Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, died Sunday at the age of 73. He was a renaissance man who was also a musician. I wonder how many of his obits will mention his backup performance on banjo on Smells Like Teen Spirit on Patti Smith's 2007 album Twelve?
Monday, July 31, 2017
Storm Says "Let Me In"
A few days ago I posted a video of hailstones the size of golf balls pummelling Istanbul. Here's another video of the same storm as it takes control of the revolving door of a hotel.
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AstroTurf Lingerie
Because everyone wants to feel like they’ve got grass growing on their chest and nether regions. Or is that just me?
More Here
用途がこれ着けて草むらに身を隠すしか思い付かない pic.twitter.com/jD7US6e0MN— 鳩むぎ🐦3日目東チ15b (@ht_mugicha) July 23, 2017
More Here
Tiny Embroidered Landscapes
Britta Marakatt-Labba creates miniature worlds containing scenes from everyday life, political reflections and stories about the Sámi culture and history.
More here
More here
International Garden Photographer of the Year Macro Art Winners
Sunday, July 30, 2017
The Animated Trump Parody Music Video
TWEET is a parody music video created by HATEIOHEAD, a collective of citizens who are embarrassed by the current government and its leader.
Via
Via
It's Double Dutch Time!
Double Dutch has the spotlight at Lincoln Center this weekend, with two days of free demonstrations, an exhibition, panel discussions, and the Double Dutch Summer Classic National Competition.
There will be a showing of Pick Up Your Feet: The Double Dutch Show, the 1981 Emmy award winning documentary video about personal achievement and teamwork, featuring the Fantastic Four and other championship rope jumping teams. Here's a preview:
There will be a showing of Pick Up Your Feet: The Double Dutch Show, the 1981 Emmy award winning documentary video about personal achievement and teamwork, featuring the Fantastic Four and other championship rope jumping teams. Here's a preview:
Bird Palaces of Ottoman-Era Turkey
In Ottoman-Era Turkey birds were thought to grant good deeds to those who built homes for them so birdhouses were not merely rudimentary shelters but were ornate pieces of miniature architecture that ranged from one-story homes to multiple-story bird mansions.
More: Colossal
Thanks Bruce!
More: Colossal
Thanks Bruce!
Dead Heavy Metal Legend Will Tour As Holograph
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| Scanpix Norway / Reuters |
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Thanks Bruce!
60's Surf Tribute to Port Stanley
Cousins Sam Allen of Toronto and Paul Hickling of London ON are channeling the 60's surf-rock sound as an ode to their fond memories of summer days spent on the beach of Port Stanley.
More: CBC News
Sunday Links
Unraveling the emotional depth of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks (above)
The Sequel Songs of George Harrison: Paul McCartney was “the cute Beatle,” Ringo Starr was “the funny Beatle,” and George Harrison was “the sequel Beatle.”
Jared Kushner Plays the Lottery and The Mooch has a nosh.
The "A Bit More" button doesn’t reinvent the appliance’s form. It finds its soul instead. I too adore my Breville toaster. Via
The 12-Hour Goodbye That Started Everything
The Sicilian bar in “The Godfather” where Michael Corleone learns Apollonia's name still open for business
How Goya Got His Groove Back: Just as Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes set to work on painting what interested him, the King came knocking. Very cute.
Decision fatigue? A Neuroscientist's strategy for limiting decisions: Pick 2nd menu item
I was so sad when The Toast bid us adieu last year and rode off into the sunset but was excited to discover that they just couldn't quit us and returned to post one day of new content for literally no reason! Joan Didion and Anna Wintour: Best Friends Forever is hilarious.
Girl gangs: Portraits of Chicano girl culture from the 1990s Thanks Bruce!
The Hoarders Who Never Clean Their Nightmare Desktops I'm obsessive about keeping my desktop totally clean so this upsets me a bit. Via
10 People Who Found The Best Things In Thrift Stores, Flea Markets And Garage Sales
Property of the week: a Dutch eco-home built into the earth Beautiful!
