Okkervil River's "Golden Opportunities Mixtape"

This morning, I discovered (via You Ain't No Picasso) that one of my favorite bands, Okkervil River, has released a new EP that is available in full to download from their website,completely free. The EP is a collection of covers (plus one Okkervil River original) that were recorded live during their current tour (for their new album, "Stage Names." The tracklisting is as follows:

1. April Anne (John Phillips)
2. Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear (Randy Newman)
3. I Want To Know (Charles F. Olson/Ed Sanders)
4. Do What You Gotta Do (Jimmy Webb)
5. I Came Here To Say I'm Going Away (Serge Gainsbourg/Trans. by Will Sheff)
6. The Blonde In The Bleachers (Joni Mitchell)
7. Antarctica Starts Here (John Cale)
8. Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas (Will Sheff)
9. Solo (Sandy Denny)

The download comes complete with printable artwork and liner notes (you can pick between a Christmas design, a Hanukkah design, and standard black and white).

Go HERE to download. Enjoy.

Katy Beaton's Sylvanus G. Morley Comic

One of my favorite people making comics on the internet right now is Katy Beaton. She draws awesome autobio comics (and I am not easy to please when it comes to autobio), and hilarious historical funnies. As a christmas present to her readers, she asked them to send in thier favorite historical figures and she is drawing comics about the first 20 she recieved. I requested a Sylvanus Griswold Morley comic (previously blogged about here) and was lucky enough to be one of the first 20!

Check out Katy's website or livejournal to read the rest as she posts them. She's already done Tesla as well.

Pizza Without An Oven

I have not tried this yet, but I sure want to.

From The New York Times:

Not long ago, toppings for pizza were becoming unbearably fancy — hoisin-slathered duck, or fontina and truffles — or just ridiculous (you’ve seen the ones with pasta?). Pizza threatened to become something other than pizza. Fortunately, that trend has reversed.

Nevertheless, it is still fun to innovate, or to adopt a pizza tradition you were not familiar with. My friend Ed Schneider, a sometime food writer and brilliant home cook, called me recently with a suggestion that sounded so good I tried it immediately: pan-fried pizza.

Read the full article here!

I hate to keep shoving adorable and weird asian... media... down your throat, but this is an OLD favorite of mine that i think everyone needs to see.

The joys of poop set to super sweet music.

Yup... yup.

Sony Bravia: Bunnies!

Italian Pizza Acrobats

Found at the PIZZA HALL OF FAME! Be sure to check out the ...um ...totally awesome music ...on the World Pizza Champions main page.

Dinosaur Found With Skin Mostly Intact

From TimesOnline:

The biological secrets of the dinosaurs could soon be glimpsed after the apparent recovery of organic material from a “mummy” unearthed in the United States.

The remarkable example of a duckbilled dinosaur is in such good condition, with its skin almost entirely intact, that it has already challenged standard theories about the creatures’ shape, size and movement.

It could yet, however, offer still greater insight into the evolution and biology of the dinosaurs, if hints that organic matter has been preserved are confirmed. Such samples could allow scientists to study dinosaur proteins and even DNA, providing unprecedented clues to their life cycle and development.

Read the whole article here.

"those city bottoms were bitter"

50 Questions

My friend, John Campbell, recently posted this on his LiveJournal. Here are the brilliant answers to fifty questions, all in comic form.

Sylvanus Griswold Morley

I was watching a program about Mayan temples a while ago and there was mention of Sylvanus Griswold Morley. I did a little research on him, really just because I thought he had a cool name. He's since become one of my heroes. He was totally awesome.

From Wikipedia:

Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883 – September 2, 1948) was an American archaeologist, epigrapher, and Mayanist scholar who made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early twentieth century.

Morley is particularly noted for the extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza that he directed on behalf of the Carnegie Institution. He also published several large compilations and treatises on Maya hieroglyphic writing, and wrote popular accounts on the Maya for a general audience.

To his contemporaries, he was one of the leading Mesoamerican archaeologists of his day. Although more recent developments in the field have resulted in a re-evaluation of his theories and works, his publications, particularly on calendric inscriptions, are still cited. In his role as director of various projects sponsored by the Carnegie Institution, he oversaw and encouraged many others who later established notable careers in their own right. His commitment and enthusiasm for Maya studies helped inspire the necessary sponsorship for projects that would ultimately reveal much about ancient Mayan civilization.

Morley also conducted espionage in Mexico on behalf of the United States during World War I, but the scope of those activities only came to light well after his death. His archaeological field work in Mexico and Central America provided suitable cover for investigating German activities and anti-American activity. His espionage was undertaken at the behest of the United States' Office of Naval Intelligence.

Hello!

Begin transmission! Testing! Hello!?