateful sods what with Brazilian ports closed to ships flying Falklands colours. Built on the site of the old British "Base G", Comandante Ferraz Base is named after Navy Commander Luís Antônio de Carvalho Ferraz, a hydrographer and oceanographer who visited Antarctica twice on board British vessels. So, a bit like commanding the Canadian space program then.
February 28, 2012
Gotham By Gaslight (Prototype)
Some footage from what might have been the Batman Gotham by Gaslight game (hat tip to Corey).
Denial is a river in Aichi
Nanjing has broken off relations with its former Japanese sister city, Nagoya.
Chinese netizens comment at the link.
Arse Store
Yesterday, I took my first step into an Apple assimilation unit (the one at the Eaton Centre). They looked confused when I asked for a Venti 1 pump caramel, 1 pump white mocha, 2 scoops vanilla bean powder, extra ice frappuchino with 2 shots poured over the top (apagotto style) but once I had my order they also found me the iPhone armband I was after.
February 27, 2012
Tattúínárdœla saga
Himelgengærelied (Song of the Skywalkers) represents only one manuscript tradition, and a rather late and corrupt one at that (via Quotulatiousness).
The subject at hand: The complete text of Tattúínárdǿla saga.
Related: The Star Wars Storm Trooper Viking Helmet.
Now, where did I put those nuts...
Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago.
February 26, 2012
Satan's drink
"This Satan's drink is delicious...it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it."
- Pope Clement VIII
Connected thought: Coffee: Devil’s brew or nature’s nectar?
Babbie's Rule of Fifteens
Green coffee should be roasted within 15 months, or it goes stale.
Roasted coffee should be ground within 15 days, or it goes stale.
Ground coffee should be used within 15 minutes, or it goes stale.
Related coffee lore:
The Four M's of Espresso:
1) the Macinazione is the grinder, and with it, the correct grinding of the coffee beans;
2) the Miscela is the coffee beans/blend itself;
3) the Macchina is the espresso machine; and
4) the Mano is the skilled hand of the barista.
Sputnik8
Sputnik8 has produced an elegant Windows Desktop UI Concept, this is what Windows 8 on the desktop should have looked like.
February 25, 2012
A real live soldier of fortune
Champion fencer and boxer, amateur Orientalist, student of Arabic and pulp fiction writer, E. Hoffman Price was the only person known to have met Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft - the great 'Triumvirate' of Weird Tales writers - in person.
But when Lovecraft visited New Orleans in June 1932, Howard telegraphed Price to alert him to the visitor's presence, and the two writers spent much of the following week together. The legend is not true that Price took Lovecraft to a New Orleans brothel, where he was amused to find that several of the employees there were fans of his work; the story, apocryphal or not, was first told about Seabury Quinn.
The two writers did seem to hit it off, beginning a correspondence that continued until Lovecraft's death. They even proposed at one time forming a writing team whose output would, "conservatively estimated, run to a million words a month", in Lovecraft's whimsical prediction. The joint pseudonym proposed for this ambitious collaboration—Etienne Marmaduke de Marigny—was used in slightly altered form for the name of a character in the one story that Lovecraft and Price did collaborate on, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key".
Related: The Pulp Fictioneers - E. Hoffmann Price.
And: Through the Gates of the Silver Key by H. P. Lovecraft with E. Hoffmann Price.
The British Newspaper Archive
"Whether you are a researcher, historian or you simply want to know more about Britain's history, take this fantastic opportunity to search this vast treasure trove of historical newspapers from your own home."
Ryan J. Woodward - Thought of You
A short 2D animated film (hat tip to Manaf).
Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.
February 24, 2012
Before it's too late
How to delete your Google browsing history in three simple steps.
Mumford And Sons - Sigh No More
Serve God love me and mend
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
And you know me
And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be
February 23, 2012
Lujiazui is falling down
As the Shanghai Tower goes up, the ground underneath it is falling down. Central Shanghai is cracking under the weight of its skyscrapers.
Conceptually related: How much for that Death Star in the window?
Twoflower
"Video LAN Client (VLC), the all-powerful free/open video-player, has hit 2.0."
Flea formatting
I discovered a strange formatting problem with my front page as I loaded Ghost of a flea yesterday: The banner image at the top of the page slides sideways to the right and floats over the side column in a disconcerting way! I don't encounter this problem using Chrome, Firefox or Explorer in my home set up running Windows Vista or on my arguably trickier WebOS enabled TouchPad. The problem occurred on a Mac bootstrapped to run Windows (it was the same problem whether browsing in Explorer or Chrome).
