Run!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

This post has nothing to do with the fact that we're being run out of the building.

Anthony Famiglietti.

Photo Credit: New York Road Runners

 

One thing we didn't get the chance to air is Mike Pesca's interview with U.S. Olympic Steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti. Fam, as he's known, is a real running hero of mine. He always seems to run with real guts; he goes as fast as he can regardless of what everybody else on the track is doing. That's what he did at the Olympic Trials in Oregon a few weeks back, and he won the race by a ridiculous margin. Here's Mike's interview:

Ian Chillag

11:30 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Of Magic Markers And Glass Ceilings

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Seen in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

 

Found this sign after the event and had trouble envisioning what a "gender equality festival" might entail. Tests of strength? Karate training? Automatic salary increases?

Looks like it had a more positive spin. Plus, it's part of year-round programming by a local nonprofit.

Laura Silver

9:30 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Fourteen People Set Loose To Find Stories

Filed under: Stuff We Love, Too Beautiful to Live

Louisiana's capital city

From AbandonedBatonRouge

 

One of the crazy things about working at the Bryant Park Project is that we get (got?) to dream. Maybe you were tied to your desk more than you wanted, but you could see the day coming when you'd be able to go out with a camera and a recorder and bring back the amazing story that had been keeping you up at night.

The crazy thing about leaving the Bryant Park Project is that we still have those dreams, the exact same ones.

Today, thanks to Twitter pal @revolution_21, I give you Abandoned Baton Rouge, a loving photo chronicle of what's happening in Louisiana's capital city. It's not pretty. But it is worth losing sleep over.

Check it out:
Abandoned Baton Rouge
Revolution 21

Plus:
The Motorless City

Laura Conaway

7:13 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Clearly Closed

Filed under: Stuff We Love

From Clearly Closed

 

I heart this: a blog of closed shops displaying open signs. Reminds me of Not Fooling Anybody, a beloved-by-me website of repurposed fast food joints.

Props Neatorama.

Ian Chillag

6:50 AM ET | 07-21-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

I Wanna Be a Superhero

Filed under: Stuff We Love

When I grow up I want to be...

iStock

 

The new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, comes out on Friday and ever since Christian Bale walked by my desk on his way into the studio the other day -- I've got Batman on the brain.

Today on the show we talked to E. Paul Zehr, associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience at the University of Victoria, about whether or not a mere mortal could actually become Batman. Zehr has a book coming out in the fall on exactly that topic: Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero.

Bob Kane, who drew the character in 1939, said he purposefully designed Batman without superpowers. "Every person that doesn't have superpowers could relate to Batman a lot easier than they could to Superman -- in other words you didn't have to come from another planet to be a superhero, " Kane told Fresh Air in 1990. "All you had to do was be born rich and build your body to perfection and have the urge to go out and fight crime."

Right, just that, easy enough ... or not. Zehr says becoming Batman would mean a ton of workouts, until your body resembled a decathlete's. "You could think of examples -- Navy Seals where you have these guys with this extreme sort of deadly intent and training," Zehr says.

Becoming Batman certainly wouldn't be easy or cheap, but I'd like to think his abilities are realistic enough to give every little kid something to dream about.

Caitlin Kenney

9:49 AM ET | 07-17-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

The "Dr. Horrible" Love Train

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Mutant Enemy Productions

I've been meaning to get to the latest, possibly over-hyped, big thing on the Web since it went live yesterday -- Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," the Web-exclusive three-part musical. I just took 13 minutes to watch the first episode, and I have to say I'm on the love train.

If you want to learn about the musical, check out the coverage on the L.A. Times webscout blog. I can't tell you any better.

But what I CAN tell you is that once upon a time, when I was in a completely different line of work, I was the assistant dramaturg on a play starring one Neil Patrick Harris. This was back in 1993, right after Doogie Howser and before he appeared in one of my favorite flicks. It was also well before he revealed his comic genius with his cameo in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

I didn't get to contribute very much to the play, but I did get to watch Harris work, and I have been singing his praises ever since. He revealed a sure, instinctive talent for comedy, especially the type that I consider the highest form--physical comedy. Neil Patrick Harris is a wonderful pratfaller. He and I didn't get to talk all that much, but when we did, we talked about comedy.

I couldn't be happier that his career is going well. Watch Dr. Horrible, (the next episode goes live tomorrow) and maybe he'll make more musicals!

Tricia McKinney

1:51 PM ET | 07-16-2008 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post

Just 'Stache It.

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love, Too Beautiful to Live

I am procrastinating. I should be finding a job right now, but I'm looking at my friend's brilliant blog about edible moustaches. Who is my friend? She goes by the pseudonym Prudence Smithfield, and her blog co-conspirators are Cornelius Honeycutt and Dorcas Porkbutt.

Asked why they created this blog, Prudence says:

"We, at porkmoustache, felt that the history of edible moustaches had been left out of the history books for far too long and it was high time that the world's comestible lip hair found its way to fame."

I agree.

Zena Barakat

11:46 AM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Animals WERE Harmed In The Making Of This Film

Filed under: Stuff We Love

With all the talk about octopuses this week around BPP HQ, I thought back to a striking scene from one of my favorite films, Oldboy, part of Park Chan-wook's revenge trilogy. I recommended Oldboy to my parents, and after watching it they no longer watch anything I tell them to, maybe because of the violence, probably because of the octopus scene. If you are at all squeamish, be done with this post and head elsewhere. Otherwise, proceed.

Continue reading "Animals WERE Harmed In The Making Of This Film" »

Ian Chillag

11:31 AM ET | 07-11-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Bike City, USA: Madison, Wisconsin

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Merrily rolling along on one of Madison's dedicated bike trails.

Photo by Luton

 

This Midwestern town is known for its capitol building, its farmer's market and the sprawling state university campus that blankets the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona.

I just spent a few days there, rented a bike from the venerable Yellow Jersey and learned that this is also a great place to be on two wheels. The city's bike map lists bike lanes, bike paths and bike routes.

In short, it's a cyclist's paradise. I set off in search of a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Warner Park, five miles out of town. I couldn't find the lady with the torch, but wasn't disappointed. The bike lanes were well marked and drivers treated me with respect, not the incessant honking that's the norm in New York City.

That was just the beginning in a series of pleasant surprises:

Continue reading "Bike City, USA: Madison, Wisconsin" »

Laura Silver

8:46 AM ET | 07-10-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

A Soft Spot for Robots

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Awwww.

 

It takes soldering chops to make a bunch of machines sing. There's no arguing James Houston's video "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)" is technically impressive. But Houston didn't expect a bunch of machines singing a Radiohead song to have an emotional impact, and he's trying to wrap his head around the fact that people keep telling him it made them cry.

I didn't cry, but I was pretty moved. It got to me in much the way WALL-E did. I guess the difference is Houston's machines are trying to do something that humans do and they fall short. WALL-E lacks some skills that humans have, but ultimately he's the one that shows humans the way back to the humanity they've lost.

Video: James Houston's video sensation, recut.

Ian Chillag

7:50 AM ET | 07- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Feeling Warm And Fuzzy For 'Hot Fuzz'

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love

It's a rare day that I get to watch a movie, but yesterday's events, including my daughter taking a surprise nap, conspired to allow me to. My husband TiVoed Hot Fuzz, a fish-out-of-water comedy about a London police officer who gets hired to police an idyllic British village, and yesterday afternoon he fired it up.

I had never heard of this movie, and had only a vague idea of Shaun of the Dead, which was made by the same guys. While I know I'm behind the curve in seeing this film, I'm ahead of at least one other BPP staffer, so I figure there may be more of you out there who would appreciate hearing about it. Here's a taste of Hot Fuzz:

Of course, it turns out the village isn't so idyllic, blah, blah, blah, its spotless murder record isn't quite accurate, blah, blah, blah. The plot doesn't sound so hot, but really, this one is all in the writing and (forgive the pun) execution.

I didn't get to finish it, because my daughter woke up as the final act was beginning. I am planning to squeeze in some "mommy time" this afternoon to finish what I'm hoping is a spectacularly hilarious bloodbath before picking her up from school.

Tricia McKinney

12:58 PM ET | 07- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

Statue of Liberty Moves to Kearney, Nebraska

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Volunteers help the statue lift her soon-to-be-golden lamp.

Brad Norton, courtesy of Kearney (Neb.) Hub

I'm a sucker for the Statue of Liberty.

Something about tired, poor, wretched masses yearning to breathe free really touches me. All four of my grandparents were immigrants from Poland and Latvia. I like the idea of the green lady watching over them -- and steerage passengers from all over -- as they pulled into New York Harbor nearly 100 years ago.

I climbed up to her torch when I was a kid. And, a few years ago, I got to prowl around her island after hours with a friend who was working for the National Park Service.

But, there's more than one Statue of Liberty. Plastic versions welcome tourists to Manhattan souvenir shops. There used to be a metallic blue, duct-taped version in front a Brooklyn hardware store near my house. I'm still mourning a crown that graced the top of a funky, now defunct, downtown restaurant.

