It has come to my attention that there are zonkeys.
Linked to on Metafilter – loving it
Linked to on Metafilter – loving it
It’s nice to see something I wrote showing up on the web (even though I nabbed it from Gizmodo). I stand by my assessment!
Ebert on being a book lover
I wouldn’t have guessed Ebert for a sentimental book collector like myself. Nice little read.
Vocabulary: Final Shandean Edition
hypallage: a reversal of an expected phrasing (i.e. doing well -> well doing)
renversé: a French term, meaning something performed with a bent waist
toise: an old French unit of length equivalent to 6.4ft (almost exactly 2m)
quinsy: an outdated term for some forms of tonsil-related disease
obliquity: divergent – mathematically, astronomically, or mentally
iracundulous: a redundant addition to iracund (prone to anger)
tunicle: a garment worn by certain religious functionaries
meseraick: an anatomical term relating to the humors
eleemosynary: pertaining to or supported by charity
prolegomena: an introductory essay or preface
whilom: formerly or at one time
The Black Horse of Famine
Part of an apocalyptic horse series by André Durand. Surprisingly, they are pretty much his only good work, the rest being ridiculously cliché or garish and overdone. Oh well.
Crime in Choir – “Crystal Cakes”
Gift Givers
I’ve been meaning to check these guys out for a while. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this is pretty great: it’s kind of like they took the instrumental parts of Pink Floyd’s Animals and just extended it and augmented it. Very cool, very dynamic.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/25500650001?isVid=1&publisherID=1138077173
Micro pigs. MICRO PIGS
(Source: http://c.brightcove.com/)
This is great. Some researchers taped cameras to the backs of albatrosses and let ‘em go.
05_catching_butterflies_with_hand
Mouse on Mars – “Catching Butterflies With Hand”
Idiology
Mouse on Mars is a quirky electronic outfit that’s been around for a while; Idiology came out ages ago. It’s not full of music I like, but it’s got a few gems on it like this one. Give it a minute, it starts out pretty weird.
A scene from Henry Darger’s The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion
Obama quietly ousts lobbyists from many government panels
Obama quietly ousts lobbyists from many government panels
“This was done in a vacuum,” said another business lobbyist who sits on one of the panels. “The decision was made in a room of the White House without consultation.”
Oh, delicious irony.
Windows 7 launch parties: a harpoon to the very heart of humanity
Now that is a good picture of a space station. Bigger here.
He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the bell.
“I have seen those symptoms before,” said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. “Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur.“
In Sherlock Holmes – wonderfully descriptive, isn’t it?
Augie March – “Heartbeat and Sails”
Sunset Studies
Augie March’s Sunset Studies is a far cry from the masterpiece that is Strange Bird, but it’s got some fantastic tracks on it. This isn’t really representative of them, but it’s a great song – I love the metronomic beat of the banjo.
WWI bombers.
Great video of Tiananmen Square on the Chinese National Day (I think) – shot on a 7D and a 5D mk II.
(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)
There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.
Old Persian saying
More Fontanesi. God, the man could paint.
Astonishing… very beautiful, and unmistakeably dolphinous.
Stephen Fry, on seeing an Amazon pink dolphin
Handheld Genesis! Only 20 games on it, and they’re not all gold by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s awesome nonetheless.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Blood On The Wall – “Lightning Song”
Liferz
Loved this song as soon as I heard it. Blood On The Wall are hit-or-miss, but they can hit pretty hard, particularly when the lady is singing instead of the guy. I love that “Lightning Song” is exactly the length and depth it wants to be – it’s just a perfectly crafted song.
Health care lobbyists spending millions on those closest to legislation
Health care lobbyists spending millions on those closest to legislation
“The industry and interest groups have spent $380m (£238m) in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totalling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.”
This is making me sick.