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Pop music on the cusp of summer—30 years ago
The top ten singles in Canada† on June 30, 1989 were [1] Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul [2] Rock On, Michael Damian [3] Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler [4] Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry [5] Soldier of Love, Donny Osmond [6] The Look, Roxette [7] Like a Prayer, Madonna [8] Pop Singer, John Cougar Mellencamp [9] Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals [10] Funky Cold Medina, Tone Loc
Mount Everest Records, the good and bad
Mount Everest's 2018-2019 season ended on a number of highs (USA Today): more than 825 climbers and Sherpas reached the summit this year, a record-breaking number; number of permits from the Nepalese government also broke records this year, with 381 issued; and deaths were at a four-year high, with 11 fatalities, most blamed on a combination of overcrowding, inexperience and poor weather limiting the number of days climbers were able to attempt to summit. Alan Arnette recapped the season's headlines. You can skip the crowds, save tens of thousands of dollars (Cost Freak, 2017 expenses), and enjoy Paul Oakenfold's Mount Everest Base Camp Mix (CD 1 and CD 2 on MixCloud; Discogs).
I HAVE A JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINATION AND I THINK YOU ARE GREAT
Geraldine DeRuiter has thoughts on being nominated for a James Beard award.
"I told Rand that while I realize that this nomination is already a remarkable thing, I very much want to win for one very specific reason: I’m pretty sure the award is a round medal on a ribbon. Which means you can wear it to a fast food restaurant. While still in your pajamas. And when people ask what it is, you say that it is a James Beard Award for culinary excellence which you got because you were really mad at institutionalized sexism and also Mario Batali’s cinnamon rolls."
Welcome to The Treeographer
Nick Rowan became interested in the history of trees during his time as a woodworker. He began to see the everyday trees we all pass without really thinking about in a different light. That's why he started The Treeographer.
An unfolding view of the Thames from source to sea...
... made up entirely of pictures hidden away in storage.
Not just paintings you haven't seen in a gallery, but paintings you can't see in a gallery.
“Hoo-ray.”
Is it Possible to Beat New Super Mario Bros. U Without Pressing Right? [YouTube]
“Meet the fan who can beat Mario games without moving right. Stefan has a whole YouTube channel [Ceave Gaming] filled with videos of him beating various Mario games in different and difficult ways. He’s beaten Super Mario 3D Word while always crouching, discovered the Minimum Amount of Joystick Inputs Needed to Beat Super Mario Odyssey, figured out a way to upload an impossible level in Mario Maker, beaten Super Marios Bros U using the minimum number of right button presses and avoided every coin in Super Mario 3D Land. [via: Kotaku]”
Gather 'round the glowing screen
If you're craving a bit of that holiday mood but you don't have a fireplace, you don't need to tune into WPIX (previously) or limit yourself to a traditional HD virtual fireplace. Thanks to Virtual Fireplace™ and others on YouTube, there are hundreds of hours of quiet fires for your enjoyment! Crackling Fireplace with Thunder, Rain and Howling Wind Sounds, or a more soothing Japanese garden fire bowl, lakeside campfire with nature sounds, crackling campfire on the windy tundra of Norway, campfire by the sea, with crickets and waves, or a campfire on the beach sans crickets. If you're looking for a bit of slow TV that takes you somewhere, spend almost 10 hours on a train journey to the Norwegian Arctic Circle, in winter.
Every Single Video Prince Ever Made
Now, the truth is, most of Prince's videos just aren't that great. Especially when considered in comparison to the sheer mind-boggling breadth of Prince's genius, or the groundbreaking video innovation of his pop contemporaries like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Madonna, the fact that Prince has fewer truly extraordinary music videos is a stark contrast. But as with all things Prince, when he was doing his best, there was absolutely nobody better. Here, then, is a look at all of Prince's music videos, in chronological order.
compiled by Anil Dash, via boingboing
Shack house might stock elves in it
On July 31st, known illustrated jocularity Wondermark (previously) posted an innocuous comic strip beginning with the phrase "Check out my sick elephant!" For the next three and a half months, ending(?) only this past Thursday, every Wondermark strip centered around this one phrase, eventually spiraling into a dramatic(??) storyline with numerous recurring characters—including, yes, several sick elephants. In the eighth strip, wordplay based on slight phonetic variation began appearing, and the phrase was no longer relegated to the first panel; in the last strip, over twenty different variations of increasing obscurity appeared in short succession. In-between is only chaos.
