Gimbal Lock

The Soho Coffee House Scene

2011-03-05T12:49:00.001-08:00

Oingo Boingo 1985

2010-05-30T18:15:00.001-07:00

Prince

2010-05-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

A basement rehearsal tape, circa 1984. Watch while it lasts, 10+ minutes

~LINK~

Magazine of Death

2010-05-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mercedes Benz Museum indoor tornado

2010-05-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

and a video:

Crossing the English Channel...

2010-05-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

...using helium balloons:

Bobby McFerrin

2009-08-03T11:19:00.001-07:00

Vacuum climbing

2009-07-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Man climbs smooth building using hand pads powered by vacuum machine pump

Carlos Montoya - Farruca

2009-07-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Afterwards, his hands caught afire

Luiz Bonfa

2009-07-12T21:18:00.001-07:00

History of the Jughead Hat

2009-06-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

What a strange hat Jughead wears. What do they call these things? Where did the come from? Read about it here

Image of the Day

2009-06-23T05:10:00.001-07:00

from this guy

Professional Worm Grunting

2009-06-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

Horse leg extensions

2009-05-08T10:09:00.001-07:00

It looks especially funny at the end, with the horse leggings covering the devices:

Steel Fireworks

2009-03-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Turning the Place Over

2009-03-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

By Richard Wilson

A Shocking Music Video

2009-03-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

10V, 0.2 mA straight to the face.

Image of the Day: Non-Reversing Mirror

2009-03-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

The mirror in the photo, designed by mathematician Andrew Hicks, does not reverse its image as normal mirrors do (try holding text up to your bathroom mirror, it will appear backwards in the reflection).

The Number Trick

2009-02-28T12:17:00.001-08:00

This appeared on the back of a business card someone once handed to me, and thanks to the Internet I have discovered the meaning of these cryptic number blocks. Print out the image, and mystify your friends by following these instructions:

(1) Ask your friend to silently pick any number from 1 to 60
(2) Show the card, and ask your friend to identify which blocks of numbers the chosen number appears in
(3) Add up the numbers in the upper right hand corners of the chosen blocks. This sum will equal the chosen number.

For example: If the chosen number is 10, your friend will identify blocks I and III. In the upper right corner of I is 8, and in the upper right corner of III is 2. 8+2=10.

L.B.J. vs. Haggar Slacks

2009-02-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

Listen to this recorded phone call of L.B.J ordering several pairs of slacks:

LBJ orders slacks

JetLev

2009-02-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Eighty-Five Dollars??

2009-01-23T15:32:00.001-08:00

"In January 2002, while a junior in high school, Britney Gallivan demonstrated that a single piece of toilet paper, 4000 ft (1200 m) in length, can be folded in half twelve times. This was contrary to the popular conception that the number of times any piece of paper could only be folded in half was limited to eight times. She folded a very long sheet of toilet paper in half 12 times, posing at the 11th fold to take pictures. She knew that instead of folding in half every other direction the best way to get 12 folds would be to fold in the same direction, using a very long sheet of paper. A special kind of $85 toilet paper met her length and width requirement. Not only did she provide the empirical proof, but she also derived an equation that yielded the width of paper, W, needed in order to fold a piece of paper of thickness t any n number of times."

Britney Gallivan

A Peculiar Obsession

2008-12-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

The diagram above is found on the Wikipedia page for the Little Boy nuclear bomb, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Dimensionally accurate, with a complete component list - one wonders, how does such a diagram end up on "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit"? The diagram was never released as such by the U.S. government, but the technical details of the bomb, down to the thread sizes of the screws, are now available due to the work of a 61 year old truck driver from Waukesha, Wisconsin, who for rather inscrutable reasons succeeding in becoming the nation's foremost civilian expert on the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs. David Samuels of the New Yorker tells the tale, of how Mr. John Coster-Mullens cobbled together details from disparate and obscure sources, including interviews with Manhattan Project machinists and engineers (he has earned the admiration of many experts within the nation's nuclear programs). The potential danger of his work is unclear; a gun-type design could be implemented in various other ways, and the mechanical design is considered a negligible technical hurdle relative to the production of nuclear material.

