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03 Jan 20:45

Antarctica Condition 1 Weather

by John Farrier


(Video Link)

We're having a cold snap down here in Texas. It's gotten as low as 50ºF! Brrr. We'll survive though.

Now in Antarctica, they've got it really rough. Here's a video from McMurdo Station, the main American research center in Antarctica. It's a 2006 video showing what the weather is like in what the natives call "Condition 1." That's when the wind speed exceeds 55 knots, visibility is less than 100 feet or the wind chill temperature is below -100ºF. Rather nippy.

-via TYWKIWDBI

03 Jan 01:35

Strange Jobs And The Workers Who Love Them

by Zeon Santos

Have you ever thought to yourself- "Gee, I wonder if there’s a person who samples dog foods, or dives into golf course ponds for balls, or evaluates human breath odor?" The answer is yes, yes and oh my yes! These are the odd jobs that most people wonder about, never sure whether they actually exist or not.

They’re odd occupations not normally found in your local job listings, and they are all featured in two books of photography by Nancy Rica Schiff entitled Odd Jobs and Odder Jobs. They range from “that’s weird” to “man am I glad I don’t have THAT job!”, and the mere existence of these niche jobs makes for a fun bit of trivia.

Via 22 Words

02 Jan 03:13

Scientists' favourite jokes

by Cory Doctorow

The Observer has a great collection of scientists' favourite jokes, along with anaecdotes and background about each joke. I snorted at this limerick:

A friend who's in liquor production,
Has a still of astounding construction,
The alcohol boils,
Through old magnet coils,
He says that it's proof by induction.

From Helen Czerski, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, Southampton.

The comments are also a goldmine of science groaners (and pedantic nit-picking). My own favourite -- and original -- science (well, maths) joke is:

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: people who don't know binary, people who do, and people who know ternary.

Please, give us your best science humour in the comments!

Scientists tell us their favourite jokes: 'An electron and a positron walked into a bar…' [The Observer]

    






02 Jan 03:00

Have Some Corn for Dinner With This Supercut of Action Movie Punchlines [VIDEO]

by Rebecca Pahle

So much cheese. So. Many. Puns.

(via: blastr)

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02 Jan 01:20

Beer Bath: Underground Brewery Converted to Thermal Spa

by Steph
[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 1

Lounge in large wooden vats that once contained gallons upon gallons of beer, gazing up at the original stone arches in subterranean vaulted chambers. The Hürlimann Brewery in Zurich, built in 1836, has been transformed into a hotel and thermal spa with naturally heated water from a nearby spring.

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 2

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 3

Guests don’t actually bathe in beer here (there are other places to do that) but they get to enjoy the next best thing in spacious hot tubs made from the reclaimed barrels. The clean lines of wood and steel in the new construction contrast with, yet complement the aged stone architecture of the original facility.

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 4

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 5

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 6

Enclosed tiled rooms offer large pools in which to lay on your back and float, and the places to soak extend all the way up to the hotel’s rooftop, with heated pools looking out onto the city of Zurich.


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01 Jan 23:18

Full Trailer For The BBC’s New Musketeers Show With Peter Capaldi

by Brendon Connelly

The BBC are sticking to Alexandre Dumas at least so much as the villain of The Musketeers will be Cardinal Richelieu. Well – for the first series at least. If they continue into a second run, they might find it hard to pin down Peter Capaldi for a reprise. He does have a rather high profile, demanding gig to take up most of his calendar.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This show was created by Adrian Hodges, one of the driving forces behind Primeval but also the screenwriter of Tom & Viv and Metroland. Hopefully his interest in things both literary and adventurous will make him the perfect guiding hand for The Musketeers.

Full Trailer For The BBC’s New Musketeers Show With Peter Capaldi

31 Dec 10:52

Christmas is over for another year (reblog)

by Mark

Christmas is over sm
Still my favorite Christmas pic.

Via

31 Dec 10:51

The Best of Brain Pickings 2013

by Maria Popova

Everything you missed and everything you’d want to revisit, in one cozy place.

As the year rolls to an end, what better way to reflect on its fruits than by looking back on those pieces that moved the greatest number of hearts and minds? Gathered below are the thirteen most read and shared articles published on Brain Pickings in 2013, spanning everything from psychology to art to the meaning of life. (Catch up on last year’s finest reads here.) Please enjoy, and thank you for joining me on yet another year’s intellectual and creative voyage.

Image Map
  1. Happy Birthday, Brain Pickings: 7 Things I Learned in 7 Years of Reading, Writing, and Living

    Reflections on how to keep the center solid as you continue to evolve.

  2. Fail Safe: Debbie Millman’s Advice on Courage and the Creative Life

    “Imagine immensities, don’t compromise, and don’t waste time.” A spectacular illustrated-essay-turned-commencement-address.

  3. What Is Love? Famous Definitions from 400 Years of Literary History

    “Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything.” From Shakespeare to Sontag, the most beautiful definitions of the highest human capacity.

