November 20, 2008
87 years ago
Narrated by Sam Waterston
(More Ken Burns on YouTube)
Huge Depositories of Unusual Links About Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon and Barack Obama Here
November 20, 2008 in Americana - Abraham Lincoln | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
What makes something beautiful?
Is it exquisite colors? Elegant form or striking style? Or can something be beautiful simply for the ideas it contains?
The answer to that last question is a resounding "yes," according Dan Lewis, Dibner senior curator of the History of Science and Technology at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. He's the man responsible for a new exhibition at the library called "Beautiful Science: Ideas That Changed the World."
Listen to a great story by Joe Palca Paging Through History's Beautiful Science
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A Huge Depository of Unusual Literary Links Here
November 20, 2008 in Books & Literature | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A fabulous GM car collection
I was asked by a friend if I would like to go to view a "private car collection.' Of course I said "Yes."
On Monday I met him and rode to the destination along with another person. I did not know what I was in store for and therefore went with an open mind to see the cars. When we arrived, I should have taken a clue by the fact that the collection was housed in a rather large warehouse. We walked in and were greeted by one of the latest acquisitions. (From Bits & Pieces)
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The Atlantic School Bus Yard, a website solely dedicated to yellow buses of all kinds. (From Dooby Brain)
Ford Reintroduces Model T Line That Made It Great
A Huge Depository of Unusual Car Links Here
November 20, 2008 in Cars | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Granny gets financial advice
Sculptures by a Dollar artist - $7.95 each (some sculptures are made from two bills and are $7.95 x 2)
Mark Wagner's Smoke in my dreams
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Un-related: Sorry, we're open
A Huge Depository of Unusual Stories About Money Here
November 20, 2008 in Money & Finances | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Modesty plates
NOT2GR8
MEDIOCR
103IQ
LILFAT
DECENT
SHRUG
2NDRATE
TOLRABL
OKCOOK
VANILLA
UR2KIND
REALLY?
OSTOPIT
MIDLING
OKDOCTR
AVGBUTT
EH
- Modesty plates on McSweeneys
Donkey License Plate in Israel
(Pix above by Aldosart)
Some Huge Depositories of Unusual License Plates And Other Automotive Links Here
November 20, 2008 in Cars - License Plates | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Picasso
Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh, and other vintage celebrity photos
Abstract Sculptures - where Art and Mathematics Meet
Picasso and his many women. (From 10 Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso)
Sketch by Pablo Picasso of a poster for the 1926 Bal Banal, a dance benefit for Russian artists in Paris. (From Quipsologies)
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A 400-piece jigsaw puzzle of a NY Times cover of your choice, at Hammacher Schlemmer
A Huge Depository of Unusual Art and Artists Here
November 20, 2008 in Modern Art | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 18, 2008
Foreclosures Galore
Another sign of the times: Casino Riverboat For Sale
A Huge Depository of Unusual Real Estate Stories Here
November 18, 2008 in Real estate | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
November 16, 2008
Etch-A-Sketch Clock
Etch-A-Sketch Clock Draws Out the Time, Erases Itself
A Cathode Corner Nixie Waist Watch and 9 other weird watch concepts
Unrelated: Ouch
A Huge Depository of Unusual Clocks and Watches Here
November 16, 2008 in Clocks & Watches | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Strawberries and Pepper
Carrots and Sugar, Coffee and Salt, Tomatoes and Sugar… 7 other Unusual Food Combinations
(From Listverse, which contains hundreds of interesting lists. The most recent viral link from List-Universe is Last Pictures Taken)
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Gluttonous Turkey Leg Porn - Over 6,000 Flickr images of gluttons gnawing on turkey legs. (From Unknown Highway)
The recent restaurant that we’ve been visiting (again & again) in Little Saigon, Orange County is The Boiling Crab, a Vietnamese-owned Cajun crawfish place. Most all the clients there are Vietnamese, and the food is served in plastic bags full of extremely spicy crawfish, shrimp & crabs…. Mmmm
How to make a Welsh Rabbit, basically an open-face grilled cheese sandwich, where the cheese is melty and boozy and spicy, sort of like a robust fondue
Sugar Lips. Previously, Sugar face
(Photo above from Baking Obsession)
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Waiter: How was your dinner, madam?
Lady: I've had fresher fish.
Waiter: Not here...
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Un-related: Burning flowers
A Huge Depository of Unusual Meals and Foods Here
November 16, 2008 in Food | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Pickin’ Cotton
The results of the recent presidential election, on county level are below. Blue counties voted for Obama, red ones for McCain (darker hues representing larger majorities). In spite of Obama’s national victory, and barring Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, all Southern states (i.e. all states formerly belonging to the Confederacy) went for McCain. The pattern of pro-Obama counties in those southern states corresponds strikingly with the cotton-picking areas of the 1860s, especially along the Louisiana-Mississippi and Mississippi-Alabama borders.
