Timmy the Tooth

Watch me cooking authentic pork vindaloo for the fine folks of Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube. Don’t forget to leave me a comment. The recipe is here is you want to make it.

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How to transform tart rhubarb into a sweet, bright compote – and 10 ways to use it, from a dessert parfait to a rhubarb fool.

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Mansplaining
Manspreading
Manscaping
Mansfield Park
Manchester United
Manicotti
Manslaughter

Dwayne Johnson is absurd.

That’s not an insult. It’s just that there’s never been anyone quite like him in pop culture. How many pro wrestlers became successful actors? Andre the Giant? Hell, how many athletes have become leading men? O.J. Simpson? How many put together lasting careers? The only name remaining is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger’s a living legend, but somehow the comparison seems apt: Based on data from The Numbers, Schwarzenegger has been a leading actor in 25 films grossing about $4 billion worldwide, while Johnson has been a lead in 17 films grossing a cumulative $3.7 billion worldwide.

But we’ve had Arnie since the early 1980s. Johnson’s been at it only 15 years. I stand by my premise: Dwayne Johnson’s career arc is unheard of. This is a guy who eats an unfathomable amount of cod per day. He’s in his 40s and in the best shape of his life. Johnson made his own alarm clock app to distribute encouraging messages to his fans every morning — the best thing to happen to horology since the pendulum. He’s got a show on HBO. He is the coolest person you will never meet.

But for most of us, he’s a prolific actor on the big screen, a guy who went from a wrestler-turned-half-crab-monster in a poorly regarded sequel to one of the most bankable leading men on the planet. What on earth happened?

With “Central Intelligence” out this week and Johnson once again in the news, let’s return to Hollywood Taxonomy, my intermittent effort to, like an anthropologist, categorize actors’ filmographies using inflation-adjusted domestic box office returns from OpusData²² and Rotten Tomatoes scores. Oh. I also spent the past several days watching every feature film Johnson ever appeared in.

In his early credits, he was still the wrestler, “The Rock.” Once he had a toehold in Hollywood, he began to be credited as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Now he’s out of the cocoon and is known to the world simply as Dwayne Johnson. The metamorphosis is complete. Let’s find out how The Rock became Dwayne Johnson.

The Rock

“I’m making progress. I used to be an asshole.”

—Sean Porter, “Gridiron Gang”

Films: “Walking Tall” (2004); “Doom” (2005); “Be Cool” (2005); “Gridiron Gang” (2006); “Southland Tales” (2007); “Planet 51” (2009); “The Tooth Fairy” (2010); “Faster” (2010).

These are films with both review scores and box-office returns below or equal to The Rock’s median. They’re mostly from the early and middle part of Johnson’s career, and, if anything, they show how far he’s come.

“Walking Tall” is one hour and 14 minutes long when you ignore the credits. I’d explain the plot — a Samoan Bernie Sanders beats the crap out of small-town economic baddies with a 2-by-4 — but the film is basically what would happen if an executive at Spike TV watched a Lifetime original movie on peyote and said “give me some of that shit.” It’s a story Johnson will tell many times: A good man with immense biceps and a clear moral compass can triumph over evil, whatever side of the law he may be on.

The next several films in this category were bad outings for Johnson. “Doom,” in which he plays a main character that I never ended up learning the name of, is easily the second-worst movie he has ever been in. On that note, “Be Cool” is the worst. Don’t get me wrong. “Be Cool” is a massive milestone for Johnson — it’s the very first film in which he acquits himself as an actor, one who can do comedy and not merely muscle — but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s an awful movie.

But still, there is a single scene in which a young Rock — playing a gay bodyguard trying to break into acting — gets to spread his wings. It’s the only good scene in the film, and more importantly, it’s the first time Johnson seemed like an actor, not a wrestler-turned-actor:

I am convinced “Gridiron Gang” is completely improvised. Johnson is not acting in this film, he is just being Dwayne Johnson, and I know this because I follow him on Instagram and I have his clock app and because all the dialogue in this film — where Johnson motivates gang members to play as a team and win at football — is just how The Rock talks in real life.

And just as “Gridiron Gang” is straightforward to a fault, “Southland Tales” is far too big of a movie to summarize. But as notoriously absurd as this film is, Johnson is good. He’s got a fantastic nervous tic that you don’t pick up on as an acting decision unless you watched eight films featuring Johnson prior to “Southland Tales,” as I did.

“Planet 51” we will get to later.

