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PolitiFact Obameter

"Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises"

Recent NYT Food Articles I Enjoyed

1. Menu Psychology
2. Sous Vide
3. Chicago Restaurants
4. Creamy Chicken Pate Recipe
5. Ben's Chili Bowl in DC

Two More New Yorker Profiles

1. John Mackey (Whole Foods)
2. James Cameron

Some Recent Vanity Fair Articles

Although the style is fluffy these are worth reading

1. Goldman Sachs
2. Large Hadron Collider
3. British Aristocracy
4. Meryl Streep

Great wired article on the fall of the guy who created duke nukem

link

This reminds me of the documentary stone reader (not sure if I've mentioned on here before)--about writers who turn out one great novel and can't duplicate that success (focuses on forgotten writer Dow Mossman... really interesting).

Also this TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert touches on the same subject--how our culture has moved to put too much pressure on individuals to be creative/inspired/productive rather than thinking of creativity as partially a random process.

Longreads

Links to longer-format writing like this David Foster Wallace story, and other new yorker, harpers, vanity fair, etc articles--has things I otherwise would've missed for sure

Interview with (the late) Paul Samuelson Summer 09 -- Atlantic Monthly Blogs

pt1 pt2

Dana Carvey Show

This is great. Hadn't seen most of it before they put it online. Lots of topical stuff but has some great writing and skits with Steve Carell (the guys who pay for things and then flee, germans who say nice things, EH tv, etc) and Stephen Colbert (waiters who are nauseated by food and some other good ones that escape me at the moment). Strangely the first skit of the first episode is probably the worst of the whole program. Apparently part of the reason the show was cancelled is that they really pissed off the advertisers (mostly pepsi companies) which is pretty understandable when you watch the skits about them.

1. The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show
2. The Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show
3. The Mountain Dew Dana Carvey Show--w Phil Hartman
4. The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show
5. The Pepsi Stuff Dana Carvey Show
6. The Szechuan Dynasty Dana Carvey Show
7. The Dana Carvey Show
8. The Dana Carvey Show

His recent tonight show appearance is good too:
pt1 pt2

Living the Dream from Bitter Lawyer

Short comedy webisodes meant to feel like an insider perspective on being an entry-level lawyer at a good firm. More unsettling than funny.

Season One (08)
1. The Interview
2. Connotative/Denotative
3. Typo
4. Red Wine
5. Gayholm Syndrome
6. Yale
7. Rope
8. Halloween
9. Punching the Clown pt 1
10. Punching the Clown pt 2

Hollywood A Go Go--Mid 60s Music TV

Wow these are fun to watch. The audiences, dancers and performers are totally captivating. Say what you will about the quality/lip sync. A few selections:

1. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Mickey's Monkey
2. Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic
3. Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought the Law
4. Chuck Berry - Maybellene
5. James Brown - I Got You
6. Chuck Berry- Johnny B Goode
7. We Five - You Were On My Mind
8. Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Lovin

Some Perspectives on Online Education

1. NYT article on recently released Dept of Ed report on online education vs the classroom, and best practices in online ed:

The analysis for the Department of Education found that, on average, students doing some or all of the course online would rank in the 59th percentile in tested performance, compared with the average classroom student scoring in the 50th percentile. That is a modest but statistically meaningful difference.

“The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction,” said Barbara Means, the study’s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International.

2. Open Yale Courses--free online ed. They're going for high quality and had planned for these courses to be online before the lectures were given, as opposed to say MIT open courseware (not that that site isn't also great, it just takes a different approach, more of a data dump). Can recommend these two so far:

ECON 252-Financial Markets, Prof Robert Shiller
PSYC 101-Into to Psychology, Prof Paul Bloom

3. Academic Earth has way more

Beatles Unannounced Rooftop Concert Central London Luchtime Jan 30 1969

The group's last live performance.

pt1 pt2 pt3

Post inspired by the amazing singalongs of beatlefest chicago. (Although in this video I don't think the surprised professionals going about their day and stumbling upon this music did that much singing--though I guess the songs hadn't been heard much or at all at this point.) Note: from the film Let It Be

