A Thai bakery which specializes in bread that looks like human body parts. (shudder)
Imagine running up to the bakery around the corner and coming across bread shaped like body parts. Sound yummy? Artist Kittiwat Unarrom creates just that; gruesome works of art out of bread.
What makes a good Halloween costume? What makes a good costume idea go bad?
Here's a great list of TV characters done up in costumes, some of which succeed, and some which fail.
Unreality - The Best, Worst and Most Terrifying TV Cartoon Halloween Costumes
According to this one author, it's in a skillet, over medium heat. With butter.
Okay, so here's the Ducasse method of making a rib steak, as interpreted by me. This is a 45-minute process, assuming you start with a steak that has been allowed to come up to room temperature or that at least has been out of the refrigerator long enough to take the chill off it. The method starts with a skillet -- in my case cast-iron but any good skillet works fine as does a pot like a rondeau -- heated to a medium heat. The steak is started on its edge. The reason for this is twofold: first, it renders the fat so you're able to cook the steak in beef fat (this echoes Ducasse's principles of flavor reinforcement, which are nearly universal in his cooking); second, it creates an appetizing appearance on the edges.
Ars Technica reviews:
Nothing about the music in this game was done the cheap or easy way, and it shows. You can set up a custom mix of tracks and then just sit back and listen to the music without having to play, or use it as the background music for a party while the game displays visuals on your television if you just want to enjoy the tracks themselves.
And check out the controller:
Wicka-wicka-wicked: DJ Hero new, fresh, triumphant - Ars Technica
Because who can deal with all the distractions? Warning: kinda stress-inducing.
Notice how the words "Net Neutrality" aren't even mentioned
A whole pile of funny Star Wars parodies and mash-ups.
A very touching and poignant moment. Or something.
In reality, an awesome T-shirt print design from Brandon Bird.
The answer for the following image is: a Swatch.
From fictional skulls. They're apparently not professional face artists, but the results are cool.
Because not enough has been done to humiliate pets.
Much to the chagrin of the author, the amazing and hugely complex MMORPG, Love, is now available to play.
You can download the client here.
Releasing anything you have worked on for a long time is scary. Releasing something hugely complex, makes it scarier. Having it be untested, doesn't help, and the prospect of angry paying testers doesn't make it any better at all. Everyone gets scared, but i think that fear is mostly just holding us back so i try to refuse to be influenced by it.The Alpha is now a little over a week old, and while there have been issues, it has gone far better then I ever dared to hope. The fixes have been coming out rapidly and I have been able to respond to most problems and release a new version in matter of hours. Almost all greifing issues have been addressed and I've seen some amazing settlements pop up. The low-end mode (now in the login menu) will enable even more people to play the game. The numbers right now look good (around 1600 players), but I don't trust that that many will return next month, so I would still say the viability of the project is in limbo. In order to do ports to OSX and Linux I will need at least 2000 returning players.
What's next? Apple pie? Baseball? Mom? The American flag?
Even though he didn't deserve it, it's still awesome that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, right? No, it's not. It used to be, but now that Barack Obama has done it, it's un-American.It's been getting kind of confusing keeping track of what's truly American anymore, so we came up with a handy list of things that are socialist and foreign because Barack Obama has soiled them, by doing them.
Americana That Barack Obama Has Made Un-American - Barack Obama - Gawker
So says Ron Moore (creator of the redux Battlestar Galactica).
Moore then went on to describe how a typical script might read before the science consultants did their thing:La Forge: "Captain, the tech is overteching."
Picard: "Well, route the auxiliary tech to the tech, Mr. La Forge."
La Forge: "No, Captain. Captain, I've tried to tech the tech, and it won't
work."Picard: "Well, then we're doomed."
Ron Moore calls Star Trek's tech "meaningless" | SCI FI Wire
A cool list of films that were filmed in Toronto (though taking place in many different cities, from San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, to Los Angeles and New York).
