October 2018 Archives
October 31
Miffa Miffa Meeka Moo!
Homestar Runner Halloween 2018: Mr. Poofers Must Die, the story of a dog that no one can bring themselves to kill when telling a creepy ghost story. [more inside]
Actually evil, not high school evil
In the Ocean of Night
So let me spell it out for you... 1. A year ago, we got buzzed by a really weird interstellar object that is looking increasingly like some sort of galactic sentry buoy. [more inside]
A spectre is haunting the streets ....
Socialists Must Reclaim Halloween , China Miéville
"a celebration of the chaotic social over the orderly individual, an intuitive solidarity with those called monsters, and a principled refusal to be afraid of the dark." [more inside]
I heard there was a scary chord…
During the 19th century, composers like Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner cracked the code of creepiness. The sonic dread they pioneered involved two key ingredients that horror movies and metal bands still use today: a forbidden sequence of notes known as “Satan in music,” and a spooky little ditty that Gregorian monks sang about the apocalypse. ♫ Cue unsettling chord. ♫
Archaeology of the Night: life after dark in the ancient world
What the Archaeology of Night Reveals. Podcast. TEDx talk. Symposium abstracts. The Archaeology of Darkness: abstracts.
Art History Parades Around the Streets of Japan Ahead of Halloween
Well-thumbed books
Maybe English-readers will enjoy little books with the spine on top (slNYT). They're already successful in the Netherlands. Perhaps fiction will evolve away from the doorstops again?
"The Radical Restaurants of Father Divine, Founder of Peace Mission"
The case was brought to Justice Lewis J. Smith, who sentenced Divine to a year in prison. But four days after the sentencing, the 55-year-old judge died of a sudden heart attack. When journalists asked for Divine’s reaction, his brazen response made headlines, and helped turn the cult leader into a media phenomenon: "I hated to do it," he reportedly said.— Heaven Was a Place in Harlem by Vince Dixon, about "the radical tableside evangelism of Father Divine — equal parts holy man, charlatan, civil rights leader, and wildly successful restaurateur".
Hoity Toity Squiggles
Analysis: Lets get rid of the apostrophe. Opinion: Apostrophes are members of the English alphabet, not punctuation, and too important to lose. Previously.
What age are you most likely to become homeless in NYC? 1 year.
There is a picture of homelessness etched in public perception: a solitary, disheveled man holding a cardboard sign. But the largest single population in NYC's shelters is kids under 6. Antonio Sanchez lives with his parents and two older siblings in a studio-like apartment provided by a shelter organization. He was born into homelessness, and when he was just one week old, he was one of 11,234 children under 6 living in a shelter system that houses about 60,000 people daily. There were 1,164 children born into the shelter system last year, up from 877 in 2015, according to data obtained by the Coalition for the Homeless.
"I think it's hard for people to come to terms with their own mortality"
Timothy Caulfield is the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, Professor & Research Director at the University of Alberta. He is also fascinated by pseudoscientific celebrity health advice, specifically how it's based on bad science, and on that topic, published the book Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? (Goodreads). He also uses his humour, quick wit and science knowledge to investigate trendy diets, ancient therapies, wellness and anti-aging products to separate science fact from fiction in a series called A User’s Guide to Cheating Death (YT, trailer). He's into his second season of six episodes each, streaming for free from Vision TV for folks in Canada, and all 12 episodes are available on Netflix, too. More below the break. [more inside]
La la la la la la la la la la (Halloween! Halloween!)
This is Halloween by Danny Elfman [YouTube] • This is Halloween by Panic at the Disco [YouTube] • This is Halloween by Marilyn Manson [YouTube] • This is Halloween by Broken Peach [YouTube] • This is Halloween (Violin Cover) [YouTube] • This is Halloween (Piano Cover) [YouTube] • This is Halloween (Music Box Cover) [YouTube] • This is Halloween (A Cappella) [YouTube] • This is Halloween (Spanish Cover) by Creepypastas [YouTube]
Neither Escape Nor Catharsis but Rather a Repetition of Trauma
On this spoopiest of days, let us indulge in the most Metafilter of indulgences and overthink our way through scary movies.
“After World War I, Horror Movies were Invaded by an Army of Reanimated Corpses” by W. Scott Poole
"The movies. . . are just entertainment and so they are simply mirror images of the culture that produced them, flexible and flaccid in the messages they convey. He did not think that this made them. . . possible instruments of revolutionary change. Instead, as artifacts of mass culture, they put dissent to sleep, enervated their audiences, and legitimized the existing order." [more inside]
Water tastes like nothing. Why would I drink nothing? What’s the point?
"I’d rather quench my thirst with castor oil than have to take a sip of water. I remember really not liking it from about six or seven and tended to drink a lot of milk as a kid. I’m now in my 30s, and it makes me feel sick to the stomach when I see people constantly 'hydrating' with big, huge bottles of mountain-fresh spring water (shudder)."
Meet the Hydro-Haters: The People Who Refuse to Drink Water, No Matter What [Quinn Myers, MEL Magazine]
Meet the Hydro-Haters: The People Who Refuse to Drink Water, No Matter What [Quinn Myers, MEL Magazine]
Call your girlfriend...and tell her to listen to Honey.
Don’t kiss your birds
The CDC has clarified that it never said you couldn't dress your chickens up for Halloween. It's unclear why news outlets reported that the CDC referenced Halloween specifically, but its website has a guide about handling poultry in general.
Hundreds of witches pick paddles over broomsticks
The event , called Standup Paddleboard Witch Paddle, dodged days of rain, catching a short window of sunshine for the entire three-hour event. [more inside]
Classically Trained Pianist Helps Soothe Elephants
"They say an elephant never forgets, and those at Elephants World in Thailand will certainly never forget Paul Barton. Barton is the man who introduced these elephants to classical music." "Barton is a classical pianist who has shared his talents with some very big audiences — literally big. He spends a lot of his time performing for elephants. Barton shares his experiences with these giant creatures in vlogs on his YouTube channel and on Facebook, and his videos have gone viral."
The Enduring Mystique of The Waterboys’ Fisherman’s Blues
Fisherman's Blues turns 30 "Sometimes you hear an album and there is no immediate way to make sense of it. There might be hints, small ways in which you can locate it in the ‘80s or ‘90s or ‘60s or whatever...But it still sounds like it occurred in a slightly altered version of that reality, emanated less from the world you know and recognize and more from an echo or reflection. ...These are the albums that exist out of time, not just removed from the trends of their era but seemingly the product of a visitor who isn’t even aware of that era, but is looking for something more eternal."
So, to start with, Unions are really important.
it seems that there's someone who wants to talk to you.
Toby Fox has announced a new project via the @UnderTale twitter account for Halloween. Spoilers abound, so beware... [more inside]
C'est l'Halloween, c'est l'halloween, HEY!
Martial Arts Novelist Jin Yong R.I.P.
Louis Cha (penname Jin Yong), famous for epic wuxia novels, has died. While few of his books have been translated into English, Cha is one of the world’s most-read Chinese authors, with fans across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and throughout the Chinese diaspora. His stories have been adapted into television shows, films, comic books, and video games. The first part of his most popular series, Legends of the Condor Heroes, was published in English earlier this year.
1984+6
1990 was a 1970s television series depicting a then future UK under dystopian state control following an economic collapse. [more inside]
October 30
RIP
Cyriak (previously) is dead. ...DEAD tired of not releasing anything while working on his book about a horse that tries to destroy the universe (trailer)! So he's released RIP, his variously whimsical and... Cyriakian 21st century take on Disney's 1929 Silly Symphonies short The Skeleton Dance.
Welcome To Antarctica!
Back after a ten year (more or less) hiatus, Wally and Osborne is a family-friendly comic about an Adelie penguin and a geographically-confused polar bear cracking wise and chilling out at the coldest place on Earth. [more inside]
If we're strong for once, it could get contagious.
Guster has a new album coming out in January, and we get to hear a few new songs now. In fact, here's the first third of the album available to listen to now: Look Alive [current single], Don't Go, Hard Times [(rather clever) lyric video]. [more inside]
Some churches...
More brooding than Hayden Christensen
World's largest deep-sea octopus nursery discovered , in which up to 1000 female Muusoctopus robustus were keeping their eggs.
“Our heads were on the penny first, of course,"
These Writers Are Launching A New Wave Of Native American Literature, Anne Helen Petersen, Buzzfeed
With two highly anticipated books, Terese Marie Mailhot[@TereseMarieM] and Tommy Orange[@thommyorange] are part of a new generation of indigenous writers, trained in a program that rejects the standards of white academia.[more inside]
"Denying death is denying life."
Thoughts About Life and Death [NSFW], a series of paintings by Chilean artist Fernando Gómez Balbontín, explores ideas about our need to confront, or at least come to terms with, death. (via, also NSFW)
In every shot, there is an owl
"Through knowledge to justice!"
A new episode of the Making Gay History podcast (previously) covers the life and work of Magnus Hirschfeld, a pioneering researcher and gay rights activist who founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in 1897, and whose Institute for Sex Research was destroyed by the Nazis in 1933. The episode is accompanied by a full transcript, along with photos and links to resources and related stories. Among these is an account of the final years of Hirschfeld's lover, Li Shiu Tong, in Vancouver, B.C.—and how, in 1993, a Vancouver man discovered Hirschfeld's death mask, papers, and other artifacts in a garbage bin.
[sound of individual quietly sobbing to himself]
On January 15, 2009 US Airways flight 1549 departed LaGuardia airport on its way to Charlotte. Roughly three minutes into the flight they struck a flock of large winged rats Canada geese, which caused a loss of thrust from both engines. This was uncharted territory. In short, this crew went from routine to having a very bad day in just a few seconds. This is where I try to imagine myself in that situation.
Frank Stahl: An Interesting and Diverse Life on the Prairie
Francis Marion (Frank*) Stahl was born in Ohio [on 23 May 1841] and moved to Kansas in 1857. He rode the Santa Fe trail twice, prospected in Colorado, fought in the Civil War, served as chief of police in Topeka, and was a leader in the Kansas temperance movement. (Click here for a short bio.) The materials [here] are in his own words. Also included is information on his family history and original documents that chronicle his life. Enjoy seeing a bit of his world through his eyes. [more inside]
"Serial-killing hoodlum dead in prison"
James "Whitey" Bulger, 89, killed in a West Virginia prison.
(Credit for title: Mefi's Own™ adamg's blog entry)
He won the lottery. His brother is William M. Bulger, former Massachusetts state senator and University of Massachusetts president. And he was one of Boston's most notorious gangsters, on the run for 16 years until captured in 2011.
Tons of coverage at the Boston Globe (article limits); here's their timeline, and their news story of his death, and his obituary.
"You Know What I Am? I'm a [] Nationalist."
"It doesn't matter if it's 100% accurate. This is the play." Eleven worshippers were killed, and six others injured, at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in what is thought to be the worst anti-Semitic attack in recent US history. Trump’s caravan hysteria led to this (Adam Serwer, Atlantic) Stop trying to understand what Trump says and look at what his followers do (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate) Why did synagogue suspect believe migrant caravan is Jewish conspiracy? Maybe he watched Fox News (Slate) Synagogue Killings Mark a Surge of Anti-Semitism (The Atlantic) Thousands Signed a Letter Saying Trump Was Not Welcome in Pittsburgh He plans to visit anyway. Shooting victim’s family shuns President Trump in Pittsburgh as top officials decline to join him (WaPo) [more inside]
“Shoulder to shoulder...”
How Do You Move A Bookstore? With A Human Chain, Book By Book [NPR|Books] “When October Books, a small radical bookshop in Southampton, England, was moving to a new location down the street, it faced a problem. How could it move its entire stock to the new spot, without spending a lot of money or closing down for long? The shop came up with a clever solution: They put out a call for volunteers to act as a human conveyor belt.”
Changed ‘Personal Freedom’ to ‘Doughnuts’ (Reason: More Recent Data)
A map of International Number Ones, Because Every Country is the Best at Something (according to data) from Information is Beautiful in 2016, with some 2017 updates
"It is designed to do what it is doing"
That’s right: “Your Body Is a Wonderland” is not music.
67 different editions of Now That's What I Call Music! have been released in the US (not counting Christmas or Now Esto Es Musica! Latino variants) since the concept was brought to our shores in 1998. For your convenience, they have now been ranked according to a highly scientific proprietary formula. Is a snapshot of twenty songs (or so) radio hits from 2013 going to outperform the one from 2003? Is Rolling in the Deep by Adele more representative of its time and place than Clocks by Coldplay? Did Jennifer Love Hewitt ever do something that, now, we call music?
Condensed Milk Toast
When I think of a childhood sandwich that creates the same enthusiasm that PB&J does for many Americans, it has to be a Hong Kong-style sweetened condensed milk sandwich.
Another recipe.
Another recipe.
my kid could program that
The First AI-Generated Portrait Ever Sold at Auction Shatters Expectations, Fetching $432,500—43 Times Its Estimate [more inside]
A veritable treasure trove of old footage
The Library of Congress has unveiled its new National Screening Room , a free collection of digitized historical films, commercials, newsreels and other clips from the 1800s until the end of the 20th century and capture a broad range of American life. Notable films include home movies by the songwriters George and Ira Gershwin; issues of the “All-American News,” a newsreel intended for black audiences in the mid-20th century; and a selection of instructional films about mental health from the 1950s.
Hat tip to Sara Aridi @ NYT .
The children that you see in there are just completely skin and bones.
The Tragedy of Saudi Arabia's War - "In Yemen, an economic war has pushed millions to the brink of starvation." [cw: starving children] (via) [more inside]
More animated book covers
Henning M. Lederer's continuing series of animated vintage geometric book covers.
[more inside]
The social media Fordlândias
This is how we radicalized the world. "This era of being surprised at what the internet can and will do to us is ending," writes Ryan Broderick of BuzzFeed News, after the election of Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil. "The damage is done. I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that I’ll probably spend the rest of my career covering the consequences." [more inside]
The essence of a nightmare
October 29
Retconning William the Bastard.
