Friday, July 31, 2015

Link roundup

1. "Former USC Star's Flag Football League Lied To Save Up To $110,000 In Rent"

2. "James Woods’ Lawsuit Is Kinda Scary, Kinda Awesome, And Really Important"

3. "J.J. Abrams Broke His Back on the Set of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'"

4. "'Marvel: Contest of Champions' Has Grossed Over $100,000,000 So Far"

Thursday, July 30, 2015

408 people were rescued from strong rip currents at L.A. County beaches on Tuesday

LAT:
Using rescue boats from Baywatch Santa Monica and Baywatch Del Rey, Los Angeles County lifeguards pulled 18 people from the waters at Venice Beach in one operation about 2:30 p.m. after a strong rip current dragged them away from the shore all at the same time.

"The illusion of audience ownership is becoming harder to sustain"

TA:
Websites plausibly marketed these people as members of their audiences, rather than temporarily diverted members of a platform’s audience.

...

2013 was the year every major site with a social strategy broke traffic records by a mile; 2014 was the year they looked around at everyone else’s sudden success and became slightly less confident touting their numbers, because they all hit them by doing and talking about very similar things; 2015, when a single weird or clever native Facebook video can easily out-traffic a week of a site’s web content, is the year it’s becoming clear to everyone who these audiences really belong to, and what it means to borrow them.

"Owners Of Nike+FuelBands Eligible For $15 Check Or $25 Gift Card Under Class-Action Settlement"

C:
both companies consistently advertised in promotional materials that the FuelBand “measures each step taken and each calorie burned,” “tracks steps, calories, and time of day,” and “tracks calories burned, steps taken and more.”

However, in reality, the suit contends that the FuelBand could not and does not track each calorie burned or each step taken, as users “experience wildly inaccurate” step, calorie burn and NikeFuel readings.

Silk pinup



By Em.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ant-Man sweded

Detailed analysis/speculation on The Guest

Who is David...

"$75,000 Offered To Find Some Jerks Who Flew Drones During [Southern California] Wildfires"

LAi:
All five San Bernardino County supervisors decided yesterday to spend $75,000 on rewards in order to help find the drone operators responsible for grounding firefighting aircraft during three major wildfires

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

"the Philippine military only heard about China’s island-building program from fishermen."

WSJ:
The Philippines—Military commanders in Asia are putting surveillance planes at the top of their wish lists, ahead of warships and fighter jets, as they strive to protect their territorial waters from rival claimants.

Several countries are hoping better intelligence will keep a lid on the region’s worsening maritime disputes by deterring provocative actions in remote stretches of ocean that Asian countries claim but aren’t able to monitor effectively.

Sid from Toy Story vinyl figure



By Medicom, $11.99 preorder.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

"Ex-Hasid’s death bares anguish of leaving ultra-Orthodox sect"

NYP:
Imagine not knowing that the sun is a star, or that there’s a solar system. Imagine not knowing what a human cell is, or what menstruation is, or, until you’re 18 and three weeks away from your arranged marriage, what sex is and how it works. Imagine never asking for a puppy growing up, because dogs bark, and that means they are beasts and demons. Imagine you have been told for your entire life that in the secular world, people mainly rape, pillage and murder, that it’s all a lawless meaningless free-for-all, and you are safe only in your little enclave, where these things do not happen.
...
To most secular New Yorkers, it seems incomprehensible that even the most devout, observant ultra-Orthodox Jews would be so cut off from the modern world — after all, they walk the streets of New York, are exposed to advertising and storefronts, to the subways and roads, to the shared outside stimuli.
Yet the ultra-Orthodox do all they can to insulate themselves.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Friday, July 24, 2015

Thursday, July 23, 2015

"Myth of pristine Amazon rainforest busted as old cities reappear"

NS:
What is today one of the largest tracts of rainforest in the world was, until little more than 500 years ago, a landscape dominated by human activity
...
After Europeans showed up, the inhabitants were decimated by disease and superior weaponry, and retreated into the bush, while the jungle reclaimed their fields and plazas. But, thanks to a combination of deforestation and remote sensing, what’s left of their civilisation is now re-emerging.