Still, there's hope. Turns out I'm not the only extreme fan of the Statue of Liberty.

This week, thanks to a man named Ward Schrack, an eight-foot-tall statue was erected as part of a Veterans Memorial in Kearney, Nebraska.

Schrack is a longtime member of the Boy Scouts, but 57 years ago, when the organization celebrated its 40th anniversary by putting up aluminum lady liberties around the country, he missed out. A few years ago, Schrack found a liberty statue in Missouri and enlisted local scouts to raise funds to transport the statue, which had a dedication ceremony last night.

And, yes, the torch will light up.

Laura Silver

8:31 AM ET | 07- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Synchronized Shelving: Battle of the Librarians

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Book cart drill teams let loose at last year's library conference.

On the show today, Julius C. Jefferson of the Library of Congress talked about the need for more African-American male librarians. He's in Anaheim, Calif., for the 2008 American Library Association Conference, where he'll convene a panel called "An Endangered Species: The Black Male Librarian." Other sessions will look at reaching out to teens, creating new uses for library spaces and evaluating cataloging systems ("Dewey or Don't We"). But one conference highlight mentioned by numerous librarians, including our own Kee Malesky, is the Book Cart Drill Team.

Jefferson has never participated in the event, but this year a colleague signed him up as a joke. He says the floor show is a hoot, but not necessarily a way to lure young black men to the profession.

Laura Silver

8:41 AM ET | 06-27-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

The BPP's Twin Radio Show

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Today during The Most I reported that astronomers are close to discovering Earth's twin. As the article explains, "Momentum is building: Just last week, astronomers announced they had discovered three super-Earths -- worlds more massive than ours but small enough to most likely be rocky -- orbiting a single star."

The truth is, astronomers are pretty far behind. I actually found Earth's twin a few weeks ago. It just took a little snooping around with my telescope. Anyway, I looked into it further and found that on Earth's twin, there's a Bryant Park Project twin. That's right, a show just like ours, but on this other planet. I hooked up a satellite in my apartment in Brooklyn and recorded some of it. Check it out:

I don't know about you, but I can't tell the difference. (Kudos to Matt Martinez for turning this bit up to 11.)

Dan Pashman

3:01 PM ET | 06-25-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Storm Trooper Pride

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Gay Empire Attack!, artist Suckadelic

Christie's Images Ltd. 2008

 

Not everything on the block at Christie's Pop Culture auction has stood the test of time.

The artist Suckadelic created "Gay Empire Attack!" in 2007. But just because this Storm-Trooper art is recent, doesn't mean it's devoid of nostalgia or -- craftsmanship.

"These aren't painted, these are hand cast," said Simeon Lipman, the head of pop culture at Christie's. "This guy actually hand-makes all these figures."

In addition to this work, Suckadelic has a few other lots in the auction:

Graff-At, 2002, a Star Wars vehicle customized by professional graffiti artists, with tags in the Aurebesh language, a fictional letter system created for in-world use for the six Star Wars films. The largest tag on the side of the souped-up Graff-at--"Rebel."

Darth Blowout, 2005, a circus punk doll holding a light saber

Crucifett, 2003, an action figure assemblage which shows Boba Fett cruxified on the wings of an X-Wing fighter

Laura Silver

8:34 AM ET | 06-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

81 Days and Counting

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The Coen brothers were in the air at the BPP offices today. When I got here this morning, Dan and Tricia were in some sort of heated discussion over The Big Lebowski, and then while I was eating my lunch I noticed this:

It's the preview for the next flick by the Coens. It's called Burn After Reading. It seems to be about spies. Its cast includes everyone awesome who ever signed up to be an actor. Rachel Martin says it's going to make her head explode all over some theater come September 12.

Be honest now. Could anything in the world make this trailer better?

Jacob Ganz

3:54 PM ET | 06-23-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

More Than Little Dogs: The Amazing World of Balloon Twisting

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love

Click to play.

Caitlin Kenney, NPR

 

Today on the show, we talked to Naomi Greenfield and Sara Taksler, about their film "Twisted: A Balloonamentary." While they were here, they were kind enough to twist some dogs and an NPR logo for us -- simple stuff for them, compared to their other work. The sculptures they feature in the movie are mind-blowing so I put together a gallery to give you a little taste.

Caitlin Kenney

1:33 PM ET | 06-20-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Brain Fun: Vocabulary Competition

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Quizmasters Jennifer Dziura and Jonathan Lill were on the show today to give us a taste of a vocabulary tournament they host for adults in New York City. The tournament is part of an event called Chelsea Mind Games.

Mike Pesca and I, "Jeopardy!" veterans both, were the contestants. We played four rounds and enjoyed the thrill of victory (synonyms: conquest, achievement, ascendancy, mastery, success, supremacy) and the agony of defeat (synonyms: drubbing, rout, vanquishment, overthrow, debacle, downfall, labefaction) endured. You can listen to the outcome here . And why not play along at home? Answers appear after the jump.

ROUND ONE

You get 3 difficult words. You get one point for using each word correctly and you can get up to two possible additional points for style. One sentence containing all 3 words, if you can.

1.) mendacious, oligarchy and palliative.

2.) panache, expeditious and yeomanly

ROUND TWO

In the following list of four words, three are eponyms or toponyms, and one is a fake. Identify the fake one to win one point. If you need to know what an eponym is, look it up!

1.) All of these are ice skating jumps: which one is not an eponym?
Triple Lutz
Cherry Flip
Triple Axel
Salchow

2.) These are all types of musical instrument. Which is not an eponym?
Saxophone
Sarousaphone
Flugelhorn
Theremin

Continue reading "Brain Fun: Vocabulary Competition" »

Tricia McKinney

9:17 AM ET | 06-19-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

Do You Have A Secret?

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love

An anoynmous postcard sent to PostSecret.

A Lifetime of Secrets/William Morrow

 

Today on the show, we talked to Frank Warren, the founder of PostSecret. Warren's been collecting anonymous secrets on homemade postcards since 2004. Since then, he has turned these confessions into a traveling exhibition, a website, and several books.

If you want to send Frank your secret, mail a 4-by-6-inch postcard to:

PostSecret
13345 Cooper Ridge Rd
Germantown, MD 20874-3454

Caitlin Kenney

11:52 AM ET | 06-18-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Live Long and Prosper, Til Death Do You Part

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Bob Lee and wife make it so.

 

When they get married in September, Mr. Sulu George Takei and Brad Altman are going to have wedding guests Trekkies can only dream of: Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, and Leonard Nimoy--Chekov, Uhura, and Spock respectively--are all going to be there. With some help from Bob Lee, who married his wife Starfleet style, I thought I'd send Takei and Altman some advice for the ultimate Star Trek wedding. Do you have any more advice for the happy couple?

Ian Chillag

9:23 AM ET | 06-17-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

The Big Jump

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

BMX cyclist Kevin Robinson over New York's Central park, June 12.

Christian Pondella/Red Bull Photofiles

 

After hearing our BPP segment on BMX cyclist Kevin Robinson yesterday, I decided that I had to take my eight-year-old son Fred last night. Fred and I have gone to other BMX events, most notably the King of New York competition in the Bronx two years ago, but we didn't really know Robinson, or K-Rob, as his fans refer to him. We just knew that we wanted to see him on that enormous U-shaped ramp making BMX history.

Continue reading "The Big Jump" »

Paul Hechinger

11:40 AM ET | 06-13-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Wacky Packs Are Back

Filed under: Links From the Show, Luncheonette, Stuff We Love

Click to play.

Tricia McKinney, NPR

 

When I was a kid I used to spend my allowance money on Wacky Packages. I forget how much they cost, but for the money you got a piece of cardboardy gum plus a few stickers with parodies of common grocery store products. Like "Jail-O" instead of Jell-O and "Minute Lice" instead of...do I really need to spell it out? I thought they were hilarious.

Now, there's a book celebrating the 35th anniversary of Wacky Packages. I saw the book on a colleague's desk and immediately scooped it up and called the publicist. Today we talked to Jay Lynch, an artist from the underground comix scene of the 1960s, about a job he did strictly for the money--writing gags and mockups for Wacky Packages.

I interviewed Lynch, and found him slightly bemused by the interest in Wacky Packs (that's what we called them in upstate New York). He told me about how he and Art Spiegelman tried to make the stickers as subversive as possible. I honestly am not sure if that is the secret to their appeal. I think we might be more shallow than that--or maybe it's just me. I think we just really, really like package design, especially in a shiny sticker form. The ultimate expression of a Wacky Pack sticker was putting it in just the right spot on a lunch box.

Here are a few examples. Enjoy!

Tricia McKinney

12:06 PM ET | 06-10-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Vending Machine in Need of a Caption

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Seen in Ithaca, N.Y.

 

I just keep thinking about how many things are alive inside this machine.

Ian Chillag

10:06 AM ET | 06- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post

"I'm an Uncreative Writer."

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Writer Kenneth Goldsmith says he's opposed to artistic choices.