Has anyone else encountered this problem? And, if so, does anyone have any stylesheet tips to fix it?
Or, better yet, does anyone have a quick way to migrate 17,000+ entries to WordPress so I can leave behind my ancient MovableTyple set up behind? My contact email is in the sidebar...
February 22, 2012
A stitch in time
With 300 hundred years of ceremonial dress and forensic wig making to their name, Ede & Ravenscroft has had the privilege of acting as robe maker to Sovereigns of the United Kingdom and its territories since 1689.
Fur knickers & snobbery
Why British fashion is giving itself a bad name.
‘You’re too early,’ said the beautiful young woman with the walkie-talkie. ‘But Simon Le Bon and Suzy Menkes have gone in,’ I said. ‘Yes, but your space isn’t ready. Come back at nine.’
Alarm bells went off. I’m going to be herded into an unheated pen, I just know it, I thought. My fears were well founded. I was eventually exported upstairs, to a balcony area, where the press were able to gaze down at the real guests as they were eating. For two hours.
And while it was fun to study Rihanna’s dark roots and watch Anna Wintour move her saffron risotto around her plate (a Stella-clad model — Amber Valletta, Yasmin Le Bon, Shalom Harlow and Kate Moss — was installed at each table: I can’t imagine anything that would put me off my food more), I began to get more and more angry. My job is to report on this collection, which would have just about been possible had I packed a telescope. This was an expensive affair: hire of the building alone was £15,000, plus the cost of the orchestra, catering, champagne, flowers, security and, of course, models.
But as a public relations exercise, it was a disaster: as one man next to me in our ghetto quipped: ‘You know that the people having dinner would be the only ones in the lifeboats.’
With apologies to Liz Jones and The Daily Mail for the long quote; there is much more at the link.
Act as if all the world were watching
This iPod Nano pocket watch and fob is just the thing for keeping track of the time should I ever resolve my loathing of Mac products. With a tip of the hat to Mr. Ash, who observes:
I still dream that Apple introduces a round iPod designed from the get-go to be worn as a watch or inserted into pocket watch enclosure. Preferably with an E-Ink display so that it could run days or weeks without charging.
Well fit
The Flea endorses this product and/or service (hat tip to Bedhead, who perceives accurately).
February 21, 2012
Historic present
A fragment of a first-century copy of the Gospel of Mark may have been uncovered (via Hugh Hewitt).
The claim by Dallas Theological Seminary's Daniel B. Wallace took place during a debate with University of North Carolina professor Bart Ehrman, an author whose popular books claim the New Testament cannot be trusted because the original manuscripts aren't in existence.
The Mark fragment has yet to be made public, but Wallace provided a few more details on his website, saying information about the fragment would be published in the form of a book in "about a year."
Unknown treasures
The excavation of a new Jamie Oliver restaurant in Manchester has uncovered rare Joy Division and New Order master tapes (hat tip to Kathy).
They were found in hundreds of safe deposit boxes - some of them dating back to 1935 - in the vault of the old bank site, which the celebrity chef has converted into a restaurant.
February 20, 2012
The Memes of the Fathers
Richard Dawkins responds to the latest smear.
The rest of his letter to the perplexed at the link.
Fearsome asymmetry
Nature Genetics publishes work by researchers from King's College London showing how how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed.
February 19, 2012
Henry & Aaron - It's a Snap!
Now considering my career options at Perth's Central Institute of Technology.
Oh no logo
Seven horrifying historical origins of famous corporate logos.
The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) - Confession
I had the same problems before I heard the good news about Thor.
February 18, 2012
Charlie Le Mindu - Spring/Summer 2012
Just in time for Family Day 2012: Charlie Le Mindu presents a film by Chris Sweeney.
The interesting thing about fashion is it used to involve wearing clothes (nsfw due to nudity, Le Mindu, Rossy de Palma).
"Burka Curfew", Charlie Le Mindu's Spring/Summer 2012 collection (nsfw).
Charlie Le Mindu Burka Curfew SS12 from Charlie Le Mindu on Vimeo.
Charlie Le Mindu Models Backstage - Paris Fashion Week Spring 2012.