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins

31 minute Les Blank documentary from 1967 with some amazing music.

pt1 pt2 pt3 pt4 pt5 pt6

Also see Mojo Hand live 1964

Missouri Farmer's Anti-Pollan Rant

Requires some pretty specific knowledge to know if everything he says is right, but this guy has a point. Just as an example he says that un-caged pigs sometimes fatally sit on and/or eat their young, and turkeys allowed to roam free in the field can drown in a rainstorm because they look up. So the farmer builds a cage or builds a roof and pen because otherwise he takes a loss. I'm sure there are ways to prevent these deaths that Pollan would support, but they may be too expensive. The author's point though is that the "Industrial" farmer is not just an ignorant pawn of big business, but an expert with accumulated knowledge, problem solving skills, and a selfish interest in sustainability. And a bottom line.

Industrial farming practices may reduce quality/taste, and incur some moral cost (debatable--as organic practices do too, in terms of animals and in terms of human working conditions), but that doesn't really matter if you can't afford the alternative. Quantity is more of a concern for society as a whole.

This makes me think of the Anthony Bourdain quip: vegetarianism is a first-world luxury. The point being that (cheap) meat is fundamental to many cultures and unawareness/dismissal of that is more of an attack than some vegetarians realize.

This isn't meant to be a fair statement, and I don't totally agree because there are obvious exceptions, but there's some truth to it. To give you an idea of his views he also says that he doesn't care where the food comes from as long as it tastes good, and that the role of the chef is to maximize the pleasure of the meal. He also often describes himself as unapologetically self-serving, so you could say he's just trying to drum up interest in his show (which I don't watch by the way, but I'm a fan of Les Halles and think he's an interesting writer. I also think his newfound celebrity status is at odds with his ethos.) (See Bourdain's google talk and salon interview.)

These guys are coming from totally different places--professor/writer/moralist, farmer, chef--and each has something to contribute to the debate (not to mention an agenda).

Michael Pollan Asks Why Cooking Became A Spectator Sport

link

Twin Peaks on Fancast

Season One
1. Pilot pt1 pt2 pt3 pt4 pt5 pt6 pt7 pt8 pt9
2. Traces to Nowhere
3. Zen, or the Skill to Catch the Killer
4. Rest in Pain
5. The One-Armed Man
6. Cooper's Dreams
7. Realization Time
8. The Last Evening
Season Two
1. May the Giant Be With You
2. Coma
3. The Man Behind the Glass
4. Laura's Secret Diary
5. The Orchid's Curse
6. Demons
7. Lonely Souls
8. Drive with a Dead Girl
9. Arbitrary Law
10. Dispute Between Brothers
11. Masked Ball
12. The Black Widow
13. Checkmate
14. Double Play
15. Slaves and Masters
16. The Condemned Woman
17. Wounds and Scars
18. On the Wings of Love
19. Variations on Relations
20. The Path to the Black House
21. Miss Twin Peaks
22. Beyond Life and Death

Charlie Rose Interviews I'd Recommend to Anyone

(give them a chance)
1. Robert Hughes, 1997 2006 1998, panel
2. David Foster Wallace, 1997

9 Interview Posts on boh-bo

This is definitely one of my main interests for the site. (Most recent post first.)

1. 2 Recent Tavis Smiley Interviews That Were, As He Puts It, Instructive
2. 3 Short Interviews from the Big Think
3. 2 Woody Allen Interviews
4. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends
5. Ted Turner Interviewing Carl Sagan
6. 2 Amazing Jon Stewart Interviews from 2005
7. 3 Compelling Mike Wallace Interviews-Late 50s
8. 5 Engaging Tavis Smiley Interviews
9. 6 Fascinating New Yorker Magazine Profiles
(ok maybe profiles aren't exactly interviews)

2 Recent Tavis Smiley Interviews That Were, As He Puts It, Instructive

(Click Watch Full Video -- they're like 20 minutes)

1. Larry King
2. Francis Ford Coppola pt1 pt2

Also his Michael Jackson coverage was my favorite:
Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West
I'm always amazed by West. Check out this one too.

