firehose

LOS ANGELES—In keeping with the traditional friendly wager that typically accompanies the Stanley Cup Finals, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday that he has pledged to eat an entire sackful of New York City garbage if the Kings lose...

This is The Whirlpool—the common name of M51, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way estimated to be 50,000 to 100,000 light years across. The purple dots that make it look like the biggest neon sign in the Universe are X-ray sources as seen by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

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At Phoenix Comicon, Star Trek author and producer Larry Nemecek has announced that CBS is in talks with Netflix to produce a new series that would air on the streaming service. Set phasers to excited. Update: Nemecek has posted a rebuttal of the original report, saying he never stated there were ongoing talks about a new Trek series on Netflix. Apparently there have been “overtures” in the past, but as far as he knows nothing is happening right now.

LOS ANGELES—Conceding the time has come to limit the proliferation of new movies that simply rehash old ones, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.

New PS4 Feature Allows User To Close Eyes And Imagine Really Fun Game

Check out codenamemorningstar.com! "THE OFFICIAL COMPANION TO THE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® TABLETOP RPG" [244 comments]

Ms. Dr. suddenly decided that she wants to see X Men at a fancy theater, either the Battery Park one or the Kips Bay one, and she’d like to get dinner reservations beforehand, but she doesn’t want Indian food. Is there any way I can still salvage this night with a good meal? When you’re done making fun of my #whitepplproblems sitch, I’d appreciate some advice.

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Are you having difficulty getting a text wrap around an image to behave properly? When this happens, go through this quick checklist to help identify the problem. 1. Has the image been flipped or rotated? In the example below, I’m trying to increase the value of the text wrap boundary on the left side of […]

Malone said he “got a kick” out of the blogosphere’s reaction to the job listing, although he was less amused by the “people calling for him to die in a fire.”

Original Source

Morrissey and his frequent tour opener Kristeen Young have been going at it online over Moz’s claims that Young got him sick, forcing the cancellation of his tour. (After all, nothing is ever Morrissey’s fault.) It’s all very “he said, she said” right now, but it boils down to this: Young either dropped out of or was kicked off the tour about a week ago, depending on whom you ask. Morrissey’s semi-official site, True To You, claims Young was “asked to step down” after she “confessed to ‘a horrendous cold,’ the symptoms of which were passed on to Morrissey.” But Young used her Facebook (in a restricted post) to refute the claim, saying she was just suffering from a brief allergy attack, something that shouldn’t have affected Moz. Young also says that, while she’s “very sorry that Morrissey is not feeling well,” she “will ...

Above, you'll find the E3 demonstration of the WiiU's first traditional installment of the Zelda franchise, and Nintendo higherups are hinting that the game's focus may be a break from tradition, in many areas. At the very end of the video we're treated to some good old fashioned monster fighting action, in which Link is portrayed even more androgynously than usual, lacking even his characteristic Master Sword and green tunic. Zelda director and producer Eiji Aonuma has pointed out to GamesBeat that "no one explicitly said that that was Link." He also told Japanese outlet 4Gamer that one of the goals Nintendo has for this installment of the franchise was "[a game] where it wouldn't even matter if Zelda is actually a princess, or not." Rest assured that we will keep you updated. And in the meantime, bask in the knowledge that Square Enix will bring marriage equality to Final Fantasy XIV in upcoming Patch 2.4. Previously in a Zelda-Led Zelda Game

Clad in a yellow jumpsuit, flair bartender Po Hseng Hsu aka “Bruce Lee” performs amazing acrobatics with bottles of spirits and shaking cans while creating a cocktail in this crazy video by Kuma Films.

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Huge piles of meat! Highly alcoholic brandy-like substances! Edin Dzeko!

It's not long now until the Opening Ceremonies fade away and the 2014 World Cup kicks off in São Paulo. You've likely already decided on which country's flags you'll be painting on your cheeks, or whose scarf is going to be weighing scratchily around your neck.

Decided, or had it decided for you, I suppose. Some people really go in for that "country of my birth" thing. Which is a shame, because some of the other countries are so much fun. I'm here to convince you to adopt Bosnia and Herzegovina during the World Cup. Or at least cheer them on as a second team. Think about it: there are fifteen glorious days of group-stage matches ahead. Your chosen side plays on just three of them. What will you do with all that leftover facepaint?

To convince you to cheer on Bosnia, I could tug at your heartstrings. Many previews have done just that. And it would make such a perfect Disney movie, wouldn't it? Country declares independence. Country is consumed by bloody war, a war that ended not even twenty years ago, and left around 100,000 dead. During that war, many of the country's citizens take flight, settling in Switzerland, Germany, the United States. Then along comes the Bosnian national team, picking up the scattered pieces of the diaspora and forming them into a coherent unit that finally manages to qualify for its first World Cup. Best of all, that squad includes players from all three of Bosnia's major ethnic groups, the very ones that were fighting the war not so long ago!

