
Of all the psych era’s strivers, I have the softest of soft spots for The Strawberry Alarm Clock. They embraced so many of the era’s musical and fashion tropes so thoroughly they couldn’t help but instantly become a badge for psychedelia (and psychedelic kitsch) itself. They made a huge impact...
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The Strawberry Alarm Clock’s marvelous custom Mosrite guitars
Tinder for the Elderly Is Here

Introducing Stitch, a dating service that helps senior citizens find companionship, whether it’s for a hot date or a friendly trip to the theater. As Ellis Hamburger puts it at The Verge, it’s “like Tinder, but for your grandma.”
It’s not exactly like Tinder, though. For one, there’s the aforementioned option for platonic companionship, and Stitch operates on the web, not in a mobile app. It’s main similarity with everyone’s favorite dating app lies in the way it forges connections — you’ll only be notified if someone you like also likes you.
“Believe it or not, for seniors loneliness is a bigger killer than smoking or obesity,” Stitch founder Andrew Dowling told VICE. “The reality is that we need to stay socially connected, if we want to stay healthy.”
So far, Stitch is only available in California and New South Wales, Australia, but Dowling hopes to roll out worldwide availability soon.
(Photo: @Kayla Sawyer)
The post Tinder for the Elderly Is Here appeared first on ANIMAL.
China’s mysterious “fashion fairy” is back with even more bizarre trash outfits
bernotready for the runway

A couple of months ago, an ingenious cosplayer intrigued the internet with photos of his impressive low-cost looks created using nothing but kitchen utensils, toilet rolls and large helping of imagination, enabling him to look remarkably like Disney princesses, Harry Potter and more.
Just last month we discovered the creative genius pictured above, this time in China. Though her forte is not in replicating the looks of famous characters, this fashion designer-wannabe has shown extraordinary imagination and creativity in the items she creates out of plastic bags, cardboard, vegetables, and even seafood. Now, the fashion fairy is back, and she has even more funky photos to show off!
To refresh your memory, 24-year-old Shou Ying Wang from Shandong Province in eastern China calls herself a “fashion fairy”, and dreams of being a fashion designer like Coco Chanel. She creates her original looks with anything and everything she has on hand. The photos we featured before were very “unique” to say the least, but this new batch has an extra fishy, shrimpy, cardboard-infused bonus. Check them out!:


















▼ She creates some incredibly eye-catching headgear as well.






In an interview, Wang said that no one in her village thinks well of her creations, and that most people in today’s society probably think that her designs are just odd-looking items. But she believes that what may be the biggest joke today might become the hottest trend in the future, and understands that it is impossible for every single person to appreciate her designs (If Lady Gaga can wear a dress made of meat, why not headgear with fish and prawns dangling off it, right?).
Wang enjoys what she does and hopes that she can earn enough money to start her own shop and fashion brand someday. What she finds the most difficult to overcome is the lack of understanding and support from her family. However, she’s determined not to let any negative comments stop her from pursuing her dream.
Inspired by Wang’s original designs, artist Xiao Ye Mie Zi transformed the designs into adorable character illustrations. What looked like random recycled items on Wang’s creations look surprisingly fashionable in their illustrated versions! Perhaps it’s just a matter of perspective?












