For her “Paperchild Revolution” collection, French artist Lowra makes cartoons of small kids with paper (a meme known as “paper child“) and creatively photographs them into real-life scenes. The results are clever and cute.
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Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013
Feb 22, 2013
Robert Crumb comments on celebrities and artists
PETER MAX
Robert: Peter Max [laughs]... he's a totally fucking jive character. I read an article about him about ten years ago and he was doing these really bad, sloppy paintings, knocking 'em out as quickly as possible and trying to sell them based on his name. But you know, in the psychedelic era, his stuff was all over the place. He was way better known than I was, back in like '68, '69, '70 period. Yeah, Peter Max capitalized on the whole psychedelic art scene in that period; completely jive character. I wonder if he's still alive.
PETE SEEGER
Robert: Seeger… he's a saint. Pete Seeger's a fucking saint, but I never found his music very interesting. You know, musically he can play the banjo, but he's so political, so deeply, vehemently political — and I agree with his politics completely — but it made his music political; the message was more important than the quality of the music to him. He's a literary musician, you know? But he dedicated himself to getting out there an playing these left-wing, rousing songs to labor unions and strikers, it's amazing they never put him in jail. Well, actually, I think he was in trouble for a while but he never went to jail. Is he still alive? I think he is. I think he's still going! I know someone who recently talked to him and I guess Seeger is very inspirational. He's still very lucid and he talked about the old days. You know, he started all that political campaigning in the '30s, and he started very young with that. He's from an upper-class family with money. I think it was the Seeger family whose maid was Elizabeth Cotton, and one day they found her playing guitar and singing and they went, "Oh my God! This woman is a talented singer/musician!" Somebody, years ago, gave me, as a gift, a huge box set of ten LPs of all of that left-wing folk music done by the folknics, not by the real folk, but the folknics of the '50s and early '60s: the Almanac Singers; Joan Baez and Pete Seeger. It's just totally uninteresting. Real country hillbilly music by deeply ignorant, racist people is much more interesting than that stuff. As I said, I agree totally with their politics, but musically it's really uninteresting. The whole folknic scene, even when it was happening in the late '50s and early '60s, I was never moved by it. I preferred rockabilly.
Feb 21, 2013
LEGO Candle Lighting Robot
YouTuber Pasquentmax built this candle lighting robot out of LEGO Mindstorm. The robot can automatically light five tea candles and drop them into candle holders.
When cultures collide
Feb 20, 2013
Adam Savage Built a Carrying Case from Scratch in One Day for his Blade Runner Gun Prop Replica
Mythbusters host and Tested scientist Adam Savage built a custom “stylized” carrying case for his Blade Runner gun prop replica in only one day. Adam talks about the build process in greater detail with Tested editor Norman Chan. You can view more behind the scenes photos of the box build on Tested.com.
We spent seven hours in Adam’s shop watching him transform pieces of wood and metal into a beautiful carrying case for this beloved Blade Runner Blaster prop replica. The completed box is an amazing creation to behold!
Tickle Me Elmo frozen in carbonite
I was at my hackerspace one evening and we got to talking about crazy ideas, like normal. We have a full size Han Solo in Carbonite at the space, and someone mentioned that it'd be funny to encase old toys in a smaller carbonite box. So I did. I used the ShopBot CNC router at the MIT FablLab at CCBC in Catonsville, MD to cut the box, an arduino to copy code to an attiny85 to run the randomization script for the LED lights, and my MakerBot to 3d print the side panels I'd previously designed for a different project. The side panels are posted here on Thingiverse and I just drilled out holes for the lights
Feb 15, 2013
This insectile "Green Art Gas Mask"
This insectile "Green Art Gas Mask" is quite a departure for Ukrainian leatherworkers When The Zombies Come, Documentary About Teens Prepped For the Zombie Apocalypse
“We have fuel, we have fire, we have that which they desire
LED Mushroom Desk Lamps
By EDW Lynch on February 14, 2013
Japanese designer Yukio Takano makes humorous little mushroom lamps that look like wild mushrooms growing on logs, but are actually LED-powered desk lamps. It’s unclear whether the lamps are available for purchase. It is, however, clear that Takano is quite the mushroom enthusiast—in addition to the lamps, he has other mushroom-inspired designs, mushroom photography and a mushroom blog on his site, Great Mushrooming.