  4. Advice to Little Girls: Young Mark Twain’s Little-Known, Lovely 1865 Children’s Book

    The playful short story young Mark Twain had written in 1865 at age of 30, newly illustrated by celebrated Russian-born children’s book illustrator Vladimir Radunsky, mischievously encouraging girls to think independently rather than blindly obey rules and social mores.

  5. Why Time Slows Down When We’re Afraid, Speeds Up as We Age, and Gets Warped on Vacation

    “Time perception matters because it is the experience of time that roots us in our mental reality.”

  6. May 20, 1990: Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson

    “The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.”

  7. How to Be an Educated Consumer of Infographics: David Byrne on the Art-Science of Visual Storytelling

    Cultivating the ability to experience the “geeky rapture” of metaphorical thinking and pattern recognition.

  8. 20-Year-Old Hunter S. Thompson’s Superb Advice on How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Meaningful Life

    “It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it.”

  9. How To Be a Nonconformist: 22 Irreverent Illustrated Steps to Counterculture Cred from 1968

    “Avoid socks. They are a fatal giveaway of a phony nonconformist.” A delightful vintage piece of cultural satire, timelier than ever, written and illustrated by a sixteen-year-old girl.

  10. The Art of Ofey: Richard Feynman’s Little-Known Sketches and Drawings

    “I wanted to convey an emotion I have about the beauty of the world… this feeling about the glories of the universe.”

  11. How to Worry Less About Money

    What Goethe can teach us about cultivating a healthy relationship with our finances.

  12. Lost Cat: An Illustrated Meditation on Love, Loss, and What It Means To Be Human

    “You can never know anyone as completely as you want. But that’s okay, love is better.”

  13. How to Find Fulfilling Work

    Beautiful and necessary read on the art-science of “allowing the various petals of our identity to fully unfold.”

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Brain Pickings takes 450+ hours a month to curate and edit across the different platforms, and remains banner-free. If it brings you any joy and inspiration, please consider a modest donation – it lets me know I'm doing something right. Holstee

31 Dec 10:51

The Best Cosplay of 2013

by Jill Harness

From clever to spooky to just plain spectacular, 2013 has been a great year for great cosplay. With all the end of the year round ups going around these days, it can be hard to keep track of them all, but this io9 gallery of great cosplay is something you simply shouldn't miss.

We included some of these in our Comic Con and Wonder Con cosplay articles and some of these we've already featured because they are simply so fantastic, but plenty of the costumes are still new to us.

If you like cosplay, you certainly won't want to miss this fantastic roundup of all these great costumes from the span of the last year.

31 Dec 10:50

What Did We Get Stuck In Our Rectums This Year?

by Barry Petchesky on Deadspin, shared by Charlie Jane Anders to io9

What Did We Get Stuck In Our Rectums This Year?

As in past years, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has created a searchable database of emergency room visits around the country. And as in past years, we have trolled the data for the finest examples of insertions showcasing extraordinarily bad luck and/or ingenuity.

Read more...


    
31 Dec 10:47

Intricate Ice Architecture: 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

by Steph
[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Ice Architecture Main

While you put the finishing touches on a lopsided snowman in your front yard, ice and snow artists around the world build life-sized ice castles, hotel rooms made of packed snow, and delicate ice sculptures stretching dozens of feet into the air. Illuminated at night, these amazing temporary structures built in some of the world’s coldest places each year look like something out of a winter fairy tale.

Hotel de Glace, Quebec

Ice Architecture Hotel de Glace 1

Ice Architecture Hotel de Glace 2

(images via: hôtel de glace)

The only true ice hotel in North America, Hotel de Glace opens each January with a new theme. In early 2013, that theme was “A Journey to the Center of Winter,” inspired by the Jules Verne novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” It had 44 guest rooms as well as a spa, restaurant, chapel and a bar made of ice.

China Snow World Festival

Ice Architecture China Snow World

(images via: inhabitat)

Incredible replicas of Renaissance architecture, classic Russian architecture and other impressive structures are recreated at China’s Jingyue Snow World Festival each year. While not quite life-sized, this ice and snow architecture often reaches heights of thirty to forty feet. They’re hand-carved using low-tech tools.

Castles at Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

Ice Architecture Sapporo Japan 1

Ice Architecture Sapporo Japan 2

(images via: david mckelvey)

For just seven days each February, millions of visitors gaze upon intricately carved ice architecture and other large-scale sculptures for the Sapporo Snow Festival on the streets of Sapporo City. More than 10 teams compete in the International Snow Statue Contest to build structures reaching 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide, including life-sized dinosaurs. The largest structures can cost up to $100,000 to create, so they’re typically sponsored by countries or corporations.

Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China

Ice Architecture Harbin China

Ice Architecture Harbin China 2

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Harbin, China transforms into an ethereal showcase of ice architecture and sculptures illuminated in bright colors each January. The annual festival began as a traditional ice lantern garden party in 1963 and is now the largest snow and ice festival in the world, taking over virtually the entire city, with a unique theme each year.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Intricate Ice Architecture 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings


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31 Dec 10:47

How "Baby It's Cold Outside" Became America's Secular Christmas Anthem, Despite People Claiming It's About Date Rape

by Ken Layne


Betty Garrett and Red Skelton, reversing roles in the song's 1948 Hollywood premiere.

