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06 Nov 23:14

hollyjollyespeon: sprech4: strangewind: This is what the set...

Russian Sledges

just add truman capote

via snorkmaiden



hollyjollyespeon:

sprech4:

strangewind:

This is what the set of the original black & white Addams Family TV show set looked like in color.

But Tish…pastels?

It’s probably so everything would show up better in black & white! A lot of older shows had to colour coordinate in order to make sure the whole thing didn’t turn into gray mush when it was taped, and it makes some of the colour choices look kind of strange

#ITS PASTEL GOTH

06 Nov 23:04

anothermindpalace: Nose crinkle! :)

Russian Sledges

Loopinggif Crinklesnout



anothermindpalace:

Nose crinkle! :)

06 Nov 22:58

Dust to Dust: Blockbuster to Shut Down All Physical Movie Services Next Year

by Susana Polo

Listen closely children, as I tell you of the days when if you wanted to watch a movie that you did not own, you had to get in a car, move to another location, argue over what movies you wanted to watch for the entire week based on a small physical selection, handle physical media and interact with a stranger, and then move back to your house to watch the movie. And then when you were done, you had take the spool of plastic which contained the visual and audio data for the movie and wind it back to its original position, and then bring it back to where you got it within a time limit, or pay steep fines.

Truly, those days are no more, and Blockbuster must now pass into the East, and fade from this Age of Men.

The company announced today that it will be shutting down everything that it does that involves physical media.

Blockbuster L.L.C., will end its retail and by mail DVD distribution operations by early-January 2014. The company will close its approximately 300 remaining U.S.-based retail stores, as well as its distribution centers… The Blockbuster By Mail service will end mid-December and will serve existing customers until that time.

I know what you’re thinking: Blockbuster still has retail stores? Didn’t they shut down already? Well, sort of. They did declare bankruptcy in 2010, closed a bunch of stores, and were bought by the Dish Network, who sort of hemmed and hawed as they tried to convert the video store chain that killed the independent video store into one that offered digital fare instead. By divesting themselves of Blockbuster’s remaining vestigial retail, they stand a better chance of doing so. Blockbuster will continue to offer Blockbuster @Home and On Demand services to Dish customers who don’t already instinctively use Netflix for everything anyway.

So how are we feeling about the end of Blockbuster? Certainly it’s inevitable, probably should have happened three years ago, but I think there’s also room for a lot of nostalgia. I’ll still have a use for a VHS player until they release the 1995 Power Rangers movie on… oh you mean they have?

Nevermind.

(via /Film.)

06 Nov 22:58

Hagel blasts states for defying Pentagon policy on same-sex spousal benefits - Orders chief of the National Guard Bureau to 'take immediate action to remedy this situation'

by ROBERT BURNS [ap]
Russian Sledges

via rosalind

Virginia Mayo, APChuck HagelWASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits.
06 Nov 22:41

Vatican polls parishes on birth control, same-sex marriage

by RACHEL ZOLL [ap]
Russian Sledges

via rosalind

Alessandra Tarantino, APPope FrancisNEW YORK -- The Vatican is taking the unusual step of conducting a worldwide survey on how parishes deal with sensitive issues such as birth control, divorce and gay marriage, seeking input ahead of a major meeting on the family that Pope Francis plans next year.
06 Nov 20:41

A Brief History of Video Game Title Design

by Kimber Streams
Russian Sledges

via firehose

Ian Albinson of Art of the Title has created a video that illustrates the history of video game title design, from the 1981 arcade classic Donkey Kong to 2013 hits like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. A full list of the games featured can be found in the video’s description on Vimeo.

via Nerdcore

06 Nov 20:36

SCENE | The Women's Motorcycle Exhibition by Lanakila MacNaughton

by Lizzie
Russian Sledges

via rosalind


A reader recently turned me onto photographer Lanakila MacNaughton's traveling photography show called The Women's Motorcycle Exhibition. MacNaughton's shots are beautiful and her thesis to capture the real women who ride is really captivating.

"The statement is sparking something new, there are new kinds of women who are getting off the back of their boyfriend’s bike and buying [their own] bike, and connecting with other women in their community and going on adventures together, and that’s what living’s about, doing spur of the moment spontaneous stuff that you remember for the rest of your life." —Lanakila MacNaughton



Check the calendar for future shows, I'm going to try and catch that December show in Riverside, CA. Also a selection of MacNaughton's photos are available (including that killer top photo) for purchase here.