Russian peasants, tzars and insects
It must be London Fashion Week.
Also featured: Corrie Nielsen (formerly of Vivienne Westwood) and Bora Aksu (w. see through pockets).
Face recognition
A wooden sarcophagus has been unearthed by archaeologists at the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt.
February 17, 2012
Lauren Abbey
Ralph Lauren meets Downton Abbey as NY fashion week ends.
Into this whimsical English country house by the Hudson River appeared Fair Isle sweaters in green or taupe cashmere, brown ocelet-print shearling coats and dark brown plaid jodhpurs.
Fashionista has more.
What's past is prologue
Updated maps of London's poorest areas demonstrate an epidemic of junk food diabetes in the same streets where Victorians died of malnutrition.
While many of the poor in London 100 years ago were suffering from starvation, the same areas in the capital today are rife with deadly Type 2 diabetes, caused not by malnutrition but by an excess of junk food.
Love is not love, without a violin playing goat
Young goats learn new and distinctive bleating "accents" once they begin to socialise with other kids.
February 16, 2012
Engineering An Empire: Carthage (2006)
"After its founding at the end of the seventh century B.C., Carthage soon grew into one of greatest civilizations of the Ancient World – a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for nearly 600 years. Over that span of time, Carthaginian engineers harnessed their extensive resources and manpower to develop some of the ancient world’s most groundbreaking technology. Like the Egyptian masters before them, they built colossal structures able to withstand the ravages of time and man."
And now a word regarding our sponsor
How to hide from Google.
February 15, 2012
Adam Adamowicz, R.I.P.
Adam Adamowicz, Bethesda Games concept artist for Fallout 3 and an important contributor to Skyrim has died.
Images and video at the link. Bethesda has a tribute page with more.
Perfect fifth
Bear McCreary explains why many science fiction theme tunes rely on the perfect fifth.
Týr - Hold the Heathen Hammer High
With lyrics!
"This how i used to sing this song:
HOLD THE HEATHEN HAMMER HIGH asdfasdflsgowjdcn ppq i
HOLD THE HEATHEN HAMMER HIGH ledgine fgminroc wijwfirnwor
HOLD THE HEATHEN HAMMER HIGH foinvgwnrpanfajgie
HOLD THE HEATHEN HAMMER HIGH!!!!!!"
February 14, 2012
Would you like to play a game?
"This 1960 IBM ad touts the capabilities of SAGE, a massive Cold War-era automated system for tracking and destroying incoming enemy bombers. The heart of the system was the IBM AN/FSQ-7 computer, which at 275 tons is still the world’s largest computer. Each computer had 55,000 vacuum tubes, required a half acre of floor space, and operated on punch cards. There were 52 AN/FSQ-7 computers around the country. SAGE was retired in the early 1980s."
None of them are named "Greedo"
Four realizations that will ruin science fiction for you.
February 13, 2012
Celebrity Story Time: George R. R. Martin
Game of Thrones
I missed one
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute Full Civic Literacy Exam. I did alright with 97%, and yet I don't have so much as a Green Card.
Dragonette - Hello (Mark Lampert Remix)
Footage from Todd Howard's keynote address at DICE 2012 shows possible Skyrim DLC or Mods produced during the Bethesda Game Jam after The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim shipped in 2011. I especially like the mudcrabs.
The soundtrack is great too.
February 12, 2012
Men are terrified of me now
Michelle Dockery says that while she plays a posh character on TV, she's actually from Essex.
There is almost nothing else that would make me watch David Letterman.
What is a weekend?
Fodor's offers suggestions for a weekend visit to Highclere Castle and nearby estates. Think of this as Downton (Casual mode).
The commanding tower and pinnacles are the work of Sir Charles Barry, the architect of London’s Houses of Parliament; the third Earl of Carnarvon commissioned Barry to transform the family’s Georgian house into a stylish neo-Gothic manor in the 1830s.
For true fans, there is also the opportunity to Die Hard your way through Downton Abbey (Challenge mode).
Your $12,500 day at Downton Abbey starts with tea and coffee in the morning room, where the eight Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. The Lord or Lady of the house will then give you a private tour of the house, treat you to lunch with wines from the Earl's cellar then it's off around the state in the Earl's 4x4 (I am assuming it's a Range Rover). I confess, as naff as it sounds, if I won the lottery last night, I'm in.