This Christmastime, last Christmastime and for many holiday seasons past, writers and commenters of the Internet have gathered to argue over the holiday classic "Baby It's Cold Outside." The conversations and accusations are rarely about the song's merits as a Tin Pan Alley jazz-pop composition. Instead, we wonder if the playful exchange of the man and woman is actually the loaded conversation before a sinister date rape. Or is the whole song just a harmless relic of a bygone time when "The answer is No" meant not "No," but "maybe just a half a drink more," and then, later, "lend me your comb."

We will not talk about that. Go to Salon or the Atlantic for such debates. We are going to talk about the song itself, while we listen to various interpretations, and we will assume the lyric is about a couple doing what couples have often done, which is to overthink everything and worry about what neighbors and relatives will say, and then eventually just blame the eventual deed on the timeworn suspects of drink, lack of cabs and bad weather.

But baby there's more right here.

The post How "Baby It's Cold Outside" Became America's Secular Christmas Anthem, Despite People Claiming It's About Date Rape appeared first on The Awl.

31 Dec 10:46

Calendar for lighthouse haters

by Cory Doctorow

We've often pointed to posts from Liartown, USA, Sean Tejaratchi's funny, profane, NSFW Tumblr. Today, he's really scored with a gratuitously sweary and convulsively funny calendar about lighthouses. If this were an actual article of commerce, it would have topped my Christmas wishlist.

    






29 Dec 22:45

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Originally published December 23, 2009.

- - -

Day 1

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. Such a thoughtful gift, she knows how much I love fruit. She also knows my building’s pretty strict about pets, so the bird threw me a little. But he is a cute little guy.

Day 2

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave me two turtle doves. Wow, she’s really into the avian theme this year. Um, thank you? I guess I’ll just put them in the kitchen with the partridge in the pear tree, which suddenly seems a lot bigger than it did yesterday.

Days 3 & 4

On the third and fourth days of Christmas, she gave me three French hens and four calling birds. Funny, I don’t remember telling her my dream was to one day open a chapter of the Audubon Society. Jesus. You know what would have been nice? Some birdseed. I’m out of saltines and things are starting to get weird in here.

Day 5

On the fifth day of Christmas, she gave me five golden rings. See, now that’s a nice gift. A nice, practical gift. A little on the feminine side, but I’ll take it.

Day 6

Six geese a-laying. Hmm, that’s so weird because I was just telling someone that I could use some MORE FUCKING BIRDS. Do you have any idea how much shit six geese generate in a single day? Literally, pounds. Pounds of green, grassy turds. And in case you’re curious, all six of them have been a-laying since they got here. There are no less than seventy-five enormous eggs in my apartment right now. And as a side note, I just tried to make an omelet out of one of them and almost ralphed. Very gamy.

Day 7

Guess what I signed for this morning when the UPS guy rang my doorbell? Seven swans a-swimming. True story. So… no more baths for me, I guess. Thanks for that. These are terrible gifts! Terrible, confusing gifts. Do you know how big a fucking swan is? Or how mean those bastards are? Oh, and guess who swans don’t get along with? Geese, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, and partridges. Glad you did your homework there. There’s more bird-on-bird violence going on right now than I care to mention.

Day 8

I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one in case you ordered these eight maids a-milking online, and there was some confusion, but just to clarify, there are eight middle-aged women wearing bonnets in my apartment right now. And they each brought a cow. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? They’re all here, in my STUDIO apartment, and judging by the size of their suitcases, they aren’t leaving anytime soon.

Day 9

Big day today. Not only did I receive the unexpected gift of nine ladies dancing, I also got a nice little note from my landlord. He covered all kinds of stuff, but in a nutshell, it was about excessive dancing, illegal livestock, unnatural amounts of bird feces, and me not living here anymore. Big day.

Day 10

Ten lords a-fucking-leaping! Yes, they are. Ten leotarded assholes are literally jumping around my apartment screaming “Wheeeeee!” every time their feet leave the goddamned ground! WHY?? Why are you doing this to me? You’re sick! I loved you so much, and you destroyed it. You destroyed everything. Tensions in here are escalating faster than I could have imagined. The maids and dancers appear to have laid territorial claims in opposite corners of the apartment. They are not the same civilized ladies who arrived here a short time ago. They bear a darkness now. One of them stole my golden rings and I know just the one who did it. I’m waiting until nightfall, and l and I will reclaim them through any means necessary. I’m beginning to fear something isn’t right with the birds, they’re watching me… conspiring… it’s just a matter of time.

Days 11 & 12

These final days have come and gone in a bewildering fog. I remember drummers. Pipers. Lots of them. I haven’t slept or washed my body in quite some time. Food is scarce… the fighting, fierce. I killed a lord today! Snatched him right out of the air and killed him with my bare hands. Now he doesn’t leap anymore. I used his leotard as a net to trap one of the swans. She was delicious. Didn’t even cook the old gal. Ha! I made everyone gather around and watch—that’s what you do when you want to send a message. A very important message! This is my castle! Do you all hear me? Do you see what I’ve done? What I am capable of!! No more eye contact with the king, do you understand? Or I will end you! I will end you all right here and now!! Now one of you fetch me a goddamned pear. The king needs something sweet.

