Clipmarks | Babe_ORiley's clips

Wood density holds key to Stradivarius

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:04:42 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley

LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers using a medical scanner have worked out why a Stradivarius violin sounds so good -- it is because of the remarkably even density of the wood.

For the past 300 years, musicians and scientists have puzzled over the unparalleled quality of classical Cremonese violins made by Italian masters like Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.

Using an adaptation of a computer program developed to calculate lung densities in people with emphysema, they were able to analyze the physical properties of violins without risking damage to instruments worth millions of dollars.

They found no significant differences between the median densities of the modern and the antique violins but did discover far less variation between wood grains of early and late growth in the old ones.

Tags: violin, stradivarius

Sacha Baron + Will Ferrell in new film

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:31:57 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sacha Baron Cohen will star as detective Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as his loyal assistant, Watson, in an upcoming film comedy inspired by tales of the fictional English sleuth, Columbia Pictures said on Wednesday.

Cohen, 36, and Ferrell, 40, last appeared together in the 2006 auto racing spoof "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," with Ferrell in the title role and Cohen playing his rival, a French speed racer.

Screenwriter Etan Cohen, no relation to the British comedian who sprang to movie fame as "Borat," has been signed to pen the screenplay for the as-yet untitled Sherlock Holmes film, the Sony Corp.-owned studio said in a statement.

The story will use as a starting point the principal characters created by Scottish-born author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th century.

No launch date for the production has been set, and no other decisions about casting or a director have been made.

Tags: ali g, borat, will ferrell, sherlock, watson

Slash & Sebastian Bach's top-secret project

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:29:56 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: Weiland was thrown out of Velvet Revolver in April, with the band citing his "increasingly erratic on-stage behavior and personal problems." Weiland responded by saying that Bach would be a "fantastic" substitute.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

DETROIT (Billboard) - Sebastian Bach says Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has contacted him "out of the blue" for a top-secret job, but not as the replacement for the group's fired frontman Scott Weiland.

The former Skid Row singer said that stepping in for Weiland would be "awkward" given his friendship with Slash's former Guns N' Roses bandmate Axl Rose.

Slash quit Guns N' Roses in 1996, frustrated with Rose's imperious manner, and they have been estranged ever since. Bach and Rose, however, are on good terms: Bach sings on the as-yet-unreleased Guns album "Chinese Democracy," while Rose sang on three tracks on Bach's 2007 solo album, "Angel Down," and gave him the opening slot on two Guns N' Roses tours.

Bach said the Slash project was "mind-blowing," but that he had been sworn to secrecy and nothing was happening right now.

Tags: guns n' roses, skid row, slash, bach

Make your own fonts!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:40:24 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: Charles Andermack, a font designer who works under the nom de lettres Chank Diesel, likes to brag that one of his custom fonts has been sitting at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. He created Truck King, the font used to typeset “Jon Scieszka’s Trucktown Smash! Crash!” an illustrated book about trucks. Mr. Andermack’s design firm, Chank Fonts (chank.com), builds custom fonts for advertisers, book designers or corporations looking to capture a special look or style.

While Mr. Andermack’s fees can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for full families of fonts with all the diacritical marks and permutations, he can turn anyone’s handwriting into a font for $200. These custom fonts, also available from other sites like vletter.com, are popular not only with scrapbookers but also with professionals like real estate agents who want to add a personal touch to their letters.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Before the personal computer, most people were oblivious to fonts. Some may have recognized Courier and Elite on the I.B.M. Selectric typewriter ball. Then word processing programs offered a hundred or more fonts, from Arial to Wingdings. More were offered in software packages and on the Internet. Now, many people can recognize fonts by name. Indeed, a documentary about typography and one of the most familiar typefaces, “Helvetica,” played to sellout crowds at film festivals.

Gene Buban, a DVD producer in the San Francisco Bay area, wanted an urban flavor for a hip-hop music video compilation, so he turned to FontStruct.com, a font design and sharing Web site that is a combination of a drawing program and a social network.

Many designers also share their creations and display them on other social networks. The site lets users choose from among six licensing options, which range from locking out others from using the font to encouraging people to borrow as much as necessary.