And while all that was Johnson playing in the D-League, somehow “The Tooth Fairy” and “Faster,” which both came in 2010, seem like the big turning point in Johnson’s career, when he cements himself as a leading man, regardless of the reviews. The pitch of the first one — a hockey player has to be a tooth fairy — is pretty good as far as high-concept kids movies go. I personally think it’s worth a bit more than its 18-point tomatometer score, the lowest in the set. Still, his next film literally could not be further from “The Tooth Fairy”: “Faster” is the story of an ex-con systematically executing people who killed his brother and got him a dime in prison. It, like “The Tooth Fairy,” is pretty underrated.

The point of this category is that when Johnson is in a movie that is bad, or doesn’t make that much money, it’s not that Johnson wasn’t good in the role. At worst — and by “at worst” I mean “in the movie ‘Doom’ ” — he was just learning.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

“I am Hercules!”

—Hercules, “Hercules”

Films: “The Scorpion King” (2002); “The Rundown” (2003); “The Game Plan” (2007); “Race to Witch Mountain” (2009); “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (2012), “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (2013); “Pain & Gain” (2013); “Snitch” (2013); “Hercules” (2014).

These are films with either below-median reviews or below median box office.

“The Scorpion King” — Johnson’s first top-billed role — tells the story of how Johnson’s character in “The Mummy Returns” became king of Gomorrah.²³

The third film he was in had the highest Rotten Tomatoes score Johnson would see as top-billed performer, a 71. In “The Rundown,” Johnson is a bounty hunter sent to the Amazon to bring home the spoiled son of a gangster but who instead successfully leads a rebellion to defeat a “Blood Diamond”-esque industrialist played by — why the hell not — Christopher Walken. The film is important for one reason: It’s the first film where Johnson drives an automobile and thus the first film where Johnson wrecks a car. In movies, Johnson is a singularly horrible driver.²⁴

“The Game Plan” — a very, very Disney²⁵ movie in which Johnson plays a quarterback who bonds with the daughter he didn’t know he had — is the only film Johnson has ever made where he doesn’t use violence.

‘Jesus Christ himself has blessed me with many gifts! One of them is knocking someone the fuck out!’

DWAYNE JOHNSON…		SHARE OF FILMS
Uses violence	96%	–
Is/was a member of the armed forces	50	–
Is a cop or first responder	38	–
Wrecks a car	29	–
Is a parent	29	–
Dies	21	–
Is a criminal	21	–
Has a pet	17	–
Is an athlete	13	–
Gets high	13	–

He doesn’t punch anyone! He solves his problems using ballet!

While “The Race to Witch Mountain” was a mediocre film²⁶ in general, it’s also the first film in which Johnson crushes it in what will become his bread-and-butter, a family-friendly action movie. But this is somewhat squandered by Johnson’s other 2009 film role, “Planet 51,” an animated film that has a completely identical plot. Aliens show up and need to get back home despite the local government reacting out of fear and trying to destroy ’em, but thanks to some local heroes willing to overlook the differences of others we can overcome bigotry. Same plot. Same year. I don’t even think he had to memorize new lines.

“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is the sequel in a franchise that seriously tried to build a Jules Verne Cinematic Universe. It featured Johnson, Michael Caine and the dweeb from “The Hunger Games.” The best part was the last scene, where they heavily tease a sequel involving “From the Earth to the Moon,” a film that does not yet exist four years later.

The following three consecutive films are outstandingly distinct. There’s “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” a standard shoot-’em-up action film and the only movie ever to go out of its way to speedily murder Channing Tatum. There’s “Pain & Gain,” which is far, far better than its 49 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and is without question the best performance from The Rock up to that point in his career. And then there’s “Snitch,” which, following “Walking Tall” and “Gridiron Gang,” constitutes the final film of what I’ve come to call the “Dwayne ‘The Concerned Citizen’ Johnson” trilogy, which features The Rock weighing in on social issues such as economic decline, mandatory minimum sentencing and gang warfare. And like in “Pain & Gain,” Johnson does cocaine in this movie.

The last film in this category is also the most instructive. “Hercules” rules. It came out in the heart of the summer movie season a week before “Guardians of the Galaxy” became a surprise hit, and its reviews are frankly criminal. Johnson manages to say the line “Fucking centaurs,” and you buy it. Do you realize how hard it is to sell the line “Fucking centaurs”?

Dwayne Johnson

“Gotta catch wolves, you need wolves. Let’s go hunting.”

—Hobbs, “Furious 7”

Films: “The Mummy Returns” (2001); “Get Smart” (2008); “The Other Guys” (2010); “Fast Five” (2011); “Fast and Furious 6” (2013); “San Andreas” (2015); “Furious 7” (2015).

These are The Rock’s films that crushed it. They’re movies that had both above-median reviews and above-median box office.

