firehose

officialkylieminoguedragqueen:

why go to art school when you can just be a painting dog

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog

If You Wish To Be A Writer, Have Sex With Someone Who Works In Publishing:

By Joyce Carol Oates*

As an author with a half century of literary success behind me, I can assure you the only way to make it in this industry is to meet as many publishers as you possibly can and then fuck them.

(roaring with laughter)

…Still remembering the time that one of our male writers on “Dinosaucers” — annoyed at having been given rewrite instructions he didn’t like, failing to pay attention to them, and then being cut off at second draft — accused me and my co-story editor Brynne of being “talentless bimbos who’d fucked our way to the top”. All we could do was collapse onto each other giggling “This is the top?!”

*…Theoretically.

Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side

(Sega - Sega CD - 1995)

littlelimpstiff14u2:

Antarctica from space

Amazing.

theodp writes "What's wrong with this picture?" asked Code.org at its launch earlier this year, lamenting the lack of Computer Science students in a race and gender reference-free infographic. But as the organization has grown via public/private partnerships and inked agreements to drive the CS curriculum for the Chicago and NYC school systems, the same stats webpage has adopted a new gender and racial equity focus, positioning Computer Science education as "a chance to level the playing field" for women, Hispanic and African American students. The new message is consistent with the recently-forged Code.org partnership with the NSF-funded Exploring Computer Science (ECS, "a K-12/university partnership committed to democratizing computer science") and Computer Science Principles (CSP, "a new course under development that seeks to broaden participation in computing and computer science"). According to The Research Behind ECS, an "insidious 'virtual segregation' that maintains inequality" is to blame for keeping the number of African Americans and Latino/as CS students disproportionately low. So, what might the future of Code.org's proposed equity-based U.S. K-12 CS education look like? "Including culturally relevant instructional materials represented a driving focus of our course development," explained ECS Team members who now advise Code.org. "Cultural design tools encourage students to artistically express computing design concepts from Latino/a, African American, or Native American history as well as cultural activities in dance, skateboarding, graffiti art, and more. These types of lessons are important for students to build personal relationships with computer science concepts and applications – an important process for discovering the relevance of computer science for their own life." And — ironically for Code.org — it could mean less coding."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

tinycartridge:

Voxel engine for NES games ⊟

Check out this dope situation. Procyon has added voxel support to the NES emulator FCEUX, instantly turning NES ROMs (which you’ve legally acquired, etc.) into 3D games. This looks amazing!

Official emulation (Virtual Console and the like) have a lot of catching up to do – catching up that will never, ever occur. But whatever, let’s stare at some cool graphics!

Sorry, I realize Donkey Kong isn’t “obscure”, but holy crap, I can’t wait to try this out!

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

The halftime show in Cincinnati is Capuchin monkeys in tiny monkey-sized Bengals jerseys riding dogs and herding sheep. It's all happening:

If anyone was wondering what the Bengals halftime show is, it's monkeys in jerseys riding dogs chasing goats...#wut pic.twitter.com/JiUMDbLSfS

— Emily W (@EmilyWhite012) December 22, 2013

And Katy Perry’s Roar is being played while the Monkeys are riding the Dogs. This has to be a bad acid trip

— Joe Reedy (@joereedy) December 22, 2013

If you've never encountered this particular halftime show, you can read all about these creatures here. It's a whole damn business.

That doesn't seem like a cool thing to do to monkeys, but, well, there ya go.

Telegraph.co.uk

Icons of Egypt's Protest Movement Imprisoned ABC News An Egyptian court handed down prison sentences to three of the country's most prominent youth activists Sunday in the first use of a controversial new protest law, a harsh warning to the secular groups that supported the military's ouster of Islamist president ... Egypt activists get 3 years in prison for protestMiamiHerald.com Egypt court jails anti-Mubarak activistsThe Australian In Egypt, the 'revolution' is eating its youngChristian Science Monitor Telegraph.co.uk -Reuters -ABC Online all 125 news articles »

johnzilla87:

blackichigo1:

Mashaa Allah :)

Whoa, this is the best photo set I’ve seen thus far about the snow in Egypt. These shots are AWE-SOME! Especially that last one of the sphinx!

