Well, it's about time someone did something with all those old photos the New York Times has been sitting on for, oh, the past hundred and fifty years or so.

The Times recently launched a Tumblr site dedicated to sharing and archiving millions of historic photographs that might not have been seen and enjoyed otherwise. Here's more on their new site:

The New York Times has just launched a Tumblr blog called ‘ The Lively Morgue’ showcasing great photographs from their archives, accompanied by the notes that appear on the back of each one.

According to NYT social media editor Liz Heron, the blog “draws from the historical riches of [their] photography morgue” which houses some 5 to 6 million prints and 300, 000 sacks of negatives.

More interesting are the details that readers often don’t get to see—the scribbles and stamps on the reverse side of each photo that tells you when and how often a photo was used and in what context.

'The Lively Morgue' is essentially a collection of great black and white photographs that takes you on a nostalgic and historically important journey and at the same time, gives a peek into what goes on in the one of the world’s most established newsroom.

There isn't a ton of pics to peruse on The Lively Morgue just yet, but I'll be waiting impatiently for them to continue adding photos to the site in the upcoming months, and I think it's rather cool that they'll even sell you a print if you find a pic you just can't live without.

Link  --via DesignTAXI

 

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The guy in this video calls himself BennyTheJukebox, and he looks like he'd be a lot of fun at parties. You get a few drinks in the guy, he's warmed up then BAM! He busts out the melodica and blows some minds. Benny really blows, and this time he blows through some popular guitar riffs for your amusement.

--via Stuff I Stole From The Internet

You may remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker from the scandals that surrounded them in the 1980s. They loved to spend donated money on excessive shows of wealth, like their Christian themed amusement park Heritage USA, and just like their televised empire it all came crumbling down.

Heritage USA is now an urban ruin, a place abandoned over twenty years ago, thanks to the IRS and Hurricane Hugo. Check out this series of photographs by Tommy and James at the links below, and you'll see how sad the Heritage USA park looks today. Does anyone else think it would make a great mini golf course?

Link  --via i09

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It may seem like Stephen King never stops producing, as he is constantly releasing books (and movies based on) at a frantic pace , but this video proves that he does occasionally take time out to speak to fans at the Savannah Book Festival, if only to promote another upcoming book.

This time around the King of Horror shares an excerpt from his upcoming sequel to his third, and arguably most beloved, book-The Shining. It's called Dr. Sleep, and here's what King has to say about it:

"This is an idea that I've had for some time. I wrote a novel in the '70s called The Shining ... I always wondered what happened to that kid, Danny Torrance, when he grew up ... and this story started to form. The book isn't finished yet, it's called Dr. Sleep. This kinda goes back to: what's the worst thing you can think of? I knew that there were bad people in this story that were like vampires, only that what they sucked out was not blood, but psychic energy from special people like Danny Torrance. And I came to realize that these people were called The Tribe and that they move around a lot. Their leader is a woman called Rose [unintelligible] they all have these kinda pirate names, because pirates is sort of what they are."

The volume on this bootleggy video is really low, so I hope you have good speakers! Otherwise, this quote should give you all the info you really need to know-Shining sequel, psychic vampires pirates, and one of the most promising King sequel blurbs I've heard in years.

--via Blastr

This illustration makes for rather appropriate material in an election year full of bold gesturing by the candidates, wouldn't you say?

Political cartoonist Hermenegildo Sabat has been poking fun at celebrities and politicians for decades with his caricatures, and has been known to rock a political boat or two with his critical cartoons.

This particular illustration focuses on the gestures employed by politicians to make their point, and I'm pretty sure that the gestures that Hermenegildo is used to receiving are not included on this sheet.

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I don't know about you, but I love me some Pepsi, and I usually give any new flavor that comes out a try before going back to the tried and true original. But some of the flavors on this list sound delicious, and I really wish I could get my hands on a sixer! *soda addiction alert*

From ice cream to cucumber to apple, it's too bad that most of these flavors wouldn't sell very well here in the U.S. because I have got a craving as fierce as a caged tiger and I need to get my hands on some, unless we're talking about Crystal Pepsi, which I think would have made a better suntan lotion than a can of pop.

And the idea of a hot cinnamon soda really burns my behind for some reason, and the holiday spice can falalalala off the shelves for all eternity as far as I'm concerned. But I don't think I could ever get my fill of the rest of the flavors on this list.

Why does it cost so much to ship cases of soda here from Japan? *grits teeth*

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The poor old cars in this series of photographs by Peter Lippmann, entitled Paradise Parking, are seemingly being reclaimed by forces of nature, one branch at a time.

It's a dark and horrifying series if you're a classic car lover like me, and I feel like these pictures should be posted on car restoration enthusiast forums as a plea for help.

They would make great backgrounds for a post-apocalyptic photo shoot, or scenes from a horror movie about zombie cars coming back for revenge against their negligent owners. But, like the cameraman shooting a nature video, I can't help but wonder if Peter had to fight the urge to cut these classic beauties free after he got the perfect shot.