I could do that. But life is not a Disney movie, and Bosnia likely won't be lifting the Cup while Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks stand, arms wrapped around each other, tears of joy streaming down their faces. To depict Bosnia as a united nation, standing behind this team that has given them hope like nothing else since their declaration of independence, would be both too easy and kind of ridiculous. Reality, as always, is more subtle, more complex.

So rather than cheering on Bosnia based on a shiny, faintly ludicrous story spun by those who adore a good narrative, why not support them for a much better reason? That's right, I'm talking about the way they play football.

The Zmajevi have a little something to offer for every sort of football fan. If you're looking for world-class goalkeeping, they have that in Stoke's Asmir Begovic. If you want a true, old-school forward who's fantastic at scoring goals, your man is Eden Dzeko. And if you love attacking midfielders that dazzle with their trickery, you'll want to be watching Miralem Pjanic.

Previously, many thought that Bosnia would be all sparkle, and would lack the much needed bite to stop, say, Argentina, who they face in their first match. But, after two disastrous friendlies (one against Argentina) manager Safet Sušić has made a couple necessary adaptations. The most important change is the introduction of Muhamed Bešić, a proper holding midfielder. Bešić's play might not cause you to shriek with glee, but his inclusion gives more reason to believe that Bosnia will make it out of the group stages.

But maybe you were lucky enough to be born in a country that already plays exciting football. Maybe you're a fan of Brazil's rhythm, Switzerland's precision, or Chile's chaos. In that case, you need further inducements.

Might I introduce you to my close friend, ćevapčići?

That's right, the national dish of Bosnia and Hercegovina is a great big pile of meat, served up with pillows of squishy bread that's perfect for soaking up all that delicious greasiness. And while you could pair it with an ice-cold Jelen, I suggest you partake in the national beverage, as well. Rakija is commonly translated as "brandy", but this isn't the 30% alcohol swirled in sniffers on Frasier. Wikipedia puts this alcohol at 40%, but trust me, homemade versions are more like 50%-60% ABV. The most common type is slivovica, or plum brandy, but my favorite is kajsija, made from apricots. If you're a bit of a wimp, and prefer your alcohol to taste less of lighter fluid, you can have medovača (honey) or višnjevača (cherry).

And one of the best parts about adopting a new national team is that you're free to adopt its people, as well. This is excellent news, as the people of Bosnia are some of the best on the planet when it comes to hospitality. Make friends, and suddenly, you have a new member of your family. Sure, this could mean you're subjected to the same sort of probing questions regarding marriage or babies that you get from your own blood relatives, but it also means they'll bring you out to their weekend cabin on the river, sit you down, pile your plate high with meat, dig out the homemade rakija, and generally make sure you're unable to walk at the end of the evening.

If we're being honest here, isn't that what we all need from a World Cup team? A side that's got the ability to dazzle its supporters, but a people that know how to brew the good stuff, so at least you're able to forget if it all goes wrong.

justsayins:

owlmylove:

FRIENDLY FUCKIN’ REMINDER: WHAT WE CALL "THE TONY AWARDS" WAS ORIGINALLY "THE ANTOINETTE PERRY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THEATRE", NAMED AFTER THE CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRWOMAN OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING.

THE AWARDS FOR ACTRESSES WERE ORIGINALLY SILVER COMPACTS, BUT SOMEONE DECIDED THIS WAS TOO EFFEMINATE AND SLAPPED THE COMPACT’S DESIGN IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR MODERN AWARD- THAT SPINNY SILVER MEDALLION WAS ORIGINALLY USED FOR CHECKING LIPSTICK.

ANOTHER REMINDER: I KNEW NONE OF THIS UNTIL TODAY. DON’T TOLERATE FEMALE ERASURE. REMEMBER HER NAME.

ANTOINETTE FUCKING PERRY.

Just so you know, I’ve decided to start spelling/calling it the Toni Awards.

It’d be cool if that caught on.

It looks like a cross between Wind Waker and Skyrim.

The next game in the Assassin's Creed series will not allow you to play as a female character because it would have "doubled the work" for the game's developer Ubisoft. Speaking to VideoGamer, Ubisoft technical director James Therien said female assassins were on the company's feature list until "not too long ago," but were cut as a matter of "focus and production."

"A female character means that you have to redo a lot of animation," Therien said, defending the exclusion by saying it was "not a question of philosophy or choice." Ubisoft's Bruno St. Andre estimated that a female assassin would've necessitated more than 8,000 new animations recreated on a new skeletal structure, but said that playable female characters were "dear to the production team."