 

Poet Kenneth Goldsmith doesn't actually write his books, it's more accurate to say that he types them.

He typed an entire issue of the New York Times into an 840-page book called Day. He recently completed a trilogy, The Weather, Traffic and Sports. They are transcriptions of a year of radio weather reports, a 24-hour traffic cycle and the radio broadcast of a Yankees game. Ums, uhs and ads included. If you think that sounds unreadable, you're right. Goldsmith himself says, "I don't read them. I get bored."

So why does he bother? Goldsmith told us, "The conversation around the work is always much more interesting than the work itself. So I let you off the hook. I say, you don't have to read these books. You can just think about them."

Once I saw Kenneth Goldsmith read with some other poets at a bar on E. 11th Street. The "poem" he read that night was a transcript of the Larry Craig police report, and it was awesome, not at all boring. I love work that screws with the idea that good writing must be comprehensible and promote understanding. I like to be made to pay a lot of attention.

More about Kenneth Goldsmith:
- This morning's BPP Interview.
- He's the founder of UbuWeb, a massive online archive of hard to find, avant-garde materials.
- He hosts a weekly radio show on WFMU.

Lauren Spohrer

12:17 PM ET | 06- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Uh-Oh, How Did I Become So Fashionable?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Fashion fix: gladiator sandal

 

I have foot problems. I'm pronate and have fallen arches. I've been wearing orthotics in my shoes since I was a teenager. If I don't wear them, I feel pain from the bottoms of my feet up through my hips. But while my orthotics solve the pain problems, they cause other problems. Namely, it's really hard to find shoes. The orthotics push my feet up about half an inch inside my shoes, meaning anything I put on my feet pretty much has to have laces or straps or some other device to keep my feet firmly encased.

And that means no sandals. Ever. My toes haven't seen the light of day since (fill in the year because I don't tell).

I've tried experiments with velcro, with a toupee tape called "Top Stick" (thanks Alison Stewart for the tip!), I've even pondered learning shoe-making to see if there's some way I could combine orthotics and sandals to relieve my sweaty summer feet. But nothing worked until this summer, when I accidentally discovered the gladiator sandal.

(more adventures in foot fashion after the jump)

Continue reading "Uh-Oh, How Did I Become So Fashionable?" »

Tricia McKinney

12:24 PM ET | 06- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

A Tribute to Harvey Korman

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Comic genius Harvey Korman passed away at age 81. On "The Most" today I tried to pay tribute to one of my favorite Harvey Korman moments, but describing sublime physical comedy doesn't made great radio.
I tracked down video of the scene I meant. It's from "High Anxiety." Korman plays Dr. Charles Montague, a debonair but secretly masochistic psychiatrist. Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman) has warned him not to be late to dinner, because "those who are tardy do not get fruit cup." What happens when he's 30 seconds late? Comedy gold.

The bit I mean starts at 7 minutes in. Enjoy.

Tricia McKinney

2:14 PM ET | 05-30-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Clarence Carter's "Patches"

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love

Courtesy of Nathan Deuel, a song that'll keep on breaking your heart.

Bonus: Wikipedia on Clarence Carter

Laura Conaway

1:15 PM ET | 05-29-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

No Title Necessary

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Nothing I could write could make this better than it is.

Dan Pashman

9:33 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Lunchtime Laugh-In in Memory of Dick Martin

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love, TV

Dick Martin of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" passed away over the weekend at age 86.

Martin was the comic half of the title comedy duo--the other being straight man Dan Rowan. (Want to know the difference between comic and straight man? Look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls.)

Although I am not of the generation for whom "Laugh-In" was made, as a lover of comedy, especially anything that has ties (however tenuous) to vaudeville, I have been a fan of the show forever. As a kid I was more interested in the zany characters like Ruth Buzzi's little old lady with the hairnet or any of Lily Tomlin's creations from Edith Ann to the telephone operator, than of Rowan and Martin themselves. But of course now I get the two mcs nattily dressed in tuxedos, carrying drinks and cigarettes as they kept the weirdness moving along. Or did I imagine the drinks and cigarettes? They made it seem like that kind of a party.

Coincidentally, yesterday I was surfing through youtube looking for Danny Kaye routines (see? the comedy thing again!), when I stumbled upon his brief appearance on "Laugh-In." And that started me down an hour or so journey laughing at "Laugh-In" clips. All before I heard about Dick Martin's death. Here, then, for your luncheonette pleasure today, is one of my favorites of yesterday's discoveries, in memory of Dick Martin.

Tricia McKinney

12:21 PM ET | 05-26-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Gallery: From the Zone -- the Twilight of My Youth

Filed under: Slideshow, Stuff We Love

Click to watch

Savannah College of Art and Design

 

OK, I admit it. I was watching TV at work. Well, actually, I was legitimately looking something up on the CBS site when I discovered that you can watch full episodes of their classic TV shows. The first one to catch my eye: the Twilight Zone. And it was all over.

Memories came flooding back, transporting me to another dimension . . . also known as 1983. Picture if you will a 9-year-old girl. An innocent scene of a young girl and her big sister, crossed-legged on the floor of their grandmother's house, an oversized, mustard-colored velveteen pillow their only shield from the black-and-white images of creepiness on the screen. God, I loved the TZ marathons on KTLA 5! And there was chocolate milk and Wonder bread, too.

Continue reading "Gallery: From the Zone -- the Twilight of My Youth" »

Angela Ellis

7:47 AM ET | 05-23-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Look Here, Hudson Valley

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Riley wears chain mail.

 

The BPP's search for the World's Awesomest Person is over, and we have a winner. Riley. In his awesomely awesome CraigList post he writes:

I'm tired of answering ads on these pages only to find poseurs, geeks and acoustic folk acts who want me to change my unique playing style to match their style. It's time for a band that is as unique and forceful as I am, and I'm taking no prisoners.

This monumental effort will require the cooperation of a thunderous bass player with the mind and skills to keep this beast of a freight train on its tracks while a talented drummer will unleash an unrelenting hailstorm of destruction down upon his kingdom of percussion....

As you can see from my picture, I wear chain mail to protect my body from the rigors of extreme playing.

It doesn't really matter whether this post is real. It's awesome. (Read the whole thing here.)

Dan Pashman

2:04 PM ET | 05-16-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Cloud and Unclear

Filed under: Stuff We Love

My Japanese is rusty. Can somebody tell me what is going on here? I'm also interested in your wild theories.

Ian Chillag

8:54 AM ET | 05-13-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Ken Lee, We Hardly Knew Ye

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Today's segment about the Chinese version of American Idol reminded me of this recent Web gem, taken from the Bulgarian version of American Idol. You may have seen it before, but it really never gets old.

Bonus: A corresponding Wikipedia page that's hilarious in its own right.

Dan Pashman

11:21 AM ET | 05- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Genius, Thy Name Is Waits

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Tom Waits announces his upcoming tour in a rather surreal press conference. Stick with it 'til the end...

Dan Pashman

9:34 AM ET | 05- 6-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

How to Make a Mint Julep

Filed under: Stuff We Love, Video

It's Derby time! BPP's Mark Garrison gives a tutorial on how to make a delicious mint julep. Have your own recipe? Share it here!

Zena Barakat

8:26 AM ET | 05- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

N'SYNC

Filed under: Stuff We Love

If you're like me, you can never get your multiple metronomes synchronized. Fear not!
Thanks Neatorama!

Ian Chillag

8:14 AM ET | 05- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Bon Appetit: Frogs' Legs Recipe

Filed under: Stuff We Don't Love, Stuff We Love

Chef Bernard Loiseau's "Cuisses de Grenouille."

Samira Bouhin, AFP via Getty Images

 

On the show today we talked about the quintessential French dish, frogs' legs ("cuisses de grenouille" en français, which translates to frogs thighs). Our guest, writer Mort Rosenblum, mentioned his favorite recipe, created by 3-star chef Bernard Loiseau.

If you have some frogs' legs and goose fat handy, the recipe, courtesy of The Food Network is after the jump:

Continue reading "Bon Appetit: Frogs' Legs Recipe" »

Tricia McKinney

2:50 PM ET | 04-28-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Listener Checks In: A Gospel Squirrel

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Back awhile, when I lived in Maine, I used to stop by a small dairy farm for fresh milk. You went into the barn by yourself, whatever the hour, and filled your jug from a central tank. It was your responsibility to hose down the works when you finished. The farmer trusted you to put your money in the can on the shelf.

One winter's night, I slid open the barn door and found the cows inside all listening to John Coltrane on the local NPR affiliate. With a nod to the Jazz Cows video I never made or sent to MTV, here's @MarilynM's Gospel Squirrel.

Laura Conaway

8:05 AM ET | 04-21-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Mmmm? Guy Makes Food Art

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Peas.

Photograph by Zach Kowalczyk

 

The difference between Me and Awesome: Me sees the way cranberry sauce takes on the shape of the can it came in and eats the cranberry sauce. Awesome sees the way cranberry sauce takes on the shape of the can it came in and makes it into art. Photographer Zach Kowalczyk is Awesome. Check out his Flickr photoset of food that takes the shape of its container.

