The horror fiction writer Eric Carle created a tale that will terrify generations of adults and children--if it's told the right way. Altering traditional literature for optimal character development is one of the essential roles of the father. That's why, when I read The Rainbow Fish to my kids, I have Rainbow Fish sell his scales at a steep markup price and become the richest fish in the sea.
John Farrier's Blog Posts
(Images: CBS)
Most of the female Starfleet crewmen on the original Star Trek wore very short minidresses. This was not Gene Roddenberry's original plan. But the network axed the professional, non-titillating uniforms that the female crewmen on the first pilot episode wore, along with the female first officer.
As a generation grew up watching Star Trek and its depicted gender roles, some critics called for greater equity when the franchise was developing The Next Generation in the mid-80s. One of the results was that, for a few episodes, a couple male background characters wore minidresses. Nigel Mitchell, About.com's Star Trek expert*, traces the lengthy history of the Star Trek miniskirt:
When people began to complain, the Trek community's response was, "Nuh-uh! The mini-skirts weren't sexist! Because, uh, men wore them, too! It was unisex!" This seems to have been most clearly stated in 1995's The Art of Star Trek. In it, the book says "the skirt design for men 'skant' [a combination of "skirt and pant"] was a logical development, given the total equality of the sexes presumed to exist in the 24th century."
Of course, this is easier said than done. The next question would always be, "So where were all the men in mini-skirts on the original series?" The answer would be that there were some, but you just didn't see them, which left uncomfortable stares and raised eyebrows. That gap is what Star Trek: The Next Generation tried to fill.
When the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" aired in 1987, the "skant" is worn by both Deanna Troi and Tasha Yar (briefly). But we also get our first glimpse of the male skant in the background in this episode. Overall, the men wearing skants appeared in five episodes of the first season ("Encounter at Farpoint", "Haven", "Conspiracy", "Where No One Has Gone Before" and "11001001"). They also appeared in second season episodes "The Child", "The Outrageous Okona", "The Schizoid Man", and "Samaritan Snare." Their final appearance came during flashbacks in the series finale "All Good Things..."
*And Nigel really does know his stuff. I saw that clearly a while back when he and I were brainstorming ideas for a Worf sitcom.
Roboticist Simone Giertz leads us into a bright future. She is constantly revealing startling new creations from her workshop that automate our daily tasks, like correcting errors on the internet.
Many comments on websites are left by bots--computer programs that write short blurbs for scams. But Giertz's internet argumenting bot is different. It writes comments with grammar, spelling, and reasoning superior to the norm. Although Giertz doesn't provide evidence for it, I'm confident that this robot could pass the Turing Test.
Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly the sort of building that every city needs to convey its splendor. A cobra tower could house a hospital, a school, charitable non-profits, or, you know Cobra.
Vasily Klyukin is a Russian architect who designs unconventional buildings, such as a hospital that looks like a ship. He now proposes building an Asian Cobra Tower because . . . well, it's awesome, that's why.
-via Lustik
There's a lot more than basketball going on at the basketball game. Some people avoid the famous Kiss Cam. Others enjoy the attention and smooch on demand to the cheers of the crowds. It's cute.
It's also big money. The LCD screens are huge advertising draws, so the arena operators do their best to get attention up there. That's why the Kiss Cam exists.
How does it work? How do the camera operators choose which people to focus on? It looks like a smooth and easy task, but that's only because the best professionals in the arena staging industry are running the show. Vox takes you behind the scenes to describe how they do their jobs, including how they operate the Kiss Cam.
Would you travel back in time to kill Hitler as a baby? It's a classic ethical dilemma. A better question is: could you kill Hitler as a baby? Granted, he's not a super-soldier. But I'm pretty sure that he could face off against an infant under any combat conditions.
It's a surreal horror movie that will leave you wondering what world you're living in. Alan Resnick's short film This House Has People in It begins with a couple arguing about their vacation plans. Then you notice that they're casually stepping over a body on the floor as they talk.
The events are captured by security cameras throughout the house. Appropriately, the film's companion website is a sales page for a home security system. Well, not really home security--just home surveillance. Nothing is safe inside this home.
Content warning: foul language.
-via Super Punch
(Photo: National Cancer Institute)
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Medical researchers in the UK gave this treatment to 257 women who had a particular type of breast cancer, affecting about a tenth of breast cancer patients. These women took two drugs: lapatinib and trastuzumab. The results surprised doctors. The BBC reports:
But by the time surgeons came to operate, there was no sign of cancer in some patients.
Prof Judith Bliss, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the impact was "dramatic".
She told the BBC News website: "We were particularly surprised by these findings as this was a short-term trial.
"It became apparent some had a complete response. It's absolutely intriguing, it is so fast."
The tumors completely disappeared for 11% of the patients and shrank considerably for another 17% of participants in the study.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
This is perfect for gaming night with your friends! Planet Licker is a game that you play with a special USB-connected controller. It doesn't have buttons, but popsicles. To activate them, lick them. The goal is to maneuver around mines to lick every planet in the region. Gamasutra interviewed the creators at a recent convention:
Why popsicles? Did you test out any other edible items?
FRANK: Our first test used ice cubes. We considered gelatin because of its moldable properties, but the idea of licking gelatin seemed too weird because that’s not a gesture you normally perform with that food when you eat it. Ice pops work because they are something people lick anyway, and they’re able to take on the form of most any shape we design on the computer as a 3D model. We’re still considering making the controller in candy, but it would require a bit of extra engineering as sugar isn’t conductive enough for our game.