“The Mummy Returns” is in here as a fluke. The Rock, who has eight minutes of screentime in a two-hour movie, is a poorly CGI’d Happy Meal toy.

The next two films, “Get Smart” and “The Other Guys,” feature Johnson in a supporting role alongside more seasoned pros. He’s not in these films much at all but still stands out. I think sometime between “Be Cool” in 2005 and “Southland Tales” in 2007, he figured out how to nail the supporting parts.

In “Fast Five,” “Fast and Furious 6” and “Furious 7,” Johnson is a shot in the arm for a franchise that was all pavement and no pounding before he got involved. A savvy, fast-talking international cop — the intellectual match of the notoriously crafty protagonist played by Vin Diesel — he manages to antagonize while still remaining the good guy, which isn’t easy to pull off. Also, the three-film arc led to his killing a helicopter with a minigun he ripped from a drone — a drone he personally took down by hurling an ambulance he was driving at it — and the world is better for having seen that.

But the Fast & Furious films are ensemble affairs. If you want to grok solo-Rock, watch “San Andreas.” He manages to remain kinetic in a film where he is largely performing static — behind the wheel of a helicopter, plane, car and boat. He secretes enough charisma in a five-hour period to convincingly win back an ex-wife. The emotional climax of the film²⁷ is legitimately earned and gut wrenching, which is not what you think of when you think of The Rock’s movies. He came a long, long way from eight minutes of chiseled grunting in “The Mummy Returns” to anchoring an emotional climax in summer blockbuster like “San Andreas,” and did it faster than the average person pays off a student loan.

When The Rock started out, he was not a good actor. I mean that as a compliment.

Because it demonstrates the single most important thing about Dwayne Johnson. It’s not even a secret. The Rock was not born with a God-given talent for acting, he wasn’t born with pecs you can open bottles off of, he wasn’t born with a natural charisma. He worked to get there. In the end, he’s the only actor willing to admit that it’s never “effortless.”

Hamachi is a rich fish that's great eaten in small, nigiri- or sashimi-size bites on its own. In a slightly larger-format dish, like poke, it needs some bright, crunchy counterparts to balance out its richness. Diced cucumbers, chilies, and avocado are a good start, but the real key here is thin strips of lemon zest. Some good extra-virgin olive oil in place of the traditional sesame oil also gives the dish a lighter flavor. Read More

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Does the human tendency to place a higher value on living things that resemble our own image even extend to furniture? You might think so from the range of anthropomorphic designs we’ve created for our own comfort and entertainment, especially when the objects are designed to mimic human contact. These creations seem like they could spring to life at any moment, bringing a sense of anticipation to an otherwise ordinary indoor setting.

Companion Stools by Phillip Grass

Standing curiously or sitting in contemplation, Phillip Grass’ ‘Companion Stools’ stare back at us with a single oversized eyeball affixed to the wooden seat.

Fleshy Seats That Smell Like Human Skin

Not only do these rounded skin-toned stools look like lumps of human flesh – they smell like it, too. Artist Gigi Barker’s A Body of Skin collection is made of silicone that matches the body’s temperature when you sit on it. Leather covers are infused with pheromones and aftershave to add to the effect.

Nel & Maria Bedside Tables

With hat-shaped lampshades and drawer holes resembling faces, ’Nel & Maria’ bring a little bit of abstracted anthropomorphism to your bedside. The straw hats are reminiscent of those found in the Portuguese region of Baixo Minho, the home of the designers at DAM.

Man-Shaped Collection from Samal Design

Designer Dzmitry Samal fuses realistically sculpted human bodies with lockers and tables for this strange series. The human legs definitely take up more space than average furniture designs, but most of the pieces are still surprisingly functional for all their dramatics.

Free Hug Chair

Somewhere between a living human and an oversized stuffed animal, the ‘Free Hugs’ chair is a soft fur-covered creation with extra-long arms made to wrap around you when you take a seat or provide cushioning on the floor.

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Figurative Furniture 15 Designs With Life Of Their Own

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Thanks to the magic of gelatin, you can make a super-stable whipped cream that can endure the coldest depths of your freezer as well as the height of a summer afternoon. Did I mention the part where it's lower in fat than plain ol' whipped cream? Read More

Poke (pronounced poh-keh), a raw-fish salad, is like the hamburger of Hawaii, ubiquitous at family gatherings, parties, tailgates, and supermarket delis across the islands. Or, because the name refers to the way in which the fish is cut, perhaps it's more accurate to say that poke is like the chopped salad of Hawaii. My version features both traditional and modern twists. Read More

Salmon isn't a Hawaiian fish, but it's still great in poke, the Hawaiian raw-fish salad. Because of its fattier texture and more robust flavor, salmon can stand up to some stronger mix-ins at the poke bar. Read More

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

“My nose isn’t that big!” protests portrait subject George Wurtzel as he runs his hands over his own image, rendered in paint on thousands of screws raised from a wooden board in a relief pattern. He might not be able to see the colors, or the play of light and shadow that gives the portrait much of its nuance and realism, but he can still experience it in a way that wouldn’t be possible if it were merely painted onto a canvas. For artist Andrew Myers, who specializes in these unusual sculptural paintings, this moment marks a concept that has come full circle since he first watched another blind man eagerly explore his art with his fingertips, six years ago.