"The longest he has ever gone in my company without mentioning the atomic bomb is thirty-seven minutes, a record he achieved on a particularly beautiful stretch of road running through the sun-baked canyons east of Salt Lake City. To say that Coster-Mullen actually went that long without speaking about the atomic bomb is an exaggeration, as he referred to nuclear weapons twice in passing, and because he was aware that I was timing him with a stopwatch."

Musical Tesla Coils

2008-12-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

"...There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software"

So the music you hear is the sound of singing sparks. More videos and information can be found here. Tesla Coil.

Johnny Shines

2008-12-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

Animal vs. Buddy Rich

2008-12-02T18:55:00.001-08:00

Image(s) of the Day: Foodscapes of Carl Warner

2008-11-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

London photographer Carl Warner creates landscape photos made entirely out of food which he calls "Foodscapes" (look closely at the sea below, its made of fish). Click here for a slideshow of more:

Concha Buika

2008-11-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

Assorted Freeway Hijinks of Saudi Youth

2008-11-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

and

and more here.

R.L. Burnside, Jumper Hanging on the Line

2008-11-04T21:37:00.001-08:00

Squirrel Monkeys by Mail

2008-11-04T13:25:00.001-08:00

Do you remember ads such as this in 1960's comic books?:

I've always wondered what became of the monkeys and their owners. I assumed it was a scam of some sort, that customers would receive a voucher of adoption, cardboard monkey, rat with glued on tail or other such thing. But no:

it leapt up and grabbed onto the plumbing up on the ceiling and started using them like monkey bars, and he was just shooting along in the basement, chirping pretty loud. It was heading towards the finished side of the basement, where there was a drop ceiling, and if it got into those channels, I never would have got it. It would have been days to get this thing out of there. I grabbed it by its tail, and it came down on, starting literally up by my shoulder, like a drill press it landed on my arm, and every bite was breaking flesh. It was literally like an unsewing machine. It was literally unsewing my arm coming down, and I was pouring blood. I grabbed it by its neck with both my wrists, threw it back in the cage. It’s screaming like a scalded cat. I’m pouring blood. My friend’s laughing uncontrollably...

The rest of the story can be read here. I can only imagine the bloody and rabid consequences of the following ad from the same Hialeah Pets:

via

Learn to Dilate Your Pupils on Command

2008-11-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't know it was possible, but people have gained voluntary control over their pupils:

Read the tutorial here. Found here.

Jammin' The Blues

2008-10-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

I posted part of this a while back, but the link died:

Man Plays Banjo While Surgeons Operate On His Brain

2008-10-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Famous Bluegrass banjoist Eddie Adcock strums the banjo, with the rear of his skull removed, while doctors stimulate his brain with electric probes. Why? He suffered from hand tremors which threatened his ability to continue playing. By implanting a pacemaker that can send current to electrodes permanently implanted in his brain, the problem was treated.

For a longer video with the whole background story, watch this, and read this.

More Throat Singing

2008-10-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

This time from Mongolia:

Tuvan Singers

2008-09-29T15:47:00.001-07:00

From the Werner Herzog film "Bells from the Deep"

Tilahun Gesesse

2008-09-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tilahun Gesesse, Ethiopian pop star.

"Can't do a Thing (To Stop Me)"

2008-09-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

-a live performance by Chris Isaak

Vengo

2008-09-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

An amazing performance from the Tony Gatlif film "Vengo". I posted a great clip previously from his film "Latcho Drom":

Tilted Twister

2008-09-17T21:11:00.001-07:00

It solves a Rubik's cube, built from Lego Mindstorms. Mesmerizing to watch. Tilted Twister.

Image of the Day

2008-09-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Theft-deterring sandwich bag.

From, who got it from. Compare with the soiled briefs safe.

Animal Hypnosis

2008-09-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Next, shark hypnosis, aka shark "tonic".

In this video, "Sharkman" hitches a ride on a Great White's dorsal fin (starts at 2:40). Though I wasn't able to find the footage on Youtube, he also attempted tonic on a Great White, which wasn't as effective as with other sharks, but worked momentarily.