Got in touch with Zach. He's working on his BFA in photography at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He says, "I took this series of photographs as a look at what food has become in our society of convenience and instant gratification."

Ian Chillag

7:42 AM ET | 04-18-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

I Could Just Watch Forever

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The Art of the Title Sequence gives you high-quality versions of the credits for movies and TV shows. Yep, Se7en is in there. And Six Feet Under. And Vertigo. And holy cow, Innerspace!

Seriously, I might not be able to come to work tomorrow.

Jacob Ganz

11:27 AM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Housebag: Get Housed!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

On today's show security expert Bruce Schneier came on to talk about his "Third Annual Movie-Plot Threat Contest." For this year's edition, he's asked people to come up with a product that capitalizes on fear. Some of the submissions are really funny. We were especially fond of one dreamed up by someone posting under the name chabuhi, so we adapted it into a radio ad:

Ian Chillag

8:35 AM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

White Stuff One Person Likes

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Leah Metz has at it on Oahu's North Shore this year.

Courtesy of Mana Photo

 

When we asked for help with a list of White Stuff People Like, Leah Metz of Hawaii sent this picture of herself. Kinda like heaven, no?

Laura Conaway

4:37 PM ET | 04-11-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Robyn Hitchcock Plays at the BPP Studios

Filed under: Music, Stuff We Love, Video

(Editor: We'll just go ahead and admit to loving Robyn Hitchcock.)

Zena Barakat

5:43 PM ET | 04-10-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Nintendo. Who's He?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I was just trying to find the Inside Edition sound effect and instead found this. What I like about it:
1)Bill O'Reilly
2)Super Mario Bros. came out in 1985
3)Everything

Ian Chillag

10:10 AM ET | 04-10-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Stuff People Like

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Has Stuff White People Like jumped the shark? It was the site everybody was e-mailing to everybody else a few weeks ago, but now some people are kinda tired of it. Maybe it's the book deal.

Whatever the case, the new Internet hotness of the moment is SWPL spinoffs, like White Stuff People Like and Stuff Nobody Likes. Both were created in the last week, and who knows how long they'll last. On today's show, we talked to people behind the satires, Scott Lamb and Alia Rose Connor, respectively.

Tell us what you think, and tell us if you think the original is really over.

Ian Chillag

6:47 AM ET | 04-10-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

What Do I Have to Do to See This Movie?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

About this video:

"What if you followed your dream and it led you to the middle of nowhere? 'Everyone But You' is a documentary about an independent musician who built a small home-studio in the desert of southern Colorado. It premieres in April 2008 at the Oxford International Film Festival."

(With thanks to Twitter pal @marilynm.)

Laura Conaway

6:23 AM ET | 04- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

The Booty Is the Booty

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Rachel did a great interview on the show today about treasure hunters. We like talking about treasure around here, because we like talking like pirates and we like saying the word booty in a non-threatening context. That's how we roll: non-threateningly.

Anyway, I just pulled one of her questions and remixed it into a 15-second dance mix.

Beat by friends of the BPP Simian Mobile Disco.

Ian Chillag

9:03 AM ET | 04- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

BPP Postcard: Maho Beach, St. Maarten

Filed under: Stuff We Love

BPP production supervisor Brian McCabe just got back from his honeymoon. (Congratulations, Brian and Amanda!) Brian's a pretty accomplished photographer, which came in handy when he visited Maho Beach on the island of St. Maarten. It turns out there's an airport near the beach. Really near the beach.

Brian McCabe, NPR

 

More great pics after the jump...

Continue reading "BPP Postcard: Maho Beach, St. Maarten" »

Dan Pashman

8:58 AM ET | 04- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Google Bids for Space-Time Continuum

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Don't be evil too often.

Laura Conaway

2:39 PM ET | 04- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Lirpa Loof? It's Safe to Tell

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Today's the day for being had -- April 1, April Fool's, whatever you want to call it.

Me, I can't recall being completely pranked, except by a vintage NPR report about a trustafarian named Lirpa Loof. Would I have fallen for the one about the Swiss spaghetti crop?

I wonder, too, if April Fool's has become the mostly another province of mass media. Whatever happened to the old-fashioned folk prank? Got one? Been the object of one? Do tell, will ya?

Laura Conaway

6:21 AM ET | 04- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

How Slow Can You Go?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Fiona King and Ed Gillespie with a guide, on horseback in Terelj, Mongolia.

Courtesy of Ed Gillespie

 

Ed Gillespie told us about his low-carbon, slow travel tour de monde. I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who feels like flying can be, well...overindulgent and wasteful.

A few years ago, I was hopping a plane every chance I got: Weekends in Colorado, Ireland and a quick jaunt to northern Vermont. Then I took a long flight and stayed put: Three months in rural Senegal. Not a lot of quick transportation options there...I got around in shared taxis (seating room tight; windows optional), horse-drawn carts and plain-old walking, like the locals.

I looked like a tourist, but I didn't feel like one...until I headed to the airport to come home.

Here's what Ed Gillespie had to say in an interview with Rachel Martin.

How do you like to hit the road -- fast, slow, somewhere in between?

Laura Silver

2:25 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

A "Most Watched" YouTube Clip Called 'Ian Walks!'

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Yes, we have to say the same things to get Ian Chillag to do his work. What a good boy!

Alison Stewart

9:29 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

YouTube: Lord of the Peeps

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Because they can: Lord of the Rings: Return of the Peep

What is it about setting Peeps on fire? On today's show, Kate Prouty tells us about new uses for those (opinion: yucky) leftover Easter candies. Like have them joust with toothpicks and then set them on fire for YouTube.

And for people who seriously cannot get enough, nine minutes and 45 seconds of Peep Wars.

Laura Conaway

8:54 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

If You Have a Dog, You Need One of These

Filed under: Stuff We Love

(With thanks and a good Good Friday to Andrew Sullivan.)

Laura Conaway

9:39 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Tay Zonday Wins YouTube Award!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The BPP would like to congratulate singer-songwriter and and unofficial BPP musician-laureate Tay Zonday for winning the music category in the annual YouTube Video Awards for his original song, "Chocolate Rain."

Well done Mr. Zonday.

Will Hoffman

7:19 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Repurposing Your Peeps

Filed under: Stuff We Love

A new book with suggestions for what do with those Peeps you can't eat.

Chronicle Books, 2008

 

One of my favorite things about this time of year is marshmallow Peeps. They are so squishy and cute and -- best of all -- covered in sugar. I like to leave them out for a day or two so they get slightly stale and hard before I eat them. If you don't like to eat Peeps, Charity Ferreira's new book Peeps! Recipes and Crafts to Make with Your Favorite Marshmallow Treat has a number of other ways you can use them -- as modern chopstick holders, pin cushions, or table levels.

Caitlin Kenney

2:01 PM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Happy Pi Minute!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Almost to the second!

 

3.14159. You do the math.

Tricia McKinney

2:24 PM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Typos to Eease You're Day

Filed under: Stuff We Love

From the Las Vegas airport

 

A listener sends this picture from the Las Vegas airport. If you're listening, Jeff Deck, fix this one, please.

After the jump, "flat totp."

Continue reading "Typos to Eease You're Day" »

Laura Conaway

1:12 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Tech Support's Greatest Hits

Filed under: Stuff We Love

David Pogue has a great blog post today. He collected some of the most ridiculous tech support calls ever. He's got a bunch in the post, here's one of my favorites:

Caller: Hey, can you help me? My computer has locked up, and no matter how many times I type eleven, it won't unfreeze.

Caller: The message on my screen says, "Error Type 11!"

Kinda brings to mind the classic Homer Simpson moment when he boots up his computer and reads the screen: "To start press any key...Where's the any key?"

Dan Pashman

9:27 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Best First Paragraph Ever

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I can't figure out if this story is about the worst zoo in the world or the best zoo in the world.

The Las Vegas Zoo (yes, it exists) acquired two animals this year, a leopard and a binturong. The leopard has already gone from arthritic to dead, and the binturong (also know as a bearcat, although it's related to neither bear nor cat) smells of popcorn and Fritos, as is characteristic of the species. His name is Bruce.

Ian Chillag

10:02 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

'Garfield' Is Funny Again!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

My husband pointed this blog out to me: It's Garfield comics without Garfield. Suddenly some tired three-panel strips find new life as an examination of modern loneliness.

Tricia McKinney

4:32 PM ET | 03- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Jennifer Asks, "Where's Ben?" Ask Jimmy.

Filed under: Stuff We Love

If you watched this red carpet weirdness last night and wondered where indeed was Jennifer Garner's husband as she fended off Gary Busey? Two words -- Jimmy Kimmel. Another few words -- don't Google the answer at the office.

Alison Stewart

11:18 AM ET | 02-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

The Cutest Thing on the Interwebs

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I went to YouTube looking for something for tomorrow's radio show, but I stumbled upon this featured video instead. A three-year-old girl recaps "Star Wars." Cutest. Thing. Ever. Enjoy.