-via Daily of the Day
(Photo: Viaggio Routard)
The story goes that in 1807, Giuseppe Bertoleoni, a man from Genoa, was facing bigamy charges. He fled the city with the pair of sisters that he had married and made his way to Tavolara, an uninhabited island off the coast of Sardinia. It's about 2 square miles of rocks and goats.
In 1836, King Carlo Alberto of Sardinia came to the island to hunt the goats. He met Paolo Bertoleoni, the son of the original settler, who introduced himself as the King of Tavolara. King Tonino, the current monarch, shared the story with BBC Travel:
“When he landed, Carlo Alberto introduced himself by saying, ‘I’m Carlo Alberto, the King of Sardinia,’” Tonino said. “And so my great-grandfather replied, ‘Well, I’m Paolo, the King of Tavolara.’”
After killing several goats and feasting for three days at Paolo’s home, Carlo Alberto was so delighted that he said, “Paolo, you really are the King of Tavolara!” before sailing off, according to Tonino. Joking or not, Carlo Alberto later confirmed that the far-flung island had never officially been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and he sent Paolo a scroll from Carlo Alberto’s royal family, the House of Savoy, that certified the monarchy’s status.
Perhaps King Carlo Alberto was joking. But the Bertoleoni family took this proclamation very seriously and claimed the tiny island as their own independent kingdom.
King Tonino, 83, has ruled the island and its 11 inhabitants for 22 years. He also owns and operates the only restaurant on the island. It's a humble royalty:
These days, when he’s not fishing for squid or gardening outside his squat bungalow, his majesty lords over Tavolara's 11 part-time residents, 100 nimble mountain goats and a few species of endangered falcons that live atop the island’s 565m limestone peak. For the past 40 years, Tonino has been personally escorting visitors to his family’s island palace – first by rowboat, and now via a 25-minute ferry that he operates from Porto San Paolo.
“My family may have had a beautiful past,” Tonino said in a soft voice, “but we work hard and live simply, just like everybody else.”
In fact, running the kingdom is very much a family business. While the king and his nephew, Nicola, captain the summer ferry, the prince and princess in waiting, Giuseppe and Loredana, now run the beachside restaurant. Giuseppe’s nephew, Antonio, wakes up early to go fishing every morning and supplies most of the clams, lobster and fish that fly out of the kitchen each afternoon and evening.
-via Amusing Planet
You might think this is a digital rendering of Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, but it's actually lip makeup. Andrea Reed is a true master of her craft. She uses lips for both high fashion and as individual works of art. The results of her precise, detailed work are breathtaking.
This is Morestead, a professional race horse. He's been called "the Naomi Campbell of the modeling world." And you can see why. He's the very definition of a classic English gentleman in this bespoke 3-piece tweed suit.
Morestead is participating in the Cheltenham Festival, a major British horse racing event. To celebrate the occasion, fashion designer Emma Sandham-King sewed him a suit using Harris Tweed, which is the finest handwoven tweed fabric from the Outer Hebrides. The BBC reports:
Ms Sandham-King and her team of seamstresses and tailors spent four weeks creating the suit using more than 18m (59ft) of tweed.
The suit, modelled by race horse Morestead and champion jockey Sir Tony McCoy, required 10 times as much fabric as an equivalent human suit.
The horse-sized garment was commissioned by bookmakers William Hill.
Ms Sandham-King said: "Creating the world's first tweed suit for a horse has been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced in my career as a designer.
"Some models can be real divas, but veteran racing horse Morestead was calm and a pleasure to work with."
(Photo: Dogs Trust/Fox)
Floyd is a Siberian Husky in the UK who needs a home. Stare into his Hypnotoad-like eyes and think about his future in your home. You want to adopt him, don't you?
Floyd has heterochromatic eyes that stare into your soul. The Coventry Telegraph reports that staff at Dogs Trust Kenilworth thinks this puts "people off." He has a cheerful, friendly disposition that is so captivating that you won't be able to break eye contact with him, no matter how much you want to. Nonetheless, he's up for adoption:
And Dogs Trust supporter relations officer Helen Barlow said: “Even with his striking good looks and bouncy personality Floyd is often passed by despite his efforts to catch the eye of potential owners.
“He needs a patient adult owner who will give him plenty of time to help him settle in to family life.
“This energetic boy is looking for an active adult home and would prefer to be king of the jungle as the only pet in home.”
He's a natural hunter. But right now, our pup wants only to play with his scaly friends. He eagerly jumps in. The fish respond enthusiastically, but I'm not sure that they're interested in a game of tag.
(Photos: Where the Coconuts Grow)
This is no ordinary food truck. It's Pizza ∏, a floating pizzeria in the US Virgin Islands. Tara Bouis, a gourmet chef, and her husband Sasha, a computer programmer, left their busy lives on the mainland behind and operated a charter boat for a few years. Then they purchased an old 37-foot boat and personally renovated it into a floating commercial-grade kitchen. It even has a brick-lined pizza oven on board!
Now they anchor their boat offshore in the Virgin Islands and bake gourmet pizzas, made to customers' specifications. Last year, Bloomberg News reported on their extraordinary pizzeria:
The boat is anchored off the east end of St. Thomas in Christmas Cove, next to Great St. James Island. (Also nearby is Little St. James, the private island owned by billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.) It’s an ideal location to snag boats from St. John and St. Thomas that are passing through on daytime snorkeling trips, as well as long-term charters. And you can order your pizza on your boat’s hand radio, call it in via cell, or even e-mail it. Then you can either pick up the pizza in your dinghy, or Pi will deliver it to you if you’re anchored in Christmas Cove.
-via Messy Nessy Chic
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