Background: Apparent Death

Asian Carp Invasion

2008-09-01T09:34:00.001-07:00

I skipped the background part I video here, so watch that if you want the background. Around 2:40 they apply electric current to the water and the air fills with Asian Carp:

Del's Beautiful New Wooden Machine

2008-09-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love it.

Crazy Wooden Gears

2008-09-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

Driving into a dust storm in Australia

2008-08-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

Takes a little while for them to get there, but it is quite a sight:

Interesting Product: Sleeptracker

2008-08-31T14:42:00.001-07:00

The Sleeptracker is an alarm clock that monitors your sleep stage and awakens you only in the most wakeful moments of REM sleep. You set a target time just as with a traditional clock, and the device picks the optimum time to wake you before that target time. Why is this desirable?

Everyone cycles through a sequence of sleep stages throughout the night. REM sleep is the most wakeful-like stage, when dreaming typically occurs. When awoken from deep sleep stages by a traditional alarm clock, we feel very groggy and disoriented. From REM sleep, it is much easier for the brain to wake up.

I don't know how well it actually works, but it sounds like a great idea. It is expensive ($149 and $179 models), which seems reasonable given the technology involved. You can even download your sleep patterns to a computer.

Most Expensive Item Ever on Antiques Roadshow

2008-08-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ted from Tuscon strikes it rich, in 2002. More information on Navajo textiles and extraordinary sales prices can be found here.

Scuba Cat

2008-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Image of the Day: Southern Right Whale

2008-08-25T10:53:00.001-07:00

With diver. From

Image of the day: trusty faces

2008-08-21T12:41:00.001-07:00

These computer-generated faces are from a study of perceptions of trustworthiness and dominance due to facial features.

Via Mindhacks

John Williams Plays Heitor Villa-Lobos

2008-08-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Prelude n.1:

Also see this by Narciso Yepes. Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Prince Rupert's Drops

2008-08-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

When molten glass is dropped into cold water, it solidifies into a tadpole-shaped drop with bizarre properties, due extreme residual stress within the glass. The head can be pounded with a hammer, squeezed between pliers, yet remains intact. However apply the slightest force to snap the wispy, hairlike glass tail, and the entire drop explodes:

Napoleon's Horses

2008-06-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

I really like the names Napoleon chose for his horses (he had over 150): they include Wagram, Roitelet, Intendant, Vizir, Marengo, Tauris, Cyris, Styrie, Desiree, Aboukir, Familier, Cheikh, Gessner, Hahim, Navigateur, Gonsalvo, Embelli and Naturaliste. These will also work for your goldfish.

The Diary of Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi

2008-06-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

"All the patients in the hospital were made to commit suicide. I am only 33 years old and I am to die. Have no regrets. Banzai to the Emperor"

Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi

----

I found the document below in a pile of memorabilia my grandfather brought home from his service in WWII. He served with the Tenth Air Force (USAAF) in India, and then for a short time in Okinawa. I never got the chance to ask him about the origins of these four pages, and never bothered to read them closely until recently. Upon first seeing the document, a U.S. Army transcription of a Japanese medical officer's diary, I naturally assumed that he acquired it from colleagues in the Pacific Theater. I also assumed it was a historically unremarkable document, one of thousands of similar transcriptions that undoubtedly were generated as allied forces closed in on the Japanese mainland.

But my assumptions were all wrong. The medical officer in question, one Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi, penned his diary much closer to home - in Alaska. In it he recorded his last days during the Battle of Attu, the final defeat for Japanese forces in Alaska. I don't know how my grandfather acquired the letter. Perhaps it was from a relative of his who served in Alaska with the 11th Air Force; apparently many unauthorized copies of the diary were shared among fascinated U.S. military personnel in Alaska (this copy is marked with the seal of the Army Examiner, however).

Tatsuguchi managed a field hospital on Attu, and had an unusual background for a Japanese officer. Prior to the war he earned a medical degree at Loma Linda University in California and completed an internship at a Los Angeles hospital. He also converted to Christianity as a Seventh Day Aventist. He moved back to Japan and was eventually conscripted.

Following the death of Tatsuguchi in battle (refer to the Wikipedia article for a full account of his story), the diary was translated by Army intelligence and eventually reached the U.S. media, who shared the story of the U.S.-educated, Christian Japanese officer who suicided his own troops exclaiming "Bansai to Emperor!".

