Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Looking south through the lovely grass parkland that is Hell

Is Florence Foster Jenkins the worst singer?

This month the List Universe posted their Top 10 Incredible Recordings. You can click on the links to stream them or right click to save the links as mp3 files. The eclectic list includes Florence Nightingale, the first recording of human voices, a Nazi propagandist, and a castrato to name but a few. It also has the highest recorded sung note (although Guiness says this record is held by Brazilian pop singer Georgia Brown). There's also a Russian exorcism and the last thirty minutes of Jonestown. As an eleventh item they've included The Sounds of Hell, which is a hoax, but was a viral hit on the net a few years back. Actually What the Hell is Hell? has genuine photos of Hell. And check out List Universe's Top 10 Historic Radio Broadcasts.

Top 10 Incredible Recordings

Georgia Brown's High Notes

What the Hell is Hell?

Top 10 Historic Radio Broadcasts

Thursday, July 19, 2007

In the Windy City just west of Midway Airport

Kwik-E-Mart

As part of the hype for next week's movie opening, 7-Eleven Inc. has turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of The Simpsons. All 7-Elevens including the Kwik-E-Marts will offer items which until now only existed on teevee including Buzz Cola, KrustyO's Cereal, The Official Pink Movie Donut, and a special edition Radioactive Man Comic Book. Slurpees have been renamed Squishees with collectible cups and straws and a new added flavor, WooHoo! Blue Vanilla. Alas, no Duff beer. The Kwik-E-Mart I visited also had Simpsons bobbleheads for sale; but all the memorabilia had no price tags. The message was clear, you know you'll pay what we say because you have to have it, I felt like I was in a Simpsons Botanica. There were life-size Springfield characters and the parody signage was ubiquitous - perhaps the most entertaining feature of all.

Locate a Kwik-E-Mart

Simpsons-inspired products

7-Eleven Get Animated contest

More Simpsons contests

Thursday, July 12, 2007


Betty Boop, a Hayes Office favorite

I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque

Someone posted The Censored Eleven to YouTube this week. The group of eleven Warner Bros. cartoons produced from 1931 to 1944 that haven't been broadcast on television or released in any format since 1968 due to racist depictions. YouTube dutifully yanked them all but you can still find Jungle Jitters and All This and Rabbit Stew (with Bugs Bunny) because they're in the public domain. You can still search for and find most of the rest due to other posters. Of animation interest are Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and Tin Pan Alley Cats, both feature LA jazz musicians and the latter is a jazz re-interpretation of Porky in Wackyland. A Google search for "censored cartoons" will bring up a lot of other material. The "twelve missing hares" are a dozen politically incorrect Bugs Bunny cartoons including WWII stereotypes like Herr Meets Hare. The Ducktators has similarly been suppressed for its fascist spin on George Orwell's Animal Farm. Lots of censored Betty Boops including Ha Ha Ha! where Betty lets laughing gas loose on the world. There's a slightly dated compendium at The Censored Cartoons Page. But I'm not sure where the Banned Porky Pig Blooper came from.

The Censored Eleven

All This and Rabbit Stew

Herr Meets Hare

The Ducktators

Ha Ha Ha!

The Censored Cartoons Page

Banned Porky Pig Blooper

Monday, July 02, 2007

Christmas tree light string in a microwave

Indoor Radarange Pyrotechnics

I wouldn't try these at home. Well, maybe if I bought a thrift store microwave. I do remember frying a dorm microwave with a folded over metallic Big Mac wrapper back when. Lots of microwave experiment sites and I assume YouTube et al has clips galore. MicrowaveCam has videos taken inside the microwave oven compartment, Wonton Way has nice Christmas ornament videos, Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments has the most links to other sites, Easy Mac Micro Maniac is the slickest, WE-MAN! and POWERLABS have nice plasma photos. PrisonPlanet claims that RFID chips in new US currency explode when you microwave them. For a cheaper thrill you might try Microwave Grape Plasma. There's also grape racing where you lightly cover the floor of the oven with a small amount of sunflower oil, the grapes heat up, liquify, and jet propel the grapes as it shoots out the stem hole at the back.

MicrowaveCam.com

Wonton Way: Everyday Things Placed in a Microwave

High Voltage in your Kitchen: Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments

Easy Mac Micro Maniac

WE-MAN!'s Funny Things To Do With Your Microwave Oven Page

POWERLABS's Microwave Experiments Page!

RFID Tags in New US Notes Explode When You Try to Microwave Them

Microwave Grape Plasma