29 Dec 22:44

Letters to Santa Written By Shakespeare Characters by Caroline Bicks and Michelle Ephraim

[Originally published December 17, 2009.]

- - -

Dear Santa:

How does my lord? I am fine. I believe ’tis possible you did not receive my wish list last year, or that it fell into unsavory hands and was rudely tampered with before reaching you, as all you brought me was a chastity belt and some granny underpants. I pray that this one flies to you untainted since this year hath really sucked. I wish for the following:

He’s Just Not That Into You (book and DVD)

— “All About Me” Lock and Key Diary

National Geographic Flower and Leaf Pressing Kit

— Coastal Deluxe Automatic Inflatable Life Vest

Fingers crossed,
Ophelia

- - - -

Dear Santa,

The trifles you brought me last year meant absolutely nothing. What’s the point of gifts when everything is falling to shit all around you? Why didn’t you steal the family account information I left out for you last year? That would have meant something.

Do you ever feel like everything is just a big conspiracy? Do you ever want to hurl yourself out of your sled and fall down, down, down onto the cold hard street below?

Look out for the slings and arrows.

— Hamlet

- - - -

Hail, Santa, King of the Elves!

Many thanks for the male-enhancement products you brought me last year. But as my wife has since forsworn me, I will not be needing them again. Hence, I devote this year’s list to her Christmas wishes. She demands the following items:

— A gift certificate for LATTICE eyelash treatment

— A Wonderbra (size: 36D; color: Midnight Animal)

— Arctic-raised Reindeer Pâté

— “Buns of Steel” DVD

— Dolce & Gabbana Bling Sunglasses

— One ticket to Barack Obama’s 2010 New Year’s Day Brunch [or another exclusive political event]

Santa, may I be frank? My Lady says that if she does not receive all of these anon, she will fly into a murderous rage. Just thought you should know.

— Macbeth

P.S. If you find a posset of cocoa labeled “For Santa,” do not drink it.

- - - -

Dear Santa, sweet, sweet Santa:

This Christmas, we wish for nothing more than peace, love, and understanding (LOL). We pray that you will fly like a nimble-pinioned dove to bring our parents copies of Chicken Soup for the Vengeful Soul. And perchance a little Valium for Lady Capulet?

Should Time slow her swift-footed pace, and night’s cloak agree to hide you, do you think maybe you could bring us some stuff too?

— Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” video and poster.

— DVD of The Secret Life of the American Teenager (Season 3)

— Quick-Escape Portable Ladder

— Motorola IMfree Personal Instant Messenger

— Plethysmograph Pulse Recognition Processor

xoxoxoxoxo,
Romeo and Juliet

- - - -

Dear Santa,

Everyone says you don’t exist, but I believe in you. We share many a talent, my jolly friend: I, too, am a merry wanderer of the night, and sometime fit I into tiny spaces to break into people’s homes. I don’t leave gifts (unless you count that turd I left in Mistress Quickly’s ale pot Monday last). I can steal most of the stuff I desire, but I need you, O round sprite of the night, to gather me these two things:

— An Indian boy (Not for me, it’s a present for my boss. Must be authentic, and not a cheap Chinese knock-off.)

— A meeting with a TV executive. I have a rollicking idea for a show: “2 1/2 Pucks.” It’s about me, Wolfgang Puck, and that elfin young man from Real World: San Francisco. We would all live together in a loft in the Meat Packing District. Hilarity ensues.

In return for these gifts, I will happily humiliate your wife (if that type of thing amuseth you).

— Puck

- - - -

Dear Santa:

You’re probably thinking about skipping my palace this year since I’m Queen of Egypt, but if you really love me you’ll prove it by showing up. I mean, it’s not like I have everything. Do you know how many messengers I’ve had to kill this year just to get some good news around here? And if I want a basket of asps, do you think I just have one lying around? I’m so sick and tired of being judged by old white guys like you thinking, “Oh, she’s so spoiled and so beautiful and such a big ol’ whore bag. It’s not like she needs anything.” Well I got news for you, Santa. There’s a real person inside this gorgeous body, and she has real feelings. I’m lonely, okay? L-O-N-E-L-Y. And depressed. You know what? Fuck it. If you can’t even bother to come and check up on me, then you can just screw yourself and the sleigh you rode in on. I’m going to kill myself right now. Okay, I just did it. I’m dead. Are you happy? You depressed me so much that I’m dead. Seriously. Nice going, old man.

— Cleopatra

P.S. In case you decide to come to my funeral, maybe you could bring me some Bonne Bell Lipsmackers to take with me to the Underworld.

- - - -

Santa!

I had this crazy dream that I ate your reindeer. But then this morning your face appeared in a puddle of maple syrup. So I licked you up.

