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Flickr User Jakedobkin has uploaded a collection of images taken in the Freedom Tunnel [wiki].
Among the dozens of photos is this one that attracted me, because I’m against graffitis but never ever thought that one of those supposed artists could have known about the Francisco de Goya [wiki] picture, painted after the rebellion of Madrid against the French invadors in 1812, on the shooting of some patriotic civilians. The picture is called The Third of May 1808 [wiki].
The Third of May 1808 picture is part of a series on the Independence War, and follows The Second of May 1808 [wiki] in which you can see the rebellion against France.
Please ignore the stupid bastard who made the additional yellow graffiti painting on it 
Link [Flickr]
The Mesoamerican ballgame was truly a "sport of life and death." Here is a fabulous interactive online exhibit where you can learn all about it.
Photo credit: Justin Kerr, McClung Museum
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Fun, fun, fun! As seen on Gizmodo. Click play or go to Link [YouTube].
Conan’s visit to the Lucasfilm headquarters continues as he meets some Industrial Light and Magic staffers, becomes a virtual character, and leads his new ILM friends to freedom. Part 2 is here.
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Willy Volk of Gadling blog wrote a round-up of the best views from 13 urinals around the world.
I quite like this one to the left, a creative use of metal bucket as a peeing pot at the Forty One restaurant in Sydney, Australia.
Photo: Lance Corporal Andrew Z. Williams / US Marine Corps
The pic above is two US Marine Corps KC-130 Hercules firing flares used for protection against surface-to-air missiles in Iraq.
More "Angel Wing" decoy flares photos: Link | Video [YouTube]
In 1924, Carl Eliason started making "Motor Toboggan," the precursor of modern snowmobiles. Carl hand built his creations using parts from Ford Model T cars and sold his first model for $350.
Link – via Wheels Through Time – Thanks Brian!
If you’re tired of waking up to a shrieking alarm clocks, take a look at the Voco Clock. It’s like having a butler wake you up with witty sayings like:
I’m so sorry to disturb you sir, but it appears to be morning. Very inconvenient, I agree, sir. I believe it is the rotation of the earth which is to blame, sir.
I’m delighted you have survived another night. May I add my own congratulations to the roar of the world’s approval? Thank you, sir.
Link [with audio sample goodness] – Thanks Simon Carr!
Update 5/15/07: Simon wrote to us:
We had a suggestion from Dave about offering free downloads under the Creative Commons. We thought it was such a good idea we did it. Now the site has 20 free downloads, with facility to buy all 70-odd messages (to be played through iTunes).Oh, and there are a number of Good Morning Madam files available as well, prior to the full launch in July (God willing).
The Realm of Darkness has a neat collection of celebrity soundboards (a collection of audio clips):
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Found at Oh! Office-Hours Humour – Thanks joe!
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Casey Sorrow of A Fiend’s Folio posted a series of photographs of a brown recluse spider bite wound. Gross, but strangely enthralling:
It has been a little over a year now since my father passed from heart complications, but six months before he passed he had been bitten by an unknown beastie in his backyard in Apache Junction, Arizona. Eventually they narrowed it down from a Black Widow to a Coral Snake to their final conclusion, a Brown "Recluse" Spider. He found great pleasure in assaulting my mailbox with his daily images of the progression of the bite, most of which I am fairly certain he did not seek out proper medical attention. But that is just how he was. So, in honor of the one year anniversary of my father’s death I present to you his battle with a Brown "Recluse" Spider, a saga in 6 parts.
Links: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 (Warning: graphic photos) – Thanks Carl!
Are you an ice chewer? If so, then you’re not alone. Why, there’s an Internet forum dedicated to ice chewing.
Link – Thanks Dougall!
Uncle Ben, an elderly African American character and symbol for a line of rice sold by the food maker Mars, got a promotion in March – and it’s one heck of a promotion: he went from servant (maybe, Mars had ben mum on Uncle Ben’s history) straight to CEO.
Links: Official Site [Flash] | Uncle Ben’s [wiki] | NY Times article – via Unsought Input – Thanks Jason!
NeuroSky has developed a device that will allow you to control electronics with your mind, without those pesky chip implant. Hit play or go to Link [metacafe] – Thanks joe!
Yay for alcohol: US and Thai researchers found out that adding alcohol to berries seem to increase their antioxidant capacity, and therefore may make fruity cocktails be good for your health!
Adding ethanol — the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits — boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.
Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
Dr. Korakot Chanjirakul and colleagues at Kasetsart University in Thailand and scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture stumbled upon their finding unexpectedly.
Hey bartender, another of ‘em fruity cocktails, please. It’s for research. Honest.
Link – Thanks David R! (Photo from: rich_w [Flickr])
Here’s the story:
Doctor Raymond Adamcik, 54, would probably rather forget about the weekend when he was arrested on charges of battery, disorderly conduct, drug possession and trying to destroy evidence. It’s not what you would expect from a doctor or Captain America.
The Palm Bay family physician was at On Tap bar as part of a pub-crawl with other medical professionals. It was a sort of costume party on a bus that would take them around from bar to bar.
Everything was fine until, witnesses said, Captain America started getting too forward with a burrito he kept tucked inside his blue tights, a burrito that ultimately landed him in jail. …
On Saturday night, when a costume party full of medical professionals stopped at On Tap Cafe, police said Adamcik had a burrito stuffed below the waistband of his costume and was asking women if they want to touch it. When one refused, he allegedly took out the burrito and groped her.
Link – Thanks Steve!
