Speaking of Communism and how it works out so well… 

In van Houtryve’s hotel room, propaganda played in an endless loop on the three TV channels. North Korean biographers, striving to make Kim his more revered father’s equal, insist a swallow foretold his birth and attribute a spate of superhuman characteristics to him – the ability to manipulate time among them. Defectors have described him as arthritic and illiterate.

Posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory, documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve visited North Korea. Despite 24-hour surveillance and the pointed reticence of North Koreans, he managed to take some photographs.

Lest we forget, North Korea still has concentration camps and gas chambers. Hence perhaps the reticence. Via Mick Hartley.

Giant dancing robot spiders. // Can a helicopter lift a plane? // An AK-47 made from bacon. (h/t, Mr Eugenides) // Bacon-flavoured vodka. // Assorted hipsters. // High speed Scrabble. // Calligraphy and light. // Tools of the optician. // The degrees of online friendship. // Free B-movies. // Cat Shit One: The Animated Series. // Retro-electro version of Bohemian Rhapsody. // Time travel cheat sheet. How to reinvent the past. // Behold the Electrochef. // The life and times of Gameboy. // The growth of Las Vegas. (h/t, Coudal) // The museum of menstruation. (h/t, Anna) // “I’d rather not waste my time trying to convince smart people that they are actually smarter than stupid people.” // And, via The Thin Man, it’s Mr Tommy McCook.