wow

Road House: the Play

we're all ok

From Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd: A study of the popular mind.

The great upheavals which precede changes of civilisations such as the fall of the Roman Empire and the foundation of the Arabian Empire, seem at first sight determined more especially by political transformations, foreign invasion, or the overthrow of dynasties. But a more attentive study of these events shows that behind their apparent causes the real cause is generally seen to be a profound modification in the ideas of the peoples. The true historical upheavals are not those which astonish us by their grandeur and violence. The only important changes whence the renewal of civilisations results, affect ideas, conceptions, and beliefs. The memorable events of history are the visible effects of the invisible changes of human thought. The reason these great events are so rare is that there is nothing so stable in a race as the inherited groundwork of its thoughts.

deep sleep

A bacterium that sat dormant in a frozen pond in Alaska for 32,000 years has been revived by NASA scientists.

of course

Blink O Rama. Sometimes the Web can be a delightfully pointless place.

nice

P2240051
Originally uploaded by dmushrush.

torrid

Anyone out there read romance novels? I'll bet you never read any like these.

via boingboing

hoo

So there was this yankee judge at a chili cookoff...

see you at the show

seeya

I'm going on tour with Thievery Corporation.

godd stuff

The Onion interviews Dave Eggers, the author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

"[Fiction feels] like driving a car in a clown suit. You're going somewhere, but you're in costume, and you're not really fooling anybody. You're the guy in costume, and everybody's supposed to forget that and go along with you."

junque

Now we've all collected things before, but this guy has taken it way too far.

I except this

Common Errors in English

my god . . . it's full of stars

The best of Hubble. Some nice images here. (Thanks, mom!)

kitchenvice

This is disturbingly cool.

The ten best selling books of all time

The Bible comes in first once again.

shut the cell up

Illegal cellphone jammers are selling like hotcakes on the streets of New York.

Bonham would be proud

The 10 greatest rock'n'roll myths:

"6: Robert Johnson's pact with the devil Famously, Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar like a demon. You want prima facie evidence? How about 'Me and the Devil Blues', and the fact that young Robert was a poor guitarist whose improvement was remarkable. Actually, he used that little known voodoo technique 'practice', and was tutored by a bluesman called Ike Zimmerman. Not Satan."

r.i.p.

Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide.

"10,000 trillion trillion trillion watts"

Huge 'star-quake' rocks Milky Way

air cannon

I want one.

for all y'all down south

How to build an ice wall.

Plain English Campaign

It's the Golden Bull Awards, given for the year's worst examples of gobbledygook. My favorite was the British Airways terms and conditions entry:

CHARGES FOR CHANGES AND CANCELLATIONS

NOTE – CANCELLATIONS – BEFORE DEPARTURE FARE IS REFUNDABLE. IF COMBINING A NON-REFUNDABLE FARE WITH A REFUNDABLE FARE ONLY THE Y/C/J-CLASS HALF RETURN AMOUNT CAN BE REFUNDED. AFTER DEPARTURE FARE IS REFUNDABLE. IF COMBINING A NON-REFUNDABLE FARE WITH A REFUNDABLE FARE REFUND THE DIFFERENCE /IF ANY/BETWEEN THE FARE PAID AND THE APPLICABLE NORMAL BA ONEWAY FARE.

CHANGES/UPGRADES- PERMITTED ANYTIME.

wow

"American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares."

go figure

Apparently real possession by the devil isn't as common as people who are possessed might think.

"Father Scarafoni said that, generally, "85 percent to 90 percent of these people are not possessed or even being attacked by the devil. They need someone to listen. They need a prayer. They need a long walk and a glass of water."

great wallpaper

Hubble photos

big

I've blogged this before, but these photos of nuclear explosions are haunting. More galleries are here and here.

lens

I'm fascinated with the pinhole camera now. Dave has directed my attention to Pinholeday.org, which has an impressive collection of home-brewed photos from around the world. One of many great shots:

Thanks, Dave!

no global warming?

BBC: How the world is changing, in pictures.

dark room magic

This is interesting. Have you wondered how everyone on NPR always sounds so smooth and amazingly articulate? Here's a discussion on the "media sausage" you're actually hearing during those oh so flawless interviews. Here's the actual transcript of the interview, entitled "Pulling Back the Curtain."

"Women will get sterile just looking at you." - Charles De Mar

Now, I'm a fan of Star Wars and all, but these people are losers beyond the pale.