— Falstaff

29 Dec 22:43

December 24, 2013

29 Dec 22:37

Cold Water and Regular Soap Kills Germs Just as Well as Hot Water

by Alan Henry

Cold Water and Regular Soap Kills Germs Just as Well as Hot Water

It's conventional wisdom that to really kill germs and disinfect your hands, you should be using water as hot as you can stand it and antibacterial soap, right? Not so, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University. In fact, cold water and regular soap can be just as effective. Here's why.

It may be more comfortable to wash your hands with hot water, and it may be better at getting debris and dirty off of your hands than cold water, but when it comes to making sure your hands are germ free, the hot water from your tap just isn't enough to make a big difference. Amanda R. Carrico, a research assistant professor at the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment, explained to National Geographic::

Carrico said, "It's certainly true that heat kills bacteria, but if you were going to use hot water to kill them it would have to be way too hot for you to tolerate."

She explained that boiling water, 212°F (99.98°C), is sometimes used to kill germs-for example, to disinfect drinking water that might be contaminated with pathogens. But "hot" water for hand washing is generally within 104°F to 131°F (40°C to 55°C.) At the high end of that range, heat could kill some pathogens, but the sustained contact that would be required would scald the skin.

Carrico said that after a review of the scientific literature, her team found "no evidence that using hot water that a person could stand would have any benefit in killing bacteria." Even water as cold as 40°F (4.4°C) appeared to reduce bacteria as well as hotter water, if hands were scrubbed, rinsed, and dried properly.

In fact, she noted that hot water can often have an adverse effect on hygiene. "Warmer water can irritate the skin and affect the protective layer on the outside, which can cause it to be less resistant to bacteria," said Carrico.

In fact, it's for this reason that neither the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) actually specify water temperature in their handwashing guidelines. They do suggest scrubbing with soap for at least 20 seconds (as in, singing the "Happy Birthday" song in your head to mark the time), but the key is to wash well and wash often, not necessarily wash hot.

Carrico also notes in her interview with National Geographic that organizations and households can save money on energy by washing with lukewarm water instead of trying to get their tap as hot as they can stand it. Hit the link below to read the full story, more linked studies, and to get the full picture. It's long, but it's worth a read, if only to debunk the temperature-to-cleanliness issue when it comes to handwashing.

Of course, if you prefer warm water (and I know I am), by all means do it, but it's not required to get your hands nice and clean. The researchers point out you should wash your hands at a comfortable temperature—which can mean warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Hit the link below to see the study and the related National Geographic report.

The environmental cost of misinformation: why the recommendation to use elevated temperatures for handwashing is problematic | The International Journal of Consumer Studies (May 2013, Vol. 34, Issue 4) | National Geographic and Tested

Photo by Katherine Johnson.

29 Dec 09:22

Why country music was awful in 2013

by Mark Frauenfelder

Country music subject matter 2013: Truck fetishism, old dirt roads, ordering women to climb into trucks, tight blue jeans fetishism, driving women to riverbanks, sunsets, moonlight, getting drunk, saying "girl."

The title of the video is "Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013." But the last good country song was written in 1969: Merle Haggard's "The Fightin' Side of Me."


    






28 Dec 08:49

Bored Family Recreates Every Movie With Cardboard Boxes and a Baby

by Susana Polo

Enable JavaScript to check out our fancy slideshow.


  1. 1.Jurassic Park Jurassic Park
  2. 2.Castaway Castaway
  3. 3.Home Alone Home Alone
  4. 4.Die Hard Die Hard
  5. 5.The Dark Knight The Dark Knight
  6. 6.Alien Alien
  7. 7.Jaws Jaws
  8. 8.Star Wars Star Wars
  9. 9.Temple of Doom Temple of Doom

Lilly and Leon, having moved countries and had a baby, found themselves with lots of cardboard boxes, and a significantly smaller social life. Their blog, Cardboard Box Office, is the result.

(via Boing Boing.)

[View All on One Page]

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26 Dec 22:25

Hopscotch Intersection: 4 Artists Hack 16 Public Crosswalks

by Urbanist
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

zebra crossing zipper art

Sixteen crosswalks at four intersections in Baltimore are the subject of a street-spanning public art project that re-imagines white-on-black zebra striping, each with a unique twist.

zebra hopscotch aerial view

Sponsored by the  Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the first two of the series are already complete with two more yet to come.

zebra baltimore pedestrian interactions

Artist Paul Bertholet is behind the giant zip-up crosswalk while Graham Coreil-Allen designed the hopscotch-styled variant (additional images below by Graham Coreil-Allen).

zebra intersection crosswalk construction

One goal of this set of projects is to add a creative touch around the city’s Westside Arts and Entertainment District, attracting visitors and interaction while helping define the neighborhood.


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Literal Street Art Transforms Pedestrian Crosswalks

The utilitarianism of zebra crossing designs hasn't not stopped people from creative experimentation in the form of quite literal pedestrian street art. Click Here to Read More »»


Doing it Wrong: Funny Photo-Edited Urban Improbabilities

It would be entirely right and wrong at the same time to call this body of work realistic - the scenes are at first glance probable, then clearly almost ... Click Here to Read More »»


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26 Dec 22:17

How would various news outlets report the end of the world?

by Lauren Davis

How would various news outlets report the end of the world?