Flasher Music Video
YouTube music and video fun.
By Flasher
A veritable treasure trove of old footage
The Library of Congress has unveiled its new National Screening Room
, a free collection of digitized historical films, commercials, newsreels and other clips from the 1800s until the end of the 20th century and capture a broad range of American life. Notable films include home movies by the songwriters George and Ira Gershwin; issues of the “All-American News,” a newsreel intended for black audiences in the mid-20th century; and a selection of instructional films about mental health from the 1950s.
Hat tip to Sara Aridi @ NYT .
They Scare Because They Care
"Haunters Against Hate
had its genesis in some very negative speech from a group who reviews haunted attractions in the Ohio Valley area referencing the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting tragedy in the summer of 2016. They decided to take a stand in opposition to such speech; and more importantly, in support of LGBTQ actors, staff, friends and family. Haunters Against Hate stands by, always watching for hate speech or discrimination against anyone on basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression and responding appropriately: Because hate is the scariest thing of all."
Thank you for waiting
Soo, this made me tear up on the way to work this morning, so y'all get to do so as well: a short comic about going back in time to talk to your younger self by Samantha Richardson, found via.
"A comedy podcast about things that are actually sad."
The Alice Fraser Trilogy
is a series of three stand-up specials where Australian comedian Alice Fraser tells the story of when her mother died, with digressions into her past and other subjects. It's available as a podcast [iTunes link]. For regular listeners of The Bugle, Alice Fraser will be familiar, but for those who aren't her comedy is a mix of absurdism, earnestness, wordplay and pessimism.
Watching "People Watching"
"The Importance of Reaching Out To Old Teachers" , from "People Watching", a Web Series created by Winston Rowntree. Here are the complete Season 1 and Season 2
State of the Site: Metafilter financial update and future directions
Important site updates, folks:
1. The site is running at a significant deficit and we urgently need to make that up. Part of that is through additional direct community funding; you can help here.
2. We're looking at—and inviting community input on—several big-picture questions.
Today I want to lay out our budget and income streams, to explain where we're at and what we need to accomplish. I'll also talk a bit about how the community is doing, and what's coming up in the future.
1. The site is running at a significant deficit and we urgently need to make that up. Part of that is through additional direct community funding; you can help here.
2. We're looking at—and inviting community input on—several big-picture questions.
Today I want to lay out our budget and income streams, to explain where we're at and what we need to accomplish. I'll also talk a bit about how the community is doing, and what's coming up in the future.
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Faa Mai the elephant was born in 2009 on the grounds of Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. She became very attached to sanctuary founder Lek Chailet, who sang lullabies to her as she grew up. Recently, Faa Mai has taken a liking to Thong Ae, a recently-rescued calf. When Thong Ae needed a nap, Faa Mai knew whom to turn to.
Cuteness update: I'm dying.
A man goes upstairs to get a sweater, finds a cat (not his) who has just given birth to kittens, becomes #catdad and experiences a new plane of existence. (SLTwitter thread)
Fizz¹⁰
Happy 10 Years! This is me saying thank you for dealing with my idiosyncrasies. My video-game obsessed posts, my overly polite Canadian need to apologize. I want to say thank you to all the moderators, developers, members, lurkers, friends & acquaintances, the entire community. You make living online worthwhile. This place truly is 'Best of the Web'. Here's hoping for 10 more! Cheers.
Not dead, just quiet: a belated and happy birthday to Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer is still not dead, but he doesn't mind if you think he is*. He's a rare bird, one who falls into a tiny category of celebrities who packed it in at the peak of their careers; as he points out, “There’s me, Garbo, Salinger, and Deanna Durbin.” With around 70 recorded songs to his name** (though he only recognizes or claims 37), the prodigy who entered Harvard at 15 released two studio albums and three live albums between 1953 and 1965, and after 109 concerts, he called it quits. Since then, he's been pretty quite and generally elusive (previously), taking just enough time to grant 2 Chainz permission to sample his work, while keeping it cheeky in his reply.
