Friday, May 31, 2019

A #MeToo-inspired take on The Joker







How will Netflix's CEO "reconcile his personal political activity with Netflix’s stance against abortion restrictions"

Variety:
Netflix took an unusual stand this week, threatening to withdraw from filming in Georgia if an abortion ban is upheld.

...

[Netflix CEO gave] $143,000 to 73 Missouri legislators, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson . . . between July 2018 and February 2019

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“All of these personal donations from Reed, on both sides of the aisle, were made in support of a specific piece of legislation aimed at improving the availability and quality of charter schools in Missouri.”

...

The charter school bill died without a floor vote in the legislature.

Jaws tiki mug by Mondo

"Charter schools accused of stealing $50M from California"

WaPo:
Prosecutors say A3 enrolled about 40,000 students throughout the state, none of whom received any services.

...

The company that operated a network of 19 online-only schools
And speaking of education:
Duke University is agreeing to pay more than $54 million to settle claims that it and nearby University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill conspired to hold down salaries of medical professors by agreeing not to hire staff away from each other.
And:
Duke University will pay $112.5 million to the federal government to settle allegations that researchers submitted applications and reports containing falsified data to win more than two dozen grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department said on Monday.

"How Drake Landed Retro Dell Curry Raptors Jersey"

Darren Rovell:
It would be the ultimate troll move. With the Toronto Raptors hosting the Golden State Warriors for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Drake would be front and center wearing a Raptors jersey with “Curry” on the back.

...

Martiniello and Weil eventually reached a deal for the size 52 jersey, neither disclosing the final price. Now Martiniello just needed to figure out how he was getting it to Drake.

It was day’s end by the time Martiniello got it, and he didn’t trust next-day shipping. So Martiniello and Flores, the man who found the jersey, got in the car and drove 10 hours to Toronto in time for a hand-off on Wednesday night

“It turns out the original basis for this 10,000-step guideline was really a marketing strategy”

Atlantic:
“In 1965, a Japanese company was selling pedometers, and they gave it a name that, in Japanese, means ‘the 10,000-step meter.’”

Based on conversations she’s had with Japanese researchers, Lee believes that name was chosen for the product because the character for “10,000” looks sort of like a man walking.

Monster Hunter bomber jacket



Buy.

Annual Marimba Challenge

From the thread:










Ten funny tweets

















































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Thursday, May 30, 2019

South Philadelphia councilman introduced a bill "that would ban balconies and bay windows"

Philly:
For some homeowners in the market for newly constructed homes, balconies and bump-out bay windows offer two things that a traditional rowhouse can’t: additional space and light.

Other people see these architectural features as a defining symbol of gentrification — bringing with it anxieties about cost-of-living increases and displacement. And yet others worry that the features disrupt the appearance and character of older blocks.

Another clever demonic portal










*See more wargaming scenery.

John Wick is a fairy










Related, the Parabellum Arabic Blood Oath Marker replica is available for preorder.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Han Solo in carbonite hockey goalie pads

Baby Sarlaac

The Louvre "Closed As Workers Strike, Citing Overcrowding"

NPR:
The Louvre was shuttered on Monday, leaving hordes of tourists outside amid its famous glass pyramids. The reason? The Paris museum's security and reception staff were on strike, protesting "unprecedented deterioration of conditions" amid record crowds.

The museum, located in a former royal palace on the city's Right Bank, attracted a record 10.2 million visitors last year – a 25% increase over the year before.

...

Amid rising crowds from 2009 to 2018, staff headcount declined in that period

"Black market cannabis shops thrive in L.A."

LATimes:
The state’s marijuana market got off to a sluggish start in 2018, with revenue from the first year of legal sales falling $160 million short of what was projected in former Gov. Jerry Brown’s final budget. High taxes and the refusal of many cities to allow legal cannabis sales have been blamed, while those restrictions have allowed a resilient black market to thrive.

Nowhere is that problem more glaring than in Los Angeles, where the number of illegal storefronts rivals legal dispensaries. In what should be the state’s most lucrative pot market, many legitimate business operators say they can’t compete with the hundreds of stores that are able to sell at a lower price by skirting taxes.

Win a Godzilla jacket (with dorsal fins) from Suntory







Contest details here.

Excellent idea for a John Wick game




Also, good podcast idea:


Raptors vs. Warriors game 1 poster



Designed by Casey Bannerman, "A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada."