If the apocalypse started tomorrow, how would the New York Times, Fox News, NPR, and TMZ report the events? Buzzfeed imagines the news and social media reactions from across the World Wide Web.

Read more...


    






26 Dec 00:13

Parents Recreating Famous Movie Scenes With Their Baby

by Jill Harness

Every parent wants to capture every moment with their baby, but your baby's pictures probably aren't all that fascinating to everyone else you know no matter how many likes you get on Facebook. On the other hand, Lilly and Leon — of Cardboard Box Office figured out a clever way to make their baby's pictures entertaining to just about everyone.

That's because they recreate famous movie scenes with their baby and household objects and the resulting images are both adorable and hilarious. Seeing little Orson take on the role of Tom Hanks in Castaway, Mark Hamill in Star Wars and Bruce Willis in Die Hard is simply fantastic and a lot more entertaining than all the baby photos you are probably used to seeing.

Via Laughing Squid

21 Dec 10:06

These are National Geographic's favorite images of the year

by George Dvorsky

These are National Geographic's favorite images of the year

After sorting through 7,000 images taken by photographers from over 150 countries, National Geographic has chosen the cream of the crop for it's annual photo contest. As always, the year's best are simply sensational.

Read more...


    






21 Dec 09:57

Outrageous Christmas Cards By John Cessna

by Zeon Santos

When John Cessna's mother told him to act like a grown up and send a Christmas card out to his family and friends back in 2008, he did what any immature grown up would do- he took pictures of himself fall down drunk and made them into Christmas cards. Now, five years later, his messed up Christmas cards have become John's very own pranky holiday tradition.

The card on top is from 2009, aka his drunken days, and the Fight Club themed card below it is the 2013 version of John's holiday madness. The card scenes may seem like pretty standard holiday fare for some, and an outrageous blasphemy against Christmas to others, but hey everybody has their own way of staying sane throughout the holiday season.

Via 22 Words

21 Dec 09:49

Lego Minifigs of the 80s You Dreamed Of

by Susana Polo

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Travel back in time with us again, but this time to a version of the 80s that never actually existed. Lego’s pretty into the licensed tie-in these days, but kids of the 80s had no such luck. Designer/artist Dan Shearn seeks to rectify this, if only in the form of .jpgs images.

(via Laughing Squid.)

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21 Dec 09:42

How Dogs Make Decisions

by John Farrier

Dogs are man's best friend in the sense that they're like the old fraternity brother who was always socially crude in college and never grew out of it. Lick your own butt? Carpe diem, dude. Abstruse Goose understands.

20 Dec 01:43

[lunarbaboon]

19 Dec 20:49

December 19, 2013


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19 Dec 20:40

Why Is Tom Hiddleston Also Johnny Weir and Rufus Wainwright?

by Mallory Ortberg

Previously: Why Aren’t We Talking About How Much Tim Curry and Dave Grohl Are The Same?

I am horrified and astonished that Johnny Weir and Tom Hiddleston have been running around existing for the last several decades without a single attempt to force them to pair skate together à la Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg because they are the exact same man. Why aren’t we talking about this every day?

johnnyweir

Don’t try to tell me this isn’t a still from the movie Thor, because I won’t believe you. That is clearly English actor Tom Hiddleston in the movie Thor, or possibly Thor II, or possibly The Avengers. Whichever one has Tom Hiddleston in it. Is he in all three of them? He couldn’t possibly be in all three of them. Look at him, skating across the rainbow bridge Bifrost to Asgard.

Screen Shot 2013-12-17 at 10.28.54 PMHere, of course, we see celebrated figure skater Johnny Weir in one of his trademark over-the-top costumes preparing to go on the ice.

Important question for readers: Why are they the same face. Why are they the same face in the same elaborate midnight-black skintight leotards with outré neck-and-shoulder embellishmentsWhy. Why. 

Equally important followup question: Why are they also both Rufus Wainwright? Why are they three, but also one? What is this fey, white-mouthed Trinity? 

rufusWhile we’re asking horrified, panting questions, why is Rufus Wainwright only sometimes Tom Hiddleston and Johnny Weir but the rest of the time Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica? What goddamn business does this Canadian singer-songwriter have looking like goddamn Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica half the time?

gaius2WHY IS GAIUS BALTAR FROM BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SOMETIMES RUFUS WAINWRIGHT BUT ALSO SOMETIMES NABOO FROM THE MIGHTY BOOSHI: 

naboo

 I am unsettled and frightened and the only thing that will make this right is A) someone sorting out just how many of these men are real and then banishing the remaining hollow shells to whatever hell-dimension the real Tom Hiddleston summoned them from or B) a movie version of Macbeth that comes out next week where all of them play The Weird Sisters and Lady Macbeth by turns. Thank you for your time.

Read more Why Is Tom Hiddleston Also Johnny Weir and Rufus Wainwright? at The Toast.