Myers doesn’t just allow people viewing his artwork to touch it, he actively encourages it, noting that it’s an important part of the experience of taking it in. Realizing that this could potentially allow a blind person to see their own portrait, he set out to create a custom work with artisan and teacher George Wurtzel as his subject. George teaches at a 300-acre summer camp for the visually impaired in California’s Redwood Forest, and has also been tasked with renovating a barn into a new Tactile Art Center full of accessible art, where blind artisans can both sell their own work and feel the 3D works of others.

“We snuck into George’s future gallery and  hung the portrait for him to discover,” says Andrew. “As he experienced this for the first time (and between bursts of laughter) he kept repeating the phrase, ‘mind boggling.’ Not every piece of art needs to or should be touched… but perhaps it’s time we took a look at how pervasive and mandatory our ‘no touching’ rules really are – it might help everyone see artwork a little differently.”

While Andrew’s portrait of George is comprised of about 4,000 screws, other works require upwards of 20,000. One portrait, ‘Fading Thoughts,’ takes his work a step further by infusing a scene with a sense of motion, with screws seemingly being blown off the canvas.

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[ By SA Rogers in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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1. “I will win. Not immediately, but definitely.”

2. “The real strong have no need to prove it to the phonies.”

3. “Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.”

4. “You have to want it more than you’re afraid of it.”

5. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

6. “If you’re going to do something, do it well.”

7. “Do not expect this to be easy. You have to work for the best things in life.”

8. “Pain’s not bad, it’s good. It teaches you things.”

9. “The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.”

10. “I woke up this morning and realized I don’t have what it takes to sit back and be average.”

11. “I never thought I was normal, never tried to be normal.”

12. “From the world of darkness I did loose demons and devils in the power of scorpions to torment.”

13. “Dear fat, prepare to die. All the best, Me XOXO.”

Fitspiration: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13
Charles Manson: 2, 6, 8, 11, 12

Jamie Vardy's representatives tell Arsenal the England striker wants to focus on this summer's European Championship.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

AeroFarms is on track to produce 2 million pounds of food per year in its 70,000-square-foot facility in Newark, under construction less than an hour outside of Manhattan. Their efficient operation, based on previous experience at similar but smaller facilities, can accomplish this astonishing output “while using 95% less water than field farmed-food and with yields 75 times higher per square foot annually.”

This new facility is comparable in efficiency to what is currently the world’s largest vertical farm in Japan, but nearly three times the size. Staggering its crops is part of the success behind AeroFarm’s strategy at their new and existing locations – at a given facility they are able to switch between 22 crops per year. Their all-season growth works with specialized LED lights and climate controls all without the need for sunlight or soil.

“We use aeroponics to mist the roots of our greens with nutrients, water, and oxygen.,” explains AeroFarms. “Our aeroponic system is a closed loop system, using 95% less water than field farming, 40% less than hydroponics, and zero pesticides.”

Smart pest management and highly-detailed data feedback loops help keep the system operating at peak efficiency and provide opportunities for iterative improvement. Proximity to the Big Apple makes for lower transportation costs and a large urban market eager for fresh local produce.

After breaking ground last year, the new facility is nearing completion, becoming operational in stages along the way. “Our passion is great tasting food and sharing our harvest with the world. In Newark, New Jersey, we are growing and selling into the New York Metro area.”

Of the larger operations, AeroFarms elaborates: “There has been tremendous demand for our locally grown, delicious, produce, and we have farms in development in multiple US states and on four continents. There has never been a greater need for safe, dependable, nutritious food, and we are scaling quickly to transform agriculture around the world.”

