A follow-up to the Joshua Bell violinist story I posted a couple of days ago has Washington Post staff writer Gene Weingarten answering questions about the article.
A History of Home Values
Here is an interesting graph from Robert Shiller’s book Irrational Exuberance.
The Yale economist Robert J. Shiller created an index of American housing prices going back to 1890. It is based on sale prices of standard existing houses, not new construction, to track the value of housing as an investment over time. It presents housing values in consistent terms over 116 years, factoring out the effects of inflation.
See also the same graph as a roller coaster ride on Google Video.
World Class Street Performer
Would you recognize the outstanding talents of one of the world’s great violinists if you caught him performing incognito during your rush-hour commute to work?
The Washington Post turned this hypothetical question into a reality: Pearls before Breakfast.
(via Kottke)
Pysanky: The Art of Ukrainian Easter Eggs
These are some of the eggs that my sister and her oldest son, Ryker, made. Check out the fabulous Pysanky Pool on Flickr.
Mr. Deity
Mr. Deity is a clever video series that, to some, might explain why God acts the way he does. I particularly liked episodes 2 and 4.
Michael Phelps’ World Record Smashing Swim
During my prime of swimming for the University of Lethbridge, my fastest time for the 50 meter freestyle (short course) was 24.59. It’s fun and amazing to watch the world’s best swimmers going four times that distance (and long course too) at the same pace. Even if you’re not a swimming fan, one can’t help but get excited as Michael Phelps shatters a world record.
Phelps broke five world records, including the one above, during the World Swimming Championships last week in Australia. (They ended April 1).
The Washington Post has an interesting article stating that 60% of new swim records have been set in the last two years, while the records set in track-and-field on the other hand, have been much more steady.
The Post’s explanation of how athletes can be improving in leaps and bounds in one sport but not in another boil down to, more funding, better coaching, and an older average age of high caliber swimmers. They say the typical body shape of swimmers has also been changing as of late.
As an aside, a former roommate and teammate of mine competed at Nationals (the Canadian ones) during the same time and won both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events a seriously awesome accomplishment (even though, it seems to me, he downplays it). Congratulations Richard.
The Process of Making Snow White
I love this eight-and-a-half minute infomercial about the making of Snow White. This clip illustrates the process from start to finish.
It turns out, the secret to making good cartoons is directly proportional to how many pretty girls you have inking the cells.
Hit play or watch at YouTube.
The Most Hated Family in America
Who is the most hated family in America? Well it might just be the Fred Phelps family. As a result of their extremist family religion preaching hatred and intolerance, protesting at the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq, and being all around not nice people, nobody seems to like them.
Louis Theroux of the BBC presents the documentary “The Most Hated Family in America” (Wikipedia link).
Warning: this video contains offensive attitudes from homophobic nutcases!
Fantastic Louis Theroux documentary about homophobic, anti-semitic religious lunatics (Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church) in the USA. Originally aired on BBC2 (UK). If you can look past the epithets without being offended, it’s a laugh riot. Fred Phelps comes across as REALLY stupid!
Originally aired on BBC 2, UK, April 2007
(via Waxy)
The Rough History of Disbelief
In the “History of Disbelief”, Jonathan Miller goes on a journey exploring the origins of his own lack of belief and uncovering the hidden story of atheism. From the BBC here are all three parts:
The history of disbelief continues with the ideas of self-taught philosopher Thomas Paine, the revolutionary studies of geology and the evolutionary theories of Darwin. Jonathan Miller looks at the Freudian view that religion is a “thought disorder”. He also examines his motivation behind making the series touching on the issues of death and the religious fanaticism of the 21st century.
April Snow
They say April showers bring May flowers. What does April snow bring?