Haim Saban: Ay Yi-Yi-Yi Yi !!!

I have been waiting over three years for a scandal involving the Israeli-American neoconservative billionaire Haim Saban, the man who made a fortune single-handedly bringing Japan's Super Sentai craze to the U.S. (re-dubbed Power Rangers). I am also thankful this scandal is funny.

The Term Boycott Came From "Captain Charles Boycott"

I love this kind of thing.

There must be a draft of Mason & Dixon where this guy shows up. [Image via Wikipedia]

Juicebox (container)

A juicebox is a small container used to store liquid, most often juice. They are frequently made of cardboard with a foil lining, but variations exist. Juiceboxes are most popular with children, although other uses include boxed water for emergencies and boxed wine.

They are known as Cartons in the UK, and Prima's in Australia

Posh Nosh

I saw this cooking show parody while staying up late and watching public television in the Untied States, where I live.

From the show's BBC2 website:

Welcome to the world of POSH NOSH. For me, this is a dream come true. All my life, I've wanted to bring extraordinary food to ordinary people.

This website contains some of the recipes featured in our award-waiting BBC2 series. You may find some of them difficult at first. The techniques are complex, true. And, yes I agree, the language is unusual and hard. But I know you wouldn't want it any other way. Extraordinary food should never be simple. And it certainly mustn't be cheap. One of the lovely things about having a website is that it keeps out people who can't even afford a computer!

[via BBC2 Posh Nosh]

Here are all eight (there may be nine), 10 minute episodes on Your Tube and My Space:
1. Architect's Fish and Chips.
2. Birthday Parties.
3. Paella.
4. Beautiful Food.
5. Bread & Butter Pudding.
6. Leftovers.
7. Sauces.
8. Comfort Food.
9. (which allegedly exists, according to the imdb, but I doubt it) Gilled Sole.

Also and Lastly: Here's an unusually thorough Wikipedia entry. (Bless you, Wikipedia.)

The Discreet Charm Of Anonymous People Online

I pinch your cheek, whoever was playing with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's Wikipedia entry. [Via Me!]

Mega Man 9 Will Be The Awesomest Thing

Everything about this is going to be good — from the retro-advertising (pictured above. Click to huge.) via I Am 8-bit artist Gerald de Jesus, to the classic 8-bit graphics, to the game play (which is rumored to be as hard and unforgiving as the original 3 Mega Man titles). My X-mas to New Year's is effectively booked. Here's the trailer. Get excited! Lose your sh*t!

Things That Make Real Life Seem Like Anime: Microscopic Bugs Next to Microscopic Gears

This super creepy photo is of a less-than-1-mm-long mite on a Microelectromechanical system (MEMS). According to Wikipedia:

MEMS is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. MEMS are also referred to as micromachines (in Japan), or Micro Systems Technology - MST (in Europe) [...] At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical physics do not always hold true. Due to MEMS' large surface area to volume ratio, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass.

To quote Sam Jackson in JP1, "Hold onto your butts."

Terrifying Bulk Chemicals Firm: We Now Manufacture Styrofoam Insulation Without Depleting The Ozone Layer

I think it was Royal Tenenbaum who asked, "Can’t someone be a shit their whole life and want to repair the damage?" ("I mean, I think people want to hear that.") Chemical giant Dow today poses a variation on the same question, with "someone" being replaced by "a theoretically immortal legal entity driven entirely by self interest and free under a vicious misreading of the Fourteenth Amendment to exercise the same freedoms as Mortal Americans."

Its "Building Solutions" division announced today the development of a new foaming agent technology capable of manufacturing their STYROFOAM™ R5/inch insulation without the release of ozone-depleting chemicals. The process is also expected to halve their carbon emissions in North America. From their press release:

The proprietary formulation substitutes the hydrochloro-fluorocarbon (HCFC) 142b, an ozone-depleting compound that US and Canadian regulations under the Montreal Protocol require be phased out by January 1, 2010 in North America, with a non-ozone depleting compound. It enables Dow’s North American customers to continue receiving STYROFOAM insulation with the same product performance and cost-leadership position, and reflects Dow’s commitment, as part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals for Addressing Climate Change, to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

This is another serious step forward for the company, formerly the sole manufacturer of napalm and Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, a majority supplier of silicone breast implants and stakeholder in approximately 96 Superfund sites (Thanks, Wikipedia!) If I trusted this administration's EPA at all, I'd be very enthusiastic about Dow being their 2008 Energy Star Partner of the Year for excellence in energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. [Link to press release]

Helvetica: the Official Font of the 20th Century

A "Slide Show Essay" presented by Mia Fineman for Slate -- though you will quickly notice the writer's near total dependence on Wikipedia for photo sources (much like this post itself). Take that, Getty Corbis people! From the essay:



It's been used in countless corporate logos, including those of American Airlines, Sears, Target, Toyota, BMW, Tupperware, Nestlé, ConEd, Verizon, North Face, Staples, Panasonic, Evian, Crate and Barrel, and the Gap. You can spot it on billboards, album covers, and directional signs, including all the signage in the New York City subway system. Even the IRS uses Helvetica for its income tax forms.

Now, the typeface is the subject of a small exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art centering around an original set of Helvetica lead type donated to the museum by Lars Müller, designer and publisher of the 2005 book Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface. And a new feature-length documentary, Helvetica (2007), directed by Gary Hustwit, has been playing to sold-out houses at film festivals and art schools since March.

[Link]