Jenny Lens is an LA based photographer who has taken thousands of great early punk rock photos. She is gearing up to release a Ramones photo eBook

Ramones First West Coast Tour, 1976, Highlights, V1, the first in a series of exciting, new photo eBooks from the Jenny Lens Punk Archive. The ONLY way you will see so many rare, large and groovy photos, most seen only by Jenny!

FREE 16 page book sample eBook download.

BUY NOW (or for more info)

HELP SAVE the Jenny Lens Punk Archive! Jenny's seminal, 1976-1980, LA-based punk photos have been published more than anyone on the West Coast for over 32 years. Her photos have been published more than ANY other photographer during that time frame in ALL the numerous major books published the past few years. Her photos are also in documentaries, magazine articles, CD/DVD packaging and more.

But there are thousands you've never seen! Photos which will make you laugh, cry, dance and more!

I dig this classic Sesame Street animation of a Rube Goldberg Machine with an alphabet theme.

WFMU, the only radio station that matters, is holding an art exhibition to raise much needed funds for a new booster antenna in Manhattan.

There will be a lots of reasonably priced work from a really wide range of artists from the well known (Cindy Sherman, Mike Kelley & Richard Prince) to up and comers like Dan Funderburgh and Matthieu Gafsou. Much of the work is brand new and has been created especially for our show and is priced to sell.

We also have a website up where people can buy editions including very reasonably priced work by Chris Johanson and James Siena among others.

WFMU art exhibition

Today on Offworld, we looked at how the first pack of downloadable content for Mirror's Edge reminded us (happily) of the best bits of Super Mario Sunshine, went undercover to sneak ourselves out a copy of Japan's exclusive Resident Evil 5 demo, logged into Sackbook, the best new web project to come out of LittleBigPlanet, and went Mario Kart-ing in real life.

We also prepared ourselves for a Metal Gear December Surprise, saw how LittleBigPlanet was invading music/puzzle game Lumines (later, in motion), and nosed around Sega's new Sonic-laden casual game portal.

Finally, we looked at Trine, a forthcoming PC/PS3 game from Finnish developer Frozenbyte that looks to blend the best parts of Lost Vikings, Gauntlet and.. Crayon Physics, saw Obama going all Gears of War, and, most endearingly, rescued wayward beagles across procedurally generated landscapes.

Last month I wrote about Adafuit's Drawdio kit, an electronic pencil that lets you make music while you draw.

Later, I got an email from JJJ Silver, who invented the Drawdio, and I asked him to tell me how he came up with it. Here's what he said:

Imagine you could draw musical instruments on normal paper with any pencil (cheap circuit thumb-tacked on) and then play them with your finger. The Drawdio circuit-craft lets you MacGyver your everyday objects into musical instruments: paintbrushes, macaroni, trees, grandpa, even the kitchen sink...

One day I bought a "harmonium" kit at the street market in Bangalore. I hacksawed the keyboard off to make the first ever Drawdio circuit. We played with it at a local school in the slums using plants, water, our foreheads, etc. My friend told me graphite would work too. Meditating on it, I realized the Drawdio circuit should be literally attached to a pencil to "draw audio," and that's where the name came from: Draw + Audio.

Link, Discuss. An appropriate happy-fun chaser for an eight-year-long bad trip. This would go great in my living room with some Franklin Mint Barack Obama Golden Victory Coins. You are welcome. (Art of Obama, thanks, cavalaxis)

Are you an iPhone user who talks (types) like a sailor and it annoys you when the device autocorrects a perfectly good insult to read "Duck you!" Over at Boing Boing Gadgets, Brownlee has a good tip on how to quickly teach bad words to your iPhone. Discussion too.
"Teach your iPhone to swear"

Photos of "dying leaf" and "decomposing leaf" katydids. Unbelievable. (Via Evil Mad Science Laboratories)

Dig this real-life Mario Kart insanity! Video and discussion over at Boing Boing Offworld. "Video: Real-life Mario Kart"

H.M., an amnesiac whose condition opened new doors in the study of memory, died on Tuesday at age 82. A 1953 brain operation left H.M., now revealed to be Henry Gustav Molaison, with no ability to form new long-term memories. From then on, every time he met someone, or experienced something, it would be just like the very first time. His short-term memory was fine. From the New York Times:

“The study of H. M. by Brenda Milner stands as one of the great milestones in the history of modern neuroscience,” said Dr. Eric Kandel, a neuroscientist at Columbia University. “It opened the way for the study of the two memory systems in the brain, explicit and implicit, and provided the basis for everything that came later — the study of human memory and its disorders.”