An Unofficial Index of MetaFilter Megaposts
I love megaposts. So I made an index of megaposts with more than about 900 words.
"The love's gotta go somewhere"
After Robin Birdsong lost her son in 2007, she started Enchanted Farm Sanctuary (Instagram | Facebook) to help her cope with the grief. Ronnie the donkey also lost his son and refused to leave the spot where he died, so the farmer gave him to Robin, hoping for a fresh start. This is Ronnie's story.
The Story of Cats, from ITV and PBS
The Story of Cats is a documentary mini-series, first aired on ITV then re-cut with new narration on PBS: Nature, now as a two-part series instead of three, with a different narrative flow. Where ITV focuses on comparisons of wild cats with "our moggies," PBS traces the evolution of cats as they spread across the world, and into our homes. ITV [via YouTube] ep 1: Wild at Heart; ep 2: Cute Response; ep 3: Super Cats | PBS ep 1: Asia to Africa; ep 2: Americas
Marbles, Magnets, and Music (Synchronized)
Kinetic artist Mark Robbins of DoodleChaos made waves across the internet a few months ago when he perfectly synced a custom course from the Line Rider game to Edvard Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King. As astounding as it was to watch the digital game and audio sync up, Robbins took things a step further by making a series of IRL Rube Goldberg-like contraptions with marbles, blocks, and magnets that plays perfectly with Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers. The feat required listening to the waltz hundreds of times which he says resulted in him “going a bit crazy.” (via)
Victorio Peak: New Mexico's El Dorado, C.I.A. cover up, or fatal scam?
Lost treasure stories are a dime a dozen in the Southwest. But when the Army; Air Force; the White House; Congressmen; New Mexico's Governor and F. Lee Bailey and dozens of other lawyers get into a single treasure saga, only confusion and rumors remain cheap (New York Times, 1973). It is one of the most celebrated legends of buried treasure in the history of the American West, a thriller that includes a gunfight, nuclear weapons and the Watergate hearings (N.Y. Times, 1992) These are two period-specific introductions to the ongoing saga of the treasure of the hollow mountain (Atlantis Rising Magazine, 2009), a cache of gold and loot that was re-discovered in 1937 by "Doc" Noss, in what is now part of the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.
"Kate Bush is more like Keats."
"Byron once said about Keats, 'Keats writes about what he imagines; I write about what I live.' And most Rock & Roll people write about their lives in some way. Kate Bush is more like Keats in that she writes about what she imagines." -Steve Coogan
The Mind of a Fool
In 2002 David Bowie and Danish film maker Thomas Vinterberg sat down for a 25-minute long conversation.
Thomas Vinterberg had just come off the tail end of theDogme 95 movement (which he had founded together with Lars von Trier). David Bowie had just released Heathen.
What started as a conventional interview became a meandering conversation about creativity, anxiety, loneliness, art, and exile.
Baby It's A Red Flag Day
Red Flag Day is, I feel, the song that best encapsulates the new U2 album, Songs Of Experience. Inventive arrangements (morphing across the song), the feeling of four guys playing in a band, clarity in the production like never before... It's rock and roll for now, and old U2 fans might appreciate it.
In 1973, the Goat faced an uncertain destiny.
Dear friends, family, and farm animals: the Gävle Goat has been erected for 2017.
Since the 1960's the Swedish town of Gävle has erected a giant (13 meters tall and 7 meters long) Yule Goat constructed of straw over a Swedish pine frame. Nearly every year, the goat has been destroyed, usually via arson. Will 2017 be one of the vanishingly rare years that the Gävle Goat survives the holiday season? Keep up with the Gävlebocken Twitter to find out.
"We see your dragons and have escaped in this bathyscaphe"
It started with a simple question on Twitter: "Who would win in a staff battle between @sciencemuseum (The Science Museum) and @NHM_London (Natural History Museum) what exhibits/items would help you be victorious? #askacurator"
The Natural History Museum was the first to weigh in: "We have dinosaurs. No contest."
The Science Museum was quick to respond: "@NHM_London is full of old fossils, but we have robots, a Spitfire and ancient poisons. Boom!"
What followed was a donnybrook for the ages. (Or for the Twitter-averse, a recap via the London Evening Standard.)
The Natural History Museum was the first to weigh in: "We have dinosaurs. No contest."
