WEDNESDAY NIGHT POTPOURRI

Some weird sites , Some PBase galleries...

Chickenhead - all kinds of time wasting amusements!

License Plates of the World - pretty complete site..

Musical Potty - the last word in toilet training..

Name that Candy Bar - How many can YOU identify, from a cross section?

Hidden Files in Microsoft Operating Systems - where they are, what's in them, how to remove the info therein being secretly compiled from your websurfing etc..

Add your piece to Blograffiti

The Oddballs - Naked Balloon Tossers- continuing the saga of Britain's fascination with nude male burlesque..:)

PBASE

Shilin - Yunnan Stone Forest - check out other galleries here too; beautiful documentation of landscapes unknown to most in the West..

Waterfalls of Wales

Exotic Fish

Butterflies

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.
H.L.Mencken
- posted by matt @ 3/31/2004 10:57:00 PM

 
FAITH



The three great monotheistic religions of the West each contain many fascinating sects and historical byroads. Here's one from each..

Hasidim in America - website of a documentary on the new center of worldwide Hasidism..

Sufism - The Threshold Society

Anabaptists in Münster - a strange episode of Reformation Radicals

And a scholarly essay on it, applying Weber's theories of charisma in history to the leaders..

My pen is my harp and my lyre; my library is my garden and my orchard.
Judah Ha-Levi

- posted by matt @ 3/30/2004 10:28:00 PM

 
A FEW MUSICAL LINKS



Hey, yet another night when I'm refraining from posts about plastic dog poop museums and such! I'm really quite proud of myself..but be warned, when I finally DO fall off the gravitas wagon, it could get weird..

Russell Musical Instrument Collection - great early keyboard collection in Edinburgh..

Brazilian Music Manuscript Archive - in English or Portuguese..

The A Train - A personal site by a jazz fan, containing his reviews of classic jazz albums. Many insights, nice resource for those just starting out in assembling a jazz collection - or for the more advanced who might enjoy comparing impressions..

Freeform and Kozimigroove Well done site(s) about some esoteric, hard to define but easy to like music..

Smooth Jazz Reviews - OK, purists may scoff, but there's times when I don't want to think, and get all musicological. I just want something relaxing and melodic setting the mood..

William Roper is a tubaist and visual artist from the west coast. He's played with people like Yusef Lateef, James Newton and Horace Tapscott, composed symphonic works, and created installation pieces. Very creative guy, well done website.

Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something.
Pancho Villa, last words
- posted by matt @ 3/29/2004 10:06:00 PM

 
VARIED HISTORY



Spanish Civil War : Images

Essay by anarchist Murray Bookchin

Spy Letters from the American Revolution

Jonathan Alder's Captivity and Life Among the Indians

Guy Fawkes - "Treason in 1605"

America Faces the Atomic Age - 1946

Macedonian History (rather one-sided here, but if it perks your interest, do a search for more info!)

Flapper Station - America in the 1920's

What were the Ancient Olympics really like?

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
Napoleon Bonaparte

- posted by matt @ 3/28/2004 10:12:00 PM

 
OUTSIDER ART / 'ART BRUT'



These terms, along with 'folk art' , 'primitive art' etc., can cover a wide range - in both type and quality. Basically, they refer to artists without formal training, and without ties to established schools and traditions. People who just felt the creative urge, and picked up a brush, with no one to tell them they were doing it all wrong.

Of course, it's chic to be into outsider art. So there's a lot of AWFUL stuff out there riding on the bandwagon. Still, I'm sure that if you browse the following sites, you'll come across some works that move you, and allow you to 'see' in a new way..

Raw Vision - a magazine devoted to this topic; read up on it as well as see some..

Faith at Reality Felon - nice site by a practitioner..

Blowtorch

UK Site

Russian Site

The Electric Gallery

The Lynch Collection

American Visionary Art Museum

Ricco Maresca Gallery

And finally, if you REALLY want to explore 'outsider art' in depth, check out Intuit - hundreds of links!