Related, Ka’wine & Dine

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

"The North Face used Wikipedia to climb to the top of Google search results"

AdAge:
The brand and agency took pictures of athletes wearing the brand while trekking to famous locations around the world, including Brazil’s Guarita State Park and Farol do Mampimptuba, Cuillin in Scotland and Peru’s Huayna Picchu. They then updated the Wikipedia images in the articles for those locations so that now, the brand would appear in the top of Google image search results when consumers researched any of those locations

...

According to the agency, the biggest obstacle of the campaign was updating the photos without attracting attention of Wikipedia moderators to sustain the brand’s presence for as long as possible

...

From Leo Burnett Tailor Made's original statement, it seems the agency was anticipating such a reaction to the North Face effort all along. In stunts like these, the ensuing controversy and attention around it can be part of the overall campaign goal and strategy.

There must be enough streaming services to make this Perfect Strangers reboot happen

"The Pentagon has its own island off New York where nobody can go that it's using to run war games for a giant cyber attack on power grid"

Business Insider:
Only a few have gone through the extensive background checks needed to access Plum Island — where a secretive branch of the US government runs exercises to prepare for all-out cyber war.

The speck of land in the Long Island Sound, owned by the Department of Homeland Security is largely deserted. The main attractions are a defunct lighthouse and a center that studies infectious animal diseases.

It is also the perfect setting for the US government to stage mock cyber attacks on the power grid.

Every six months, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — part of the Pentagon — ferries over experts who work to jumpstart a dead grid, while warding off a series of cyber threats.
*Previously: "Finnish soldiers find 'secret Russian military bases' after raiding mysterious island"

Ten funny tweets



















































*More funny posts.

Westworld cosplay

Ten funny tweets

















































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Monday, May 27, 2019

Ten funny tweets























































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Sunday, May 26, 2019

The completed Dungeons and Dragons live action commercial for Renault

Former King Digital chairman (Candy Crush) "stands to make at least $200 million if his team can get promoted to the Premier League" by winning on Monday

Darren Rovell:
he started buying up pieces of a Championship division (English soccer’s second division) team with hopes of turning it into Premier League gold.

That team for Morris was Derby County

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But time is running out. By most accounts, Morris is now losing roughly $4 million a month based on a huge payroll for a Championship League team. He doubled down by buying the stadium and made a gamble by hiring

If Ferrari designed a suit of armor


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"A top NASA executive hired in April to guide strategy for returning astronauts to the moon by 2024 has resigned"

Reuters:
Last week, the Trump administration asked Congress to increase NASA’s spending next year by $1.6 billion as a “down payment” on the accelerated goal of landing Americans back on the moon by 2024

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The two people with knowledge of the matter said Sirangelo’s ouster was sealed by increasing skepticism that 2024 was a realistic deadline for moon landings.

Wargaming miniatures roundup




Saturday, May 25, 2019

Old podcasts with Raptors GM Masai Ujiri

9/18 with Woj, 10/17 with Simmons.

And here he is in February:

Turning phone cases into Star Wars datapads (Star Wars roundup)







Pole vaulting nightmare fuel




*More nightmares.

Markets in Los Angeles keep running out of celery due to a new juicing craze

LAT:
the “Medical Medium,” may have no actual medical training or a professional background in healthcare, but that hasn’t stopped him from publishing four New York Times bestselling nutrition books extolling the benefits of celery juice, all while winning personal endorsements from celebrities

...

At Erewhon, organic celery sales have increased over 350% at each of its locations since the start of 2019. Gelson’s, meanwhile, says sales are up more than 200% compared with this time last year. And at Lassens, purchases have doubled in recent months, which has caused some locations to occasionally run out of celery entirely.

...

The juicing craze has caused celery prices to spike — to as much as $5 a bunch at organic health food stores such as Erewhon. According to the Western Growers Assn., the average retail price for celery in Los Angeles has jumped more than 30% over the last year to $2.59 a bunch. Over that same period, the price farmers were paid per bunch of celery has skyrocketed by 670% to $2.63.

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[The author] dubbed himself the Medical Medium because he claims to receive health and nutrition secrets from a voice that he refers to as “Spirit.” He says he began hearing the voice as a young child growing up in Maine in the ’70s.

Frank Dux and Cuyler Smith's other new fictional universe trading cards are available online



At G1988.

Ten funny tweets

















































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Clyde Court Summertime



"Windows down, volume up. Clyde Court Summertime is here. Just in time to revive your kicks and refine your craft, you won’t be missed on the court or in the streets with this fresh take on the Clyde Court. With an all-over checkered print and bright colors, cue the summer, summer, summertime."

When your food is extremely eager to taste you (Nightmare fuel)

Eldar warband















*See more miniatures.