Trisha

For anyone who ever had a cogsci class: the Brain Observatory lab at UCSD is slicing Patient HM's brain into 70-micron thick slices, which will be mounted, stained and ultimately digitized into something Google Earth for the patient's brain -- where you can zoom in to see individual neurons, or zoom out to view entire circuits. The story about the researchers and the process is pretty interesting (despite the URL sounding like something out of the movie Anchorman): http://www3.signonsandiego.com/news... And the NY Times had a pretty good bio of the man himself, and the patience he showed over half a century of researchers wanting to ask him questions. http://www.nytimes.com/2008... I had so many classes that described his condition and the implications, but one line in the first article floored me: "His face in the mirror was a constant surprise because he remembered only what he looked like as a young man." - Trisha

I enjoy this photo from a fashion blog because it's nice to see the fashion community acknowledge that there is pride in one's appearance beyond the latest runways -- but beyond that, because this picture reminds me of what I like about November 11th. "I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke... - Trisha

Via Warren Ellis' BAD SIGNAL mailing list. To this list I would add: A photograph of your grandfather at the age of twenty-seven. - Trisha

For all my bile towards Twitter as a platform that enables people to drown the world in data by documenting details of their lives they would have otherwise thought too dull to write an entire blog post about ("Did 50 push ups at the gym." "Man I hate traffic.") ...it's actually a decent platform for people skilled at the witty one-liner. A few samples from the Fake Associated Press Stylebook's feed: --"Fuckhead" should only be capitalized at the start of sentence. When referring to a talk radio host it is hyphenated. --Always capitalize 'Bible.' You don't want to get letters from those people. --While it's tempting to call them "baristi" because of the Italian roots, the plural of "barista" is "journalism majors." --“Your” and “you’re” may be used interchangeably if you are an idiot. --The word “boner” is not capitalized, regardless of size. --On first reference, use "retweeted." On subsequent references, you may use "RTed," "copied" or "had nothing original to say." - Trisha

Gorgeous for their grotesqueness; this is fashion beyond trying to be "fashionable" and -- part fetish ballet boot, part Alien-movie antagonist -- I might not wear it, but I love that it exists. (Ok, I might wear it. (It's a pair of shoes, not a tattoo.)) - Trisha

Gorgeous for their grotesqueness; this is fashion beyond trying to be "fashionable" and -- part fetish ballet boot, part Alien-movie antagonist -- I might not wear it, but I love that it exists. (Ok, I might wear it. (It's a pair of shoes, not a tattoo.)) - Trisha

New Dr. Horrible! It's kind of like a bluescreened methadone version of the real thing, but it is new, and it is Dr. Horrible. - Trisha

New Dr. Horrible! It's kind of like a bluescreened methadone version of the real thing, but it is new, and it is Dr. Horrible. - Trisha

Nathan held a disco ball; I held the pager for [redacted]-team. I look fairly miserable in my quarter-second of presence in the audience. This is actually some solid acting, since I was not technically following the instructions to be cyber-stalking exes to invoke the proper mood, and was instead playing Tetris on a borrowed pager. At any rate, hats off to Ms Palmer for playing a great show, and having some interesting insight on making a living as a musician apart from record labels. - Trisha

I feel pretty strongly about both liking bikes and hating Multiple Sclerosis. (Though "hating" is hardly a strong enough word.) So it's just a matter of choosing which of the 30-odd options in their Etsy store to get. I love the idea of buying this one: http://www.etsy.com/view_li... ...and when people ask me why I've got a poster of an octopus riding a bicycle, I can say, "Because fuck MS, that's why." - Trisha

Sweet. But not so sweet I won't use it to point out how it makes twittering at celebrities seem empty by comparison. - Trisha

Love, music, and neurological betrayal. This is a fascinating cogsci bonanza, a description of superhuman devotion, and an exquisitely wretched example of the intricacies of the brain, and the varying degrees of 'existing' in human existence. - Trisha

I cannot explain exactly why Geoff Manaugh's writing style always reminds me of Steven Millhauser, other than that both have that slow creep of something strange and not quite right and usually quite extraordinary or fanatastic into a story. Or in Manaugh's case, a post on a blog about architecture. I would watch this movie. - Trisha

Bit late to the game on this one, but this is rather clearly some of the best filmmaking of the decade. Watch it for the cinematography this time. - Trisha

I imagine, in the hierarchy of marketers, the people who create perfume ads occupy some elite tier, able to look down on mere car commercial makers and breakfast cereal advertisers, or anyone else who advertises a tangible product with verifiable attributes. Phrased alternately, perfume commercials may be the ultimate in BS. That said, while I never imagined the man who directed Delicatessen and City of Lost Children to be shilling for Chanel, this commercial is gorgeous. The making of is pretty interesting; Jeunet makes a particular comment that this project being backed by a luxury house allowed him to work in a world that doesn't exist anymore, in terms of allowances for extravagant filmmaking, intricately detailed sets, etc. I'm not sure how long ago he's remembering (pre-current economical crisis? Pre-WWII?) but it made me wonder, what changed? Do studios and investors just demand such high profit margins now that there isn't available budget for it? Or has the decreased demand... - Trisha

Interesting; most accounts I had heard so far credited the dynamiting of buildings as an unpopular but bravely necessary step to prevent the spread of the fire in 1906. The story of how Hotaling's Whiskey was saved (and more so, the scathing account of General Funston and the military's contribution in the article linked from "unfathomable professional incompetence", a long but worthwhile read,) suggests that the dynamiting generally causes more fires via flaming explosion debris, and that many swaths of buildings were saved by ordinary citizens. Most of them were ordered to leave by the army and secretly returned to their houses; there's at least one account in the linked article of various diplomatic efforts including inviting the solider giving the orders in for a glass (or three) of wine. Apparently many homeowners had spent the first days of the fire filling every available container in the house with water -- down to teacups and vases -- and were able to beat the flames away... - Trisha

Reminds me of the stop-motion graffiti by BLU in Brazil. - Trisha

Beachley's portrait looks like the stuff that steampunk dreams are made of. I'm not sure which is more impressive -- his mostly-death-defying tenacity in chasing more outstanding feats of aviation, or the fact that he used to buy diamond engagement rings by the dozen. - Trisha