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By EDW Lynch on February 14, 2013
Japanese designer Yukio Takano makes humorous little mushroom lamps that look like wild mushrooms growing on logs, but are actually LED-powered desk lamps. It’s unclear whether the lamps are available for purchase. It is, however, clear that Takano is quite the mushroom enthusiast—in addition to the lamps, he has other mushroom-inspired designs, mushroom photography and a mushroom blog on his site, Great Mushrooming.
via
Feb 14, 2013
Thank You by Jason Chen, Music Video Features 500 Rubik’s Cubes That Create Images
By on February 13, 2013
The music video for “Thank You” by Jason Chen features moving images made with 500 Rubik’s Cubes. It was directed, written, and edited by Ross Ching.
submitted
What Ockham really said
In the arsenal of eternal skeptics there are few tools more dramatically and more commonly used than Ockham’s razor. It is triumphantly applied to resolve arguments about ghosts (more parsimoniously seen as misperceptions by distraught family members or the suggestible), UFOs (evidently hoaxes and mistaken observations of natural phenomena) and telepathy (a “delusion” of wishful thinking and poorly-constructed tests).
Born in England, Franciscan monk William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347) is among the most prominent figures in the history of philosophy during the High Middle Ages. The Skeptics Dictionary quotes the Razor as Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate, or “plurality should not be posited without necessity," while Wikipedia defines Ockham's razor as follows:
“Among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be selected.”And it gives the following example of its application:
Brother Ockham, however, said nothing of the kind. Later philosophers have put these words into his mouth for their own convenience. Here is what he wrote, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:“It is possible to describe the other planets in the Solar System as revolving around the Earth, but that explanation is unnecessarily complex compared to the contemporary consensus that all planets in the Solar System revolve around the Sun.” Another often-quoted formulation of the principle is that “one should not multiply entities beyond necessity.”
“Nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident or known by experience or proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture.”So let’s come back to the planets, and apply Ockham’s razor–as formulated by the man himself–to a comparison between two different hypotheses about their motion. The contemporary consensus states that they revolve around the sun according to the Copernican system, Kepler’s laws of motion and Newton’s model of gravity, as demonstrated by complex observations and significant mathematical underpinning.
Our alternative hypothesis simply states that they are moved around the sky by angels, as illustrated in this beautiful painting from the Breviari d’amor of Matfre Ermengaud, where a convenient gear mechanism is gracefully activated to regulate planetary motion. Ermengaud was a contemporary of Ockham and, like him, a Franciscan friar.
Were we to apply Ockham's formulation of the razor literally, the choice between these two hypotheses is clear. It does not favor the first hypothesis, the standard scientific interpretation. The Scriptures clearly state that angels do exist, and their reality was re-affirmed by Pope John Paul II as recently as August 1986. Since they manifest through their actions in the heavens, the second hypothesis appears far more parsimonious and elegant than the complicated rationalizations used by mathematicians and astronomers, which involve unseen entities such as the acceleration of gravity, centrifugal force, and mass, which - to this day - raise issues that science is yet to resolve. If you seriously believe in angels, then the contemporary consensus about planetary motion is a case of “plurality without necessity.”
The second hypothesis is also more powerful since angels can just as easily move the planets around the earth as around the sun. They can do whatever they like—and thereby explain any phenomena.
Perhaps we should be more careful when we quote ancient authors out of context, or twist their words to fit the convenient modern tenets of skepticism in the name of Reason. The Scriptures are full of ghosts, UFOs and examples of telepathy - which means that such phenomena cannot be dissected and thrown out using Ockham’s razor anyway.