My instinct about painting says, 'if you don't think about it, it's right.'
As soon as you have to decide and choose, it's wrong. And the more you decide about, the more wrong it gets.
Andy Warhol
- posted by matt @ 3/27/2004 09:19:00 PM

 
ONE MORE NIGHT OF WEIRDO SITES!



OK, I know I need to get back to doing the educational, informative, meaningful stuff. But sheesh, this weirdness just keeps falling in my lap! So I promise, indulge me once more, and tomorrow I'll do something just oozing gravitas..

Yep, that IS a Dog's Nose..

Finally, a competitive sport I can excel in!

Maggot Therapy. Not for the weak of stomach..

Australian Souvenir

Rectal Foreign Objects

Prevent Alien Mind Control..

Underground Origami .

Vibrator Museum

Portal of Evil

OK, I'm finished. I hope you still respect me..

Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.
George Santayana
- posted by matt @ 3/26/2004 09:38:00 PM

 
MOVIES

Short post, tired, long week, blah blah blah, you've heard it all before..

Jack the Lad's List - an opinionated former projectionist ranks his favorite movies, and some bests and worsts in various film categories..

The Golden Age of the Bunny Film

Hannibal Lector Site

'I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.'
Charles Dickens
- posted by matt @ 3/25/2004 10:42:00 PM

 
JUST FOR FUN



Famous people answer "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Pick a sitcom character, or dictator. This site figures out who you are!

Simulation of a McDonald's Employee's Day

Old Superstitions

Urinal Gallery

Lost in Translation - really cool concept, works well too..

Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers

Microsoft Commercial (Flash parody - hardhitting humor, more true than we'd like to think!)

Need an excuse?

True story of guy who deposits one of those fake checks you get in junk mail, and had it clear his bank..

Weird Flash Clown Story

The Exorcist , enacted by bunnies in 30 seconds..

'My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a bitch.'
Jack Nicholson
- posted by matt @ 3/24/2004 10:22:00 PM

 
A FEW VARIED

A Spectacular Rant: Santa Claus and Hawaii

Did Jesus end up in Japan?

Finnish Folk Song Virtual Database

The Finnish Sauna Society

PBase Gallery of Original Drawings

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
Bob Hope

- posted by matt @ 3/23/2004 11:03:00 PM

 
MORBID ART



Nver let it be said that I don't cater to the crowd! Since I've received the most enthusiastic responses lately when I've focused on the grotesque, macabre, funereal, and monstruous..not to mention ghastly, depraved, sinister and horrific, well, let's just continue in with this happy trend! (Besides, I've been fascinated by this stuff since I was a wee lad, anyway. Suppose I could have ended up as a serial killer - or a bestselling novelist - but I decided to just be a drug addict for twenty years, and then become a Dosteyevskian office drudge who keeps a link blog..)


The Morbid Muse Gallery - a few choice bits here..

To make sure you're acquainted with the 'classics' of macabre art, check out this Webshots album , and also check out the many other fine albums linked at the left of the page..

Michael Edlen pursues art in a gothic vein..

..as does the Dutchman Marcel Dejong..

Alison Talamia spices up her morbid vision with generous helpings of dark humor. Love her duck killings gallery!

Caleb Storms - Apolocalyptic Youth, and other dark photography..

Ann Erpino has some nice morbid painitings mixed in here..

Hans Belmer's bizarre dolls, from the 1930's - a protest against the Nazi's, and a summation of his own twisted eroticism.. (annoying 'popups' here, but worth the hassle!)

Huge collection of links to 'SciFi-Fantasy-Space-Surreal Art'

Surrealism site (part of larger avant garde art site) - in German, but easy enough to navigate even if you're 'deutsch deprived'.. tons of good links here as well..

And, last but not least, The Dying Sun..

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."
Edgar Allan Poe

- posted by matt @ 3/22/2004 09:26:00 PM

 
MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE JUNGLE...