- From Pickin’ Cotton to Pickin’ Presidents
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I Voted for Two. (From message for Obama pool on flickr)
Obama Action Figures. (From Village Voice)
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Barack atah Illinois
Elohenu melech ha'obama,
hoo-ray p'ri ha-electoral landslide.
Amen.
(Thank you, Abbit the average)
Much more about the 2008 Election. Also, the 2004 election and other Political Posts Here
November 16, 2008 in 2008 US Election | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Is this viral? I got a strange book unexpectedly in the mail…
“…I got a book in the mail yesterday. It came from Sweden, with sufficient postage. It was in a white envelope, with my name and work address written by hand in pen. On the envelope, there was also a note that said "Will tell you more when I return!" Inside was a white volume, hardback, called "Being or Nothingness", with the well known picture by Escher on the cover of two hands recursively drawing each other. The author is given as "Joe K". There is also a sticker that says "Warning! Please study the letter to Professor Hofstadter before you read the book. Good Luck!".
Inside the front cover is, indeed, a neatly typed letter to Doug Hofstadter, with the right Bloomington address etc. It is dated Nov 9, 2006. It relates to what is presumably a prior acquaintance between the letter writer and Hofstadter. The letter is signed "The Writer". I'd reproduce the whole letter, as this is getting interesting at this stage, but then I'd have to do the same for the whole book, because it is an interesting little text, quite incoherent in an artistic way, that mingles themes from Hofstadter's Strange Loop, Douglas Adams, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The text is vaguely related to some Christian themes, but also to recursion and the meaning of life.
Now, I have no idea who sent this, nor can I imagine anyone I know in Sweden doing so…”
A Huge Depository of Hilarious Pranks And Outrageous jokes Here
November 16, 2008 in Pranks | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
November 15, 2008
Last New Rules of 2008
New rules: Hank Poulson must drop the 700 billion dollar in bailout money from a plane and let everybody scramble for it on the ground. Sure it will be chaos, but at least we have a change of getting our money back
A Huge Depository of Unusual Stories about America Here
November 15, 2008 in Americana | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
What do you believe?
The most detailed and fascinating explication of Barack Obama's faith came in a 2004 interview he gave Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois. The column she wrote about the interview has been quoted and misquoted many times over, but she'd never before published the full transcript in a major publication.
(Link fixed now)
A Huge Depository of Unusual links about Unusual Gods Here
November 15, 2008 in Americana - Barack Obama, Spirituality | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
November 13, 2008
Hire This Man
Depression era flashback:
Remember all of those photos of people looking for work in the 1930s? The sandwich boards that said things like “WILL WORK FOR FOOD”?
Walking to work on Friday (42nd St and Vanderbilt), I bumped into Paul Nawrocki. He is looking for a job in Operations without much success. He got the idea for the sandwich board from an ex-Lehman employee who found success with it.
You can reach Paul at home 845-831-1802 or on his cell phone 646-584-3900
Email address: beaconpaul@aol.com
(From Barry Ritholtz)
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Also: Dirty jobs
A Huge Depository of Unusual Job Offers Here
November 13, 2008 in Jobs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Kid soldiers
All armies in the Great War used kid soldiers. In the beginning of the war the enthusiasm to join the battle was so great that young boys (and even girls) could hardly be stopped to enlist.
Recruiting Officers in all countries closed their eyes when eager children clearly under the required age - 18 years old - showed up to join their armies.
At the end of the war children were even more welcome in the ranks, as the Great Mincing Machine continued to require human bodies with an astonishing need.
Hardly trained the kids were send to the trenches in Belgium, France, Russia and Turkey, where they mingled with the older soldiers - and died with them.
- Kid Soldiers of the Great War
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Update: Guns on Daylife
Huge Depositories of Unusual War Links and Unusual Peace Links Here
November 13, 2008 in War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nosmo King
From the “I Did Not Know That File” -
The anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany was the first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history. Anti-tobacco movements grew in many nations from the beginning of the 20th century, but these had little success except in Germany where the campaign was supported by the government after the Nazis came to power. It was the most powerful anti-smoking movement in the world in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Nazi leadership condemned smoking and several of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Research on smoking and its effects on health thrived under Nazi rule and was the most important of its type at that time.
- Today's wikipedia featured article
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"...Fewer than 100 survived Treblinka. I am the last one"...
A Huge Depository of Unusual Links About The Holocaust Here
November 13, 2008 in The Holocaust | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 12, 2008
Digital Ghost Towns
Digital Ghost Towns are corporate websites built at great expense, no doubt expecting a large number of visitors, but which don't get any.