Save Harald with the The Historic Tale Construction Kit (Previously, Previouserly) which has been revived (sort of) and open-sourced, for all of your imitation-medieval-embroidery needs.
A Grim Education: 72 Years of School Shootings
The Class of 1946–2018: Twenty-seven school-shooting survivors bear their scars, and bear witness. "Over a half-century's worth of school shooting survivors share their memories of life-changing trauma, as well as insights from living with the scars — physical and mental — of gun violence." [more inside]
And 40 million pages of justice for all
"The Caselaw Access Project (“CAP”) expands public access to U.S. law. Our goal is to make all published U.S. court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library. Our scope includes all state courts, federal courts, and territorial courts for American Samoa, Dakota Territory, Guam, Native American Courts, Navajo Nation, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Our earliest case is from 1658, and our most recent cases are from 2018." [more inside]
The pursuit of physical swoleness is virtuous and therefore worthy
Adler, S. 2018. A MORAL DEFENSE OF CHIDI'S SWOLENESS: An ethical examination of abs in 'The Good Place.
TinyKittens: Making Good Choices Since 2013
Since it is National Cat Day, I thought an update on the adventures of Vancouver, BC area rescue TinyKittens (Previously) would be in order. [more inside]
So you say you're under a curse? So what? So's the whole damn world.
How do you live with a true heart when everything around you is collapsing? Hayao Miyazaki’s Cursed Worlds
Bitcoin's effect on the planet is worse than 1 million flights
From the Guardian, Jan. 2018: Bitcoin’s electricity usage is enormous. In November, the power consumed by the entire bitcoin network was estimated to be higher than that of the Republic of Ireland. Since then, its demands have only grown. It’s now on pace to use just over 42TWh of electricity in a year, placing it ahead of New Zealand and Hungary and just behind Peru, according to estimates from Digiconomist. That’s commensurate with CO2 emissions of 20 megatonnes – or roughly 1m transatlantic flights. [more inside]
Calculators
Calculators
Calculators
Calculators
Calculators
Calculators
Soviet Calculators
Calculators
Calculators
(via) (previously) (previously)
The Lost Apocalypse of Romaine Fielding
Romaine was interested in nightmares, how terror never truly disappears, but evolves the camouflage of routine. Romaine Fielding stepped off the train at Silver City NM in 1918 and settled his top hat the way he always did, with some of that conniving charm. He knew he had his finger on the country’s pulse. And he was ready to unsettle something in its soul.
Soon he would fit his 28 horsepower Buick with military search lights and a massive machine gun. Soon he would strap a canon to an airplane. Soon he would gather thousands of pounds of explosives, gather and arm thousands of dispossessed laborers. Soon he would orchestrate an apocalyptic uprising the likes of which the world had never yet seen.
We thought we could control it. And this is beyond our power to control.
A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley A wariness that has been slowly brewing is turning into a regionwide consensus: The benefits of screens as a learning tool are overblown, and the risks for addiction and stunting development seem high. The debate now is about how much exposure to phones is O.K. (SLNYT)
Google won't save cities from climate change, but is offering a big tool
Google, with its Environmental Insights Explorer, is estimating greenhouse-gas emissions for cities in part of the company's ambitious new plan to share its geographic information to support climate-concerned local leaders. It's just starting with five cities, Buenos Aires, Melbourne City, Victoria, Mountain View (Calif.), and Pittsburgh, and plans to expand the program gradually to cover more municipalities worldwide. As part of this initiative, Google says it will also release its proprietary estimates of a city’s annual driving, biking, and transit ridership, generated from information collected by its popular mapping apps, Google Maps and Waze. [more inside]
The Definitive Guide to Metafilter's Infinite Favorite
Memo: Regarding Escape of Five Girls from the Shelter, August 8, 1944
The quick-thinking young women informed the taxi driver that their clothing had been stolen while they were at Coney Island, and directed the driver to the apartment of a boyfriend on Madison Avenue.From kottke.org via This Week in Scams, Emily Brooks brings us the tale of five teenaged women who escaped the Brooklyn "shelter" of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1944. [more inside]
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Much of Pi’s considerable publicity centered on its special effects—perhaps logically, considering that the film had no stars, apart from Gérard Depardieu, who makes a cameo as a ship’s cook. What it sold was illusion: Of the film’s 960 shots, 690—one and a half of its two hours—employ visual effects. And which of its illusions was more potent than Richard Parker, a triumph of digital engineering that also chewed the scenery? Because Life of Pi is based on what is essentially a philosophical novel, the big cat was, in the words of one commentator, “a visual representation of a philosophical abstraction.” But it was a representation that throbbed with life. You could hear it breathing. You could smell its catty stench. I couldn’t guess what percentage of the picture’s audience came expressly to see the tiger, as opposed to the cataclysmic storm, the sinking freighter, the phosphorescent breaching whale, the island of meerkats. The tiger was an essential part of the movie’s spectacle, maybe the synechdoche for that spectacle, and it was spectacle that people came to see.Inside the Tiger Factory, Peter Trachtenberg
Progressive policies (and politics)
How Warren and Sanders approach empowering the working class - "In the simplest possible terms, Warren wants to organize markets to benefit workers and consumers, while Sanders wants to overhaul those markets, taking the private sector out of it." [more inside]
Nothing's Easy in San Juan County
Do you think the new logo will be purple?
Red Hat, the software company that produces an enterprise-grade Linux distribution, contributes to projects like GNOME, LibreOffice, and also sponsors the Fedora Project is being acquired by a company known only as IBM.
Our saying is: Toujours Prêt!
Boy Scouts in a war zone: There are more boy scouts than peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. Even in the midst of a civil war, the scouts are arguably more effective.
Ephemera
Ross MacDonald is a creator of fake period paper props - books, documents, packaging etc - for use in movies and television.
October 28
A cat will be your friend, but never your slave
October 29th is National Cat Day in the USA. Show us pictures of your cat(s). Hang out at a cat cafe. Volunteer at a local shelter or Humane Society. Don't forget to watch cute cat videos. If you're a cat, go hassle a dog or just be your badass self.
“I don’t think he wants to be found,” I said.
George
I knew that our problems were similar. Not because being gay and being trans are so alike in nature: they’re not. But because George seemed to want something impossible, too.
Got to Stick Together and Fight Them All Now
I had this idea but didn’t know if I could keep it going for 11 minutes
"Casper had someone storyboard it up with classic sitcom moments, like accidentally roller-painting someone’s face. That one feels like a trope, but we couldn’t find it online."
An Oral History of 'Too Many Cooks'
‘Some things will be dealt with at a later date’, ... ‘If at all.’
‘The Simpsons’ Is Eliminating Apu, But Producer Adi Shankar Found the Perfect Script to Solve the Apu Problem [Indie Wire]
““I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” said Shankar in an interview with IndieWire. “They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy.””“It was Shankar’s intention to crowdsource a script that “in a clever way subverts him, pivots him, writes him out, or evolves him in a way that takes a creation that was the byproduct of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers’ room and transforms it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America.” Shankar’s primary hope was that Fox would produce the script as an episode of “The Simpsons,” but now that he has found what he calls the “perfect script” and announces the winner of his contest, he told IndieWire that he has heard from people who work for the show that “The Simpsons” is eliminating the character.” [Previously.] [more inside]
It's time to act like that truth is real.
A group of campaigners called Extinction Rebellion are planning a series of escalating acts of civil disobedience in London over November as a response to a lack of action by the UK government on climate change, culminating in a Rebellion Day with a sit-in at Parliament on November 17th. [more inside]
turtle.audio
The Mines of Messines Ridge
About 8 kilometers south of Ypres, in the middle of a farm, is a small green pond known as the “Pool of Peace”, but its creation was a rather violent event. It was 1916 and the First World War was in its second year. The Germans had occupied the Belgian coast and was using the coastal ports as bases from which they attacked merchant ships and troop transports in the North Sea and English Channel. Capturing these ports became a major objective for the British army. But before that could happen, the British had to drive the Germans out of a tactically important high ground called the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge, located south of Ypress, in Belgium. [more inside]
"What's your big biff with the Nazis?"
The Very Best of Jiminy Glick
The Jon Stewart interview (with the donut)
All Youtube videos
Wikipedia
The Jon Stewart interview (with the donut)
All Youtube videos
Wikipedia
dark phrases of womanhood/of never having been a girl
Ntozake Shange, author of 'for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf,' has died. She added the term "choreopoem" to our lexicon when 'for colored girls' made its off-Broadway debut in 1975 and became only the second work by an African American woman to make it to Broadway the following year. Her work is a staple on college campuses today and helps women of color celebrate sisterhood, self-love, and creative expression: “i found god in myself & i loved her/i loved her fiercely.” [more inside]
A New Orleans brass band reinterpret Love Will Tear Us Apart
From New Orleans, Hot 8 Brass Band rework the 1980 song Love Will Tear Us Apart with a video filmed around the city. Hot 8 Brass Band, active since 1995 through much adversity and Grammy-nominated in 2013, have also covered Sexual Healing and Ghost Town. Performing on Clapham Common, England, Get Up, Can't Nobody Get Down, St. James Infirmary and Bingo Bango.
The tales that local people tell just to frighten the incomers
News from Norfolk , 'the occasional diary of someone who lives in an old house in East Anglia', has three tales for Halloween: all set in Norfolk, and all in the classic tradition of the English ghost story. The Old Road. Incomers. Old Tom.
October 27
Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture
travels in space, travels in time
Seven Weeks To Venice: Isochronic Maps. Want to find travel times? 24 hrs of traffic data anywhere? The Shape of Transit in Singapore? [more inside]
Captivating, calming competition: it's the 2018 Winter MarbleLympics!
The Jelle'sMarbleRuns wiki is home to all things Jelle'sMarbleRuns. Here you will find information about the Sand Marble Rally, Hubelino Tournament, and most notably, the MarbleLympics. Jelle Bakker, the Marble Master, isn't new around these parts (Big Marble Run Machine: 11 000 Marbles!!! | Longest sand marble run ever | Sand Marble Rally - 33 competitors! | Betting on Balls of Chaos) but if you haven't seen his 2018 Winter MarbleLympics, take some time to enjoy the well-produced Olympics-style games, featuring unique teams and a calming commentator throughout. The Wikia page for the 2018 Winter games makes it feel all the more official, complete with International Marblelympic Committee.
The Social Responsibility of Business
Marc Benioff's backing, donation for Prop. C came following late-night Twitter interaction with bookstore owner - "On Friday, Oct. 5, Mayor London Breed, Sen. Scott Wiener, and Assemblyman David Chiu made a coordinated announcement that they were opposed to Proposition C, a November measure that would tax the wealthiest San Francisco businesses to potentially double funding to treat and house the homeless. On Monday, Oct. 7 Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced he was not only supporting Prop. C, but putting some $2.5 million toward its passage." (previously)* [more inside]
We both know what memories can bring
Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall [more inside]
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall [more inside]
I bless the acid rains down in Africa
Look, the old ones are disabled to response, so here is the monthly Toto's Africa awesomeness thread. This time, pitched out (previously: off beat). previously with Pluffnub.
October 26
Bird-Watching with the Ravenmaster
"Some kind of inspiration porn on Deaf’s natural language"
A new mural commissioned by the ACLU of Idaho and executed with the help of the Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation was recently completed in downtown Idaho Falls. The selected artist’s concept employed American Sign Language subject matter, and was titled “Look and Listen.” The artist reviewed the work with a friend who teaches ASL, but did not consult with members of the Deaf community in advance. It did not go over well. [more inside]
Dawn of Dianetics: Hubbard, Campbell, & Origins of Scientology
An excerpt adapted from Alec Nevala-Lee’s book: Astounding For most of his life, John W. Campbell, Jr., the editor of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, had trouble remembering his childhood. He had filled his stories with extravagant images, but he had no visual memory, to the point that he was unable to picture the faces of his own wife and children. When L. Ron Hubbard, one of his most prolific writers, approached him with the promise of a new science of the mind, he was understandably intrigued. And he was especially attracted by the possibility that it would allow him to recall events that he had forgotten or repressed.
Cats and Death
Throughout history people linked cats with death or bad luck, and some of these beliefs still hold true today. But what is it about our beloved cats that makes them so notorious through history? Is it their powerful, stealthy ways that makes them so mysterious? Cats can also be creepy, but creepiness isn’t enough to feed the strong connection people feel between cats and death. Cats may have characteristics that link them to death, but perhaps our perception of these strange creatures derive from our experiences with them rather than their traits alone. [more inside]
Does a country have the right to decide who comes in?
Countries are not people, but government policy needs to actually follow elementary humane principles. Unfortunately, the implications of those principles are quite radical: as those who happen to have been born into a prosperous land, we have to share with those who have little. "But," you say, "does that mean full open borders? Does that mean all of the world's poor should be able to come here?" Doesn't a country have the right to enforce its laws and decide who comes in?
An erosion of cultural heritage under the guise of infinite availability
It was announced today that Filmstruck, a curated streaming service which aimed to stream the best and most interesting cinema in existence, would be shut down effective November 26. It is assumed that corporate shareholders were pleased with the value extracted.
Not All Its Fracked Up To Be
Mystery and high stakes often go together, as is the case with fracking — the process of using high pressure to extract oil and gas from shale rocks buried deep under the earth’s surface. Fracking companies are hot destinations for investors chasing yields and growth industries, especially private equity companies, in part because of the large appetite the capital intensive industry has for debt. However, several warning signs suggest the fracking industry not only may fall short of investor expectations, but also could actually help to precipitate the next financial crisis. [more inside]
New music from the Twin Infinitives
Royal Trux have released their first new music since 2000's Pound For Pound. In 2015 Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty reunited as a duo for a series of shows and the live album Platinum Tips And Ice Cream (Domino/Drag City). These two new tracks, however, were recorded in Los Angeles in the summer of 2018.
"Every Day Swan"
"Get Used To This"
Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan coverage. [more inside]
"Every Day Swan"
"Get Used To This"
Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan coverage. [more inside]
A beautiful collection of antique calculating instruments
From the mid 16th century until the 1970s all architectural and engineering drawing was done manually by using pencil and pen with the aid of drawing and other technical instruments. Today most technical drawing is done with CAD and the great instrument manufacturers have all but disappeared and the tools of yesteryear have now become museum exhibits and prized collectors' items.