"Lululemon is expanding its product line...to to include beer"

"Lululemon's Curiosity Lager is a 'crisp, bold session lager' with 4.6 percent alcohol by volume"

CBS weathercaster posting live feeds that "sort of resembles the dynamic of live streaming porn"

LA Observed:
Evelyn Taft, the morning weathercaster, now announces on Twitter that she will be live on Periscope prepping to go on the air. The Evelyn Taft groupies who go over there get to watch up close via laptop camera as she brushes her hair, puts on eye makeup, and verbally replies to some of the fanboy praise that flows by on Periscope such as "You look like a model" and "Are you single?" (Her answers: Thanks for the compliment, and "I am not.") Some of the male comments that stream past are much cruder, of course. They get a show as carries the computer onto the set and lets the Periscope viewers watch from the side as she waits to go on the air. They see her do her weather segment, then she comes back to the computer and whispers more comments into the Periscope screen.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Before I Wake movie poster

"the gap between the revenues of Gawker Media and the revenues of Vox Media, the gap is around $20 million a year"

CNY:
"There’s a thing called the Gawker tax which represents the cost of selling these brands that any moment can blow up, they can blow up because of internal dissension, they can blow up because of a story that goes wrong, and they call it the Gawker tax.
...
"Now, I don’t want to close that gap and I don’t want to become Vox Media, but the fact of the matter is that it is really hard to sell Gawker, Gawker.com in particular, because Gawker.com likes to pick fights with pretty much everybody. That's just the reality,"

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

John Bonner's illustrated book reviews



These are really good. Via.

True Detective Season 2: Mapping the Real Places of Vinci and Beyond

Curbed:
The sophomore season of HBO's True Detective winds through and around a fictional version of Los Angeles's once-very-troubled neighbor, Vernon—the city serves as the inspiration for the corrupt, toxic little city of Vinci—but filming was spread around Los Angeles in casinos, old nightclubs, houses, and delis from Santa Paula to Rancho Palos Verdes popping up in the series' five episodes thus far. From the warehouses of Boyle Heights to the over-the-top mansion in Beverly Hills that plays the role of the Vinci mayor's house, we've collected and mapped all the seedy, strange, and eerie locations used in the season so far.
Relatedly, I saved this from this week's updated credits:

"Scott Walker Push For Milwaukee Bucks Arena Subsidy Could Benefit His Fundraising Chief"

IBT:
Real estate mogul Jon Hammes, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and causes, is a prominent member of the investor group that owns Milwaukee’s NBA team. Last week CNN reported that he also will serve as the Walker campaign’s national finance co-chairman.

Moon Knight print



Prints by Em available here. Commissions start at $60.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Marathon Gas's slogan is "Get a full tank of freedom"



You can download the song, too.

From the same commercial block I just saw that also featured a toilet paper ad that encourages you to "find out if getting cleaner gets you confident enough to Go Commando":
Dare a friend to Go Commando and we’ll send you and your friend a personalized commando kit with a free sample.

WWE star Tyson Kidd nearly died in the ring

Happened last month.







"leaked footage, apparently shot in 1933 or 1934, showing [Queen Elizabeth II] perform[ing] a Nazi salute"

TG:
"Buckingham Palace said in a statement that it was disappointing the film...had been exploited"

Friday, July 17, 2015

The paperwork for when Darth Vader assaulted Admiral Motti

DW:
Parties Involved: Motti, Conan (Admiral) ~ Darth Vader (Dark Lord of the Sith)

Describe the Incident: During a command briefing, routine bickering escalated to paraphysical violence. Motti issued a discriminatory insult to the Dark Lord of the Sith and the latter retaliated using some form of mental strangulation.

Further Actions Necessary: Recommend Religious Sensitivity Training for Motti. A bulletin regarding the etiquette of proper military bearing should be issued to all senior staff. Vader is to not receive punitive action of any kind.

"I spent some time thinking about stories I would happily, or at least guiltily-happily, read about David Geithner and this escort, if the stories happened to be true."