First Lady Michelle Obama recently visited the Garden State and toured a nearby school, planting seeds in a rooftop garden and sharing healthy snacks with students involved in a youth program as young AeroFarmers. As at the primary facility, stacked racks allow the farming system at the school to rise vertically and occupy less floor space.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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No ingredient has inspired as many wacky tricks to guarantee it will cook well as octopus. We're telling you now: Put away your corks and vinegar and rocks for pummeling it, because the pressure cooker is your best bet for making octopus tender rapidly. Read More

US soccer has been boosted by a lively fan culture around its national teams. But striking the balance between passion and petulance can be difficult

One of the few positives to take from USA’s 2-0 loss to Colombia on Friday came 15 minutes after the final whistle. Despite an anemic performance from the US, the American Outlaws, the team’s most famous supporters’ group, remained behind to sing for the team, in the hope of motivating them for Tuesday’s match against Costa Rica. For the Outlaws, these shows of diehard support are nothing new. They sold out their entire allocation for the Copa América in two days, and brought the largest group of foreign supporters to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They are the public face of US soccer fandom and, with hype videos like the one produced in conjunction with ESPN for the 2014 World Cup, they act as an increasingly powerful intermediary between the fans, the US soccer federation, and the media. But the Outlaws are going through an identity crisis away from the stands.

The origin story of the American Outlaws is well known. Two USMNT fans, Justin Brunken and Korey Donahoo, had traveled to Germany for USA’s opening match against the Czech Republic in the 2006 World Cup. They were looking to attend a meet-up with Sam’s Army (the previous dominant American supporters’ group), before the game but the organization’s website provided no help. After a similarly disappointing experience with a tailgate during a friendly in early 2007, they decided to form their own supporters’ group — the American Outlaws. In less than a decade, the Outlaws has grown to 187 chapters nationwide with over 32,000 members. The Outlaws travel to every USA men’s and women’s game, and are usually vocal representatives of their local soccer communities. Perhaps informed by Braunken and Donahoo’s initial frustrations with pre- and postgame festivities, the Outlaws of today stress tailgates, marches to the stadium, and viewing parties as ways of boosting fan engagement.

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Take DIY home decor to a whole new level with 3D printing, whether you’re just purchasing a pre-printed geometric aquarium ornament or custom-designing an object you just can’t find anywhere else. This small-scale, low-impact manufacturing model makes it easy to produce all sorts of complex items, from lampshades and mini greenhouses to replacement parts for broken objects. Print them yourself if you can, or just browse the thousands of ‘digitally hand-crafted’ 3D-printed products on sites like Shapeways.

Aquarium Flora

‘Waterscapes’ by Haruka Misawa is a series of 3d printed objects inspired by aquatic plant life, intended for use in aquariums for a minimalist look that’s still fun and functional for fish. In addition to sculptural creations mimicking coral, the objects include bubbles of air that fit within the aquariums to make surface-growing aquatic plants the visual centerpiece.

Cityscape Light Bulbs

Cityscapes sprout from the tips of LED light bulbs in the ‘Huddle’ series by designer David Graas, available for purchase at Layers. “Just like the penguins in the Antarctic huddle to survive the extreme cold during the winter time also people have taken on huddling as a strategy for survival. The mega city, despite its many problems, seems to be our destined habitat now that resources are becoming scarce. It also holds the key to a sustainable future with its concentration of information, technology and talent.”

Screw It Vase

A slightly curved, connected collection of twelve universal PET bottle screw tops turns a dozen used plastic bottles into a collective vase, each bottle holding one or two stems of flowers and greenery. You can use bottles of various colors and sizes, as long as the three center bottles supporting the weight of the collective vase are the same size.

Tardigrade Bottle Opener

Anyone who already knows what a tardigrade (aka ‘water bear’) is will love this bottle opener, and the rest just need to watch this video about the strangest creature to ever be sent to outer space. Available in a variety of steel colors at Shapeways, it’s definitely an unusual item to have in your house.

Flexible Mini Greenhouse Dome

Got access to your own 3D printer, or a shared one? Try your hand at building some of the thousands of items that have been made available online in the form of printable STL files. This one will print out a kit of parts to build a flexible mini greenhouse dome with a geometric pot, perfect for seed starting.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
High Tech Diy Decor 15 3d Printed Home Accessories

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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“They have really won the psychological warfare game over us.”

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On What’s The Point, we often talk to people who are trying to gather data and build cohesive information in a new field. This week’s show is about that, but it’s also unlike any conversation I’ve had so far. Dr. Justin Schmidt, an entomologist, is obsessed with trying to codify the pain associated with various stinging insects. And the only way Schmidt has found to gather his data is by stinging himself, over and over, with more than 80 insects so far. His new book, “The Sting of the Wild,” chronicles that process.

The Schmidt Pain Index, as its informally known, runs from 1-4. The common honey bee serves as its anchor point, a solid 2. At the top end of the scale lie the bullet ant and the tarantula hawk (which is neither a tarantula nor a hawk; it’s a wasp).