I’ll be very honest and admit that, at this point, her designs are beyond me, in the same way I fail to appreciate abstract art. However, I totally respect her passion and determination to pursue her dream. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see her fashion masterpieces on the runway in the near future!
Source: Zhaizhai News
Images: Weibo (1, 2)
- Free Boyfriend Rental in China: for Busy Career Women Trying to Prove They’re Not Gay
- Deconstructing Lolita fashion
- Russian designer turns Disney outfits into stunning haute couture!
- From Slime to Hello Kitty: Themed pastries and desserts too gorgeous to eat
- Japan questions imagery in risque portraits by New Zealand Prime Minister’s daughter
Origin: China’s mysterious “fashion fairy” is back with even more bizarre trash outfits
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Chris Koster wants to establish a state-run laboratory to make lethal injection drugs
bernotMaybe we could just not kill people! That might work too!
With the extreme secrecy enveloping Missouri's death-penalty protocol coming under greater scrutiny, Attorney General Chris Koster has come up with an end-around to using private pharmacies to develop lethal-injection drugs.Koster told lawyers at the Lake of the Ozarks on Thursday that the Missouri Legislature should establish a state-run laboratory to produce its own lethal-injection chemicals.
That, Koster says, would eliminate the rigamarole Missouri goes through to procure the drugs from pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies that are generally opposed to supplying their products for the purpose of killing someone.
That process has led Missouri to dark and largely unknown sources for its lethal-injection drugs. The Pitch in January found out that Missouri was getting its drugs from the Apothecary Shoppe in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Apothecary Shoppe is a compounding pharmacy that St. Louis Public Radio later reported had a rap sheet of warnings and disciplinary action taken against it.
Lawyers for condemned Kansas City murderer Michael Taylor sued to keep the Apothecary Shoppe from supplying Missouri with drugs used in his execution. The pharmacy agreed to sit out the Taylor execution, and Missouri found the drugs it used for Taylor's execution from another unknown source.
"Lethal injection relies upon an uneasy cooperation between medical professionals who assist in the executions, pharmaceutical companies that provide the chemicals, and the state that is ultimately responsible for coordination of executions and on whose legal authority the process is carried out," Koster said, according to a transcript of his remarks released by his office. "In recent years, this cooperative arrangement has become so strained that continued use of lethal injection as the preferred execution method is currently being reconsidered in several states."
Pressure has been mounting on Missouri's death-penalty machine ever since it kicked into high gear late last year. Since executing Joseph Paul Franklin in November, Missouri has executed on average one prisoner a month.
But the state has carried out the punishment in dubious fashion.…
[ Read more ]
How To Talk To Babies About Gender Theory
How soon is too soon to begin introducing basic gender theory and Lacanian self-definition to an infant? A primer.
BABY: dont want u
want daddy
ME: GENDER IS A SPECTRUM OF BEHAVIORS NOT A FIXED IDENTITY
STOP DENYING MY AGENCY
BABY: want juice
ME: I’M GONNA READ JUDITH BUTLER TO YOU AGAIN
BABY: [nurses]
ME: you realize youre literally consuming me
BABY: [nurses]
ME: wow
its like de Beauvoir never even wrote The Second Sex
[leans over baby's crib]
ME: DON’T YOU DARE DEVELOP ALONG FREUDIAN STAGES
BABY: [sleeps]
ME: ARE YOU IGNORING MY REGULATIVE DISCOURSES
BABY: [sleeps]
ME: wow
have you queered anything today
BABY: [cries]
ME: hey
HEY
we have talked about this
BABY: [cries]
ME: what is the function of the imaginary primordial enclosure formed by the imago of the mother’s body
you know this
i know you know this
ME: i dont care how you express your future sexuality
but dont you dare bring a post-structuralist into this house
BABY: [chortles]
ME: THIS IS SERIOUS
ME: IS GENDER A PERFORMANCE OR A CONSTRUCT
PUT DOWN THAT BUNNY AND ANSWER ME
ME: [holding car keys] okay, Baby
show me the difference between the symbol and the archetype
BABY: [claps]
ME: come on
what’s being displaced here
BABY: want fahh
want fahhh
ME: who wants fahh?
BABY: want fahh
ME: Is it I?
Are you learning the function of the I?
Are you ready for Lacan’s mirror stage?
BABY: want fahhh
ME: I didn’t think so
BABY: [eats a Cheerio]
ME: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REALIZE
THAT ‘THE REAL’ IS NOT NECESSARILY COEXISTENT WITH REALITY
BABY: [hands me 'Are You My Mother']
ME: DO YOU WANT ME TO READ THIS TO YOU
OR ARE YOU FINALLY READY TO CRITICALLY INTERROGATE THE TEXT
BABY: book
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
Read more How To Talk To Babies About Gender Theory at The Toast.
Mosquitornado terrorizes Portugal town

Photographer Ana Filipa Scarpa was making her way through the quiet town of Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, when she snapped this terrifying shot of what she believed was some sort of funnel cloud.
This was no funnel cloud. “It’s composed solely of insects,” Scarpa wrote. “It’s not known for sure what kind of bugs [made] up this swarm, but they may be red locusts.” Scarpa noted that the moquitornado approximated 1,000 feet in height. The photo was taken maybe one-quarter of a mile away.
… they are coming for you.
h/t io9
Nick Cave area rugs because… why not?