The Jungles of India - nice portal to all kinds of info and news..

Malaysia - a trekking company site, but with a difference..

The Jungles of Manu (Peru)

Belize (cool jungle sounds on home page..)

Warriors of the Amazon - PBS site, nice..

Children of the River - Photo Essay

The Difficulty of Jungle Wildlife Photography - discussed here..

But done successfully here..

Jungle Survival Training

Survival IQ (teach yourself!)

Edible Plants

Medicinal and psychoactive plants

Two good portals to environmental concerns - Eco Portal and Rainforest Alliance..

"Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us."
Sir Thomas Browne
- posted by matt @ 3/21/2004 07:43:00 PM

 
A WELL DESERVED NIGHT OFF

Yep, I'm taking one! If you're so bored that this actually bums you out, may I recommend a visit to a few of the blogs on my blogroll? I've added some new ones lately that are pretty decent, and should bring comfort to your disappointed spirits..
- posted by matt @ 3/20/2004 11:12:00 PM

 
GREAT EARLY HORROR MOVIES



When it comes to horror movies, I have to admit, the slice and dice stuff hardly gives me a chill. I'm much more affected by the atmosphere of movies such as the following classics..

Nosferatu - Max Schreck was certainly the UGLIEST screen vampire! More on this F.W. Murnau landmark..

Vampyr , Dreyer's version of the legend.. discussed intelligently here..

The same site takes an in depth look at Wegener's 'Der Golem'

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - can you say 'German Expressionism?' More on Wiene's classic..

Finally, a fun site, lots of effects - 'Pictorial History of Horror Movies'

One might say that the true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilization represses and oppresses.
Robin Wood
- posted by matt @ 3/19/2004 11:11:00 PM

 
JUST A FEW

Taking a break from the conflict theme, here's a few literary and one photography site.

Jorge Luis Borges - great site devoted to the Argentinian writer. In English or Spanish.

Ty Wenzel - this lady was a New York bartender for years, wrote an insightful book..

Potawatomi Tracks . Site by Native American author, who served in Vietnam and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for 30 years before receiving needed help..

Hans Hendrikesen - Dutch Travel Photographer

People in the media say they must look at the president with a microscope. Now, I don't mind a microscope, but boy, when they use a proctoscope, that's going too far.
Richard M. Nixon

- posted by matt @ 3/18/2004 10:34:00 PM

 
HATFIELDS AND McCOYS



Continuing with our theme of American conflict, let's take a look at a different type : the feud. This most famous one, between two clans in the Appalachians, has become the standard by which others are measured!

Blue Ridge Country Article

Virtual Tour

Diversion Magazine Article

Life Magazine Article from the 1940's

Photos from Feud

Matewan View (puts it in socioeconomic and historical perpective)

Theatre Piece Photos

Hatfields and McCoys today. And on the playing field..

Love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
- posted by matt @ 3/17/2004 10:53:00 PM

 
EARLY AMERICAN REBELLIONS AND DISPUTES



A study of American History shows that the road to the Republic was a rocky one, with numerous struggles along the way. Here are just a few..

The Antinomian Dispute - this 17th century controversy over a point of Calvinist theology may seem obscure and irrelevant today. However, as an early example of dissension and populist attacks on the established order, as well as the remarkable role of Ann Hutchinson - a woman liberated a few hundred years before the suffragettes - it is worth examining.

Shay's Rebellion in Western Massachusetts. Another site..

This article, on events in and around Keene, New Hampshire during Shay's Rebellion, was written by Zach Rubin, a high school student, and just posted online a week ago. I hope Zach intends to continue as a historian!

The Whiskey Rebellion - George Washington plays the heavy!

Nice painting here..

The Dorr War - a bit later, in the 1840's, Thomas Dorr led a struggle for the rights of the landless in my native Rhode Island. More here.. In my younger days, I would often stop by his grave in Swan Point cemetary (final resting place also of H.P.Lovecraft) and drink a toast and smoke a joint in honor of the erstwhile old radical..