Related:
James Ingram (just check out the shorter clip--it's also replicated in the Dyson/West video)
Berry Gordy pt1 pt2 (Motown records founder--not much MJ discussion though)


And the Prince interview was interesting and unique--you need to engender a lot of trust to get a guy like that on video. I'm not saying that there aren't controversial parts, like when he calls him Travis:
Prince pt1 pt2

3 Mark Bittman Summer Lists

I've been following these as they come out but haven't tried most of the recipes and haven't really checked for overlap. He does put out a lot of cookbooks and other content so maybe he tries to come up with entirely new ones each year. Just the change in title from year to year is interesting. What would happen to his clicks if he got rid of the "101?"

2009. 101 Simple Salads for the Season
2008. 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics
2007. Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less

Historic TV Ads (50s to 80s)

AdViews

Baconfest Chicago

Judging from the video alone, could be interesting. Cool they got Paul Kahan to sponsor/host. The FAQ has some good moments.

WebTherapy w Lisa Kudrow

She's great in this and it has some good cameos. Idea is 3-minute therapy sessions online.

Season One

1. An Old Flame pt1 pt2 pt3
2. Sibling Ribaldry pt1 pt2 pt3
3. The Breakthrough pt1 pt2 pt3
4. Psycho Analysis pt1 pt2 pt3
5. Exposing the Truth pt1 pt2 pt3

Season Two

1. Gossip Girl pt1 pt2 pt3
2. Office Politics pt1 pt2 pt3
3. Psychic Friends pt1 pt2 pt3
4. Kiss and Tell pt1 pt2 pt3
5. Flying High pt1 pt2 pt3

4 Seasons of NewsRadio on Hulu

A quality show that I didn't appreciate until recently. Wonder if there's any other good Phil Hartman I haven't seen. The boss (Stephen Root) reminds me of "O Brother."

1. Season One (The pilot is supposed to be up shortly)
2. Season Two
3. Season Three
4. Season Four

Kevin Kelly's Lifestream (seriously, he calls it that?)

A MR post reminded me it's been a while since I've checked out Kevin Kelly's site. Been following him I guess since I first had a WIRED subscription. He puts out a lot of content and has great taste. Two recent selections in the "amazing internet videos" category:

1. Crowdsourced Music Video
2. 650 Million Years in 1.2 Minutes

5 Chicago Movies on Netflix Watch Instantly

(And, recommending Instant Watcher)
1. Cooley High
2. Flatliners
3. Risky Business
4. Mad Dog and Glory
5. Backdraft

3 Long Now Foundation Essays

1. Brian Eno, The Big Here and Long Now
2. W. Daniel Hillis, Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine
3. W. Daniel Hillis, The Myth of Y2K

2 Recent Economist Articles

1. Flights of Fancy--on why flying cars aren't coming
2. Russian-American relations: In search of detente, once again

3 Science Articles

1. Stephen Hawking: "Humans have entered a new stage of evolution" (note: has some errors, including one in the first sentence)
2. Olivia Judson: "Operator? Can You Put Me Through to Ant Nest 251?"
3. BBC: Ant mega-colony takes over the world

5 Music Videos

1. The Pharcyde "She Said"
2. Slick Rick "Hey Young World"
3. Bone Thugs N Harmony "Foe Tha Love of Money"
4. Jay-Z "99 Problems"
5. Tricky "Black Steel"

2 Seasons of The Loop w Philip Baker Hall

Season One
1. Pilot
2. Jack Air
3. Tiger Express
4. Trouble in the Saddle
5. Year of the Dog
6. Bear Drop Soup
7. Rusty Trombone
Season Two
1. Windows
2. The Phantom
3. Yeah, Presents
4. CSI: Donut Idol Bowl
5. The Dutch
6. Lady Business
7. Stride
8. Crazy Goat
9. Fatty
10. The Stranger

