Whether you think that you can or you think that you can't...

Today's soundtrack is an excerpt from Gau by CMKK and an excerpt from Interstices III by Illuha.

In case you missed it, do a Google image search for "atari breakout" and enjoy their tribute to the classic game. I played this game a lot on the Atari 2600.

I'm glad to see that Texas Monthly's list of the top 50 BBQ joints includes Fort Worth's Cousin's Bar-B-Q, my personal favorite. Also on the list is Bartley's in Grapevine.

For my friends in NYC, you have until 02 June to see Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings, a self-generating installation of images and sound, at the Red Bull Music Academy.

James Franco is starring in and directing a film adaptation of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, currently showing at the Festival de Cannes. How long before I can catch it on HBO?

Happy (belated) Mother's Day - source

<aviation pr0n>

Video of the X-47B UAV being launched from a carrier.

A photo essay of transporting the A-12 (predecessor of the SR-71) in secret to its testing site in the Nevada desert.

Video of the fantastic XB-70 landing with its gear on fire.

Aviation humor. Never fly with a pilot braver than you.

</aviation pr0n>

And here I thought I was the only one picky enough to complain about the filename of your resume. Don't send me "resume.pdf" - send "FirstnameLastnameResume.pdf." And absolutely don't send me "good-resume.pdf" or "resume-version5.pdf."

Mathematics eye candy in the form of animated GIFs.

In a case of archeology of the recent past, a Paris apartment that has been closed and unoccupied since 1939 when the owner fled at the start of WWII was recently reopened after her death.

Christie's sold themselves quite a bit of "post-war and contemporary" (aka modern) art this past week. So many great painters and paintings were included in this auction that I can't list them all here so I'll link to the auction results. Of course, Pollock's Number 19 (1948) set a record for any of his works at $58 million. Rothko's Untitled (Black on Maroon) from 1958 sold for $27 million.

Clyfford Still, PH-1, 1953 - Was expected to bring $15-$20M at Christies' auction but went unsold.

Mankind's smallest and most remote art museum is on the moon because of a tiny ceramic wafer smuggled onto the lunar lander with six drawings by Claes Oldenburg and others.

Mildly interesting: top 10 iconic moments in college football history.

A long article on who did what during the golden age of Disney animation. tl;dr

CS Principles is a pilot project to remake an AP course in computer science. In case you're curious, here's a list of the top principles of computing: computation, communication, coordination...

And now presented for your consideration: can Conway's Game of Life be adapted to a Penrose Tiling and related issues?

Git on yer retro geek: photos of famous scientists in their laboratories. Not to be outdone, checkout famous authors' handwritten notes for their books. And for you fans of classic scifi, here's a look at the Star Trek writer's guide from 1967.

Award-winning artist Richard Wright was commissioned to hand paint 47,000 stars on the ceiling outside the room in the Rijksmuseum where Rembrandt's Starry Night is displayed.

I have never watched the TV show Arrested Development but I know many people who love it so this is for them: every recurring joke in chart form.

Definitely worth taking 15 minutes to watch the sci-fi video Project Kornos.

A cloud is a lot heavier than you think.

Here's your weekly time waster: Eschersketch

...you are usually right. ~Henry Ford

foo

Timebomb by Gerald Seymour

Gerald Seymour's Timebomb certainly isn't a James Bond thriller. Instead of banter, flash, and daring-do it's an unglamorous, realistic study in how many things can go wrong while still achieving the desired result.

Seymour brings the understatement of le Carré and the verisimilitude of Clancy to the tale of a Soviet nuclear warhead being brokered by the Russian mob to buyers unknown.

Every character in this tale is flawed. The MI-6 team leader is a universally disliked Cold War veteran who has to run this interdiction with a talented but minimally staffed team because only one other person believes this isn't a wild goose chase. The ex-Soviet military types, out to get their due after being rejected by the disintegrated USSR, are old geezers who hopelessly underestimate the job of transporting the device from its hiding place to the point of exchange. The mob boss is a soulless beast driven by tales of his grandmother's escape from Sobibor near the end of World War II. And MI-6's inside man is slowly reaching the point of psychological breakdown to the point where he begins to think the mob boss is his only true friend.

Any fan of John le Carré's work will enjoy Gerald Seymour's Timebomb.

Fiction gives us a second chance...

Today's soundtrack - EndlessCity/ConcreteGarden by the collaboration of Roger Eno and Plumbline.

Do you remember Geometry Daily? The artist behind it shares the story behind its first year, the site's popularity, and plans for the future. (Be sure to watch the video Gray Keys at the 2nd link.)

There must be something wrong with me. MIT Technology Review's annual list of 10 breakthrough technologies doesn't excite me much this year. 3D printing, OK. Temporary social media (e.g. SnapChat)? C'mon man.