Speaking of old graves, here's a great archive of New England cemetary photos..

I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
Thomas Jefferson
- posted by matt @ 3/16/2004 10:17:00 PM

 
FIVE RANDOM SITES

Monday evening. And the WWW is humming along quietly. And I'm in a lazy mood again, so will just pass on to you 5 sites tonight. Which, however, can amuse you for hours - if you've got nothing better to do, which is doubtful..

Culture Connect - all kinds of articles and features on various world communities..

Duck Hunt - play it here, nice Flash game, minimal annoyances this time..

Insect Recipes - from Iowa State, of course, have to dedicate this one to Brent..:)

Looking for something to collect? How about Airplane Barf Bags?

Finally, the Most Neglected Site on the Web!

I have no more pleasure in hearing a man attempting wit and failing, than in seeing a man trying to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it.
Samuel Johnson
- posted by matt @ 3/15/2004 09:58:00 PM

 
SERPENTS AND MORE (ODD MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)



I recently saw one of these in the Museum of Fine Art's (Boston) musical instrument collection. Looks like a blast to play!

Serpent Web

Here's an excellent site that features Odd Music of every type. Be sure to go to the 'gallery' page, where you can see pictures, read about, and hear samples of serpents and many other bizarre soundmakers!

Flash Animation Sites

If you use a 'pop-up blocker', you might want to activate it for the following sites. Still, if you enjoy nice Flash, it's worth the trouble..

Gerbil in a Light Socket this made my day!

Artie's Flash

Muffin Madness

Kill Frog

Media Pickle

VARIED

Wars, Campaigns and Treaties part of a great history hyperproject..

Free e-books

As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.
Samuel Johnson
- posted by matt @ 3/14/2004 10:17:00 PM

 
FOOD



Well, since I was mentioned by Maarten in the 'Dailyrecipes' group as a possible source for recipes from the Great Depression, I got started on a search. However, that's a rather difficult topic, and I'll need more time to delve into it. Meanwhile, I got really bummed out by ending up at all those sites about 'depression'...thanks, Maarten!

But, as usually happens, just getting started on any search leads me to some sites of interest, so I'll share a few food related links I found. If you are visiting from the recipe group, welcome, and I hope you find something to make your visit worthwhile!

Aunt Runner's Recipes - nice site, which also includes a 'lost recipe message board' wherein you can request help in locating the same..

A Few Recipes from the 1930's

Southern Foodways - good site, with oral history sections on old time Southern cooking..

Huge Onion Site

Cottage Pudding Recipe

Luxembourg Cuisine

West African Gastronomy

The Vegemite Site (well, I've done Marmite, figure I need to give the Aussies equal time..)

Tanzanian Recipes

Ghosts and Such

Ether Scribe

Hollow Hill

Weird and Spooky Places

Civil War Ghosts

More Ghosts!

The Bell Witch - site devoted to this Tennesee legend

The Open Vault

Chilling!

And my favorite, Grave Addiction, which is a nice photo record of an afficionado's journeys to cemetaries, haunted places, and other morbid destinations..

ONE USEFUL SITE

Statehouse Girls - portal which has links to all kinds of info about each of the 50 states..

To crave for happiness in this world is simply to be possessed by a spirit of revolt. What right have we to happiness?
Henrik Ibsen "Ghosts"
- posted by matt @ 3/13/2004 09:10:00 PM

 
ONE GOOD ONE!

Hi folks! Well, it's Friday, and I'm a bit tired, so I'm putting off my next major post till early tomorrow. However, I do have one nice site for you..

Homeland Productions local culture in a global age. Read and listen to these radio shows about fascinating topics, such as Borneo resettlements, the Welsh Renaissance, and cultural clashes in modern France. Well worth a visit!