Watching and Lamenting the Death of the New York Diner: What’ll it be for the New York diner? BLT (light on mayo), 2 eggs over easy, or extinction?
@darkstockphotos tweets disturbing stock photography found on the web. Totally creepy. Via
IKEA catalogue 2017: Defining "domestic bliss" in different cultures
After filming the shower scene in Hitchcock's "Psycho," Janet Leigh stopped taking showers for years The film had the same effect on me.
Facebook worker living in garage to Zuckerberg: challenges are right outside your door. As the Facebook CEO travels across the US to ‘learn about people’s hopes and challenges’, the cafeteria workers at his company struggle to make ends meet.
Extraordinary Swedish greenhouse creates a Mediterranean climate around a three-bedroom home.
The TELUS Health Brain Project is a large-scale outdoor exhibit that brings brain health, art and imagination to the streets of Toronto. Via
The Ghost Villages of Newfoundland A controversial government resettlement program left centuries-old fishing villages abandoned. I'll be there in a few weeks so might see some of these.
The Worst White House Kitchen in History? Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t care what she ate. She had no palate, she wasn’t interested in food, it gave her no pleasure—or at least people have been saying these things ever since she became a public figure in the 1920s.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
The Tipsy Robot
You'll get no smiles or friendly chatter from the bartenders at the Tipsy Robot Bar in Vegas but you will get a decent drink whipped up by a robot. Enter your order on a tablet or through the Tipsy Robot app that you've downloaded onto your phone. Once you've ordered, you get an alert telling you that your drink is ready. One question: How much do you tip a robot bartender?
Link
Via
Link
Via
Crazy Hailstorm In Istanbul
A violent storm in Istanbul yesterday with hail up to 9 cm in diameter reported.
BRUTAL bombardment with very large hail yesterday in Istanbul, Turkey! Hail up to 9 cm in diameter reported! Video: Meteor Turkey pic.twitter.com/Roi281Sx5E— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) July 28, 2017
Friday, July 28, 2017
Heritage Minutes Roadtrip
Heritage Minutes is a collection of bilingual Canadian 60-second short films, each depicting a significant person, event or story in Canadian history. Rebecca and Jim are visiting a location for each of 87 minutes. You can follow them on their journey here and here and learn about Canada.
“Study art” signs by John Waters
Organization Makes Very Cool Halloween Costumes For Kids In Wheelchairs
Kito The Advertising Dog
Thai ridgeback, Kito, is the star of multiple advertising spots for Electrabel, a Belgian energy company. They use Kito, the energy consuming dog, to address the issue of energy consumption in a humourous way. In the video below we see him in his new role as a dogfather as he tries to manage his life and is now consuming even more energy.
Via MetaFilter
Via MetaFilter
The Medieval Fantasy City Generator
The Medieval Fantasy City Generator is a web application that “generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size."
Via
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| Click here for interactive image |
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Xerox Is Not A Verb
The typewriter-written letter, dated August 2, 1979, is directed to a mis-gendered "Mr. Michiko Kakutani" in response to an article in which Xerox's name is used as a verb.
Via
Via
Bento Box Backpack
Japan’s iconic boxed lunch serves as inspiration for a bag big enough to hold multiple meals. It comes with three removable zippered pouches bearing lifelike images of bento favourites.
The Bento Backpack can be ordered here.
The Bento Backpack can be ordered here.
My Old Desktop
Nova Scotia-based illustrator and photographer Chris McVeigh's “My Old Desktop” series features computers from the ’80s and ’90s made from Lego bricks, complete with office accessories and illustrated, step-by-step construction instructions for each kit’s assembly.
See more of McVeigh's Lego building kits here.
Via
See more of McVeigh's Lego building kits here.
Via
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Evolution In Flipbook Form
This flipbook traces 600 Million years of human evolution.