The Downton Abbey soundtrack
Interiors: Ten facts about Highclere Castle.
“The best part has been sharing this romantic castle and home with so many people from around the world,” Lady Carnarvon said. “And ‘Downton’ has helped revitalize an interest in history.”
Also: England's best stately homes.
Cultural necrophilia
Simon Schama, who has never got round to replying to my letter, says Downton Abbey panders to cliches about English history, serving up a "steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery."
Which is a bit rich, coming from him.
February 11, 2012
Titania
Vivien Leigh starred as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Old Vic Theatre in 1937.
Related: Living Famously - Vivien Leigh (2003).
sleepyti.me
February 10, 2012
To think they hesitated
Black Milk Clothing offers the dernier cri in Hellraiser couture.
Amasia
With the disappearance of the Arctic Ocean and the Caribbean, a new supercontinent will appear in the wake of her predecessors: Amasia.
The singularity is near
With retro Apple iPhone cases, Mac cultists can now breach the event horizon and disappear up their own asses.
February 09, 2012
Navis oneraria magna
The National Laboratories of Gran Sasso recently received 120 Roman lead bricks, recovered undersea twenty years ago. The material's very low original radioactivity, and two thousand years to decay, makes it handy for shielding the sensitive physics involved in the CUORE experiment (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events).
February 08, 2012
John Christopher (1922 – 2012)
John Christopher, died February 3, 2012 in Bath England aged 89. He was best known as the author of the young adults Tripods trilogy, which scared the hell out of me as a young adult.
Humans are controlled from the age of 14 by implants called "caps", which suppress curiosity and creativity and leave the recipient placid and docile, incapable of dissent. The caps cause them to worship the tripods. Some people, whose minds are broken (instead of successfully being controlled) under the pressure of the cap's hypnotic power become vagrants, who wander the countryside. One of the books contains a discussion among Masters that "We should cap humans sooner, to reduce the risk of precocious people getting independent-minded soon enough to try to evade being Capped, but we cannot, because we cannot Cap them until their braincases have stopped growing."
To some it's a dystopia. To others, an election platform.
Related: The book covers of Roger Hane.
Also: The Cult of the Tripods.
"The Tripods is a mid-'80s television adaptation of Samuel Youd's (writing as John Christopher) The Tripods series of novels. It was jointly produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and the Seven Network in Australia."
This is the correct procedure
In 1995, New Mexico voted on a bill requiring psychologists to dress as wizards when offering expert witness testimony in court.
When White guys listen to Daler Mehndi
This is pretty much what I do first thing every morning.
February 07, 2012
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
Dennis Wojtkiewicz explores the sensitive nature of time in his oversized oil paintings of fruit and flowers.
Baise-moué l’ail
As it happens, I have only one goal in my forthcoming Montreal trip: To stuff my face at Schwartz’s as many times as possible (hat tip to Blazing Cat Fur).*
A guide for the perplexed: Montreal-style smoked meat.
Bad timing: Smoked Meat Pete's.
* Ben's: Gone but not forgotten.
8bit Zardoz intro
"While on the subject of games we wished really existed..." (hat tip to Paul)
February 06, 2012
Sofia Jannok - Gáhkkor
This blog is now about Sofia Jannok
This isn't a high traffic track so you might find you need to pause it and give the video a moment to load.
You can find out more about Sofia and her amazing music at sofiajannok.com
Footage is from Nature 2010 by Rahael and Jonathan Forsthuber, and The Aurora by Terje Sorgjerd.
Lyrics from lyrics.com/sofiajannok
Gáhkkor
son čuorvu nu čáppa jienain
Šerreš jienain
De áddjá fierpmui
Vuolvojávrris
Juohke eahkeda earet bassi
Go de iskkai daid firpmiid árrat
gáhkkoraš lei nu [darvánan]
sorbmanan
Ja nuppi gáhkkora gulaimet
morašteame juohke ija
Guoimmi váillahii nu
Gáhkkor čuorvu
Morašta
English Translation:
The black-throated diver She cries with the most beautiful sound
A clear sound
Then my grandfather put out his fishing nets
Into lake Vuolvojavri
Every night except on Sunday
When in early morning he emptied his nets
the little diver was caught
was mortally wounded
And we heard her beloved
mourning every night
Sadly missing her other half
The diver is crying
Grieving
House of Sweden: "Sofia Jannok possesses the exceptional – and enchanting – ability to combine song and yoik. Her lyrics are a mix of English, her mother tongue Sami, and yoik, a wordless form of expression that comes from the mouth, through the senses and into the heart."
