Thursday, November 26, 2009

History of the Turducken

It can't hold a candle to a Walraffon.


Read more of the story at Medium Large
Via

Piece


Piece from selfburning on Vimeo.

Piece on Vimeo
via

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Terrorism that's personal

We typically think of terrorism as a political act.

But sometimes it’s very personal. It wasn’t a government or a guerrilla insurgency that threw acid on this woman’s face in Pakistan. It was a young man whom she had rejected for marriage. As the United States ponders what to do in Afghanistan — and for that matter, in Pakistan — it is wise to understand both the political and the personal, that the very ignorance and illiteracy and misogyny that create the climate for these acid attacks can and does bleed over into the political realm. Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times op-ed columnist who traveled to Pakistan last year to write abou t acid attacks, put it this way in an essay at the time: “I’ve been investigating such acid attacks, which are commonly used to terrorize and subjugate women and girls in a swath of Asia from Afghanistan through Cambodia (men are almost never attacked with acid). Because women usually don’t matter in this part of the world, their attackers are rarely prosecuted and acid sales are usually not controlled. It’s a kind of terrorism that becomes accepted as part of the background noise in the region. ...Read More
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Tony talks turkey

Jam your butter in there!


Anthony Bourdain is Here to Help You Avoid Completely Ruining Thanksgiving -

Pastries pastries everywhere in Paris


Click here to see Pastry | Paris

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession

This really shows the scope of the recession.



Click here to view

Via

The Rabbits of Porte Maillot: Keep or Kill?

I thought I knew Paris inside out but I had never heard of these lapins. Should they stay of should they go?

At the edge of Paris, there is a miraculous island. The Galapagos of the capital. A roundabout at the Porte Maillot that serves as a Noah's Ark to a colony of rabbits that has transformed the place into a giant hole. Should we protect them or get rid of them? You can vote here.

Seen on Frogsmoke

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Beautiful Time-Lapse Video


Time-Lapse Favs from Chad Richard on Vimeo.


Via

A Poem Comes to Life Through Type - Taylor Mali


Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Via My Modern Metropolis

Rules for Time Travelers

"With the new Star Trek out, it’s long past time (as it were) that we laid out the rules for would-be fictional time-travelers. (Spoiler: Spock travels to the past and gets a sex change and becomes Kirk’s grandfather lover.*) Not that we expect these rules to be obeyed; the dramatic demands of a work of fiction will always trump the desire to get things scientifically accurate, and Star Trek all by itself has foisted half a dozen mutually-inconsistent theories of time travel on us. But time travel isn’t magic; it may or may not be allowed by the laws of physics — we don’t know them well enough to be sure — but we do know enough to say that if time travel were possible, certain rules would have to be obeyed." Read all about it here


Via

A Virus Walked Into a Bar

A little science nerd humour.

Via Miss Cellania

Sunday, November 22, 2009

10 Stars of The New Burlesque

Apparently burlesque is making a big comeback - feathers, gargantuan martini glasses, over the top bawdiness and all. I even heard a burlesque piece on CBC Radio the other day.


Michelle L’amour

 
Lyalya Bezhetskaya




 Wanna look like a fifties stripper? Of course you do! Here's how to get the look:


See more here

Lovin' Machine


Lovin' Machine-- Wynonie Harris 1951 (with dancing clip)
Got this from Canada's most musical Member of Parliament, Charlie Angus.

Film vs. Digital


Film vs. Digital from Lauren Randolph on Vimeo.

Film vs. Digital
Via

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Bloody Sunday 1920

Bloody Sunday Nov 21 1920:

At 15:25 on 21st November 1920 British security forces opened fire on the crowd of a GAA match between Dublin and Tipperary at Croke Park. 13 spectators, including boys aged 10 and 11, and Tipperary player Micheál Ó hÓgáin, aged just 24, were murdered in cold blood in retaliation for the IRA's assassination of British Intelligence officers earlier that morning. This was a significant event in the Irish War of Independence and it led to greater support for the IRA and for Irish Independence from British rule by the people of Ireland. One of the stands at Croke Park is named after Ó hÓgáin to this day.

Cruel Nicknames for Overweight Vampires.

Count Chocoholic
Vampire the Buffet Slayer
Cholesteratu
The Vampurgler
The Vampire Lestop For Some Tacos
Vlad the Inhaler
Child Of Candy Cain
Quiche Lilith
Ghoulash
Queen of the Hammed
Taco Bela
Bela Obesi
Transylvania 6-5000 Calories
Dick Cheney
Das Vhoppyr

McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Via

Citadelle 2 - Jean Francois Rauzier (French 1952)

This blew me away. Go to the site and enlarge and zoom into the image.