Purchase it at the EVO evolution webshop
Via
Purchase it at the EVO evolution webshop
Via
In The Trenches
Andy Belsey creates realistic looking models of WWI trench sections from everyday objects. So far he's modeled 9 different sections which he documents at Military.Modelling.com
Via
Via
Romania’s Communist-era Bike Is Reborn
Romania's bicycle brand, Pegas, stopped production at the beginning of this century but is making a comeback. In order to appeal to the young audience of today the company created The Internet of the People, a website that shows what the internet would have been like if it were invented during the glory days of the Pegas, complete with old fashioned communist-era blackouts.
The Internet of the People from Bicicletele Pegas on Vimeo.
Bat BnB
BatBnB is a line of accommodations for bats. If mosquitos find your flesh irresistable you might be interested in hosting bats on your property in these designer digs. Bats are one of the planet's greatest natural forms of pest control and can eat thousands of mosquitos in a single night.
They're available for pre-order on Indiegogo.
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Pursuit (4K)
Pursuit (4K) is a stormlapse film by storm-chasing wedding photographer Mike Olbinski. View in full-screen mode.
Pursuit (4K) from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.
Via
Pursuit (4K) from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.
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Analyzing the Gender Representation of 34,476 Comic Book Characters
Female characters appear in superhero comics less often than males — but when they are included, how are they depicted? They are often hyper-sexualized, unnecessarily brutalized, stereotyped, and used as tokens.
Amanda Shendruk has analyzed naming conventions, types of superpowers, and the composition of teams to see how male and female genders are portrayed in DC and Marvel comics.
Link
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Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Surviving the Post-Trump Apocalypse
With Donald Trump threatening to break the US's commitments to bring climate change under control, artist Chih Chiu confronts the looming environmental crisis with Voyage on the Planet, his self-contained survival kit which recycles the oxygen produced by a single plant.
Survival Kit
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Pablo Escobar’s Narco Hippos
In the 1980s, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was rich enough to have his own private zoo. What happened to the animals when Escobar was killed in a shootout?
Via
Via
Microbial Brooches
These felt brooches by Vancouver-based artist Hine Mizushima resemble microscopic organisms such as Paramecium, Euglena, Amoeba and Daphnia commonly found in swamps, freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers.
More here
More here
Urban Campsite Amsterdam
UrbanCampsite Amsterdam is a collection of artistic micro shelters that pop up in an underused part of the city every other year. This year's exhibition theme is "The Art of Tech-Living". Each dwelling can be booked on Airbnb through August, with prices ranging from €85-140 per night.
More here
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| “Sleeping Pod,” Studio Made Photo by Jeroen Staats |
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| “GigaBed,” Studio Valkenier Photo via UrbanCampsite |
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| “Tubalow,” Boomhuttenfest Photo by Jeroen Staats |
More here
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Petit Pli Clothing Expands To Fit Kids As They Grow
At last, clothes that fit your kids even after dramatic growth spurts! Royal College of Art graduate Ryan Mario Yasin used his background as an aeronautical engineer to devise a set of permanent folds that let clothes "unpack" when pulled, so they stretch over children as they get bigger.
More
More
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Roman Roads of Britain
Sasha Trubetskoy has created this map of Britain's Roman-built roads that you can purchase here.
Related post
Thanks to Mr.Nag for sending this to me.
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| Click here for larger image |
Thanks to Mr.Nag for sending this to me.
Radio Program for Lonely Canines
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| Photo via Deine Tierwelt |
A German radio station pumps out music for lonely pooches on a 24/7 program called “Hallo Hasso” which is designed to make canine listeners feel less lonely when their owners are not at home.
Host Stephan “Stocki” Stock and his colleagues at RadioTon started researching what kind of music usually appeals to dogs, and learned that it should have as little drum and electric guitar as possible, and should be very slow. The program can be accessed online here. My dog, Lizzie, showed zero interest when I tuned in.