Joik: "A joik, (also spelled yoik), luohti, vuolle, leu'dd, or juoiggus is a traditional Sami form of song. ... In northern Sami areas, most joiks are personal, that is, tied to a specific person. A joik is often made for a person at the time he is born."
Ára w. Sofia Jannok - Visalingo
This track is why YouTube needs a loop button.
February 05, 2012
A blueprint for a mustard seed
The Old Time Radio section of the Internet Archive hosts a 15-part adaptation of A Canticle for Leibowitz, produced for NPR and broadcast in 1981 by WHA radio (Madison, Wisconsin).
It is beautifully done.
I borrowed the image from 100 sf where A Canticle for Leibowitz
Homage: "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is the final episode of the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.
"Faith and reason are like the shoes on your feet. You can get further with both of them than you can with just one."
Co Cdr Strummer
Peter P. at Boardgamegeek notices something odd about the character names in his copy of Cityfight (hat tip to Pocket War Comics).
I happened to be perusing the City Fight countersheets tonight, looking over the NATO leader counters, and this one caught my eye...
Andrew & Trey - A Helpful Guide
I realize this is a Google ad for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II
February 04, 2012
Lino Villaventura Winter 2012 São Paulo
Lasombra couture.
MOMA: Francis Bacon (British, born Ireland. 1909-1992).
The South Bank Show (1985): Francis Bacon (1909-1992).
With a soundtrack by John Carpenter
Russian scientists drilling into Lake Vostok, buried under the ice for 20 million years, have been out of radio contact for six days.
The lake, in the most inhospitable region of the planet, is kept liquid by geothermal heat under the ice and its conditions are often described as 'alien' because they are thought to be akin to the subterranean lakes on Jupiter's moon Europa.
Popcorn related: "The Thing is regularly viewed by members of the winter crew at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station after the last flight out, usually in a double-feature with The Shining."
Ouija board play
RPGs, social activities and Don't Be A Dick rules.
Bart intuitively grasps how to handle other human beings in such a way that he can accomplish his goal of fucking around on the bus.
Martin does not. Martin needs the rule written down.
February 03, 2012
Renée Fleming - Song to the moon
Antonín Dvořák, Rusalka
Triangular
A structure has been found in some Roman ruins in Norfolk that "has no known parallels."
It was built around 1,800 years ago and the researchers believe that it’s totally unique.
Unusual, yes, but not unique, not even for Roman Britain. A triangular temple, assuming it was in fact a temple, was excavated at Veralamium by modern St. Albans in 1933.
I expect the design has more to do with street planning than anything else.
The Mighty Thor (S1E1, 1966) - Loki/Vengeance of Loki/ Defeat of Loki
Wardruna - Bjarkan (Live at the Viking Ship Museum)
"Wardruna performing 'Bjarkan' at their first concert, which took place on April 9 2009 in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway as a part of the Inferno Music Conference."
February 02, 2012
Colony Collapse Disorder
Bees have been dying off around the world for more than a decade now, and unscrupulous vendors have taken advantage by selling honey tainted with lead and antibiotics (hat tip to the Father of the Flea).
This is the way the world ends
A swarm of nano-quadrotors put through their paces.
"Scary to think about; almost as scary as this."
Five reasons Star Wars actually sucks
"Seriously: isn’t there some cancer you could be curing?"
Kristen Bell's sloth meltdown
I would still give rubies to date this woman.
So, fuck you, me.
Update: Hat tip to Damian.
February 01, 2012
Felicia Day - Vaginal Fantasy Hangout Bookclub!
I can't decide if I am more turned on or more irritated.
So, like life then.
" by Kaylana Price. But clearly we talked about a ton of stuff (and for the record I'm at 101 hours of Skyrim I just checked!!! Why I have the need to tell this to everyone is the real problem).HMS Belated
If not for the Falkland Islanders, if not for British sovereignty, if not for their manhood, I am pleased to see the prospect of oil and gas is enough to press a "Tory" cabinet into action.
Props for this. Also, kudos
PunishedProps was commissioned to build a replica of Mehrunes’ Razor from the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Related: Inkscape is an open-source scalable vector graphics editor.