Tricia McKinney

5:10 PM ET | 02-24-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Soccer, Soccest.

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I want this to be real. But it can't be real.

Ian Chillag

10:09 AM ET | 02-22-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Use it! The Word of the Day: Factitious

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I look forward to getting my dictionary.com e-mail everyday and just want to share:

factitious \fak-TISH-uhs\, adjective:1. Produced artificially, in distinction from what is produced by nature.
2. Artificial; not authentic or genuine; sham.

Use in a sentence as you see fit!

Alison Stewart

9:09 AM ET | 02-20-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

The Daily Decline of the BPP

Filed under: Stuff We Love

At 4:30 AM, we were talking about Fidel Castro and the future of Cuba.

Now, we're all staring blankly into this.

Ian Chillag

3:17 PM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Cool to See: A Year on Bryant Park

Filed under: Inside The BPP, Stuff We Love

Photojojo's Time Lapse Video of Bryant Park from Photojojo on Vimeo.

A year on Bryant Park, in photos (with thanks to Twitter pal w8in for the link).

Laura Conaway

6:29 AM ET | 02-18-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Couldn't Teach My Dog to Do This

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Twitter pal @robpatrob sends this. And that's all I'm saying.

OK, OK, one more.

Laura Conaway

1:31 PM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

American Classic: 'More Cowbell'

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I was poking around the Interwebs looking for an unrelated item when I stumbled across this Saturday Night Live classic. I post it here now for no reason other than the fact that it's still awesome. The only thing that holds it back from perfection is the inclusion of Jimmy Fallon. Happy Friday, everyone.

Dan Pashman

10:00 AM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Best in Show: Art for Dog Lovers

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Click to watch.

Courtesy of Bonhams & Butterfields

 

While real canines descended on New York City earlier this week for the Westminster Kennel Club show, some other puppies sat up and begged for our attention...on canvas.

Fine art auction house Bonhams held its 26th annual sale of dog-themed art this week. The timing of the sale on the same day as the most prestigious dog show in the country is no accident. After all, people who spend time and money to breed the perfect pooch are also likely to want some two dimensional tail-waggers adorning their walls.

We spoke to Charles O'Brien, director of 19th century paintings for Bonhams about what makes a successful work of dog art.

Tricia McKinney

9:37 AM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Make Your Own NPR Story

Filed under: Stuff We Love

As you may have heard, I created a radio piece that is the BPP's attempt to bring together all the classic elements of typical NPR.org Most E-Mailed stories. And we're judging our success by how far up the Most E-mailed list we get. (As of right now we're at number eight. Help us out!)

We're also judging our success by the response of our colleagues, and if that's any indication, the piece is a success. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music sent me an e-mail that's so hilarious, I've decided to post it here...

Continue reading "Make Your Own NPR Story" »

Dan Pashman

12:33 PM ET | 02-13-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

An Oaky Red with an Inquisitive Finish

Filed under: Stuff We Love

How NPR gets drunk.

John Flansburgh

Here at the BPP? Whiskey for breakfast. Down at my old show, Fresh Air? Why, it's Chateau Terrey-Gros-Cailloux or nothing. Thanks to Danny Miller for sending the pic.

Ian Chillag

11:30 AM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

'Thriller' Gets a Reissue. Love the Original?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Still the biggest record ever.

 

Michael Jackson's Thriller turned 25 in November, and now a celebratory reissue features remixes from big names like Kanye West. Nick Marino of Paste marks the occasion with a feature
detailing what he misses about the Gloved One. "It's been a long, long time since the whole world was listening to the same music, and there's great power in that," Marino said on our show today. Jackson's greatest wonder may be the way he mixed and matched enough styles to get everybody moving.

Being who I am, I find my favorite bit of Thriller in the Eddie Van Halen solo in "Beat It" -- and especially in the door knocking that precedes it.

Laura Conaway

10:08 AM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post

YouTube: Sam Harris Sings 'Over the Rainbow'

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Because sometimes, it's OK to love again. (Thanks, Alison.)

Laura Conaway

6:41 AM ET | 02-12-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Valentine's Day Is Just Around the Corner

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Workin' on it, baby. Workin' on it.

Ian Chillag

9:32 AM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Our Favorite Super Bowl Ad

Filed under: Sports, Stuff We Love

Who needs CGI?

Here are all of last night's Super Bowl ads.

Dan Pashman

8:15 AM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Improv Everywhere Strikes Again

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Remember when we had Alan Corey of Improv Everywhere on the BPP to talk about No Pants 2K8? The pants-free subway ride was just one of many cool stunts the group has pulled in NYC and elsewhere.

They just posted video of an earlier adventure, in which they got 200 people to freeze simultaneously in Grand Central Station for five minutes. It's seriously awesome. Check it out.

Tricia McKinney

8:13 PM ET | 02- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Spoiler Alert: Super Bowl Winner Below

Filed under: Sports, Stuff We Love, The Dagobah System

Back in the day, I used to simulate NFL games before they happened using a sophisticated piece of software called Madden '93 on my Sega Genesis supercomputer. It was a glorious time, a sad time. Now a crafty young emulator has taken it way back in the day to the Nintendo game Tecmo Bowl, and Tecmo-ized the entire playoffs.

Second half of this year's Super Bowl is here.

Ian Chillag

9:07 AM ET | 02- 1-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

How Do You Say OMGOMGOMG in Polish?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Confession: I love High School Musical. Love it hard. I know I'm not alone, but I'm realizing I'd grossly underestimated the reach of the Cult of Troy and Gabriella. Dubbed versions of HSM2 were a success around the world, so much of a success that it was worth it for Disney to film videos of the song "All for One," with local actors doing local versions for local markets. Montage above.

The version from the Philippines uses Filipino actors, but they're singing in English. The Indian version makes one thing clear: High School Musical was Bollywood to begin with. I got goosebumps somewhere between Norway and Hungary, which means nothing but is humiliating nonetheless.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is out here in the USA in October. You'd think the fact that the subtitle is Senior Year would do something to temper my excitement, given that I'm 29 years old, but no.

Ian Chillag

8:39 AM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Romeo Update: Wolf Photographer Checks In

Filed under: Slideshow, Stuff We Love

Romeo, the legendary wolf of Juneau, Alaska

Anonymous

 

Got this image and the one after the jump from the person who took those photos of Romeo, the
legendary wolf of Juneau, Alaska. He asked if he could remain anonymous, because he has taken more guff than he'd like over photos of Romeo running off with a pug.

Romeo lives alone near Mendenhall Lake, outside Juneau, and he frequently approaches people and their dogs on the ice. Three times in the last year, Romeo has grabbed a smaller dog. The first two, a beagle and the pug, he turned loose. The third, a Pomeranian, is still missing.

Thanks for the pictures, Anonymous.

Continue reading "Romeo Update: Wolf Photographer Checks In" »

Laura Conaway

7:25 AM ET | 01-25-2008 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post

The MacBook Air vs. the XO Kids Laptop

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Buy two, give one free

 

The Apple Air laptop is pretty neat -- but in the wireless game, it may have some things to learn from the $200 XO laptop. That's right, the one built for kids.

For starters, the wireless neighborhood around the XO laptop appears on a dedicated screen, with different icons for various access points. And it links in a snap to other XOs, to the point that letters typed on one are seen immediately on the other. And if one has newer software, the other automatically updates, as well.

The XO is meant to provide affordable laptops to needy children. But after seeing what they can do, I snagged one for my nephews, under a deal where you buy one laptop and the company sends another overseas. The thing is fun enough to mess with that I came close to not giving it to 'em -- and at $400 for the pair, the total was about $1,400 cheaper than the Air.

After all, I'm needy in my own way: of a good, cheap way to get online anywhere.

Bill Chappell

2:15 PM ET | 01-23-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Look, It's a LapDome!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

LapDome in action.

From Lapdome Inc.

 

No it isn't some cheeky euphemism. It's described as "the best friend your laptop will ever have." A LapDome is a computer case which pops up into a little tent for your computer providing shade and shelter.

Must have or a way to separate you from your money?

Alison Stewart

10:19 AM ET | 01-23-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

There Is Nothing a Helix Can't Do

Filed under: Stuff We Love

If you're like me, there's been no end to your frustration when trying to drink Pepsi in space. There you are, kicking back after a long day repairing the malfunctioning A.I. in the maintenance droid,* and you lean back to gulp down every effervescent drop, but everything stays in the bottle. Because, of course, there's no gravity. But don't worry, science has finally found a solution. The Corkscrew Cup:

So refreshingly spiraly.

Image credit: Brian Lowry

*Everything I know about space I learned from the movie SpaceCamp.

Ian Chillag

6:32 AM ET | 01-23-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

This Title Alone Took Me Seven Words

Filed under: Stuff We Love

We're hard at work on tomorrow's show. I'm setting up a guy who writes stories, 350 words or less, for cell phones. Pashman is working on a thing about six-word memoirs, and everybody else is still on the twitter crack, in 140 characters or less.