Included is one of my favourite holiday movies, A Christmas Story:
When all goes wrong, the family does a Christmas dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. In this case, it's the former Chop Suey Palace at 744 Gerrard, now home to Batifole. You can see what the frontage looks like these days at their website.Basically, all the film's interiors were were shot at 793 Pharmacy Avenue, once home to Magder studios. SCTV was among the other tenants there.
Woohoo! I'm going to scour the Value Village for some vintage cameras, and start dusting off my SX-70.
Since 2005, it has been our honour and pleasure to celebrate and evoke the sensational and almost mysterious power of Instant Photography in memoriam of Dr. Land. Doing everything in our power to keep this beloved and unique photographic medium alive, we grabbed the chance to take over the last factory producing Instant films from the old Polaroid management and to start The Impossible Project in 2008. Re-inventing a new analog integral film, we are now preparing, supporting and managing the comeback of Instant Photography.
Accomplishing this mission and proudly owning the former Polaroid plant in Enschede (NL), as well as already holding the first working hand-coated samples in our trembling hands, we are pleased to herewith announce a history-making cooperation between The Impossible Project and Polaroid:Polaroid will re-launch the legendary Polaroid One Step Camera and is therefore commissioning The Impossible Project to develop and produce a limited edition of Polaroid® branded Instant Films in the middle of 2010
Damn. And we almost booked X-mas (or NOXmas) there. Good thing we finally decided on Hawaii. I wonder if they would have still honoured Hilton points....
The sprawling complex includes 280 rooms, 210 suites, a casino, stores, restaurants, offices and meeting areas, as well as the adjoining marina.The assets will be held by the state tourism corporation Venetur, which reports to the Tourism Ministry, as part of an "urgent" effort to boost "the social development side of the tourism and hotel industries in Nueva Esparta state," the Gazette said.
Damn. I just might get into this.
Dungeons and Dragons Online went live back in 2006, and a number of my friends took part in the beta, enjoying the game immensely. Then the product went live, and they never played again. The reason was simple: the game was $50, the monthly fee was $15, and for many gamers that's a hard sell. Then suddenly, a week or so ago, everyone was playing again. A thread about the game popped up on our forum. Where did this buzz come from? Simple: the game was once again free to play.You can still buy a subscription, and that comes with a number of benefits, but you can also download the client for free, and play a huge chunk of the game without paying a single cent.
Here's how it works. Anyone can download the client and create a character and start playing. As you level up, you can buy everything from hair dye to new adventures and dungeons using Turbine points, which can be bought with either real money or earned in the game. You can still subscribe, which gets you more character slots and a monthly allotment of Turbine points, as well as some other perks.
Dungeons and Dragons Online: behold the power of free - Ars Technica
I might not agree with the inclusion of some films or the ordering of this list, but they did get a few things right. And it's interesting to hear what Terry Gilliam says about them.
Perhaps the most right thing they did was put Totoro at #1:
1. My Neighbour Totoro (1988) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki A hushed modern masterpiece.Already an institution in its native Japan and a surefire favourite of anyone faintly familiar with the Ghibli oeuvre, there was a chance in the mid-'80s when it was doubtful that 'Totoro' was ever going to see the light of day. At the time, Studio Ghibli was not financially self-sufficient, and thus had to convince independent backers that their upcoming projects were worthy of bankrolling. So when Miyazaki originally proposed the outline for a film about two small girls retreating into their imaginations to come to terms with the responsibilities of the real world, the money men (perhaps understandably) kept their wallets tightly shut. It was only when the studio agreed to simultaneously make 'Grave of the Fireflies' (see number 13), directed by Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, that funds were eventually released and Miyazaki was able to start work on this deeply idiosyncratic and personal project.