Find it here.
Paraphrasing Bongwater’s Ann Magnuson, “There are Nick Cave area rugs? I want one!” And it’s my solemn blogging duty to share them with you, too. The rugs range...
GWAR to open their own restaurant
bernotroad trip

Tired of the same old boring food with the predictably plastic atmosphere? Well bore no more, as GWAR are here to save the day with their brand new restaurant. Yes, you read that correctly: GWAR are opening their own eatery!
Set to serve in the band’s hometown of Richmond, VA later this year, a press release states that the menu is designed by the band’s own guitarist, Balsac, The Jaws Of Death. While some may shudder at that idea, the reality is that he was also the being that invented the band’s quite excellent BBQ sauce.
Now don’t think that this is just a bunch of costumed rockers serving up whatever is left over from their last tour. The band is working in conjunction with restaurateur Travis Croxton to ensure that the quality of the food is top notch. However, it’s safe to assume that the band’s GWAR BBQ Sauce and CWAR Beer will both have prominent places on the menu.
The band have set up an Indie Go Go page to help fund the renovation and opening of GWAR BBQ, and for those who donate, they are offering everything from t-shirts to cooking classes to having a drink named after you. Also, if anyone wants to pony up some SERIOUS funds, you can get a private party featuring GWAR.
Band members have said that the idea for opening the restaurant was something founder Oderus Urungus (AKA David Brockie) was hoping to do before his sudden passing back in March, and in many ways, the eatery will be a tribute to his greatness.
For those still not convinced of the awesomeness involved, the press release itself reminds, “…the opening of the GWARbar will be the singularly most important culinary event to occur since the invention of the spoon!” So do your stomach a favor and get involved…NOW!
Check out the Indie Go Go page HERE
Joel Freimark hosts a daily music-related webseries HERE and you can follow his daily music musings and suggestions HERE as well.
Image: Indie Go Go
Rock On, Millie!
We’ve seen kittehs do lots of things, but rock climbing might just be the topper. This hoomin is Craig Armstrong, who adopted Millie from Friends Of Animals Utah in Park City. Now she accompanies him on all sorts of climbing adventures with her very own climbing gear.

Quoting BackCountry.com, Armstrong writes “We went into a tiny room to have a chat together away from all the other noisy campers. She climbed up my back and sat on my shoulders. It took about four seconds to realize we were now partners and would be going on many journeys together.”

“Our first climbing adventure together was in Joe’s Valley, bouldering. She was really tiny and had a tendency to jump on people and climb up to their shoulders. She did that to a few pretty girls, which showed me she loves me.”

“Since then, we’ve been to Moe’s Valley, Indian Creek, Ferguson Canyon, Eastern Reef in The Swell, Stansbury Island many times, to Moab towers, slot canyons, and other places I’m forgetting.”

“Millie has all the qualities a good climbing partner should have. She never complains, no matter how bad it gets. She always wants to go higher, and she pushes herself hard. But she also knows when to stop. When she’s done, she’s done. She’ll find a cave or climb a tree and won’t move until she’s rested.”

“She gets psyched when the bags come out on Thursday night and we get ready for the weekend.”

“She’s become more chill around camp and doesn’t wander off as much; she stays near and chases bees and lizards.”

Quotes from BackCountry.com. Photos from 123 Inspiration and HuffPo.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Hoomin Interaction, kitteh
Congress Considers Coast-to-Coast Trail

An unlikely duo is literally blazing the way for America's first coast-to-coast nonmotorized trail system. U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) forged a regional and bipartisan partnership pursuing formal designation of the American Discovery Trail (ADT)—a 6,800-mile path through 15 states—as part of the National Trails System (NTS).
In a long-discussed bill introduced in the Senate on May 15, Coons proposed amending the National Trails System Act to include the relatively niche trail currently facilitated by the nonprofit American Discovery Trail Society.
Enacted in 1968, the National Trails System includes more than 1,250 national scenic, historic, and recreational trails. The longest individual trail is the 4,600-mile, half-complete North Country National Scenic Trail linking the Great Lakes states. With federal support for the ADT, however, Americans would enjoy greater access to the NTS, which Coons says will boost economic development and interstate mobility across the board.
More important, the bill sets a precedent for building future discovery trails, creating a country connected by nature and not just interstates.
"I'm a strong believer in the value of trails and what they represent," Coons said in a press release. "Recreation for families, friends, and individuals; tourism and economic development for local parks and towns; and the opportunity to connect communities with the outdoors."
Kirks noted that the ADT would especially boost the economics of his state. The trail splits in southern Ohio and reconnects in Colorado, with Illinois hosting both branches.
This isn't the first time senators have attempted to add the ADT into the NTS. Congress directed the National Park Service to conduct a feasibility and desirability study for the integration, which turned out positively. The bill stalled in the House despite consistent support from the Senate.
The American Discovery Trail Society recommends contacting members of Congress to see make sure this iteration of the bill passes. For those interested in supporting H.R. 3022, visit the ADTS website for sample letters and discussion points.
More Outside Coverage of Trails:
Juggalos Star In New Experimental Art Film