Yup, all sorts of people out there doing cool things with few words. But before six-word memoirs, before cell phone stories, before even cell phones, there was Felix Feneon. He reported tales of crime and depravity for the French newspaper Le Matin in 1906, always anonymously, always in three lines. Below, Feneon explained by Luc Sante, who translated his work. You'll want to click ahead to 24:30:

Ian Chillag

2:26 PM ET | 01-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

THE MOLDY PEACHES ARE ON THE VIEW!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

It is true. A little surreal. They were interviewed and even hugged by Whoopi Goldberg. Kimya Dawson must be so happy. She expressed her love for Ms. Goldberg right here on the BPP last week. Take a listen.

Alison Stewart

1:50 PM ET | 01-21-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

What Twitter Is

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Found this through @yndygo's Twitter feed. She's wrestling with the nature of the Twitter.com social experiment, and she writes:

It's like being at a cocktail party -- and in the same room as you, there are thousands of other people milling about. Some of them are "notable" folks and some of them are standing in the corner talking to themselves. You can walk up and talk to them too -- and just like at a cocktail party, you might get ignored politely, or you might end up having an extended chat with them. Or you can just stand near them and listen sometimes and learn much.

Laura Conaway

6:52 AM ET | 01-18-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

The End of Deaf Culture?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Lou Ann Walker has an amazing article in New York magazine about deaf culture and the growth in popularity of Cochlear implants. Something like a third of the kids at one school for the deaf in the Bronx have the implants -- which, as Walker writes, are not exactly a perfect fix for hearing impairment. Deaf activists fear, with some reason, that deaf children will end up fluent in no language or belonging fully to any culture, as the teaching of American Sign Language begins to fade. She writes:

If French is the language of lovers and German the language of commerce, then perhaps sign is the language of humans connecting. You can't sign to someone if you're standing next to that person. You have to look full-on at each other, watch each others faces and necks, shoulders and elbows, hips and knees. You have to stand a bit farther backs than you do with spoken language so that you can take in the entirety of the person, and take in that entirety you must. A mother cannot stir the soup and shout over her shoulder for her child to finish homework. Instead, she puts down the spoon, goes to find the child, faces the child, and signs. She watches the child's response carefully and responds to what the child is doing or not doing, saying or not saying.

Laura Conaway

11:40 AM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Video, with Drum: People in Order

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I was all like:
cuteness over time is an upside-down bell curve.

Then I watched this and I was like:
no matter how cute you are plus drum equals cute.

100 people, age 1-100, banging a drum. It's that simple.

Ian Chillag

1:23 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

The End of Scrabulous?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

My favorite online game.

from Scrabulous

 

I freely admit I am a big Scrabble dork, and lately I have been really into playing online at Scrabulous. Scrabulous is a site that allows you to play Scrabble with your friends over email and most recently on Facebook. My friends and I are addicted to this game, so imagine my horror when I read Shawnz twitter that Hasbro, the maker of Scrabble, is trying to shutdown the site.

Apparently Scrabble recently inked a licensing deal with video game manufacturer Electronic Arts. Now they don't want the two India-based brothers who created Scrabulous to profit from it.

A Facebook group has already been started to save the site. Last time I checked, they had 233 members.

Caitlin Kenney

11:47 AM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Love That Doggone Sarah Polley

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Sarah 'Big Brain' Polley

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

Ever since she came limping back in for her shift at the grocery store, in Go, I've been a Sarah Polley fan.

Polley visited our show this morning -- and my goodness, what a brain. Worth your ears. And maybe your fandom, too.

Laura Conaway

1:21 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Hugh MacLeod: How to Be Creative

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Listener/cartoonist/general genius Hugh MacLeod is singing a song for the creative types. Lesson one from "How to Be Creative":

1. Ignore everybody.

From there, it's on to dream big, work hard and grow old easy. Hugh, we're with you.

Laura Conaway

12:36 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Sgt. Pepper: Deconstructed

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Boing Boing picked up a YouTube video in which user Beatlepuzzle isolated the tracks from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Not only does it sound amazing, but watching the sound waves becomes a little hypnotic. It kind of reminds me of the duo LoVid (they make art using homemade audio and video synthesizers). We're trying to figure out who this Beatlepuzzle person is so we can ask them how the heck they did it. Dear Beatlepuzzle, please email us. Love, the BPP.

Lauren Spohrer

12:21 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Tata for Now: The Air-Powered Car

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The name "Tata" is coming up a lot these days. The Indian automobile company is making a bid to acquire the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford, and they're introducing a $2,500 car on Thursday. While the bargain model is being criticized for environmental unfriendliness, Tata is not done yet: This year they'll be producing an air-powered car invented by a Frenchman.

Ian Chillag

12:04 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Challenge: Find the 'Bastard Spawn'

Filed under: Stuff We Love

A shout-out for the first listener who finds these words in recent content from NPR:

"Bastard spawn of Russian boars"

Don't bother Googling it. But it is real. Promise.

Laura Conaway

2:00 PM ET | 01- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

British Documentary: My Fake Baby

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Britain's Channel 4 put together a riveting documentary on the phenomenon of fake babies -- incredibly realistic dolls that adults purchase in most cases to, well, fill some sort of need. But those needs and motivations vary, which is why the subject warranted a documentary.

It's posted on YouTube -- not embeddable, sadly -- in five parts. Enjoy...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Dan Pashman

9:45 AM ET | 01- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Fun With Predictions

Filed under: Links From the Show, Stuff We Love

Charlotte King, queen of 'geosensology'

Via

 

Went looking for websites that help you predict things -- part of a segment we had on the show today -- and came back with The Charlotte King Effect: Biological Earthquake Prediction.

Turns out Charlotte King's first claim to fame is that she predicted the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helen's with 12 minutes. Don't try that at home -- unless you so happen to be a fellow "biological sensitive." King writes:

If you walk into a room and bump into furniture or you go to pour some juice and miss the glass, or go to put sugar in your tea and end up with sugar on the table, you may be clumsy, or you may be a potential biological sensitive..

If you go to pick up your car keys or a book and drop it, and pick it up again and again it slips through your fingers, these are all symptoms of problems being caused by depth perception, which is affected by the EMF changes your body is responding to..

After the jump, more prediction sites (and please, add your own faves in the comments).

Continue reading "Fun With Predictions" »

Laura Conaway

1:26 PM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

The Night the Toys Came to Life

Filed under: Stuff We Love

If you're unsure about what to do with those old and unwanted toys abandoned after Christmas, consider toy hacking. Massimo Banzi of Tinker.it came on the show this morning to tell us how, with a few simple tools and some instructions, you can break into the brains of electronic toys and make them do things their manufacturers never imagined. Check out this hack, in which an electronic cat and some LEDs were turned into a homemade laser tag game.

Caitlin Kenney

11:52 AM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Gallery: Fun with Science Tattoos

Filed under: Links From the Show, Slideshow, Stuff We Love

One guy's science tattoo

From Carl Zimmer's Flickr set

 

Science tattoos are the rage among the brainy set. We here at the BPP are sticking with butterflies and "Mama Knows."

Carl Zimmer Flickr'd up a bunch of the other (read: intellectual) kind. Hit the image up there for the pictures. Or read about it on his blog.

Laura Conaway

8:47 AM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Embarrassing Crush on Radiohead Song

Filed under: Music, Stuff We Love, The Best Song In The World Today

If I ruled the world, I'd pick "Bodysnatchers" from Radiohead's In Rainbows for a Best Song in the World Today. I realize this means my mama may not have raised me right.

Bonus: The whole Scotch mist movie thing.

Laura Conaway

9:41 AM ET | 01- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Rejected: A Jesus Graffiti Cartoon

Filed under: Stuff We Love

As Alison says, it's not that our standards are lower than the New Yorker's. It's just that our sense of humor may be sicker. Below, and on the show, are some of the latest cartoons rejected by the New Yorker. Thanks to Matthew Diffee for giving them a second life.

Courtesy of Matthew Diffee

 

Two more after the jump.

Continue reading "Rejected: A Jesus Graffiti Cartoon" »

Laura Conaway

11:27 AM ET | 12-28-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

A Holiday Multimedia Roundup

Filed under: Stuff We Love

A dancer from the Ethiopian Ambassador's Children's Group performs for a Kwanzaa celebration.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

 

Nothing like some good multimedia to get you in the holiday spirit.

Today's the first day of Kwanzaa, a seven-day cultural holiday celebrating African commonality. The Baltimore Sun did a Web package this month. Check out the clever quiz designed to give a primer on the under-covered holiday.

For those of you still in the Christmas mood, check out the Magnum Group's breathtaking photography. December 25 in black and white.

Also, my geeky side loves timelapse slideshows. Check out Gail Jewel and her husband Richard Murphy setting up their Christmas decorations in 1:40 minutes. Thanks, Washingtonpost.com.

