Link roundup

1. Two great articles about baseball (I like reading about baseball infinitely much more than actually watching it) - - what its like to be a Milwaukee Brewers fan; the sad state of the Baltimore Orioles.

2. I think I posted about this guy before - - he forges famous paintings, poses as a Jesuit priest, and then donates them to various art galleries. Well, the Financial Times tracked him down and interviewed him. Via.

3. An assertion that Olympus lost a huge amount of money and tried to hide the losses with help of the Yakuza.

Link roundup

(I'm not entirely clear on whether the upcoming changes to Google Reader are going to wipe out my starred items, so I'll be clearing them out over the next few days.)


The Hans Solderer. Via.



Dramatic noirish photo shoot (might be a little too racy for work).



Underwater treadmills and other tools used for physical therapy for pets.



"House in Horinouchi" by Mizuishi Architect Atelier in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. Via.



Gallery of stained glass featuring x-rays. Via these sites.

New law in Japan criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza

A new law criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza. You can read all about it here (and it's explained in the comic above).

The real Japan

A wallpaper posted at Reddit:



And the retort:

Link roundup

1. Video from 1967 showing a baby gorilla frolicking in a bathtub.

2. A commenter at Gawker:

I hate to sound like a Republican here, because I'm a lifelong liberal Democrat, but...

You can't expect to get a liberal arts degree, move to New York, find a great job and a great 1-bedroom apartment, and have enough money left over to eat out once in awhile. You never could. My parents were artists in New York in the 50s and 60s and they were broke ALL THE TIME.

You don't need that new iPod. You don't need to eat out 4 times a week. You don't need a new car every 3 years. You don't need the fucking designer clothes. The true "middle class" people of a generation ago never lived like that.

You know how you rebuild the middle class? You stay in the community you grew up in. You and your smartest friends have to go to college, and then go back to your shit town with your shiny new degree and be what used to be called a "community leader." You have to get married, have kids, raise them with good manners, and encourage them to stay in the community and take over the family business.

Republicans and Democrats conned us all into believing that we could have it all, get any degree we wanted, go and live like the cast of "Friends."

Well fuck that, because its not true. Its a pernicious lie that both parties and the media foisted on us. Live frugally, find a partner, get involved in your community, start a family. Families and strong communities are the way out of poverty, Republicans got that much right.

3. Corpse hotel with refrigerated coffins in Japan. Via.

4. Portal is apparently a free download from Steam for the next few days.

Link roundup

1. I mentioned before that I actually preferred Last.fm to Spotify because it does a decent job streaming songs you might like, while Spotify is just a big library. Well, here's Lifehacker's recommendations for how to get a similar service at Spotify.

2. I'm not sure if I've posted about this before, but Boise State's college football team has enjoyed an unfair advantage for years - - they wear blue uniforms and play on a blue field, which makes it very difficult for opposing coaches to study their formations (the players blend into the background). Well, they can't wear the uniforms on that field anymore.

3. Japan is drilling for "burning ice," hoping it will replace nuclear power.

4. Free ios games (at least as of this moment): Allied Star Police by Popcap, To-Fu: The Trials of Chi. Via.

Disney Sea in Japan

Gallery of photos from a trip to Disney Sea in Japan.

*Buy Tokyo Disneyland toys at eBay.

Image roundup

Photo of a Rosy Maple Moth.



Cat, lightning, volcano wallpaper.



Faux virus wallpaper.



Cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji.



Darwin, Tesla, and an explosion of science.

Link roundup

1. You didn't really buy that nonsense about how great the yakuza was for keeping order in Japan after the tsunami right? The nuclear power plants failed probably in no small part because they were dominated by the yakuza.

2. The latest incredibly raw personal story from Penelope Trunk - - the heart of the post is a really good message - - if you want a happy relationship, you have to be brave enough to tell you partner what's really bothering you.

3. The BBTS has new Marvel Universe preorders - -sets feature Tony Stark, Iceman, Absorbing Man, Astonishing Wolverine, Magneto, Ultron, Darkhawk, Sub-Mariner, X-23, Steve Rogers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy I posted earlier today.

Link roundup

1. Julie Taymor blaming others for the failure of the Spider-Man musical:

“It’s very scary if people are going more towards that, to have audiences tell you how to make a show,” said Ms. Taymor, a Tony Award-winning director of “The Lion King” and other stage works and films. “Shakespeare would have been appalled. Forget about it. It would be impossible to have these works come out because there’s always something that people don’t like.”