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I find these images very relaxing and fun to look at. Link via: Ehrensenf
The blog 100 Years Ago Today delivers news of the “aughts†instead of the “ohsâ€. Each day, you’ll find a newspaper snippet from 100 years ago. Today’s post has this from May 8, 1907:
Henry MacIver, most recently a major general in the Servian army, died May 6 in New York City. The notice in today’s Washington Post said he died with 46 CENTS to his name. That’s about 2.5 cents for EACH of the 18 FLAGS he fought under during his long soldier-for-hire career. He fought in Crete, Egypt, Spain, Cuba and Bosnia — all BEFORE taking up arms for the Confederate States of America as a TEENAGER.
Link -via Transbuddha
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These numbers have a remarkable consistency. They are almost always two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, which are another one of nature’s mathematical favorites. The Fibonacci numbers form the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 . . . , in which each number is the sum of the previous two.
Flowers, cones, and cacti have other mathematical wonders that scientists are trying to understand and explain. Link -via Metafilter
“We think this is one of the first times that nanotechnology has entered the fashion world,” Hinestroza said. He noted one drawback may be the garments’ price: one square yard of nano-treated cotton would cost about $10,000.
Link -via the Presurfer
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Every generation thinks it invented sex and scandal, but that’s just isn’t true. Musicians, even the classical ones, have always walked on the wilder side. 1. First Conductor Dies from Conducting!
Unfortunately, this staff proved to be his doing. One day, while merrily beating time (in a concert to celebrate the king’s return to health), he stuck the staff into his foot by mistake. He developed gangrene and died. Not a good role model for conductors worldwide. 2. Haydn Nearly Castrated!
But as a little boy, Haydn was known for something else – his beautiful voice. He was the star soprano in his church choir. As he got older and his voice was about to change, his choirmaster came to him with a little proposition. If he would consent to a small operation, he could keep his beautiful soprano voice forever. Haydn agreed and was just about to undergo the surgery when his father found out and put a stop to the whole thing. 3. Paganini Allegedly Sells Soul to Devil! (Fetches Good Price)
Often before a concert he would saw partway through three of the four strings on his violin. In performance, those three strings broke, forcing him to play an entire piece on one string. Rumors flew that Paganini had sold his soul to the devil in order to play so well. Sometimes Paganini would order the lights dimmed while he played particularly spooky music. Everyone fainted – when the candles were lit again, the room appeared to be full of dead bodies, sprawled everywhere. (It didn’t take much to make an audience faint in those days.) 4. Cross-Dressing Berlioz Nearly Snuffs Out Rival!
Halfway home, however, Berlioz chickened out and threw himself into the Mediterranean. Luckily for us, and for music, he was fished out (minus the gun). 5. Liszt’s Lucky Fans Receive Canine Surprise!
Liszt was one of the first rock stars, and the word Lisztomania was coined during his lifetime. He received so many requests for a lock of his hair that he finally bought a dog, snipping off patches of fur to send to his admirers – an unexpected use for your best friend. 6. Peter Tchaikovsky Nearly Loses Head!
Neurotic to the core, Tchaikovsky conducted with one hand firmly on top of his head, in the desperate belief that otherwise his head would fall off. |
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From mental_floss’ book Condensed Knowledge: A deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again, published in Neatorama with permission. Original article written by Bill Hauser, Ph.D., an assistant professor of marketing and an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Akron, OH and Scott Speck, a conductor and coauthor of the world’s best-selling books on the arts: Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies, and Ballet for Dummies. Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ extremely entertaining website and blog!
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La Gomera [wiki] is one of the Canary Islands [wiki]. There, people speaks Spanish but some of them, when speaking from a distance use whistles to communicate. And no, this is not a fake – there’s a link to the complete conversation downloadable from wikipedia in mp3 format.
In the video from Youtube below, there the narrator speaks using Gomeran whistle [wiki] and tells us some of the charasteristics of La Gomera. I’ve transcribed the whole text and translated it into English for you. If you’re a good Spanish speaker you can figure out some of the words from the whistles because they only replace the sounds with whistles to allow speaking from far away:
Spanish:
«Las Canarias estan situadas a 12-19ºW y 27-30ºN.
Las islas occidentales son: EL Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife y La Gomera.
Entre Tenerife y La Gomera hay 30 km.
370km^2 de superficie agreste.
Seis Municipios:
- San Sebastián: Capital y puerto de 4.445 habitantes
- Hermigua: Zona agricola de 2142 habitantes
- Agulo: reserva acuifera de 1207 habitantes
- Villaermoso: zona agricola de 3141 habitantes
- Valle gran rey: zona turÃstica de 4857 habs
- Alajeró: zona turÃstica de 1954 habs
La comunicación es por carretera y por mar.»
English:
«The Canary Islands are located at 12-19ºW and 27.30ºN
The western islands are: El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife and La Gomera.
Between distance between Tenerife and La Gomera is 30 km.
(La Gomera) There is 370km^2 of land.
(La Gomera is composed of) Six counties:
- San Sebastián: The capital and sea port with 4,445 habitants.
- Hermigua: A farming area with 2,142 habitants.
- Agulo: Aquiferous reserve with 1,207 habitants
- Villaermoso: Farming area with 3,141 habitants
- Valle gran rey: Tourist region of 4857 habs.
- Alajeró: Tourist region 1,954 habs.
Transportations are by road and sea.
One more link from BBC news back in 2003.
The Italian violinist and composer 
The renowned French composer 
There’s a reason musicians give out only autographs these days. The Hungarian 
The magnificent Russian composer 