New York artist Scott Cummings has nearly completed a 30 minute experimental film starring the Juggalo community of Buffalo, NY, and is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. BUFFALO JUGGALOS is not a documentary, but a collaboration between Cummings and the people he met over his six months “embedded” in the Juggalo community. The artist explains his concept for the non-traditional anti-documentary on his Kickstarter page:
The scenarios were usually planned and written by me in advance, but sometimes tweaked by the Juggalos, and of course filtered through months spent with them – their influence is everywhere in the film. In some cases scenes were proposed by the Juggalos, in some cases they are recreations of things that happened in our time together, in some cases they are what was happening at the time, in many cases they are pure fiction.
Cummings became close with the Juggalos, and the film is an attempt to capture them as they are, forgoing the mockery and judgement that is widespread in depictions of their culture, which Cumming believes will be remembered as one of the defining subcultural movements of our time.
I wanted the film to be like an artifact from a lost civilization – like finding a VHS tape on the side of the road intercut with a slasher movie, porn, Paul McCarthy’s Heidi, and backyard wrestling. Everyone in the film is a Juggalo unless noted. All non-Juggalos are Juggalo-affiliated. I would say with much confidence that it is the first film like this that has been made with Juggalos.
Now Cummings needs money to complete post-production on the film and tour it to festivals – ideally, with the Juggalos. “So they can have the experience of actually seeing the film that we made together, in a theater, with an audience,” Cummings says in his Kickstarter video. He also plans on turning the project into a photo book and zine. He’s already close to his goal, so with luck you can expect to find BUFFALO JUGGALOS in a theater near you soon.
You can follow the project’s development on the BUFFALO JUGGALOS Tumblr.
The post Juggalos Star In New Experimental Art Film appeared first on ANIMAL.
Signs From the Near Future

While driverless car lanes and drone zones aren’t exactly far fetched concepts, some of these Sings From the Near Future designed by Fernando Barbella are quite imaginative. Hahaha, hyperloop warnings on the subway? (Oh, wait, that could be legit.) 3D-printed meat? (Oh, wait. That’s real-ish too.) And while the “no synthetic biology allowed” signs in adorably butchered English warn that “neurohacking and brain hijacking attemp will be liable to prosecution,” let’s not get crazy. Nobody is getting chip implants yet. (Oh, right... Nevermind.) Hello, future. (Images: Fernando Barbella)
The post Signs From the Near Future appeared first on ANIMAL.
Americans Can Now Legally Run Cuba's Havana Marathon
bernotbrb training

