firehose

Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: As part of the A.V. Club’s 10 Days Of Horror, we recommend the movies that frighten us the most.

The Donner Party (1992)

That’s right, one of the most unsettling movies of all time is a PBS history special by Ric Burns (brother of Ken), relating the infamous tale of frontier cannibalism via the usual mix of historical stills, nature photography, and celebrity voiceovers. No matter the level of familiarity with the almost mythically horrific subject matter, there’s something about seeing it dramatized in this square way that makes it penetrate deeper. In a sense, the archival approach is perfect for horror, photographs of the dead being, by their very nature, haunting. Looking at the gaunt, stricken faces of the survivors (ghosts now themselves) drives home the stomach-churning ...

Our friends at Know Your City (né the Dill Pickle Club) have just announced a campaign to open a mobile kiosk based in Ankeny Alley, where they'll sell publications and tickets to their tours, and provide information about the city and local businesses.

From a tourism standpoint, it couldn't be a more sensible place for an information kiosk: adjacent to the confused hordes of donut-chomping tourists who congregate in front of Voodoo all year round. And it makes a ton of sense for Know Your City, which is based out of a tiny office at Union Station, to have a street-level presence in such a trafficked part of town.

Their kiosk campaign has a decent rewards lineup that includes copies of their Portland-centric publications, tickets to their upcoming tours, a tote bag (!), and more. Support 'em right over here.

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Musician Jack Conte has created a fantastic music video for his remix of “Wake Me Up” by Avicii that features a virtual band of projection mapped Jack Conte clones. Conte created the video on the cheap with inexpensive cameras and a DIY approach to projection mapping that involved no special software save Final Cut Pro (technically-minded readers can find out more in the video’s description). The song is available for purchase on iTunes. We previously posted about Conte’s robotic “Pedals” music video. Conte is also a one half of indie band, Pomplamoose.

instant-markdown-d is a small Node.js server that enables instant compilation and previewing of Markup files.

A plugin can easily be written for any text editor to interface with it.

One currently exists for Vim.

 See also

• vim-marked, for quickly previewing Markdown files in Marked on OS X.

A Markdown viewer for Windows

• Live file monitoring allows you to use your favorite editor and view the rendered result immediately
• Support for multiple stylesheets including Github Flavoured Markdown

A node.js server that lets you preview Github Flavoured Markdown documents in your browser.

Would anyone like to purchase my tumblr in exchange for paying my architecture student debt…

As part of the continued, cathartic expression of our disappointment at not being blown up by aliens yet, the live-action update of Star Blazers is a go—so we can again do fictional battle, at least, with those extraterrestrial invaders who still think they’re above coming down here and saying it to our face. Meanwhile, we have all these alien-fighting ships and robots just lying around. Star Blazers, intermittently in the works since at least the ‘90s, was last reported on in 2011, when writer Christopher McQuarrie signed up to adapt the ’70s animated series, which was itself based on the Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamamoto, which in turn received its own live-action adaptation in 2010. And all of which were inspired by the arrogant belief that we’re interesting enough that aliens would want to kill us.

Since then, McQuarrie has transitioned to directing with Jack Reacher and ...

OK Computer and Kid A by Radiohead are both said to be about stories of dystopia. While the story had been denied, Radiohead has said that the concept of dystopia is in fact, true.

Link (thanks, Schroduck!)

malesoulmakeup:

A petition would prevent Conchita Wurst’s partecipation to Eurovision 2014 because she is transgender. singer music homophobia LGBTQIA

#transphobia

Reblogged from Malesoulmakeup. This lovely person is Conchita Wurst who is representing Austria in Eurovision. Now, I don’t watch the contest cos I’m based in the US, but I watched some Youtube Vids, and, holy cow can she sing! Personally, I don’t know about the petition,but I feel the whole “controversy” surrounding her is hog wash.

We at Androstyle love you for your talent and your impeccable fashion, Miss Wurst! And I hope you stay as a beacon of individuality for the rest of us!

—Essick 

Koji Uehara is the Red Sox closer. You knew that already. And you probably know that he's practically un-hittable, finishing the regular season with a 1.09 ERA, striking out 15 of the 43 batters he has faced in the postseason, and surrendering just one walk since July 4.

But what might have slipped under your radar is that he's also a blogger.

It's entirely in Japanese, obviously, and Google Translate isn't the best option to learn what he's saying, since it yields results like this: "One human eyes, struck out swinging in the split. Split with three balls in a three-ball game. First pitch is wonder was the sweetest ball. Because me miss it, and maybe was able to afford Second person, called out on strikes in fastball. I wonder if was waiting for the split?"

Fortunately, The Boston Globe asked Yohei Oka, a Harvard senior from Tokyo, to provide an actual translation (why it took this long for someone to think of this, I do not know).

After the wild Game 3 ending:

"It's my fault that I gave up the double,'' Uehara wrote. "I'm very ashamed of myself that I threw such an easy ball even after being told by the bullpen coach to watch out for first pitches.''

