The Latest from Boing Boing

Business cards made from meat Posted: 23 Apr 2009 09:23 PM PDT I wonder what the "your business card is crap" guy would have to say about these, because his fancy card has just been pwned by these awesome meat cards. We start with 100% beef jerky, and SEAR your contact information into it with a 150 WATT CO2 LASER. Screw die-cutting. Forget about foil, popups, or UV spot lamination. THESE business cards have two ingredients: MEAT AND LASERS. Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards. Meat cards Can't see the video? Click here

The Future of the Past and Present Posted: 23 Apr 2009 08:10 PM PDT Stephen Worth says: When people of the past envisioned what the inhabitants of other planets might be like, they conceived of gods and spirits who lived lives like those of the heroes and villains found in fables and ancient myths. Around the turn of the 20th century, mankind's conception of the world underwent a huge shift. Advances in technology were occurring at an unprecedented rate. These changes affected the way people lived their lives and the way they thought about their place in the universe. People began to think there might be no limit to the number of amazing changes technology was going to bring to them in the next hundred years. They were right. Today at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, I posted an article on how visionary animators like Ward Kimball and Walt Disney were responsible for putting a man on the moon. Yes, we have Walt to thank for our space program! The post contains a complete illustrated article by the father of modern space art, Chesley Bonestell, and clips from Disney's landmark TV program, "Mars and Beyond." Enjoy! ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Our Dreams of the Future

Florrie Fisher in "The Trip Back" (part 1) Posted: 23 Apr 2009 01:37 PM PDT I didn't know there was a real life inspiration for the Amy Sedaris's character Jerri Blank in Strangers with Candy. Here's Florrie Fisher talking to high school students about drug addiction. (via Save vs. Death)

Waterboard torture memo set to music Posted: 23 Apr 2009 01:19 PM PDT (Via Andrew Sullivan) Can't see the video? Click here

Wireless relay control of relays Posted: 23 Apr 2009 01:13 PM PDT Gareth Branwyn says: "In this adafruit video, Limor demonstrates how to set up Xbee modules to wirelessly control both standard-type and latching relays."

Boing Boing apartment in Comcast Town Posted: 23 Apr 2009 02:34 PM PDT Comcast (a BB sponsor) is holding a contest in which you design your own virtual apartment in "Comcast Town." They invited Boing Boing to judge but, even more fun, they asked us to suggest some Boing Boing furniture that people could use to decorate their pads! Above is the living room I designed. (I'm obviously not eligible to win. Sniff, sniff.) Notice the steampunk computer, carnivorous plant, and Flying Spaghetti Monster statue. I think the illustrator did a terrific job. In fact, I wish it was my real living room! The grand prize winning design gets a real-world room remodel, 40-inch HDTV, a new laptop, and a digital phone. I'm just helping select the ten finalists -- then it's up to The People. Comcast Town (Flash site)

Yoga teacher, age 83 Posted: 23 Apr 2009 11:29 AM PDT Bette Calman is a yoga instructor at age 83. She teaches as many as 11 classes a week and has no plans to retire. From News.com.au: "Even a basic posture, or just going to a window and breathing deeply, can have big benefits." It's that spirit that has made Mrs Calman a legend. The author of three yoga books was a pioneer of the regime in Australia in the 1950s, ran yoga centres interstate for 33 years and made regular TV appearances in the 70s. "Yoga instructor Bette Calman still going strong at 83" (Thanks, Tara McGinley!) Previously: Yoga "Eco Mat" Review: PrAna Revolution (Attention-Conservation ... Army's New PTSD Treatments: Yoga, Reiki, 'Bioenergy' - Boing Boing BBtv: Zombie Yoga. 100 undead doing poses in the park. - Boing Boing Robot Yoga - Boing Boing

