Okay imagine for a second that you live in a country ruled by a living god. Sure, there are no jobs and starving peasants, driven to eat dirt and bark, are a common sight. But that’s only because your country is under perpetual threat by hateful governments. Your Dear Leader is fighting them off with his grandiose plans. So you take solace in the idea that your homeland is a haven from the malignant, Western world—a fact drummed into your head throughout school—and that your leader is the Best Human Ever, a poet, an artist, a ladies man, a great scientist.

Naturally, you pool your hope into your kids, and according to the Dear Leader, the highest honor your kids can achieve is appearing in an enormous choreographed dance—120,000 people, all performing in one extended pantomime that’s part Busby Berkeley, part Superbowl, and part Triumph of the Will. That’s North Korea, and that’s the Mass Games—which are undeniably gorgeous.

There’s a great set of Mass Games photos at Flickr, by Gazjoe. And Vice, when they were in North Korea, attended the games.

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From the Scotsman:

A LEADING scientist has warned a new species of “humanzee,” created from breeding apes with humans, could become a reality unless the government acts to stop scientists experimenting.

In an interview with The Scotsman, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, warned the controversial draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill did not prevent human sperm being inseminated into animals.

He said if a female chimpanzee was inseminated with human sperm the two species would be closely enough related that a hybrid could be born.

He said scientists could possibly try to develop the new species to fill the demand for organ donors.

You might have noticed: Google now has “artist themes” by the likes of Jeff Koons (edgey!), Dolce & Gabbana (barf), Dale Chihuly (dry heave), and Mark Ecko (fever, dry heave, dry heave again). Well DGSF Poofy rigged up a Matthew Barney theme!

Seriously Google: Your design is increasingly crap, and cutesy logos on holidays isn’t doing you favors—I mean, the Google Reader interface? You’re in danger of becoming Windows really soon.

How did DG miss this site, dedicated to LOL+art?! (Related: Cremaster Halloween costumes.) More faves (though the site is uneven):

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The Guardian reports that a man was stabbed while waiting in line to buy Grand Theft Auto this morning. It’s not so much the “art imitates life” story line that’s interesting; it’s that the other people in line just assumed it was some viral marketing tactic. To be honest, I’d have probably thought the same thing.

“Broker” is a stroke of genius btw. And how about a listen to Studio B ElectroChoc on the radio?

Via Brooklyn Vegan, which linked the video in honor of the death of Albert Hofmann, the first human being to trip on acid.

Also check out this video, which has some amazing interstitial interpretations of Hoffman’s first trip. (They don’t get going for a bit.) Via Laughing Squid.

Via Everyone Forever (though I think they’re way off in saying this video is good because of “how crap it is.” C’mon guys. This is just good because it’s good, not good because it’s bad. There’s life beyond design foppery)

Thou shalt not get high and shoot guns while being shot at, k?

Australia has this kid. But we got Latarian. (”My fren. Smokes. Wif cigarettes.” His friend is seven.)

From Buzzfeed, which rounded up the best links:

A group of private investigators say they’re able to link up dozens of seemingly unrelated deaths of college men through a common clue: Smiley faces found near where the drowned bodies were found. The deaths (murders?) all share common traits: Well-liked, athletic college guys who drowned mysteriously, usually disappearing after a night of drinking. The drownings are usually chalked up as accidents, but two former New York cops say they’ve found links that make them look more like murders, and they hypothesize that a sinister group of killers is behind them all.