One of the funniest New Yorker cartoons I’ve seen in a while. Is that supposed to be Mitt Romney? I’ll just assume it is. Classic.
(via zenaddict)
The Criterion Collection edition of The Royal Tenenbaums was released about a month ago. As an accompaniment and tease Criterion Collection has also posted a slideshow of 9 books and magazines from the movie on their website. The above is my favorite*. The rest can be seen here.
Now I just want to see every one of Steve Zissou’s documentaries.
*Fun fact: the actor who plays Dudley is named Stephen Lea Sheppard. He also played Harris on “Freaks and Geeks.”
(via kottke)
Extreme Ironing is apparently a thing →
So apparently this a thing. The latest craze from people that appreciate caring for their clothes, extreme ironing is…well, I’ll let Wikipedia explain (from the article linked to above):
Extreme Ironing (also called EI) is an extreme sport and a performance art in which people take an ironing board to a remote location and iron items of clothing. According to the official website, extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.”
My favorite part, other than that this exists, is this:
In March 2008, a team of 72 divers simultaneously ironing underwater set a new world’s record for number of people ironing underwater at once.
Movie Ideas
- George Washington: Werewolf Slayer
- Woodrow Wilson: Zombie Killer
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Troll Destroyer
- JFK 2: Attack of the Mothmen
These scripts just write themselves.
Taking a decision by Donata Wenders. 1999
This is just a really cool photo. Could you imagine if life looked like this? Everything would be myserious. Everyone would be a spy.
The photographer’s gallery looks like what would result if Ingmar Bergman made a film noir.
Initially I didn’t think watching someone eat a hamburger would be interesting, but this actually captivated me for the full length of the video. I don’t know whether this is solely because it’s Andy Warhol, or if he just happens to be an interesting person to watch consume food.
The clip is from a movie called 66 Scenes from America, directed by Jorgen Leth.
In the United States one is always concerned to find out what an individual does, and not what he is; one takes it for granted that he is nothing but what he has done or may do; his purely inner reality is regarded with indifference, if, indeed, any note is taken of it. A man to be respected is one who has done things of value.— Simone de Beauvoir, from “An Existentialist Looks at Americans,” May 25, 1947
How scientists are trying to stop the next mosquitocalypse →
I’ve been reading a lot lately about how this summer may be the worst, mosquito-wise, we have ever experienced. Because there was virtually no winter this year (at least here in the northeast), and spring was just one long rainstorm, the bloodsuckers have thrived. Some fear that their increased presence may lead to a widespread epidemic of dengue fever, or several other, equally lethal diseases.
The New Yorker article I linked to above discusses how scientists in the UK are trying to prevent this by genetically modifying a specific type of male mosquito so that their offspring quickly perish, leading to an eventual wipeout of the breed.
Unfortunately, you can’t read the entire New Yorker article unless you buy a copy. However, New York Magazine also wrote a similar article detailing the dangers of the hundreds of breeds of mosquitos that feast on blood (not all do). They were kind enough to post it online. From the article:
In the fifties, when we sprayed DDT from trucks and covered marshes with oil in hopes of killing larvae, clouds of mosquitoes were so thick on the Jersey shore “you couldn’t tell Tom from Dick,” one mosquito-control worker told Popular Science. In 1984, after a mild winter and a wet spring, the New York mosquito population quadrupled, and residents in the Rockaways were shutting themselves indoors to avoid the bugs. How biblical will it be this time around? “Everybody’s talking about how bad it could be,” says Jim Skinner, owner of A&C Pest Management. “You know when you have a cold winter, regardless of the species, you get a good kill. And so without a winter, it should be a really good year for insects. And mammals, too. We’ve seen an uptick in mice already.”
[…]
Mosquitoes aren’t just irritating—they’re not just about stinging and itching and buzzing in your ear. (The theory about the buzzing, by the way, is that they fly toward the ceiling of a room, tracking the carbon dioxide, then dive down to sting, passing an ear.) They are one of the deadliest creatures in the world, killing over 1 million people a year via disease. They carry at least five forms of encephalitis—Eastern equine, Western equine, Japanese, La Crosse, and St. Louis. They also carry dengue fever, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, malaria, and West Nile virus.
In summary, we’re all screwed.
Roy Orbison — Only the Lonely - 1960
When Roy hits that high note, I can feel my heart expand.
(Source: nerk-twins)