きっと勝つ
The Inventor of Green Bean Casserole Has Passed On
The Kitchn.com notes that the woman who created the nearly-ubiquitous American Thanksgiving favorite green bean casserole has passed away at the age of 90 at her home in New Jersey. Dorcas Reilly, a Campbell's Soup test kitchen supervisor, created the dish in 1955 at the request of an Associated Press reporter looking for simple holiday recipes. [more inside]
AI vs Lawyers
Hackernoon is reporting a study of AI vs team of "top US corporate lawyers" in NDA test "In a landmark study, 20 top US corporate lawyers with decades of experience in corporate law and contract review were pitted against an AI. Their task was to spot issues in five Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), which are a contractual basis for most business deals." Large differences in time and accuracy are claimed. [more inside]
Dogs romping to "Rompo i Lacci"
THE MARTIANS ARE CO-- don't bother, they're here
Sesame Street, the venerable, educational, entertaining children’s television program, debuted in 1969; the characters the Martians (aka the Yip Yips) made their first appearance in 1971. [more inside]
Peace, Solidarity, Ecology, Justice
“Plotting a new path forward in accordance with left values requires left foreign policy leaders to reject the stance of restrained, technocratic stewardship that defines the self-image of the existing national security state. Instead, left leaders must make explicit how the values that inform their domestic platforms can express themselves in the United States’ actions on the world stage. Extending those values outward is a way to reorient the state, to lessen its power for harm, and to urgently answer the call for international cooperation on issues from combating climate change to arms control.” Five Principles Of A New Left Foreign Policy submitted by Ro Khanna– Congressman representing California’s 17th District. Kate Kizer – Policy director at Win Without War. Patrick Iber – Assistant professor of history at University of Wisconsin-Madison (Fellow Traveller previously)
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Amazon Waterway Project threatens indigenous food sources
A multi-million dollar project is set to span territory home to 424 native communities belonging to 14 native groups. [more inside]
Not reliably different from zero
"The story of intranasal oxytocin (previously) and trust is more than sad; it’s a scientific tragedy. ... Some still dispute this, but it seems likely that the very large literature claiming behavioral effects of intranasal oxytocin on human behavior is completely and totally spurious. It’s been a colossal waste of money and time. It gave false hope to those with autism and needlessly harmed clinical trial participants. And the nightmare drags on as oxytocin->trust is *still* being cited and marketed as well-established science." [more inside]
We are supposed to be oiled and that we are not oiled enough
How I Get It Done, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: Taffy is a familiar name around these parts. She's best known for her profiles in The New York Times (Mefi discussed the ones on Gwyneth Paltrow and Tonya Harding). But it's time we got to know Taffy herself. [more inside]
PILE OF LEAVES
Bruno Latour, the Post-Truth Philosopher, Mounts a Defense of Science
In the summer of 1996, during an international anthropology conference in southeastern Brazil, Bruno Latour, France’s most famous and misunderstood philosopher, was approached by an anxious-looking developmental psychologist. The psychologist had a delicate question, and for this reason he requested that Latour meet him in a secluded spot — beside a lake at the Swiss-style resort where they were staying. Removing from his pocket a piece of paper on which he’d scribbled some notes, the psychologist hesitated before asking, “Do you believe in reality?”
.... silver shamrock
October 25
The Flight of the Conchords, now with more songs for more situations
The Biggest Band in New Zealand, in terms of number of people, is back! It's Bret McKenzie & Jemaine Clement aka the Flight of the Conchords, live in London, with a song for every situation [3x teasers]. And there's new content, including Deana and Ian, "A Gender Reversal Reversal," and Hurt Feelings, an impromptu and momentary trio with Nigel. Not from that night, but also new: Father and Son, and some old-new* content, seen here in its old form, The Bus Driver Song. [more inside]
8000 Sculptures from Chopstick Sleeves
Tatsumi collected over 13,000 paper sculptures that range from obscure and ugly to intricate and elaborate Yuki Tatsumi was working as a waiter in a restaurant when one day, as he was cleaning up a table, he noticed that a customer had intricately folded up the paper chopstick sleeve and left it behind. Japan doesn’t have a culture of tipping but Tatsumi imagined that this was a discreet , subconscious method of showing appreciation. He began paying attention and sure enough noticed that other customers were doing the same thing. Tatsumi began collecting these “tips” which eventually led to his art project: Japanese Tip. [more inside]
Latingrass
Unquiet meals make ill digestions
Cannibalism is a symbol in our culture of total confusion: a lack of morality, law, and structure; it stands for what is brutish, utterly inhuman. The idea is that, unlike cannibals, we are upright, orderly, enlightened, and generally superior.
But what we might use for symbolic purposes as an embodiment of structureless confusion has nevertheless a basis in clear cold fact: cannibal societies have existed since time immemorial. As social beings, cannibals must inevitably have manners. Whatever we might think to the contrary, rules and regulations always govern cannibal society and cannibal behaviour.
Dog Tired
Modern times got you stressed out? Dogs pick up on that sort of thing! Give your dog the gift of relaxing dog music.
Symbrock: when a grimy human disaster and a chompy goo alien are in love
How Venom's Unspoken Symbiote Love Story Beat Out the Internet's Most Popular Pairings. Trashed by film critics, the comics superhero movie Venom has nonetheless won vocal approval from the Internet: "as of Monday, October 15, 'Symbrock,' the most popular ship name for the romantic pairing of Venom hero Eddie Brock and his chaotic hanger-on Venom, was the number-one most-talked-about ship on Tumblr." Intentional or not, "Venom is a god damn queer rom-com," with erotic and romantic themes straight from the comics. The fantastic primer Eddie Brock’s Body: An Artistic Overview of the Venom Symbiote traces the history and hotness of Venom, including the origins of THAT TONGUE.
(Movie spoilers, comics spoilers, and NSFW links within.) [more inside]
"...trying to visualise the Platonic realm of form underlying reality"
Platonic
... a hypnotic audio-visual mind-warp recently released by musician Max Cooper (previously on the blue: one, two) and artist/filmaker Páraic Mc Gloughlin. (No mention of a photosensitive epilepsy warning on the page, but maybe there should be?)
... a hypnotic audio-visual mind-warp recently released by musician Max Cooper (previously on the blue: one, two) and artist/filmaker Páraic Mc Gloughlin. (No mention of a photosensitive epilepsy warning on the page, but maybe there should be?)
Catnip for autodidacts
Quartz has compiled a list of 600 free online courses offered by 190 universities around the world.
vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvvvv
Making Spies Disappear
For years, Jonna Mendez was undercover as a part of the CIA's Office of Technical Service. She later became the Chief of Disguise for the CIA. Here's a YouTube video of her talking about how spies use disguise. [more inside]
for want of a nail...
Not OK, Google
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’ The internet giant paid Mr. Rubin $90 million and praised him, while keeping silent about a misconduct claim. The article goes into a number of other accusations of sexual misconduct against high-profile Google execs, and how the company ignored them or covered them up, often while rewarding the men involved.
The library was a map of my life as a reader, and later a writer
Jeff Abbott, best-selling author of mysteries and thrillers, had amassed a personal library of more than 2,500 books. Then his house was struck by lightning, and he had to restart the "annex to [his] imagination" from scratch.
The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture
The idea that the ancients disdained bright color is the most common misconception about Western aesthetics in the history of Western art. "He started poking around the depots and was astonished to find that many statues had flecks of color: red pigment on lips, black pigment on coils of hair, mirrorlike gilding on limbs. For centuries, archeologists and museum curators had been scrubbing away these traces of color before presenting statues and architectural reliefs to the public."
The Halibut Hook Revival
An ingenious Indigenous fishing technology with spiritual significance is making a comeback [more inside]
The replication crisis comes for evolutionary psychology
"A host of bewildering, bizarre results made their way into the journals. Fertile women are better at sussing out which men are gay, one study claimed. Their breasts become more symmetrical, said another. They wear skirts instead of pants. They have a better sense of smell. They’re more assertive. They seek out more variety in mini candy bars, but strive to lose more weight. They turn their backs on God, at least when they aren’t married, and they say they’ll vote for Barack Obama. ... Eventually, the underlying theory of this field of research grew so encrusted with garish findings, so brittle and baroque that it finally collapsed into a string of nonresults. ... The implications of this newer research have not escaped the founding fathers of the field. “In terms of overall effects, I don’t think there is anything,” admitted Gangestad in a recent interview, referring to his theory of women’s so-called dual sexuality." [SLSlate] [more inside]
One way ticket
in 1941, 23-year-old painter Jacob Lawrence completed The Migration Series - 60 paintings that documented the Great Migration. [more inside]
The traditional start of the Christmas season (9pm tonight)
It is time! The Christmas season traditionally starts with global megastar Peter Andre turning on the lights somewhere (Spalding). With less than nine weeks till the day, the clocks go back, gritters do test runs, vaginas are winterized, occasions merge, Le Arctic Blast approaches from the north, the John Lewis ad is London-themed and Brits get their flu jab while planning Christmas TV viewing (being filmed). But lo! Supermarkets (not all) fill with foods (buyer/eater beware) such as brussels sprouts tea, cheese advent calendars, candy canes, vegan turkey and stuffing tortilla chips, things topped in prosecco, mince pie ice cream and other compared foods. Or make a Christmas pudding cheesecake while listening to the carols of Shatner/Pop. Seasons greetings, MeFites! (previously)
"It sounds like the soundtrack of a bad medieval series"
Songs in a major key are probably an old gimmick but nice gems love to be thrown off the vault. And this is indeed an old upload but I first met it today and like that comment in this link, "I'm smiling at the whole audio, while reading comments". They are priceless. So, this is how 'The Final Countdown' would be if it was envisioned by the Pet Shop Boys. [more inside]
Glimpses of the Great Beyond
See the Glorious Winners of the 2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest (Gizmodo's images can be zoomed). Details of the overall 2018 winners are at Royal Museums Greenwich, along with galleries of 2018 sub-category winners. Vote for your favorite image among other entries in the People's Choice Awards 2018, and browse galleries of previous 2017-2009 contests.
October 24
No Hay Trico Tri, No Kendy
Hispanic Halloween | Hispanic Halloween 2 || Juan vs Chucky | Juan vs IT / Pennywise | Juan vs Jigsaw (David Lopez shorts)
The experience of synchrony precedes and shapes all social skills
One of Feldman’s first experiments involved 73 preemies born in Israel in the 30th week of pregnancy and weighing 1,270 grams on average. Every day for two weeks, the preemies received one hour of “kangaroo,” or skin-to-skin, care. They were removed from their incubators and placed naked between their mother’s breasts. A control group of the same size and medical condition only received contact through the incubator.
Feldman and her staff tracked these children at seven junctures in time, over the next 10 years. The findings showed a dramatic impact on the children who had received the kangaroo care.
“They had a better connection with their mother, better adjustment abilities, lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels and lower ADD rates throughout their entire development,” says Feldman. “Small differences, created at the start, amplified over the years.”
The experiment was simple: Mothers of preemies were asked to hug them without clothes. The impact on their lives 20 years later was dramatic (SL Haaretz) [more inside]
Iggy Pop's Contract Rider
Of course it is. Mostly written by Jos Grain, producer. Long, so keep reading or skimming. Very funny except when it's not.
which cake they're going to inflict on their poor parents
How the Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book changed the shape of Australian birthdays as told by the author Pamela Clark.
The Australian Women's Weekly's Children's Birthday Cake Book was first published in 1980. There have been a number of editions, and in 2011 a reprint of the original edition. [more inside]
Geese make for a strange welcome totem, but that never stopped anybody
From its humble origins in Kentucky and waddling as far west as Colorado, concrete geese dominated many a lawn and the front porch step in the 80's and 90's. But why geese? Why these clothes? And would a real-life example be any cuter? (Previously on Metafilter)
"Adonaj es mi pastor. No mankare de nada."
"When the Jews left Spain, they took their language with them. Over the last 500 years, the language has maintained the structure of medieval Spanish and sounds more similar to some forms of Latin American Spanish than European Spanish." --
A brief look at Ladino in Bosnia and Herzegovina [BBC Travel]
One Wouldn’t Wear Dirty Old Sneakers to a Business Meeting,
The “Queen of Shitty Robots” won’t be stopped.
The queen is back: Simone Giertz didn’t let brain surgery stop her. What’s next? "In the six months since the YouTube star and inventor had a large brain tumor [previously] that could have left her paralyzed, blind, or a completely different person removed, Simone Giertz [previously] moved her workshop out of her house, jumped back into vlogging for her nearly 1.4 million subscribers, gave a TED talk, and kickstarted an electronic calendar — all while rocking a silvery 'supervillain scar' that runs down her scalp, flirting with her hairline." [more inside]
Borderline.
Borderline. "Navigating the invisible boundary and physical barriers that define the U.S.-Mexico border."
A scrollable flyover of the entire border between the United States and Mexico.
A scrollable flyover of the entire border between the United States and Mexico.
Two taps to the head
What the hell happened to Darius Miles? I know dudes like me aren’t supposed to talk about depression, but I’ll talk about it. If a real motherfucker like me can struggle with it, then anybody can struggle with it.
"This is one of the greatest posts in Business Insider history."
A day in the life of an HSBC exec who wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to work out, always eats green, and studies at Stanford in her free time. Twitter's reactions. Subsequent internet losing it's mind. Dealbreaker's take.
A monster that’s always there
1-844-WYT-FEAR: Operators are Standing By!
