Friday Ephemera

Facial prosthetics. Clip-on ears, noses, jaws. // Armless man fells love rival. Like, totally. (H/T, Ace.) // 10 strange astronomical sights. // Solar movies. Flares, filaments, mass ejections. // Via Coudal, Jellyfish Lake. // Seizure-inducing bathtub. $26,000. // Capri bling. // Crash test your car online. // Verdi and Plasticine. // How to untangle headphone cable. Requires cat food, one cat, 24 hours. // Air Mouse. It’s a mouse. It’s a remote. It’s an object to fondle. // The Chrysler Building. More. // Via 1+1=3, the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur. // “With concentration, my size increased.” // Archive of Flash Gordon radio shows. (1935) // Return of the diabolical earthquake machine. // The complete illustrated catalogue of Acme products. From earthquake pills and super-speed vitamins to jet-propelled pogo sticks. Essential for coyotes. // Let’s Make a Sandwich. (1950) In collaboration with the American Gas Association. // Via Artblog, World Juggling Federation Championships 2004/5. // The Museum of Hoaxes. // Air Guitar Champion 2007, Ochi Yosuke. // Statue of Frank Zappa, Vilnius, Lithuania. // Zappa linksfest. (For Dr W.) // Deogolwulf on the wisdom of Richard Rorty, again. // Norman Geras on the unspeakable sorrows of Madeleine Bunting. She feels our pain. // Dispatches: Unholy War. Islam, apostasy and punishment. // And, via The Thin Man, Doris wields the lash. K-tssh.

Comments

[Vitruvius]

Ahh, David's Friday Ephemera. It's like breath of fresh air. Alas, to borrow David's words from the last thread, "It's getting late and my hammock is calling ...", so for now I'll just offer you my two queued contributions from the last week, thus maximizing your temporal opportunity to view them, should you be so inclined, before I get back to the matter, post-jentacularly, of perusing the other items previously and soon to be hereto.

There is a rather long essay entitled "Moral Psychology and the Misunderstanding of Religion", by Jonathan Haidt, that I think some of the readers here may find thought provoking, available at: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt07/haidt07_index.html

Speaking of the delights of anthropology, here James Randi conducts an (I would suggest) now classic Dowsing experiment: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7461912885649996034

[David]

Vitruvius,

Thanks for those. Norman Geras has some thoughts on the Haidt article:

http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2007/09/bases-of-morali.html

http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2007/09/just-authority.html

As does Ophelia Benson:

http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/notesarchive.php?id=2039

http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/notesarchive.php?id=2040

“It's like breath of fresh air.”

I think of it as more like a hand on the thigh. Or a playful slap on the ass.

[Vitruvius]

And let's not forget, in the name of diversity, a playful slap on the thigh, or a hand on the ass. 'Night all.

[josephT.]

Now the weekend have something more to enjoy weith. I love your Friday Ephemera, as much as I enjoy your blog. Congratulations from Spain.

[Vitruvius]

After Haidt's hearty stew, Geras and Benson are thin gruel indeed.

[David]

I’m sure the guide to untangling headphone cables will compensate.

[Vitruvius]

Sadly not. But the juggling was wonderful.

[Vitruvius]

In my continuing effort to attempt to contribute to this phenomenon, and returning to our on-going "The Classics This Friday" discussion, here's Victor Borge performing Mozart's "Mozart Opera":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ4ZNbiO15M

Here's the Canadian Brass performing "A Tribute to Ballet":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Brr-xTKA0

And here's Prof. Shickele conducting PDQ Bach's Schleptet in E flat major:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yKhOzE8z0k

I apologize to those of you who don't like classical music humour, to those who do, salut. Perhaps, if you found this comment wanting, you might prefer Chazan Shepsil Kanarek:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-680337333793699968

(Which includes, at the end, Menasich Goodman's famous sketch.)

Sure it's obscure, but isn't that part of the point of the Friday Ephemera? And besides, he sounds like me. Yeah, yeah, ok, I'm just kidding. I actually sound more like this (and I'm not even Yiddish, and I don't have a Brooklyn accent, but I am a student of Jackie's shtick):

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7529134985242810869

[Vitruvius]

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