Friday Ephemera
Giant baby robot spits fire at puny humans. // Meet Boilerplate, the Victorian robot. Plus… Boilerplate in Antarctica. (h/t, EQ-aliser) // Fondle your touch-screen, it’s made of foam. // Send grass to a friend. // Beeswax sculpture. // Ballface. // Baconlube. (h/t, Franklin) // Ningbo Historic Museum, China. // 100 abandoned houses. (h/t, Coudal) // The triumph of victimhood, part 403. // The least fair fight in history. // “The protesters seem to know with great confidence what they are against, but what they are in favour of is maddeningly elusive.” // Nature, time-lapsed. // The photographic dictionary. // Mosquitoes versus lasers. // Snorkel at home. // Suitcase curios. // And, via The Thin Man, it’s Ms Shirley Maclaine.
The foam touchscreen is lovely.
Your fair fight vid has been taken down.
This one works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKwziTJfMbg
but I expect that will go too. So here’s the search that worked
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=hitchens+mos+def&aq=0
TDK,
Thanks. I’ve updated the link. It’s car crash TV and too good to miss, really.
The Hitchens v Mos Def clip is hilarious.
Best line: “I’m not bewildered.”
I rather liked, “Mr Definitely, I’m from Hampshire.” Oh, and the onscreen caption: “Mos Def: musician / actor / activist.” Thing is, I’ve had one or two exchanges not unlike that.
“Mos Def: musician / actor / activist.”
It should have said “Mos Def: Truther”. Or just “idiot”.
The Finkelstein article is excellent.
It reminds me of the Stephen Hicks book in that Marxism originally promised to be a more efficient producer giving plenty to all. (ie Wealth is good albeit it is unfairly distributed). Now that illusion is gone, Marxists now proclaim wealth is bad.
TDK,
Yes, it’s one of his better ones:
“Extraordinarily, the problem is not that we aren’t doing enough shopping – thus leaving people poor – but that we do too much. I have struggled to get to grips with the idea – and maybe I am doing them a disservice – but I really think the notion that they are advancing, once stripped of all their posh words, is this. I go to the shop and buy a new television. The archbishops think that this impoverishes my soul, the G20 protesters think I am destroying the planet and exploiting the workers, and Oliver James thinks that I am making myself mentally ill.”
SG,
“It should have said ‘Mos Def: Truther’. Or just ‘idiot’.”
He’s definitely an idiot, but it’s funny how well he does The Truther Dance. He’s “just asking questions,” having somehow missed the answers a hundred times before. He “doesn’t trust” English translations of jihadist videos – and he stakes a lot on this “not trusting” business – yet he can’t be bothered to search out a reputable translation or ask someone who speaks Arabic. (It’s like the people who claim that MEMRI deliberately mistranslates Islamic TV broadcasts, yet have real trouble finding any significant evidence of this.) But surely the point is he *wants* to go on “not trusting” whatever news it suits him not to trust. Finding a reputable translation or doing some research of his own would only confirm the general message he wants to ignore – and pretends to distrust in order to seem “radical.”
The museum is great.
> and Oliver James thinks that I am making myself mentally ill. < Oliver James shouldn't throw stones.
A laser powerful enough to kill an insect in an instant could also damage the retina of a human eye in an instant.
1. Mos Def is a master of circular logic, as defined by running around in circles, embodied in the act of a dog chasing its’ tail.
2. Daniel Hannan has expressed the same sentiment as the Finkelstein article. “We all know what you’re against, but what exactly is it that you’re for?” Followed by the sound of crickets chirping.
3. The foam touch-screen display would seem to exacerbate Repetitive Stress Injuries. Looks cool, though.
4. I want some Bacon-Lube.
Oops, I forgot:
5. The mosquito laser will rob many of my Southern cousins here in the US of a great source of evening entertainment: a six-pack of beer and a bug zapper.
It is doomed to fail.
That Boilerplate the Robot fraud is remarkably extensive. I’ll have to check out the Star of India and see if any of that stuff is actually down there.
Fraud? It’s more of an elaborate wheeze, isn’t it?
David, thanks for sharing the mosquito laser. It brightened my day and hopefully it will save a great many lives around the world.
I used the word “fraud” with respect. Americans respect a good fraud. “Wheeze” is more precise, sure.