Tuesday, June 30, 2015

"'The Dark Tower' is something else you have in development. Why has it taken so long to get this off the ground?"

CBR:
The key has been to try to find which part of the story do you tell first and how do you tell it.

"How to Turn Off the Automatic Subscription Renewal in Apple Music"

After updating and setting up Apple Music:
Head to Settings, iTunes and App Store
Tap your Apple ID and enter your password
Tap “View Apple ID”
Under the Subscriptions option, tab “Manage”
Toggle the “Automatic Renewal” option to off

"How a Bet on Rare Earths Flopped as Scarcity Was a Mirage"

"On Thursday, Molycorp filed for bankruptcy protection, having run out of cash after a precipitous and sustained slide in rare-earth prices." (Helium next?)

"I am Sam Esmail, creator of MR. ROBOT. AMA."

R/IAmA:
My main inspiration for the show and Elliot is a combination of 3 events:
One, my aforementioned frustration with the way Hollywood represents hacking and technology
Two, my personal experience with the Arab Spring, specifically in Egypt
And three, the financial collapse in 2008.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Marvin The Martian-themed Nikes for Blake Griffin



"The Jordan Super.Fly 4 will release for a suggested retail price of $150 in China on July 1, followed by a general global release on August 5."

Sunday, June 28, 2015

"The severe inequality of the Angolan oil boom."

NY:
Half of Angolans live on less than two dollars a day, infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world, and the average life expectancy—fifty-two—is among the lowest.

...

When oil people leave Angola, he told me, they often sell their freezers, packed with American beef, to their successors. “People can charge ten thousand dollars for a well-stocked freezer,’’ he said. He mentioned that a friend once tried to sell him a roll of aluminum foil for a hundred and forty dollars. Espinosa grinned and rolled his eyes. “That crazy Randy,’’ he said. “In the end, I think I paid thirty dollars.’’

...

Displaying such wealth in a country as impoverished as Angola can be a challenge. One member of the President’s inner circle owns a Rolls-Royce, but there are few good roads in Luanda. So every Sunday he loads the car into a trailer, takes it to the Marginal—a recently renovated two-mile-long promenade along the South Atlantic—drives it for a while on the capital’s only smooth road, loads it back into its trailer, and has it hauled away.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Inside one of Panda Express' test kitchens,

LAT:
a classic regional Chinese dish called "lion's head meatballs."

The recipe plays the rich and delicate texture of ground pork belly against a clear broth and blanched Napa cabbage, curled against the meatballs to look like a lion's mane.

Company executives stabbed at the orbs prepared by Chef Andy Kao with plastic utensils, nodding in approval with each satisfying bite. The dish was ethereal, comforting and reminiscent of the version the chain's founder, Andrew Cherng, ate as a boy growing up in China.

Panda Express customers will never get to try it. That's because Kao and his team were there to reinvent the dish, frying and glazing the meatballs to make it look and taste more like something that belongs in one of the Rosemead company's 1,800 restaurants.

Profile of the party planner that recently arranged for Nicki Minaj to perform at a Bar Mitzvah

NY:
Over the years, he’s learned the nuances differentiating Manhattan’s private schools: “When you’re at Dalton, you have to keep up with the Joneses; when you’re at Chapin you don’t, necessarily.” Mauro, who is Catholic,

Gallery 1998's Clue tribute show now available online



Available here.

Friday, June 26, 2015

"Beats Teardown Apparently Used Beats Knockoffs"

"Fakes are becoming impossible to externally tell apart"

Infinity Gauntlet concept art



By Dustin Weaver.

Hellboy poster



By Komboh.

Alien target set



Listed for $1k at ebay.

"posted along the Indus, he developed a sportsman’s fascination with mugger crocodiles"

New Yorker writer reminisces about his father, a judge in India who also liked to hunt:
As he was busy in those days, hearing cases in his capacity as a magistrate, he fashioned an arrangement to mix business and pleasure. The pleaders, plaintiffs, and defendants would be instructed to meet him at a certain place along the banks of the Indus. There a large flat-bottomed barge, ordinarily used for carrying buffalo, camels, and the occasional wedding party across the river, would have been requisitioned for the day. The court, twenty or thirty strong, would embark, my father sitting on the foredeck at a desk. The barge would cast off and float down the river, guided by men with poles.

My father would knit his brow in concentration as the pleaders began. Suddenly, Mughla, my father’s notoriously unceremonious hunting guide, would roar from his lookout at the bow, “Gator time, boys!”—or, rather, “Pai chamak di hai!”

Cool Jeopardy Stories

"Simplistically yet accurately summarizing the insipid contestant interview part of Jeopardy!"





SDCC The Walking Dead Michonne Action Figures from McFarlane Toys



Color and black and white versions to be $25 each.

New Ant-Man poster

Nike's Eintracht Frankfurt soccer team uniform

Thursday, June 25, 2015

"8 restaurants with the most health code violations in Los Angeles County"

"an inspector observed that the steam table in the buffet line was turned off, leaving more than 260 pounds of cooked meat between 65 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours."

"Matt Leinart's for-profit flag football league has gained access to fields, saved money by registering as a non-profit"

OC Register:
Costa Mesa officials including Mayor Steve Mensinger and other city council members repeatedly disregarded city policies and regulations in granting the Leinart flag football league non-profit status and access to city fields. The city’s parks and recreation director said at one point he was so uncomfortable with city officials’ insistence that the Leinart league be allowed to use park facilities that he resigned.