Link  --via i09

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Advertising campaigns usually rely on suckers to buy their products, but this campaign for Chupa Chups candy is trying to get you to buy suckers and prove you're not just some sucker at the same time.

Created by BBH Singapore, the spot is called "R4V3N: Never Not Winning" and it features a rather unique use for their suckers-a lollipop controlled joystick that will help you become an online gaming champion.

It's a clever way to advertise their product and their new online promo game at the same time, and R4V3N's ridiculous style is what's truly never not winning about this spot.

--via DesignTAXI

 



This screenshot of a Jack Nicholson style character looking rather jaundiced comes from an kooky Japanese video game called Quiz Daisousa Sen-The Last Count Down.

It came out in the arcades in 1991 and featured a cast of celebrity characters, including: Bruce Willis, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Tyson, Jack Nicholson, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, among other less famous enemies like ninjas, cyborgs and a girl that looks like Regan from The Exorcist.

This rather unique game looks like it would be fun to play, especially while sitting at the bar with a pint of stout in my hand. Too bad the uniquely Japanese sense of humor (probably) kept it from being translated and released in the U.S. If you're interested you can check out a bunch of screenshots from the game at the link below, the pixelated celebrity caricatures are worth a peek.

Link

This custom radio-like device was made by Autuin from Free Geek Vancouver, who didn't want to be restricted to creating useful devices, so he made this funky little custom number. Here's a bit about it:

The different pieces of this Frankenstein’s monster came together over a period of years. Autuin bought the machine’s shell, an old dead radio, years ago and then was sparked to finally do something with it after purchasing an old Coleman Multifunctional TV Lantern. Ripping the CRT out from one peice of antiquated equipment and plugging it into the corpse of another, Autuin managed to create a seriously awesome retro-futuristic display, and then had to figure out what to put on it.

Ultimately, Autuin settled on using a Markov algorithm to project theoretical (and somewhat garbled) quotes from R. Buckminster Fuller, father of the geodesic dome.

In case of apocalypse, this CRT radio thingy might not help keep you alive, but it should make your time in the fallout shelter feel a bit less lonesome. Or it will drive you insane and you'll become some sort of shelter dwelling madman, either way you can't go wrong when the sky is falling.

Link  --via Geekosystem

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Indie band Dry The River came up with an extremely unique way to advertise the release of their debut album "Shallow Bed"-they hung up string art posters all over London that can be listened to via attached can, like a schoolyard string phone with a band on the other end of the line.

The posters are a great fusion of high tech and simplicity, and they look quite cool to boot. Watch the video and you'll see how these minimalist marvels were constructed, with each one taking about 20 hours to complete. Now that's doing self promotion like a boss!

--via Super Punch

German artist Bartholomaus Traubeck has created one tripped out piece of tech-a turntable that plays pieces of wood instead of records. Here's how it works:

Traubeck has modified a turntable’s needle by replacing it with a digital camera and light that scans the wood for thickness, growth rate, texture and overall color tone.

A computer then interprets the data and maps it into a musical scale, which is then played back using piano sounds.

What results are hauntingly beautiful melodies that differ based on the tree’s age.

It's an eerily fascinating way to hear what the trees have to say, but I'm guessing that it all comes out sounding like "you cut me down for this?"  or "what have you done with the rest of my body?" And, at this point should we still call Mr. Traubeck an artist, or some sort of mad scientist with a penchant for creating strange electronic devices?

Link  --via DesignTAXI

The illustrations in this gallery are from a Strand Magazine article from 1893 that was supposed to be a sneak peek of what fashion will look like in the 20th century. The writer even goes so far as to claim that he got these designs from a man who found a book dated 1993 that was full of fashion designs from the 20th century. Looks like Biff Tannen (from Back To The Future) got his hands on the Delorean and decided to blow some 19th century minds.

The designs look more like a gallery of science fiction gear and wild outfits for a far out costume party than, say, a mid-20th century Montgomery Ward catalog, but I think the hippies would have been way cooler if they'd dressed like swashbuckling Asian pirates, and I'm sad that we missed out on wearing giant tasseled sombreros and carrying swords.

Now these off-the-wall designs are just going to end up in Lady Gaga's wardrobe, unless they decide to make a version of The Three Musketeers that takes place on Mars.

--via i09

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Who would make the ideal hosts for a promotional video about Windows 95? Why, Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston, stars of the wildly popular TV show Friends, of course!

The casting choice seems a bit odd, but it makes sense in terms of the show's popularity at the time. And, although it seems like a celebrity marketing scheme gone wrong, Windows 95 went large for Microsoft so maybe they were on to something with the Friends connection.

Extra Credit: See if you can sit through the entire ten minute video without wanting to gouge out your eyes and/or jam ballpoint pens into your ears!

--via Buzzfeed

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Here's a goofy little gem of a cartoon for your amusement, a sitcom spoof that takes place at the bottom of the ocean and lasts about a minute. Oh, and there are lots of bad oceanic puns, and a duck wearing a top hat.

If you can look past the misspelling of existential in the opening theme song then you'll find that it's a fun waste of time!

--via The Daily What