Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Trailer
20-Mar-10
via youtube.com
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
Happy Birthday, Theresa!
20-Mar-10
via flickr.com
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
Emergence
20-Mar-10
via sayakaganz.com
By Sayaka Gantz
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
The latest addition to the long list of chemicals that I never hope to encounter takes us back to the wonderful world of fluorine chemistry. I’m always struck by how much work has taken place in that field, how long ago some of it was first done, and how many violently hideous compounds have been carefully studied. Here’s how the experimental prep of today’s fragrant breath of spring starts:
The heater was warmed to approximately 700C. The heater block glowed a dull red color, observable with room lights turned off. The ballast tank was filled to 300 torr with oxygen, and fluorine was added until the total pressure was 901 torr. . .
And yes, what happens next is just what you think happens: you run a mixture of oxygen and fluorine through a 700-degree-heating block. “Oh, no you don’t,” is the common reaction of most chemists to that proposal, “. . .not unless I’m at least a mile away, two miles if I’m downwind.” This, folks, is the bracingly direct route to preparing dioxygen difluoride, often referred to in the literature by its evocative formula of FOOF.
via pipeline.corante.com
Via Ian Erickson.
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
Talk Deeply, Be Happy?
19-Mar-10
via well.blogs.nytimes.com
“Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather?
It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published a study on the subject.
…
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, involved 79 college students — 32 men and 47 women — who agreed to wear an electronically activated recorder with a microphone on their lapel that recorded 30-second snippets of conversation every 12.5 minutes for four days, creating what Dr. Mehl called “an acoustic diary of their day.” ”
Via Gayle Karen Young.
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
Ecstatic Dance, Hike the Geek
19-Mar-10
On Saturday at 8:00 p.m., I’m going to be at the Spring Equinox Saturday Night Live Ecstatic Dance:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=352762157415&ref=ts
On Sunday at 11:35 a.m., I’m going to be at Hike the Geek:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=373823194315
http://www.hikethegeek.com/SF/
Come hang out if you like!
Chris
Posted via email from crasch’s posterous
Obscura Day tomorrow!
19-Mar-10
Obscura day is an international celebration of wondrous, curious, and esoteric places. Find Obscura Day events in your city at their website. Some of the events in the SF Area are below:
http://squidlist.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=189494&year=2010&month=03
Houdini Weekend at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach
‘Houdini Magic Weekend!’ Date: March 20-21 Magicians from around
Northern California are performing and putting on classes. Don’t miss
one of our most popular events.
The special events of the Houdini Magic Weekend are in addition to all
of Playland’s regular attractions. Guests pay one low price to enter and
play all day: $10 for children and seniors, and $15 for general
admission. Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is a nonprofit Museum of Fun.
Designed and built entirely by volunteers, the 20+ interactive exhibits
celebrate the magic and history of America’s bygone amusements —
circuses, carnivals, magic, side shows, penny arcades, amusement
devices, pinball arcades, haunted houses, and beautiful art everywhere.
Our goal is to educate newer generations about the bygone days and allow
those who remember Whitney’s Playland and the Sutro Baths the
opportunity to recapture the glorious sights and sounds of that
marvelous era.
Saturday, 20 March, 2010
10:00 AM – 05:00 PM
http://squidlist.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=188862&year=2010&month=03
Obscura Day in San Francisco – Field Trip to Musee Mecanique & Aquatic
Park Tombstones
Join Atlas Obscura (http://atlasobscura.com) for an afternoon excursion
to the amazing Musee Mecanique for an afternoon of creepy wind-up
fortune tellers, prisoner-made toothpick automata, and naughty peep
shows of yesteryear. Proprietor Dan Zelinsky will be on hand to tell
stories and answer questions about the contraptions. When all the
quarters run out, we’ll head down to Aquatic Park for afternoon snacks
on the terraces made of discarded Gold Rush era tombstones.
DETAILS AND DIRECTIONS
Musee Mecanique: Noon-2pm, Aquatic Park 2:30 pm. Meet us at the entrance
to the Musee at noon, or find us inside pawing the machines.
ABOUT OBSCURA DAY
Obscura Day is an international celebration of unusual places taking
place around the world on March 20, 2010. It is sponsored by Atlas
Obscura, a guide to the world’s wonders, curiosities, and esoterica. To
find out more about the Atlas and Obscura Day, or to find out how you
can host an event in your city, visit http://ObscuraDay.com, or follow
us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/atlasobcura) or Facebook
(http://facebook.com/atlasobscura).
Official RSVP here: http://obscuraday-sf.eventbrite.com/
Musee Mecanique on Atlas Obscura – http://bit.ly/dezDJv
Saturday, 20 March, 2010
12:00 PM – 04:00 PM
http://squidlist.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=189541&year=2010&month=03
Obscura Evening at the Long Now
Please join Atlas Obscura and the Long Now Foundation for a reception at
The Long Now Foundation Museum + Store from 5-7pm on March 20th for
Atlas Obscura Day.
Several of the engineers and project staff working on the 10,000 Year
Clock and Rosetta Project will be on hand to give explanations and
demonstrations of artifacts in the Museum. We are walking distance from
Musee Mecanique and our space in San Francisco is home to a few Atlas
Obscura sites including a Longplayer listening outpost, and later
prototypes of the 10,000 Year Clock. We will have wine and nibbles for
those in attendance, and our large monitor will be displaying the
recently launched Long Now Locations category on Atlas Obscura.
RSVP and details:
http://obscuraday-long-now.eventbrite.com/
Saturday, 20 March, 2010
05:00 PM – 07:00 PM
Posted via email from crasch’s posterous
Owl In A Box
19-Mar-10
via reynen.livejournal.com
Via Valerie Hadjik.
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous
“How many zombies do you know?”
18-Mar-10
We originally wrote this article in Word, but then we converted it to Latex to make it look more like science. Via marginal revolution.
Posted via email from crasch’s posterous
Hike The Geek – Summit Loop this Sunday
17-Mar-10
via facebook.com
“This is an amazing mountain to hike up and around on either the southern side (great views of the Peninsula) or the northern side (amazing outlooks of SF and the Bay). The trails are never crowded, and even on a foggy day it is still very beautiful (bring layers with you as the weather can change quite quickly).”
RSVP and learn more (directions) here:
http://www.hikethegeek.com/SF/Hikes/details.php?locid=132&hikeid=398
Posted via web from crasch’s posterous