September 8

Last year, Michael Mooney attempted to break the world record for riding the tallest bike. Instead he broke his knee. This year he tried again. Like any good biker, he got up and tried again (1:33 for the good stuff). He may not have broken the record, but he sure is awesome.
posted by rikschell at 5:28 AM - 1 comment

Her Honor Sarah Palin wanted these books banned Books (then) Mayor Sarah Palin tried to remove from Wasilla library. When the librarian refused to ban the books, Palin tried to get her fired. This information is taken from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board.
posted by Postroad at 4:24 AM - 57 comments

September 7

The Actionbutton.net Manifesto: The 25 Best Games of All Time. An eclectic list of awesome, and sometimes obscure games, accompanied by impassioned, long-winded, often pretentious and sometimes insightful essays/reviews. [more inside]
posted by empath at 11:41 PM - 26 comments

Voices of the Delegates: Democrats : Republicans [via: NYTimes] " [more inside]
posted by clearly at 9:26 PM - 6 comments

The tech business world has forever hyped the idea of "virtual communities," but it appears that the internet is actually making us more connected. Back in 1967, Stanley Milgram (of Milgram Experiment fame), proposed that we are all connected, on average, by six degrees of separation. The idea rapidly entered the popular consciousness, spawning a parlor game, and a hit play (and subsequent movie.) [more inside]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:20 PM - 4 comments

Oliver Sacks on Manic-Depression.
posted by vronsky at 8:02 PM - 11 comments

Little Hands, a commercial for Herringbone Sydney, won the Silver Lion award at the Cannes Lions 2008 international advertising festival. There is an accompanying print ad series (one in the series, "Bulgarians", was not well received by Saatchi&Saatchi Bulgaria). Today, the firm behind the Little Hands, M&C Saatchi, has been hired by the British government to sell its troubled ID card project to the public.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:02 PM - 10 comments

The 10 oddest travel guides ever published.
posted by shii at 6:48 PM - 10 comments

Party Faithful. Can the Democrats get a foothold on the religious vote?
posted by semmi at 4:32 PM - 171 comments

The Eureka Tower Carpark in Melbourne makes makes great use of forced perspective for its way-finding system, designed by Axel Peemoeller.
posted by nthdegx at 3:19 PM - 28 comments

The Jupiter Foundation and the Whalesong Project are both organizations which record humpback whale songs from floating buoys; some of their archived recordings can be found here, here, and here. (Warning, last two may resize your browser.) DOSITS hosts a more comprehensive collection of oceanic sounds, with seals and fish along with its whales and dolphins. It also has a couple of nice sections on how animals use sounds in the ocean. (Previously.) [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good at 2:26 PM - 9 comments

Radar magazine: Secrets of a hipster hooker.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:23 PM - 148 comments

Fingering What Make Us Human: Did a gene enhancer humanise our thumbs?
posted by homunculus at 10:35 AM - 37 comments

Album atlas - mapping the locations of album cover photographs. Feel free to contribute.
posted by davebush at 9:20 AM - 8 comments

All Star Superman in eleven panels
posted by Artw at 8:38 AM - 35 comments

Are you simply not getting enough drama in your life? Do you often get the urge to listen to other peoples relationship problems? Do you like to judge random people and find Relationshipfilter to be insufficient? Well, now there's SideTaker ("Let The World Decide Who's At Fault"), a site where couples give their sides of an issue and let others decide who's right or wrong. Via.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:06 AM - 38 comments

I love you because you play awesome songs on the jukebox. Who are you? Come here, we can talk. That's Number 165 from 300 Love Letters (but there are really 400 and here's why, and here's an explanation of the project itself). Asia Wong's other projects.
posted by amyms at 1:51 AM - 26 comments

Contemporary Tibetan artists incorporating traditional themes: Gonkar Gyatso l l Karma Phuntsok l Yungchen Lhamo [scroll down for video] l P. N. Dhumkhang l Losang Gyatso l Angsang [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 12:20 AM - 12 comments

September 6

The Video Diary of Ricardo Lopez On January 14th, 1996, A 21-year old Floridian man named Ricardo Lopez began a video diary to record his own growing obsession with Bjork. [more inside]
posted by grippycat at 11:28 PM - 20 comments