19 Dec 03:04

Everything on MovieWeb will suck

by Kay
2013 was the year when I started dreading liking and disliking movies. Inevitably, the response to my opinion is, "How could you like (or not like) that?" This is said with astonishment, disbelief, shock and sometimes a little bit of anger. So now my dread extends to seeing movies. I literally don't want to see certain movies, for fear that I'll like them. Because if you hate something, you don't get challenged. Fun, right? Soon, I'm going to do a post about movies I love that I usually don't admit to loving. And if people want to ridicule it, I'd like to see THEIR lists.

It's time for the Worst Of lists, which is just an excuse to haul out whatever dead horse these people have been beating all year and give it one more good whack. Worst Of lists are so fun! For some reason that I haven't figured out yet. If you have compiled a Worst Of list on your media blog, you are an asshole and you are a large part of the problem. I also hope that none of you have any dreams of working in the entertainment industry. While not everyone will hold you accountable for your words, there are people who will. And your goodwill only extends so far.

Here's a thought experiment. Think about something that you just adore. Something you'd defend to the death. Something that speaks to you personally, or just makes you happy. Now think about anything you've said online (it's almost always online, behind that screen) about something you hate. That's something that someone else loves. Use those same words and apply them to your chosen favorite thing. It sucks, right? I know we all have this sudden sense of entitlement and when something isn't in our wheelhouse, we feel betrayed. Speaking of betrayal, by the way, io9 is SO WORRIED that the pilot Alfonso Cuaron directed, Believe, is going to "let them down." This brutal sense of entitlement is a problem. Everything isn't for everyone. If something isn't for me, I'm not disappointed by it, see? If people could at least start realizing that, maybe some of the fury would die down. 

Anyway, luckily for this blog, some people were dumb on the Internet. Here's a Vanity Fair article (remember when Vanity Fair used to be good?) about how 2013 might be the best year for movies since 1939. And 1939 was a bang-up year for movies, to be sure. Quantifiably the best? No, because you can't quantify something like that. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with an article like this, but if the person writing it hasn't actually SEEN the movies, then there's a bit of a problem:

I haven’t seen any of the following year-end releases but have heard or read excellent accounts from people who have: 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, The Fifth Estate, Philomena, Saving Mr. Banks, All Is Lost, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and August: Osage County. As far as I know, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and David O. Russell’s American Hustle are still under wraps, but judging from the trailer, The Wolf of Wall Street will, at worst, be fun and jazzy in the coked-up way of the last third of GoodFellas. American Hustle re-teams Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and just yesterday I saw a still from the picture that showed Cooper wearing pink hair rollers, so you have to have high hopes.

Kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it? Odd that it's in Vanity Fair, especially since this is the kind of shit media blogs have been doing since they began: Judging movies based on pictures or hearsay or the psychic ability to see into the future. Being stupid in a positive sense is just as dumb as being stupid in a negative sense. Although if given a choice, I guess I'd take this dimwitted, amateurish article over this MovieWeb list, which is already gleefully shitting on next year's movies. Also, for your reading pleasure, they incorporate into the article snarky crap from their readership. The height of laziness, folks! Articles constructed from YOUR COMMENTS! So basically, it's a scrum of indignant jerks already not being entertained by something they WILL pay for several times so they can rip it a new asshole.

Beyond the obvious problems, they play fast and loose with their premise. When it suits them, the movie in question will bomb at the box office for Reasons. But other times, the movie will just suck. It's irritatingly capricious, but what do you expect from people like this?

What about a post picking movies you're excited about? Oh, I know, that won't get you many hits. And all you care about is blog traffic. Bashing things before you see them accomplishes only one thing: Creating a snark echo chamber, a morass of negativity that frankly, we don't need anymore. Enough. So to combat your bullshit, here's a few movies I'm looking forward to seeing:

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit -- MovieWeb moans that it's for old people, because of course EVERY MOVIE should be made for people like them, people who already hate movies that they haven't seen. I say well then, I must be old because I love me some Jack Ryan. I don't care who plays him. I've seen them all. MovieWeb also said Kenneth Branagh was a liability and I said uh, what? KENNETH BRANAGH is a liability? Somehow, for some reason, he was the disaster behind Thor. Thor was a disaster? In which universe? Do people really think this? If you guys thought Thor was a disaster, then no wonder this movie doesn't excite you. But look. Not every movie is FOR you. The majority of the movies on your "list" target a specific audience. You don't know what the studio expects. You don't know the marketing budget. You don't know ANYTHING. Also, saying that a movie looks "totally gay" makes you even more of an asshole.

The Monuments Men - holy shit, gentle readers, George Clooney made a movie about the men who tried to save masterpieces during WWII. The cast is unreal, and in the trailer, GEORGE EFFING CLOONEY is standing next to the Ghent Altarpiece, a sight so beautiful that I may die, and proof that George made the movie for me.

Non-Stop -- Liam Neeson is an Air Marshal in a film from the director of Taken. That should be all any of us require.

The Grand Budapest Hotel -- Wes Anderson. A color palette that is positively orgasmic. A weird, funny Ralph Fiennes. Bellboys. Can't wait.