Living at his parents’ house, and later with a relative through the 1970s, Mr. Molaison helped with the shopping, mowed the lawn, raked leaves and relaxed in front of the television. He could navigate through a day attending to mundane details — fixing a lunch, making his bed — by drawing on what he could remember from his first 27 years.

"H.M., An Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82"

Brad Robideau of American Public Media says:

I thought your readers might be interested in Marketplace’s latest “The Marketplace Whiteboard” video making the financial crisis easier to understand.

Mortgages aren't the only financial instruments that get turned into securities. In this video, Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains how companies make money by buying credit card debt and bundling it.

All of “The Marketplace Whiteboard” videos can be accessed at www.marketplace.org and are part of "Fallout: America's Financial Crisis," Marketplace's comprehensive coverage of the current financial crisis.

Bill Gurstelle says: "Recently, I've become aware of what I call "ghost pigeons, " the imprint a pigeon makes on a glass window of a building when it unwittingly flies into it. They are spooky and depressing and kind of pretty all at the same time."

Ghost pigeons

Jesse Thorn of The Sound of Young America says

On the Hour is the funniest thing I've ever heard on the radio, and I just learned (accidentally) that it's in iTunes. It is the predecessor to "The Day Today" and "Brass Eye," which are two of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV. All three projects were spearheaded by the British satirist Chris Morris, who in my book might be the great comedy genius of our time. It predates The Daily Show, and is (imo) funnier.

Seasons one and two are on sale in iTunes now for $11.99 each:

And there's a podcast of short (~90 second) excerpts as well:

I swear to God this is the funniest, most amazing thing in history.

John Ptak, dealer in rare science books says:

This letter, written in 1957 by Colonel Leslie S. Moore of the U.S. Biological Weapons Program at Fort Detrick, Maryland, to a member (whose name I've removed) of the A.S. "(Atmospheric Sciences") division, was basically a get-out-of-hell-free card for its bearer in the case of devastating nuclear attack.

"In the event of a mass destruction attack on Fort Detrick with the resulting loss of Biological Warfare physical facilities, it is anticipated that it will be necessary to re-establish the BW activities at some other location."

"In order to accomplish this in the most expeditious manner, the availability of certain designated personnel...is deemed essential."

The "letter serves as notification that you have been selected as a member of this group which is to be evacuated" to get the biological weapons program up and running again. As you can read in the clickable version of the document, there are directions about what top do and when to do it. There is no mention of family. My read is that this is Endgame stuff, end of civilization as we know it, and that this was the Darwinian sweep of necessary people. Or is it Dr. Strangeloveian? I get the two confused.

Suffice to say that Fort Detrick, which had been established in 1943 (constructing and delivering anthrax bombs by 1944) as Camp Detrick, already had a fairly full career before it was up-named to "Fort" in 1956. It was the recognized home/collecting node for the American Chemical and Biological Weapons programs until Richard Nixon, of all people, disbanded that capacity at Detrick in 1969.

Read the rest at John's blog.

Two Minutes to Doomsday: "Get out of Hell Free" Card, 1957. Armageddon and All That...

Los Angeles's Furious Theatre Company is known for its edgy, intense, and experimental plays. Last year, I posted about their staging of "Canned Peaches In Syrup," a post-apocalyptic comedy whose cast included my brother, Robert Pescovitz. Furious's current production is "The Night Before Christmas," a holiday comedy for adults. Anthony Nellson wrote the play and my brother directed it. "The Night Before Christmas" runs until December 20 at the Pasadena Playhouse. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times gave the production a glowing review, describing it as a "a notably smart adult-oriented standout." From the play description:

In the Los Angeles premiere of this “adults-only” Christmas comedy, two cockney thugs discover what could be a real-life elf during the night shift at a London warehouse on Christmas Eve. A hooker with a (somewhat) heart of gold also shows up expecting to collect the coveted toy of the season, which was promised to her in exchange for sexual favors. Together, the three try to sort out if the elf is real and may just stumble upon the true meaning of Christmas.

The Night Before Christmas (Furious Theatre Company), "Review: Furious Theatre Company's 'The Night Before Christmas'" (LA Times)

Ryan Heshka has a few of his pieces in exhibitions this week:

December 4th: Mark Murphy's KNOW exhibition, taking place in Miami, Florida, during the week of Art Basel. My piece, "Doctors Stories", is no longer available, but there are many incredible artists taking part in this exhibition.

December 6th: The third "Don't Wake Daddy" show at the Feinkunst-Kruger gallery in Hamburg.

Oh, what a week we had in Boing Boing television.

♦ MONDAY: Our Weekly Update featured Dale Dougherty speaking with us about why he believes television news (specifically CNN) is having a hard time covering the economic crisis. We spoke to Julie Amero, the substitute teacher in Connecticut whose life became an extended living hell because of pop-up porn on a computer in her classroom, and the stupidity of overeager prosecutors, lying IT "experts," and corrupt, buck-passing bureaucrats who don't know jack about technology (an extended audio interview with Amero is coming up on Boing Boing, soon). We viewed snapshots of the tragedy in Mumbai, a city known and loved by editors and commenters alike, here at Boing Boing. WATCH IT. Here's a direct MP4 Link.

♦ TUESDAY: In our weekly Boing Boing Gadgets Video feature, Joel Johnson did not show us his junk. But he did give us a naked shower review of an underwater MP3 player. He did not like the device, but many of our commenters rather liked seeing him make a lovable oaf of himself in the buff. WATCH IT. Here's a direct MP4 link.

♦ WEDNESDAY: We enjoyed a fantastic new Bill Barminski music video, an ode to the joy of vinyl and surf musique. WATCH IT. Here's a Direct MP4 Link.

♦ THURSDAY: Joi Ito invited Silicon Valley's Web 2.0 elite to Tokyo for a tour of the otaku district, led by Danny Choo in Stormtrooper finery. Danny is a big internet celebrity in Japan, and he is also the son of legendary shoe designer Jimmy Choo. This is already one of my all-time BBtv favorites. WATCH IT. Here's a Direct MP4 Link.

♦ And we end this week in BBtv with a Friday Unicorn Chaser: John Hodgman Spamasterpiece Theater Bloopers . They've been authenticated as The Real Thing. WATCH IT. Here's a Direct MP4 Link.

Over at the Make Blog, Gareth Branwyn has compiled a great list of robot gift ideas.

Maker Bundle #1
The Maker Shed has put together the first in a series of parts collections, called Maker Bundles. Maker Bundle #1 combines all of the electronic components to make four of the beginner-to-intermediate robot projects we've covered in MAKE magazine. For $20 off the cost of buying the parts separately, you get all of the components you need to make the iconic Mousey the Junkbot, two fundamental BEAMbots (a Trimet solar "top" and a SolarRoller), and Jerome Demers's awesome BeetleBot, a robot that uses only switches to create obstacle-avoiding behavior. My article on how to build Mousey can be found in MAKE, Volume 02. I covered the basics of BEAM and how to build the Trimet and SolaRoller in MAKE Volume 06. Jerome's BeetleBot article can be found in MAKE, Volume 12. You can also get my three project articles in The Best of MAKE collection.
Price: $55.00

Holiday Gift Guide: Robots!

My friend John Law is a legend of San Francisco's underground culture. He's perhaps best known publicly as the co-founder of Burning Man, but he's done much more during his thirty years of high weirdness in the Bay Area. In 1977, he was part of the Suicide Club, a Dadaist group of urban explorers and adventurers that eventually led to his co-founding of the Cacophony Society (and Burning Man). These days, he's involved with Laughing Squid, Survival Research Laboratories, and other more covert prankster activities. John is also a writer of short stories, and Furnace Press has just published the first collection of his tales. Titled The Space Between, it's a short compilation of three stories inspired by John's fascination with bridges. An excerpt is available online. I can't wait to read the whole thing! Congratulations, John! From the book description (photo by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid):

An avid urban adventurer and bridge historian, the author shares his passion for these engineering marvels while delving into their potential to fuel our dreams, fears, and nightmares. Part dreamscapes, part adventure tales, these narratives take the reader on an exploration of bridges to inspire their contemplation on a structural as well as metaphysical level.

John Law's The Space Between

Military contracting behemoth Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) has been in the news previously for allegations of widespread sexual harassment. Here they are again, committing more horrors.

A lawsuit against the company recently filed in Houston federal court accuses its workers of exposing military and non-military personnel in Iraq to contaminated food, contaminated water, and improperly incinerated human remains. Yeah, that's right. Human remains. Joshua Eller, the principal plaintiff, says he witnessed a wild dog running around base one day carrying a human arm in its mouth.