Woman sends stripper impersonator to highschool reunion as a prank Posted: 23 Apr 2009 10:06 AM PDT Andrea Wachner sent an erotic dancer, named Cricket, to impersonate her at her ten year high school reunion. The dancer wore a hidden ear piece to stay in communication with Wachner. A film crew was on the scene pretending to film a documentary about artists, including Wachner. Of course, they were really documenting Wachner's brilliant prank. When she posted clips to YouTube, some of her classmates weren't too happy they'd been duped. Now Wachner has a manager shopping her story as a reality show or feature film. From ABC News: Cricket told the reunion attendees that she'd had reconstructive surgery and also suffered from amnesia. It wasn't completely unbelievable, because some had already heard that the real-life Wachner was in an accident after high school -- her car was totaled and she had been injured, but she had never suffered from amnesia. Most of them had not seen or talked to Wachner since high school, but many found her new profession suspect: Cricket as Andrea said she was working as a stripper to help pay her graduate school tuition. Daniel Wolowicz, 32, who had been an acquaintance of Wachner's in high school, said he was immediately suspicious. "She was just so different. You have to understand the community we had come from," he said. "Everyone was questioning who this person was. "I had asked her a very specific question about seeing her at a bat mitzvah when I was 15 years old," he said. When Cricket answered his question correctly, Wolowicz said he assumed it was Andrea or "someone else who had been given a lot of information." It would be awhile, however, before he learned the full truth. As the night progressed the drinks flowed, and Cricket, always outgoing, was getting ready for the climax of the evening: a striptease performed to what Cricket described as "one of the worst songs of the '90s," Lisa Loeb's "Stay." "Stripper Impersonates High School Alum: Classmates Learn About Reunion Prank on YouTube" (Thanks, Gil Kaufman!)

Auto-Tune the news - everything sounds better Posted: 23 Apr 2009 01:59 PM PDT Jim Leftwich says: "Musical remixing of the news by brothers Michael and Andrew Gregory. The Katie Couric part (at about 1:20, above) is pretty awesome." Here's another episode of Auto-Tune the News. Can't see the video? Click here

Boing Boing Video Nominated for Multiple Webby Awards. Hey, Vote for Us! Posted: 23 Apr 2009 04:56 PM PDT Boing Boing Video (formerly Boing Boing TV) has been selected as a nominee for the 13th Annual Webby Awards in three categories, and has been selected as an Official Honoree in a fourth category. Huge, heartfelt, and humble thanks to everyone who made this possible, all contributors, cast, crew, and partners, past and present. In this blog post (above, below, and after the jump) we've embedded the highlights reels we submitted to the Webby Award judges for consideration. Above, TECHNOLOGY (Download MP4 here), and below, VARIETY (Download MP4 here). After the jump, WEIRD/EXPERIMENTAL (Download MP4 here), and BEST HOST ( Download MP4 here). The Webby Award recipients are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, but the online public chooses the Webby People's Voice Award. Online voting for that award is under way, and ends April 30. If you dig the work we've done over the past couple of years in original video content, I hope you'll consider voting for Boing Boing Video here. RSS feed for new episodes here, YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video. BOING BOING WOULD LIKE TO THANK all the Boing Boing Video / Boing Boing TV cast, crew, production team members, contributors, and partners, past and present. We would also like to express gratitude to everyone at DECA who helped us launch Boing Boing TV; to the team at Federated Media; to delivery and distribution partners including Episodic, YouTube, Apple iTunes, Virgin America, and Castfire. And very special thanks and respect to Dr. M.X. Quetzalkanbalam. Above: Boing Boing Video's highlights reel for "Best Reality/Variety Host" Above: Boing Boing Video's highlights reel for "Weird and Experimental."

