Internet Blocking Countries

Here's an interesting map that shows which countries block good 'ol free speechin' internet traffic. Courtesy of Strange Maps.
Yeah, Myanmar, is one of them.

Graphic

This beauty is from a 1948 Solarex sunglasses ad. Courtesy of Plan 59.

That Ain't Right

News item here.

More Andy Kaufman

Many years ago, not long after his death, there was an excellent tribute to Andy Kaufman held at the Long Beach Museum of Art in California. Hosted by Andy's long time friend and fellow comic, Bob Zmuda, the evening included many rare clips of Kaufman's career.
The clip that follows is Andy at his best. As Zmuda tells it, ticket sales for Andy's match with wrestler Jerry Lawler were sluggish - so Andy shot a couple of inflammatory ads in his back yard to anger fans in Tennessee in order to sell more tickets. Here's one of them:

Photos

Michael Wolf created this abstract image by photographing apartment buildings in Hong Kong. More pix on his website here.

Over London

Creative Review has a good link to some London shots taken by photographer Jason Hawkes here.

Accident

When the Lord Mayor leaps over someone dressed as a tomato, well...that's when people get hurt. Full story at BBC.

The War In Your Colon

Here's another great list by Kevin Griffith over at McSweeney's.

Andy Kaufman

I put Andy high on the list of people I wish were still alive. October will be Andy Kaufman tribute month here at cellophane - featuring highlights from his career (and it won't be about Latka on "Taxi"). Here's a local news story that aired about Tony Clifton:

Short Film

carmela walking away
running time: 4 minutes 58 seconds

Candidate Calculator

WQAD News in Illinois has this handy little list of questions that show which presidential candidates you're most aligned with. A simple little tool for the coming election season.

Burma Raw Video

Here is some raw video taken from the streets showing the uprising and subsequent violence:

Photos

Our Lady Of Angels Cathedral photographed during recent - and rare - Los Angeles storm. More shots here courtesy of Cathedrals of California.

Tokyo Blog

The Tokyo based PingMag design magazine has a good blog about Japanese stuff. Here is a graphic outside a train station: something about a remedy for constipation!

Bukowski Home For Sale

There is a movement to save the bungalow apartment of Los Angeles' favorite drunken poet and novelist, Charles Bukowski. The unit at 5124 DeLongpre is set for demolition. Places like these are L.A.'s version of the Chelsea Hotel in New York. You can see a photo and join the fight here.

Test Your Friends

Amir Vehabovic, a man in Bosnia, staged his own funeral as a hoax. When only his mother attended, this is the letter he sent to his friends. Courtesy of Harper's.

To all my dear "friends,"
Some of you I have known since early school
days, others I have only forged a relationship with
in the last few years. Until my "funeral," I considered
all of you close friends. So it was with
shock and, I admit, sadness and anger that I realized
not one of you managed to find the time to
come and say goodbye to me when you heard I was
to be buried. I would have understood if just some
of you came, bearing flowers or words of apology
from others who could not make it. But no. Not
a single one of you turned up to pay your last respects.
I lived for our friendships. They meant as
much to me as life itself. But how easy it was for
you all to forget the pledges of undying friendship
I heard on so many occasions. How different our
ideas of friendship seem to be. I paid a lot of money
to get a fake death certificate and to bribe undertakers
to deliver an empty coffin. I thought
my funeral would be a good joke-the kind of
prank we have all played on one another over
the years. Now I have just one last message for you:
My "funeral" might have been staged, but you
might as well consider me dead, because I will
not be seeing any of you again.

Hair Makes The Man

Trim Project by Big Rocket shows before and after shots of blokes' haircuts in London. More hair changing here at Creative Review.

Stripper Polaroids

Polaroid portraits taken of strippers who interviewed at a Southern California club in the late 60's. Via Flickr.

Twister Photos

Susan Silton manipulates photos of tornadoes to create these ominous images.

Bears Attack Submarine

These great images over at Fogonazos remind me of the excellent Cold War film "Ice Station Zebra" (reportedly Howard Hughes' favorite film). There's something about subs surfacing through ice that has always fascinated me - a surreal image I'd love to witness for real.