[Thanks Liz]
06 Nov 20:35

Lindsay Taylor’s 3D Machine Embroidery

by Andrew Salomone
Screen Shot 2013-11-03 at 2.11.43 PMThese incredible 3D machine embroidery works by artist Lindsay Taylor are a wonderful reminder of how unbelievably versatile fiber can be as a medium.

Read more on MAKE

06 Nov 19:02

Photo

Russian Sledges

floor charts and #menswear





06 Nov 17:27

Walsh Elected The Next Mayor Of Boston

by David Scharfenberg

BOSTON — State Rep. Martin J. Walsh, a longtime labor leader who grew up in a triple-decker in Dorchester, edged City Councilor At-Large John Connolly Tuesday to become Boston’s 48th mayor.

Walsh, little known outside his Dorchester legislative district when the race began, built a broad coalition that stretched down the eastern half of the city — from South Boston through the heart of black Boston and into a diverse Hyde Park.

His campaign was built on his against-the-odds biography: a son of Irish immigrants who overcame a childhood fight against cancer and a young adult’s struggle with alcoholism.

“For this kid from Taft Street in Dorchester, you’ve made Boston a place where dreams come true, ” he said, before a raucous crowd at the Park Plaza Hotel. “Together we’re going to make Boston a place where dreams come true for every child and every person in every corner of this city.”

Connolly thanked supporters and pledged to support Walsh in a gracious concession speech just blocks away at the Westin Copley Place.

“Marty Walsh is a good man, he wants to do good things for Boston and he will do good things for Boston,” he said.

Walsh, who beat Connolly 52 to 48 percent, will replace departing Mayor Thomas Menino, an enormously popular figure who oversaw a period of sharp growth in the city.

Walsh, 46, has called for universal preschool and improved high schools. He’s pledged to usher in a more diverse City Hall. And he’s proposed a dismantling of the Boston Redevelopment Authority — a powerful, opaque agency that has shaped the city’s skyline and neighborhoods for decades.

But the campaign turned less on policy — where there were few major differences between the candidates — then on identity politics.

Connolly, 40, appealed to younger, newer arrivals to the city, with a heavy focus on education and an oft-repeated promise to make City Hall run more like an Apple store.

The message delivered majorities in the more upscale precincts on the western edge of the city, starting with his West Roxbury base and extending up through Jamaica Plain and into the Back Bay and South End.

Walsh cast himself as a working-class champion, a message he rode to victories in minority Boston and the white, blue-collar wards of South Boston and Dorchester.

“I’ve known Marty my whole life,” said Colin McDermott, 29, a Dorchester salesman who voted for Walsh. “He’s a good local guy. He’s always stayed true to his roots.”

Walsh’s victory puts an Irish-American back in the mayor’s office — restarting a long tradition broken by Menino, the city’s first Italian-American mayor.

Menino appeared wistful on Tuesday morning, after casting his ballot in Hyde Park. “I’m going to miss it, miss it a lot,” he told reporters. “But it’s time to go pasture.”

Menino announced in March that he would not seek re-election, unleashing a generation of pent-up political ambition.

Twelve candidates got into the race amid deep uncertainty about how the politics of an evolving city — younger and more diverse — might play out.

Several credible minority candidates emerged. But in the end it was two Irish-Americans who made it to the final election.

Walsh faced, perhaps, the bigger challenge at that point. Connolly had served as an at-large councilor for six years and built relationships across the city. Walsh had to move quickly to expand beyond his home base.

He got a jolt when he picked up the endorsements of the top three minority vote-getters in the preliminary election: former state Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie, City Councilor At-Large Felix Arroyo and former nonprofit executive John Barros.

Polling suggested the endorsements mattered, with voters who backed one of the three minority candidates in the preliminary favoring Walsh by wide margins.

In the end, Walsh won sizable victories in the mostly black neighborhoods of Roxbury and Mattapan — besting Connolly 60 to 40 percent in some precincts. And while he lost white, liberal neighborhoods, the endorsements helped keep him competitive enough.

David McNamara, 58, a social worker in Jamaica Plain, voted for Barros in the preliminary. And he said Barros’s support for Walsh helped convince him to vote for the Dorchester representative.

“I liked [Barros] because of what he had done and his progressive politics,” said McNamara. “If he … felt strongly about Marty Walsh, then that was helpful.”

Meredith Bazirgan, 33, another Jamaica Plain social worker, cast a ballot for Connolly, citing his emphasis on education. ”[I'm] thinking about the future,” she said, an infant son squirming in her arms.

