pop-culture

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More Ladies Playing Ukuleles

Based on the feedback to my original post on Ladies Playing Ukuleles, there's a great hunger for web videos of ladies rocking out on the uke. In an effort to deliver more uke (the folky equivalent of "more cowbell"), here are some more favorites, as suggested by commenters. Kate Micucci - Dear Deer LA superstar Kate Micucci has been popping up all over lately -- on TV's Scrubs as The Gooch, in the band Garfunkel and Oates (ahem), and in the awesome video below, directed by Raul B. Fernandez. See... READ ON

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Twitter from 1937

Blogger David Griner recently came across a "line-a-day" diary kept by his great aunt from 1937 through 1941. Griner's great aunt (Genny Spencer) kept the diary during her early teens, while she lived on a farm in rural Illinois. The entries in the diary are all very brief -- one line a day -- which caused Griner's sister to observe, "This is the Twitter of the 1930s." A bit of planning and programming ensued, and now we've got it -- a day-by-day Twitterstream of entries from more than seventy years... READ ON

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Star Wars, as Retold by a Nonviewer and a Toddler

Please excuse this field trip into total silliness, but the following two videos pretty much made my week. First up, animation genius Joe Nicolosi presents Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it). Yes, people, bask in the hilarious light of the Star Wars trilogy, pieced together from overheard snippets: And now, a 3-year-old explaining the plot of Star Wars: Episode IV. Adorable and educational. Hat tip to Boing Boing for the first... READ ON

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6 Founding Members of the Internet Zoo

Some of the biggest internet sensations have been animals. If the world wide web had a zoo, who would be the founding members? These six, presented in no particular order, would be at the top of the list. 1. Badgers Badgers Badgers The flash animation Badgers was created by Jonti Picking of Weebl's Stuff. It was first published in September of 2003. The popularity of Badgers landed Picking a job with MTV Europe, for which he produced the cartoon series Weebl and Bob. There are now a host of badger... READ ON

List

6 Open Letters That Changed the World

Epistolary history is full of open letters, those that are written with the intent that they'll be read by a wide audience. Here we've collected six of the best (or at least, most influential) open letters of all time. 1. Letter from Birmingham Jail Writer: Martin Luther King, Jr. Recipients: "Fellow Clergymen" Key statements: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"; "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."... READ ON

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Google's Ginormous Life Magazine Photo Archive

Remember Life Magazine? I sure don't. Well, I recognize the name, but I don't think I ever read an issue. Despite my ignorance, since 1883, Life has been published in various forms, with most of its twentieth-century existence focusing on photojournalism. Life's last incarnation -- a newspaper supplement -- ceased publication last year. Now, Google and Life have teamed up to host the entire magazine's entire photo archive online. And this isn't just some publicity snaps -- when they're finished... READ ON

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What's Your Halloween Giveaway Strategy?

Here's a re-post of a Halloween favorite from last year. Be sure to check out the... READ ON

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Perfectly Cromulent Words

Word nerds love Erin McKean. If you aren't yet familiar with her oeuvre, here's the short version: McKean is a totally hip editor/lexicographer for the New Oxford American Dictionary. She's spoken at both Google and TED, and she's the top Dictionary Evangelist of our day. She's the author of Weird and Wonderful Words, More Weird and Wonderful Words, Totally Weird and Wonderful Words, and That's Amore (which is also about words). Got it? Okay, let's nerd out on words. In a recent article for the... READ ON

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The Woot-Off

Woot is hands-down my favorite place to buy strange things on the Internet. The idea is simple: one thing per day, one price, cheap shipping. They put up a new thing each day, slap a price on it (generally a low-low price), and sell it until they run out, or until tomorrow comes (specifically, "tomorrow" occurs at 11:59pm Central Time in the U.S.). The items are all over the map, though typically they're electronics of some sort -- MP3 players, laptops, television sets, speakers, thumb drives, and so... READ ON

Article

On the Typography of "Mad Men"

Mad Men is a fantastic drama currently running its second season on AMC. It has racked up a bunch of awards, and rightfully so -- all aspects of the production are excellent, and the show also appeals to a broad cross-section of ages (all the way from grownups to old people...sorry kids). The show is set in the very first years of the 1960s, and the production is carefully designed to use period-appropriate sets, clothes, cars, everything. The attention to detail is stunning, and is often cited as a... READ ON