Niecy Nash's informercial for white people who just want to call 911 on their POC neighbors (NYT) “You’re scared. You’re white. But with cell phone, cameras, and social media, calling 911 on your Black or brown neighbors just isn’t what it used to be,” Nash, playing narrator, says to potential white customers. [more inside]
Inside Rockstar Games' Culture of Crunch
"The tale of Red Dead Redemption 2’s development is complicated and sometimes contradictory. For some people at Rockstar, it was a satisfying project, an ambitious game that took reasonable hours and far less crunch than the company’s previous games. Many current employees say they’re happy to work at Rockstar and love being able to help make some of the best games in the world. Others described Red Dead 2 as a difficult experience, one that cost them friendships, family time, and mental health. " Kotaku's Jason Schreier publishes a longform investigation of Rockstar Games' working culture and the evergreen controversy over excessive overtime hours in the video game industry. [more inside]
"Internal Use Only"
"The longest amount of time any area in the continental United States has gone without an update on Google Earth has been 8 years. From 2008 to 2016, a series of dry lake beds in Southwestern Nevada located in the Tonopah Test Range was a blind spot from the all-seeing corporate monolith continuously mapping the Earth. So we bought a satellite image ourselves. We would like to [invite] you, the reader, to join us at Eyebeam, at 199 Cook Street in Brooklyn, at 6pm on Thursday October 25th to view image #103001000EBC3C00 yourself." Or — since the image is for internal use only — you can look at a painting of the image online. (Previously, related.)
Dogs and Death
Dogs are said to have supernatural vision; they can see faeries and sprites, and even Death himself, and bark to let you know they’re near. […] A dog’s howl was said to predict death in many cultures; Egyptians, Hebrews, Irish, Romans, and Greeks all have ominous associations to a dog’s howl – especially at night. This could tie into the idea above that they could see Death. Dogs were also sometimes viewed as guides to the afterlife. Mayan remains have been found buried with dog remains, their dog a faithful guide to the end. […] So do real life dogs understand death? Do they mourn?
“They’re not people, they’re creatures.”
“With his post, Bethel created the Black-Eyed Kids (BEK for short), an internet urban legend, Slender Man for boomers. Rooted in middle class fears of the homeless, of unattended youths, and of property invasion, BEK stories blew up in the late aughts inspiring hundreds of internet “accounts” across a variety of sites, Coast to Coast episodes, several books, a series of graphic novels, and even a couple of lackluster found-footage horror movies. Like all folklore, BEK stories speak to the deep anxieties of a population that is increasingly isolated and socially alienated. It is a story for a culture that takes seriously Margaret Thatcher’s dictum “There’s no such thing as society,” only individuals.” Nightmares From The Suburbs, The online folklore of the 00s.
Treaty of Westphalia signed on 24th October 1648
Today in 1648: The final Treaty of the Peace of Westphalia is signed, ending of the Thirty Years' War. Many scholars credit the treaties with the foundation of the modern state system and establishing the concept of territorial sovereignty.
from holiday jams to S&M-club electronica to acoustic musings on death
20. CONCERNING THE UFO SIGHTING NEAR HIGHLAND, ILLINOISAll 293 Sufjan Stevens songs ranked, by Peyton Thomas. [more inside]
Illinois remains Sufjan’s most high-profile project, and the place where new listeners are usually instructed to go; “Concerning the UFO…” is a wardrobe without a rear wall, a fitting point of entry into something new and strange and lovely. I’m reminded of a close friend who, last year, underwent a long-awaited top surgery. He was lying on the table, waiting for anaesthetic, when the doctor asked him what he’d like to listen to as he went under. He chose this song. He fell asleep to the gentle, ambulatory trills of Sufjan’s piano, and he woke up in a new body.
"how web 2.0 (and especially tumblr) is ruining fandom"
"I also planned to put it on a hot dog."
Chopped champion Drew Magary goes on a journey through the dumbest foods you could put $400 of caviar on. [more inside]
"My real name is Joe, and I've been living with leukemia for 11 years."
This week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw started like many others, with Universal Champion Roman Reigns walking purposefully to the ring, title belt over his shoulder, microphone in hand, to address the audience. Instead of his regular boasting and selling of the next big pay-per-view event, though, Reigns broke kayfabe, surrendering his championship and announcing that he would be taking a break from the ring to battle leukemia. [more inside]
The Real Correlation is Exposure to Television News
Americans Over 50 Are Worse Than Younger People at Telling Facts from Opinions The Atlantic reports on a Pew Research Center study about Americans' ability to distinguish factual statements (like 'Health care costs per person in the U.S. are the highest in the developed world') from opinions (like 'Democracy is the greatest form of government'). An earlier study from the American Press Institute found that older Americans are also more confident in their ability to distinguish fact from opinion, while an earlier Pew study found that people with high political awareness, those who are very digitally savvy, and those who place high levels of trust in the news media are better able to accurately identify news-related statements as factual or opinion. [more inside]
Google auto-corrected this to "YouTube"
Supertyphoon Yutu is making landfall in the Northern Mariana islands. The official windspeed is 165 mph (265 kph) but the satellite measurements suggest higher. [more inside]
It can be the most exquisite, beautiful thing
Wetherspoons, an essay by Megan Nolan
October 23
Kennedy Ground. For the last time. Speedbird Concorde 2 London Heathrow
G-BOAG (Concorde 214, Alpha-Golf) left New York's JFK as BA2 on 24th October 2003. The final transatlantic passenger crossing of a Concorde. Arriving at Heathrow to landing in sequence with G-BOAE (Concorde 212, Alpha-Echo) and G-BOAF (Concorde 216, Alpha-Foxtrot). [more inside]
Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's: Interview
How Food Empire Zingerman’s Was Built on Anarchist Theory. Zingerman’s, a group of 20 loosely associated businesses mostly focused on hospitality and food in the Ann Arbor area, encompasses a deli, bakehouse, restaurant, creamery, training organization, candy business, tour company and more. Behind it all sits co-founder Ari Weinzweig, an inspirational figure who spurns the idea of growth for growth sake, refuses to duplicate any business, and detests hierarchical thinking.
They used explosives. It blew the door clean off.
Little Rock’s dangerous and illegal drug war: "The outside camera had recorded two odd incidents. First, a man whom Talley didn’t know approached the apartment while Talley wasn’t home. Looking anxious, the man knocked, waited a few moments and then left. A few days later, the camera picked up a police officer outside the door. The officer looked around, snapped a photo of Talley’s door with his cellphone, and left.
Talley at one point told his father about the two visits, who in turn relayed the story to a police officer friend. “When he heard about both men, he told my dad, ‘It sounds like they’re about to kick down your son’s door,’ ” Talley says." [more inside]
Talley at one point told his father about the two visits, who in turn relayed the story to a police officer friend. “When he heard about both men, he told my dad, ‘It sounds like they’re about to kick down your son’s door,’ ” Talley says." [more inside]
Leonid & Friends
"It is to kill a cub before he becomes a beast."
Everyone is for the birds
A lot of people love birds, but even avid birders sometimes only know species by sight. Yet you are often more likely to hear a bird than see it, so anyone who is interested in birds or appreciating nature really should consider learning to bird by ear. It is a valuable skill that only enhances your time in the field. But for the blind or disabled, learning birds calls and songs offers even more. It gives a whole new dimension and accessibility to the natural world. Trevor Attenberg on "Birding Blind" [more inside]
PLINK plink plink PLINK plink plink...
The theme to John Carpenter's Halloween on accordion and banjo, Resident Evil - Vacant Flat (Guardhouse Dormitory) on ukulele, banjo, ukulele bass, and other instruments, Silent Hill - Opening Theme cover on banjo, mandolin, octave mandolin, ukulele bass and concertina.
Working on the Levee
In 1978, Alan Lomax returned to the Mississippi Delta for another of his numerous field recording trips to the area. While there he recorded an interview with men who had worked levee building work teams during the depths of Jim Crow. This playlist has some of the work songs and hollers he recorded at the same time. [more inside]
those grey-white gas meter boxes on the outsides of terraced housing
"So playing this, every single time I see something undeniably British, which is approximately every 1.6 seconds in Horizon 4, I double-double-take." John Walker over at Rock Paper Shotgun writes about the strange un-uncanny valley roadtrip that is being a British person, raised on a diet of American driving games, confronting a driving game that is actually casually understatedly British.
The overall empathy level of a community
"One of the first things I learned when I began researching discussion platforms two years ago is the importance of empathy as the fundamental basis of all stable long term communities. The goal of discussion software shouldn't be to teach you how to click the reply button, and how to make bold text, but how to engage in civilized online discussion with other human beings without that discussion inevitably breaking down into the collective howling of wolves. That's what the discussion software should be teaching you: Empathy. You. Me. Us. We can all occasionally use a gentle reminder that there is a real human being on the other side of our screen, a person remarkably like us." [more inside]
Farm Crime
Farm Crime is a true crime documentary series about offences in the world of farming and agriculture. [more inside]
The Fabulous Fenella
Fenella Fielding OBE died last month at the age of 90. It's one of the mysteries of British life that Fenella Fielding, whose wit and distinctive stage presence captivated figures such as Kenneth Tynan, Noël Coward and Federico Fellini, should have drifted into obscurity rather than being celebrated as a national treasure. Last year, in an interview with The Guardian, her lipstick was still blood red, her hair dark brown, and her voice unchanged: plummy, breathy, sexy, every word perfectly enunciated. [more inside]
"It’s not 'Marley and Me,' though dogs are the central characters."
Cat Warren is a university professor and former journalist with an admittedly odd hobby: She and her German shepherd have spent the last seven years searching for the dead. Solo is a cadaver dog. What started as a way to harness Solo’s unruly energy and enthusiasm soon became a calling that introduced her to the hidden and fascinating universe of working dogs, their handlers, and their trainers. [more inside]
Jeff Bezos Has Too Much Money
“Maybe the most “fun” part of the game is not literally spending Jeff Bezos’s money, but remembering that he is only one of many, many newly minted, appallingly wealthy Silicon Valley tycoons. Each of them has not just a lot of money, but a truly earthshaking fortune with which every day they choose to do mostly nothing. “You Are Jeff Bezos, how much can you spend before you run out of money?
Who controls the spice, controls the universe
"Welcome to The Pumpkin Spice Must Flow, an irregular feature where I pointlessly share my opinions on pumpkin spice products." The latest column reviews pumpkin spice bars, beers, breakfast cereals, and bagels.
Before & After Hollywood VFX Blade Runner 2049 [9min 22sec SLYT]
Spoilers for some Blade Runner 2049 Character Appearances A known VFX heavy film, it might surprise you to see just how much and how subtle some of the VFX shots / Manipulations / Whole-piece Fabrications there actually were in Blade Runner 2049. [more inside]
Getting Very Academic - CYBERPUNCTUM: Metaphysics of Cyberpunk
From the Sublime Cognition conference in London, September 2018 If you're into Cyberpunk and academic inquiry, man is this presentation for you! [more inside]
Baking "Turbo" No-Knead Bread
We've had 20 hour [previously], and 5½ hour [previously], but what would you say to 2½-hour no-knead bread? Steve Gamelin's technique leaves your hands clean; and through feedback from his viewers, he has tailored the process for people with limited motor control. His YouTube channel covers a variety of recipes, but you can get started with his Ultimate Introduction to No-Knead "Turbo" Bread YouTube video. [more inside]
Why the hell would you want to rent a middle-aged man?
Do you need some advice about adulting? Do you need to move something heavy? Short on fans at your gigs? No problem, Japan has you covered. If you have these problems, and if no-one else can help, and if you can find one, maybe you too, can hire an ossan! [more inside]
Little Britain (and the rest of the planet)
October 22
Isola
Isola is a fantasy comic book that tells the story of Queen Olwyn, who has been transformed into a tiger. She is accompanied by Rook, her guard, who feels compelled to take her queen to the fabled island of Isola where she might become human again. Influenced by Hayao Miyazaki, the storytelling is more dependent on art than prose. It is published by Image comics and created and written by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (previously). Karl Kerschl and M.Sassy.K handle the art, with lettering done by Aditya Bidikar. The four recently worked together on Gotham Academy along with Becky Cloonan. [more inside]
Residents keep comparing it to an old Joni Mitchell song
And still she cried, and still the world pursues
A Woman Becomes a Nightingale: Carolita Johnson reviews the ugly history of rape being weaponized — and politicized — as a means of silencing women. (SL Long Reads) [more inside]
Ornate Birds and Sea Creatures
sculptures of animals from the land and sea, crafting realistic depictions with a surreal edge. Each porcelain creature features elaborate elements that connect the animal back to its natural environment—such as green leaves that sprout from the wings of a black cockatoo, or tiny yellow fish that are found along the spines of her ornately patterned seahorses.
Call it by its name: Fox Evangelicalism
A disgruntled evangelical scholar examines "The Onward March of Christian Political Power" (earlier, earlier, earlier). He identifies three interlinked factors (personalities, organizations, media) that keep, for example, the War On Christmas alive and tuck Donald Trump and many evangelical leaders into bed together. "This is power. And, as an evangelical myself, I do not think we should have it."
Horror setup story: unfrozen undead want back in their thawing graves
Les Diablerets, translated as "the abode of devils", is releasing The Ghosts of the Glacier from Tsanfleuron, the long-frozen "field of flowers" in the Swiss Alps (Sean Flynn for GQ). For a positive spin on disappearing icepack, Sarah Gibbens, writing for National Geographic, covered the related discoveries last year and wrote that climate change may have just helped solve a cold case in Switzerland.
Impact of Westward Expansion on Native Americans
C-SPAN and the Aspen Institute: Impact of Westward Expansion on Native Americans (50min video, transcript included)
Yale University history professor Ned Blackhawk and Patricia Limerick of the Center of the American West discussed the interactions between Native Americans and white settlers in the 19th century. They talked about the impact of trade alliances on Native Americans and their struggle to preserve their political and social autonomy.The discussion also includes fascinating details and anecdotes concerning development and progress in the academic study of indigenous history in the U.S. during the past few decades. [more inside]
White Supremacy Mob Violence
On these pages you will meet Monroe Nathan Work, who lived from 1866 – 1945 [. . .] he felt compelled to document every known lynching that was happening in the United States.[. . .] Before this website, it was impossible to search the web and find an accurate scope of the history of American lynching. The names have always been kept safe, but distant, in old archives and scholarly books and dissertations. This site leaves the record open for all Americans, especially high school students who want to learn more than what their textbook has to say.Monroe Work Today, which includes an interactive map.