We know, of course, that the planets revolve around the Sun, an idea that would have shocked Ockham. And I firmly believe that, in philosophy and in science we should go on selecting the hypothesis that makes the fewest assumption when confronted with competing explanations, and one should not multiply entities beyond necessity -- even if Brother William never said so.
But we should also remember that nature is not parsimonious at Feb 13, 2013
Amazing Ocean Facts, A Comic Series for Nat Geo Wild That Turned Out to be a Prank
Amazing Ocean Facts was an entertaining series of comic strips created by Cyanide and Happiness artist Rob DenBleyker (Dr. Byron Beekle) to help celebrate the Nat Geo Wild television series DinoFish. The comic strips turned out to be a clever April Fools’ Day joke on the Nat Geo TV Blogs. Rob disguised his real name with the alias Dr. Byron Beekle and started the comics off by clearly focusing on fun facts about ocean life. As the series progressed, he gradually displays the information and illustrations in an increasingly personal and disturbed manner.
The series ended on April 1,2012 with a message from Nat Geo Wild:
“We have unfortunately ceased production of “Amazing Ocean Facts” due to artistic disagreements with Dr. Byron Beekle. We appologize to his fans.“
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Amazing Ocean Facts, A Comic Series for Nat Geo Wild That Turned Out to be a Prank
Amazing Ocean Facts was an entertaining series of comic strips created by Cyanide and Happiness artist Rob DenBleyker (Dr. Byron Beekle) to help celebrate the Nat Geo Wild television series DinoFish. The comic strips turned out to be a clever April Fools’ Day joke on the Nat Geo TV Blogs. Rob disguised his real name with the alias Dr. Byron Beekle and started the comics off by clearly focusing on fun facts about ocean life. As the series progressed, he gradually displays the information and illustrations in an increasingly personal and disturbed manner.
The series ended on April 1,2012 with a message from Nat Geo Wild:
“We have unfortunately ceased production of “Amazing Ocean Facts” due to artistic disagreements with Dr. Byron Beekle. We appologize to his fans.“
images
Karswell Feb 8, 2013
Footage of the 2013 Edwardian Ball & World’s Faire by Mark Day
By on February 7, 2013
Mark Day filmed highlights from the 2013 Edwardian Ball and World’s Faire (and “elegant out takes“).
Nuclear Sub, yours for $6.98 (I had one..)
"Polaris Nuclear Sub," offered in the Spiderman Comics March 1967 Issue. As shared on Flickr by SenseiAlan. I love those oldFeb 7, 2013
two-faced Cthulhu
The wonderful Ukrainian horror/fetish/steampunk mask maker Bob Basset has produced a two-faced Cthulhu mask; on one side, the betentacled visage; on the other, a lecterine horrorFeb 6, 2013
Rolled, Film About an LA Secret Society Dedicated to Toilet Papering
Rolled by Whit Scott is a documentary about a secret society of Los Angeles high school students that has been toilet papering houses for more than 32 years. We first wrote about the film while Scott was raising funds for the project on Kickstarter (the project was funded). The finished film is available for download on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Dog Eat Dog, The True & Funny Story About Zachary Quinto Adopting a Dog From a Shelter
Petsami produced “Dog Eat Dog,” a true (though humorously exaggerated) story about how actor Zachary Quinto adopted his first dog from a Los Angeles animal shelter. It’s described as a “twisted, fun, morality tale about the lengths to which some of us will go in order to get what we want.” It co-stars Philip Baker Hall and Sharon Wilkins and was directed by Sian Heder. Quinto says, “…The story of the film is an exaggerated account of how I eventually found my rescue dog Noah, but it still reflects a bit of the reality I faced when I was looking to adopt a shelter dog
Feb 5, 2013
Trailer for season 2 of Black Mirror, scariest/best sf on TV
Aether Opens San Francisco Clothing Store Made of Three Stacked Shipping Containers
Last week, outdoor apparel company Aether opened a San Francisco concept store that is made out of three stacked shipping containers. Designed by Thierry Gaugain, the store features a glass-enclosed cantilevered lounge and a trick laundromat-style clothing conveyor system. It is the small LA-based company’s first standalone store—they also have a traveling Airstream trailer store.
