Here are some sites that I consider entertaining and/or important.
The Quotations Page,
created by michael moncur, is the web site for quotations.
Dr. Mardy's Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations
(DMDMQ) is the world's largest
online database of metaphorical quotations. His goal is to make DMDMQ "the
most comprehensive and the most rigorously authenticated collection of
metaphorical quotations ever assembled.
Tim Kreider's The Pain -- When Will
It End? archives his very funny, politically astute comics.
slacktivist is a
politically liberal weblog featuring commentary on contemporary evangelicalism
as well as social issues.
Secrecy News is a blog hosted
by the FAS [Federation of American Scientists] Project on Government Secrecy.
It provides informal coverage of new developments in secrecy, security, and
intelligence policies. It posts 2 to 3 times a week, or as events warrant.
Silicon Mirror & Kaleidoscope are two
programs used to create and display kaleidoscopic images. The Silicon Mirror
operates on .bmp or .jpg images to produce a kaleidoscope effect. The Silicon
Kaleidoscope is a screen saver that uses the Silicon Mirror to create a
kaleidoscopic real time animation. I like to use colorful images like Huichol
yarn art, album cover art (try Weasels Ripped My Flesh by The
Mothers) - even something you probably would not consider beautiful, like
this happy guy (really, try it - no one will know
but you). My favorite uses a beautiful Dutch banknote.
The software has a free 30-day evaluation, and is only $12.
Alex Grey asks the big questions, and
you can see what kind of answers he's gotten in his incredible paintings. It's
difficult to describe his work without sounding hyperbolic: it is beautiful,
spiritual, psychedelic. If you ever have a chance to see him or his art in
person, Go!
Medical marijuana? "Bullshit!," say the assholes bureaucrats
in charge. "All anecdotal, no scientific evidence," they say, while denying
all research proposals. MAPS has valiantly battled this attitude since 1988,
and has attained approval for (and funded) studies on marijuana, LSD, MDMA,
and other "dangerous drugs." If you care at all about the damage done by The
War on (some) Drugs, you should support MAPS.
If you hate commercial radio, and are bored by public/college radio, listen
to radio over the Internet. My favorite stations are WFMU and WNUR.
WFMU, based in New Jersey, is true freeform
listener-sponsored radio. Tune in anytime to hear stuff you will never
hear on commercial broadcast radio. You can also listen to archived shows -
many include playlists!
WNUR, "Chicago's Sound Experiment", is
sponsored by Northwestern University's School of Communication. Their schedule
is misleading - the "Rock" and "Jazz" shows play music never heard on the
commercial stations. Discover the really good music you thought didn't exist.
These final blurbs are the closest thing to advertising you'll find in
FFT (I wrote these without their knowledge, and don't/won't
get paid for doing so):
If you like music - classical, jazz, rock, progressive, world, improvisational,
and/or experimental (don't categories suck?) - and don't live close to a good
store, try shopping at Wayside
Music. Their thumbnail reviews are a hype-free guide (with very helpful
descriptions) to everything they carry. Prices are good, and service is fast.
If you don't already have a favorite independent bookseller, visit
Mark V. Ziesing, Bookseller (and
Publisher). His showrooms will soon cover the planet (Bored-ers, Bowels 'n
Mobile, Mooks-a-Billion), but sales are strictly mail order. He also carries
titles the big stores never carry: while the biggies Wal-Mart-ize the
marketplace, indies like Ziesing offer truly alternative, truly literary
titles. You can even special-order the latest Danielle Steele or Sidney
Sheldon title, if you, uh, need one for a gift - just don't look for that
kind of thing in his catalog.
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