Pauline Bartolone

9:03 AM ET | 12-26-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Guess What Song This Man is Performing

Filed under: Stuff We Love

This one's even cooler than the four-handed guitar work. Just give it a minute, it pays off...

Dan Pashman

8:34 AM ET | 12-26-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Four-Handed Guitar Playing

Filed under: Stuff We Love

This is cool:

Dan Pashman

8:19 AM ET | 12-26-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Lift Your Spirits: A Liquor for the Last Minute

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Save for when Santa gets thirsty.

Bill Chappell

Everybody is on an absinthe kick, it seems, happy to sip a drink on its passage back from the Dark Side and into the mainstream. That's great -- but there are two liqueur-type herbals -- or herbal-type liqueurs -- I'd like to see get more props, as well.

The first, Fernet Branca, was a fave of Hunter S. Thompson, who claimed it to be the way out of the thorny woods of a hangover -- sometimes the only way.

And I probably don't need to tell you, but if this stuff could clear out Hunter's hangover, yours should be no problem.

Continue reading "Lift Your Spirits: A Liquor for the Last Minute" »

Bill Chappell

10:58 AM ET | 12-24-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

The New Jibjab Is Here!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Happy holidays!

From JibJab

 

My colleague Angela Ellis pointed this out, but I beat her to the blog! Click here to enjoy!

Tricia McKinney

1:22 PM ET | 12-19-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Maybe the Very Most Famous Dancing Cop

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Found him, the dancing cop of Providence, Rhode Island:

Laura Conaway

11:48 AM ET | 12-12-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Dancing Cop from the Philippines

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Still trying to find that guy from Providence. Meanwhile, the Philippines check in:

Laura Conaway

11:44 AM ET | 12-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Dancing Cop in Convenience Store

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Went looking for a YouTube clip of Providence, Rhode Island's famous dancing cop, and brought back this guy instead. Still looking.

Laura Conaway

11:36 AM ET | 12-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Who's Your Buddy?!?

Filed under: Links From the Show, Stuff We Love

As promised, the product designed to "Protect the Boys" will at least provide a few giggles. Here's the Nutty Buddy demo we mentioned on the show.

Alison Stewart

9:41 AM ET | 12-11-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Kitty Wigs, Meow

Filed under: Stuff We Love

For that special feline in your life ... Don't miss the pink passion or silver fox kitty wigs.

photo by Allison V. Smith

The description really brings it home ...

Blonde is a magical mix of bashful and brazen. Fern shows off the many moods of a natural blonde: sweet yet catty, smart yet batty -- where life is alluring and coy. Now all she needs is a bikini and a Swedish accent. Blonde sets off your kitty's eyes and makes your kitty look tan.

MJ Davis

7:16 AM ET | 12- 4-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Best First Dance Ever

Filed under: Stuff We Love

There are so many ways to make a wedding unique, it blows my mind that so many of them end up identical. Hey, young lovers out there, take a cue from these folks:

Dan Pashman

10:02 AM ET | 11-30-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

London's Tube Lady Sends Special Spoofs

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Someone new will tell you to mind the gap.

Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

London's Tube Lady, Emma Clarke, makes a living out of ordinary announcements like "Mind the Gap" -- or rather, she used to. Clarke was sacked on Monday after telling the Mail that the transit system was lacking. The newspaper also highlighted her online hobby, making parodies of the droll announcements.

She forwarded these for the BPP crowd:

A Manicure Alert!

Pervert!

Laura Conaway

8:24 AM ET | 11-28-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Icelandic Cool: Beard Caps

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Icelandic for fashion.

Photo by Vik Prjonsdottir

 

Another reason it's the best country in the world right now.

Ilya Marritz

6:18 AM ET | 11-28-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

The View from Space Is Cool...Literally

Filed under: Stuff We Love

I'm not a scientist, nor do I play one on TV.

But I like to think of myself as "science friendly." Hence my interest in a little item from NASA today.

NASA doesn't just send rockets up into space. The agency also spends a lot of time looking down at earth.

Today NASA unveiled a new map of Antarctica, and the agency is using words like "breakthrough" and "revolutionize" and phrases like "state-of-the-art" to describe it.

The map is called a Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) and it's "a realistic, nearly cloudless satellite view of the continent at a resolution 10 times greater than ever before. . ."

The scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center who conceived of the project enthuses, "This innovation is like watching high-definition TV in living color versus watching the picture on a grainy black-and-white television. These scenes don't just give us a snapshot, they provide a time-lapse historical record of how Antarctica has changed and will enable us to continue to watch changes unfold."

Okay, I'll bite. Here's the link:

I have to admit I have no idea what to look for. I can't even find McMurdo station.

Missing from the map? The South Pole.

Tricia McKinney

12:12 PM ET | 11-27-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Is There Any Cure for the Greatest Scourge of Men?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Surely there's a drug to relieve the interminable suffering of the male of the species. This YouTube clip was sent to me by a fearless survivor of the dreaded Man Cold. There, there, little bunny.

Angela Ellis

8:28 AM ET | 11-26-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

The Pride of Arizona Plays Radiohead

Filed under: Music, Stuff We Love, Video

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Save some turkey for sandwiches later. And thanks, Lindsey, for the clip.

Laura Conaway

10:05 AM ET | 11-22-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Eternal Sunset of the Spotless Mind

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Check this out: Eternal Sunset, a website that hopscotches ever westward, chasing the sun, with the help of strategically-placed webcams.

Ilya Marritz

7:49 AM ET | 11-21-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Birth of a Genre: Medical Rap

Filed under: Stuff We Love, Video

ESN writes, "Word on the med school street is that this is pretty funny if you understand the cardiac rhythm they're talking about." After the bump, the emergency room rap that enlivened our senses, etc.

Continue reading "Birth of a Genre: Medical Rap" »

Laura Conaway

6:02 AM ET | 11-21-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

One Wild and Crazy Guy and a Morning Show

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Steve Martin was in the office today taping something non-BPP related, which set our newsroom a twitter. We convinced him to pose for a photo with us:

Mike Pesca/NPR

 

The whole encounter set off a conversation about what our favorite Martin moments were. Mine's from 1979's The Jerk, where Martin as the almost unflappable Navin R. Johnson, is leaving his wife Marie, and decides to forsake all his earthly belongings...almost:

What are your favorite Steve Martin bits?

Win Rosenfeld

3:17 PM ET | 11-20-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Chris Elliott, Comedy Porcupine

Filed under: Links From the Show, Stuff We Love

Seriously funny human Chris Elliott ate one-sixth of our show today. And we just stood by and let him.

Laura Conaway

8:54 AM ET | 11-20-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Shhhh! The Goodbye Cake We're Getting for Luke

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Instant folk art

 

Where did it come from? Hard to say, but you can find legends here and here and here and here...

Ilya Marritz

12:50 PM ET | 11-16-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Don't Mess with Texans and Their Sausage!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

OK, this is definitely not for work and not for anyone easily offended by coarse language, but those who need a laugh and want to admire a person's devotion to something should listen to this audio complaint about the resizing of Jimmy Dean sausage.

Alison Stewart

12:36 PM ET | 11-16-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Flight Patterns Revisited

Filed under: Stuff We Love

We posted this amazing animation from designer Aaron Koblin last week, and got quite a response around the Interwebs. Koblin's work focuses on animating data points to visually represent human behavior. We spoke with Mr. Koblin to get a better understanding of what his flight pattern animation tells us about human behavior.

You can check out the video again after the jump.

Continue reading "Flight Patterns Revisited" »

Win Rosenfeld

12:21 PM ET | 11-13-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

The Best Song in the World Today

Filed under: Stuff We Love

This is from The Lawrence Welk Show. No further explanation is required.

Dan Pashman

12:09 PM ET | 11-12-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Welcome to the Hotel Mississippi

Filed under: Stuff We Love

No early checkout: The Flowood Community Work Center

Photos by Cathy Garrett

 

Boston has a fancy new hotel in an unusual building -- the city's old Charles Street Jail.

Back home, we've got a jail in an unusual building -- an old hotel. The Airways Motel was the first real business in Flowood, Miss., the next town over from the one I grew up in. My grandmother used to take me there for a swim and a supper of Mexican food.

Today, it's surrounded by razor wire and people lining up in suits with black and white stripes. My old haunt has become the Flowood Community Work Center, with room for 130 nonviolent female offenders. "It's a prison, ma'am," explains the woman who answers the phone. "It is a prison."

Used to do back dives into the swimming pool where that grass now grows.

 

Special thanks to NPR's Beth Novey, who sorted out the facts, and to Cathy Garrett, my aunt who drove out there and took the pictures. You can find Aunt Cathy online here.

Laura Conaway

9:29 AM ET | 11-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

A Veterans Day Series to Love

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The LA Times has a very moving video/print series about the struggles of one soldier, known as "The Marlboro Marine" because of a photo taken of him in Iraq, upon his return to the U.S. Watch and read it here.

Dan Pashman

7:53 AM ET | 11-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Another Kind of Air Traffic

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Starlings over the U.K.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

 

Check out the Guardian's gorgeous slideshow of starlings massing into huge flocks, as they usually do in the fall.