!!!YADKCOLSPAC¡¡¡
OCTOBER 22ND IS HOW I FEEL INSIDE!!!!!!!! EVERY YEAR WE GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SALMON FOR TOAST, EVERY YEAR WE GET A CROCKETY BLOAT, EVERY YEAR WE GET DRUNK ON THE DOCKS, AND EVERY YEAR WE HAVE SEX WITH OUR CAPS LOCKS!!!!
Karl-Barks-Stadt
Pertti Jarla ( @PerttiJarla) "tekee Fingerpori-sarjakuvia, rakentaa autojen pienoismalleja." [more inside]
"[R]efusing to accommodate pregnant women is often completely legal"
The New York Times: Miscarrying at Work: The Physical Toll of Pregnancy Discrimination. "Women in strenuous jobs lost their pregnancies after employers denied their requests for light duty, even ignoring doctors’ notes, an investigation by The New York Times has found." [more inside]
12 Authors Write About the Libraries They Love
For most readers and writers — and book lovers in general — the library holds a special place of honor and respect. We asked several authors to tell us about their local public library or to share a memory of a library from their past.
Last Hero of Telemark
Joachim Rønneberg, commander of Operation Gunnerside and other Norwegian sabotage raids against German heavy water production during World War II, died October 21, 2018, age 99. He was the last survivor of the real "Heroes of Telemark".
Meet Enypniastes eximia, the 'headless chicken monster'.
This unusually mobile species of sea cucumber has only been captured on film once before, in the Gulf of Mexico. [YouTube] “This colorful creature, known as Enypniastes eximia, is a type of sea cucumber that has adapted to deep sea environments. The species was caught on video for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017. Now, fisheries cameras deployed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), a division of Australia’s Department of the Environment, have captured it on video for the first time in the Southern Ocean.” [via: Motherboard]
45, a.k.a. Cheeto, a.k.a. the Manchurian Combover
Voldemorting: The act of never speaking the name of someone truly terrible. E.g. ‘Don’t bother sending me those links, I’m Voldemorting those losers!’Wired's Resident Linguist Gretchen McCulloch writes about the "anti-SEO" practice of using different names for entities whose attention you don't want to attract.
The Warrior Society Rises
That Time the City of Seattle Accidentally Gave a Guy 32m Emails for $40
The first large batch of requests for email metadata were sent to the largest cities of fourteen arbitrary states in a trial run of sorts. In the end of that batch, only two cities were willing to continue with the request - Houston and Seattle. Houston complied surprisingly quickly and snail mailed the metadata for 6m emails. Seattle on the other hand... 2800 words from Matt Chapman.
Pickled To Death
[…] embalming fluid was frequently mistaken for something drinkable like whiskey or beer, or even plain water. I find this a bit baffling. I admit I do not know how vintage embalming fluid smelled, but I would assume that there was enough of a smell to alert the drinker that it wasn’t whiskey. But given the copious amounts of alcohol served to mourners at wakes, were there any alert drinkers? The overflowing cup of cheer (along with an apparent shortage of cups) lies behind many of these tales. “Dead drunk” was no mere figure of speech.
You Gotta Give to Get
Japan's Hometown Tax — an innovative Japanese tax policy helps share tax revenues with regions outside of the urban metropolises.
SHE BON : Sensing the Sensual
SHE BON is a platform, a human-computer interface for sensing and indicating different aspects of arousal by harnessing a variety of body-data! "What I'm aiming to achieve is encouraging a more healthy, approachable dialog about sex amongst humans." (NSFW)
October 21
Dr. Caligari (1989)
We’ve discovered a midnight movie that’s slipped under our radar all these years. It’s just as retro, hypnotic, and freaky as say, the cult musical Rocky Horror Picture Show— but you might even say more chic. [more inside]
Is there a such thing as ballet that doesn't hurt women?
"Just being in the ballet studio, she said, it is assumed that you can be adjusted at any point by a teacher, choreographer, or partner. Personal boundaries are crossed through persuasion or physical adjustment, without asking the dancer to check in with her own comfort and ability. It’s simply not part of the equation; if a dancer can’t keep up, there is always someone willing to take her place." (CW: sexual abuse)
Read this and weep for Brazil.
Thy Will Be Done: Brasil’s Holy War.
A fifty year foreign battle to combat Catholic Liberation Theology in Brazil promises rich rewards for the vested interests which initiated it.
By this time next week the odds are that Brazil will have elected a fascist as President. Jair Bolsonaro, who has openly stated that the dictatorship’s mistake was to torture but not kill, and his volunteers envision a state of war for Brazil. That is the experiment they are hoping to deliver to the world.
The far-right Brazilian leader isn’t just another conservative populist. His propaganda campaign has taken a page straight from the Nazi playbook.
[more inside]
A fifty year foreign battle to combat Catholic Liberation Theology in Brazil promises rich rewards for the vested interests which initiated it.
By this time next week the odds are that Brazil will have elected a fascist as President. Jair Bolsonaro, who has openly stated that the dictatorship’s mistake was to torture but not kill, and his volunteers envision a state of war for Brazil. That is the experiment they are hoping to deliver to the world.
The far-right Brazilian leader isn’t just another conservative populist. His propaganda campaign has taken a page straight from the Nazi playbook.
[more inside]
Love. Always.
Gary Andrews is a cartoonist who lost his wife Joy to sepsis. He has continued his doodle a day during that time. [more inside]
Full eyes, clear hearts, here's how it's gonna go, can't lose
"Sweeping my hair uneasily into a baseball cap, I decided to try to be as “Coach Eric Taylor” as possible for two weeks. I am a five-foot-two white woman with glasses, shoulder-length hair, a wide smile and ready eye contact. I was dubious about this stunt working. Could I truly effect male power?" [more inside]
Day of the Devs
Indie games offer innovation and niche appeal in a market dominated by formulaic blockbusters. At the 6th annual Day of the Devs there will be 70 unreleased games to play. Watch the teaser preview of all 70 here.
the ice-cold reality of the retail death spiral
"What if I told you one of the largest ever undertakings in American historic preservation was happening not through the graces of any large institution, but through the autonomous participation of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of individuals across the country, who are collectively stitching together their own narrative of architectural history?" Kate Wagner in The Baffler, The Archivists of Extinction: Architectural history in an era of capitalist ruin
#TylerStrong
Are you #TylerStrong? (SLYT - have a tissue handy)
The best sports story that is not really about sports that you will see this weekend. [more inside]
Kaitlin Prest: "I didn’t take that feedback"
Take some time to explore the work of Kaitlin Prest. Her newest podcast, The Shadows, was just released. You can also hear Prest's work on RadioLab's recent series In the No on the topic of consent. Part II is here. Part III to come. Prest's whole "No" series is here. [more inside]
So this is probably my 10th client who is the smartest man in the world.
"There's nothing." Escaping NXIVM is a new CBC podcast focusing on the experience of Sara Edmonson, one high-profile defector from the recently-crashed cult. (Stitcher, iTunes, Twitter) [more inside]
Did Joshua Schachter Make a Mistake Selling del.icio.us to Yahoo?
Joshua Schachter’s groundbreaking social-bookmarking site Del.icio.us, founded in 2003, popularized the idea of “tags” — organizing bookmarks by appending just a word or two. At its height, Del.icio.us was the toast of budding social sites known as Web 2.0, had millions of users, and served as a direct inspiration for sites like Reddit and Pinterest. Schachter talked to Intelligencer about his decision sell Del.icio.us to Yahoo in 2005 — and how it felt to watch as the company was mismanaged and sold off to a series of buyers before being permanently shut down in 2017. [more inside]
October 20
When do you jump? And where do you land?
Allergic to Modernity
The Guardian discusses the recent, and startling, mass increase in allergy occurrences - possibly connected to delayed exposure to allergens, overly-hygienic practices, and lack of exposure to sunlight. Are our best laid plans in health and wellness wreaking havoc on our immune systems?
"Censorship was a problem."
Emanuele Taglietti is an Italian illustrator, mostly known for his covers for digest-sized, adult comics (fumetti) whose themes were sex, violence, and horror. The following links are so, so NSFW:
Sex And Horror: The Lurid Erotic Art Of Emanuele Taglietti (Dangerous Minds)
Emanuele Taglietti art at Comic Art Fans
Cover Art By Emanuele Taglietti at Spaghetti Fumetti
Interview with Korero Press
Emanuele Taglietti Fan Club
Sex And Horror: The Lurid Erotic Art Of Emanuele Taglietti (Dangerous Minds)
Emanuele Taglietti art at Comic Art Fans
Cover Art By Emanuele Taglietti at Spaghetti Fumetti
Interview with Korero Press
Emanuele Taglietti Fan Club
So You Want to Open a Small Press Bookstore/Artist-Run Space?
A cautionary tale by poet Noel Black.
"Monsters, if they are interesting, are unpredictable."
“Polysemy (from Greek: πολυ-, poly-, "many" and σῆμα, sêma, "sign"), the capacity for a sign, such as a word, phrase, or symbol, to have multiple meanings, usually related by contiguity of meaning within a semantic field.” – definition adapted from WikipediaTrue Grit: From Weird Mascot to Eldritch Revolutionary
“If you cannot convince a fascist, acquaint his head with the pavement.” – Gritty (probably)
Needle Felted Faces
Is there a better game plan than us trying to pick a fight with Hammer?
"The upside was that we finally did finish Paul's Boutique. The downside is that we wasted So. Much. Fucking. Money. Soon enough, though, the amount of money we'd just wasted would be the least of our problems." The Making (and Unmaking) of Paul's Boutique.
No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark
Follow some of the about 1.9 million Venezuelans who have fled since 2015 in one of the largest migrations in the world in recent years.
The price of oil plummeted from $96 per barrel in 2014 to just $49 in 2015.
Corruption and rot run from the president right down to the human traffickers, brothel proprietors, contraband smugglers and taxi drivers.
Meanwhile drug trafficking structures are a series of often competing networks buried deep within the Chavista regime, with ties going back almost two decades. The Development of the Cartel of the Suns.
The price of oil plummeted from $96 per barrel in 2014 to just $49 in 2015.
Corruption and rot run from the president right down to the human traffickers, brothel proprietors, contraband smugglers and taxi drivers.
Meanwhile drug trafficking structures are a series of often competing networks buried deep within the Chavista regime, with ties going back almost two decades. The Development of the Cartel of the Suns.
We all die alone, but some more than others
Miyu Kojima cleans the apartments of those who have died alone. These lonely deaths (kodokushi) are often undiscovered for months, and the work is difficult and grim. But in her off hours she takes these experiences and turns them into art, memorializing the apartments she's cleaned in painstakingly constructed dioramas.
Best Wildlife Photos of 2018
The 40 best from over 45,000 entries to London's Natural History Museum. This is the best representation among several sites with these photos. The images reveal the abundance, beauty, resilience, and vulnerability of life on Earth. The winning photos were chosen from more than 45,000 entries from 95 countries for their artistic composition, technical innovation, and truthful interpretation of the natural world.
“I’ve always known that I’m multiracial”
Slate - The New American Songbook
The New American Songbook is emphatically not a list of the best songs of the past quarter-century, although many of these tracks would make that list, too. As predicted by our panel, tomorrow’s oldies, like tomorrow’s America, will be a lot less male-dominated, and a lot more diverse. [more inside]
101. Metafilter (1999)
With what do you want to light the torch? Say things in full, bedlamite!
40 years ago (near enough), and inspired by Zork, Roy Trubshaw coded (in MACRO-10) the first version of MUD, the Multi-User Dungeon, at Essex University. With the work of Richard Bartle (previously) versions were recoded and refined over the next few years. Soon, external access to the university DEC-10 between 2am and 7am increased player numbers at their expense. Various incarnations and versions appeared over the next few years with MUD being hosted, between 1984 and 1987, by Dundee Technical College (which became Abertay University). MUD was one of several early games which inspired online adventure and virtual environment creators; MUDs and MOOs, such as TinyMUD in 1989 and the still-developing MUDII from 1985, proliferated. [Post title]
It's That Pivotal Moment
“For me, this is something you’ll not see this year, last year, the year before that. . . kissing. . . Liam Neeson, a hunk. And kissing him sexually, romantically.”
[more inside]
[more inside]
Monkey Lifts Its Baby to the Sky
The Disney-like moment was captured on film. Photographer Dafna Ben Nun, 38, captured the incredible real life Disney moment whilst on a trip to Zimbabwe.
"It was just a split second, but it was fascinating to watch!"
Letmeout
On the Pleasures of the Escape Room. "Escape rooms make a simple and beguiling metaphor for life. In the space of an hour, you dart through all the stages of human maturation, from bewilderment (infancy) to discovery (puberty) to reasoning (adulthood) to deliverance (death). It’s like starring in your own dumb biopic."
Another way to prove you’re a gentleperson and a scholar
Indiana University English professor Michael Adams reflects on dictionaries as physical objects.
Women in the U.S. Can Now Get Safe Abortions by Mail
The Atlantic interviews doctor Rebecca Gomperts about the recently-launched Aid Access. “I got an email from a woman who was living in a car with two kids,” she told me. “Something had to be done.” [more inside]
For Halloween, the Spooky and Queer Holiday, More Weird Audio Dramas
Some of you may be aware that Limetown Website Previously FanFare is making a return at the end of the month, but other creators have been turning out more and more spooky and weird (and sometimes funny) audio dramas for your entertainment as the nights get longer and the days colder (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least). Here’s a round up of audio dramas with paranormal elements. In honor of the historical queerness of Halloween, LGBTQ characters and elements are also identified. [more inside]
Jesse Jackson ’88 tees are hot in Asia. Here’s why.
Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign logo trending in Asian fashion "The Jesse Jackson ’88 “content” is the least important aspect of the shirt. In today’s globalized world, items can jump between cultures, but they mostly succeed in other places because they take on completely new meanings upon arrival."
In which a skillet is saved
Kat Kinsman came into possession of an extremely neglected cast iron pan and asked the internet for advice. A short but satisfying story of redemption and high heat. Previously.