On the other hand, MIT Tech Review does tantalize with this article about the Tunguska explosion of 1908. You've probably heard about that - a blast about 1,000 times larger than Hiroshma that devastated a remote region of Siberia. The generally accepted theory is an atmospheric explosion of a comet or meteorite but no one has ever found a single fragment. Until now.

Speaking of meteorites, you gotta check out this animated timeline of all witnessed meteorite-earth impacts.

It's That Time of the Week 

The periodic table of elements but with flags of the country of discovery.

The periodic table of Star Wars episodes IV, V, and VI.

The periodic table of Middle Earth for all you LoTR fans.

The illustrated periodic table of the elements. (PDF)

Phew - That's Over

If you think those standing and walking desks are shitty ideas and if you realize that your best thoughts often occur on the throne, you'll love the CanDo Lavatory Workstation.

Flying car? The PAL-V.

Draw whatever conclusion you like but I've lived in two of the top 10 redneck cities: Fort Worth (#6) and Cleveland (#9). Cleveland? How'd it make the list?

And Now, A Refreshing Drink

A Baltic Porter made from seaweed? Quaff that, beer buddies.

Sierra Nevada (Brewing) meets Sierra Nevada (Corp. - the spacecraft people) and the result is the brewing of beer.

In a medical advance for the mouthless, here's how you drink beer with your ear.

Moving On

Aviation pr0n, video version. The X-51A scramjet-powered WaveRider achieves hypersonic speeds. And the X-47B UAV completes a simulated carrier landing.

More than you ever wanted to know about North American English Dialects.

Presentation tip #37: do not tell a female audience member she's a lying bitch while you're onstage.

If you believe that Walt Disney invented Mickey Mouse you'd better read this article about Disney artist Ub Iwerks and his many talents.

Moving forward in the animation timeline, here's an interview with Tom Sito who recently authored a book on the history of computer animation, Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation.

Pop Chart Lab brings us this visual history of video game controllers.

Take 8 minutes for a video about the art of data visualization. 

How about a color video of London in 1927?

Need blank sheet music for your band, chorus, solo, or ensemble? Look no further than Music Paper.

On the other hand, maybe musical notation needs to be a bit more freeform like Cycles 720 where music is defined by the interaction of shapes.

How many of the top 30 philosophers of all time can you guess before clicking the link? Hint: the most recent is Sartre.

Would you be surprised to learn that some atoms have pear-shaped nuclei? So what, you might say. Well, they may help explain supersymmetry by revealing an asymmetric distribution of charge inside a neutron.

Truly TL;DR but you movie fans might like it - Steven Soderbergh talks about the state of cinema.

Abstract art. Did it peak in the latter half of the 20th century? Or is now the golden age of abstraction?

I added that last part. source

What does it take to restore the shuttlecraft Galileo from Star Trek, The Original Series? Lot's of money and 2,000 hours (and counting).

This TL;DR article about "living in space" seems to compare reality with fantasy regarding human activity in space. It does contain this bit of self-delusion: "The business of getting people to and from orbital space is now largely routine, thanks in no small part to the retirement of the accident-prone Space Shuttle and a greater reliance on sturdier rocket-and-capsule technology." First, access to space is hardly routine. Putting humans and/or cargo into space is still a very risky proposition. Let's try to imagine the shitstorm in the wake of the destruction of a commercial launch vehicle and crew. Second, the Space Shuttle wasn't accident-prone. In fact, you could make an argument that it failed much less frequently than it should have (statistically speaking).

In the future, gray hair may be a thing of the past thanks to science. Now that we know that hairs turn gray from the inside out due to a build-up of hydrogen peroxide we can create something that offsets the process.

Can you believe an entire website dedicated to the original 1966 Batmobile?

Collectors Weekly takes us on a trip down memory lane as it considers the history of men's underwear. "Undergarments as we know them today were first sold to promote cleanliness and improve the comfort of wearing clothing. That they might one day be deemed fashionable was not even an after-thought." Uh, when did I miss this fashionable underwear bit? How can something unseen be considered fashionable?

If I can trust Google Translate, the mascot of Brazil's Assistant Association for People with Cancer is a giant, walking pair of testicles.

Think you're having a bad day? I was swallowed by a hippo.

...that life denies us. ~Paul Theroux

It is easier to appear worthy of a position...

Giant. Inflatable. Poo.

Teh interwebs were made for this: a collection of bedpans.

This brief article about drummer Jerry Marotta and when he first met Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp (Marotta, a blues and R&B drummer, clicked immediately with the enigmatic Fripp) includes a long video interview with Jerry about the Security Project, a tribute band of sorts that's touring with material from Gabriel's Security album.

Every Noise At Once is a map of every music genre with samples.

Are you starting a new job soon? This list of 10 tips will help you start things off on the right foot. #3 Build relationships based on performance, not conversation.

