Angelenos aren't strangers to the works of British street artist Banksy. His participation in MOCA's street art show was a (predictably secret) given, and the man plastered L.A. during the run-up to the Oscars, inspiring residents of Westwood Village to petition for his works to remain. And don't get us started on the career of Mr. Brainwash, Bansky's special present to our fair city. LA Weekly photographer Colin Young-Wolff just got back from a tour of Europe, and he sent over a photo from Occupy London that is reputed to be a Banksy sculpture and has since been tagged over.
A blogger at ArtLyst explains: "The downside of leaving this amazing work of art in the middle of the grounds of St Paul's unprotected is that other protesters have drawn graffiti all over the sculpture to highlight their own particular brand of causes. Banksy has never been concerned with creating lasting or permanent works of art."
True that. The piece was made to be vandalized. But at least Colin got a great pic before it happened.
Because salt is for more than just high blood pressure.
Diamonds might be prettier and more durable, but there’s another translucent rock that’s even more valuable to us. We may not devote songs to salt or parade around with big hunks of it on our fingers, but we need it to survive, it makes food a hell of a lot tastier and it’s got hundreds – if not thousands – of practical uses. Here are 20 unusual and surprising household, beauty and health uses for salt, from cleaning the chimney to brightening your skin.
Drip-proof candles
Don’t you hate it when candles drip down as they burn, making a mess that’s practically impossible to clean? Prevent this from happening by soaking new candles in a strong salt solution for 2-3 hours. Clean smelly food spills
A little cinnamon in a pinch of salt will make dripped-on messes in the oven easier to clean, and prevent them from stinking up the house. Just sprinkle the mixture onto the drip soon after it occurs, while the oven is still hot. Once it has cooled, brush away the salt and the mess will come with it. Test egg freshness
Got a questionable egg? Add two teaspoons of salt to a cup of water, and drop in the egg. If it’s fresh, it will float; if it’s past its prime it will sink right to the bottom. Sanitize sponges
Used sponges harbor a shudder-inducing variety of bacteria. To restore them and kill some of those germs, suds them up, rinse them thoroughly and then soak them in cold, heavily salted water for an hour or two. Kill poison ivy
Nobody likes poison ivy, the irritating vine that has ruined many an otherwise pleasant outdoor experience. Three pounds of salt mixed with a gallon of soapy water, applied to the leaves and stems of poison ivy with a sprayer, will kill this tenacious pest of a plant. Extend broom life
Natural fiber brooms can last a lot longer if you use this easy trick: soak them in hot, salty water before their first use. Soothe a bee sting
Remove the stinger, wet the sting and immediately shake on a paste of salt and water. Let it dry, and it will reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Remove soot from chimney
A handful of salt thrown onto the flames in your fireplace will not only produce pretty, vivid yellow flames, it will help loosen soot in the chimney, preventing chimney fires and improving air flow. Relief for canker sores
A saltwater gargle will take the bite out of a toothache and ease the pain of canker sores and sore throats. Dissolve two teaspoons of salt in 1/4 cup of warm water and swish it around in your mouth for at least 20 seconds, gargling if you have a sore throat. It will likely burn at first, but it works. Keep clothes from freezing on the line
Add a little salt to the rinse water when washing a load of laundry to keep the clothes from freezing stiff on the clothesline. Soaking the clothesline in salt water will also prevent clothes from sticking to it in cold weather. Restore artificial flowers
Who has time to clean every individual petal of a bouquet of silk or nylon flowers? There’s an easier way. Just toss the flowers in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag along with about a cup of salt. Shake the bag well, and the salt will whisk away the dust and debris. Keep milk fresh
Sour milk is the worst, especially if you don’t realize it’s gone bad until you’ve already poured it into your cake batter or coffee mug. Keep it fresh longer by adding a pinch of salt to the carton, pinching the spout closed and gently shaking to mix. Make coffee less bitter
Over-brewed coffee that has taken on a bitter taste can be much improved with a tiny pinch of salt, which will also enhance the flavor. Remove blood, wine and perspiration stains
Blot up spilled wine and then pour salt on top to absorb what’s left, pulling as much of it out of the fabric as possible. Blood-stained linens can be restored in cold saltwater followed by a wash in hot, soapy water. To remove perspiration stains from clothing, dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a cup of hot water and sponge it on. Prevent sliced fruit from turning brown
Dip sliced apples, pears and other fruits susceptible to browning in lightly salted water to preserve their fresh look. If your apple slices have withered, salt water will also perk them up. Keep windows frost-free
To keep frost from accumulating on the windows in your home and your vehicle, dip a sponge in salty water and run it over the inside and outside of the glass, then rub dry with a soft cloth. Deodorize shoes
Suck the stink-worsening moisture out of canvas shoes by sprinkling a little salt inside them and then wiping it out. Don’t use this trick on leather or synthetic shoes, as it could dry them out too much and cause them to deteriorate. Reduce eye puffiness
So you caught a late-night airing of The Notebook on cable and went through a box of tissues – nobody needs to know. Obliterate the evidence by mixing a pinch of salt in a little hot water and applying it to puffy, swollen areas around your eyes with a cotton pad. The salt will help draw out the moisture and tighten the skin. Give your skin a glow
Massage a mixture of salt and olive oil into your skin in circular motions, leave it on for a few minutes and then wash it off. The massage increases circulation to your skin, the olive oil moisturizes and the salt buffs away dead skin cells. Brighten yellowed linens
Dingy whites can be brought back to their crisp, white best without the use of bleach. Boil cotton or linen items in a big pot of water with a few tablespoons of salt plus a few tablespoons of baking soda.