October 19
But what if I want to go from C - L, via A, B and A again?
Desire paths have been described as illustrating “the tension between the native and the built environment and our relationship to them”. Because they often form in areas where there are no pavements, they can be seen to “indicate [the] yearning” of those wishing to walk, a way for “city dwellers to ‘write back’ to city planners, giving feedback with their feet”. Stroll on through: Desire paths: the illicit trails that defy the urban planners. (SL The Guardian)
Thanks, Mole Playing Rough
The Mystery of the Mole Playing Rough (SLYT): why did SNES classic Earthbound contain an unavoidable random encounter with a plucky (but doomed) mole?
NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH ALL OF THE POWER
Are You There God? It's Me, Movie Rights
Nearly 50 years after its publication, Judy Blume has granted the screen rights to her coming-of-age classic, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." [more inside]
I am Herschel and so is my wife
Accurate perception is optional
The 2018 Best Illusion of the Year Contest results are out, and unsurprisingly Kokichi Sugihara has won with a truly disorienting illusion. Sugihara previously.
What up with that?
A tree grows in Pittsburgh. Well, up to 100,000
On a patch of land beneath the 62nd Street Bridge, Tree Pittsburgh is looking to train the next generation of local dendrophiles. On Oct. 18, the environmental nonprofit unveiled an expansion of its existing tree nursery on the shores of the Allegheny River. In addition to new space for more than 100,000 new tree saplings, Tree Pittsburgh also opened the doors to its new and totally green education center. [more inside]
Criminalizing Victims
Last Thanksgiving, a Chinese woman named Song Yang fell to her death during a police raid of her apartment in Queens. This is her story. (Linked article discusses sexual assault, suicide and abuse.) [more inside]
poorly known and rarely seen felid
Chinese Mountain Cats. Video footage of a mother and two kittens of a cat species with "a very small known range on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (Qinghai and northwest Sichuan), [...] the only cat endemic to China".
The Sunburnt Country
Is there racial inequality at your school?
A ProPublica developer uses Illinois as an example of the data on racial disparities in education that can be easily viewed using the new Miseducation online tool. A recent story uses some of the same data (and a great deal of individual reporting) to explore education disparities in Charlottesville.
“Mothers, moreover, were the typical organizers of rent strikes.”
“Starting from scattered clues left by Marx and his successors, above all Rosa Luxemburg, this essay outlines a theory of class formation and socialist hegemony in consonance with the historical, revolutionary experience of the working class’s actual lives and ideas. The basic thesis is that “agency” in the last instance is conditioned by the development of the productive forces but activated by the convergence (or “overdeterminations”) of political, economic, and cultural struggles.” Old Gods, New Enigmas: as production becomes more abstract and society more alienated, what can we learn about building class consciousness from the movements of the past? (Catalyst)
A water fight in Chile's Atacama raises questions over lithium mining
Reuters reports on the world’s two biggest lithium producers' plans to increase output by drawing more brine from beneath Chile's Atacama desert, the world’s driest, and the attendant environmental impact. The story includes an accompanying interactive infographic version and photo essay. The industry's impact in the region has also caught the eye of photographer Edward Burtynsky, with images of lithium brine operations in the Atacama forming part of the work in his collaboration with Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, The Anthropocene Project.
Inertia Creeps
For the 20th anniversary of Mezzanine, arguably one of the best and most important albums of the '90s, Massive Attack has decided to not only release a deluxe, re-mastered version of the album, but following in the footsteps of avant-garde Canadian poet Christian Bök's Xenotext, and in a move unlikely to quell rumours that Robert "3D" Del Naja is actually Banksy, they are releasing it as synthetic DNA suspended in a can of matte black spray paint. [more inside]
Architecture Drawing Prizes for 2018
.:Ultimate Writer: an Open Digital Typewriter:.
TL;DR: A digital typewriter based on a Raspberry Pi and an E-Ink screen. The code/build instructions are available on GitHub. 2600 words from ninjatrappeur describing the build, along with photographs and opportunities to contribute.
A day in the life of a former global superpower
As a recent deputy Prime Minister joins Facebook, a John Inman double sues his weary hosts, something from the 1990s makes an unwelcome return, technology startups quietly move eastwards, residents hide from a cat, amputated limbs are (allegedly) kept in handy skips, and a rising Tory MP who but a few hours ago demonstrated he is a very angry man goes "pub carpark fight" on (inevitably) Twitter, so the lonely Prime Minister, bereft of even a genuine handshake or a legal joint (which is ironic), charges on with cannon to right of her, cannon to left of her, and cannon in front of her, though much of the nation is otherwise gripped by the latter part of Bread and Circuses, namely Jose-drama and who is [redacated] who on Strictly Come Dancing, when not growing pumpkins.
Todd H. Bol, founder, Little Free Library Movement, 1956-2018
'“If I may be so bold, I’m the most successful person I know,” Bol said, with a sideways smile, “because I stimulate 54 million books to be read and neighbors to talk to each other. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the very definition of success.' [more inside]
Oh my god what would you name this cat...?? 😱😲😺
Buffering...
The next generation of streaming video games is on its way [Engadget] “There's a specific kind of frustration associated with crappy game-streaming services. It's all about the buildup: You find a game, whether it's something brand new or a long-lost childhood favorite, and boot it up. It takes forever to load. The title screen stutters and your heart drops, but it's easy to convince yourself it was just a bout of preliminary jitters. And then the game begins. And stops. And starts up again. And stops. [...] That's been the story with so many streaming services over the years, from OnLive to GeForce Now. However, this entire ecosystem is poised to change. After years of impossible promises and half-baked public trials in an incomplete online ecosystem, streaming services are finally viable, and major companies like Google and Microsoft are teasing the future of the industry.” [more inside]
How The University of Oregon's Soul Was Sold
Facing pressure from an anti-tax initiative that pit university funding against K-12 education, UO president Dave Frohnmayer was forced to look to corporate funders to help fund the school's mission, especially local megacorporation Nike. But Nike's owner, Phil Knight, viewed his largesse as an investment, and that, along with family tragedy for Frohnmayer and a misstep on the latter's part leading the former to exact a brutal toll on him, would lead to the University of Oregon surrendering much of its identity and control to Nike. (SLPSMag) [more inside]
The feminist case against the feminist case against trans inclusion
"I’m not transphobic, but…”: A feminist case against the feminist case against trans inclusivity This Friday, the 19th October, the [British] Government's consultation on a proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) will close. The process has become a focal point for a heated and often toxic debate over what we as a society owe to trans people, and how the claims of the trans community - and of trans women in particular - relate to the characteristic commitments and concerns of feminism.
[Content note - this article discusses transphobia extensively, as do the links below] [more inside]
We popped down to Colwood to build a life-size Woolly Mammoth
"I’ve always seen stuff in the driftwood: oh, there’s a dinosaur bone; oh, there’s a triceratops skull" Alex Witcombe launched Drifted Creations after his first driftwood sculpture received a deluge of praise from the public. Today, the artist, who is based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, makes public art pieces and does commissions for a variety of clients. He also runs workshops to help others learn the coastal craft. More images!
October 18
Ninety Minutes of Unbridled Female Excellence
As we head the 2019 Women's World Cup, let's take a look at the state of American women's professional soccer. [more inside]
The Indonesian Immigrants who brought Rock'n'Roll to the Dutch
Between 1945 and '65 around 300,000 Dutch, Mollucans and Indo people, the descendants of mixed Dutch and Indonesian parents, left the Dutch East Indies, today known as Indonesia, for the Netherlands. The majority arrived around the time of Indonesia's struggle for independence in the second half of the 1940s. And some of these immigrants brought in western Rock'n'Roll: The Blue Diamonds, The Crazy Rockers and The Tielman Brothers (trio of black'n'white rock'n'roll videos; more below). [Another twang of the guitar to Johnny Wallflower for this musical trip] [more inside]
I don't have any more luxury goods to fill this box so are words OK?
“People talk about subscriptions as if they’re all the same,” says Ipsy CEO Marcelo Camberos. “But in fact, subscription commerce is just a new way to engage with brands and get products. We’re all fundamentally different businesses.” Inside the $2.6 billion subscription box wars.
This is not the new politics thread
How to Stop Yourself From Crying: Crying is a natural human response to joy, stress or sadness. But what if you don’t want to let the tears fall? (SLNYT)
Do No Harm
Do No Harm. "3am. 1980s Hongjing. In an aging private hospital, a single-minded surgeon is forced to break her physician’s oath when violent gangsters storm in to stop a crucial operation." [SLV, Via] [more inside]
They Live: A populist documentary on shadowy cabals turns 30
"Drones in the sky, conspiracies in our heads, militarized police in the streets, economic inequality in every corner of society, media that seeks to control our minds: The terror of They Live is more tangible and primal in 2018 than a slasher movie could ever be." Steven Hyden, The Ringer: John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ Was Supposed to Be a Warning. We Didn’t Heed It. We Didn’t Even Understand It. [more inside]
"Game on, Tiny"
Last Sunday's “60 Minutes” aired an interview by Lesley Stahl with Donald Trump, who informed her, twice, "I'm not a baby." (Transcript) Among other highlights, Trump, bobbing and weaving to avoid the truth, tried to cast blame on China when pressed about Russian interference in the 2016 campaign election, declared he knew more about NATO than Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation), suggested climate change will "change back again", and let slip, "I don’t trust everybody in the White House". The AP reports 11.7 million viewers tuned in to watch, just over half the audience that Stormy Daniels had on the CBS newsmagazine last spring. CNN tracks 11 noteworthy moments from Trump's '60 Minutes' interview. [more inside]
Welcome to math, where everything is cool if you know how it works
Geometry is neat:
Surface Area of a Sphere
Cake by Dinara Kasko
Morphing Cube
Slowly Filling a Maze
Pop-up cards
Milling Machine At Work
Church in Mogno, Switzerland
Two inverted magnetic bowls causing un-magnetized steel balls to organize into geometric patterns [more inside]
Surface Area of a Sphere
Cake by Dinara Kasko
Morphing Cube
Slowly Filling a Maze
Pop-up cards
Milling Machine At Work
Church in Mogno, Switzerland
Two inverted magnetic bowls causing un-magnetized steel balls to organize into geometric patterns [more inside]
The Knack
"The thing I hated most about being a child in the 1950s was that you couldn’t just open the cupboard." Why growing up in the 1950's sucked by M. John Harrison.
Death is in demand. Life is golden, until it isn’t.
The Life and Death of a Mexican Hitman
Researching how Mexico can uproot the scourge of organised crime, Falko Ernst befriends a doomed hitman on the run from his past. Talking to the sicario in the Michoacán underworld, he learns much about the deadly challenges the new government faces. Additional: 'The training stays with you': the elite Mexican soldiers recruited by cartels.
Researching how Mexico can uproot the scourge of organised crime, Falko Ernst befriends a doomed hitman on the run from his past. Talking to the sicario in the Michoacán underworld, he learns much about the deadly challenges the new government faces. Additional: 'The training stays with you': the elite Mexican soldiers recruited by cartels.
He escorted me to the door and placed his iron-tipped toe to my rump...
Friday flash fiction: What Happened to Auguste Clarot? A blast of sci-fi comedic nonsense reminiscent of Donald Bartleme.
"When I was summoned posthaste to the topsy turvy office of Emile Becque, savage editor of L'Expresse, I knew in my bones that an assignment of extraordinary dimensions awaited me. Becque glared at me as I entered, his green-tinted eyeshade slanted forward like an enormous bill.
We sat there, neither of us saying a word, for Becque is a strong believer in mental telepathy. After several moments I had gathered nothing but waves of hatred for a padded expense account and then, all at once, I knew. It was l'affaire Clarot. I leaped to my feet crying out, I will not let you down, Emile, and stumbled (almost blinded by tears) out of his office."
Mary Bono Nails the Dismount
Soon after allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar were made by three former gymnasts on 60 Minutes, USA Gymnastics President and CEO Steve Penny resigned. Kerry Perry was hired to change the climate at the governing body, then fired "after nine months marked by chaos [and] lack of tangible action". [more inside]
Beat The Devil Out Of It
46 minutes of Bob Ross beating the devil out of it, redecorating his living room, covering everybody in the studio, taking out his hostilities, just enjoying the best part of painting. [Digg] [YouTube] [more inside]
flood the swamp!
From the very beginnings, Europeans looked at the swamps, marshes, bogs, and wetlands of what would become the United States as useless lands, suitable only for draining prior to agriculture or dredging for ship traffic. Now we have all found ourselves In The Dismal Swamp. [more inside]
Oh, dear.
there can be only one
Better than tiger urine
Calvin Klein's "Obsession" for Men could be used as lure to catch a dangerous man-eating tiger in India. The cologne's ability to attract tigers was discovered in an experiment at the Bronx Zoo in 2003. [more inside]
Precarious by Design
Passengers are empowered to act as middle managers over drivers, whose ratings directly impact their employment eligibility,” note Rosenblat and Stark in their paper. “This redistribution of managerial oversight and power away from formalized middle management and toward consumers is part of a broader trend in flexible labor. via Kenyatta
“As players, we rarely look down on our own shoes, or even NPCs shoes,”
Shoes for Virtual Feet: “People wear shoes. Well, most people do. The same applies to virtual humans, every character in videogames wear shoes of some sort. I wonder what they are wearing? I've been documenting shoes in videogames for a few months now. It's experimental, it's not a full documentation yet, only the ones I find interesting. Protagonist, supporting characters, enemies, NPCs, pedestrians, they are all included.” [via: Rock Paper Shotgun]
October 17
Art and technology meet in Stargazing: A Knitted Tapestry
Australian software engineer Sarah Spencer hacked a 1980s knitting machine to create a massive star map. [more inside]
"Some students knew beforehand and still consumed the cookies"
A Davis high school student allegedly baked her grandfather’s ashes into a batch of sugar cookies and gave them to classmates, some of whom were aware they contained human remains before they ate them, authorities said Tuesday. […] Asked if the allegation seems credible, [Police Lt.] Doroshov gave a long sigh. “Yeah.” (SL LA Times)
It's competitive gourd season, motherf**kers
From Barnesville, Ohio, Topsfield and Marshfield, Massachusetts, to Half Moon Bay, California, contest and county fair records for "heaviest pumpkin" have been falling like autumn leaves. National records have also been crushed beneath the weight of some impressive specimens - a new Canadian
record (1,959 lbs), a new UK record for the largest pumpkin grown indoors (2,433.9 lbs), and a new U.S. (and North American) record (2,528 lbs). The current world record of 2,624.6 lbs still stands for now. Have pumpkins maxed out? [more inside]
A.. AH... SOM...THI...TO...E EAT...?
