Thursday, April 12, 2007

Pop-up video

The NY Times looks at the latest trend in trendy high-end home theaters - outdoor screens.

Get a load of the giant "pop up" screen at the edge of the pool, the palm trees and oceans in the distance. Yeah...I could could get used to a home theater like that...

article at NY Times

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

One gallon jars of mustard and ... a coffin...

Mark Morford at the SF Chronicle points out something in his latest column that is rather surprising and creepy: selected Costco locations are selling coffins.

The thing I don't quite understand is what one would do with a coffin if you're not going to be buried in the thing right away. Sure, you'd like to save money and be prepared, but where do you put a coffin for a year or two or three before you actually use it? Do you use it for storing all those Beanie Babies you're ordering off of ebay? Stand it up in the corner and use it as a walk-in closet?

article at SFGate.com

Friday, April 6, 2007

Early reel to reel tape

Here's one of the earliest and most unusual pre-recorded reel to reel tapes I've seen turn up on ebay.

This is the soundtrack album for "The Living Desert", Disney's first "True Life Adventure" film. The tape is basically made on a stock Scotch blank tape with a label pasted over the box; it has an unusual large flange reel with the title and speed directly printed on the reel itself. It probably dates from 1954 or '55. (It reminds me of some of the early Columbia reel to reel tapes that turn up once in a while that have a generic Columbia box with small labels printed on them for the particular tape inside.)

I'd be curious how many of these were produced and if Disney put out other reel tapes in the mid-fifties.

auction at ebay

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Moving maples

Have you noticed less and less US produced maple syrup in recent years?

You might want to make a trip to the northeast soon to enjoy the maple trees - they're dying off in the US as things warm up and most maple syrup production has moved to Canada.

article at Slate

New Mexico film industry

Will Albuquerque become the new Los Angeles?

An article in the LA Times looks at the increasing numbers of Hollywood based film businesses moving to New Mexico. The state, rather than trying to attract the occasional film shoot like North Carolina, has concentrated on incentives to get the production and post-production businesses that support the industry to move to the state.

article at LA Times

Gaynsta rap?

Well, I'm not a big fan of rap in the first place, so it should be no surprise that I hadn't heard of any gay rap artists that were well known enough to get national press coverage.

I suppose it had to happen - the masculine swagger of the whole rap scene does remind me of the kind of vibe one gets from visiting some leather sites or watching pro wrestling ...

buzzfeed list of links

The Stanford Prison Experiment

The NY Times has an interview with the lead researcher in the 1970's "Stanford Prison Experiment". There is currently a movie in production about the experiment; the researcher reflects on the experiment in the interview and discusses it in the context of the Abu Gareb abuses.

article at NY Times