G.I. Joe mock romance cover



By marco d'alfonso, available as a print.

"It’s Pee, Not Just Chlorine, That Irritates Eyes in the Pool"

NW:
And pools’ “chlorine” smell isn’t actually the chlorine either. The stronger a pool’s scent, the more it is filled with pee, poop, sweat and dirt, says the CDC. “Healthy pools...don’t have a strong chemical smell.”

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Tumblr devoted to gifs of orchestra conductors



Epic Conducting Photos.

Lovecraft-themed Warhammer 40K army up for bid at ebay



The units, vehicles, and some figures are being sold separately.

"A New Preschool in Japan Designed to Accumulate Large Puddles When it Rains"

ST:
Usually when it rain, kids aren’t allowed to play outside until the ground is dry. But the new Dai-ichi Yochien in Kumamoto City is designed to make sure the puddles stay exactly where they are.

The courtyard of the school is designed to accumulate rain water so that after a heavy downpour there is a gigantic, pool-like puddle just waiting for the kids to come out and play, explains Taku Hibino. The lead architect at Hibino Sekkei designed the courtyard so that on dry days it can function as a badminton or softball court and in the winter it can even be converted to an ice skating rink.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Church of Ghosts

Photo gallery.

"Turns out, that there's plenty of reason to bring in [Jar Jar] Binks, he's actually a very popular character among kids."

On potentially bringing Jar Jar to Disney Infinity:
"I remember when we saw how high he was on the character chart, I was like, ‘This has got to be because people hate him, right?'" said John Vignocchi, vice president of production for Disney Interactive. "I was totally wrong."

Clue-themed necklace



By Kiersten Essenpreis for Gallery 1988's upcoming Clue show.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Maps



Painted maps of states and Isla Nublar on sale at Etsy.

"The makers of Tic Tacs had a problem on their hands."

NYT:
After 18 months of internal study, they had concluded that the all-important millennial generation might not be content with a mere mint.

No, the millennials wanted entertainment, release from boredom, “emotional rescue.”

So this month a new and more amusing Tic Tac is coming to store shelves — the Tic Tac Mixer, which changes flavors as it melts on the tongue. From cherry to cola, for example, or from peach to lemonade.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Color versions of Jack Kirby's Lord of Light illustrations



More here and here.

Minor league baseball team will use blimp to give shade to part of stadium

IS:
The Hawks will float the blimp between home plate and the third-base stands in an attempt to create shade for fans along the first-base line. Ropes will tie it to the ground with a pulley system, allowing the club to lower the blimp as the sun sets.

"I’m Trapped in Facebook's Absurd Pseudonym Purgatory"

Wired:
TWO WEEKS AGO, Facebook locked me out of my profile. My photos and friends are gone, my profile vanished without a trace.

Someone reported my account as pseudonymous, and Facebook kicked me out. To get back in, I must provide various forms of identification proving the authenticity of my username.

Fanmade Jurassic Park poster



By FAP.

"What If NFL Logos Were Canadian?"



More here.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Predators poster concept



Anthony Petrie:
A recent finished piece I did for an official BluRay cover + poster combo for the movie Predators that unfortunately did not go forward.

Double Fine tribute print



By Ken Wong.

"J.Crew executive taunts after mass firing"

NYP:
Hours after telling members of his team they were laid off, a J.Crew veep danced on their graves at a nearby bar with fellow survivors — posing for celebratory photos that were hash-tagged with “Hunger Games” jokes.

New Hunger Games Mockingjay posters



Part of a series of 6.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

"Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez Keeps Security Guard Busy Chasing Down History"

NYT:
For years, Fastook, a former police officer and longtime bodyguard for George M. Steinbrenner, has taken pride in a particular duty: going into the stands to retrieve home run balls that might be significant to the Yankee players who hit them.

"Coraline -- Mr. Bobinsky Helped Clean Up Chernobyl"

"6 Minor Details That Reveal Major Things About Movie Worlds"

Lando #5 cover



By Alex Maleev.

Dorne travel poster



Part of a series of Game of Thrones-themed travel posters available here.

Relatedly, I enjoyed this write-up:
Like most millennials, Arya has difficulty with impulse control and trouble suppressing her need for immediate self-gratification, and therefore makes a bad intern.

Monday, June 15, 2015

"Arnold Schwarzenegger voices Waze as the Terminator"

USAT:
Schwarzenegger required a one-hour recording session to provide the automated prompts for Waze — everything from routine commands such as "turn left" to Ah-nuld-isms such as "Hasta la vista, Baby" at the end of the journey. The Terminator feature will last through mid-July.

WWE Immortals character wallpapers



More here.

Tacoma goods



Patch and mug available before the game.

"With this much setup, they should have some significant role in the endgame"

"The Fan Theory That Makes Game Of Thrones Make Sense"

Alternative guess:



And also:
Are we seriously going to spend the next 10 months on Twitter debating . . . Did . . . and . . . seriously just push a lady to her death and then leap to safety from that same height?

And:



And a thorough summary of the weak writing in the season finale.

John Flood #2 cover



By Jorge Coelho.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain E3 Trailer



The song is Elegia by New order, btw:

Venom commission



By Stéphane Perger.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Hardhome poster



By Andy Fairhust, on sale tonight in honor of the Game of Thrones season finale.