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Freedom Riders
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| (Image credit: Kevin) |
"On May 4, 1961, the first group of Freedom Riders -seven African Americans and six whites- left Washington, DC, on two Greyhound buses. Their plan was to ride through the entire Deep South (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana). But they were so severely harassed and attacked -beaten, bloodied, and jailed, their buses firebombed and destroyed- that they made it only as far as Birmingham, Alabama."
How Game of Thrones Helped a Farmer in Northern Ireland Save His Livestock Farm
Great Big Story visited with farmer Kenny Gracey of Forthill Farm in County Armagh, Northern Ireland who shared his story of how Game of Thrones kept him from losing his livestock farm.
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Detailed Dollhouses You'll Wish You Could Live In
Life in the City
For well over a decade, German photographer Michael Wolf has been exploring the complexity of modern life in megacities. There is a major retrospective of his work at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2017.
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| The phrase “street photography” comes loaded with expectations —which is what makes Michael Wolf’s always-original bodies of work an important reminder of why the world’s streets continue to captivate our attention. |
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Monday, July 24, 2017
Sara Berman’s Closet
A frugal Jewish immigrant from s shtetl in Belarus fashioned a sovereign identity through clothing and decor. Great story!
Sara Berman’s Closet from NewYorker on Vimeo.
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People Answer Questions About Love Before and After Drinking
Will people be more honest about love after one or two? This video from Cut attempts to answer that question.
Japanese Cat Is Two Kitties In One
Japanese Twitter user @TOKAITRICK_bot took this photo of a stray cat with an unusual marking on its face. I hope all the internet attention will find this little guy a home.
Via
鼻にもねっこがおるよ pic.twitter.com/tmUMqyT5bl— トウカイトリックbot (@TOKAITRICK_bot) July 19, 2017
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Paper Portraits Of Famous People
These detailed pieces of art by Nayan Shrimali are made with paper, a paper cutting knife and acrylic colours assembled carefully to depict the different personalities of the subjects.
More here
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| Frida Kahlo |
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| Nicola Tesla |
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| Beyoncé |
More here
How To Be A Hedgehog
De Herinacio: On the Hedgehog by Polish animator Ala nunu Leszynska is a charming video,based on the drawings of hedgehogs in one of the British Library's medieval bestiaries.
De Herinacio. On the Hedgehog from ala nunu leszynska on Vimeo.
Link
Via Blort
1940s America By Bus
Take a trip around the USA by Greyhound via this public domain film from the Prelinger Archivess.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Pfifferlinge Pasta
Blogger buddy perfect for roquefort cheese tried a new recipe for spaghetti with braised Pfifferlinge (aka chanterelles), onions and sundried tomatoes. It looks delicious.
Recipe here
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Star-Studded Safety Video For BA
British Airways enlisted comedian Chabuddy G to himself enlist famous British faces ready to explain how to buckle your seatbelt and fold away your table during takeoff.
More here
More here
Cthulhuian Font Unleashed Upon The Internet
Finally a font that that expresses the ethos of the octopus-headed cosmic entity known as Cthulhu! Although humans struggle to pronounce the true sounds of the language of R’lyeh we can now reproduce the written language thanks to StapletonMcTavish who has unlocked the secret of the Cthulhuian alphabet.
Via Neatorama
Charming Film Shot On An iPhone
Détour is a playful film about a tricycle in search of its young owner made by French director Michel Gondry and it was shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus.
Detour took about two weeks to make, during which Gondry used the video software Filmic Pro, which costs $14.99 in Apple's app store. It was shot as part of Apple's iPhone advertising campaign.
More here
Related: Tangerine, a full length film shot on the iPhone 5
Detour took about two weeks to make, during which Gondry used the video software Filmic Pro, which costs $14.99 in Apple's app store. It was shot as part of Apple's iPhone advertising campaign.
More here
Related: Tangerine, a full length film shot on the iPhone 5
Sunday Links
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Hummingbirds often brave downpours to gather the nectar needed to avoid starvation. This Anna’s hummingbird shakes off rain as a wet dog does, with an oscillation of its head and body (Sources: Victor Ortega-Jimenez and Robert Dudley) |
Unlocking the Secrets Behind the Hummingbird's Frenzy: High-speed cameras show us what makes these birds perfect flying machines. Incredible!