Following the ALDS win over the Rays, a series in which Uehara gave up a walk-off home run in Game 3, but saved Games 2 and 4:

"There were a lot of articles mentioning ‘nightmares,' ... Why do people write such negative articles when I'm trying to be optimistic and trying my best? The Boston media should side more with the players.''

haha good luck with that, Koji.

A few other gems (really, check out the whole piece at the Globe):

• "The team seems to be in a good mood when Papi hits."
• Koji is excited to have another "champagne fight," what he calls the celebrations after series-clinching wins
• On the ease with which David Ortiz picks him up during celebrations: '"Am I that light? Or maybe it's that Papi is too strong."

And finally, Koji offers a subtle reminder for the media: "It would be nice if they don't write negative things about people doing their best.'' What a delight.

datarep:

NASA’s yearly budget as % of federal budget

All 13 Saturn V launched, from 1967 to 1973. Video by lunarmodule5 on YouTube.

qwear:

Long sleeve shirt - black chambray

Author | Sonny

Charlieboy, the Australian tomboy company just released their a new line of shirts, with long sleeves just in time for Australia’s fall! New additions include their signature details like double pockets, contrast inner sleeves, envelope pockets, and hidden inside pockets. Most of the new styles come in 6 sizes, ranging from XS to XXL. 

Carol Stephenson of CharlieBoy

I met Charlieboy’s Creator and Designer Carol Stephenson at the Queer New York Fashion Week event and got to see many pieces in person, confirming their quality of craftsmanship. About her inspiration, Carol recently told me, “I am a huge fan of fashion in the 1920s as well as the military uniforms of the period. I also love the whole concept of functional fashion. I want to always offer functional details with CharlieBoy pieces, so my customer gets more than just a hot shirt.”

Long sleeve shirt - black chambray

Raglan roll-up sleeve shirt - blue denim/heathered grey

Short sleeve shirt - blue/astronaut print

The envelope pocket found of several of the shirts is an especially cool detail, perfect for glasses, wallets, or iPhones.

Carol told me the detail was inspired by her ex-girlfriend, who was running late looking for her glasses, keys, and wallet. “I made her the first shirt with a glasses pocket as a gift a few years ago and she still wears it today. Initially, it wasn’t an envelope but it developed into that and people seem to love it. It is the perfect size for specs or shades.”

How should one dress for Charlieboy? Carol told me, “The one thing I hope for CharlieBoy is that my customers wear our pieces and make them their own. They are designed to be worn casually or dressed up. I often wear one of our shirts with an old pair of jeans and flip flops (note: I am an Aussie) and I also do the ‘dapper’ thing on occasion with trousers, a blazer, and my black/white brogues. I like to dress pretty feminine at times too so I will also wear a shirt out with booty shorts and heels. I loved seeing my models at the Fashion Week event as they all looked so different.”

Shop CharlieBoy now. 

All photography by Paul Stephenson.

Roddy White may or may not be returning for the Atlanta Falcons this week. Head coach Mike Smith said Wednesday that it is still too early to tell whether White will be able to suit up for Week 9 against the Carolina Panthers, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. White was inactive for the first time in his nine-year career this past weekend due to a hamstring injury.

White has also been dealing with an ankle injury that rendered him ineffective early in the season. With 14 receptions for 129 yards and no touchdowns through five appearances, White is on pace for career-worst season. He has never averaged fewer than 12.1 yards per catch in a season, but is averaging just 9.2 YPC thus far in 2013.

The Falcons' problems in the passing game came to a head Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. With White sitting and Julio Jones out for the year, the Cards keyed on Tony Gonzalez and held the tight end to three receptions for 26 yards on eight targets. Harry Douglas picked up some of the slack as the de facto No. 1 receiver, catching 12 passes for 121 yards on 18 targets, but Matt Ryan finished the day an ugly 34-of-61 passing for 301 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions.

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Beneath our visible reality is a powerful alien network that forms a series of pocket universes, each with its own physical laws and bizarre denizens. It’s called The Strange, and this new tabletop RPG from Monte Cook Games will take you there.

Read more...

Ha ha ha! They're just like those "I'm a Mac" ads! Remember those? I hear all you kids in the 18-35 demographic love those ads!

The reception over at the conservative National Review is decidedly mixed:

Man, that sucked. Why can't we find any creative conservatives?

Private sector" should not be a white dude. Really, does any one think things through over at the RNC. "Hey, let's play right into the caricatures of us."

The Apple vs. PC commercial were all white people.

"Solid Liberals" are overwhelmingly white (72% according to Pew)
Jon Stewart's audience is likely very white.
America is 72% white.
African Americans don't vote for the GOP so there is no need to pander to the few that might watch just so the GOP can claim they were politically correct (but demographically incorrect).

The rest of the commercials are after the jump.

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The Advance of Audio Apparatuses (larger)

juliavickerman:

Xena knows how to live.