Nitrate film - hot stuff!

One of the film collecting forums I frequent included a link to a fascinating training film that's been preserved via Google Video.

It was made in the mid-1960s in Luxemberg to demonstrate how firefighters might deal (or not deal) with flammable nitrate film.

It's fascinating to see them dipping the stuff in water or covering it with sand and chemicals and it just continues to burn - it sets off a chemical reaction that provides its own oxygen to fuel the fire.

video at Google video

There's also an interesting article by one of the forum members about a nitrate film fire that happened in one movie theater.

article at othercinema.com

David Horsey on 401Ks

A great cartoon from David Horsey, editorial cartoonist with the Seattle PI.

cartoon

Solitary confinement

The New Yorker has a lengthy piece this week that tackles the issue of solitary confinement - the psychological implications of solitary are quite serious and the article questions whether this type of punishment is humane. The British experiences with alternatives to solitary are intriguing.

article at New Yorker

Resetting the reset button

Recently, Hillary Clinton presented the Russians with a little gift - a red button marked "reset" in both English and Russian - to highlight a "new start" in our international relationships.

There was only one problem.

Staff in the State Department mistranslated the word.

blog post at NYMag

Trapped in "The Room"

A strange thing is happening in movie theaters - it appears a new "cult" film is being born.

"The Room" is an indie produced little drama that is so bad that audiences are flocking to it at midnight showings, mocking it and turning the showings into one big party like "Rocky Horror".

article at EW

And your bird can sing?

What if a group of volunteers had assembled data on birds and other natural observations for 90 years in various parts of the country? Think that might be useful to research climate change?

Indeed, it is.

A new crop of volunteers are digitizing the data, held on index cards.

article at cnn.com

Of cows and robber barons

The Times profiles a dairy co-op that recently suffered an all to common problem - their CEO took off, apparently absconding with funds. The article shows how interconnected all these small business interests are, from the farmers with cows to companies that sell lids for milk cartons.

article at NY Times

Warner Bros opens up the archives

Warner Brothers is starting up a long overdue website - an online store that lets you buy dvds of previously unreleased films from their archives.

The effort is aimed at fans who are looking for favorite films or beyond what's available at local retailers. They're expected to add around 20 titles a month to the site.

article at the AP

Expanding the FM band

Radio World published an article late last year about a group that's trying to do something I'm surprised no one had proposed before - expanding the FM broadcast band.

The idea would be to make more room for LPFM, relieve overcrowding on the AM band, and create more opportunities for growth on the existing FM band by extending it into the old areas for TV channels 5 and 6 that are being vacated by the switch to digital. It would also create an opportunity to finally create one or two standard frequencies for emergency use that could be worked into radio designs by manufacturers.

article at Radio World
editorial at Radio World
response at Radio World

Make your own record

Here's a video showing a very "low fi/low budget" way to make your own records:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfHWbQxZBro

Tough times at Harley Davidson

The NY Times examines Harley's problems - they've been unable to attract a younger demo to their products and the Baby Boomers that are their prime market have seen their savings disappear in the current economic crisis.

article at NY Times

Gee ... can I get a deduction too?

Seems the IRS has issued guidelines allowing tax relief for victims of the massive Madoff ponzi scheme fraud. They can deduct the losses from their taxes, basically.

Hello? IRS?

I've basically been defrauded by a cabal of Wall Street investors and now my 401K is worth diddley squat? May I deduct those losses on my taxes? Hmmmm?

article at HuffPost

Dylan's Malibu neighbors sing outhouse blues

Bob Dylan's neighbors are upset that he has a portable outhouse on his property because the smell wafts through the neighborhood on ocean breezes.

Sheesh... these people should live in the country for awhile near a farm.

Perhaps Dylan's doing this on purpose....

article at LA Times

Tom Tommorrow on apocalyptic fantasies

I'm not the biggest fan of "Tom Tomorrow", but this one's really cute - especially the punch line.

So, how do apocalyptic science fiction films compare with apocalyptic reality?

cartoon at Salon

Sexism, I tell you - it's sexism....

According to Salon's Broadsheet blog, there's a new commune in San Francisco devoted to female orgasm.

Yes, I kid you not - a commune entirely devoted to female orgasm.

So, where do I sign up for the male orgasm commune?

blog post at Salon

Tangled up in blue

NY Times blogger Christoph Niemann has a neat little illustrated essay about bothersome cables - telephone cables, computer cables, and annoying headphone cables.

blog post at NY Times

Yikes! Not a good sign...

Well, let's see. The last time we saw "tent cities", or something like them, popping up in the US was...hmmm...the early 30s?

article at HuffPost

The lady doth protest too much...

Have you ever noticed how those conservative Christians that go on and on about gays or family values usually wind up in Gay sex scandals or have pregnant teenage daughters?

Ever think about how Right-wingnut politicians that complaining about "socialist" Democrats are from states that receive the most funding from the Federal government?

Considered that Republicans try to put on a minority face in public (Palin? Steel? Jindal?), but remain a party primarily made up of older whites?

It's funny how conservative politicians wear their inner fears on their sleeve. Usually, if they keep railing against something, it's some fault in their own lives. It's a psychological thing called "transference" - if you can't deal with your own issues, you say that someone else has the problem.

The latest?

Republicans rail against pork barrel spending. Six of the ten top pork barrel spenders in Congress ... are Republicans.

article at Slate

More on the Shakespeare portraits

The New Yorker has a brief piece about the newly discovered Shakespeare portrait (you know, the one where he looks cross-eyed), comparing it to other likenesses of the Bard, including a possible painting found in Canada.

article at New Yorker

The Lives of Fred Hersch

Here's some info on a documentary on jazz pianist Fred Hersch that's been released on DVD.

Hersch was one of the first musicians in the jazz world to "come out" about the fact that he is Gay and about his battles with HIV and the documentary looks at both his significance in the jazz world and his interesting personal life.

article at All About Jazz