Schmidt isn’t just measuring raw pain levels as he feels it, but also incorporating more subjective information into his data set. The honey bee sting is, as he writes, like “a flaming match head lands on your arm and is quenched first with lye and then sulfuric acid,” while a harvester ant produces “waves of deep, throbbing visceral pain.”

With all the stinging, Schmidt hopes not just to build a body of knowledge within entomology but also help us come closer to understanding what pain is and how to treat it.

Stream or download the full episode above, or subscribe using your favorite podcast app. Below, transcripts of a few highlights from the conversation, and a video showing Justin Schmidt at work.

What is pain?

Justin Schmidt: I view pain as the body’s indication that damage has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur. In other words, it’s really a warning. Pain in itself is not damage. You could say, to a certain extent, it’s a signal that is suitable for being “cheated,” which is what stinging insects do. They make this intense pain with their sting, which is cheating.

The amount of pain that you get in, say, a honey bee sting, is like putting your hand on a glowing red burner of a stove. But that does serious damage, and a honey bee doesn’t do any damage at all. You get a little swelling … maybe some itching, but you’re none the worse. You don’t have skin falling off or scars or real damage.

So it’s kind of cheating. It’s making you think that something really serious is happening to you. And yet it hasn’t. They’ve really won the psychological warfare game over us.

Our language for pain falls short

Jody Avirgan: We’ve been discussing how hard it is to discuss pain. I wonder if you feel there are implications there for the fact that there’s a growing crisis of addiction to pain medicine in this country. Does the fact that we don’t have reliable language play a part in that?

Schmidt: Exactly. That’s a real problem. We don’t have reliable language. Think of colors. We have hundreds of different names for different hues and tints. But there are just a very few words we use to describe pain. And it has to do with how we measure and how we quantify different kinds of pain and intensity and flavors of pain, so to speak. We don’t have good terms for either one of those.

I try to use “piercing” vs. “burning” and combine that with the 1-4 [scale] to give you intensity. But it’s really rather primitive, in retrospect. And it’s kind of a disappointment. I think [that] causes the medical profession a lot of trouble, because if you can’t precisely define something, it’s awfully hard to treat it.

If you’re a fan of What’s The Point, subscribe on iTunes, and please leave a rating/review — that helps spread the word to other listeners. And be sure to check out our sports show Hot Takedown as well. Have something to say about this episode, or have an idea for a future show? Get in touch by email, on Twitter, or in the comments.

What’s The Point’s music was composed by Hrishikesh Hirway, host of the “Song Exploder” podcast. Download our theme music.

David Squires looks forward to seeing some of the world’s finest talent at this year’s Copa Centenario – and some USA players, too. And you can find David’s archive of cartoons here

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

The recent comeback of modernized (and modified) mobile homes has seen many novel transformations of cars and trucks into various sizes of living space, but the Doubleback may have more secret additional area than any other vehicle of its size and class.

These modified T5 transports have a pop-up top, but also a slide-out back adding up to six feet of extra length – each of these extensions can sleep two people.

Self-leveling feet drop down from the rear extension, making sure the cantilevered zone remains level at all times, including on variegated terrain.

Further exterior space can be covered as well via a roll-out canopy top or custom flip-up door, turning parking lots and campgrounds into cookout spaces and backyards.

Various configurations are possible, sleeping up to four people (drop-down beds in the back and additional sleeping space above) and seating depending on the design details. Newer models also include space for a camping toilet and cooking amenities.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Donald Trump has been anything but a conventional Republican presidential candidate. He has, to take just one example, lashed out against the three previous GOP nominees, Mitt Romney, John McCain and George W. Bush. And the three most recent Republican standard-bearers, especially Romney, have attacked Trump. All the craziness made it seem for a while as if the Republican Party might come apart at the seams, and that might still happen. But nearly a month after Trump vanquished Ted Cruz and John Kasich from the primary race, Republican voters are rallying behind Trump as if he were any other nominee.

In the last four live interview polls that broke down results by partisanship,²⁵ Trump averaged 85 percent support against Hillary Clinton among respondents who identified as Republicans. Clinton won just 7 percent among GOP respondents.²⁶ Trump’s share of the Republican vote at this point in the campaign is right in line with past nominees. Here’s an average of three live interview polls²⁷ conducted right after each Republican nominee since 1980 wrapped up his primary by eliminating his last serious foe:²⁸

GOP voter support in the month after the party’s nomination wrapped up

GOP SUPPORT FOR …	1980	1988	1996	2000	2008	2012	2016
Republican nominee	74%	81%	79%	83%	84%	87%	85%
Democratic nominee	14	13	18	7	10	6	7

These numbers do not include third-party candidates.