Nazis in the military is dedicated to the investigative project undertaken by journalist Matthew Kennard while studying for a MS in Investigative Journalism at Columbia University in New York. It was completed over six months and explores the increasingly liberal attitude of the U.S. military to neo-Nazis and white supremacists serving in the armed forces. via [more inside]
posted by hortense at 11:11 PM - 75 comments

The day that never comes. (slyt)
posted by pyramid termite at 10:03 PM - 74 comments

Most gamers have never heard of Braunstein. Sad but true. In the hierarchy of self-awareness you’ll find the circle of gamers who know what D&D is (a very, very large circle), then inside of that is the circle of gamers who know what Greyhawk is (large but smaller), and inside that the circle who knows what Blackmoor is (smaller still). And then in the very center, vanishingly small, are the people who’ve heard of Braunstein. Which is a pity, because Braunstein is the granddaddy of them all.
Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games by Ben Robbins. The first role-playing game was run by soldier David Wesely in 1967, his group including none other than D&D co-creator Dave Arneson. This past GenCon Braunstein was revived! Here's what the players had to say. Handouts from an earlier Braunstein revival. David Wesely's post-game comments. [via Rob McDougall] [more inside]
posted by Kattullus at 8:50 PM - 22 comments

Area 56: Peeing robots, rockin' office workers, engaging panoramas, and even a few sexy girls.
posted by artifarce at 7:26 PM - 9 comments

Movie poster artist draws a line. Drew Struzan is retiring. Responsible for some of the most iconic movie posters from the last thirty years, some of his non-poster work can be seen at his official site. Many of the original images are for sale, starting at $30,000. Some of his paintings and drawings might be considered NSFW.
posted by crossoverman at 6:54 PM - 8 comments

Policing issues are complicated in the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, near Montréal, Québec - a firebombing last Sunday underscores tensions that have existed between the Mohawks and the Sûreté du Québec, Québec's police force. Police have been reluctant to patrol the region ever since then Grand Chief James Gabriel negotiated a controversial police deal with Ottawa in 2003 without consulting band council, resulting in a Mohawk blockade and Gabriel's exile to Montreal the following year. The Montreal Gazette says the Mohawk community wants the Sûreté du Québec to step up patrols. Some Mohawks believe Québec wants to overextend its reach. The Kanesatake have a strong independent streak and have come to blows with Québec before.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:54 PM - 7 comments

The Wait is over. Microsoft brings Seinfeld and Gates together. The verdict?. Meh. (Previously).
posted by Xurando at 4:54 PM - 69 comments

Ed Rondthaler on english pronounciation. (Quicktime Video)
posted by blue_beetle at 4:04 PM - 24 comments

'There are two Americas - separate, unequal, and no longer even acknowledging each other except on the barest cultural terms. In the one nation, new millionaires are minted every day. In the other, human beings no longer necessary to our economy, to our society, are being devalued and destroyed' David Simon on The Escalating Breakdown Of Urban Society Across The US
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:51 PM - 52 comments

80smusicvids.com - Like totally bodacious collection of over 1000 music videos from like the raddest decade. Choice. [more inside]
posted by carsonb at 1:34 PM - 59 comments

Ghostschool is a collection of photographs taken of the sketchbook/scrapbook of designer Wil Freeborn (and a few other tumbled bits and pieces).
posted by nthdegx at 11:55 AM - 3 comments

Two Washingtons: Washington, DC is defined by its income inequality. [more inside]
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:49 AM - 34 comments

Apparently whenever US movies were released in Soviet-era Poland, the posters were discarded and replaced by new versions by Polish artists. Alternately disturbing and frickin' awesome, and often containing political comments of varying subtlety. Previously.
posted by genghis at 10:11 AM - 60 comments

20 pretty painted guitars. (via Nag on the Lake) [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 9:42 AM - 12 comments

The Cornell Evolution Project, which polls prominent evolutionary scientists about their religious beliefs, is part of a PhD thesis by evolutionary paleontologist and UCLA lecturer Greg Graffin. Mr. Graffin is also the lead singer of a band named Bad Religion, whose influential album Suffer turns 20 years old this week. [more inside]
posted by milquetoast at 8:09 AM - 35 comments

Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth. How children learn (or: don't learn) math today. [more inside]
posted by davar at 3:02 AM - 130 comments