Noah -- I'm not much for Biblical epics but Darren Aronofsky doing one? Yes please.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier -- oh, fuck off. I am capable of seeing superhero movies without my brain melting into goo. Calm down, hysterical people who are trying to save us all by feeding us shakes made out of pages from Ulysses.

Dom Hemingway -- Written and directed by Richard Shepard, who made The Matador, which is one of my favorite buddy movies ever. The buddies in this film are Jude Law and Richard E. Grant. 

Transcendence -- the directorial debut of cinematographer Wally Pfister, it's a science fiction movie about the singularity and transhumanism. I mean, that's pretty much all I need to know. Interesting that these dorks didn't mention this movie, since they went all "NOBODY CAN MAKE ORIGINAL SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES THAT PEOPLE SEE" over every other movie.

X-Men: Days of Future Past -- yeah. Bite me, haters.

Tammy -- Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon take a road trip. TWO LADIES ARE IN A MOVIE!

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes -- because I loved the first one.

Jupiter Ascending -- the latest from the Wachowskis, who are unabashedly great at making giant scope science fiction films. MovieWeb said some nonsense about how the Wachowskis failed with Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas. Apparently my definition of failure is the polar opposite. I'm not a studio head. I don't have to give a shit about how much a movie made, and whether or not a whole bunch of asshole critics decided to sink a film. All I have to care about is quality. If you're just a moviegoer and you think a film is bad because it didn't make enough money, then you have a mean, sad little heart and your purgatory is to never ever love anything. Both Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas were artistic triumphs from two filmmakers who blessedly get to keep making these movies. The fact that they keep making these gigantic movies in the midst of such a rude piling-on is a testament to creativity. I find it ironic that so many of these people who claim to love movies and TV spend so much time trying to destroy the creative soul. Luckily, many of the targets aren't paying attention to you. That must really hurt.

Here's a sample:
We'll have to wait and see a trailer before we even begin to pretend this might be any good, but just going in on what we know, this is destined to stink up the joint.

This was before the trailer was released, so "what they knew" when the article was written is the fucking TITLE.

Also:
Terrible cast, terrible writers/directors, and a beyond terrible plot.

It's actually a premise, genius. A plot is that thing you nitpick for two hours.

Guardians of the Galaxy -- and again, fuck you. Here's some more genius:
Also, we have to look at the fact that Thor and Captain America are two of their most well-known and beloved characters. The numbers for those two inaugural releases weren't huge. Some could even call them disappointing.

Some COULD, although some MIGHT want to consider that America is no longer the center of the movie-going universe, and also that studios rarely make sequels to movies that were "disappointing."

Lucy -- Luc Besson making a science fiction film with Scarlett Johansson. Yep!

Interstellar -- the new Christopher Nolan film, but apparently we are all supposed to hate him now? Sorry. Didn't get the memo. Aside from it maybe involving wormholes and alternate universes, nobody knows what it's about. I'm sure that infuriates the fanbase who thinks they deserve to know every single plot point of a film before it starts filming.

Some of you hold director Christopher Nolan in high esteem, mostly because of his Batman movies. He can do no wrong, which only means it's a matter of time before he crashes and burns. Will this be it? His big failure?

Okay, let me see if I've got this straight. Due to the law of averages that you are making up on your website, Christopher Nolan is due for a movie to fail? Actually, that's not how it works. That's why Rosencrantz keeps getting tails. And it's convenient that you don't go back to your previous premise that nobody will go see original movies when talking about the filmmaker behind Inception.

We also feel the secrecy surrounding the project will help do it in.

So you're just pissed off that Nolan didn't give you the script, then. Honey, you don't need to know anything. You really don't. This notion of needing all the information is ruining discourse. It's ruining entertainment. And it's ruining my patience. You can go get spoiled all you want. I know it makes you feel Big and Important, which you apparently crave. But let me have my Mystery Box, or I'll pull a gun out of it and shoot you. Actually, the amount of Mystery Box employed by a filmmaker may be proportional to how much they are loathed by the gimme fans who think they're owed everything, always want some kind of story twist, and then get pissed off because they think everything is a trick.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- the first part of the last book. The movie can't be as internal and Katniss can't be as passive as she is in the book. Interested to see how this one works.

McFarland -- no way I'm not seeing this. First, it's a Disney sports movie. Second, it's set in the 80s. And third, IT'S SET IN GODDAM MCFARLAND, which is near where I grew up. 

Unbroken -- Angelina Jolie directing a Coen Brothers script starring Jack O'Connell? All the way, bitches.

What they said about Maleficent:
But Disney has a pretty spotty track record as of late, and Jesus Christ was Alice In Wonderland hard to sit through. What a bore.

Disney wouldn't make the movie if they thought that. Also, they're making an Alice sequel. And there's precedent for what Disney thinks is a disaster. One reason John Carter had the Mars taken away was because Mars Needs Moms didn't make money, and Disney decided that women wouldn't go see a movie with Mars in the title. But go ahead and ignore how that sank a terrific film. There's no story in THAT. Just keep bitching ludicrously.

Suck it, MovieWeb. You don't love movies. You hate them.