Source: Roper Center

Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Republicans fell in line once Trump clinched the nomination. As the country has grown more polarized, voters have been less willing to cross party lines in presidential elections. You can see that growing polarization above: Before 2000, no Republican nominee had more than 81 percent of the Republican vote immediately after wrapping up their primary; since 2000, every Republican nominee exceeded that mark.

Polarization notwithstanding, it’s at least a little amazing how quickly and easily Trump — who has bucked party orthodoxy on a range of issues — consolidated the GOP vote. The fact that Republican voters are treating him as any other nominee may give him a floor on his support, ensuring he doesn’t get blown out by Clinton. Even if Clinton wins most voters in the center of the political spectrum, it’ll be difficult for her to run up the score if Trump is pulling a similar percentage of Republicans as past nominees did. The last time either party’s nominee won the general election by double digits (1984), he pulled a quarter of the opposing party’s voters.

Of course, securing your base is a necessary but not sufficient condition to win elections. President Obama led pretty much wire-to-wire in the 2012 presidential race and ended up beating Romney by 4 percentage points, despite Romney, at this point in that campaign, taking in more of the Republican vote than any nominee since 1980. Obama was able to win four years ago by holding onto 92 percent of Democratic voters. That is, polarization works both ways, keeping Democrats voting for the Democratic nominee and Republicans voting for the Republican nominee.

In national polls right now, Trump is benefiting from Clinton’s inability to hold her own base. Clinton is struggling tremendously with Democratic-leaning independents, who tend to be Bernie Sanders supporters. That has allowed Trump to close the gap with Clinton in the polls, though he still trails in most surveys.

If Trump continues to win most Republicans and Sanders supporters continue to hold out even after Clinton clinches the nomination, Trump has a real shot of winning in November. Otherwise, it will be a tough road for him. But, for now at least, we can put to bed the notion of a strong #NeverTrump movement among Republican voters.

Dhrumil Mehta contributed research.

• Manchester United manager has a history of animosity with the Catalan
• ‘If I focus on him and City and he on me and United someone else will win’

José Mourinho has said he will not get into personal arguments with Pep Guardiola next season when they are in charge of Manchester United and Manchester City respectively as it would mean “someone else” winning the title.

The two have a history of animosity from their time in Spain, when Mourinho was the Real Madrid manager and Guardiola in charge of Barcelona, but Mourinho has said that it would not make sense for either of them to focus on each other.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

A powerful tool for artists, designers and researchers, Terrapattern lets users seek out similar-looking locations from an aerial perspective, finding connections and patterns between disparate landscapes and built environments.

The premise is simple: start with a single place, be it a park or street, stadium or shipyard, then let the tool work its magic. The results are uncanny: colors, textures and shapes tied together by computer vision and clever algorithms. The broader use cases are infinite, but specific ones are possible too, like: a user could look for abandoned ships floating around the island of Manhattan.

The system works by looking at its subjects in layers, looking for identifying features like curves, edges and shadows that indicate height. In a way, its task is similar than some pattern recognition software since it is not called upon to identify the subject, just match it.

“For our purposes,” explain the creators, “‘interesting’ features are anthropogenic or natural phenomena that are not only socially or scientifically meaningful, but also visually distinctive—thus lending themselves ideally to machine recognition. Examples could include things like animal herds, methane blowholes, factories, destroyed homes, or logging roads. Many other patterns await discovery.”

The system draws on data from OpenStreetMap, combing through hundreds of thousands of images looking for something like whatever you submitted. Researchers can use tools like this to monitor natural habitats or make archaeological finds, but ordinary people can employ this tool to create art or make inquiries about the cities they live in. Even a quick tour around the engine reveals emergent macro-patterns from individual tiles, some worthy of wall art treatment.

Terrapattern’s creators are indeed excited for more non-standard and unexpected uses: “Terrapattern is ideal for discovering, locating and labeling typologies that aren’t customarily indicated on maps. These might include ephemeral or temporally-contingent features (such as vehicles or construction sites), or the sorts of banal infrastructure (like fracking wells or smokestacks) that only appear on specialist blueprints, if they appear at all.”

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[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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A dad who loves drinking spirits is particularly easy to shop for—get him a bottle of something delicious and odds are he'll be overdue for another by the same time next year. But that doesn't mean you have to resort to the same Scotch every time a holiday rolls around. No matter how adventurous (or unadventurous) the father in your life is, we've found a few bottles he'll appreciate. Read More

In 2009, I was working as an editor at Milwaukee Magazine when a story came across my desk about the P-38 can opener — a small aluminum can opener that was distributed to every American soldier from 1942 through 1980. It was discontinued when the military transitioned from canned K- and C-rations to plastic bagged MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat). But even though the military stopped using it, the P-38 is still in production today and is distributed all over the world.