images via
Feb 4, 2013
wearable Sculptures that Make the Wearer Perform a Gesture
Artist Jennifer Crupi makes wearable interactive sculptures that encourage the wearer to hold a specific pose or gesture. Some sculptures are jewelry-like, such as the sterling silver “Ornamental Hands” which creates a dancer’s hand gesture. Crupi has also made gestural furniture—the “Empathy Table” fits on the laps of two people and has indentations that invite the participants to regard one another thoughtfully. Crupi’s sculptures are intended to highlight the role of body language in communication.
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Hi-Fructose Collected 3, Artist Signing & Launch Party in San Francisco
Frenzy cover art by Josh Keyes
Hi-Fructose and Last Gasp Books have recently released Hi-Fructose Collected 3 Box Set, which is a 300+ page hardcover book featuring a selection of some of the best original material from issues 9-12. They will be celebrating the release at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 5:30 PM with a signing by artists Scott Hove, Junko Mizuno, and Josh Keyes. You can RSVP for the event via Facebook.
images via
Feb 3, 2013
spiral staircase inspired by a whale's spine
Andrew McConnell conceived of this system as a modular set of components that can be deployed in a spiral, each element supporting the next – the only variation would occur in the top and bottom pieces that connect to landings. ...From the designer: “Inspired by the spine of a whale, the Vertebrae Staircase is not simply mimicry of organic form but an exploration in shaping structure. Much of the design work went into refining the single component, or vertebra, that mate with each other creating a unified spine running from floor plate to floor plate. These interlocking vertebrae provide a rigid structure for the steps, railing and its users. And the railing is reinforced by connections that help the staircase resist rotational forces caused by the cantilevered steps.”
Surgeon Simulator 2013, A Realistic Open Heart Surgery Video Game
Surgeon Simulator 2013 is a video game created by Bossa Studios for the 2013 Global Game Jam. You control the hand of a (not so skilled) surgeon using the keyboard and mouse and carefully try to perform a realistic open heart surgery on a drugged up patient, which never seems turns out as a success (see videos below). This killer video game simulator is available to play and download online for Windows, Mac and Linux.
You are Nigel Burke… an ordinary guy, with no outstanding skills. Somehow forced to perform a heart transplant, using any tools available. Complete the operation in the quickest time possible, with minimal blood loss! Features Revolutionary 1 to 1 finger manipulation control system Realistic surgical tool physics. Professional voice acting. Thumping soundtrack. This is, Surgeon Simulator 2013.
images and video
Feb 1, 2013
The History of Wooing Men: a cdza video music experiment
How To Head Butt or Bust a Cantaloupe Wide Open
The gentleman in this self defense video teaches the finer points of how to head butt, or just bust a cantaloupe wide open. Part of the training is to wear a shirt that reads “Head Butt” to remind your attackers that one is on its way.
video uploaded by
Jan 31, 2013
Paperman, An Oscar Nominated Walt Disney Animation Studios Short
Paperman, an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by John Kahrs, tells a beautiful story about love, fate and changing one’s destiny. The black and white short has been nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar. It was brought to life by combining both hand-drawn and computer animation styles
The Backwards Bowler, Jim Cripps
“I do it backwards.”
Jim Cripps is known worldwide as “The Backwards Bowler” due to his unique style of, yes, backwards bowling. He states on his site, “…I spent years being so serious about my craft that I didn’t want to even consider a trick shot. Boy was I wrong…”
Here’s an earlier video of Jim, from 2006:
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Jan 30, 2013
Color film of the Three Stooges from 1938
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