Congress continues to seek new things to screw up. A recently proposed bill would "replace peer review at the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a set of funding criteria chosen by Congress." That's like LiLo opening her own rehab clinic.

Things you wish you'd thought of. Mark Rothko, No. 14, 1960 done in toast and jam at the San Francisco MoMA.

Is the taxation of online sales inevitable? Read about the Marketplace Fairness Act.

SoundBrush looks like an interesting iPad app. You draw, it plays music.

Some cranky person isn't a fan of Silicon Valley and made a Tumblr to prove it: Jesus Christ, Silicon Valley.

Begin Video

• John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning/Day of Drums - Documentary from 1964
• Learn to Say F*ck You to the World - A Sol Lewitt letter set to music by Rancid's Tim Armstrong
• Pirates of the Carribean Part 1 and Part 2 - How the Disney attraction came to be.
• The Pre-Mortem One Liner - A compilation of famous lines spoken right before the bad guy gets his comeuppance.
• Have you ever seen an atom? - Get a close-up view of platinum atoms.
• True Facts About The Duck - Zany Ze Frank makes you laugh.
• Penn & Teller Explain Numbers - Uh Oh
• A Boy and His Atom - Those wacky IBMers make an animated movie by manipulating individual atoms.

Fin Video

Is that book small enough for you?

Comedian Louis C.K. is funny. He also seems to be a trailblazer in marketing.

Texas A&M is gonna spend $450 million to increase seating capacity at Kyle Field to 102,000.

They're making a movie of Ender's Game starring Harrison Ford and some kid named Asa Butterfield. The official trailer comes out on 7 May so I guess this clip is just a teaser. The book is good. I wonder if the movie will be.

How well do you know religion? Take this 15 question quiz from the Pew Research Center and find out. I got 13 correct and both of my incorrect answers were stupid mistakes about Christianity and Catholicism. Doh!

What are the best programming fonts? (I downloaded Source Code Pro but can't make vim use it. ;-(

A vintage photo of the exterior panel's of Spaceship Earth at Disney's Epcot, presumably during construction. From the Vintage Disney Parks Tumblr.

Here is a collection of vintage photos of German aircraft downed over England during WWII.

Has it really gotten to the point where we need Esquire magazine to tell us how to be gracious?

On the other hand, it's important to know about a good suit.

If you are a newspaper reader like me, you may find these past visions of the newspaper of tomorrow to be quaintly amusing.

Jackson Pollock, Full Fathom Five, 1947 (detail). Read about how understanding Pollock's process is crucial to conserving his paintings. His beautiful, beautiful paintings.

Don't know what kind of beer to have next? Try BeerMapper, the Pandora of beer apps.

This list of Cold War era government projects is labelled "ridiculous" but that not all of them are. Some are real. Some are horrific.

Heracleion found.

Regardless of your personal opinion of Jerry Jones or the Dallas Cowboys, their stadium's collection of 50 contemporary art installations is an impressive achievement. Tours are offered 3-times per day, Tuesdays and Thursdays. They even have a free iOS app.

Begin Big Thoughts

Students aren't being taught to read anymore. "...the foundational step of actually reading the words on the page is neglected often to the point that actually reading the assignment isn't necessary..." Read this and weep.

Lest we embrace solely the quantitative, consider the Pythagorean Temptation. "Too assiduous a delight in the quantitative may conceal our intellectual natures from us, and disfigure our lives."

When art meets law. Most of you will find this tl;dr but here's a summary of a recent, precedent-setting appeal courts ruling on fair use in the art world. 

Back to Little Thoughts

Feeling underappreciated? Give yourself an award with Thousands Under 90.

So, have you seen the Arby's commercial where that surfer dude guy says the sandwich is "ono" meaning delicious in Hawai'in? I wanted to know if that was true (it is) but a Googling tangent discovered this page of Canadian slang. Serviette? Really?

Proof that you can write a witty review of an all-vegan strip club. (No naughty pics, OK to read anywhere.)

Have you heard the story of beer bricks?

Women fine 10 day's worth of beard stubble most attractive on a man? C'mon ladies, pick a side - clean shaven or bearded, not this in-between crap.

Here is today.

...one does not hold, than of the office one fills. ~Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The Album Cover Challenge

Jim threw down the gauntlet and I accepted it - The Album Cover Challenge. What is it?

1. Go to Wikipedia‘s random topic selection – The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 
2. Go to “Random quotations” – The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.    
3. On flickr, click on “explore the last seven days”  - Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Then you post it to Facebook as a note. Or in a blog.

So here's mine: the new album Hand in Hand by King Corn. (I did crop the image a bit. Artistic license. And I only used 3 words of the quote. Sue me.)

