dangerousmeta!

Note …

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:12:00 -0000

The next two weeks are going to be busy ones here in the studio. Between now and May 30, postings will be quite irregular. I’m going to leave this notation at the top of the scroll until the slowdown is over - new items are below this post.

Telegraph.UK: Monaco Grand Prix 2012: practice in pictures.

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:49:51 -0000

Always wanted to go. Is anyone streaming the race live?

WaPo: For Ocean City’s lifeguards, summer starts with beach boot camp.

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:55:50 -0000

“They will learn to never, never turn their back on the ocean.”

WaPo: GOP showing small shifts on taxes.

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:37:08 -0000

“Of the 25 candidates this year promoted by the National Republican Congressional Committee as ‘Young Guns’ and ‘Contenders’ — the top rungs of a program highlighting promising candidates challenging Democrats or running in open seats — at least a third have indicated they do not plan to sign the Norquist pledge.” ‘Bout time. Idealogy shouldn’t be a suicide pact.

Inciweb: Latest Whitewater/Baldy Complex fire map.

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:22:01 -0000

Hasn’t reached Mogollon. Yet. [Mog’s top-left here … fire’s about five miles away, looks like.]

NY Times: As Memorial Day Nears, a Single Image That Continues to Haunt.

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:34:05 -0000

“I believe this photo has had such a long viral life not just because it is so honest but also because it is so modern. During a spouse’s deployment, your laptop is your battle buddy.” An article from the heart.

Macworld: Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Video Software Review.

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:55:19 -0000

Waiting for the comparison vs. FCPX.

Discover: Alvin, the Deep Sea Research Sub, Has Spread Invasive Species in the Ocean.

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:41:10 -0000

“For researchers, disturbing the very ecosystems they’re trying to study is bad for both science and the environment.” In simply looking, we influence. In certain scientific cases, it may be wise to not look at all. There is wisdom in mystery.

Guardian.UK: Sadly Barack Obama, like Mitt Romney, is an apologist for the 1%

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:28:57 -0000

“Take the case of JPMorgan Chase. Official records show that the bank’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, a major Obama donor, has made at least 18 visits to the White House since the start of 2009, meeting the president himself on at least three separate occasions.” Eject corporate interests from inside the Beltway. Like, yesterday.

SciAm: New Zealand Jails Ship’s Officers for Reef Wreck.

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:21:15 -0000

We’ve heard it for decades now … why any government would let a Liberian-registered ship near their shores boggles my mind.

SciAm: How Can We Cope with the Dirty Water from Fracking?

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:20:18 -0000

“Simply dumping it improperly is not an option, because the high levels of salts and minerals will poison a river, stream or aquifer or it will render land incapable of supporting life for generations, like the salt pans of Utah or the ancient farm fields of Carthage salted by the Roman army.” If fracking were done cleanly, responsibly, it would be unaffordable. It’s only in that grey area between actual regulation and full-on production that it remains profitable … which is why the industry fights so hard to prevent regulation.

BBC News: Space station gets ‘a dragon by the tail’.

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:05:25 -0000

Congrats, SpaceX.

Open Culture: Ridley Scott Demystifies the Art of Storyboarding.

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:56:56 -0000

“Other filmmakers, such as the heartily improvisational Werner Herzog, have dismissed storyboards as the tool of ‘cowards,’ of ‘those who lack imagination,’ of ‘those who are bureaucratic and nothing else on the set.’” If you’ve got an endless budget, Mr Herzog. Only a fool goes into a shoot without some tight storyboards. They don’t preclude serendipity - unless you’re horribly anal and parochial - whereas having a solid idea to start from gives better results.

Vimeo: She’s Alive … Beautiful … Finite … Hurting … Worth Dying for.

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:42:06 -0000

Be sure to watch to the very end.

Discovery: Were the Cavemen of the Danube Flutists?

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:37:36 -0000

Flautists, ifyouplease. The other is so gauche. “Early modern humans could have spent their evenings sitting around the fire, playing bone flutes and singing songs 40,000 years ago, newly discovered ancient musical instruments indicate. The bone flutes push back the date researchers think human creativity evolved.” I ‘spose drum materials would have rotted away by now.

Pacific Standard: Pop Music Getting Sadder and Sadder.

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:26:27 -0000

“Strikingly, they found “the proportion of minor songs doubled over five decades.” In the second half of the 1960s, 85 percent of songs that made it to the top of the pop charts were written in a major mode. By the second half of the 2000s, that figure was down to 43.5 percent.” I caught Chuck Mangione’s ”Feels So Good” on the radio the other day (really rare), and thought … “were we ever actually that happy?” Coincided with my youth, so I’d have to answer a big ‘yes.’

VSL/Kirk Tuck: What I learned when I dragged a Hasselblad on vacation.

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:21:58 -0000

“I learned that old, waist level cameras were invisible and anonymous. And I learned for the 10,000th time that the square beats the crap out of all other photographic formats.” Yeah.

Sunday Slacker Mag: The Early Years of Golden Stars & Automotive Advertising.

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:39:22 -0000

The Berkeley Girls have the best taste … a drop-top.

Steampunk Vehicles.

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:38:20 -0000

I wonder how much I could get an old Army truck for, and do this? “Glamping” may be the rage, but this totally rocks.

InciWeb: Whitewater Baldy Complex News Release.

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:12:04 -0000

“The complex remains at 0% containment as firefighters are unable to directly suppress the fire due to extreme fire behavior and rough terrain. They were, however, able to directly and successfully attack a few spot fires out ahead of the fire on the north end.”

Seeing as the Memorial Day ‘switch’ is about to turn on (full NM summer heat), we had the windows open last night. This morning … FAUGH … smoke’s rolling in from NM and AZ fires. Brown smudge on the horizon, smells like a smoky fireplace again.

I don’t know if I can physically/emotionally stand another summer of choking smoke.

Later: Gotta deal with it until tomorrow morning, seeemingly.

Even Later: Helps if I remember the damned link I was intending to send you to, right?