Connolly, who taught in urban schools in New York and Boston for three years after graduating from Harvard University, made improving the schools the centerpiece of his council career and mayoral campaign.

He sought to link better schools to other issues — safer neighborhoods and a better economy. But polls suggest voters concerned about issues other than education — jobs and crime — were more supportive of Walsh.

The race grew chippy in the closing stages. Connolly hit Walsh hard on his union ties, arguing he couldn’t be trusted to negotiate with city unions. Walsh suggested Connolly, with his focus on education, was a one-note candidate.

The race saw outside groups spend unprecedented sums.

Organized labor and other groups backing Walsh spent at least $2.5 million and Democrats for Education Reform, a national advocacy group based in New York, dropped at least $1.3 million on a pro-Connolly campaign.

The money paid for canvassers, television ads and mailers that were sometimes sharp in tone. A series of labor-sponsored fliers dubbed Connolly, the scion of a prominent political family, a “son of privilege.”

Walsh renounced the attack. Connolly called it a “savage” assault on his family. But it worked its way into the narrative of the campaign.

The mayoral race faced stiff competition for local attention, from the trial of South Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger in the summer to the Red Sox’s World Series run in the fall.

But voter turnout was relatively strong for a municipal election Tuesday, with 40 percent of voters casting ballots — suggesting that the candidates, if similar in appearance and platform, were able to generate some enthusiasm.

Walsh, who fielded congratulatory calls from Connolly, Menino and President Obama before bounding onto the stage Tuesday night, provided some insight into his appeal with an ebullient, down-to-earth victory speech.

“This is unbelievable,” he said, with an everyman’s wonder, at the start.

Asma Khalid contributed to this report.

06 Nov 17:25

Gracepoint: Audition Tapes Reveal David Tennant Character's Name In US Adaptation Of Broadchurch

by Jill Coleman
Russian Sledges

couldn't get past "Gracepoint, the new FOX US adaptation of ITV’s hit murder mystery Broadchurch"



Actor audition tapes for Gracepoint, the new FOX US adaptation of ITV’s hit murder mystery Broadchurch have revealed some details about the new drama, including the name of David Tennant’s character.

While there is no guarantee that the dialogue used in auditions is the same as the final shooting script, the tapes appear to give some indication of changes to character names and a profile of the town of Gracepoint itself. However do bear in mind that some of the details may be based on the original UK script and may be changed, or may be false.

David Tennant’s character, based on DI Alec Hardy in the original, will be renamed Emmett Carver, according to the tapes. Carver was previously involved in the Rosemont investigation, where three girls disappeared. As the Karen White character, who has been following Carver’s history reveals, “He fumbled the Rosemont investigation then he all but vanished. Now suddenly he’s here, working this case.”

Hardy’s character is not the only one to be renamed for the American version. Local hack Olly becomes Owen, and he is now the uncle of Tom rather than his cousin, so it’s possible that he will be the Ellie character’s brother. Meanwhile his mentor Karen White, a big shot journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle, appears to be renamed Renee.

The Latimer family are referred to as the Lassiters, but the family names: Mark, Beth, Chloe and Danny remain the same, as does the name of Ellie’s son Tom. Local minister Paul Coates seems to have retained his original name too but Mark’s workmate Nige Carter is now Vince.

A conversation between Paul and Beth reveals what could be an interesting back story. “I can’t tell you what to do,” Paul says to the grieving mother. “I couldn’t tell you twenty years ago and I can’t tell you now. I think we both know that. Can I hug you? Then I’ll leave you alone.” In the original version, Paul had only come to the town as a new priest a few years previously.

The town of Broadchurchitself is renamed Gracepoint. It is a small coastal place in California, the only town for twenty miles, with one road in and one road out. The nearest big town is Sacramento. The residents of Gracepoint tend to live there all their lives, and some don’t even like to travel far afield. Lately there have been some newcomers, younger families coming for the schools or attracted by the views. Otherwise, people visit as tourists or to whale watch. Owen says that he surfs. There is little crime: just drunk driving, bored teens and graffiti. There has never been a murder before.

Gracepoint goes into production in late January 2014 and is expected to air as part of the FOX 2014/15 season. The drama is executive produced by Chris Chibnall with Jane Featherstone of Kudos, Dan Futterman, Anya and Shine America's Carolyn Bernstein. Chris Chibnall will also be writing the first of the drama’s ten episodes.



A number of audition tapes for Gracepoint can be found on Vimeo.