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Ubisoft said the decision was "not a question of philosophy."

Assassin's Creed: Unity is set during the French Revolution, and allows players to take part in four-player co-operative missions in which they always see themselves as the game's star, Arno Dorian, and their companions as alternate male assassins. Speaking to Polygon, creative director Alex Amancio, said this was the reason Ubisoft decided not include women as playable characters. "The common denominator was Arno," Amancio said. "It's not like we could cut our main character, so the only logical option, the only option we had, was to cut the female avatar."

The reaction has been acerbic

Some of the world's most successful studios have come under fire in recent years for their gender representations. Rockstar Games' Dan Houser justified the fact that none of Grand Theft Auto V's three protagonists were women last year by saying "the concept of being masculine was so key to this story," while Chris Perna, art director for Gears of War developer Epic Games, suggested at a similar time that games with female lead characters would be "tough to justify" on the basis of sales figures. Large video game companies are wary of alienating an audience that it thinks of as largely male. Jean-Max Morris, the creative director of Remember Me — a game with a female protagonist — said that he received feedback from potential publishers who said games with female leads did not sell.

Ubisoft has used female protagonists in its Assassin's Creed series in the past — 2012's Assassin's Creed III: Liberation stars assassin Aveline de Grandpré — but the reaction from fans to this new statement has been acerbic. Many have queried how the vast production, with hundreds of workers split between nine studios across the world, can't spare the resources to make female characters. Others have poked fun at Ubisoft's apparent inability to imagine women.

"Female bone structure is just different," says Joe Ubisoft. "Are there spiders in there? We just don't know."

— creeping horror (@redfivetwo) June 11, 2014

A few signs of hope from the lackluster trade show.

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I am getting a TON of MRA stuff from anons in my email lately.

It’s all very aggressive and angry and wounded-sounding, and most of them are asking me to DARE to defend some fake position they believe feminists are making as some sort of vicious gestalt.

Not one has asked for an honest discussion, not one has couched their question in a non-accusatory manner, it’s all very, very, very finger-wagging-directly-in-your-face type stuff about every possible and imagined gender inequity.

Guys, I really only have one answer.

Black Canary is fucking AWESOME.

Dumb and Dumber To is an upcoming comedy film sequel co-written and directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. The film takes place twenty years after the first Dumb and Dumber and continues the goofy adventures of Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey). It is scheduled to release into theaters on November 14th, 2014.

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their signature roles as Lloyd and Harry in the sequel to the smash hit that took the physical comedy and kicked it in the nuts: Dumb and Dumber To. The original film’s directors, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, take Lloyd and Harry on a road trip to find a child Harry never knew he had and the responsibility neither should ever, ever be given.

image via Dumb and Dumber

Portland Votes to Protect Plaza From Development ABC News Residents of Maine's largest city have approved a referendum to save a half-acre downtown park and give more protections to Portland's open spaces. The ballot question Tuesday asked residents if they wanted to add 35 open spaces to the city's list of ... and more »

The Internet is a landscape filled with — some would say plagued by — typographical errors. But how much should we really worry about a misplaced apostrophe or a mistyped word?

Harvard’s multi-billion-dollar endowment hasn’t been making the grade.

Now Jane Mendillo is stepping down as head of Harvard Management Company, the entity that oversees the university’s $32 billion hoard.

Mendillo was named (paywall) president and chief executive of the college’s investment arm back in July 2008. She replaced Mohamed El-Erian, who had run Harvard’s money for a little more than a year,  racking up a stellar 23% return in his first year on the job, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall). El-Erian then left to join giant bond fund manager Pacific Investment Management Company in 2007 (he has recently announced that he is leaving PIMCO).

Mendillo had the misfortune of taking the reins of HMC just as the markets were headed for a historic tumble. (The endowment posted a loss of 27% in 2008.) The endowment, which had totaled roughly $35 billion when Medillo took over, never quite recovered. But it is still, by far, the largest in the Ivy League.

Here’s an excerpt from New York Times, describing the performance of the Harvard’s endowment:

Over the five-year period ending June 30 of last year, the Harvard endowment had an annualized return of 1.7 percent, the worst among the Ivy League, according to data compiled by Charles A. Skorina, the founder of an executive search firm that specializes in hiring chief investment officers.

But actually, Harvard’s returns have put it—horror of horrors—behind some non-Ivy League schools too, including elite universities such as Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.

Mendillo, a Yale University School of Management alum, didn’t comment on the reasons for her departure in an interview with the New York Times, other than to say that she feels the university has  “made a great recovery from the financial crisis, we’ve repositioned the portfolio and we’ve built a great team.”