The Tatsuguchi story begins at 3:04 in the first YouTube video. The text is also available online here (but seems slightly different). Click on the scans to enlarge. Notice that on the first page, his name is spelled "Nebu Tatauquchi" - one of the reasons it took me so long to connect the document to the now famous Paul Tatsuguchi.

continued...

Scanner is Working!!!

2008-06-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

I'm scanning away, with a fresh batch of ephemera. I'm sure you can use the DPD target, but please take the time to read "Getting to the Other Side. Or, How to Safely Cross a Busy Street Using a Pedestrian Signal" brochure produced a few years ago by the Oakland County, Michigan government. This useful document demonstrates the effective use of tax dollars, enlightening the public on proper use of that mysterious newfangled gadget they call the "pedestrian signal". Print it, and share it with your friends. Help them master both button-free and button-operated signals. (Remember, YOU MUST PUSH THE BUTTON!). Click to enlarge images.

Extreme Hot Sauces

2008-06-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

In 1912 chemist Wilbur Scoville devised the Scoville Scale, which has become the industry standard for measuring the hotness of chili peppers and hot sauces.

Tabasco sauce measures about 5,000 Scoville units. A Habanero chile ranges from 100,000 to 350,000. Standard pepper spray ranges from about 2 to 5 million Scoville units.

The Source hot sauce is one of the worlds hottest, weighing in at 7.1 million Scoville units. It is meant as a food additive, to be diluted into larger chili recipes and other spicy fare.

Many culinary daredevils enjoy proving themselves by taking The Source straight out of the bottle. Given its extreme potency, this is typically done with a toothpick, ingesting a tiny droplet of the substance, which has a tar-like consistency. The packaging is replete with warning labels - with good reason. Even the vapors can be an eye irritant. A small dropper bottle of The Source will run you about $100.00. You'll find videos of people on YouTube experimenting with it. Results vary; different people have different tolerances.

But supposing this isn't hot enough for you, you might want to try the hottest hot sauce possible. That is, pure crystals of capsaicin.

Blair's 16 Million Reserve has, you guessed it, a Scoville Rating of 16 million, the very highest possible. This will cost you $200.00, and comes with a neato little skull.

Bon appetit!

Quote : If-by-whiskey

2008-06-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

A speech by Noah S. Sweat, Mississippi legislator, 1952:

"My friends,

"I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.

"If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

"But;

"If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

"This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise."

Card Trick

2008-06-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Miracle Fruit?

2008-05-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

'Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!” '(NYTimes Article)

Miracle fruit. Yes, that's what its called:

'When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. This effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours. '

The hour long topsy-turvy taste experience will cost you dearly. Miracle fruits run about $2.50 a piece.

Also: How to Grow Your Own Miracle Fruit (you'll need to be verrrry patient)

"All I Need is Just One Girl"

2008-05-26T13:05:00.001-07:00

Maurice Chevalier, 1930

Linkdump1

2008-05-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

Interesting notes on safecracking, here and here
Very colorful old fruit crate labels
How the Northeast Blackout of 2003 happened (race condition)
This guy understands what goes into genuine Damascus Steel (PDF)
Video of the Falkirk Wheel
Caffeine: a user's guide to getting optimally wired
Getting the perfect shave
Rough and tumble fighting in the Old South:

Amid the general mayhem, however, gouging out an opponent’s eye became the sine qua non of rough-and-tumble fighting, much like the knockout punch in modern boxing. The best gougers, of course, were adept at other fighting skills. Some allegedly filed their teeth to bite off an enemy’s appendages more efficiently. Still, liberating an eyeball quickly became a fighter’s surest route to victory and his most prestigious accomplishment. To this end, celebrated heroes fired their fingernails hard, honed them sharp, and oiled them slick. "’You have come off badly this time, I doubt?’" declared an alarmed passerby on seeing the piteous condition of a renowned fighter. "’Have I,’ says he triumphantly, shewing from his pocket at the same time an eye, which he had extracted during the combat, and preserved for a trophy."

The Scene

2008-05-21T02:25:00.000-07:00

Detroit's own! From channel 62 back in the day.