Because everyone knows of how respectful audiences were in Shakespeare's time.

2. Idoru used to promote a Japanese ice cream. Here's the commercial itself. Via.

3. Transformers: Turn Off the Moon kid's meal toys at Burger King.

4. I like the muted colors on this blog layout. Even the icons look like they were doodled in ink.

5. For Californians, one pundit's analysis of the current budget battle.

*Buy Happy Meal toys at eBay.

Image roundup

Tokyo Rockabilly Club. (Lots more videos and pics available.)



Jello prank.



Penguinologist.



The view from Mount Reinebringen.

Decrepit amusement park attractions by Daniel Danger

Decaying theme park attractions by Daniel Danger for his show at Cotton Candy machine. Via.

And speaking of abandoned theme parks, check out this gallery of photos of Gulliver's Kingdom, an abandoned theme park in Japan based on Gulliver's Travels:



Via.

*Buy amusement park collectibles at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Photo gallery of Salarymen Sleeping in Tokyo Streets.

2. "Harvard and other major American universities are working through British hedge funds and European financial speculators to buy or lease vast areas of African farmland in deals..." This land grab is definitely not a new story, although it's interesting that the universities are in on the action.

3. BPRD Plague of Frogs #1 is a free digital download right now.

Link roundup

1. T-shirt design contest, where the goal is to remix McBess's art.

2. Niche blog The Yelp Elite highlights amusing comments by Yelpers. For example:

Russo’s is a master of details…can’t help but notice the napkin changes that are made throughout the evening….1st is a Damask napkin, followed by a Chic dinner napkin and later changed to a Wilshire dessert napkin….Can’t imagine the huge pile of linens in the laundry area.

Via.

3. Tsunami stones in Japan:

Hundreds of so-called tsunami stones, some more than six centuries old, dot the coast of Japan, silent testimony to the past destruction that these lethal waves have frequented upon this earthquake-prone nation. But modern Japan, confident that advanced technology and higher seawalls would protect vulnerable areas, came to forget or ignore these ancient warnings, dooming it to repeat bitter experiences when the recent tsunami struck.

Via.

Link roundup

1. Quantum Mechanix collectibles are buy 1 item, get a 2nd at 40% off until April 18th at Entertainment Earth. (That includes Battlestar Galactica Propaganda Posters, and Battlestar Galactica Evolution of the Cylon Poster.)

2. Elderly Japanese commonly store their money in home safes, and recently hundreds of safes swept away by the tsunami have come back ashore.

3. If you missed the announcement, this month's art contest is creating a 404 error page for the Nintendo 3DS.

Heroes print by Alex Pardee

Alex Pardee created this print to honor the engineers trying to get the Fukushima reactor under control Proceeds will go to the engineers' families.

Link roundup

1. Tremendous news - - ESPN is bringing back Jon Gruden's quarterback camp:

Gruden will conduct film sessions with Ryan Mallett of Arkansas, Jake Locker of Washington, Andy Dalton of TCU, Cam Newton of Auburn and Blaine Gabbert of Missouri as part of an hour-long special that will air Thursday, April 21.

2. Supposedly, foreigners in Japan who left after the tsunami are being called "fly-jin."

3. Katy Perry's cat is named Kitty Purry.

Illustration roundup

Illustration by Thomas Allen for Newsweek.



Zombie hunting bride and groom wedding invitations. Via.



T-shirt by The Beast Brothers to benefit Japan. Via.



Machine Man by Farel Dalrymple.



New Yorker cover by Christopher Niemann.

*Buy Machine Man toys at eBay.

Tsunami art project

Just a small selection of the already enormous amount of art contributed to the Tsunami project. It'll be auctioned off to benefit Japan and also sold as a book. You can participate here.


Mathieu Forichon.



Olivier Ferra.



Mara.



Éléonore Della Malva.



Labourot & Lerolle.



David Revoy.



Giovanni Rigano.



Menzan.



Alödâh.



Xavier Colette.




Aurélien Morinière.



GrivetArt.



Rémi Maynègre.



Krystel.



Kuru.



Quibe.



Clément Lefèvre.



Hk.

Watch helicopters dropping water on the Fukishima power plant

Supposedly 100 of these drops must be completed.