Throbbing Gristle: What A Day. (Boing Boing Video shoot notes) Posted: 23 Apr 2009 10:59 PM PDT (Snapshots from the BBV Throbbing Gristle shoot by Chris Cooper). Boing Boing Video and Richard Metzger shot an interview with art-damage/industrial music godfathers Throbbing Gristle in Los Angeles. They're on a limited tour of the USA, with a show tonight in San Francisco, and dates scheduled in Chicago and Brooklyn (info on dates, venues, and tickets here). The resulting BB Video is yet to come, but I wanted to share some notes, photos, and ephemera from the experience. Metzger is a super-mega-otaku fan of TG, and covered their legacy extensively through Disinfo publications and video releases. My knowledge is nowhere near as comprehensive as his (he's even stumped TG members with knowledge of early songs they've forgotten!). But I have been fascinated with them since I was a teenager, when a friend in a punk squat loaned me a beer-stained copy of V. Vale's 1983 RE/Search book about industrial culture. When I phoned TG's manager Paul Smith on Monday to ask for permission to shoot for Boing Boing Video, I explained that I believed TG were the cultural ancestors for much of the "mutant" culture we explore here on Boing Boing. Sappy but sincere. Without their early experiments in nihilistic machine song we would not have "industrial music." The projects that split off when TG first disbanded -- Chris And Cosey, Coil, Psychic TV -- only expanded their cultural footprint. Countless acts owe them a huge genetic debt -- everyone from Einsturzende Neubauten to Skinny Puppy to NIN to Aphex Twin to Radiohead to every other act you're likely to type in the comments. COUM Transmissions, the experimental performance art collective which preceded Throbbing Gristle, was responsible for legendary shock-events so extreme, they'd make Tubgirl, Goatse, and the Two Girls with One Cup blush. The TG show we witnessed (and shot for BBV) this week reflects less of that shock, anger, and taboo-bombing, and was almost entirely instrumental. More moody, doom-y, Faustian. But the physically overwhelming sounds "took the meat off the bones," as Metzger put it. And it was fucking amazing. Tuesday night's performance was a reprise of a live, improvised soundtrack TG composed for the 1980 Derek Jarman film In the Shadow of the Sun (you can watch a snip of the original version here). "These people are the wreckers of civilisation", said conservative Member of Parliment Nicholas Fairbairn back in 1976. He was talking about Throbbing Gristle. During the BBV interview, we talked about what it's like to go from being "wreckers" of culture to being celebrated as cultural heroes. We talked about Twitter and Flickr. Gen asked what the difference is between blogs and websites, and announced s/he'd recently acquired her first Blackberry. Ruth has some snapshots of the shoot and the soundcheck here. TG member Chris Carter is on Twitter here, and his photos are on Flickr here -- don't miss this incredible photoset of historic "lost and found" TG photos. TG member Cosey Fanni Tutti is on Twitter here. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is here. And Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson is here. Some archival interviews I've been reading and re-reading, as we edit the interview: This one with Cosey, about her art and her explorations of the sex trade (for her, one and the same). And this amazing interview purportedly from 1978, by an Australian reporter for NME, which was apparently never published in NME. This article in Artlurker by Federico Nessi. And this review of a box set in Artforum. Thee Boing Boing Video episode(s) are "coum-ing" soon. (Special thanks to Richard Metzger, to Boing Boing Video's production crew, and friends who helped along the way: Ehrich Blackhound, Ruth Waytz, Chris Cooper, Jason Louv, Suzan Jones, and Greg Chong, to name a few. Very special thanks to Paul Smith, and to the members of Throbbing Gristle). Previously: Throbbing Gristle and Derek Jarman - Boing Boing Listen Today: 24 hours of Throbbing Gristle - Boing Boing Genesis Breyer P-Orridge's copyright pants - Boing Boing Brion Gysin biography and a Disinformation event in NYC - Boing Boing Psychic TV turned on again - Boing Boing Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge of Psychic TV, RIP

Naked man tasered at Coachella for refusing to wear wizard's robe Posted: 23 Apr 2009 05:00 PM PDT A naked man at the Coachella festival didn't want to put on his clothes, so the police wrestled him to the ground and tasered him multiple times. The crowd, who didn't seem to mind the naked wizard, booed the police, and called them names. Thanks to Tracy Anderson for videotaping the event. (Video shows nudity.)

A Lesson in Proper Dueling Technique Posted: 23 Apr 2009 09:20 AM PDT Maggie Koerth-Baker is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. A freelance science and health journalist, Maggie lives in Minneapolis, brain dumps on Twitter, and writes quite often for mental_floss magazine. It is not as simple as merely being able to count to three paces. Take it from Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset; a duelist who followed every fine tradition that accompanied killing someone over a bruised ego, came away a winner (i.e., alive), and still managed to end up with a bit of egg on his face. First: Get Embroiled in a Love Triangle Lord Edward Bruce loved Venetia Stanley. But so did Edward Sackville. This being 1613, the disagreement quickly turned to impassioned slapping, which was, of course, an invitation to duel to the death. Second: Evade the Wrath of Frustratingly Anti-Duelist Political Leaders Besides commissioning a translation of the Bible, England's King James I is also well-known for disliking the "barbaric" traditions of dueling. (Progressive leader, or pansy worried about losing? You be the judge.) In fact, he banned duels in England during his reign, so when Lord Bruce and the Earl of Dorset wanted to fight, they had to take the grudge match overseas. Naturally, they chose Holland. Third: Die With Dignity It is a shame pay-per-view was not around in those days, because the fight turned out to be pretty evenly matched, with both men severely wounding each other. Finally, though, the Earl managed to stab Bruce straight through...twice. After that, Bruce was pretty much done for, and the fight broke up so both sides could seek medical attention. But, while the Earl was busy with his wounds, Bruce's doctor attacked him from behind. This was not looked upon kindly by either contestant. At the time, doctors were thought of as little better than maids, and Bruce couldn't bear being avenged by someone so low on the social totem pole. From his deathbed, he demanded that the "rascal" doctor halt the attack and, thus, died honorably...if somewhat pointlessly. Fourth: Survive, But Wonder Whether Perhaps You Missed a Step Somewhere Victorious, the Earl of Dorset headed back to England to claim is lady love ... Only to find out that, while he and Bruce had been busy paying attention to each other, Venetia Stanley had gone off and married somebody else. You can read about three other noteworthy historical duels--involving, respectively, two high-class ladies; the founder of the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and George W. Bush--in my book, Be Amazing

