Clipmarks | armoredbaby's clips

Mystery McCain Mansion Solution Theory

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:37:45 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Late Update: I'm surprised this hadn't occurred to me. But several readers have suggested that perhaps one of the tech geeks charged with setting up the audio/visual bells and whistles for the evening was tasked with getting pictures of Walter Reed Army Medical Center but goofed and got this instead. At first I thought, No, that's ridiculous. This is a major political party with big time professionals putting this together. Nothing is left to chance. I mean, is this the RNC or a scene out Spinal Tap or Waiting for Guffman? I still have a bit of a hard time believing they're quite that incompetent. But when you figure in what appears to be the utter lack of any logic for this school being behind McCain and the fact that it has 'Walter Reed' in its name, I'm really not sure you can discount this possibility.

On Palin

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:07:13 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back.

Sibling to Love

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:11:57 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

True View

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:41:16 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: officeofstrategicinfluence.com

A Jew grows in Beijing

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:31:37 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: www.thenational.ae

Shapiro has spent much of his life trying to explain his adopted home to the West, first by translating Chinese literature into English, then by writing books of his own. In 1963, he traded his US passport for a Chinese one. Twenty years later he became a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious body that makes recommendations to the Party leadership. He is not the only foreign-born member of the CPPCC, but he is the only one to have had a bar mitzvah (which took place when Calvin Coolidge was the American president).

Urban Beast Project

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:32:48 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby
clipper's remarks: Awesome creativity in action.

Clip Source: www.urbanbeast.com

#2 The Urban Beast Project began when I was given 800 stuffed animals from a photoshoot for the Delias Clothings Company. (to give you an idea of what 800 stuffed animals looks like, they completely filled the Martin's Pretzel Chevy Van). I shot some portraits, made a Voyager's outfit for a wedding, gave away a few hundred that had been laundered and then started to make beasts.

Tags: stuffed, animals, taxidermy

F**k the Facts clip

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:11:26 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby
clipper's remarks: very cool article with this creative grindcore band

Clip Source: www.exclaim.ca

“That’s exactly why we do it,” Das confirms. “We’ve been around for a while and I’m older. I’ve passed that part in my life where I wondered why I’m still jumping in a van and touring for months straight. I love doing it but as you get older, your priorities change. Being a band like us, where there won’t be 400 people at a show no matter what, you have to balance a life of music with the reality of living. It’s good to stay grounded. You do what you feel strongly about. As much as someone can say they don’t care at all, those things still affect you. When you drove for eight hours and three kids show up, it affects you. You wonder why you’re doing it. As much as it hits you, we’re gonna keep doing it regardless.

Tags: ftf, fuck, the, facts

Tom Waits interviews Tom Waits

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:30:47 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Q: Do you have words to live by?
A: Jim Jarmusch once told me, "Fast, Cheap, and Good... pick two. If it's fast and cheap, it won't be good. If it's cheap and good, it won't be fast. If it's fast and good, it won't be cheap." Fast, cheap and good... pick (2) words to live by.

The Lace Reader Phenomenon

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:23:47 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby
clipper's remarks: Refreshing to hear about this kind of story, self-publisher bucking the perceived notions and conventions

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Morning Edition, August 1, 2008 · Self-published author Brunonia Barry literally dreamed her first novel, The Lace Reader, into existence: "I had a dream that I saw a future event in a piece of lace," Barry says, "and it came true the next day."

"We were emboldened by our ignorance. We knew just enough to get going, but not enough to stop us."

Eventually, Barry and Ward printed 2,000 copies of the book. Local bookstores talked it up, and word spread between book clubs around the country. Booksellers also helped Barry make important contacts in the publishing world that led to The Lace Reader receiving a starred review in Publishers Weekly.

In the end, three major publishing houses were bidding on the book, and Barry was able to choose the one she liked best. She signed with William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, for a deal that is reportedly worth more than $2 million.

Barry and Ward say that luck played a big role in their success

Everything must go USA Sale!

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:55:27 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby
clipper's remarks: I love Lewis Black's quote here...

Clip Source: www.businessweek.com

The headlines are enough to give some Americans the queasy feeling their country is being sold out from under them. "It's the End of an Empire Sale and everything must go!" comedian Lewis Black said on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. "We're so hard up for cash we're dismantling America and selling it for scrap." He cited the Anheuser sale as well as this month's $800 million purchase by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council of a 90% stake in New York's Chrysler Building.

Moist Towelette Museum

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:11:39 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: moisttowelettemuseum.com

Moist Towelette Online Museum

Quote by Boss Tweed

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:01:43 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby
clipper's remarks: I am a big fan of Thomas Nast

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - Thomas Nast's political caricatures in the early 1870s so bedeviled New York City's corrupt Boss Tweed that he once bellowed: "Stop them damn pictures! I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures."

Tags: nast, tweed, caricature

Chinese Colonization of Africa

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:30:32 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Reminiscent of the West's imperial push in the 18th and 19th centuries - but on a much more dramatic, determined scale - China's rulers believe Africa can become a 'satellite' state, solving its own problems of over-population and shortage of natural resources at a stroke.

The plans appear on track. Across Africa, the red flag of China is flying. Lucrative deals are being struck to buy its commodities - oil, platinum, gold and minerals. New embassies and air routes are opening up. The continent's new Chinese elite can be seen everywhere, shopping at their own expensive boutiques, driving Mercedes and BMW limousines, sending their children to exclusive private schools.

Tags: china, africa, colonize

Pull Tab

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:44:38 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: www.vestaldesign.com

During a trip to China, I was shocked to find a Coke can with a ring pull tab (also known as a rimple). For those of you who are not familiar with the ring pull, it’s probably because they haven’t been very widely used for decades now. (They were phased out of use in the 80’s due to sharp edges and the tendency for the tabs to be casually tossed aside and become litter.)

Stop the World I wanna get Off

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:24:05 GMT

clipped by: armoredbaby

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming.