Here is an all-too-short clip of the Velvet Underground playing "Venus in Furs" at Andy Warhol's Silver Factory. Also making the scene are Edie Sedgwick and "whip dancer" Gerard Malanga.
Link

Previously on BB:
• Video: Lou Reed and John Cale do Heroin Link

Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi has uploaded another episode of his terrific cartoon, Mighty Mouse. He says, "This week's Mighty Mouse Cartoon is loaded with all my obsessions." Link

Our buddy Diana Eng wrote an article for CRAFT Vol 3 (Disclosure: my wife, Carla is editor-in-chief) on making this cute Harajuku style T-shirt. The entire how-to is now available online at HP's Wetpaint Wiki. Link

Glyph Jockey made a high-res scan of an old, low-res record club ad. The effect is pleasing. Link

Despite its mellifluous moniker, Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) is an unfriendly microscopic critter. It eats human brains. From APL

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

Link

The Micropolitan Museum is an incredible collection of images depicting nature's microscopic beauty. Wim van Egmond is the proprietor of this virtual wunderkammer. Seen here, from left to right, Ceriodaphnia reticulata and a section of a pine needle. From van Egmond's page:

In this type of work there is no need to deform reality to create abstract images. The credits go to the wonderful life forms that inhabit this Museum of Invisible Life. The photographer is now just a curator. He scoops up the artworks with a pipette, presses a button or two and patiently fills the museum. A collection that could easily fit on one fingernail.

Link (Thanks, Vann Hall!)

It always brings me pleasure to watch a practiced expert ply their trade or craft. This young man's ability to shake dice around in a cup and stack them on a cup borders on the unbelievable. I've never even heard of dice stacking until I saw this video. Link (Via haha.nu)

The Free Burma Rangers describe themselves as "a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement" providing aid to people in the war zones of Burma (Myanmar). Here's a snip from an blog post they just published:

On September 27, 2007 hundreds of Shan, Pa'O, Palaung, and Lahu villagers gathered in a internally displaced persons site in Shan State, Eastern Burma as an act of solidarity with those demonstrating in the larger cities of Burma.

Villagers expressed their common desire for the restoration of a free and democratic Burma, in which people of every ethnicity are guaranteed fundamental rights. Much of Shan State continues to be a warzone, where the Burma Army regularly commits atrocities against the civilian population, and any act of overt civil disobediance would most like result in a swift and brutal punishment. The villagers who gathered today announced their unity of heart and purpose with those demonstrating in the larger cities against this oppression.

Ethnic peoples of Burma have been under direct attack by the dictators for years. They hope that the demonstrations in the cities of Burma will draw international attention and help for those under attack. They also hope that all the oppressed people of Burma will soon be free.

Link to photos and text. Total non sequitur: I love the li'l brother in the front, chewing on a stick (?) -- look at him sporting that tiny mohawk. (Thanks, James Hathaway)

"Again With the Comics" has an article about a hobo superhero named "The Vagabond," who debuted in U.S.A. Comics #1 in 1941.

Like many handsome millionaire playboys/crusading district attorneys/ frustrated beat cops of comics’ Golden Age, Murphy decided to fight crime anonymously by taking on the dramatic secret life of a costumed crime fighter. Unlike those others, a mere domino mask and opera cape would not be sufficient. Apparently, to fight crime in Middleton, one must become more retarded than crime.

“I need a disguise that will strike terror into criminal hearts! I shall become a creature of the night! I shall become...a comical, roly-poly cartoon hobo!!”

Thus was born the Vagabond, a.k.a. Chauncey Throttlebottom III, the first bumfighter. With a fake gut, rosy-red nose and clown lips, smoking a cigar, this utter fucking lunatic took on the city’s crime wave.

Marvel has an anthology of U.S.A Comics, which includes the Vagabond, along with other Golden Age characters including The Defender, Major Liberty, Rockman, Rusty, the Young Avenger, the Whizzer, and Jack Frost. Link

This fellow appears to be smoking, er, tobacco from a Nintendo 64 controller converted into a pipe.
Link

Previously on BB and BB Gadgets:
• Crown7 Nicotine Delivery Systems Link
• Retro bong designed and built in 11 minutes Link

My friend Sean Ness noticed Karl Marx peering up from his soup spoon.
Link

Previously on BB:
• Face in the clouds Link
• Tree with face Link
• Daikon "foot" Link

Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle (R) says she is concerned about the same person voting twice at the polls, so she is trying to pass a law requiring that anyone who wants to vote must have a photo ID. Another Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill that would "criminalize anyone who delivers a ballot for someone unable to drive to the polls."

Here's a video showing Rep. Riddle and many of her fellow representatives voting twice on the same issue in the legislature.

Later in the video, Riddle explains why its OK for her to cast ballots in other people's names: "We have a lot of votes. We have a lot of amendments. And there's times where we don't break for lunch, and we don't break for dinner, we don't have bathroom breaks." Link

Over at the Wired Danger Room blog, Noah Shachtman writes:

The MySpace generation is a "somewhat alien life force," a Navy recruiting presentation contends -- with a language and lifestyle that's almost unrecognizable to adults.

And because the kids are such "coddled," "narcissistic praise junkies," they'll be beyond tough to bring into the military. Propensity to join the armed forces among these so-called "millennials" has dropped to as little as 3%; that's down from 26% in 2001.

Entropic Memes uncovered the bleak, often unintentionally hilarious report from the Annual Navy Workforce Research and Analysis Conference, which also glumly notes that the Iraq war has brutalized recruiting efforts.

Up to two-thirds of millennials are "less likely to join the military" because of the war, according to the presentation.

Link

Science News has an article about a "cure all" Siberian herb called Rhodiola rosea, that has long been used by Soviets, and is currently being looked at by US university medical researchers.

Zakir Ramazanov first encountered Rhodiola rosea in 1979 as a Soviet soldier in Afghanistan. A comrade often received boxes full of the yellow-flowered mountain herb from his home in Siberia and would prepare and share a sweet-smelling tea from the root. Ramazanov found that the drink seemed to quicken his hiking and speed his recovery after a taxing mission.

...

Much of the old Soviet research on the herb remains locked away in Russian language journals. But over the past decade a growing body of new research published in English tentatively supports the results of early Soviet research. Laboratory and animal studies show that the herb may inhibit cancer cells, protect healthy cells from toxins, and correct enzyme imbalances associated with diabetes. In addition, four trials with human volunteers show that rhodiola extracts can boost mental performance, reduce fatigue, and ease depression.

Link

This two-headed red slider turtle, now living at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in Pennsylvania, is particularly rare because the heads are on opposite sides of the shell. From The Metro:

Jay Jacobi, the shop's exotic reptile manager, said: "The two heads seem to have their own thoughts, operating independently.

"But sometimes they seem to put their two heads together and move in the same direction, feed together, walk together."

Link (via Fortean Times)

Supporters of Star Simpson -- the 19-year-old MIT student who inadvertently caused a total freaking flipout at Boston's Logan International Airport last week for wearing a sweatshirt with an attached homemade light-up device -- are selling these t-shirts to help cover her legal fees.

Link, at Instructables.

Authorities in Massachussetts are throwing the "infernal machine" book at her, claiming the shirt was a "hoax device" intended to look like a fake bomb. Simpson denies this charge.

FWIW, I can't fault airport security personnel who spot an unfamiliar electronic device, worry that it might be dangerous, and question accordingly. That's what they're there for. But why do prosecutors still insist on carrying these charges against Simpson, despite clear and abundant evidence she meant no harm?

Over at Politech, Declan McCullagh has a great post up about previous cases of *actual* hoax devices.

There's a big difference in intent with this case, no matter how ill-advised the young Ms. Simpson's fashion choices may have been last Friday morning.

On CNET, Chris Soghoian has a blog post about "TSA's misguided war against 'make'ers, and tinkerers and other electronics geeks," also worth a read.

Soghoian lists some past examples of devices used to blow up planes. At left, the World War II German Exploding Chocolate Bar (image courtesy "M15 History For Schools").

More than 60 years and we've learned nothing? Why are chocolate bars still being sold in airport snack shops around America with such careless disregard? This is an outrage.

Previously on Boing Boing:

MIT student arrested for entering Boston airport with "fake bomb"

National Geographic has a preview of the best science images from 2007.

Snip: "The awards are given out each year by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science for the imagery that best conveys complex scientific information and concepts. This year the winners are announced in the September 28 issue of Science."

My favorite is this still from a 3D animation that illustrates how nicotine stimulates nerve impulses to the pleasure center of the brain. Link. (thanks, Wellington Grey)

Kathryn Cramer says,

CNN is reporting that Myanmar has cut Internet access and also reports "Unconfirmed reports of bodies in the streets, protesters shot." and "New video appears to show point blank shooting of protester in Yangon."

As a clarification, and no surprise here: officials in the military regime controlling Burma (Myanmar) still have internet access, regular folks do not.

BB reader Dave Hecht adds

The NYT's Lede blog has pretty extensive coverage of Burmese military junta's shutdown of public internet and other communications channels. We must be living in the future if to stop a revolution, the government needs to shutdown the Internet. The Times page has links to blogs, some of which are still up, some which are ominously blacked out. Link.

Image above from the photostream of Jim Rees, who explains:

With Burma in the news lately I thought I'd post this photo of this sign that greeted me when I visited in 1989, a year after the coup that brought the current military leadership to power. This is on the Thai side of the border just outside Mae Sai.

At that time the new Burmese government, short of cash and not wanting anyone to observe conditions inside the country, was asking over $500 just to get in. This part of northern Burma was not really under government control, it was a stronghold for the KNU. You could sneak over the border from Thailand and get a brief look at the other side, but this was officially discouraged and there were stories of people being kidnapped or thrown in jail. I didn't go very far.

Here's a recent BBC report about Burmese bloggers, and press freedom inside Burma (hint -- there isn't any): Link.

That story points to London-based blogger Ko Htike, who has been posting reports on behalf of people inside Burma. Htike's blog is mostly in Burmese, but with some English and lots of pictures, including the image re-posted here, below.

Update: BB reader John Gale points out that this appears to be Japanese reporter Kenji Nagai. "The report over on BBC suggests that he was targeted and possibly shot at point blank range because he was holding a camera."

Here, on Htike's blog, photographs and first-person testimony from a man who identifies himself as a Singaporean working in Burma. The post includes graphic images of injuries he says he received at the hands of soldiers who were attacking protesters. Snip:

My wife found the "40mm riot control munnition" empty cartridge that the soldiers shoot at me. I would like the embassy and media to know the actions of this army. We are just ordinary citizen going to work and they just shot at us for no reason. Imagine what they would do to the protesters!

Marilyn Terrell says,

Ethical Traveler is offering people a place to post their messages and photos of support for the monks in Burma: Link.

Below, an image from ethicaltraveler.org of a solidarity gathering earlier today in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

David Weinberger -- author of Everything is Miscellaneous -- is in London's Heathrow airport today, and he's discovered that British Airways' internet terminals block Boing Boing:

Internet Access to this site has been BLOCKED

British Airways Plc prohibited website information page.

British Airways has blocked access to certain Internet sites which may be considered to be illegal or offensive. This site is currently on the barred list.We understand that the Internet changes constantly and that the decision in respect of this particular site may no longer be appropriate. If you would like us to review the decision to bar access to this site, please give the website URL and a contact e-mail address to a member of staff at the Lounge Reception. The response will be written confirmation that either the ban on this site has been lifted, or that the site continues to contain material that is inappropriate and, therefore, the bar on access will continue.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Date/Time: 2007-09-28 - 07:29:54
Website: http://boingboing.net/
Category: "Nudity;Personal Pages"

BA is probably using one of the censorware companies like SmartFilter, who also supply the censorship technology to governments in countries like Syria and the United Arab Emirates. SmartFilter's business model is to fill sleazy boiler-rooms with prudish unemployable drones who spend all day clicking on web-pages and classifying them based on whether they'll offend the delicate sensibilities of the world's tyrants.

BA contracts with these scam-artists to control which information the adults who fly on its planes can use -- because you lack the capability to choose which web-pages you want to look at, and need an airline to choose the pages for you. We've been vocal critics of these companies, and so they all block us, using rubrics like "nudity" or "circumvention" -- because if you have one nude thumbnail or one page about circumvention, then all the tens of thousands of pages on your site will be blocked. What a "non-nudity" site is, then, is a site in which no nudity has ever appeared and no nudity ever will appear (SmartFilter says that a web-page with a picture of Michaelangelo's David counts as a "nudity site").

I'm a BA platinum flier, logging hundreds of thousands of miles per year on the oneworld network. I guess it's time to try Virgin instead. Link, Link to Boing Boing's "Defeat Censorware" page