February 2011

Uncategorized

Speaking more than one language works like a mental gymnasium by strengthening the ability to distinguish between irrelevant and important information. According to a new study, people who speak more than one language are better at prioritizing tasks and working on multiple projects at one time. “We would probably refer to most of these cognitive advantages as...

Uncategorized

Vs. Religion Lawrence Wright, who wrote the epic New Yorker story about Paul Haggis's  defection from the Church of Scientology (bullet points here), talks to Fresh Air about the fact-checking process for his article, which required five fact checkers and 971 queries to the organization. Listen here. Vs. Poetry Michael H. Miller at the New York Observer offers...

Uncategorized

It's easy to breeze past a column of YouTube videos, but together these clips make a point about Haruomi Hosono. Difficult to pin down, his style ranges from folk rock and proto electronica (recently shown some love by Deerhunter and The Fader) to tropical exotica and weird, watery dreamscapes inspired by a trip to India,...

Uncategorized

[caption id="attachment_1542" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Introvert / Extrovert"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1543" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Comedy / Horror"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1544" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption=""We need to talk" / "Let's try to make it work""][/caption] via cinismoilustrado.com...

Uncategorized

1966 -- Stella, still just a teenager, parodies Sheila 1981 -- Christian Vander, then Stella's husband, and his band Magma pay tribute to Otis (that's Stella at left in the opening shot) (Warning: I find this song and its performance fascinating, but Magma fans, more used to this kind of crazy, seem to agree it's the worst...

Uncategorized

I'm no fan of flying, but click here, turn on the sound and try not to get worked up over the retirement of Japan Airlines' entire fleet of 747s. If you still feel nothing, check out the "Arigato, Jumbo" photo gallery (this is necessary either way  for the '70s-era uniforms) and then contemplate the "Memories...

Uncategorized

Seriously, rest of the world, you can do so much with print nori. For example: Label your onigiri! left: shake (salmon) and ume (pickled plum) Make some memorable business cards! center: Hamatomi Co., wholesale seaweed Brand your ramen nori--using Old English font! right: Kagura Now get on it....