Eighteen year old high school student Hyun Cha
Lost all his family
Here, alone
At the end of the world
SWEET HOME - Youngchan Hwang, Carnby Kim
CW: violence, self-harm, suicide, monsters [more inside]
Lost all his family
Here, alone
At the end of the world
SWEET HOME - Youngchan Hwang, Carnby Kim
CW: violence, self-harm, suicide, monsters [more inside]
When I'd Give Her The World, She Asks Instead For Some Earth
The Tony award-winning 1991 Broadway production of The Secret Garden (adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel) is not particularly well-known. Its house is haunted by the past and its young heroine struggling to grow into the future. The show's sophisticated examinations of love and loss and its depiction of youthful self-discovery was deeper than typical musical fare. The main record we have of this show is the Original Broadway Cast recording [discogs], which features Daisy Eagan, Mandy Patinkin, and John Cameron Mitchell (very much pre-Hedwig), amongst others, and contains between song scenes which flesh out the story even for those who have never seen the show. Here's a YouTube playlist (I apologize for the commercials). [more inside]
Because of Mark Twain, Somehow
The Soylent Corporation maestro is under attack for making Soylent Green out of people. But we need people who take risks. We need people who try. We need people to eat. In Defense of Soylent Green Inventor Henry C. Santini (after the Popular Mechanics defense of Elon Musk)
Patterns in Nature: RSB 2018 shortlist
Paywall: The Business of Scholarship
Paywall: The Business of Scholarship provides focus on the need for open access to research and science, questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers, examines the 35-40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher Elsevier and looks at how that profit margin is often greater than some of the most profitable tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Google.
There can be no greater issue than that of archiving in this country
The largest collection of the papers of President Theodore Roosevelt has been digitized and is now available online from the Library of Congress. Consisting of 276,000 documents and 461,000 images, the collection includes letters, speeches, executive orders, scrapbooks, diaries, White House reception records and press releases of his administration, as well as family records. [more inside]
When I Came Out to My Parents, Kimchi Fried Rice Held Us Together
I'd always thought that you're supposed to learn something about yourself when you come out, but I think I learned more about my parents.
It meant something to me that in the midst of my mother's grave disappointment, during a time in her life when everything had seemed to change, the rug pulled out from under her, somehow she and I could seek refuge in this one thing that would never change. I was still her son and she was still my mom, and kimchi fried rice—something only she could make—was still my favorite thing to eat in the entire world.By Eric Kim.
Attack method #268324: Sonar Phishing
Don't have a photo of your victim to break into their phone? Too lazy to walk to the printer to smash that fingerprint ID roadblock? Not to worry: now you lazy cracker kids can infect your mark's device with the latest and greatest sonar phishing tech. Thanks, Lancaster University: Researchers Used Sonar Signal From a Smartphone Speaker to Steal Unlock Passwords (SL Motherboard). [more inside]
Abortion to be decriminalised in Queensland
For over 100 years, abortion in Queensland has been a crime, unless a doctor considered it necessary to "prevent serious danger to the woman's physical or mental health". Last night, the Queensland parliament voted in favour of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill. The Bill removes abortion from the criminal code, allows abortion on request up to 22 weeks, and introduces safe access zones of 150 metres around clinics to shield women from harassment. [more inside]
It's not rocket surgery
A malaphor is a Blend of malapropism + metaphor.
Examples:
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it"...
"Even a blind squirrel is right twice a day"...
"If a bear shits in the woods, does it make a sound?"...
"An apple a day leaves the whole world blind" [more inside]
A Fighting Chance
Monday, October 15: CNN, 'Why Elizabeth Warren is #1 in Our New 2020 Rankings'; WaPo, 'Elizabeth Warren Has Her Act Together: Democratic 2020 Hopefuls Better Wake Up'.
Boston Globe, Warren Releases Results of DNA Tests [more inside]
"Twitter’s focus is on a healthy public conversation."
Twitter has released a dataset consisting of 1.24GB of messages and 296GB of media "that we believe resulted from potentially state-backed information operations on our service", according to the company. They come from "3,841 accounts affiliated with the [Internet Research Agency], originating in Russia, and 770 other accounts, potentially originating in Iran. They include more than 10 million Tweets and more than 2 million images, GIFs, videos, and Periscope broadcasts", and are being made publicly available in partially-anonymized form. [more inside]
Status and meaning of photography in a digital world drowning in images
What next for photography in the age of Instagram? Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian's photography critic, examines the changing landscape of a thriving medium, and provides updates on his musings on an ever-evolving art form from six years ago, covering everything from the absurd number of photography festivals held each year to the value of truth in photography in the age of Photoshopping, in contrast with videos of a fatal shooting at an Iranian protest that went viral. In his prior piece, O'Hagan compared photographs netting high bids at auctions, between the 1906 "old master," Edward J. Steichen's The Pond - Moonrise, and Andreas Gursky's "The Rhine II". Adding to the discussion is the fact that the latter was, as Gursky said, digitally altered to "leave out the elements that bothered me." [more inside]
American Mercenaries
A Middle East Monarchy Hired American Ex-Soldiers To Kill Its Political Enemies. This Could Be The Future Of War. [Buzzfeed News]
“Cradling an AK-47 and sucking a lollipop, the former American Green Beret bumped along in the back of an armored SUV as it wound through the darkened streets of Aden. Two other commandos on the mission were former Navy SEALs. As elite US special operations fighters, they had years of specialized training by the US military to protect America. But now they were working for a different master: a private US company that had been hired by the United Arab Emirates, a tiny desert monarchy on the Persian Gulf.
On that night, December 29, 2015, their job was to carry out an assassination.” [more inside]
The NCAA Is Gaslighting You
In a longform piece for Deadspin, Andy Schwarz talks about how the argument at the core of the NCAA's justification for not allowing players to be paid - "the fans demand it" - not only doesn't hold up to any sort of scrutiny, but also how the NCAA works to make people buy into their view even with all the evidence against it. (SLDeadspin)
The world is dying; come see it
"The world is on fire but the new Google Pixel 3 — a Good Phone, which I do recommend you buy if you like Android and can afford it, although its updates are mostly incremental — in my pocket is cool to the touch. ... My neck hurts. I am never not looking down. When I am not looking at my phone, I become slightly anxious. And then, when I do actually look at it, I become even more so. It reminds me of how I once felt about cigarettes. I don’t recall exactly when my phone became such a festival of stress and psychological trauma, but here we are." Matt Honan reviews the Google Pixel 3 for Buzzfeed News through a haze of existential angst about the smartphone revolution. (via Daring Fireball.)
MettāFilter
Training compassion ‘muscle’ may boost brain’s resilience to others’ suffering. "It can be distressing to witness the pain of family, friends or even strangers going through a hard time. But what if, just like strengthening a muscle or learning a new hobby, we could train ourselves to be more compassionate and calm in the face of others’ suffering?" Compassion Is Like a Muscle That Gets Stronger With Training: Loving-kindness meditation and compassion training boost empathic resilience. [more inside]
The Fascist Creep
“In Germany in 1933, Wilhelm Reich, in analyzing how a society chooses fascism, rejected the all-too-easy notion of the duped masses. He insisted that we take seriously the fact that people, en masse, genuinely desired fascism. Ignorant masses weren’t manipulated into an authoritarian system they do not actually want.” No Joke (Real Life) “And that brings me to the point of this little essay. How did America end up so hilariously, amazingly, spectacularly stupid, it couldn’t even figure out when fascism, comic-book fascism, in fact — replete with cartoon dictator, demonization, scapegoating, camps, bans, and so on — was rising right in front of its eyes?“ Why America Didn’t See Fascism Coming (Medium) Republicans Are Adopting the Proud Boys ( Daily Beast). “The past three years have seen a proliferation of such groups: organized reactionaries of various political tendencies seeking out ideological enemies (mostly, but not exclusively, on the anti-capitalist left) to beat to a bloody pulp.” Boys To Men (Baffler)
It's like battling a monster
Fiat Lux!
Next month, California votes on 11 propositions covering everything from rent control to transportation funding to taking control of the shared concept of time itself. State and local offices, judges, and local ballot measures on everything from homeless services to a public bank are all up for grabs, not to mention several competitive House races. Register to vote by October 22nd (or anytime through Election Day) or check your voter registration. Then find your polling place and your ballot. We'll take the state propositions one-by-one, and everyone can discuss what's on the ballot in your part of the state. [more inside]
me, ordering a 3x3: is this a recuperation?
The Weird World of Secret Menus, Alison Pearlman
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that variations on the expression to hack the menu have been used to describe off-menu ordering at fast-food chains almost exclusively. This language, derived from computer hacking, encapsulates the secret-menu subculture that revolves around them. When I hear the verb hack used this way, I picture someone trying to game a system. Convinced that an organization can’t be trusted to act in her interests, she resorts to work-arounds and trickery. At the root of her approach is a reciprocal alienation: the system treats the individual as faceless and interchangeable, so the hacker views the system as a monolithic adversary.[more inside]
Reply All episode 127 and 128: The Crime Machine
New York City cops are in a fight against their own police department. They say it’s under the control of a broken computer system that punishes cops who refuse to engage in racist, corrupt policing. The story of their fight, and the story of the grouchy idealist who originally built the machine they’re fighting.PJ Vogt tells the story of the New York cop who brought data to policing, and the unintended consequences that followed. Part 1 (45 minute audio with transcript). Part 2 (40 minute audio with transcript).
Caroll Spinney (STILL ALIVE), aka Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Retires
After nearly 50 years, Caroll Spinney (WHO IS STILL ALIVE) has announced that he is stepping down as the primary performer of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Spinney, last of the original Sesame Street Muppeteers, has already taped his final performances as Messrs. Bird and Grouch have already been taped for Sesame Street's 50th season, which will air next year. The tall yellow role will be taken by Matt Vogel, currently Count Von Count and Kermit the Frog; the short green role will be taken by Eric Jacobson, currently at least 10 other Muppets.
Herb is the healing of a nation
Today is the day recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada. Canada is the second country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis after Uruguay (it has been decriminalized but not legalized in Portugal). The rules around cannabis sales and consumption will vary from province to province and from municipality to municipality. In British Columbia, where there is a backlog of private business licences waiting to be processed, pot will be available immediately through the provincial government's BC Liquor Distribution Branch, for sale online or in one lone storefront in Kamloops. Meanwhile, the federal government has announced it will move quickly to pardon those with past convictions for simple possession. [more inside]
I should’ve gone to therapy but instead I came back to Mississippi.
Bim Adewunmi on Kiese Laymon and his new book, Heavy. I write the way I write because my mother and my grandmother encouraged me not to write that way most of my life... But also, I listened to them talk to one another. And sometimes in private, I would hear my mother and my grandmother and my aunts talking in a way that I had never...just nothing I had read sounded like that. Maybe some Toni Morrison sounded like it, but I just heard them reckoning in a way that I wanted do in my art. I know English. I know all the rules. I read damn near all the books. I mean, I literally have to read all the books! So if I wanna fuck around with the language, I can do that. Because my mama created a fucking reading machine.” [more inside]
Teacup pigs are popular on YouTube and Instagram once again..
What most sellers/owners don't know (or won't tell you) is that most of these micropigs aren’t going to remain small ...
" It’s a universal truth that what’s old will eventually become new again, and what’s beloved on Instagram or YouTube can never truly die. And so, adopting teacup pigs, a fad inspired partly by Paris Hilton in 2007 (the same year Hilton’s reality series, The Simple Life, ended) is back. "[more inside]
In Every Way Shopping Reinforced Hierarchy. Until Sears.
The catalog undid the power of the storekeeper, and by extension the landlord. Black families could buy without asking permission. Without waiting. Without being watched. With national (cheap) prices! How the Sears Catalog Undermined White Supremacy in the Jim Crow South -- a catalogue of fascinating articles curated by [MetaFilter's Own™] Jason Kottke
Majorettes
Alice Mann has won the 2018 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize for her series 'Drummies' featuring South African teams of all-female drum majorettes
October 16
Living with Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton was one of two women I learned to admire growing up in East Tennessee. The other was Pat Summitt, head coach of the Lady Volunteers, the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team. One flamboyantly female, the other a masculine woman. Both were arguably the best at what they did, had fantastic origins stories of hardscrabble lives in rural Tennessee, and told us that with enough grit and determination, we could succeed. Queer kids and nerdy girls, effeminate boys and boyish girls who desired something more than home took comfort in their boundary crossing. From these women they learned that they too could strike out on their own while maintaining both their authenticity and ties to home. [more inside]
Love and death have long walked hand in hand
Memento Mori, Memento Amare [was] a three-person exhibition featuring art nouveau body horror sculptures by Isabel Peppard (NSFW), absurdist vanitas paintings by Beau White (NSFW) and neogothic etchings by Jonathan Guthmann (NSFW).
"A family ruthless in its quest for power and passion."
"Dallas" at 40: The Inside Story Behind the Show That Changed Texas Forever (SL Texas Monthly).
An Amazing Obituary
If you work in one of the many institutions through which addicts often pass—rehabs, hospitals, jails, courts—and treat them with the compassion and respect they deserve, thank you. If instead you see a junkie or thief or liar in front of you rather than a human being in need of help, consider a new profession. One family's amazing, heartbreaking, and educational obituary for a loved one who died too soon.
Gene Genie
Most White Americans’ DNA Can Be Identified Through Genealogy Databases. "Already, 60 percent of Americans of Northern European descent — the primary group using these sites — can be identified through such databases whether or not they’ve joined one themselves, according to a study published today in the journal Science.