KBR Sued Again, Featuring Dogs Running Around With Human Arms In Their Mouths (Houston Press, thanks Martha Clayton)

NPR's Adam Burke has produced an amazing audio tour of the subterranean storm drains in Vegas, which some people (hmmm, Hodgmanic mole men?) call home.

It would be easy to go a whole weekend on the Las Vegas Strip without spotting a sign of a crisis. Never mind that more than 14,000 people are living on the streets — and that Nevada ranks second in the nation in homeless population per capita.

Seeing evidence of this is a matter of knowing — or perhaps choosing — where to look.

One might begin with the slot machines on a busy casino floor — tourists, blackjack tables, cocktail waitresses in impossibly tiny outfits. And if one were willing to pay the price of admission, an elevator could transport the seeker to more vice and excess upstairs — rooftop pools and lavish suites. But the homeless still wouldn't be found.

But what if there were an elevator that went downward? Let's say that you could descend below the sunken lounges, past kitchens and utility closets, through layers of concrete. It is here that Las Vegas' truly gritty underbelly can be found; a hidden matrix of tunnels beneath the Strip, another version of the city born out of storm drains.

Sucked Into The Tunnels Beneath Las Vegas (NPR, image: Danny Mollohan)

If it's Friday, and, why, yes it is, it's time for a Unicorn Chaser on Boing Boing tv. Today: SPAMASTERPIECE THEATER bloopers, out-takes, and oblique lulz from the amazing John Hodgman, minor television personality and author of More Information Than You Require (Amazon link). Direct MP4 Link, if you prefer download.

Update: proof they are the REAL THING.

The gentleman above is Michael Campbell in two mug shots taken five years apart. The photo at left depicts Campbell in 2003 and the right is from October. "Mug Shot Metamorphosis" (The Smoking Gun, thanks Gil Kaufman!)

New research suggests that the birth control pill can affect some women's taste in men. The reason is that the pill seems to shift a woman's preference toward men who share a particular group of genes with them. The genes, the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene family, are expressed in odor. From Scientific American:

Women who start or stop taking the pill, then, may be in for some relationship problems. A study published last year in Psychological Science found that women paired with MHC-similar men are less sexually satisfied and more likely to cheat on their partners than women paired with MHC-dissimilar men. So a woman on the pill, for example, might be more likely to start dating a MHC-similar man, but he could ultimately leave her less sexually satisfied. Then if she goes off the pill during the relationship, the accompanying hormonal changes will draw her even more strongly toward more MHC-dissimilar men. These immune genes may have a “powerful effect in terms of how well relationships are cemented,” says University of Liverpool psychologist Craig Roberts, co-author of the August paper.

"Birth Control Pills Affect Women's Taste in Men" (Thanks, Marina Gorbis!)

The Hot Dog Launcher is a familiar sight at Philadelphia Phillies baseball games in Citizens Bank Park. The bazooka shoots frankfurters high into the stands in between innings. Ad agency Red Tettemer made a funny short documentary about the invention of the Hot Dog Launcher. It's a great bit of marketing for Hatfield Quality Meats, sponsors of the Launcher. Hatfield Hotdog Launcher Documentary

Previously on Boing Boing Gadgets:
• Behold the Meat Cannon of Philadelphia

An atheist group placed this sign beside a Nativity scene at an Olympia, Washington government building, and some people aren't pleased. The Freedom From Religion Foundation previously posted a sign in Madison, Wisconsin that protestors have reportedly turned around so it can't be read and thrown acid on it. From CNN:

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds," the sign says in part.

Dan Barker, a former evangelical preacher who now heads up the atheist and agnostic Freedom From Religion Foundation, said it was important for atheists to see their viewpoints validated alongside everyone else's...

"It's not that we are trying to coerce anyone; in a way our sign is a signal of protest," Barker said. "If there can be a Nativity scene saying that we are all going to hell if we don't bow down to Jesus, we should be at the table to share our views."

He said if anything, it's the Nativity scene that is the intrusion.

"Most people think December is for Christians and view our signs as an intrusion, when actually it's the other way around," he said. "People have been celebrating the winter solstice long before Christmas. We see Christianity as the intruder, trying to steal the holiday from all of us humans."

Atheists take aim at Christmas (Thanks, Mark Pescovitz!)