Ilya Marritz

11:59 AM ET | 11- 7-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Presidential Deja Vu

Filed under: Stuff We Love

FDR 4-Ever

Getty Images

On this date in 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to his fourth and final term in office. On the surface of it, we might think of electing one president four times as a foreign concept, but the truth is, we're in the midst of a rather dynastic run of our own. After all, it's been nearly 20 years since a Bush or Clinton wasn't in the White House.

Check out this stat: If you include Bush Sr.'s eight years as vice president, 40 percent of Americans have never lived when there wasn't a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. And if Hillary wins next year, the streak will continue. A two-term HRC presidency would bring us to 2016, at which point the presumptive nominees would likely be Jeb and Chelsea.

To drive home the scale of the Bush-Clinton dynasty, we put together a little "oath of office" ditty that you can hear by clicking above. And check out this article to read more on the topic.

Dan Pashman

8:51 AM ET | 11- 7-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Neurotypical Much? Not Lately?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Whether this online quiz bears the slightest resemblance to being, you know, actually scientific, I don't know.

But I just took it, all 171 questions of it, so I could find out where I am on the spectrum between neurotypical and Asperger's. Got a nice little graph of the results and everything.

Laura Conaway

12:17 PM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Jill Sobule Sings 'No' to Grownups in Slutty Costumes

Filed under: Music, Stuff We Love

Halloween reveler at a Heidi Klum party

Mark Mainz/Getty Images

Musician Jill Sobule, one of our new favorite human beings, lobbed the first of her NPR musical essays at the world today.

You'll be happy to note, as we were, that it takes on the searing issue of women whose Halloween costumes are costumes only because they're slutty. No sexy nurse for her--no way.

We think you'll agree that Ms. Sobule's on to something, or is at least a genius.

Laura Conaway

9:05 AM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink | comments (19) | e-mail post

When Brains Turn Off on Live Television

Filed under: Links From the Show, Stuff We Love

Next up for Merry Miller: The View. True-true-true.

Laura Conaway

8:12 AM ET | 10-30-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Happy Birthday, Hillary Clinton & Napoleon!

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Happy 60th birthday, Hillary Clinton! Her party last night was a fundraiser for her presidential campaign. As one of our producers said, "She's registered at the bank". Mrs. Clinton is exactly twice the age of actor Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) who turns 30 today -- but we're pretty sure he's voting for Pedro.

Alison Stewart

6:31 AM ET | 10-26-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Blanchett as Dylan: Who Knew?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There features a variety of people portraying Dylan in a variety of periods. Most notable on the list? Cate Blanchett as Dylan circa 1965. If you're like me, your initial reaction to this news is/was, "Whaaa?!!" Well, it turns out it works -- amazingly well. Who knew?

Check out this clip from the film featuring Blanchett as Dylan and David Cross as Allen Ginsberg. Cross joins the BPP tomorrow.

Dan Pashman

10:10 AM ET | 10-23-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Dallas Says Pull Your Pants Up

Filed under: Stuff We Love

No more saggin' in D-town:

Saggin' -- young men wearing their pants with the waistband closer to their knees than their hips -- has been around for years. But a growing number of adults are deciding they've had enough. In Dallas, an interesting mix of politicians, hip-hop artists and white businessmen are announcing a citywide campaign with a simple message: Pull Your Pants Up.

Laura Conaway

6:02 AM ET | 10-23-2007 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

Guy Jumps Out of Plane, Lands in New York Mag

Filed under: Stuff We Love

A man now claims that a mysterious hijacker, missing since he jumped out of a plane in 1971, was his brother.

The case of D.B. Cooper is one of the most famous crimes in American history. It is also the only skyjacking in the world that has gone unsolved. Over the past three decades, the FBI has investigated nearly 1,000 suspects. They might as well be looking for Sasquatch.

With $200,000 and four parachutes, Cooper bailed out of a commercial flight somewhere over southwestern Washington State, in 1971. The ghost story may finally be at an end.

Laura Conaway

12:12 PM ET | 10-22-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Whoa: Interview with a Russian Orphan

Filed under: Stuff We Love

A Birth Project is one of those sites you keep checking back in on. Poet/playwright Lisa Marie says she has come to accept, reluctantly, that she's a poster child for transracial adoptees -- TRAs, for short. She writes that she started A Birth Project as part of a search for her birth parents, and as way to consider the experience of being adopted into a white family.

Lisa Marie, we'll just say, was floored by this video.

Laura Conaway

3:24 PM ET | 10-18-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Is This Guy Cool Enough to Be Captain Kirk?

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Chris Pine, the galaxy awaits.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

That's what I want to know. Cuz I'm looking at him and I'm not really seeing it. I could be wrong -- this young man has been a leading man before, starring in illustrious films like Just My Luck with Lindsay Lohan. I should cut this guy a break. He could be great. His name is Chris Pine and he's landed what could be the role of a lifetime as that great gallactic leader, that great wooer of women, Vulcans, Ferengi and non-carbon life forms -- Captain Kirk.

The film, to be released in December '08, will chronicle the early years of the Enterprise crew -- way back when they were young, idealistic cadets at Starfleet Academy. The rest of the cast has been named as well -- Lord of the Rings actor Karl Urban will play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and Eric Bana will play some new bad guy named Nemo.

Rachel Martin

11:02 AM ET | 10-18-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Kinda Cool: The 'New York Times' River

Filed under: Stuff We Love

All the news that's fit to print, broken down word-by-word.

(With thanks to Dave Winer, interpreter of coolness.)

Laura Conaway

10:35 AM ET | 10-18-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Right Brain, Left Brain: You Decide

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Which way is this girl spinning?

Laura Conaway

11:40 AM ET | 10-15-2007 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post

Ron Paul Invented Al Gore, the Nobel Prize

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Red for the Nobel, orange for Ron Paul, blue for Al Gore

From Google Trends

 

I'm not naming names, but let's just say more than one or two people in the Bryant Park office today are wondering whether Al Gore will be named a Nobel Peace laureate tomorrow—and if he does, whether he'd then run for president.

For them, I've got one word. Or two: Ron Paul. Just check the graphs from Google Trends above and after the bump.

Continue reading "Ron Paul Invented Al Gore, the Nobel Prize" »

Laura Conaway

1:52 PM ET | 10-11-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Dying Professor Gives Last Lecture

Filed under: Stuff We Love

"If you had one last lecture to give before you died, what would it be?" says Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, by way of introduction. His body riddled with cancer, Pausch tells the audience he has, at best, five months of good health left. And then he whips through a mini-set of push-ups.

In his final lecture, given on Sept. 18, Pausch spends something like an hour talking about childhood dreams—how he achieved his, how you can achieve yours.

Randy Pausch

 

Full video after the jump.

Continue reading "Dying Professor Gives Last Lecture" »

Laura Conaway

6:28 AM ET | 10-11-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

A Seriously Smart Magazine Cover

Filed under: Stuff We Love

The New Yorker, 10.08.07

Win Rosenfeld

 

The October 8, 2007, cover of the New Yorker features a couple of you-know-who's. Titled "Narrow Stance," Barry Blitt's send-up of global sexual politics is just genius.

Bonus: New Yorker editor David Remnick talks with Luke and Alison about Russian President Vladimir Putin's big plan.

Laura Conaway

12:59 PM ET | 10- 5-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

Why Superbad is Supergood Even If You Are Over 18

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Research firm Media By Numbers estimated Summer movie grosses in the United States and Canada hit $4 billion for the first time in history. This is all thanks in part to the teen comedy "Superbad" ($68 Million in 10 days!) which was only the third movie this summer to repeat being number 1. The other two are the three-quel blockbusters "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

Why the big cash flow for a teen comedy about three geeks who are trying to buy booze to get the girls they like drunk so the girls will like them ... and then LIKE them -- so they won't go to college, well, UNLIKED? Because adult gents and ladies like me, born before Nixon resigned, are going to see it.

Why would adults like this movie?

You are old enough to find the raw sexual humor hilarious not humiliating.

You can actually remember when the super funk baseline score and rainbow-rific
graphics were popular in an unironic way.

You tried to get a fake I.D. and it looked just as bad as McLovin's.

The writing doesn't confuse snarky for smart.

You are old enough to recognize the latent gay love the main characters have for one another.

Any other reviews out there?

Alison Stewart

10:41 AM ET | 08-28-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Five Reasons I Dig Matt Damon

Filed under: Stuff We Love

Let me be completely honest here: There's no reason for this post other than the fact I was blown away by The Bourne Ultimatum and Matt Damon.

1. He is cool enough to get married at city hall to a non-starlet with a seven year old kid.

2. His mother is a super smart educator who wrote an excellent book on helping children understand war/violence. I had to read it for a class.

3. He had the brains to get into Harvard and the ba***s to quit.

4.The Bourne Ultimatum is the most taught, thrilling, and exciting film this summer.

5. He showed up for this:

Alison Stewart

2:33 PM ET | 08- 6-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post