Photo: Britt Reints
With iPad apps to keep kids entertained and GPS systems to keep Mom and Dad from getting lost, today's family vacation has gone high-tech. We're not complaining. In fact, we're recommending a few more ways to let technology improve your next trip. The good news is all of these iPhone apps are free!
1. Sit or Squat
A long day of sightseeing is guaranteed to be interrupted at least once by a bathroom break. Sit or Squat helps you find the nearest public restroom, including ones that don't require a purchase to use them. Make your own contribution to the community by rating the bathrooms your family frequents.
2. TripIt
The free TripIt app syncs with your free TripIt account, where you can keep track of all of your travel plans and reservations. Long gone are the days of digging through your purse for print outs and confirmation numbers; the TripIt app keeps everything a finger click away. You can also check in to your flight, call your hotel, and get directions to the restaurant where you've made reservations -- all without leaving the app.
3. HopStop
Whether you're in your favorite American city or heading to Europe for the first time, chances are you'll find the directions you need to get around town in HopStop. This free app makes navigating public transit a breeze and can also provide directions by taxi or by foot. Do not leave home without it.
4. SnapShot Postcard
Choose a picture from your phone's photo album, type a message, and choose a mailing address from your contact list. BAM! Personalized postcards from your family vacation are printed and mailed for you by SnapShot Postcard. Each card costs as little as $0.80 per piece to print and mail (or as much as $1.99, depending on how many credits you buy at once.) Before you hit the road, set up a SnapShot account and purchase your credits so you're ready to send you favorite memories back home.
5. RoadAhead
Planning an epic family road trip? Plan to download RoadAhead before you go and you'll be able to see into the future. OK, not the future, but down the road and off the exit ramp. This app helps you plan where to pullover for gas and food, showing you which merchants are available at each exit, how far off the exit they're located, and which gas stations have the best price. T
Guess what the date is? 11-02-11. What’s the significance of that date? Apart from Uncharted 3 being released in the EU? That’s right! Gran Theft Auto V. The king of all videogames is here. Rockstar revealed the game on their official website last week and teased the trailer, and the trailer is finally here.
There is no release date announced for the game yet, but oh boy, it looks fantastic. Rockstar truly knows how to captivate all the gamers out there.
Are you ready? You better be because it is amazing. Check out the fantastic trailer below.
The gang at Twelve South, the company responsible for iPhone cases like the BookBook and stands for the iPad and MacBook Pro, has just unveiled their newest creation, an ingenious iPad/iPhone charger that seamlessly connects to a standard MacBook Air or MacBook Pro AC adapter.
Twelve South sent us a sample unit, dubbed the PlugBug and we’re in love.
It’s a simple idea with a winning premise of helping frequent travelers or those cramped for outlet space eliminate the need to carry a MacBook charger and a separate charger for a phone or iPad.
Here’s how it works: Attach the PlugBug to the normal duck cover on any MagSafe power brick (which includes the MacBook, MacBook Pro and Macbook Air). The PlugBug contains a two prong outlet and its own powered 10w USB port. What this means is that you can charge your iPhone or iPad without having to plug it into your laptop, all while also charging your laptop battery.
Why is this better than just using the USB port on your Mac to charge your device? Well, the reason is twofold:
First: That takes up an extra USB port. If you are using a MacBook Air, that might mean the device has to vie for space with other components.