Tags: helvetica, fonts, ibm

America's favourite movies!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:29:26 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: interesting mix of movies

Clip Source: www.afi.com

#1 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

#1 CITY LIGHTS

#1 THE SEARCHERS

#1 RAGING BULL

#1 VERTIGO

#1 THE WIZARD OF OZ

#1 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

#1 THE GODFATHER

#1 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

#1 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Tags: america, vertigo, films

Eggy Tales

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:13:55 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: fantastic!

Clip Source: mail.google.com

If you think setting up dominos takes talent; take a look at this...

ONE SNEEZE AND IT'S 'SCRAMBLED EGGS'.

...... Egg-cellent Job eh?

Tags: eggs, dominos

Rare Hendrix, Marley performances sold online

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:14:55 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: wow!

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Vintage concert performances by such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix will soon join the nearly 500 recordings already available for download purchase at the music and memorabilia site Wolfgang's Vault.

The additions were made possible through a deal between Universal Music Group (UMG) and Wolfgang's Vault founder Bill Sagan. The recordings include live performances by UMG artists culled from thousands of concerts produced by late promoter Bill Graham, along with gems from other catalogs and archives dating back decades.

If the concert is longer than 30 minutes, a full download is priced at $9.98, with concerts of less than 30 minutes at $5.98. Some one- or two-song performances cost $3.98. The site will continue to offer free streaming.

"Of the 1,434 concerts that are up on the site, 488 can be downloaded right now," said Sagan. "And some very major artists will be downloading within the next 30 to 60 days."

Tags: hendrix, marley, wolfgang

Twain: From Pauper to Prince to Pauper

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:19:34 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: it will be really sad if this happens!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

HARTFORD — It was here in the third-floor billiard room where America’s greatest humorist used to hole up when the bustle of his house, and the nursery one flight below, became too great, leaving strict orders not to be disturbed.

Seated at a desk tucked behind the billiards table, he wrote and rewrote in longhand such masterpieces as “Huckleberry Finn,” often beseeching his editors to stop cleaning up his language and restore the earthier vernacular he preferred.

But now the fanciful, three-story confection that was built by Mark Twain in 1874 at the height of his success may be forced to close because it is running out of money.

In a reversal of fortune that seems ripped from the pages of Twain’s classic “The Prince and the Pauper,” the nonprofit organization that has long run the 14,000-square-foot house as a museum told its trustees last month that it was “facing significant challenges” that could force it to shut down.

Tags: twain, author, house

Unknown authors and some obscure books

Mon, 19 May 2008 07:09:55 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: worth a shot

Clip Source: www.villagevoice.com

Ah, summer! The time to kick back in the sun, sucking up both gin and tonics and intellectual stimulation. But why be the hundredth person on the beach getting sand in Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth or smudging Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion with SPF 45? Put some idiosyncrasy into your life, folks! To help guide you through the waters of the literary unknown, we asked a number of authors to name their favorite obscure book. Below, their replies, which we pass along as suggestions for your arcane summer reading.

Jennifer Egan
You Can't Live Forever, by Harold Q. Masur

John Banville
Some People, by Harold Nicolson

Donna Tartt
Blood in the Parlor, by Dorothy Dunbar

Rick Moody
Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, by Ben Watson

Jonathan Ames
The Lunatic at Large, by J. Storer Clouston

Nathan Englander
Gob's Grief, by Chris Adrian

Tom Bissell
Invasion of the Space Invaders, by Martin Amis

Colum McCann
Fup, by Jim Dodge

George Pelecanos
Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter

Tags: books, unknown, obscure

Icelandic museum offers long & short of male organ

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:31:00 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: strange hobbies people have...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Hjartarson is founder and owner of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which offers visitors from around the world a close-up look at the long and the short of the male reproductive organ.

His collection, which began in 1974 with a single bull's penis that looked something like a riding crop, now boasts 261 preserved members from 90 species.

The largest, from a sperm whale, is 70 kg (154 lb) and 1.7 meters (5.58 ft) long. The smallest, a hamster penis bone, is just 2 mm and must be viewed through a magnifying glass.

One species conspicuous by its absence is homo sapiens, but that may soon be rectified since a German, an American, an Icelander and a Briton have promised to donate their organs after death, according to certificates on display.

Hjartarson said the Icelandic donor, a 93-year-old from nearby Akureyri, was a womanizer in his youth who thought having his penis in the collection might bring him eternal fame.

But vanity may make him rethink the offer. Continued...