Louis CK Shameless

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 Pt4 Pt5 Pt6

3 Neil Young Videos 1971

1. Old Man
2. Helpless
3. A Man Needs a Maid / Heart of Gold Suite

3 Short Interviews from the Big Think

1. Tyler Cowen
2. Ray Kurzweil
3. Jeffrey Toobin

2 Woody Allen Interviews

1. Woody Allen Interviews Billy Graham (1969) pt1 pt2
2. NPR (recent)

Diplo BBC 1 Essential Mix

(Click the play icon--don't have to download)

Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

BBC journalist with character gets first hand accounts of extreme ways of life in America

1. Black Nationalism--interviews with Al Sharpton, Nation of Islam, Black Israelites
2. Fundamentalist Christianity
3. Law and Disorder in Philadelphia
4. The Most Hated Family in America

5 Recent NYT Photosets

1. The Modern Wing
2. Outstanding Newcomer: The Publican
3. Tesla's Long Island Vision
4. CTIA Wireless 2009: New Cellphones
5. Meeting Your Meal--about a slaughterhouse

The How Buildings Learn BBC Series 1997

Stewart Brand, James Muncie, Brian Eno

1. Flow
2. The Low Road
3. Built for Change
4. Unreal Estate
5. The Romance of Maintenance
6. Shearing Layers

2 Unk Videos

1. Walk It Out
(Remix w Andre 3000)(Lil Wayne Freestyle)(Girl Talk Samples)
2. 2 Step

3 Music Videos

1. Wilco "I'm Always In Love" (from the movie "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart")
2. Empire of the Sun "Walking on a Dream"
3. MGMT "Electric Feel"

Some Amazing NYC Photos

New Amsterdam

Kristen Schaal on It's Jerry Time

Speed Dating
(I'd like to link to others but apparently all the old episodes have been "archived" and are only available for a fee.)

3 Episodes of Family Ties w Tom Hanks as the Shady Uncle

1. The Fugitive--pt1
2. The Fugitive--pt2
3. Say Uncle

7 R Kelly Videos

1. Gigolo w Nick Cannon
2. Fiesta Remix w Jay Z
3. That's That w Snoop Dogg
4. Playas Only w The Game
5. Speedin w Rick Ross
6. I Wish
7. Same Girl w Usher

Haunting Nelson Algren Video

Starting to get through this guy's books, although haven't made it very far yet to be honest. Comes highly recommended, esp for learning about Chicago, and even though I've arguably been here for 24 years, I have a ways to go.
Algren's Last Night (About)

5 T-Pain Videos

1. Can't Believe It
2. I'm A Flirt
3. Bartender
4. I'm In Love With A Stripper (Remix)
5. I'm On A Boat

Auto-Tune the News

1. Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates. drugs. gay marriage.
2. Auto-Tune the News #4: spa regulation. serbians. sotomayor.
3. Auto-Tune the News #3: cuba. afghan friendship. 2-party woes.

3 Entertaining Documentaries Online

(Click "Watch Film Now!" and it will pop-up)
1. Super Size Me
2. Sicko
3. Outfoxed (ok it should be said this is pretty biased--sicko too for that matter)

The National Parks PBS Program by Ken Burns

24 min preview

Ted Turner Interviewing Carl Sagan

Turner comes across as a buffoon and Sagan mostly talks, discussing things like the space program, global warming, nuclear war, technology, George Bush Sr, wormholes, the Russians, etc. Has some great moments like when Turner accuses Sagan of being a socialist, or asks about time travel, aliens, and god.
Cosmos 1979 Extra Ted Turner Interviews Dr. Sagan

3 Recent Environment-Minded Big Picture Photosets

1. Earth Hour 2009 (click on images to see the building lights fade)
2. Scenes From 30,000 Meters Above
3. Human Landscapes From Above

3 Great Recent On The Media Podcasts

1. The Inheritance of Loss (on the state of the media in Seattle with the Post-Intelligencer closing its print operations)
2. Living in the Future (on a weirdly prescient 1981 news segment that was popular online)
3. Grade Inflation (on how we should deal with credit rating agencies moving forward)

2 Amazing Jon Stewart Interviews from 2005

These are some of the first times I remember thinking of Jon Stewart as an intellectual--is that the right word?