Second: It can take a lot more time to charge an iPad via your MacBook or MacBook Pro than through a wall connection. In fact, if your USB port isn’t powered, charging the iPad can take a ton of time.
Third: For business travelers, this eliminates the need to pack the external phone or iPad charger alongside the laptop charger.
At $34.95, this is a slick and relatively cheap device. It also doubles as a standard iPad charger — and considering Apple sells those for $29.99 (granted, the Apple model also includes a 6′ extension cord), we think this is a good deal.
What I really like about this device is that it is styled to match the look and feel of the regular Apple adapter. Aside from its red cover, you would think this was a regular Apple dongle. It fits on the power port without adding much bulk, and the extra functionality of a powered USB port is great.
Eyes Clearly Not Bigger Than Stomach
A huge 16-foot Burmese python slithering through the Florida Everglades proved that her eyes weren't actually bigger than her stomach, by swallowing an intact 76-pound deer. The Everglades National Park wildlife biologists indicate that the python had a girth of 44.1 inches after devouring the adult female deer!
At 15.65 feet, the python isn't the largest on record, according to CNN, but the size of her prey both impresses and concerns state and federal wildlife scientists and land managers trying to control the non-native species.
As a large exotic animal that is not naturally from that area, experts assert that the python has the potential to wreak havoc on the natural Florida wildlife. Discovered by contractors who were spraying exotic vegetation on an island about 20 miles from Everglades National Park, the snake was dispatched with a single shotgun blast to the head, which is apparently protocol for non-native, predatory species.
Another Possible Example of Exotic Pets & Irresponsible Owners?
Officials indicate that they do see pythons on a regular basis and that they've dispatched hundreds of them in the past few years. While some of the snakes may have escaped enclosures after Hurricane Andrew's widespread destruction in 1992, experts assert a more likely cause for the problem is....
that some of these pythons were actually pets who grew bigger than the owner "planned" and they were released into the wild, which according to wildlife officials is the worst thing you can do. Photo Source: South Florida Water Management District
by: Drew V
from: http://www.forkparty.com/ Toddlers & Tiaras, better known as ‘the atrocious reality show on legal child abuse’, has become wildly popular. Whether it’s because you’re a shallow psycho who pimps out her own children like prostitutes, or a rubbernecking bystander who can’t help watching the train wreck, Toddlers & Tiaras has something for everyone. The one thing that reality TV has found to be successful is misery, and Toddlers & TIaras is full of that.
First gaining popularity over the controversy of an 8 year old girl crying on camera, begging not to undergo a painful eyebrow waxing procedure, this show is full of moments that will make you cringe. Besides the borderline child abuse, there are plenty of WTF one-liners (spoken by children and parents alike) and ridiculous imagery. Here are some of the funniest screenshots from this terrible show.
What do you get when you shove Jean Claude Van Damme, Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chuck Norris into a blender with with a dozen raw eggs and a fifth of jack… You get Singham – The best friggin action movie of all time! Screw The Expendables, that ain’t got anything on Singham.
Now all you gotta do is take a shot of that ass kicking drink you just mixed and get ready to get your mind blown! Bollywood brings you Singham – a story of… well, I don’t know the language they are speaking. So, I have no clue what the movie is about.
If that clip made you crap your pants in excitement, be sure to watch the whole film here. *If you do watch the full thing, be sure to check out 13:40 for a wicked tiger slap and 1:47:50 for a rocking duet with our hero and his lady.
You're a wild type. A rebel. The kind of person who likes life a little spicier. The kind of person who wants a flash of Tabasco™ lighting up your shot of Southern Comfort™. Like a fling between liquor and pepper sauce, you're a radical -- you probably even listen to that dubstep music.
Er, sorry, fans of bowel-shuddering wobble, but your favorite sound has just become a hipness signifier for the desperately uncool. Showing up in songs by Britney Spears and Maroon 5 probably told us dubstep was on its way here (along with brostep's ubiquity and Skrillex on the cover of SPIN, among many other signposts). But at least Skrillex looks a little scary, and -- real talk -- "Hold It Against Me" isn't so bad. Much worse, at least if you're dismayed by the distance dubstep has come from its gritty south London roots, is the gutbomb of subterranean rumble now bringing a Southern Comfort TV spot to its climax. Witness:
The track is an instrumental version of Crush Effect's "Burn it Down," featuring Vokab Company (here's the original), but does it really matter? Capitalist America found one of the darkest, most uncompromising movements in recent music, got it drunk on sweetened booze and watery hot sauce in a New Orleans bar, and is now fucking it senselessly for as much cool juice as possible. The worst part is that it's brilliant -- SoCo was a preferred slurp of the rubgy-shirt-and-golf-visor set where we went to school, and aren't those same dudes right now torturing their dorm-mates with Rusko?