06 Nov 15:54

S.F. to be transformed into Gotham City for 5-year-old’s Make-A-Wish - SFGate Blog

by russiansledges
Russian Sledges

attn overbey

Five-year-old Miles is a “sunny, positive little boy” who is fighting a battle against leukemia. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation, he will get the chance to fulfill his dream of being … wait for it … Batman! On November 15, Make-A-Wish foundation will transform San Francisco into Gotham city for a day, with thousands of volunteers already signed up to play along.
06 Nov 11:59

Though Defiant, Senator Accused of Plagiarism Admits Errors

by By JIM RUTENBERG and ASHLEY PARKER
Russian Sledges

'Mr. Paul said he resented implications from those he termed “haters”'

In an interview, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky offered a mix of contrition and defiance, saying that he was being held to an unfair standard.
06 Nov 11:56

Analysis: Confidence in Federal Workers Up Sharply After Shutdown

by William C. Adams and Donna Lind Infeld, George Washington University
Russian Sledges

via multitask suicide

Poll shows new appreciation for feds after public opinion had hit a five-year low.
06 Nov 11:55

TC. Truman Capote.

Russian Sledges

via multitask suicide



TC.

Truman Capote.

06 Nov 11:41

First Lady Michelle Obama joins student for a Bollywood Dance Clinic in the State Dining Room of the White House, Nov. 5, 2013

by overbey
Russian Sledges

via overbey

There is a lot going on in this photograph
06 Nov 04:01

Listen! Beowulf opening line misinterpreted for 200 years - News - Books - The Independent

by russiansledges
In a new paper, Dr George Walkden argues that the use of the interrogative pronoun  “hwæt” (rhymes with cat) means the first line is not a standalone command but informs the wider exclamatory nature of the sentence which was written by an unknown poet between 1,200 and 1,300 years ago. According to the historical linguist, rather than reading: “Listen! We have heard of the might of the kings” the Old English of “Hwæt! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum, þeod-cyninga,  þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas  ellen fremedon!” should instead be understood as: “How we have heard of the might of the kings.” Dr Walkden said his conclusion – based on the positioning of the word relative to the verb within 141 other clauses studied – would put him at odds with the conventional wisdom on the subject. “I’d like to say that the interpretation I have put forward should be taken into account by future translations,” he said.
05 Nov 02:49

Photo







05 Nov 02:47

Benedict Cumberbatch is astonishingly good at Chewbacca impressions

by Rob Bricken
Russian Sledges

via firehose

King of the Internet's affections Benedict Cumberbatch solidified his rule by appearing on The Graham Norton Show recently and doing a damn fine Chewbacca impression. The best part? He does it in front of Harrison Ford, whose reaction to hearing his former co-pilot is, in a word, priceless.

Read more...


    






04 Nov 17:59

Central Connecticut State University On Lockdown After Alert

by Igor Bobic

This post has been updated.

Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. issued a campus emergency alert Monday asking students to seek shelter and lock and close windows, the Hartford Courant reported.

Read More →
04 Nov 12:46

Why Asians Are Deserting The GOP

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via firehose via Mintie

Click here for more from TP Ideas
Asian Obama

CREDIT: Flickr user Steve Rhodes

Asian-Americans have been moving steadily toward the Democrats and away from the GOP. In 2012, Asians supported Obama by a staggering 73-26, compared to 62-35 in 2008. This is a remarkable trajectory for a group that, back in 1992, supported George H.W. Bush over Bill Clinton by a strong 54-30 margin. In every election since then, Asians have increased their support for the Democratic candidate, including elections like 2004 where most other groups, even progressive ones, were going in the opposite direction:

ruyasians

Why is this? One reason is the GOP’s dreadful record on immigration, an issue of considerable importance to the Asian-American community. Another is that Asian-Americans are a strongly pro-government constituency. In a massive Pew study of Asians, released last year, Asians endorsed a bigger government providing more services over a smaller government providing fewer services by 55-36. That’s a sharp contrast with the public as a whole, who endorsed smaller over larger government by 52-39.

A new poll from CAP and PolicyLink provides another reason why this group would find today’s GOP unpalatable: Asians are the most enthusiastic and unafraid supporters of America’s rising diversity.

In the poll, respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with 16 statements about rising diversity in America, evenly divided between “diversity concerns” and “diversity opportunities.” The level of agreement with each statement was recorded on a 10-point scale, with maximum agreement being 10 and maximum disagreement being zero.

