November 30, 2010
Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size, in shape or in spacing. ‘Halftone’ can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process. Whereas continuous tone imagery contains an infinite range of colors or greys, the halftone process reduces visual reproductions to a binary image that is printed with only one color of ink. This binary reproduction relies on a basic optical illusion— tiny halftone dots are perceived as smooth tones by the human brain.
At a microscopic level, developed black and white photographic film also consists of only two colors, and not an infinite range of continuous tones. For details, see film grain. Just as color photography evolved with the addition of filters and film layers, color printing is made possible by repeating the halftone process for each subtractive color—most commonly using what is called the ‘CMYK color model.’ The semi-opaque property of ink allows halftone dots of different colors to create another optical effect—full-color imagery.
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November 30, 2010
Hedcut is a term referring to a style of drawing, associated with ‘The Wall Street Journal’ half-column portrait illustrations. They use the stipple method of many small dots and the hatching method of small lines to create an image, and are designed to emulate the look of woodcuts from old-style newspapers, and engravings on certificates and currency. The phonetic spelling of ‘hed’ may be based on newspapers’ use of the term ‘hed’ for ‘headline.’ The ‘Wall Street Journal’ adopted the current form of this portraiture in 1979 when freelance artist Kevin Sprouls approached the paper with some ink dot illustrations he’d created. The front page editor felt that the drawings complemented the paper’s classical feeling and gave it a sense of stability. Additionally, they are generally more legible than photographs of the same size would be.
Sprouls was subsequently hired as a staff illustrator and remained there until 1987. Today, there are six hedcut artists on staff. Each drawing takes between three and five hours to produce. First, a high quality photograph must be secured. This photograph is scanned, converted to grayscale, and the contrast is adjusted. The photograph is then printed and placed on a light table, and overlaid with tracing vellum. The illustrators then trace directly over this image with ink pens, recreating the source photo using specific dot and line patterns. Women are sometimes more difficult to depict than men as they tend to have more complicated haircuts, which are often cropped for simplicity.
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November 30, 2010
Mao (also known as Chairman, Dictator, Point of Order, Bjorn, and Peebo among many others) is a card game of the Shedding family, in which the aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules. The game is from a subset of the Stops family, and is similar in structure to the card game Uno or Crazy Eights. The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often told only ‘the only rule you may be told is this one.’
The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand. Specifics are discovered through trial and error. A player who breaks a rule is penalized by being given an additional card from the deck. The person giving the penalty must state what the incorrect action was, without explaining the rule that was broken.
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November 30, 2010
Anti-humor (also known as unjokes) are a kind of humor based on the surprise factor of absence of an expected joke or of a punch line in a narration which is set up as a joke. This kind of anticlimax is similar to that of the shaggy dog story. In anti-comedy the gist of the humor is in how poor the joke is or how poorly it was told. A popular kind of unjoke involves any seemingly humorous setup leading to the non-sequitur punchline of ‘No soap, radio’ or the joke ‘A man walks into a bar. He is an alcoholic and it’s destroying his family.’ Another form of anti-humor is poking fun at bad humor by the way of parody. An example is Jim’s Journal, a comic strip by Scott Dikkers, co-founder of The Onion, whose four-panel strips end without any sort of punchline.
Alternative comedy, among its other aspects, parodies the traditional idea of the joke as a form of humor. Andy Kaufman saw himself as a practitioner of anti-humor. Other comedians known for their anti-humor are Tim and Eric of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Norm Macdonald, Ted Chippington, Neil Hamburger, Corey Mystyshyn, Jimmy Carr, and Bill Bailey.
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November 30, 2010
Two elephants are sitting in the bathtub. One elephant says to the other, ‘Pass the soap.’
The elephant replies to the other elephant, ‘No soap, radio!‘
read more »
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November 30, 2010
Bacha Bazi (literally ‘playing with children’), also known as bacchá, is a practice recognized as sexual slavery and child prostitution in which prepubescent and adolescent boys are dressed as girls and sold to wealthy or powerful men for entertainment and sexual activities.
This business thrives in southern Afghanistan, where many men keep them as status symbols. The bacchá tradition, historically more common, waned after World War I, was forced out by Victorian era prudery and colonial powers. The reverse of bacha bazi is bacha posh, where girls are dressed up as boys.
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November 30, 2010
Bacha posh is a cultural practice in areas of Afghanistan where a family in which there are no sons may have a girl dress in characteristic male clothing and have her hair cut short, occupying an intermediate status in which she is treated as neither a daughter nor fully as a son. In Afghan culture, pressure exists to have a son to carry on the family name and to inherit his father’s property. In the absence of a son, families may dress one of their daughters as a male, with some holding the superstition that having a bacha posh will make it more likely for a woman to give birth to a son in a subsequent pregnancy.
As a bacha posh, a girl is more readily able to attend school, escort her sisters in public places and find work, in addition to helping overcome the shame that a family experiences at not having any male children. The girl’s status as a bacha posh usually ends when she enters puberty. Women raised as a bacha posh often have difficulty making the transition from life as a boy and adapting to the traditional constraints placed on women in Afghan society. The reverse of bacha posh is bacha bazi, where boys are dressed up as girls.
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November 28, 2010
Thomas Wesley Pentz (b. 1978) better known by his stage name Diplo, is a Philadelphia-based American DJ, producer, and songwriter. Together with DJ Low Budget, he runs Hollertronix, a club and music collective. He also founded and manages record company Mad Decent, as well as the not for profit organization Heaps Decent. Among other jobs, Pentz has worked as a school teacher in Philadelphia.
During his rise to notability, Diplo worked with and dated British musician M.I.A., an artist who is credited with helping expose him in his early career. Later, Pentz and fellow M.I.A. producer Switch created a Jamaican dancehall project titled Major Lazer. Since then, Diplo has worked on production and mixtape projects with many other notable pop artists. Pentz’s alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.
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November 23, 2010
XXXchurch.com is a non-profit Christian website that aims to help those who struggle with pornography. Its target is consumers and those in the adult entertainment industry. The organization launched in January 2002 when the founders, Mike Foster and Craig Gross, set up a booth inside the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas to promote the website as an alternative to porn, and it continues to attend porn conventions worldwide.
The organization describes itself as ‘the #1 Christian porn site designed to bring awareness, openness and accountability to those affected by pornography.’ It has received support from prominent Christian pastors such as Bill Hybels and Rob Bell.
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November 23, 2010
Mother Hero was an honorary title in the Soviet Union awarded to all mothers bearing and raising 10 or more children. It was awarded upon the first birthday of the last child, provided that nine other children (natural or adopted) remained alive. Children who had perished under heroic, military or other respectful circumstances, including occupational diseases, were also counted.
Mother Heroes were entitled to wear a badge, which was a gold star with silver straight rays between the arms; it was suspended on a metal, red-enameled ‘ribbon’ bearing the words ‘Мать-героиня.’ They were also entitled to a number of privileges in terms of retirement pension, the payment of public utility charges, and the supply of food and other goods. Around 430,000 women were awarded this title during its existence. The only man to be awarded the title was Veniamin Petrovich Makarov from Orenburg, who raised 12 adopted boys.
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November 23, 2010
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize ‘any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind.’ The highest award given in NASA, it is awarded by the President of the United States in Congress’s name on recommendations from the NASA Administrator. The award is a separate decoration from the Medal of Honor, which is a military award for extreme bravery and gallantry in combat.
Although the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is a civilian award of the United States government, it is authorized as a military decoration for display on U.S. military uniforms due to the prestige of the decoration. In such cases, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is worn as a ribbon following all United States Armed Forces decorations. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor may also be presented posthumously to those astronauts who die while performing a United States space mission, and as of 2008 all 17 astronauts killed on U.S. missions have been awarded the medal.
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November 22, 2010
Gymkhana is a type of motorsport involving complex tracks and obstacles such as cones, tires, and barrels. The driver must maneuver through a predetermined course performing many different driving techniques. The name gymkhana derives from an equestrian event consisting of speed pattern racing and timed games for riders on horses.
Gymkhana requires drivers to perform reversals, 180 degree spins, 360 degree spins, parking boxes, figure 8s and other advanced skills. Drifting is also encouraged where helpful or necessary. Gymkhana courses typically involve only the use of first and second gear, whereas autotesting in the UK and Ireland add the use of reverse gear. A gymkhana course will typically be from 0:45 to 1:30 in length. The driver will use many techniques to effectively navigate a course. Handbrake technique, drifting and sliding and Left-foot braking are all necessary skills for gymkhana.
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