The Science Museum was quick to respond: "@NHM_London is full of old fossils, but we have robots, a Spitfire and ancient poisons. Boom!"
What followed was a donnybrook for the ages. (Or for the Twitter-averse, a recap via the London Evening Standard.)
Nature, filling your soul with hope, or...the other way around.
Zero Gravity Canyon, San Rafael Swell, all kinds of swell times.
The San Rafael Reef, or San Rafael Swell, is an easy drive from Salt Lake City, and holds many adventures. The Narrows of Little Wild Horse Canyon is a perennial favorite of families who take their kids into the slot canyons for the coolness of them. I had never heard of Zero Gravity Canyon until today, when I read this tale.
KITTEN DOESN’T WANT TO BE FED. KITTEN WANTS TO HUNT.
It's hard to tell which is uppermost in your mind, "Awwww" or "Ahhhh!": behold Jurassic Kitten, (including outtakes). Some like the sequel even better: Purrassic World. But if light sabers are more your thing, you may prefer Darth Kitten, or Star Wars: The Kitten Awakens (also with outtakes).
Llamasoft Presents... NINE INCH NAILS
The first video from the new Nine Inch Nails EP has been released, and it has an unexpected ingredient: A hefty helping of urban legend turned Jeff Minter game Polybius.
“I Adore my Lesbian Daughters—Keep them safe.”
Frances Goldin, a 93-year-old mother of two lesbians, has been attending the New York City Pride march for nearly 50 years. And each year, she waves the same sign.
Take a drink every time the narrator says "Victorian style"
It's the everyday lives of everyday people that really bring history alive.
Victorian Farm is a six-part BBC series which does exactly that. Part documentary, part reality show (in the best possible sense), it follows historian Ruth Goodman, and archeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn, as they LARP a year in the life of a restored Victorian farm in Shropshire, England – getting by with only Victorian-era technology, cookery, clothing, and customs. But there's much more...
Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans
It's the Sgt. Pepper's/Star Wars mashup you didn't know you needed.
Palette-Swap Ninja has adapted the entirety of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band into a long form musical adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope.
Daniel Dennett
"As I spent time with my mother, I found that my intuitions were shifting to Dennett's side of the field. It seems natural to say that she 'sort of' thinks, knows, cares, remembers, understands, and that she is 'sort of' conscious. It seems obvious that there is no 'light switch' for consciousness: she is present and absent in different ways, depending on which of her subsystems are functioning. I still can't quite picture how neurons create consciousness." Joshua Rothman on Daniel C. Dennett. [SLNewYorker]
49 satin wedding gowns... one in each state's boxcar
The Merci Train was a train of 49 French railroad boxcars filled with tens of thousands of gifts of gratitude from French citizens sent to the US in 1949. They were showing their appreciation for the 700+ American boxcars of relief goods sent to them by Americans in 1948 via a project calledFriendship Train. Each of the 48 American states at that time received one of the gift-laden box cars. Many of those boxcars still exist.
Appraising the Brady Bunch Art Collection
Pork Chops and Apple Sauce: Appraising the Brady Bunch’s Art Collection.
A very comprehensive examination of the art on the Brady Bunch home, and of mass produced mid-century modern art.
Singing in the Shadow of Pulse
James Croft, a member of the Gateway Men’s Chorus, writes about singing at the GALA Choruses festival, three weeks after the massacre at the Pulse nightclub. Here is their performance.
I want to remove the stigma of male nudity being taboo and threatening.
"In 2012, photographer Abigail Ekue embarked on a mission to photograph the unclothed male body in a truthful, expressive and direct manner, a style Ekue saw was lacking in the larger cultural lexicon." (NSFW)
Flyover country
I get the pun, but can we cut it out with this one at last? I can't read "flyover country" without imagining some amount of dismissiveness, resignation, and even contempt on the part of the writer---and the site in general.
You can’t be sure where any search will lead.
It all started with a question, one my parents had been unable to answer for 70 years. What happened to the French doctor they had taken in during the Russian siege of Budapest? He was an escaped prisoner of war. They were just trying to hang on. Together, they hid in a cellar, beneath the feet of German soldiers who had made the home their headquarters.San Francisco Journalist John Temple follows the threads of World War II into the present.