For many people, running and travel go hand-in-hand. Sure, hometown marathons are fun, but what better excuse to see the world than to sign up for an event in an exotic locale? Now, runners looking for a fall race have a new option that will appeal to serious athletes and travel junkies alike: For the first time since the race’s inception in 1987, U.S. citizens will be able to travel legally to Cuba to participate in the 2014 Marabana Havana Marathon or Half Marathon on November 16.
Government-imposed travel restrictions have kept most Americans out of Cuba for most of the past 50 years. Even after regulations were relaxed in 2011, people traveling from the United States must do so with licensed tour companies via chartered flights, and their visits must be educational and cultural in nature—no sunbathing, exploring without a guide, or participating in Cuba's adventure-sport offerings like rafting, cycling, and scuba diving. (Americans traveling through other countries can get around these rules, but risk getting caught in Customs and answering to the U.S. government when they return home.)
Tom Popper, president of Insight Cuba, wanted to change that. His New York-based company has had great success providing tours under its existing "people-to-people" license, but—as a runner himself—Popper knew the Havana Marathon could offer visitors a unique and valuable perspective on the country and its people. "Runners typically share a bond right away, even if they don't speak the same language," Popper says. "We thought this would be a great way to get Americans side by side, literally, with Cubans and have a really meaningful interaction."
It took several years and a pilot attempt to start a marathon under the company's people-to-people license, but Popper finally got his plan up and running with the approval of a brand-new amateur sports license, the first of its kind awarded to an American tour company. Under this license, Insight Cuba can take 156 race participants to Cuba—with options for four-day or eight-day excursions ranging from $2,495 to $4,395 per person—and he expects these slots to sell out quickly.
Popper hopes that this new license will also open up travel to Cuba for other fitness-related opportunities. "Provided the marathon is a success, a logical next step would be in the area of biking—this is something we will certainly explore," he says, although he adds that when dealing with government-sanctioned travel, "nothing is ever guaranteed."
Cuba isn't the only country using amateur sports to strengthen international ties, either. This year was also the first time that North Korea's Pyongyang Marathon, held in April, was open to non-professional athletes from other countries. For visitors who are otherwise required to have structured itineraries and constant supervision, the opportunity to essentially sightsee for 26 miles (albeit, on a specific course and surrounded by other runners) was unprecedented.
This may be an attempt by the North Korean government to increase tourism and bring new sources of revenue to the cash-strapped country, says Maria Toyoda, associate dean for global initiatives at Villanova University. It's also likely a political message, meant for both domestic and international consumption. "I'm sure it was televised, and that there was a lot of coverage given to the fact that this was a prestige event that drew athletes from all over the world," she says. "By showcasing foreigners that stand out among Korean athletes, they're hoping to project a positive image of the country."
The tour company Experience North Korea is already taking reservations its 2015 marathon package; they also offer a Pyongyang Golf Experience, as well. And while these may be the only formerly forbidden countries offering up marathon slots, others are opening their doors to other types of adventure travelers, as well: A quick Internet search shows plenty of opportunities for backpacking, skiing, and mountain biking in Iran, for example, or camping and scuba diving in Myanmar.
Of course, there are always risks when participating in physically demanding activities, and there are always dangers when traveling in unfamiliar countries; doing both together, then, requires careful preparation and, sometimes, a leap of faith. But speaking about the Havana Marathon specifically, Popper says it's one of the safest and most well organized events he's ever seen. And he believes that allowing Americans greater access to this type of travel will make for more rewarding, mutually beneficial experiences for everyone involved—locals and adventure tourists alike.
Scenes From Aliens, Carefully Recreated With LEGO
Enable JavaScript to check out our fancy slideshow.
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1.Hold on, Newt. We're coming for you!
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2.Do the thing with the knife!
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3.Sulaco Loading Bay
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4.Patrol
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5.Saddle up, Apone.
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6.We can find her with this, but we need to go, NOW!
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7.You always were an asshole, Gorman.
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8.Bishop To The Rescue
In space, no one can hear you scream. Even if you step on stray blocks.
Behold the work of Flickr user Missing Brick, who has many more images where these came from. In related news, I would definitely watch a stop-motion LEGO version of Aliens. Somebody get a Kickstarter going.
(via Laughing Squid)
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Behold Lemmy’s Face On A Pancake
Is Lemmy Jesus, or is Jesus Lemmy? The answer: both.
This has been another installment of Is Lemmy Jesus, or Is Jesus Lemmy?
Filed under: Music, Web Culture Tagged: LEMMY, motorhead, pancakes
‘Snot’ and ‘Booger’ graffiti is getting out of control in North Carolina

This isn’t something like Bloods vs. Crips gang-related tagging, it’s not even Snots vs. Boogers (yes, Cary cops had to confirm “snots” and “boogers” were not actual gangs) but just some random solo graffiti “artist” who enjoys painting the town of Cary, North Carolina with those two words. According...
Parenting win for my father.

Parenting win for my father.
Velveeta’s Facebook & Twitter Accounts Have Gone Insane With Photoshops Of A Stock Photo Model

OK, I have NO idea what’s going on with Velveeta’s social media. Since just before Mother’s Day up and as recently as a few days ago, Velveeta has been posting what appears to be stock photos of this unnamed silver fox on their Facebook and Twitter accounts with Velveeta Photoshops and snarky captions, usually with links to recipes. And because it’s Velveeta and not, say, Taco Bell, the internet is finally just figuring out about it. For example:

I wanted to make #MothersDay special, so I’m wrapping a towel around the bread before I slice it into Grilled Cheeses. http://bit.ly/1l8ASRP

Hey everyone! I’m married and I’m bringing to you a pro-marriage tip. My wife and I like our cheese the way we like our 300-thread-count bedsheets: warm, velvety smooth and in our bed with us.
Click here for more relationship tips: http://on.fb.me/1oUN0af

It’s #MothersDay and I love you so much that I’m using separate bowls for this special Cheese Sauce Chocolate Dip. Sure, it’s another dish to clean, but I guess you did technically raise my kids. http://bit.ly/1qmxiZQ

I wanted to take you someplace special for #MothersDay, and I know you’ve always wanted to go to Mexico, so I made quesadillas and I promise to start looking for tickets earlier next year. http://bit.ly/1l8zrTm
It gets even weirder, as Velveeta has been responding to comments as “the guy” using additional stock images:

And then to make things truly bizarre, the wife of silver fox dude (as well as woman in the bed photo) has also been commenting on the photos, with photographic evidence that it’s really them:

According to her Facebook page, Northup is a photographer — so are they in cahoots with Velveeta? Or did they sell their photos to an agency which Velveeta just happened to find? Is this the dumbest or most brilliant social media stunt ever? (I think we already know the answer to that.)
So many unanswered questions. Please don’t ever leave us, Velveeta stock photo silver fox guy.
(Via Drew Magary)
Filed under: Upcoming, Web Culture Tagged: Photoshops, STOCK PHOTOS, VELVEETA
I used a superhydrophobic coating and stencils to make art that only shows up when it rains.
The Disquieting Delights Of Salt-Rising Bread

As befits a nasty pathogen, Clostridium perfringens grows aggressively. Its cells can divide every ten minutes, a handful turning into trillions of hydrogen makers overnight. That hydrogen gas can leaven dough just as yeast-generated carbon dioxide does. The result is something known as "salt-rising bread." A century ago, a scientist went so far as to bake bread leavened with Clostridium perfringens drawn from an infected wound, in what the West Virginia Medical Journal called "perhaps the most macabre experiment in culinary history."
And so I present to you an all-you-can-eat story not about the limits of stomach capacity, but about the far shores of edibility.
* * *
The origins of salt-rising bread are unclear but seem to lie in the nineteenth-century American frontier, where it was likely difficult to obtain fresh yeast or keep a bread starter cool and regularly fed. The salt-rising process produces a leavened loaf from grains and water in about eighteen hours. The name is misleading, because salt doesn't play a major role. (Perhaps "salt-rising" was just a way of saying "yeastless-rising.") The real key to the process is heat: scalding-hot liquid to start with, then a feverish but perfringens friendly 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit for the starter, sponge, and dough.
Of course there are many different recipes and contradictory advice on the details, but the basic process begins with making an unusual starter. You boil milk or water, pour it over some cornmeal and/or wheat flour and a little salt, and let the hot mix sit in a warm place overnight until it gets bubbly and smelly from bacterial growth. Cornmeal and milk accelerate the process and help flavor the bread, but they're not essential. You mix the starter with additional flour, water, and baking soda into a batter-like sponge, and keep it warm for a few more hours until it, too, swells with bubbles. Then you add enough flour to make a dough, shape it, put it in a pan, and keep it warm for another few hours until it has doubled in volume, at which point you bake it.
The result is a tight-grained, dense yet tender loaf with an unusual aroma that's usually described as "cheesy." The social historian J. C. Furnas, who learned to love salt-rising bread as a child in the early twentieth century, wrote that "the flavor was once well defined by my sister as like distant dirty feet," but to his older and more discerning self it tasted "as if a delicately reared, unsweetened plain cake had had an affair with a Pont l'Eveque cheese." In my experience, salt-rising breads made with milk smell like a combination of swiss and parmesan -- sharp rather than stinky. Milk-free salt-rising breads tend to be pungent in their own less cheesy way, though one of them, my all-time favorite so far, came out with a wonderful washed-rind aroma.
This curious flavor variability in salt-rising breads comes at least in part from variability in the microbes in the flour and cornmeal that we select to do the fermenting. And the selection process is pretty drastic. You notice that the recipe starts with scalding-hot liquid poured onto the dry ingredients. This step kills all of our familiar friendly yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, and, in fact, most microbes of any kind. The survivors are those bacteria that happen to be present as dormant and tough spores, which are actually stimulated by the high heat to germinate when the temperature drops back down to livable levels.
Does that situation ring a warning bell? It should. The standard recipe for salt-rising bread instructs us to do something we're warned against in the name of food safety: leave thoroughly cooked foods to sit in a warm place for hours. Cooking kills bacteria that are already active, but spores survive and are stimulated to grow -- and grow fast -- when the food temperature drops from piping hot to warm. That's exactly how Clostridium perfringens ends up being a common cause of food poisoning. And yet in salt-rising bread we make a point of encouraging it.
The realization that the salt-rising bacterium was a form of pathogen came in 1923, when a USDA microbiologist named Stuart A. Koser analyzed commercial salt-rising starters. He found that they were teeming with Clostridium perfringens, then called the Welch bacillus, a microbe already known to be very common in soil, water supplies, and foods, and especially numerous in the human intestine and in sewage. It hadn't yet been connected with food poisoning, but it was implicated in gangrenous flesh wounds. So Koser checked to see whether bakery loaves of salt-rising bread contained any of the bacillus. Indeed they did, but in the form of spores rather than live cells. He tested these bread strains on guinea pigs and found that they didn't cause gangrene.
Koser then wondered if a known disease strain could grow well enough in dough to leaven it and so pose a hidden hazard to the consumer. So he obtained a bacillus culture from the army that had originally been taken from a soldier's infected wound. It was called the "Silverman" strain, probably after the soldier or his doctor. And Koser made bread with these wound bacteria.
"The salt rising bread prepared with the Silverman strain compared favorably in size and texture with that prepared from the [commercial] starter," he reported. Regrettably but understandably, he didn't report on the flavor. Less understandably, he didn't test the wound-risen bread for toxicity. But his creepy experiment made clear that there were different strains of the bacillus with different toxicities, and that though the strain in the commercial breads was relatively innocuous, it was possible that other breads might contain a dangerous strain.
It wasn't until the 1940s and '50s that scientists recognized Clostridium perfringens as a leading cause of foodborne illness as well as wound infections. Since then, they've found that there are at least five major types of the bacterium that produce different toxins and cause different kinds of disease. Their surveys have also found that most samples from the general environment don't produce the toxin that causes food poisoning.
The safety of salt-rising bread was revisited in 2008 by a physician at West Virginia University and a microbiologist at the University of Pittsburgh. Professors Gregory Juckett and Bruce McClane noted Koser's "macabre" but inconclusive 1923 experiment, and set out to determine whether salt-rising bread "should be viewed as the Appalachian equivalent of fugu, the poison-laden pufferfish of Japanese gourmands."
They analyzed a number of bread starters and found that all of them contained strains of Clostridium perfringens type A, the group associated with food poisoning rather than wound infection. But none of these strains actually produced toxins. Given that finding, together with the fact that both toxins and active bacteria are inactivated by the heat of baking, and the lack of any known cases of the bread causing illness, Juckett and McClane concluded that "it seems reasonable to continue the consumption of this delicious old-fashioned bread."
Good! It also seems reasonable to begin exploring new possibilities for this old-fashioned and unusual process. Where familiar fermentations convert food carbohydrates primarily to alcohol or to lactic or acetic acid, Clostridium perfringens produces a cocktail of organic acids that includes acetic and lactic but also butyric -- the characteristic sharp smell of aged cheese -- as well as propionic -- typical of Emmental-style swiss. A hot loaf of just-baked clostridium bread emits enough of these volatile acids to sting the inquiring nose. Milk in the starter seems to boost the butyric, but I've found that even dairy-free breads can sometimes be good and cheesy. It should be possible to select clostridium cultures and starter ingredients to produce distinctive flavors reliably.
The most useful practical survey for the salt-rising experimentalist is a 2002 article by Reinald S. Nielsen in issue 70 of Petits Propos Culinaires, the quirky small-format journal published in the UK by Prospect Books. Nielsen had started making salt-rising bread in the 1950s, and over the years collected and tested old recipes and sent samples to a microbiology lab for analysis. He discovered that cornmeal is a far richer source of Clostridium perfringens than wheat flour, but that various materials can serve as slow but workable sources of starter microbes. Not just all kinds of grains, milled or flaked, conventional or organic, including packaged breakfast oatmeal and shredded wheat, but even bark from oak and black locust trees. Taste-of-place fans take note: Clostridium perfringens is everywhere. The possibilities are endless.
If you do give clostridium bread a try, a word of caution: Don't lick the spoon or nibble the raw dough. Just in case. Remember which family of microbes you're playing with.
Recipe: Salt-Rising Bread
Salt-rising bread is most conveniently started in the evening to bake late the following afternoon.

