firehose

Here is an upcoming shirt design! Oft-requested from The Black Prince comic.  I’ll let you know when it’s available!  Merchandise train keeps rolling, toot toot

S. Truett Cathy, the billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain that famously closes on Sundays but also drew unwanted attention on gay marriage in recent years because of his family's conservative views, died early Monday, a company spokesman said. He was 93.

In bizarre circumstances, Italian Gianluca Brambilla and Russia’s Ivan Rovny landed punches and elbowed each other while continuing to ride in the breakaway group of today's Vuelta a Espana stage.

 

Is your basket this busy?

photo via Os Gemeos

Twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo of Brazilian art duo Os Gemeos (see previously) have created their largest public mural yet: a 75-foot-tall outdoor installation encompassing six silos at a cement plant in Vancouver, Canada. The 23,500-square-foot mural features six cartoony characters (the yellow-skinned figures are an Os Gemeos hallmark). The mural is part of an international series by Os Gemeos entitled “Giants.” The work is on display through 2016 for the Vancouver Biennale.

photo by roaming-the-planet

photo by roaming-the-planet

photo by roaming-the-planet

photos via Os Gemeos

via Journal du Design, Inhabitat

Keith Olbermann does not mince words. He states that in the wake of the second Ray Rice video coming out, those involved – whether intentionally or by neglect – were part of a cover-up and should all resign.

Finding Ada, the organization behind Ada Lovelace Day, has put up their own YouTube channel. Check it out here for videos from last year’s event and subscribe to see more from Ada Lovelace Day 2014!

Emblem of Divine Providence, De Naturæ Diuinis Characterismis, 1575 

A Comet Foreshadows Wars, De Naturæ Diuinis Characterismis, 1575

Structure of the World, De Naturæ Diuinis Characterismis, 1575

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka married in Italy over the weekend, Harris announced on Twitter Monday. According to E! News, How I Met Your Mother producer and director Pam Fryman officiated the ceremony, which also featured a performance by Elton John.

Fantasy Map: Mock-Up Boston MBTA Map Spotted in LA for Filming

Posted by Seiji Tanaka on his Twitter account, here’s a fictional MBTA map at an LA Metro station for film/TV shooting. The map is at the fictional “Rockwater” station on the equally fictional Yellow Line (replacing the real world Orange Line).

We’ve covered fictional transit maps from TV shows and movies before (this weird DC Metro map from the TV show “Leverage” springs to mind), but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where the prop designers have just downloaded and edited the official map, which is obviously what has happened here. What’s more, it’s been edited really badly.

The blue water and white background of the official map has been removed and the whole map has been placed on a grey/beige background instead… but all the white boxes behind bus route numbers and white keylines around the route lines that were used to separate them from other elements are still in place. Which means there’s a lot of weird, random white elements on the map for no apparent reason. There are also ferry routes, but no water for them to sail across.

Most of the commuter rail routes have been removed, but not all of the stations: Yawkey is just floating in the middle of the map by itself, for example, and interchange stations still retain their extra “blob” for commuter rail platforms.

The real-life Blue line is now Purple, the Green Line is now Blue (with all sorts of branch name errors) and the Orange Line is now Yellow. This line has also had all of its station names changed, mostly to very un-Bostonian names, like “San Jacomo” and “Cabrerra”. Is this the MBTA or Grand Theft Auto? To me, this suggests that this part of the map might feature a little more prominently in whatever scenes it is featured in.

Yes, I know that these maps tend to appear fleetingly in the background of whatever show they’re used in, so it’s a little unfair to subject them to the same scrutiny as a real transit map, but this one struck me as particularly odd, seeing as it’s so directly and obviously based off the official map (it even has the crossed-out station icon for Government Center).

P.S. Anyone know what TV show/movie this prop is from?