Artist offers to cover your shed with fabric Posted: 23 Apr 2009 09:01 AM PDT Shed friendly artist Elena Thomas asks, "I am an artist currently working on a shed project which involves me covering sheds with fabric. do you have a shed that you want covered?" Do you want your shed covered in Fabric? (Thanks, Uncle Wilco!) Can't see the video? Click here

EU Parliament passes copyright term extension, rejects proposal to give the addition funds to artists Posted: 23 Apr 2009 09:00 AM PDT Glyn sez, Against widespread dissent and controversy MEPs in the European Parliament voted this morning to allow copyright term extension to pass a first reading. 4 out of the 7 main groups (ALDE, GREENS/EFA, NGL, IND/ DEM) together with a cross party platform of MEPs voted to reject the proposal. Internal opposition threatened the group positions of the two largest parties (PSE and EPP) as several national delegations and key MEPS also joined the fight to reject. We understand that, in total, 222 voted in favour of rejection, 370 against. The final vote was 317 in favour, 178 against, 37 abstentions. A key amendment to ensure benefits accrued only to performers was also rejected. The proposal now moves forward to the Council of Ministers where it is currently blocked by member states. The fundamental problems remain: how to include a workable use-it-or-lose it clause; agreeing to deliver real benefits to the vast majority of performers; how to avoid breaking the respect necessary for a functioning IP system by simply taking money from the pockets of consumers. Discussions on the proposal will be held in the Council of Ministers and you can find out how to contact your government's relevant IP body here. (We understand the blocking minority is currently made up of Slovenia, Portugal, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Slovakia, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Romania). Parliament buckles: copyright extension goes through to Council of Ministers Previously: EU votes tomorrow on copyright term extension: act now! - Boing Boing Europeans: ACT NOW to stop copyright term extension in the EU ... How copyright term extension really works -- video rebuts record ... Europeans: sign petition now to fight copyright extension for ... UK culture secretary: "Screw the facts, I'm extending copyright ... EU set to extend copyright on sound recordings -- call your MEP ... Entertainment industry's greedy lobbying is their undoing - Boing ...

Your Morning Dose of Cuteness/Technophobia Posted: 23 Apr 2009 07:29 AM PDT Maggie Koerth-Baker is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. A freelance science and health journalist, Maggie lives in Minneapolis, brain dumps on Twitter, and writes quite often for mental_floss magazine. Researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea have successfully made transgenic puppies, according to New Scientist. The baby beagles carry a gene normally found in sea anemones, which means....yes....these fuzzy-wuzzy little puppykins glow in the dark. Thank you, science. What, you may ask, is the point of a glow-in-the-dark dog? Er, well, this seems to be the point where everybody starts shuffling their feet and staring awkwardly up at the ceiling. One member of the research team says the experiment is basically just a proof-of-concept. What they really want to do is make transgenic dogs that could serve as research models for human disease. But while the other scientists interviewed in the article seem to agree that glowing puppies are a pretty damn awesome accomplishment, they're less convinced on any near-term practical applications of the technology. New Scientist quotes Greg Barsh, a geneticist at Stanford University who studies dogs as models of human disease: "I do not know of specific situations where the ability to produce transgenic dogs represents an immediate experimental opportunity," And Nathan Sutter, a dog geneticist at Cornell says it's not on his horizon at all, partly because of the expense of making and caring for the dogs...but also because the public still isn't really ready to accept that transgenic puppies won't someday rise up and kill us all. Oh, well. They're still cute as all get out and way nifty. Go take a look. New Scientist has both "lights on" and "lights off" pictures. BTW, this team is tangentially related to the guy who turned out to have faked a lot of human cell cloning data. But New Scientist says these puppies (and the cloned dog that came before them) are legit. Can't see the video? Click here

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