September 5

Right at the Edge. "The Taliban and Al Qaeda have established a haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border. This is where the war on terror wil be fought – and possibly lost."
posted by homunculus at 10:45 PM - 31 comments

Apparently, this kind of thing happens all the time in Hamilton, Ontario.
posted by philip-random at 10:40 PM - 91 comments

I know what you're thinking. What could be better than a below-low-budget sci-fi/horror hypersexualized movie based off of a musical, with a playwright who also decided to star in both stage and screen adaptations? Well, then, what if we up the ante! It's also a socially-conscious cyberpunk movie musical, written, directed, scored and costumed by people in 2008 who have decided that 1996 is as far as the future goes, thanks... so it's also a goth/raver socially conscious cyberpunk movie musical, complete with blue-streaked hair, muppet-fur and clunky vinyl boots! No? We need to aim higher to do better? Well, here comes the kicker, the one element that will immortalize this film: Starring Paris Hilton. Singing. In S&M gear. And a wig. Doing drugs. Lo, I bring you REPO! The Genetic Opera! (The film.) NSFW or self respect.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:26 PM - 52 comments

Mister Bookseller is a short comic by Darko Macan (translated from the original Croatian by a helpful blogger) about a bookseller who stocks almost every book in the world.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 10:14 PM - 21 comments

It's not often that a freeware game can truly be called a masterpiece but Daniel Remar has finally released Iji, an action platformer with touches of RPG, in which you control a female heroine with a whole lot of engineered superhuman abilities. What makes this game so good is the sheer of polish that has been put into the production and the large amount of choices there are to make. You can choose what abilities to level up with, whether or not to bother killing enemies and the path you take through each sprawling area, which can effect the outcome of the unfolding story.
posted by pancreas at 10:02 PM - 23 comments

"Her work revolves around a cluster of issues chief among which are sexuality, death, identity, abjection, the monstrous feminine and loss. Despite the universal importance of these issues her work remains firmly grounded in the specifics of her individual experience." NSFW [more inside]
posted by sluglicker at 9:37 PM - 3 comments

Fannie and Freddie have now been placed under conservatorship. [more inside]
posted by SeizeTheDay at 7:56 PM - 89 comments

The North Hollywood Bank Job. part two part three part four . Inspired by this famous (and NSFW) scene from Heat, on Feb. 28, 1997, Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu attempted to rob a Bank of America in North Hollywood, CA using body armor, automatic weapons and barbiturates. This documentary uses news footage, recreations, interviews, computer animation and a cheesy narrator to explain the chaotic hour that followed. There are some violent images. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse at 4:12 PM - 33 comments

Today's date? Why, it's...July 11, 2052, and man has been cowering in terror, self-sealed in his own living-tombs since that day of horror in...1952. Remember? 100 years ago, the sky above America turned black...with the dread flight of millions of ferocious, gigantic ants! [more inside]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:18 PM - 56 comments

"Smugopedia is a collection of slightly controversial opinions about a variety of subjects. We offer you the chance to buy a fleeting sense of self-satisfaction at the small cost of alienating your friends and loved ones."
posted by PM at 3:10 PM - 28 comments

Fans of Thin Lizzy/Phil Lynott may be unaware of some recent audio-only you tubery. So, let me school you, as the kids say. Live versions: Opium Trail. Romeo and the Lonely Girl (cool slow version). It's Getting Dangerous. The Pressure Will Blow. Don't Play Around (soundcheck). Demos: Rockula. Waiting for an Alibi. Gay Boys (song from Phil's post-Thin Lizzy band Grand Slam). Got to Give it up. [more inside]
posted by wittgenstein at 2:07 PM - 15 comments

Hubba, Hubba, Hubba [more inside]
posted by Rafaelloello at 1:51 PM - 16 comments

Things To Say During Sex [more inside]
posted by carsonb at 1:22 PM - 92 comments

No really, it's good. It's from Florida's Educational Clearinghouse and students and teachers can use up to 50 pieces of it in a single project without needing any further permission. [more inside]
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:37 PM - 17 comments

Flash Friday: Casual Gameplay Escape is a game where you solve puzzles to escape a room. Some puzzles are more difficult than others.
posted by schyler523 at 12:32 PM - 14 comments

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