Interesting Table

2008-05-21T02:23:00.000-07:00

"Be sure to tell em Large Marge sent ya!"

2008-05-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

A favorite scene many of you will remember fondly. "I saw the worst accident I ever seen..."

Image of the Day

2008-05-06T16:38:00.001-07:00

That's one fat monkey, the result of overfeeding by tourists at a Japanese zoo

Image of the Day

2008-04-30T16:29:00.001-07:00

A "snow doughnut" a completely natural, spontaneous occurrence.

Image of the Day

2008-04-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Although I must say, free borsht sounds more like a punishment than a celebratory food. From.

Balada Conducatorolui

2008-03-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

From the film Latcho Drom, which features Gypsy musicians from all along the route of ancient migration. More film cuts here.

Image of the Day

2008-03-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Patent drawings from S.S. Adams' Joy Buzzer ("Joke Buzzer"), 1931. Click to englarge. Or stock up here.

Ice "bergs" on Lake Michigan

2008-03-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

From NOAA, enormous county-sized chunks of ice broke off the shoreline and are afloat in Lake Michigan. Click the above link for more photos. via

Nazis vs. Aqua Regia - an Interesting Little Story

2008-03-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

From the Nobel Foundation:

There are many rumors of what happened to the Nobel medals of three Nobel Laureates in Physics during World War II: the medals of the Germans Max von Laue (1914) and James Franck (1925), and of the Dane Niels Bohr (1922). Professor Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen had been a refuge for German Jewish physists since 1933. Max von Laue and James Franck had deposited their medals there to keep them from being confiscated by the German authorities. After the occupation of Denmark in April 1940, the medals were Bohr's first concern, according to the Hungarian chemist George de Hevesy (also of Jewish origin and a 1943 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), who worked at the institute.

Enter Aqua Regia, discovered in 800 by Arab Alchemist Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan, a nasty concoction of nitric & sulfuric acids, revered by the alchemists for its ability to dissolve gold. de Hevesy had an idea for von Laue's medal:

"I suggested that we should bury the medal, but Bohr did not like this idea as the medal might be unearthed. I decided to dissolve it. While the invading forces marched in the streets of Copenhagen, I was busy dissolving Laue's and also James Franck's medals. After the war, the gold was recovered and the Nobel Foundation generously presented Laue and Frank with new Nobel medals." de Hevesy wrote to von Laue after the war that the task of dissolving the medals had not been easy, as gold is "exceedingly unreactive and difficult to dissolve." The Nazis occupied Bohr's institute and searched it very carefully but they did not find anything. The medals quietly waited out the war in a solution of aqua regia.

Vibrant hues, but be careful, it ain't Kool-aid.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

2008-03-14T09:09:00.001-07:00

Watch it on Youtube. In 14 parts (I know that sounds like a pain, but its really not so bad).

Start here. Then go here to find the rest of the 14 parts.

This movie is the source of the famous "We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" line. But beyond that, its actually a great movie.

Image of the Day

2008-03-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

found here

Food Court Musical

2008-03-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

From Improv Anywhere. You must watch it all the way through. Here's the background:

For our latest mission, 16 agents staged a spontaneous musical in the food court of a Los Angeles shopping mall. We used wireless microphones to amplify the vocal performances and mix them together with the music through the mall’s PA system. We filmed the mission with hidden cameras, mostly behind two-way mirrors. Apart from our performers, no one in the food court was aware of what was happening. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our report below.

This is my favorite yet from these guys. Bravo, Bravissimo!

via

Czech Pranksters Hack Morning Show Opening Footage

2008-01-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

From the NYtimes:

Across the Krkonose Mountains, or so it appeared, a white flash was followed by the spectacle of a rising mushroom cloud. A Web address at the bottom of the screen said Ztohoven.com.

Ztohoven, to no one’s great surprise, turned out to be a collective of young artists and friends who had previously tinkered with a giant neon sculpture of a heart high atop Prague Castle, and managed (during a single night, no less) to insert announcements for an art opening inside all 750 lighted advertising boxes in the city’s subway system.

...

