Nov. 18th, 2013

randomness: Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), photograph by Malene Thyssen, cropped square for userpic. (Default)
Yesterday's New York Times Magazine published this piece by Luke Mogelson, with photos and video by Joel van Houdt. Excerpt:
It’s surprisingly simple, from Kabul, to enlist the services of the smugglers Australian authorities are so keen to apprehend. The problem was that every Afghan I spoke to who had been to Indonesia insisted that no Western journalist would ever be allowed onto a boat: Paranoia over agents was too high. Consequently, the photographer Joel van Houdt and I decided to pose as refugees. Because we are both white, we thought it prudent to devise a cover. We would say we were Georgian (other options in the region were rejected for fear of running into Russian speakers), had sensitive information about our government’s activities during the 2008 war (hence, in the event of a search, our cameras and recorders), traveled to Kabul in search of a smuggler and learned some Dari during our stay. An Afghan colleague of mine, Hakim (whose name has been changed to protect his identity), would pretend to be a local schemer angling for a foothold in the trade. It was all overly elaborate and highly implausible.

When we were ready, Hakim phoned an elderly Afghan man, living in Jakarta, who goes by the honorific Hajji Sahib. Hajji Sahib is a well-known smuggler in Indonesia; his cellphone number, among Afghans, is relatively easy to obtain. Hakim explained that he had two Georgians — “Levan” and “Mikheil” — whom he wished to send Hajji Sahib’s way. Hajji Sahib, never questioning our story, agreed to get Joel and me from Jakarta to Christmas Island for $4,000 each. This represents a slightly discounted rate, for which Hakim, aspiring middleman, promised more business down the road.
randomness: Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), photograph by Malene Thyssen, cropped square for userpic. (Default)
For digitalemur, from this thread:


К нам в редакцию попал клип на песню Get lucky, которую хор МВД, вероятно, готовил к кремлевскому концерту 10 ноября.

RIA Novosti received a video clip of the song Get Lucky that the Russian Interior Ministry's ensemble most likely prepared for a Kremlin concert on November 10.


Смотрите также: Генерал Елисеев и солисты хора МВД рассказали правду о ролике Get lucky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT4oqLvDgpw (the "making of" video)

I suspect the Department of Homeland Security lacks an equivalent musical group.
randomness: Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), photograph by Malene Thyssen, cropped square for userpic. (Default)
The only match for "famous people with alpacas" is actually "Kjentfolk som har alpakkaer/famous people with alpacas" in a post from October 23rd on the Facebook page for Knapper Alpakka (http://alpakka.org/), an alpaca farm in Norway. All it has is a short list of celebrities who own alpacas.

If you want to start a tumblr blog of famous people with alpacas, that road is wide-open.
randomness: Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), photograph by Malene Thyssen, cropped square for userpic. (Default)
It occurs to me that some friends missed this when it was broadcast. Allie Brosh, the creator of Hyperbole and a Half, was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air.

I was on my way to the dentist so I only caught half of it, but you can find the whole interview here in both audio and transcript versions.

Trigger warning: she talks about depression and suicide at some length. It may help to glance at the transcript first.

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randomness: Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), photograph by Malene Thyssen, cropped square for userpic. (Default)
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