From these statements, we created a 160-point index measuring openness to diversity, with zero being the least open to diversity and 160 being the most open to diversity. The overall public received a mean score of 86.5 on our composite openness measure. By comparison, Asians scored 97, followed by African Americans with 93, Latinos with 90 and whites with just 84. And white conservatives, about all that’s left in the GOP these days, scored a mere 71.

The poll also found that openness to diversity varied by age and education, generally going down with age and up with education. Reflecting these patterns, Asian Millennial generation college graduates received a stunningly high 108 score on the openness to diversity index. On some of the diversity opportunity statements in the index, this group came close to unanimous agreement (scores 6-10). For example, 97 percent of Asian Millennial college graduates agreed that “diverse workplaces and schools will help make American businesses more innovative and competitive.”

As can be seen from the table below, Asians generally scored quite high on most of the diversity opportunity statements. On the top four opportunity statements, they averaged an impressive 79 percent agreement:

opps2

But it was on the diversity concerns statements that Asians really distinguished themselves. On almost every question, Asians registered lower levels of fear about the negative consequences of growing American diversity than every other ethnic group studied. For example, only 31 percent worried that there will be no common American culture and a low 34 percent believed there will be more inequality:

concerns

Only one item, too many demands on government services, generated majority agreement and even here, Asians were barely above the 50 percent mark, 9 points below the population as a whole.

So just as Republican base voters are freaking out about being forced to speak immigrants’ languages, Asian-Americans are proving themselves to be remarkably unafraid of our multiethnic future.

Unsurprisingly, then, Asians also broke with Republicans in their support for a new equity agenda to address racial and ethnic inequality. More than 8 in 10 Asians — 83 percent — supported “new steps to reduce racial and ethnic inequality in America through investments in areas like education, job training, and infrastructure improvement,” compared to the just 13 percent who were opposed. In addition, 68 percent of Asians said such steps would help the economy overall, compared to the 10 percent who think they would hurt the economy. Finally, 68 percent of Asians said they would be willing to invest “significantly more public funds to help close [the] gap in college graduation rates” between black and Latino students and white students, compared to 27 percent who said they were not willing to make such investments.

So it should be obvious why Asians voters are such a poor fit for today’s GOP — and why it’s likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

The post Why Asians Are Deserting The GOP appeared first on ThinkProgress.

04 Nov 04:24

Katara Dagger and Scabbard Dated: 17th century Culture:...











Katara Dagger and Scabbard

  • Dated: 17th century
  • Culture: Indian
  • Medium: Steel, leather, gold
  • Measurements: overall length, 19 in. (48.26 cm)

Daggers of this type, called katars, were designed to be held by the cross bars in a clenched fist. This is one of the few that retains its embossed leather scabbard.

Source: Copyright © 2013 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

04 Nov 01:34

The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology | Brattle Theatre

by russiansledges
Russian Sledges

november 15–21

attn multitask suicide

unfortunately, I will be out of town on the 15th, when this is double-featuring with They Live

Cultural theorist superstar Slavoj Žižek re-teams with director Sophie Fiennes (The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema) for another wildly entertaining romp through the crossroads of cinema and philosophy. With infectious zeal and a voracious appetite for popular culture, Žižek literally goes inside some truly epochal movies, all the better to explore and expose how they reinforce prevailing ideologies. As the ideology that undergirds our cinematic fantasies is revealed, striking associations emerge: What hidden Catholic teachings lurk at the heart of The Sound of Music? What are the fascist political dimensions of Jaws? TAXI DRIVER, Zabriskie Point, The Searchers, The Dark Knight, John Carpenter’s THEY LIVE, TITANIC, Kinder Eggs, verité news footage, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and propaganda epics from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia all inform Žižek’s stimulating, provocative and often hilarious psychoanalytic-cinematic rant.
04 Nov 01:29

dorkly: Chinese LOTR Covers are Awesome Man oh Mandarin, that’s...

Russian Sledges

via firehose







dorkly:

Chinese LOTR Covers are Awesome

Man oh Mandarin, that’s a great trilogy.

04 Nov 01:28

How to survive with no food

by drew
Russian Sledges

breatharianism autoreshare

via multitask suicide

jasmuheen

The Australian author Jasmuheen wrote this book in 1998, and continues to tour the world to advance her theory of “breatharianism,” the idea that you can use spiritual energy to replace food. Four people have died as a result of following her instructions. Despite this, her career has continued and she published her latest breatharian book last year. She even put out an album, a bizarre mélange of sitar, trip-hop drums and new-age-themed nursery rhymes read by Mother Huffer herself.

