Friday Ephemera

Bicycle Built for Two Thousand. // At last, a horror film for vegans. // The shower curtain you’ve always wanted. // Tiny turntable. // Tetris HD. I dare you to play. // How to prevent piracy. // Boring to the ear, pleasing to the eye. // 4000 years of democracy in 90 seconds. // Testing is “racist,” claims Professor Lani Guinier, because “talent is equally distributed among all people.” (h/t, Maggie’s Farm) // More vintage Soviet posters. (h/t, Coudal) // Spy vibe. // “The inter-dimensional quest for a better you!” (h/t, B&W) // Unspeakably cheesy theme songs from 1960s Marvel cartoons. // Edible circuitry. // Scanned sandwiches. // The art of dirty cars. // Is it a hat? // And, via The Thin Man, it’s time to open The Ipcress File. 

Comments

[carbon based lifeform]

"That secret is a technique I call Quantum Jumping, and I've promised myself to share it with the world in 2009 – because I can't keep it to myself any longer with a clear conscience. Quantum Jumping is the process of 'jumping' into parallel dimensions, and gaining creativity, knowledge, wisdom and inspiration from alternate versions of yourself."

I'm sold. I'll take two.

[David]

You do realise your parallel universe self will be doing exactly the same thing and making millions from *your* good ideas? And your parallel universe self will, of course, be evil, so he may play dirty. It’s bound to lead to inter-dimensional rivalry. Possibly all-out war.

[James S]

I've been playing Tetris HD for 25 minutes. I'll be done by lunchtime.

[James S]

Maybe 2:30.

[Anna]

Love the 'hat' cartoon.

[James S]

Still playing Tetris HD...

[Horace Dunn]

Guinier: "You can get A-plusses at Harvard Law School and still come out and not be a very good lawyer."

To be sure, certain people can excel academically and still be average, or even poor, at the job that their course supposedly prepared them for. But even allowing for this, for a Law Professor to make the statement above, complacently, even proudly, suggests that the Harvard Law department is not taking its responsibilities seriously.

[David]

Horace,

As we see yet again*, standards in parts of academia are no longer what one might hope, or reasonably expect:

*http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/03/defined-by-whining-.html?cid=6a00d83451675669e2011168f12cbc970c#comment-6a00d83451675669e2011168f12cbc970c

Or think worth paying for.

[Anna]

James, are you still playing Tetris? :)

[AntiCitizenOne]

Don't let James find Bejewelled Blitz on FaceBook.

[James S]

Anna, No. I gave up after 2 hours twenty. It's still running though... :D

AntiCitizenOne, what's Bejewelled Blitz?

[David]

“I gave up after 2 hours twenty. It’s still running though...”

If you just let it run – say, for 4 or 5 hours - it starts to look like one of those “grow your own crystals” toys.

[Anna]

"I gave up after 2 hours twenty."

Lightweight. :)

[SG]

Hat! Hat!!!

[db1]

Great site. Bookmarked.

[TimT]

Black Sheep is a great film and you should see it if you get the opportunity. Not necessarily a horror film for vegans though - the sole vegan-activist character is a bit of a dill, though she's portrayed affectionately, and the whole 'genetic modification is evil' plot device is delivered with a massive tongue-in-the-cheek by the scriptwriters.

[David]

Tim,

For some reason I was tickled by the idea of cunning and predatory sheep. A few years ago, I spent a week in a remote cottage in Wales, miles from anywhere and surrounded only by these woolly creatures. There’s something about sheep that’s odd, to me at least. Their lack of discernible wits somehow makes them faintly disquieting. Like cows, they seem impossibly stupid. You’re tempted to fill in the blanks and imagine they’re much more cunning than they appear.

[TimT]

Yes, the film makers play with that idea very well. It's the farcical nature of the idea (Beware of the Weresheep!) that makes the film work. New Zealand is a largely rural nation with a high proportion of its income deriving from agriculture, so rural encounters with sheep would be quite common. They even gleefully adopt the Australian stereotype about New Zealanders (a hoary old joke about New Zealanders romantic relationship with sheep) and joke about it, and kudos to them for doing so.

I remember more than one occasion in my childhood when we went on holidays and we found our car stuck in the middle of a bunch of sheep being driven across the road.

[TimT]

Oh sorry, I should have made it clear in that comment that I'm an Australian, not a New Zealander.

[sk60]

"I gave up after 2 hours twenty. It's still running though..."

I gave up after 3 hours. I admit defeat.