"This is in order of what I would be most comfortable reading to least comfortable:"

Lucasfilm comments on Amy Schumer's Star Wars-themed GQ covershoot

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Cesaro's triple suplex from this week's episode of Raw

Bill Cosby and the BBQ Sauce Episode

"Historians Demand Angel's Flight Reopen, Again"

LAist:
it operated until 2001 when a crash caused the death of one person and injured seven others.
...
Angel's Flight operators were "using a tree branch for months to bypass a safety feature when one of the cable cars derailed [in 2013]."
...
"Angel's Flight is one of the great historic attractions of our city, a palpable link between the lost Victorian neighborhood of Bunker Hill and the vibrant new Downtown below."

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

"[Noble families] disappeared all the time—so much that historians at one point estimated the half-life of nobility"

io9:
In both Europe and China, the average family would rise up and sink back down in four to six generations. The Roman Republic, between 500 BC and 27 BC, did better, as a little under one third of its top fifty families were still on top after five hundred years. But in Medieval Europe, out of any given group of noble families, fifty percent would be eliminated one way or another by the next century.

California Governor "Jerry Brown signed a law Wednesday to ensure that cheerleaders for professional sports teams receive the minimum wage, workers' compensation and other labor protections"

LAT.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Weirdworld #5 cover



By Mike Del Mundo.

October 2015 DC Comics


Sinestro #16 cover by Karl Kerschl.



Doctor Fate #5 cover by Sonny Liew.



Grayson #13 cover by Mikel Janin.

"The Worst Badvertising of Comic-Con 2015"

io9:
Fans of the Divergent books, help us out: do toilets play a large role in the storyline of the sequel, Insurgent? Cause it’s not ringing a bell with us. Even if there is some kind of hidden association here, it’s never a good thing to have people associate your movie with using a toilet.

"In short, we don’t trust public [drinking] fountains anymore. And it’s making us poorer, less healthy and less green."

WaPo:
“Most people over the age of 40 have really positive stories of drinking fountains as kids,”

Update on the Annihilation movie

Alex Garland:
Early on this week, I was on a location [scouting]. We’re getting to the point where you’re thinking about the practicalities.

Monday, July 13, 2015

"ESPN will contribute roughly 25% of [Disney]’s operating profit this year"

"The 9 Bullet Points of Doom for ESPN"

Castle Grayskull in Brooklyn by Paolo Rivera



PR:
A couple dear friends got married this weekend. This was their gift. There's a little, ugly building in Brooklyn where they met, and we call it Castle Grayskull.

Kujira Whale Knives



$55 each.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

How to use a team of children's toys to commit burglary



"specific combinations of remote-control children’s toys could be hacked by ambitious burglars to do everything from watching you leave on your next vacation to searching your home for hidden valuables"

Rise of the Tomb Raider poster by Geoff Darrow



XBox:
to celebrate this week’s San Diego Comic-Con 2015, we’re announcing a limited-edition series of Rise of the Tomb Raider-inspired posters, designed and drawn by four famous artists: Geof Darrow, Frank Kozik, La Boca, and Tara McPherson

"Caitlyn Jenner's 1984 Olympic Torch Heads to Auction"



AN:
Heritage Auctions is offering the Olympic torch carried by Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner at the 1984 summer games in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The sale, titled Platinum Night Sports Auction, will be held on July 30 in Chicago.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

X-Men: Apocalypse SDCC poster



Via.

Crimson Peak - Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Holyywood

Bruce White's paintings now available



G1998.

"Evelyn McDonnell, author of Runaways book, comments on [why] her book does not include the revelation that band member Jackie Fuchs was raped in front of numerous witnesses"

Statement on “The Lost Girls”:
I have issues with the story’s sometimes sensationalist tone, the reporter’s methods, and some of the response to it online – particularly the way other women tangential to this story (including Joan Jett and myself) are also being targeted and blamed, by men.
...
Although I did not know him at all, I attempted to help him as a colleague. In return, he exploited my research in his article and has repeatedly attacked me online. The irony of this male bullying in the context of this story has not been lost on me, or on many other journalists who have rallied to support me. Cherkis’s unprofessionalism in my brief encounter with him casts a shadow over “The Lost Girls.” I wonder who else he misled.