To hack into the CT2 broadcast, Ztohoven simply switched cables on an unmanned, remote camera at a limestone quarry in the mountains, which the artists had scouted three years earlier. Then they piped in their video. The name Ztohoven makes a pun in Czech that means both “out of it” and an obscenity. Rightly, the group presumed this would tip off viewers that the explosion was fake, in case they hadn’t already guessed it from the cheesy special effects.

Now they face prison sentences for "attempted scaremongering".

Image of the Day

2008-01-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Pistol ring. See this site for more, including hand cannon, lighter gun, and pipe gun. Hat tip, Cabinet of Wonders.

Image of the Day

2008-01-23T05:48:00.000-08:00

Transatlantic submarine cables reaching land, a photograph by Taryn Simon, from An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, featured at Wired:

"There's a humor because the cables are so important, yet they look so unguarded and unimportant," Simon said."

Alim Qasimov

2008-01-19T23:21:00.001-08:00

Tonight I bring you Alim Qasimov (also translated as Gasimov), hero of Azerbaijani Mugham, courtesy of Azerbaijani TV.

Also see this performance with daughter Fergana, and a documentary in two parts.

"When I sing, it seems like I leave the physical world," he explains. "I feel myself entering a different world, a spiritual world-as if there is no materiality. I feel so good and comfortable there; I would love to stay there forever. But unfortunately, when I finish singing, I suddenly return to this world.

Image of the day

2008-01-19T23:12:00.001-08:00

Bowie, looking stylish at the Rochester N.Y. precinct, following a 1976 arrest. Apparently this photo just surfaced and was sold on ebay for $2556.0, by a someone who fished it out of the trash from the estate sale of a retired Rochester policeman.

Image of the Day

2008-01-17T10:08:00.001-08:00

Farmer Gus Worke from the Library of Congress' collection of photos posted on Flickr. Many other amazing color photos of America to be found there.

The Loudness War

2008-01-06T13:33:00.001-08:00

Rolling Stone Magazine published an interesting article on the Loudness War, a trend in the music recording industry to boost the loudness and compression of recorded music, essentially making all instruments and vocals equally loud. This video demonstrates it; read the articles to understand the commercial motivation for ruining music in this way:

Raconteurs: Level

2008-01-05T17:45:00.000-08:00

Thats Jack White of the White Stripes, and Brendan Malloy, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence from the Greenhornes.

Also see the video for Steady As She Goes

Two from Gnarls Barkley

2008-01-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

And a live performance on Letterman of "Crazy":

Al Green: Simply Beautiful

2008-01-05T17:24:00.000-08:00

Something to think about over breakfeast

2008-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

The Standard Model Lagrangian, found at Cosmic Variance

Plastikman - Disconnect

2007-12-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

That's not regular coffee....

2007-12-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

Mariko Takahashi

2007-12-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

Hat tip: Say no to crack

Killer Willard

2007-12-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Link Added: Generatorland

2007-12-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

You too can generate motorcycle gang names such as:
"The Pickleton Halitosis Gorillas"

Or Indian names such as :

"Fusses at fungus" of the Neekabippa tribe
or
"Barters with rock" of the Minnehumba tribe

Or even generate frou-frou menu items such as:

"Poached Ocelot with a coddled spinach"

www.generatorland.com

A Little Game

2007-12-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Match the historical clothing article with the picture:
a. Pickelhaube
b. Crakow
c. Justaucorps

The answers are in the file names.

1.

2.

3.

Image of the Day

2007-11-04T10:56:00.001-08:00

Water clock (or, "Clepsydra"), by Bernard Gitton. An article with technical details here.

Two More Pranks...

2007-11-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Making the rounds on the Internet...

The German Mirror Prank

Speed Walking World Champ Attacked by Samurai Warriors: Will he run? (found at Neatorama)

Inside a Four-Stroke Engine

2007-11-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

One more prank - "Watch my Baby"

2007-10-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

I loved this one:

Riot Prank

2007-10-14T23:18:00.001-07:00

Taxi Prank

2007-10-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

Watch all the way through.

Rescue at Niagara Falls

2007-10-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Image of the Day

2007-10-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

(Click to enlarge). To help you get into the Halloween spirit. - the background of this macabre tableau is explained at the Nonist. Or visit here for more.