Dubstep purists, we know you are dismayed, but deal with it. The best underground movements are only hot stars being inevitably pulled into the black hole of commercial usefulness at the center of the musical galaxy. But it probably didn't help that Burial titled one of his tracks "Southern Comfort."
The idea of making brain cancers glow to help surgeons operate is being tested in the UK.
Patients will be given a drug, 5-amino-levulinic acid (5-ALA), which causes a build-up of fluorescent chemicals in the tumour.
The theory is that the pink glow will clearly mark the edges of the tumour, making it easier to ensure all of it is removed.
More than 60 patients with glioblastoma will take part in the trial.
They have cancerous glial cells, which normally hold the brain's nerves cells in place. On average patients survive 15 months after being diagnosed.
No room for error
In some cancers, such as those of the colon, some of the surrounding tissue can be removed as well as the tumour. Removing a brain tumour needs to be more precise.
“Treating brain tumours is a real challenge facing clinicians and we urgently need new treatments”
Kate LawCancer Research UK
Dr Colin Watts, who is leading the trial at the University of Cambridge, told the BBC that surgeons "don't want to take too much functional tissue away".
The trial will then test whether applying drugs directly to the tumour improves survival rates.
After the tumour has been removed under UV light, a thin drug-soaked wafer will be placed in the space left behind. This should slowly release chemotherapy drugs over four to six weeks to kill any remaining cancerous cells.
This could overcome one of the challenges with chemotherapy for brain tumours.
Dr Watts said: "One of the problems with chemotherapy is we don't actually know the extent a drug penetrates a tumour because of the blood brain barrier."
By applying the drug directly to the tumour it should be at a higher dose.
Charles Meacock, 56, from Norfolk, who has already taken part in the trial, said: "Hopefully it will benefit me, but will also help people in my situation in the future.
"It's four weeks since my surgery and my recovery seems to be going as it should. I just have to wait and see now."
The study has been funded by the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust and Cancer Research UK.
The founder of the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, Neil Dickson, said he was proud to be funding the trial.
"Brain tumour research receives a fraction of the funding of that of higher profile cancers and it is our priority to redress the balance," he added.
Kate Law, Cancer Research UK's director of clinical research, said: "Treating brain tumours is a real challenge facing clinicians and we urgently need new treatments to help more people diagnosed with the disease."
Trials involving more patients will take place if this one is successful.
People have greater expectations of the temperature and humidity of their workplace being stable and within a couple of degrees of ideal;
People have bigger houses, often with basements, so that they can find space within the home to have an office;
People are more security conscious and would not leave expensive hardware in a backyard shed;
People are obsessed with the price per square foot of everything and find them too expensive.
Where's the fridge?
archipod/Promo image
Now we are about to find out if it will work in North America, as the Archipod lands on these shores. (Bonnie saw it in London here) This one is more of a land yacht than a shed, made from curved plywood, mineral fiber and foil insulation, and western red cedar shingles. It has air conditioning and heating and is not meant to be the cheapest shed on the block:
Our 'Pod' has been specifically designed to meet a high standard rather than a low budget. This includes it's unusual and contemporary look, its ergonomic interior placing the user at the centre of the curved desk, and the quality of the fixtures and fittings. There are cheaper garden offices on the market, but our intention is to provide a more interesting and better quality alternative.
And indeed they are not cheap; Hammacher Schlemmer sells the larger 12' diameter unit for $ 40,000. That is $ 666 per square foot.
According to the Business Desk, managing director Darren Buttle says
It’s going extremely well in New York. It’s such an important city for us when you consider the size and scale of the business community... Orders are already coming through, and we’re confident we can build on our success to date in the US and continue our upwards trajectory.
archipod/Promo image
The Archipod addresses quite a few of my concerns about sheds in America; it is well insulated and secure. It will be interesting to see if it catches on. Check it out at Archipod.
What's going on there? Well, it's normally considered an instant haunting when you build on top of an old cemetery. But in Prague, they decided to build over a 15th century cemetery with more cemeteries. Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery (this is its actual name) now features 11 cemeteries stacked on top of each other.