RT @ScottFilmCritic: If you only see one mismatched headline and photograph today, make it this one. pic.twitter.com/jmFbf6azpk

— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) December 20, 2013

Drops a Joe Montana-like F-bomb.

Brady was NOT HAPPY with having to burn a timeout in the first half against the Ravens. It wouldn't really matter because he would go on to throw a TD pass to Shane Vereen on the very next play. Like any good leader he took his frustration out on his offensive coordinator, as one does.

Tom Brady. What a competitor. What a leader. As Skip Bayless called him earlier this week, "impossibly humble."

Well, we do what any normal couple does for the holidays, I suppose…

We hang up lights.

Decorate the tree

Wrap presents

And enjoy hot cocoa by a roaring fire.

Still here, other sisters arrive tomorrow.  Mom and I made a little greeting. 

(whoops! link fixed)

oh dear. 

This holiday season we’ve been celebrating the sweet side of the seaon with confection-inspired projects: Laura’s Candy Button Hat, Molly’s Taffy Twist Felt Garland and Ribbon Candy Ornaments and Whitney’s Crocheted Candy Ornaments. And while usually at this time of year we share an original cookie recipe, this season, to observe our candy-sweet yuletide theme, we tried our hand at candy making! 

Page comes from a long line of Italian foodies, and one of her obsessions is honey-flavored torrone, a traditional Italian Christmas treat. Her version of this beautiful, glittering nougat is so seasonal and wintery, like a smooth blanket of snow flecked with jewels. (The colorful little sparkles are actually rock candy!) Dole out delicious pieces at your holiday festivities or wrap up some bars as a yummy gift! 

This recipe is a great first foray into the world of candy making! So take a break from sewing up that final seam or weaving in that last end and give it a try! For a less sweet version, make it the traditional way with almonds or pistachios instead of rock candy.

 

All of us at Purl Soho and the Purl Bee wish all of you a very sweet and merry Christmas!

A reporter in South America called yesterday to ask me about the new rules for food labels and marketing to children just issued by the Chilean ministry of health.

The rules establish nutrition standards for foods.  Products that exceed the standards will have to say high in sugar, salt, or fat in brightly colored labels (red, green, blue) on the front of the packages.

The standards themselves are much stricter than anything ever proposed in the United States, even than those of the ill-fated Interagency Working Group (IWG).

Sodas, for example, can only contain 15 grams of sugars per 8 ounces (they typically contain 27 grams).

I’m told that other rules deal with advertising to children (no toys, nothing specifically enticing such as cartoons).

How could this happen?

I’m not up on Chilean politics.  All I know is that these rules were proposed under the current president whose wife was behind the Elige Viver Sano program, one quite similar to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move!

If you know something about the politics of this initiative, please write a comment.  I’d like to know more about this.  Thanks!

Update: Thanks to Dr. Corinna Hawkes Dr Corinna Hawkes, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for the World Cancer Research Fund International sends the following information:

• The Chile regulation (needs updating)
• A speech on Chile’s regulation given at Bellagio
• Ecuador’s regulation on front-of-package labeling and marketing to children
• An article about Ecuador’s labeling program
• An article about Ecuador’s traffic-light labels

 

 

 

This will ramble and need editing, because I’m writing it while cooking. I know this has the timing of evil corporations who want their horrible changes to go unnoticed by the press and therefore release statements on Friday evenings, but I’ve felt bad all day and it’s mostly because of #r2k.

Maybe it’s because I’m socially dumb and have very limited negative capability. Maybe it’s because I’m socially isolated in #Vermont, have deep doubts about my mental ability to complete a dissertation, and often reluctantly put my work aside so that Aimee can get tenure and give our household job security beyond 2015. Maybe it’s because I didn’t make the first cut in Dartmouth’s music department job search, despite teaching the very classes that the new hire will teach. Maybe it’s because I was raised Lutheran in a small mid-western town with Republicans in every direction. Maybe It’s because I live a pampered life, in a good place, with good health and a loving family, and narcissistically obsess about my #firstworldproblems. Maybe it’s because I’ve never met any of the people who are still active here (with the exception of @Grimbil a few times, and @Toby offered to have a drink with me once but rehearsal went long and I couldn’t meet him).