Makes 2 8½" x 4½" loaves
To make the starter:
1 C cornmeal
1 T sugar
1 t salt
2 C milk
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl or large jar. Bring milk just to the boil and pour over dry ingredients. Mix briefly, then cover loosely and keep warm, 100 to 110º F, for 8 to 10 hours.
To make the sponge:
1 t baking soda
1 C water, warmed to 120º F
the starter
2 C all-purpose flour
Add the soda and water to the starter, then stir in enough flour to make a thick batter. Cover and keep warm again for 3 to 4 hours, until the batter is spongy with bubbles.
To make the bread:
1 t salt
the sponge
3 to 4 C all-purpose flour
1. Stir salt into sponge, then knead in enough flour to make a resilient dough. Divide the dough between 2 greased loaf pans and allow to rise in a warm place until the volume has significantly increased, 2 to 6 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 425º F. Bake the loaves for 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove loaves from pans and cool on a rack.
This article appears in issue 11 of Lucky Peach.
About Harold McGee
Harold McGee writes about the science of food and cooking. He's the author of On Food & Cooking: The Science & Lore of the Kitchen, and Keys to Good Cooking, and posts at curiouscook.com.
About Lucky Peach
Lucky Peach is a quarterly journal of food and writing. Each issue focuses on a single theme, and explores that theme through essays, art, photography, and recipes. Issue 11, the All You Can Eat issue, hits newsstands today. If you loved this--or even just strongly liked it--why not subscribe to the magazine here? At least visit our website at lky.ph or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Check Out These Fantastic Examples of Sign Language Poetry
Twins all grown up, naked in ‘The Shining’ porn parody