All generalizations are false.
- posted by matt @ 3/12/2004 10:18:00 PM

 
GREAT PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORISTS



Freud

Jung

Adler

Horney

Rogers

VARIED

Trebuchet Resources (feuding with your neighbors? this site can help..)

Irish Poetry

Decameron Web

David Brin (author of 'The Postman") has a great web site..

A Daughter, Ducks, Denigration, and Lively Discussion at Pbase..

"I don't CARE, I AIN'T MOVING!"

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. "
Robert Wilensky
- posted by matt @ 3/11/2004 11:15:00 PM

 
WAR AND PEACE

Just a few tonight, but on a much more serious note..

Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare - classic underground manual, sheds much light on the nature of modern conflicts..

Child Soldiers (American Friends Service Committee)

Operation S.I.C.K (Stop Inciting Children to Kill!)

Peace Studies on the Web

Institute for War and Peace Reporting - great source for news overlooked by mainstream media..

I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service.
Joseph Heller

- posted by matt @ 3/10/2004 11:07:00 PM

 
HISTORY OF COMPUTER GAMES



Some of us have been dabblers, and some of us truly addicted - but we've all played them! Let's take a look back at the origins...

History from Gamespot

The Dot Eaters

The Pong Story

From Pong to Pacman

The History of Nintendo (it was a company long before they made games!)

Well done 'personal' gaming history..

..and let's play a few!

Java Pong

Free Arcade Online

Conway's Game of Life - haven't figured it out - seems for the philosophically minded, though..

Muse - how long's it been since YOU connected with telnet?

Eliza, your interactive friend. Basic, yes, but this IS a history lesson!

Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them.
Joseph Heller

- posted by matt @ 3/09/2004 10:42:00 PM

 
NUNAVUT



In 1999, Canada's first new territory in 50 years was established, as a large chunk of the Northwest Territories was handed over to the Inuit people. Though much remains to be acheived, this event was a monumental landmark in the struggle of indigenous peoples for self-determination..

Some history: First Contacts - the Frobisher Expeditions

A nice overview by an Inuit

Nunavuk Government Website

Nunatsiaq (Newspaper)

Polar Net

Nunavut Parks

Photos of Nunavuk

VARIED

History of American Embroidery

What American Children Read in 19th Century

18th and 19th Century British Magazines (online texts)

American Magazines from the same era..

"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect."
Samuel Johnson
- posted by matt @ 3/08/2004 10:28:00 PM

 
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL



This duo had a major influence on my evolving worldview - as a child, I was drawn to my older brother's albums of them. Surprsingly, I am still moved by their lyrics today.

Great Site

All the Lyrics

Individual songs, in depth - including sound files..

Richard Cory - the poem and the song..

Remember "The Graduate?"

PBase Gallery - Parsley,Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (and while you're there, click at the top, and check out the rest of her fine work!)

WORLD WAR 1 POETRY

For whatever reason, this most awful of wars was also the most literary of wars. Although other nations had their war poets , the British, and to an extent, the Commonwealth nations and the US, produced an especially remarkable body of poetry..

Oxford Online Tutorial with hypertexted poems..

Lots of Online Poems at Bartlebys

The Lost Poets

War Sonnets

Some distinguished war poets ended up at Craiglockhart Military Hospital, where they produced Hydra magazine..

Does it Matter?

DOES it matter?--losing your legs?...
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.

Does it matter?--losing your sight?...
There's such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.

Do they matter?--those dreams from the pit?...
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won't say that you're mad;
For they'll know you've fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.

Siegfried Sassoon
- posted by matt @ 3/07/2004 11:06:00 PM

 
CAMBODIA



I've had an interest in the Khmer culture for some time; my church shares a building and several programs with a Cambodian church, and I've made a few friends who escaped the 'Killing Fields' , often losing their whole families first. It is a miracle, with what these folks went through, that they even have their sanity left..