For my brother-in-law, who is Cowboys Super Fan Number One. (via reddit)

One of the many reasons that I find plankton to be so delightful is the sheer joy of seeing something so beautiful and alien pop out of an ordinary seawater sample. I mean, I _know_ the sea is filled with plankton but I’m still excited every time! That’s why I’ve been such a fan of Dr. Richard Kirby’s plankton photography […]

“In 2002, having spent more than three years in one residence for the first time in my life, I got called for jury duty. I show up on time, ready to serve. When we get to the voir dire, the lawyer says to me, “I see you’re an astrophysicist. What’s that?” I answer, “Astrophysics is the laws of physics, applied to the universe—the Big Bang, black holes, that sort of thing.” Then he asks, “What do you teach at Princeton?” and I say, “I teach a class on the evaluation of evidence and the relative unreliability of eyewitness testimony.” Five minutes later, I’m on the street.

A few years later, jury duty again. The judge states that the defendant is charged with possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine. It was found on his body, he was arrested, and he is now on trial. This time, after the Q&A is over, the judge asks us whether there are any questions we’d like to ask the court, and I say, “Yes, Your Honor. Why did you say he was in possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine? That equals 1.7 grams. The ‘thousand’ cancels with the ‘milli-’ and you get 1.7 grams, which is less than the weight of a dime.” Again I’m out on the street.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson 

submitted by isaacsmiller
[link] [3 comments]

The two running backs both had strong 2014 debuts. We break down the fantasy implications.

Philadelphia Eagles running backs LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles both had big games to open their 2014 season Sunday, combining for 200 yards and a touchdown in the team's 34-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

McCoy ran the ball 21 times for 74 yards, adding six catches for 41 yards. Sproles, meanwhile, had 11 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown, and caught four passes for 14 more yards.

Fantasy impact: McCoy entered the season as a consensus top-three running back, and while he didn't find the end zone Sunday, 115 yards from scrimmage is enough to show he's still productive. His 3.5 yards-per-carry average isn't great, but going forward there's nothing to worry about with McCoy.

The more interesting story out of Sunday is Sproles. When he joined the Eagles, most assumed he'd get occasional carries, but mostly catch passes in Chip Kelly's offense. Against the Jags, though, he had 11 carries against only four catches. It's looking like (a) Sproles will get more carries than everyone assumed, and (b) he's a decent flex play or better in fantasy.

This is a very American response to a very European question.

DeMarcus Cousins is not going to take any of your guff while playing in the FIBA World Cup. In fact, he's going to give most of that guff back.

Classic U.S. moment: European journalist to DeMarcus Cousins: "Do you know where Slovenia is?" Cousins: "No, do you know where Alabama is?"

— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) September 8, 2014

Motion: while he's in Europe, only refer to DeMarcus as "Les Cousins Dangereaux."

asylum-art:

Kevin Champeny

Artist on Tumblr | on Facebook

"What Remains"
60” wide x 48” tall x 1” deep
35,000+ hand cast urethane flowers

The DVR company is introducing the TiVo Mega, configured with an almost ridiculous 24 terabytes of total storage capacity. That’s enough to hold up to 4,000 hours of HD programming — amounting to more than five months — or up to 24,000 of standard-def TV, which adds up to nearly three years.

Less cool

The running back topped 100 yards in his big season-opening performance. We break down the fantasy implications.

After being the New York Jets' primary running back in 2013, Chris Ivory looked like he'd take a backseat to new addition Chris Johnson in 2014. Although he might in the long run, Ivory was the team's leading rusher Sunday, with 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in the Jets' 19-14 win over the Oakland Raiders.

Ivory's score came on a 71-yard run in the middle of the fourth quarter, capping the scoring for the Jets. Johnson, the team's nominal No. 1 running back after coming over from Tennessee in the offseason, ran the ball 13 times for 68 yards.

Fantasy impact: While Ivory did lead the way in rushing yards, Johnson had more carries and touches, and almost three-quarters of Ivory's yards came on that touchdown run. In other words, don't expect him to be the team's top running back going forward.

Ivory is a fine end-of-the-roster play, and could have really high value if Johnson goes down. Barring that, he's more of a "break glass in case of emergency" player for fantasy, and should only be relied on in an emergency.