Friday, July 10, 2015

New Force Awakens character revealed



"California state beaches to shut off outdoor showers"

LAT:
"They can bring along a gallon jug filled with warm tap water from home, for instance" he said. "A fine-bristled broom is also a terrific way to remove sand

"Former Subway Guy Jared Fogle Allegedly Called Middle School Girls 'Hot'"

"The former journalist says that she was so disturbed by his comments that she contacted the FBI shortly after, and that the agency had her wear a wire and record phone conversations with Fogle."

"Wesley Snipes' stand-in was in more of Blade: Trinity than Snipes himself was"

Polygon:
"...Wesley Snipes? Not only was he not prepared to help his fellow actors during their close-ups, but if the shot involved anything less than a front-on close-up, he called for a stand-in to do the acting for him," Parry wrote. "What does that mean? It means Wesley Snipes' stand-in was in more of Blade: Trinity than Snipes himself was."

According to Parry, much of what you see in the film is actually a double

"Comic-Con: Christian Activists Disrupted By 'Beast Rises' A&E Promoters"

"New promotional materials for the 'Omen' prequel 'Damien' were handed out alongside the real religious protestors known to frequent the convention."

Billy Arboc G.I. Joe figure



Cobra Commander's Son: Billy Arboc.

"Shepard Fairey was arrested in Los Angeles"

"He was charged with a felony after he allegedly vandalized...14 different locations in [Detroit]"

Thursday, July 9, 2015

New Mutants commission



By Brandon Graham.

"Only one in eight Common Core-aligned textbooks actually meet Common Core standards"

TDB:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt—which had over 30 texts evaluated, none of which fully met standards—said it was “fully committed to working with our customers” and would continue to work toward improving its products.

"Across the country nearly 48 million [chicken] have either died, or have become so sick that they had to be euthanized"

"As the egg shortage continues, more and more restaurants and bakeries are being affected"

"15 Toys And Action Figures That Have Consistently Gone Down In Value"

io9:
after Spawn became a hot property, every indie comics publisher had to have its own toys. And that included a lot of “bad girl” comics, such as Warrior Nun Areala, Double Impact, Gwynne, Hellina, and others, says Kent. Comic book stores are jam-packed with unsold boxes of these toys, waiting for a resurgence in interest in bad girl comics that may never arrive.

"the single most successful Airbnb host in New York 'controlled two hundred and seventy-two unique units and received revenue of 6.8 million dollars'"

TA:
The true innovation of the sharing economy—or maybe it’s the startup economy, or entrepreneurship (or maybe just…capitalism)—is in the continued refinement of the perception of value, not necessarily in offering new services and developing new products, but in making them available for cheaper, because, as it turns out, when you don’t pay anyone a salary or give them benefits because they’re all subcontractors, and you don’t actually have to invest in any of the infrastructure upon which your business model depends, either directly or by paying taxes, your costs are a lot lower than everyone else.

"Jeb Bush announces unprecedented fundraising haul of $114 million"

"The number is far ahead of the pace of fundraising in prior years. For instance, Restore Our Future, the super-PAC for 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney, had raised $12 million over the same time period"

"If the timing is right, you can see the Milky Way from inside a Malibu sea cave"

"For photographer Jack Fusco to get a clear shot of such a moment, it takes some luck and a lot of prep work. He checks tide charts and compares them to astronomy apps to see when would be the best nights to shoot. And then he just has to hope the weather will cooperate."

Latest ESPN Body Issue photo gallery

Link.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The least valuable players in MLB

TC:
Next week, baseball will hold its annual All-Star extravaganza, celebrating its superstars, its most valuable players, and the best performers from the first half of the 2015 campaign. But what about the other side of the fence, the game’s worst players who are clearly the weakest link on their team, don’t they deserve some recognition, too?

Die Hard Nakatomi set



Via.

The new Batmobile



Via.

Nike football logo



Nike Vapor Speed.

New DC action figures based on Darwyn Cooke designs



Via.

"the Frequent Locations menu" on your iPhone

WD:
go to Settings, Privacy and Location Services. Then go to System Services and find the Frequent Locations menu. There, you will see your home address and basically anywhere you've been recently, from shopping malls to other people's homes. Not only that, if you click on a location, it will also show when you got there and when you left. Crazy, right?

Poster for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Glow in the dark poster for the Spirited Away bathhouse



On sale now.