Beauty and Darkness - recent Cambodian history

Pol Pot - Time magazine photo essay

Maoist Apologia for Pol Pot

Khmer Writing (& links to other Khmer language info..)

The Khmer Institute

The Khmer Network site ( in French)

Buddhism in Cambodia - tightly connected with national identity; see Angkor Wat

However, there are also Christian Churches as well; the Cambodian Evangelical Church is associated with my denomination, and I have had the privilege of meeting the District Superintendant , Mr. Nareth May

Khmer Neutral Party - website of this reformist political party

Cambodian Dance - the most prized national art form..

Cambodian Food - very tasty from what I've tried - especially the omnipresent Spring Rolls. For every function, the women make literally hundreds of these..smaller than Chinese, and crispy..a morsel of pleasure..

PBase Gallery

Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.
Æschylus

- posted by matt @ 3/06/2004 11:06:00 PM

 
GHOST TOWNS



Wyoming

Colorado

Canada

New England

VARIED

Calabria - Photography and site also includes recipes

Slovenia

Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.
- Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching
- posted by matt @ 3/05/2004 11:50:00 PM

 
ODDS AND ENDS



De Kunstfabriek (The Art Factory , Amsterdam Gallery)

Nickelesphillipe - great French flash and animation site..

Hypocritical Hero (manga)

Drow Sorceress (more manga, involved site!)

Hello Kitty! (..who's got a gun? only kidding..hehehe..)

Bookworms who Journal (literary blogs etc..)

Unspeakably Stupid - guy posts stories about his life. Decent writing, actually..

Scamorama - humor site devoted to our Nigerian friends..

Retail Sucks! (if you work - or have ever worked - in retail, you'll enjoy this!)

Weird Crap - stories and rants.

Last Words - a great site!

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--."
General John Sedgwick , Army of the Potomac , last words, 1864
- posted by matt @ 3/04/2004 10:44:00 PM

 
ELECTRIC GUITARS



Some History

More History

Guitar by Guitar..

The Rickenbacker Company Takes All the Credit Here

Guitar Player Magazine

Jazz Guitar Magazine - 'Hotlist' section has great categorized links..

Danny Gatton - 'Master of the Telecaster'

Terje Rypdal - this site, put together by a fan of the Norwegian guitarist, is one of the best and most complete tribute sites I've ever come across!

VARIED

Tristan da Cunha - the story of this most isolated island..

Palmyra Island - can an entire island be haunted?

Geo Images - a superb resource site, topically grouped images for use in teaching geography - or just browsing!

Egyptian Recipes - nice site, many tasty ones!

An insane resume..

"If you want to challenge the system, don't go to bed with it."
Ani DiFranco
- posted by matt @ 3/03/2004 10:15:00 PM

 
POLAR EXPEDITIONS

The Poles - all kinds of contemporary polar news..

Polar Expeditions - another contemporary site..

Historic Polar Expeditions - good starting point..

The search for the elusive 'Northwest Passage' was an early impetus..

Why private expeditions were more successful than government sponsored ones..

The Royal Philatelic Society and Polar exploration..

OK, it was a brief one tonight...but stay tuned!

'The philosophers of the Middle Ages demonstrated both that the Earth did not exist and also that it was flat. Today they are still arguing about whether the world exists, but they no longer dispute about whether it is flat.'
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
- posted by matt @ 3/02/2004 10:12:00 PM

 
DEMONOLOGY



Well, going back to work today after a week's vacation has brought me in touch with the dark side - so I'll indulge it a bit more here!

Demons

Delirium's Realm

Catholic Encyclopedia

Irish Witchcraft and Demonology

Sir Walter Scott on Demons

Evangelical Christian View

Swedish Christian Site (in English) on Occult

VARIED

2 PBase Galleries: Northwest Territories and Food & Flowers

Strong Women Site

The Incredible Hulk

'The only gift is a portion of thyself.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- posted by matt @ 3/01/2004 10:09:00 PM