And the details:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Corn_%28film%29
2. http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1608.html
3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/niccirf/8672432107/

The greatest weariness...

Tell a group of ambient/electronic musicians to transform the Brandenburg Concerto into something abstract in honor of painter Clyfford Still and the results will be multiple versions of the Still Concerto.

Too arty-farty for you? How about this real or fake, leaked or released version of Get Lucky from Daft Punk's upcoming new album? If you'd like to read more about Random Access Memories, check out this interview in Rolling Stone where they reveal the limited use of sampling and drum machines.

As I've said before, I love it when two of my interests intersect in unexpected ways. Here's a wonderful intersection. According to an article in The Independent, the CIA covertly funded and used abstract expressionism - the art movement dominated by Pollock, Rothko, Still, and others - as a weapon in the Cold War.

It seems the Soviets like to decorate public spaces using their old jet aircraft. Click through to the photo essay and see where and how old MiGs and other jets are displayed.

If you've never seen a so-called pencil test of an animation I recommend watching this 1-minute sequence from Jungle Book. Maybe you'd also like to see superimposed images of Disney animation with the live actor test of the same shot.

The sun: 3 years in 3 minutes. Fabulous video.

All 7 billion of the world's population - each one of us, represented individually - on one web page.

Ranger's pitcher Yu Darvish has a remarkably consistent throwing motion for all his pitches. Don't believe me? Check out this composite animated GIF.

All your internet memes in one place.

Five unusual beers that - get this - don't involve elephant poop! Chipotle ale anyone?

What are the best and worst jobs of 2013? Third best = software engineer. Eighth worst = mail carrier.

I don't know whether to feel enlightened or scared after reading this list of secrets your HR professional won't tell you. Or maybe HR professional should be added to the list of worst jobs.

My son thought I'd like Better Book Titles' take on Faulkner's Light in August, a novel also loved by painter Sean Scully who takes inspiration from doors, maybe "...the open door's serene rectangle..." from Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!

See this and other beautiful landscape paintings by classic Disney artist Eyvind Earle.

The periodic table of Google Analytics. On the plus side, it is a periodic table. On the minus side, it's also an infographic that isn't interactive and the subject matter is a little narrow. Also, non-interactive here's an illustrated version of the real periodic table of the elements.

From the Things I Didn't Think You Could Hear department: Alexander Graham Bell's voice.

Storm Thorgerson passed away recently. You know his work on classic album covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Peter Gabriel. At the link you'll find a video of Storm describing his work on Peter Gabriel's first three albums: Car, Scratch, and Melt.

This interactive accordion is genius and I'll let you try to figure out how to make it play.

How about a cheat sheet for typing special characters. Or a guide to identifying the type of file.

Tired of optical illusions as just images? Try the video Illusions.

Do you know your 8 types of shovels? Post hole diggers are one type. You can read about the rest.

This golden jewel may be the most beautiful poop I've ever seen. source

With Porn MD you can interactively search the USA state by state and other parts of the world for the most frequently used search terms on porn sites. (People in France are freaky.) Regardless of your sick tastes, I do not recommend putting an eel up your butt. 

Joke of the day: What do you call a woman with no asshole? (Divorced) Highlight the text between the parentheses for the punchline. source

...comes from work not done. ~Eric Hoffer

P.S. I've been listening to Steven Wilson's The Raven That Refused to Sing while I write this and you should expect a review of this glorious album soon.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

Equal parts Jack Kerouac, Hercule Poirot, and Chuck Norris, retired military police officer Jack Reacher travels across the U.S. and fortunately (for us readers) finds himself in the midst of intrigue on a regular basis.

And by "in the middle" I mean that literally. In Lee Child's A Wanted Man, Reacher is hitchhiking through Nebraska and gets a ride from from three corporate types driving home from a team building exercise. Or so they say. For what seems like the first third of the novel, Reacher is inside this car while back in Nebraska the FBI is investigating a brutal knife murder committed by two men who have since vanished.

How Reacher gets out of that car, why the State Dept. and CIA start sniffing around, and how Reacher catches back up to the car's occupants make up the rest of the story. In the end Reacher does one of the things he does best - he takes up arms and becomes a one man wrecking crew.

Lee Child has achieved what a good author strives for. He created a character in Jack Reacher who's believable (despite being fictional), likable (despite being mysterious), and flawed (despite being unstoppable). And Dick Hill's voice acting, as it has been on every Jack Reacher audiobook I've heard, is absolutely fantastic. In this case doubly so because Reacher's broken nose required Hill to read all of  Reacher's lines - for the entire novel - in a nasal voice.

And if for no other reason, you should read A Wanted Man to find out how to speak for one minute without using the letter A.

For more information see Lee Child's website at http://www.leechild.com/ and Dick Hill's website at http://www.dickhill.com/.

I received no compensation of any kind for this review.