As of this day, there are about 12,000 visible headstones around the Old Jewish Cemetery, with an estimated 100,000 bodies buried beneath the ground in up to 12 layers of dead folks like some weird necrotic bean dip.
The cemetery was in use from around 1439 to 1787, in a time when Jewish people from Prague were not allowed to bury their dead outside the Jewish Quarter of Josefov. The Hebrew faith also forbids the moving of headstones, so given just this one place to bury all of their dead, the graves kept piling up until the whole area went from "sacred place of solemn remembrance" to "corpse minefield."
Catherine Murray "Seriously, the ground here is like a pinata full of dead people."
Naturally, the bizarre eeriness of the Old Jewish Cemetery has lent itself to a number of stories over the centuries. For example, one of the cemetery's most famous permanent residents is Judah Loew ben Bezalel, a 16th century rabbi who, according to legend, created the magical Golem of Prague, a monster made from clay to destroy the enemies of the Jews.
CxOxS Judging by the photo, the Golem did not succeed.
The cemetery was also believed to be the secret meeting place of the Elders of Zion, a group of powerful people plotting to take over the world and give rise to the New World Order (although their efforts up to this point seem to have been marginal at best, so maybe they should've met at Showbiz Pizza instead).
#2. Staten Island's Tugboat Graveyard
undercity You can cut the tetanus in the air with a knife.
North of Rossville, Staten Island lurks the Tugboat Graveyard, where the busted, decayed shells of old harbor vessels are kept. From tugboats to barges to ferries, most of the remains there date back to the early 20th century, when the New York harbor was still bustling with life. Now they've all been forgotten and left to rot away in the shallow waters of Arthur Kill, presumably because Scary Boat Bay was already full.
opacity Don't feel sad. When you're not looking they go on adventures and learn the value of friendship.
In 1990, there might have been as many as 200 boats abandoned in the Tugboat Graveyard, but over the years the number dwindled, the ships long ago stripped of any valuable parts by looters, vandals and tentacle phantasms.
undercity Or carried off to a secret treasure cave by a petulant teenage mermaid.
Looking at the pictures, you can almost hear them, creaking and groaning in the lazy currents with the faint skittering of rats and lurking nautical serial killers. Nobody died on these boats, as far as we know, but you can't tell us at least one of these vessels doesn't have a decaying skeleton standing at the wheel.
undercity Pulling the weight of the world behind it.
Actun Tunichil Muknal ("Cave of the Stone Sepulcher") is an important Mayan archeological site in Belize. It was only discovered in 1989, but in the short time since it has already proven itself invaluable as a window into the ancient Mayan culture. And of course by that, we mean this:
That is, one chamber in the cave is believed to have been used for human sacrifices, a theory suggested by the characteristic markings on some of the pottery found inside it. And by "pottery" we of course mean "murdered skeletons."
mybestlifefulfilled If we know our CSI, natural deaths don't cause skull holes.
They've found several skeletons in the cave, and most of them are, uh, small. That is, most of the sacrificed were children.
They were probably sacrifices to Chaac, the Mayan god of rain, during a particularly severe drought. But don't worry -- these kids didn't have their hearts cut out while still alive or anything. No, evidence shows that they were all killed by having their skulls crushed, which is way more genial and to the point. They were dealing with children, after all.
Over hundreds of years, the bones became calcified and fused with the cave floor, which is why modern excavators have just left them there without a proper burial (though seriously guys, maybe like throw a tarp over them or something?). The most famous skeleton in the cave is that of a teenage girl, nicknamed the Crystal Maiden because her bones have partially crystallized and now sparkle in the light.
Joshua Berman Oh, well that's not scary at all then.
Only a few selected guides have received permission from the Belize Department of Archeology to take tourists into the chamber. And you will need a guide, because to get there you have to trek through a dense jungle, swim through a cavern lake, dodge big-ass cave spiders and navigate a labyrinthine ancient bludgeoning cave.
James Snyder / art.co.uk After all this, that cave better have leprechaun gold in it or something.
Once you make it inside, though, you have more or less unrestricted access to the cave's ancient remains. You're free to touch them, take pictures with them, even decorate them with novelty top hats and pretend that they're talking in a British accent. Anything you feel is necessary to get your money's worth of entertainment out of the bones of ritualistic murder victims.
Ron Brinkmann Go wild. After all, you never knew him.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
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