Effortlessly fusing the delicately forged imagined kingdoms of Lewis Carroll with the lackadaisical whimsy of AA Milne, the eponymous Totoro is revealed as a giant, waddling ball of fur who charmingly ushers the girls through their period of grief. The minimalism of Totoro's character represents a seam of restraint and sensitivity which runs though all aspects of the film: Instead of using animation to merely recreate the imagination (and unleash a colourful panoply of garish monsters), 'Totoro' is a film about imagination, one which feels uniquely attuned to the type of creatures that girls of such a young age would really dream up - the Soot Spirits are little black balls, their mode of transport is a contraption which is half bus, half cat. Indeed, Miyazaki is just as enthralled by real creatures - such as tadpoles - as he is in the fantastical beasts of the forest.
Huh. Cool. Wasn't expecting this so soon.
Probably the most important thing President Obama has done in regards to trying to establish global security is on the issue of nuclear disarmament.He has come out more forcibly than any other US president in office in his calls for a world free from nuclear weapons.
Presidents in the past have talked about it, but rarely stated it as succinctly and powerfully as this president has - it's quite unprecedented.
The unanimous new UN Security Council resolution on nuclear disarmament last week, and US negotiations with the Russians on the reduction of nuclear weapons are very important steps forward.
The potential for the US to assume greater responsibility and moral leadership is higher than it has been for some years
When making fun of America's country-folk, it pays to have an exit plan, as the U.K.'s Top Gear crew found out.
I didn't want to wake up tied to a tree, being invited to squeal like a little piggy for the entertainment of a 20-year-old psychopath in giant dungarees, with three teeth in his head and a bitter hatred of anyone who wasn't also a 30-stone homophobic racist who shot at things he didn't understand.A few miles down the road, conscious that we were easily identifiable to the hordes of rednecks being warned of our approach over the CB, we pulled over. We had seen them waiting at crossroads as we passed, and heard them telling people further ahead that we were coming. We had to try to remove the slogans that had caused offence of an intensity way beyond what we had anticipated.
Interesting point. Also, it brings up a very good point referenced in the Little Brother novel: what happens when a government organization puts out its own version of ParanoidLinux in an attempt to snare those who think they need it?
It's not the "there are already too many distributions" argument that is unsettling. It is more that the project feels a like a waste of human resources -- why is it necessary to put the applications and services designed to protect anonymity, to encrypt files, to make the user nameless and faceless, all together, in one distribution? Let's think in a truly paranoid manner. Wouldn't it be far easier for a nefarious government organization to target that distribution's repositories, mirror that singular distribution's disk images with files of its own design, and leave every last one of that distribution's users in the great wide open? It would take more effort, it would seem, for a despotic goverment to hit every last repository of every last distribution with a bogus security application.
Funny Flash game. Well named, and shows the real-life consequences of going after castle-owning lizard kings.
There's just one catch ... you have to be a woman.
Ok, two catches.
Not too surprising. I can reproduce stigmata on my hands with just a rusty thumbtack.
A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, Garlaschelli made available to Reuters the paper he will deliver and the accompanying comparative photographs....
They placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.
The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries.
Woooo Canada. Take that, Ireland!
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
Norway is best place to live, China moves up: UN - Yahoo! News
Wait, you can get money or freebies for reviewing things? Sheeit. I must be some kind of chump.
The Federal Trade Commission on Monday took steps to make product information and online reviews more accurate for consumers, regulating blogging for the first time and mandating that testimonials reflect typical results.The FTC will require that writers on the Web clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. The commission also said advertisers featuring testimonials that claim dramatic results cannot hide behind disclaimers that the results aren't typical.
Neat way to get new content for better blogging.
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Movable Type 4.32 Now Available - with Zemanta Built In - Movable Type
Seriously peole. WTF?
In a column published yesterday, Newsmax's John L. Perry wrote that there is a "gaining" possibility that the military will stage a coup to "resolve the 'Obama problem.'"Newsmax has apparently removed the column from its site. Links are now redirected to the homepage, and Perry's author page has no mention of his latest work.
Full text of the now missing commentary is here.
Newsmax Columnist: Military Coup May Be Needed 'To Resolve The Obama Problem' | TPM LiveWire
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