You’d think after all the love (in the form of press coverage) that we’ve sent smut parody auteur Lee Roy Myers over the years, we’d expect the “SpongeBob SquareNuts” director to reciprocate in an inappropriately awesome way, e.g. dispatching cast members to our studio apartments. But the truth is, we’re grateful for his art. Name one other Canadian-born pornographer who currently lives in Las Vegas and is capable of churning out quality humor sleaze at such a rapid pace. You can’t.
And so we have to appreciate Myers’s work as it comes. Whether in the form of “horny Tolkien fan boy fantasies” or a dirty dig at Jerry Seinfeld’s superfluous web series or “Here’s The Shining,” an erotic photo gallery of Stanley Kubrick’s creepy would-be twins as nubile adults, they all deserve a nod. I don’t think he needs to do any favors. Do you?
See more photos [NSFW] of Myers’s erotic interpretation of “The Shining” here.

Woodrocket [link NSFW]
Brain Implant Turns Man Into Johnny Cash Fanatic
bernotBest outcome.

Discover magazine brings us the story of “Mr. B,” a Dutch man who suffered from severe anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mr. B’s doctors gave him a brain-stimulation implant to treat his symptoms, and it worked:
Mr. B. reported he felt very confident, calm and assertive and he started to call himself “Mr. B. II”, the new and improved version of himself.
Then, the patient “Ring of Fire” on the radio, and everything changed.
…a half year after DBS surgery, Mr. B. stated that he was turning into a Johnny Cash fan. He had been listening to the radio, when he coincidentally heard “Ring of Fire” of the Country and Western singer and experienced that he was deeply affected by the song. Mr. B. started to listen to more songs of Johnny Cash and noticed that he was deeply moved by the raw and low-pitched voice of the singer
Soon, Cash ruled everything around B:
Mr. B. reported that he felt good following treatment with DBS and that the songs of Johnny Cash made him feel even better. From this moment on, Mr. B. kept listening simply and solely to Johnny Cash and bought all his CD’s and DVD’s… From the first time Mr. B. heard a Johnny Cash song, [all other music] has been banned.
And when the batteries to Mr. B’s implant ran out, so did his enthusiasm for Cash and his music:
His former musical taste reoccurred immediately when stimulation was interrupted due to battery depletion, suggesting a direct causal link between musical preference and stimulation of the accumbens.
What gives? Discover speculates that the implant may have activated some general appetite for music in Mr. B, and suggests that the fixation on Johnny Cash in particular may be an “inexplicable quirk of human life.”
But maybe he wasn’t being entirely unreasonable.
The post Brain Implant Turns Man Into Johnny Cash Fanatic appeared first on ANIMAL.
Car Windshield Cleaning Fluid Carries Deadly Legionnaires' Bacteria

In the study, presented today (May 19) at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, scientists found that 75 percent of washing fluid from school buses in central Arizona carried a variety of the Legionella bacterium that causes the disease.
“Washer fluid has the traits a potentially dangerous source of Legionella exposure needs,” Otto Schwake, a microbiology Ph.D. student at Arizona State University in Tempe and the study’s lead author, told Bloomberg. “It is aerosolized, heated and people are regularly exposed to it. The results from this study support previously demonstrated epidemiological evidence for a link between automobiles and Legionnaires’ disease."
Legionella bacteria can cause the disease when they are dispersed in the air and inhaled, and it got its named from an outbreak at a meeting of the American Legion in 1976. Most people exposed to the pathogen do not get infected, and it most commonly infects the elderly, smokers, and those with compromised immune systems.
The bacteria can be killed if the fluid is mixed with antifreeze. But Schwake said not enough research has been done to know if this is a good idea, since increased exposure to antifreeze, which can be harmful at certain levels, may cancel out any benefits of killing these microbes.
Woman Addicted to Pregnancy Won't Stop Till Her Pussy 'Falls Out'
bernotHorrifying to heartwarming in 30 seconds.




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