As it turned out, the P-38 was developed and manufactured just outside of Milwaukee by the J.W. Speaker Corp. While working on the story I met with Jack Speaker — J.W.’s son — and he gave me a P-38, which has been on my key ring ever since.

My wife hates it because she pokes herself on it whenever she takes my car. I occasionally do the same, but I’d never tell her that. Besides, you never know when it’ll come in handy. While I’ve never tried to open a can with it, it does make quick work of any shrink-wrapped package or errant thread.

While I initially put it on my key ring more or less on a whim, I think it’s remained because I’ve always been a lover of history and of Milwaukee, and the P-38 is a pocket-sized symbol of both.

Grilling burgers on Memorial Day is a time-honored tradition, and for good reason. But there are those among us who consider any outdoor fire wasted if it's not going to result in a steak. This collection of 13 recipes includes some of our favorite treatments for steak (stuffed tenderloin, smoked porterhouse, skirt steak fajitas...), plus other tasty cuts like beef ribs and short ribs. Read More

New study suggests: Pregnant woman silently yearns for opinions of complete strangers on her health, readiness for childrearing, and attractiveness while trapped in a hot, itchy, pulsing, 24-hour fat suit.

New study suggests: Yes, it is “possible” that area woman is “still pregnant.” Thanks for asking!

New study finds: Pregnant woman (and world) can still see your face when you stare at her midsection with your mouth open and full of tater-tots.

New study suggests: None-of-your-business on whether pregnancy was planned.

New study confirms: 99% of adult, grown-up Americans assume when area pregnant woman has crossed street to avoid them, best plan is to shout louder about state of her body so sound reaches destination.

New study suggests: Overdue pregnant woman had previous awareness of size before having it summarized by colleague.

New study shows: “Popping” not actual form of delivery, despite confidence of virgin neighbor mistaking childbirth for scene from Spaceballs.

New study suggests: If pregnant woman ignores repeated text message and email attempts to find out “the news,” she is probably just holding out for your phone call.

New study reveals: Old man waxing poetic on beauty of childbirth sat in waiting room smoking cigars and expecting dinner on the table, during all decades-old chances he ever had to witness childbirth firsthand.

New study concedes: Possibility that lonely, long-distance high school friend holds no official legal rights to up-to-date reporting on color or smell of anyone’s body fluid but her own.

New study suggests: 100% of non-medical-professionals hold reputable underground wisdom of which foods induce labor naturally.

New study proves: Cashier at grocery store knows gender of all unborn babies and has already named them Sophia.

New study reveals: Caffeine withdrawal likely more catastrophic to safety of both mother and child than one stupid cup of coffee per day.

New study confirms: Area woman is indeed fucking sure she wants to eat that.

New study shows: Everyone in café would like to know if you’re going to breastfeed. If so, please list alternate ways you’ll be screwing up your child for future opinion polls. (See studies on: co-sleeping, pacifiers, and placenta consumption).

New study confirms: Owner of area café is actual fascist for not stocking correct flavor of potato chips and should die slow painful death: Something involving “popping."

The day may come where managers accept each other as worthy foes; for now, the soon-to-be Manchester rivals are ready for the event horizon of mind games

One of the many delights of the most recent Premier League season was the refreshingly scant focus on “mind games”, the media concept which seeks to elevate low-level managerial arsery to the complex heights of cold war brinkmanship. Ah well. It was nice while it lasted. The advent of Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho to Manchester threatens to create the event horizon of mind games, a black hole of artless man-baiting, into which all rational commentary will be terminally sucked.

Premier League convention demands the bigger plotlines are described as “Shakespearean”, and I note that even before the United appointment has been formalised, this was already the case with the Guardiolas and the Mourinhos. Two households – not entirely alike in dignity, it must be said – in fair Manchester where we lay our scene. And from ancient strife is widely expected to break forth new mutiny (though at the age of 13, Marius Guardiola is at least too young to find star-crossed love with 19-year-old Matilde Mourinho).

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We all know that Mexican food can be hot, but you don't know what hot is until you've tasted the fiery salsas that grace the tables of the Yucatán. Fortunately, these condiments are among the easiest recipes I've ever come across, requiring very few ingredients and minimal prep time, and rewarding with massive flavor. Read More

explosiondragon:

masterbeyda:

poo2two:

mendel:

signs, easy to start, surprisingly difficult to finish

Always Reblog yard sard.

How hard could it be?

how could you possibly ignore the most important one?

Right lane must right left

Don’t ask, just DO IT