On #r2k I feel like a perennial outsider to inside jokes, often at my expense. Whatever the reason, I just want to put it out there that a small group of people seem to be making jokes at my expense, often ad hominem jokes, without ever letting me in on the joke (@Jason, @JPW, @pluske, @y, sometimes others). I know that I’ve been the burr under many people’s saddles, usually because I have a bee in my bonnet and people quickly grow annoyed at my presence here. This happened back when I called @5starsinfortgreene’s jokes sexist, it happened with #nodads, and it happened when I tagged everyone’s shares with #music. @Tiresias and I had a very productive conversation about this back then, and I thank him for that. I got pounded back then and felt really bad about myself, which is why I left for six months.

But I returned because this is such a unique space on the internet filled with hilarious and intelligent people who, for the most part, seem to be very kind and generous with each other. Still, when I returned I was afraid to interact with anyone for six months.

Now, six months later, I’m more invested here than I ever was. I’ve even chosen to participate in #secretsandusky, secretly fearing that someone will send me something that is just a joke for which I am the punchline. In the three years since #readerpocalypse, I’ve seen this site shrink consistently as people join looking for a replacement for the singular online experience that Google Reader provided, only to disappear, sometimes quietly and sometimes explosively, out of disgust and impatience with the #villainry. I am very sad that those people are gone. #r2k would be better if they were still here.

Anyway, feel free to continue to make jokes at my expense, but know that I’m not fully OK with it. And if I’m doing something wrong, please let me know. When I started #mansplaining to @MeredithMeredith, @Dolly called me out and I’m thankful for that. If I make anyone else feel the way I’ve described above, PLEASE let me know so I can change, because I don’t want to perpetuate that sort of thing.

Anyway, I have to end this vulnerable dribble because Dara and Aimee just returned from daycare and our friends are coming over soon for a wonderful night of board games, dinner, and good Vermont beer. I hope you have a great weekend, sharebros.

Original Source

When my plane lands at a US airport, I want to spend as little time inside the terminal as possible. It takes about 10 minutes just to get off the plane, and then you have to avoid passengers waiting for their strollers outside the plane’s door and those who inexplicably stop walking the moment they exit the jetway.

Once you’ve dodged those obstacles, let me give you this piece of advice: If you didn’t check a bag, don’t follow the signs to baggage claim.

In many airports, baggage claim is accessed through a labyrinth of walkways, stairs, and escalators—often on a separate level from the terminal gate concourse But if you have no bags to collect, the fastest way out of the airport is usually the way you came in: through the security checkpoint.

Many airports in the US have a terminal exit adjacent to security. You can use it to leave, and it will make all the difference. Here’s what the exit looks like at terminal 8 in New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport:

Of course, this strategy might lead you farther from airport shuttles and taxis, but if you’re getting picked up, just ask to meet at departures. Parking structures are typically just as easy to get to from arrivals and departures. And at JFK, this method actually puts you closer to the AirTrain in many terminals.

All year long, cartoonists have been giving away beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking pieces of webcomic goodness for free online. From goofy girl warriors to time-traveling artists to emotionally and physically intimate pieces, here are our favorite new webcomics from 2013.

Read more...

Cory Doctorow: When I moved to San Francisco in the late nineties, I lived in half an illegal sublet for about $2K/month, and that was a deal by the standards of the day. But I had it better than the guy paying $800/month for the Sears shed in the back-yard -- I got a toilet!

alwaysalreadyangry:

i can’t breathe

As a mother of boys, I’m obviously worried. If there is no longer to be a label telling me what ‘stuff’ is suitable for my offspring, how will I know? What if I accidentally purchase something that features the color pink or, worse still, a flower?