Arguably, the internet itself is one giant ghost town. Millions of sites, the vast majority being almost totally empty
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Also: Reddit logos
A Huge Depository of Unusual Things To Do On The Internet Here
November 12, 2008 in Internet | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Der Untergang
Parody clip above from Wreck and Salvage
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MLS#S549545 - FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY! AN ENTERTAINERS' DREAM! One-of-a-kind historic landmark property featuring unique styling, world-class location and mind-blowing ultra-panoramic 360-degree ocean, harbor & city lights views! Commercial-grade elevator brings occupants to the common levels, soaring well above height restrictions limiting other homes in the area. Spectacular top-level observation deck/great room features automatic blinds, unobstructed panoramic views in every direction, indoor fire pit, wet bar & built-in fish tank!
Price: $4,500,000. 1 Anderson Street Seal Beach, CA 90740. (Thank you, Robert)
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Finally, affordable "near loft" like Artist Housing, right here in the Bay Area, now! At Dystopic Horizons Realty
'Good Samaritan' saves crying woman's foreclosed home
A Huge Depository of Unusual Real Estate Stories Here
November 12, 2008 in Real estate | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Apes
Kissing the Ceiling project, by artist Fred Muram
The amazing photographs that show the world's most famous landmarks replaced by cheap souvenirs
Touching Strangers by Richard Renaldi
A Huge Depository of Unusual Photography Links Here
November 12, 2008 in Photography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Art of drinking
Gogola soft drink stand in Mumbai, India
Lots of Pepsi bottles, Seven up caps, Dr. Pepper cans, and other Soda cans thru the years
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Drink bourbon! Did you know that drinking bourbon can give you sense of “feeling” warm, even though your body is actually getting colder? Like that famous Belgian therapist always says, “It’s the feeling that counts!”
Nine More Tips for Winterizing Yourself
A Huge Depository of Unusual Drinks Including Unusual Beer Links Here
November 12, 2008 in Beverages | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
He wouldn’t eat the mushrooms
Free to good home. One small white male child. Uses very little food. Free Smallish Boy
Make your grandma wear a ’stache
The many faces of James Kuhn, the man with a different face for every day of the year
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A woman announces to her friend that she is getting married for the fourth time.
How wonderful! But I hope you don’t mind me asking what happened to your first husband?
He ate poisonous mushrooms and died.
Oh, how tragic! What about your second husband?
He ate poisonous mushrooms too and died.
Oh, how terrible! I am almost afraid to ask you about your third husband.
He dies of a broken neck.
A broken neck?
He wouldn’t eat the mushrooms…
Huge Depositories of Jokes and other Funny Stuffs Here
November 12, 2008 in Jokes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The flow of creativity
Animation tutorial from Dermot O' Connor:
Most sane people have a fear of animating walk cycles. Many events are happening at the same time, and it can seem overwhelming. A single mistake on your first drawing can wreck the rest of the scene. However, the process can be broken down into a series of steps which can go some distance in simplifying the process.
A walk cycle can be described by four distinct poses:
CONTACT, RECOIL, PASSING and HIGH-POINT…
Honda's Assisted Walking Device
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Also, How Disney Used To Do It. (Click to biggify)
A Huge Depository Of Unusual Comics and Cartoons Here
November 12, 2008 in Comics & Cartoons | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Pulp Muppets
(From neatorama)
A Huge Depository of Unusual ‘Pulp Fiction’ Links Here
November 12, 2008 in Cinema - "Pulp Fiction" | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Toxic Villages
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Alternative GOP logos from Thomas Fuchs
A new Facebook group, called There’s a 97.3 Percent Chance That Nate Silver Is Totally My Boyfriend. (From CJR)
Huge Depositories of Political Posts, specifically the 2008 and 2004 Elections Here
November 12, 2008 in Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 08, 2008
A plate of ubiquitous
…My mother tends to go through phases of making a particular dessert a lot. After a few nights on the trot of having trifle, and being a particularly snotty/precocious teenager who read a lot, I declared 'Ah, the ubiquitous trifle!' when it came out again. And promptly spent 5 minutes explaining what it meant, and that it wasn't an insult.
Nearly 20 years later, trifle is now universally offered in the family as 'Would you like a plate of Ubiquitous?'…
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What are some examples of "Family Slang"? For example, a friend's father once told a joke to his family that poked fun at the French. He concluded by saying, "Don't tell anyone from France." Now, within their family, "Don't tell anyone from France" means "Let's keep this between us"--and they say it even if the secret has nothing to do with the French
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Eunoia is the shortest word in English containing all five vowels - and it means "beautiful thinking". It is also the title of Canadian poet Christian Bok's book of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel
A Huge Depository of Unusual Language Links Here
November 8, 2008 in Languages | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
A R C H I V E S