"In this huge advent calendar a glorious selection of Venetian, Florentine, Neapolitan and Milanese gardens are partially hidden behind the doors, and a myriad of Italian Renaissance paintings can be seen through each window.

Citadelle 2 depicts the first floor of the same ‘Hotel Particulier’ in Rue de l'Universite in Paris as portrayed in Citadelle 1 (and shows to what extent Lagerfeld had painted over the gilt decoration
on the ground floor). In this exceptional work which amalgamates over 1,500 different images, Rauzier intends to portray the essential shallowness of French late 18th century decoration - like
icing on a cake - by juxtaposing it with the significant subject matter and the quality of the Italian 13th and 14th century paintings which he has placed behind the windows and doors. These subjects include the Birth of Venus, mankind being expelled from the Garden of Eden, Jesus being betrayed and crucified, and of course the Day of Judgement.

A key to the Italian artists whose work is represented will be included with this work. The artists include Giotto, Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, Uccello and Leonardo da Vinci."

Rauzier’s work is breathtaking. See more of it here.

50 practical tips to save you half a lifetime

I wish I'd read and heeded some of these tips earlier. It may not be too late for you.
I’ve been composing the letter from my 60-year-old self that would have been of some real use at 16: things I wish I’d known earlier. “Dear Me . . .
. . . Socks: buy ten pairs of black cotton socks and ten woollen; and stick to black for the rest of your life, saving hundreds of hours trying to match odd socks.
Port can cause a ghastly hangover. Charged by a bullock, lunge: he’ll back off. But not a bull. Learn to distinguish. Bullocks have no balls.
By acting bravely we become brave; not the other way round. Never melt wax in a saucepan you hope to use again.
Read more tips from Matthew Parris here

Feed on Fonts


Click on fullscreen to navigate the yummy pages.
Sweet Treats - A Typographical Cookbook
Via

Fall Garden





Last year we'd already had several snowstorms by this time. This year we've just picked the last of the roses. We still have mums and ornamental cabbage. I even spotted some pink phlox.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Visualizing Empires' Decline

As an experiment in information art, Pedro M. Cruz has created video representation of the evolution of the top four empires in decline during the 19th and 20th centuries; the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese:

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

Cartophilia
Via beancounters

Pop-up book of phobias

I'm afraid of heights, especially twisty mountain roads. I may also be developing a fear of comment spammers.

The Pop-up Book of Phobias from donvanone on Vimeo.


Via davidthompson

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Bio-Diversity

Christoph Niemann has fun with flora. They are very cute.




Lots more at Abstract City Blog - NYTimes.com

Going West


Andersen M Studio did this fabulous animation for the New Zealand Book Council.
I saw it here.

Furry Friends

The Wooster Collective talks to Neozoon about their furry installations, and what they mean for how we view animals.


"Our concern is the animal and its environment. We question the relationship of people and animals in a Western urban surrounding. You could really describe it as schizophrenic. On one hand, tons of meat: thousands of animals slaughtered every hour outside the cities and sold in clean plastic with expiration dates, and preferably not to be recognized as such. And on the other hand pets: insanely bred toys and overloaded with emotions. Its just interesting to see, how we perceive animals and how they seem to differ in value, just depending on what fits us best."
Read more at GOOD

The London of Sherlock Holmes



'Some interesting patterns emerge. Naturally, there's plenty of action around the Baker Street area, but Holmes never once set foot in nearby Soho. Zooming out, there's a surprising cluster of incidents around Crystal Palace. The reason is elementary when you know that Conan-Doyle lived for a time in South Norwood. We haven't plotted the numerous out-of-town locations mentioned in the books, but you can get a sense of Holmes' peregrinations by noting which rail stations he used most. Southern stations Charing Cross and Waterloo are visited a combined total of 16 times, while King's Cross and Euston are only blessed with the detective's patronage on four occasions.'

Via My Own Private Book Club

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Kid's Books from Poland

Kid's Books from Poland, part 2:
J. M. Szancer's Insect Armies 

 A Journey Round My Skull

Autocomplete Me

I'm loving this site.



What’s going on here?
Remember that time you were innocently searching for “how to avoid swine flu” but Google assumed you were searching for “how to avenge your brother’s death”? Yeah, that totally wasn’t what you were searching for, but it ended up being super helpful after your best friend “accidentally” stabbed Michael.

Autocomplete Me
Via

The World In Lego




To rebuild buildings, places and objects in Lego has become so commonplace that it takes a unifying theme to put a method to the brick madness. For us at Environmental Graffiti, what could be better than to highlight the beauty of selected UNESCO World Heritage Sites? We’ve picked ten incredible Lego equivalents.
The World In Lego
Via Intelligent Travel Blog

Words Become Images

Very cool project. Your words. His (or her) images.



See more at Words Become Images
via