Black is an invisible colour This is a very interesting blog post about Johnny Cash's first wife, Vivian.
The inspiring final push in Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope Terry is a Canadian hero. Even today this young man's courage brings a tear to my eye. Via
"Incubus," the horror film made entirely in Esperanto, starring William Shatner Bizarre.
Black is an invisible colour This is a very interesting blog post about Johnny Cash's first wife, Vivian.
The inspiring final push in Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope Terry is a Canadian hero. Even today this young man's courage brings a tear to my eye. Via
"Incubus," the horror film made entirely in Esperanto, starring William Shatner Bizarre.
The Role of Cats and Dogs in Cases of Spousal Abuse For a battered Victorian wife animal intervention could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Via
Rebekah Del Rio performs "No Stars" (Twin Peaks 2017) Haunting and lovely
Ouch! Surgeons Find 27 Contact Lenses in "Forgetful" Woman's Eye
Northern Ireland Game of Thrones Tapestry This 77 metre long medieval wall-hanging brings to life the events, locations and story of GofT.
10,000 Hours With Claude Shannon: There are plenty of mathematicians and engineers who write great papers. There are fewer of them who are also jugglers, unicyclists, gadgeteers, first-rate chess players, codebreakers, expert stock-pickers, and amateur poets. Via PfRC
COPS - Trump Edition (Bad boys, whatcha gonna do?)
From coffee shops to airports, Googie architecture is a futuristic style that embraced space age USA
The170-Year History of Foodporn Via
Basement Reels, a Canadian-based group, makes 5min short films, both serious and silly, tailored to the Tamil diaspora community. Via MetaFilter
Elegant Underground Winery in Southern Italy Architects from the Flemish studio De Vylder Vinck Taillieu created this underground winery in the ancient city of Matera. Under the carved vaults, Enoteca dai Tosi is both a wine bar and a wine cellar.
20 Beautiful Words That Will Make You Fall in Love With the French Language
Two days in an underwater cave running out of oxygen As hours turned into days he realised he might not be found in time. Via Bruce
How India’s Gig Economy Is Trapping its Workers in the Cycle of Poverty "But hey, they're micro-entrepreneurs in the gig economy. That's pretty good, right?" Actually it's not good at all.
10 of the best public gardens in Italy The Grandi Giardini Italiani – the country’s largest network of gardens – are celebrating its 20th anniversary. Come è bello!
What happened when Walmart left “They screwed us real hard by leaving us like that. It’s so sad they thought they could just walk away.” Thanks Bruce!
8 of KFC's Weirdest and Most Wonderful Promotional Stunts: The fried chicken chain has done everything from sunscreen to space travel.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
When You're Told Your Cat Drawings Are Crap But You Know They're Not
Has anyone ever told you that you can't draw cats? Perhaps it's because they haven't seen your models. Heloisa, an artist from Brazil posts hilarious super-realistic creations on a Twitter account called Poorly Drawn Cats.
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— poorly drawn cats (@poorlycatdraw) June 29, 2017
— poorly drawn cats (@poorlycatdraw) October 13, 2016
— poorly drawn cats (@poorlycatdraw) February 9, 2017
— poorly drawn cats (@poorlycatdraw) October 23, 2016
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Electric Mayhem Muppets
Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem were the house band from The Muppet Show. Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, and Animal first appeared in 1975 on The Muppet Show pilot “Sex and Violence.”
Illustrator and designer Michael De Pippo's retro posters imagine a one night only gig by the band.
The Electric Mayhem Band performed Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with Elton John on The Muppet Show in 1978:
Illustrator and designer Michael De Pippo's retro posters imagine a one night only gig by the band.
The Electric Mayhem Band performed Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with Elton John on The Muppet Show in 1978:
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