While the first law of thermodynamics states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it remains silent on the topic of believing a weird old lady if she tells you that you don’t need to eat food.

04 Nov 01:27

"Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank, and buy a revolver."

Russian Sledges

via firehose

“Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank, and buy a revolver.”

- Countess Markievicz, 19th century Irish revolutionary, eternally relevant fashion advice (via gehdoch)
04 Nov 01:25

A bottler of beloved Mexican Coke is considering shifting from cane sugar to save money

by Matt Phillips
Russian Sledges

via firehose

A heavy tax burden could lead bottlers to take the cane sugar out of Mexican Coke .

Mexico’s new soft drink tax could push the nation’s Coca-Cola makers away from the cane sugar that’s made “Mexicoke” a cult hit in the US.

Executives from the second-largest bottler of Coca-Cola in Latin America suggested that a shift away from cane sugar might be in the cards as a result of the steep sales tax on soda Mexico’s congress approved on Thursday (Oct. 31). American Coke enthusiasts claim the Mexican version tastes better than what they get in the US, which some say is because Mexican Coca-Cola is made with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.

On an earnings call with analysts last week, the head of Arca Continental SAB said that the Mexico-based Coca-Cola bottler could “move to more fructose,” which is cheaper than cane sugar. Arca Continental’s Francisco Garza added “that’s a very important part of the savings that we are foreseeing now.” The independent bottlers who distribute Coke in local markets use the same recipe but have some latitude from Coca-Cola to tinker with the sweetening ingredients. (Arca Continental hasn’t yet responded to a request for further comment.)

Mexico’s new soda levy will tack on an extra peso ($.08) per liter to all soft drink sales in the country. The move is part of a growing campaign to address what has become an obesity epidemic—over 70% of Mexico’s population is now overweight. And the hope is that it will help curb the country’s unmatched affinity for soda. On a per capita basis, Mexicans drink more Coca-Cola products than residents of any other country in the world.

Any decision by Arca Continental—or Coca-Cola’s other large Latin American bottlers—to turn more heavily toward high-fructose corn syrup would surely dismay fans of Mexicoke around the world. Over the last decade, “hecho en Mexico” Coca-Cola has acquired cult status.

After steadily cutting the amount of real cane sugar in Coca-Cola in the early 1980s, most US Coca-Cola bottlers had switched over to high-fructose corn syrup by the middle of that decade. When Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola Classic in 1985—after the disastrous attempt to launch New Coke—it was sweetened with corn syrup rather than cane sugar, which drew the ire of the US sugar lobby.

Latin American bottlers have some leeway when it comes to how they mix up their pop. The largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America, Coca-Cola FEMSA, explains this in its annual report: “Under our agreements with The Coca-Cola Company, we may use raw or refined sugar or [high-fructose corn syrup] as sweeteners in our products.” Coca-Cola FEMSA opts for different sweeteners in different markets. For instance in Colombia, it uses sugar as a sweetener. In Argentina, it’s high-fructose corn syrup.

For the record, while Mexican bottlers might shift their mix of sweeteners toward high-fructose corn syrup, it’s unclear what, if any, implications that would have for consumers outside Mexico who’ve grown accustomed to cane sugar Coke. And it should also be noted that Mexicoke fans might already be getting more corn syrup than they think. Researchers from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine tested Mexican Coca-Cola purchased in east Los Angeles back in 2010. Their findings:

The Mexican Coca-Cola lists “sugar” on the ingredient list, but the laboratory did not detect any sucrose, but rather near equal amounts of fructose and glucose, results which suggest the use of [high fructose corn syrup]. According to the FDA guidelines, the word “sugar” can only be used in reference to sucrose.

04 Nov 01:07

Listen to performances of the world's oldest complete surviving song

by Lauren Davis

Listen to performances of the world's oldest complete surviving song

The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest known complete composition of music in existence, a Hellenistic Ionic song with complete notation likely inscribed in the first century AD. And its notation have allowed modern music scholars to play the song in the modern day.

Read more...


    






04 Nov 00:39

Jesus Runs

by Lacey Donohue

Jesus Runs

[With bib number 55-970 affixed to His cross, New-York based photographer Makoto Takeuchi ran Sunday’s ING NYC Marathon sans shoes on the dirty city streets. Photo by brigettebgood via Instagram]

Read more...


    






04 Nov 00:09

bathorynordland: Borgund Stave Church by rawmeyn on Flickr.

Russian Sledges

via snorkmaiden