1. Kurt Vonnegut
2. Howard Zinn

Sardines--sustainable yes healthy yes and can be really good when you're in the mood but not usually fine dining.

Maybe that will change? Grilled fresh ones can be great.

A New School of Thought About Sardines
(via Felix Salmon which is funny)
Intellectually, it's a strong case, but to succeed, the Sardinistas must overcome a big cultural hurdle. Sardines look like fish. And most Americans would rather not be reminded that the meat they eat was once a living creature. "The reason we eat big predators [such as tuna and salmon] is not because they are big predators; it's because they can be cut into steaks," said Alton Brown, host of Food Network's "Good Eats," who attended the Sardinista lunch. "Americans: We're people of the cut, not the carcass."

The Society for Appreciation of the Lowly Tinned Sardine has links to articles and pictures of interesting imported tins (including chocolate sardines) and spreads designed to look gourmet.
Images of vintage California sardine labels.

5 Excellent TED Talks

1. Elizabeth Gilbert
2. Michael Pollan
3. Alex Tabarrok
4. Yann Arthus-Bertrand
5. David Merrill

Tiny Desk Concerts of 2 DC Musicians I've Seen Live

1. Thao Nguyen is really soothing and very good.
2. Benjy Ferree grates on me but has his charms.

3 Interesting Blogs

1. Daily Routines--"How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days."
2. 3hive--Links to free mp3s, pretty well edited and also obscure. Awesome streaming feature.
3. Halfbakery--"A communal database of original, fictitious inventions, edited by its users and spanning many topics." Ok, not really a blog.

Some Joseph Cornell Boxes Owned by the Art Institute

(Source)(About)(And)
Ann-In Memory, October 8, 1954
Cygne Crepusculaire (Twilight Swan), 1945
Dovecote (Colombier), 1950
For Juan Gris #7, c.1954
Homage to the Romantic Ballet, 1942
Nouveaux Contes de Fees (New Fairy Tales), 1948
Now, Voyager, 1966
Pavilion, 1953
Soap Bubble Set, 1948
The Eagle, the Arrow, and the Dolphin, c. 1960
Untitled (Bird), 1948
Untitled (Crystal Cage), c. 1953

3 Compelling Mike Wallace Interviews-Late 50s

I always loved the Ken Burns Frank Lloyd Wright film, but never realized that the black and white interview source material came from this program until I found this video collection. Don't think I've ever seen Salvador Dali or Aldous Huxley speak besides these.

1. Frank Lloyd Wright-2pts
2. Salvador Dali
3. Aldous Huxley

5 Engaging Tavis Smiley Interviews

1. Gary Shandling
2. Mickey Rourke
3. George Carlin
4. TC Boyle
5. Ta-Nehisi and Paul Coates

7 Great Dance Videos

1. Daft Punk "Around the World"
2. Le Tigre "Deceptacon"
3. Kid Sister "Pro Nails"
4. Beyonce "Single Ladies"
5. Missy Elliott "Ching-A-Ling"
6. R Kelly "Ignition Remix"
7. Beastie Boys "Intergalactic"

6 Fascinating New Yorker Magazine Profiles

The first four I find particularly interesting.
1. Grant Achatz
2. Alec Baldwin
3. Marc Jacobs
4. David Chang
5. Lang Lang
6. George Clooney

9 Top Notch Chicago Rap Videos

1. Kanye West "Through the Wire"
2. Cool Kids "Black Mags"
3. Common "The Corner"
4. Twista w R Kelly "So Sexy"
5. GLC "Chi State of Mind"
6. R Kelly w Beanie Sigel "All the Above"
7. Gemstones w Lupe Fiasco "We On"
8. Kanye West "Homecoming"
9. Do or Die w Twista "Po Pimp"