Tags: phallic, iceland, penis

Green aliens, UFOs visit Britain

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:32:27 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: interesting...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

LONDON (Reuters) - Aliens from outer space have been visiting Britain for years and UFO sightings doubled after the film Close Encounters was released in 1977, according to secret files collating reports by members of the public.

The alien craft come in all shapes, sizes and colors but their occupants are uniformly green, the Ministry of Defence files show.

The archives (at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos) are the first batch of a four-year release programme of all the ministry's UFO files from 1978 to the present day.

The ministry dismisses 90 percent of the reports as having mundane explanations and leave 10 percent with a question mark and the assurance they are no defence threat.

A 1983 report from a 78-year-old out fishing at midnight tells of following aliens in green overalls on to a spaceship and then being told to go away because he was too old and decrepit for their purposes.

Tags: aliens, ufos, paranormal

Von Trapp villa in Sound of Music turns hotel

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:18:44 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: how lovely!

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

SALZBURG, Austria (Reuters) - "The Sound of Music," one of Hollywood's greatest money-spinners, will scale new heights when the original von Trapp family villa near Salzburg opens as a hotel in July.

The Villa Trapp hotel will give visitors a chance to sleep in the family's former bedrooms or get married in their chapel.

And the gazebo where Liesl, eldest of the von Trapp daughters in the film, and her boyfriend Rolf meet secretly and perform "Sixteen going on 17" will also be available as a self-assembly construction set.

"The hotel really is a milestone for the commercialization of The Sound Of Music for Salzburg," said Leo Bauernberger from the Salzburg provincial tourism board. "The Sound of Music is well and truly a stroke of luck for this city."

The 1965 film based on the true story of how aspiring nun Maria sang her way into the hearts of Baron von Trapp and his seven children has provided fans with a host of must-have items.

Tags: von trapp, villa, movie

Fat pets!

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:43:46 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: so sad...

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Well if these pictures of the world's fattest pets are anything to go by, there must be some obese dogs-lovers out there, as well as cat and guinea pig owners.

Sadly experts say overweight dogs are likely to die two years earlier than lean ones and have a much poorer quality of life, so let's hope the diet commences soon.

Guinea PIG: A fury friend with too much fat

This squirrel has had too many nuts

Fat-out: This pooch doesn't need to be thrown a bone

Fur-wheel drive: This dog need to get out and walk

One too many mice for this fat feline

Tags: fat, pets, guinea pig

Hands Up! I'm an Iron Maiden fan

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:00:33 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: haha so crazy!

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Having a gun pulled on you in Sao Paulo would be a frightening prospect if you weren't walking the streets with Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, and the gun-wielder wasn't an autograph-hunter... oh, and a policeman.

"I'm a cop," says the man, laughing and revealing a pistol.

Seconds earlier, he'd pulled up besides Gers and the Revealed production team in an unmarked car in a back street of Brazil's most populous -- and dangerous -- city.

"I want a picture. I am police."

After rummaging through his bag for his identity card, the presumably off-duty policeman produced a red leather biker vest which Gers duly signed in blue biro. The excited fan shook his hero's hand.

"He'll be arresting people at the concert," Gers laughs.

This is what life is like for Iron Maiden in South America, a hotbed of Maiden fanaticism.

"In South America, it's like verging on hysteria," says Adrian Smith, one of the group's three guitarists.

Wrinkles can get you ciggies

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:50:44 GMT

clipped by: Babe_ORiley
clipper's remarks: Trust the Japs to come up with yet another invention.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

TOKYO (Reuters) - Cigarette vending machines in Japan may soon start counting wrinkles, crow's feet and skin sags to see if the customer is old enough to smoke.

The legal age for smoking in Japan is 20 and as the country's 570,000 tobacco vending machines prepare for a July regulation requiring them to ensure buyers are not underage, a company has developed a system to identify age by studying facial features.

By having the customer look into a digital camera attached to the machine, Fujitaka Co's system will compare facial characteristics, such as wrinkles surrounding the eyes, bone structure and skin sags, to the facial data of over 100,000 people, Hajime Yamamoto, a company spokesman said.

"With face recognition, so long as you've got some change and you are an adult, you can buy cigarettes like before. The problem of minors borrowing (identification) cards to purchase cigarettes could be avoided as well," Yamamoto said.

Tags: cigarette, wrinkles, machine