Within two or three years, 90 percent of Americans of European descent will be identifiable from their DNA, researchers found."
Grammin'
Instagram Has a Massive Harassment Problem The platform has cast itself as the internet’s kindest place. But users argue harassment is rampant, and employees say efforts to stem it aren’t funded well or prioritized. (Taylor Lorenz for The Atlantic)
In the future days which we seek to make secure
For Freedoms is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization to increase civic discourse via art. [more inside]
Suss "feels a movie soundtrack that got bored ... and left the theater"
What would it sound like if Brian Eno had produced the Western film scores of Ennio Morricone? We don't know, but it might sound like Suss, who make ambient country, "the new folk music." "There is no chair! It's a new thing every time" (Facebook video; also on YouTube). Those and more musings are from member the musicians behind Suss, who released their album Ghost Box (YouTube playlist) last February, and they're putting out an expanded version via Bandcamp. More audio/visual chaos from Bob Holmes (on mandolin, guitar, and harmonica): Canyonlands (Return to Wichita) live; Rain, live @ Secret Theatre, NYC 2/4/18; Rain (studio audio/ mixed media video); and Late Night Call (clip).
The penpal experience
Slowly is an app avaialble for iOS or Android, which enables you to write letters to people around the world. The catch (or hook): Your letters will take hours to arrive, mimicking a slower, pen-pal like experience.
Abandoned in America
STET
STET is a new short story by Sarah Gailey, written “entirely out of spite” and published online by Fireside Magazine. Don’t skip the footnotes.
Universal Childcare
"At the same time we thrust new parents back into the labor market, we also insist that they comparison shop for childcare in a country with no national standards for quality, accessibility or safety. Nearly 11 million children, including over half of children below the age of one, spend an average of twenty-seven hours a week in some kind of childcare setting, yet the burden is on individual parents to assess the risks and benefits of a confusing, unaccountable, generally private system pieced together state by state for the care of our littlest and most vulnerable children. In essence, giving birth or adopting a child in America means you also take on the job of government regulator. It’s an impossible task, with occasionally tragic consequences." A Blueprint for Universal Childhood Care (Jacobin)
“To have light, there must first be darkness,”
Montegrappa Chaos Watch & Pens by Sylvester Stallone [YouTube] “Sylvester Stallone [has] teamed up with the 106-year-old Italian luxury brand Montegrappa to create the Montegrappa Chaos Limited Edition. But a pen like this, inspired by 16th-century artists such as Battista Franco and Sebald Beham, couldn’t simply just be put on sale. No, a pen like this needed a trailer. The trailer, which has just resurfaced on social media, it is easily the most ostentatious project Sylvester Stallone has been involved with. It deserves to be deconstructed.” [via: The Guardian]
there is another ...
Artificial Robot Funk
Apiarists Gone Rogue
California’s almond harvest has created a golden opportunity for bee thieves. Come for the bee thievery; stay for names like Joe Romance and "Rowdy" Jay Freeman (a sheriff's deputy and a beekeeper).
A Map of Recent Philosophy
"This graphic is my attempt to give a data-driven representation of the structure of recent philosophy. ... For this map I parsed 55327 papers in philosophy from the Web-Of-Science-Collection." [more inside]
"just whose side was Virgil on?"
Since the end of the first century A.D., people have been playing a game with a certain book. In this game, you open the book to a random spot and place your finger on the text; the passage you select will, it is thought, predict your future. If this sounds silly, the results suggest otherwise. The first person known to have played the game was a highborn Roman who was fretting about whether he’d be chosen to follow his cousin, the emperor Trajan, on the throne—Is the Aeneid a Celebration of Empire—or a Critique? by Daniel Mendelsohn. You can inquire about the future from the Aeneid on the Sortes Virgilianae website (English, Latin).
Some 41
The dawn of television promised diversity. Here's why we got "Leave It to Beaver" instead. [more inside]
October 15
My what will be at right angles?
A Deep Dive Into Uranus Jokes The search for Uranus Joke Zero, including some history of the 19th century US newspaper industry, the naming of celestial bodies, and the possibly first publication of emoticons.
Bro, be humble
Ferda Girls (HUMBLE. Parody) Ft. Micayla Gatto
More Micayla, riding through her paintings
Interview about women in cycling and more.
More Micayla, riding through her paintings
Interview about women in cycling and more.
Mr. Ouija and Mrs. Gail
"Embodies a sort of can-do attitude that feels commendably not-straight"
As Halloween approaches, a young woman’s fancy turns towards thoughts of spooky things, and also spooky women. Like witches! We can agree that all vampires are bisexual, but are all witches as gay as Willow and Tara led us to hope? We present one theoretical exploration of fictional witches ranked by lesbianism for you to enjoy disagreeing with both in substance and in terms of who was and was not included.
Paul G. Allen, 1953-2018
Little Potato.
Walk this way
A Step-by-Step Guide for Fixing Badly Planned American Cities, an excerpt from Jeff Speck's new book, Walkable City Rules -- 101 Steps to Making Better Places
We think anime is, well, a whole lot gayer than that
AniGay is a small group of good friends who love anime and care deeply about the multifaceted, nuanced ways in which it depicts queerness. Over the years, we’ve spent more time than it’s possible to quantify researching, analyzing, and conversing about queerness in anime together, and we’ve become frustrated with the tendency of popular discourse to reduce queerness to binary categories: “representation” (good or bad) and “canon” (yes or no).Anime? Anigay.
House-building robots and 3D-printing concrete buildings
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have developed a humanoid robot that can handle a variety of construction tasks when there's either a staffing shortage or serious hazards (Engadget). The prototype uses a mix of environment detection, object recognition and careful movement planning to install drywall by itself -- it can hoist up boards and fasten them with a screwdriver. If you prefer your homes made by a more mechanical-looking machine, here's how to 3D print an 800 square foot (~74.35 square meter) building in a day (Wired + short video from New Story & Icon), though roof, windows, doors and electrical/plumbing are installed with conventional methods.
🔨🎹
Mother of Waters
“Translation, a carrying over…”
Translating Poetry, Translating Blackness is a 2016 essay by John Keene about the necessity of translating more stories and poems by African and Afro-descendant writers from outside the Anglophone world into English. Recently the Asymptote Podcast devoted two episodes to responding to the essay, first in the summer when host Layla Benitez-James interviewed Lawrence Schimel, focusing on his translation of Trifonia Melibea Obono’s La Bastarda and the issues raised by being a Western, gay, white man translating an African, lesbian, black woman. Benitez-James returned to the subject last week after Keene received a MacArthur Genius Grant, and interviewed him about his essay.
best job and best party
Possible best job: Cat caretaker in Zelenogradsk. Also cats in the news: Sadly cancelled, US Embassy apologises for cat pyjama party email. [more inside]
ohgodnoohgodnoohgodnoNONONONO
Livetweeting watching Alien for the very first time. (SLTwitterthread)
October 14
Pennsylvania prisons switching to ebooks
Prisons are switching to ebooks but that’s not a good thing. The "Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced that inmates would no longer be able to receive physical books from outside organizations or inmate’s families. Instead, the state’s prison system would be switching to ebooks. These will be available on tablets sold by prison telecommunications giant GTL."
It's close to midnight...
Wayne Brady joins Postmodern Jukebox for a seasonally appropriate cover of Michael Jackson's Thriller. [more inside]
My god, isn't the news already scary enough?
Business is Boo-ing! Every Halloween, theme parks like Universal Studios come alive with actors who are paid to startle attendees. And in recent years, elaborate haunted houses have gotten more popular each fall. But these seasonal events are merely child’s play compared to what is happening year-round in the underground world of immersive horror. (CW: Graphic descriptions of simulated violence)(SLNYT) [more inside]
"The heart and soul of the Roches"
Suzzy Roche's goal for the posthumous Maggie Roche compilation Where Do I Come From was "for her voice to be heard as much as possible." But the video for the unreleased 1972 demo "Stayin' Home" […] provides a visual souvenir of the late singer-songwriter, too. […] "Right after she died I discovered a video of her dancing," Suzzy tells Billboard. "Maggie was very quiet and shy on stage, but then all of a sudden she would go and do this dance during the middle of one of the songs, which was so great. Dick took this dance and reconfigured it a bit and said, 'Why not let it be raw Maggie?'"
When Asian Women Are Harassed for Marrying Non-Asian Men
The men who harass me know three things: I’m Chinese-American, my husband is white, and our son is multiracial. You hate Asian men, they insist; you hate your own child. You hate yourself. [more inside]
Foreign charity to predator's hunting ground
Once an acclaimed charity that was helping young girls in Liberia escape sexual exploitation, this school turned into a rapist's hunting ground. [more inside]
Inside MIT's Nuclear Reactor
On the corner of busy Mass ave and Albany street (slyt) a nondescript older looking industrial building and what looks like a water tank resides an active research nuclear reactor (not for power generation). If you don't watch all do jump to the end (12:30) where they ask the student operator her favorate button and test her knowledge!
Ocean-Centered Map
The Spillhaus Projection reverses the traditional land-based map schemes. We all learn the names, locations, and even characteristics of the oceans in school. But unless we go into oceanography or some other body-of-water-centric profession, few of us keep them at our command. Maybe the loss of that knowledge has to do with our land-centricity as a species: not only do we live on the stuff, we also put it before water intellectually. Until now.
Samuel L. Jackson scoops cat litter for Angie Craig
Samuel L. Jackson has made a video of himself scooping cat litter to support Minnesota House candidate Angie Craig. We do get to see her adorable kitty.
🧛💀
The "Vampire of Lugnano" had a rock in its mouth to keep it from rising from grave. [Ars Technica] “Archaeologists have discovered the skeleton of a 10-year-old child at an ancient Roman site in Italy with a rock carefully placed in its mouth. This suggests those who buried the child—who probably died of malaria during a deadly fifth century outbreak—feared it might rise from the dead and spread the disease to those who survived.”
Spray-on antennae
Researchers at Drexel University have developed a new kind of antenna that can be sprayed onto just about any surface. The antenna is made up of an incredibly thin, metallic material known as "MXene", a two-dimensional form of titanium carbide that's highly conductive, which allows it to transmit and direct radio waves. (Science).
Mmm, pie
dingo music, sign language Live
How about a few songs and a sign language interpretation of the lyrics? 볼빨간사춘기 "First Love" | 비투비 "Missing You" | Ladies' Code "I'm Fine Thank You"
We Can Work It Out
Paul Is Dead - The Fab Four are on a musical retreat in the Lake District when an incident occurs... (SLVimeo, nsfw swearing)
October 13
"You treacherous bastard."
Eric Idle and John Cleese (of Monty Python) sit down in front of an audience and reminisce about John's life and career. [1h17m] Recorded in late 2014 as John was doing promotion for his memoir, "So, Anyway...". Charming and hilarious. Enjoy!
Made up places and costly mistakes: a history of unfortunate maps
Your Worst Nightmares
Imagine someone sneaked into your bedroom when you were asleep, peeled back your eyelids and scooped out your very worst nightmares then turned them all into sculptures. Well, that’s kinda like what Mexican artist Emil Melmoth [NSFW] has achieved with his gruesome, morbid, yet strangely compelling sculptures of deformed creatures and unnamed things that dwell in the night—he has made the terrors of darkness visible. [NSFW]
Guess I drew the short straw
Why Not Have A Randomly Selected Congress? , Brianna Rennix and Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs - "Selecting the House and Senate like juries would not be ideal, but it would definitely be better."
TMBG gets sorta political
Berea College: 90% Pell grant eligible, 40% minorities, 45% debt-free
"Berea College isn’t like most other colleges. It was founded in 1855 by a Presbyterian minister who was an abolitionist. It was the first integrated, co-educational college in the South. And it has not charged students tuition since 1892." SLAtlantic
Bringing Us One Step Closer to Our Real-Life Themyscira
Same-sex mouse parents give birth via gene editing: Scientists delivered pups with genetic material from two moms and two dads. But only pups with two moms survived to have babies themselves "In an important move for both science as well as Women Who Are Over This Shit, researchers in China have just helped a pair of female mouse parents give birth to healthy pups via gene editing and stem cells, no male mice involved."
Australian threatened species, in cake form
Australian Geographic presents photos of the best entries from this year's Threatened Species Bake Off. [more inside]
After Ruining Mayonnaise... Can Millennials Save America ?
I’ve given up hope that boomers can rescue us from the tyranny of the Trump age. Boomers were supposed to fix things, build things, save things for future generations. They would see things as they are, and instead of asking why, dream of things that never were and ask why not — as Robert Kennedy promised. Allow me to burn my generational card.Can Millennials Save America ? [more inside]
The Gang Within: A Baltimore Police Scandal
“The Gang Within: A Baltimore Police Scandal” (video, 25min, Al Jazeera English's Fault Lines)
...new details emerge about an elite plain-clothes police unit that, for years, doubled as a criminal gang - robbing residents, planting evidence, and sending countless innocent people to jail.[more inside]
Hurricane Michael: The Destruction of Mexico Beach, FL
Remarkable footage of the destruction from a Gopro camera left running at Mexico Beach while Michael made landfall. Via reddit/r/TropicalWeather
Your confusion / My illusion
October 12
Matreon: The Patreon platform for emotional labor
"Hello and thank you for attempting to engage in an unsolicited conversation with me! In order to ensure our interaction is productive and enriching for both parties, I invite you to join my Matreon. For just a few dollars a month, you can continue to approach me with whatever the hell is on your mind regardless of context or appropriateness, and I will continue to do the emotional labor required to respond without calling you a privileged, myopic dipshit.
Love Is Magic
John Grant (whom you perhaps remember from an earlier FPP about his song Glacier) released a new album [discogs] today. Love Is Magic is the title track and was the advance-release single [lyric video]. [more inside]
Today bright Phoebus she smiled down on me for the very first time
The siblings Norma, Michael (Mike) and Elaine (Lal) Waterson, with their second cousin John Harrison, toured little clubs and coffee shops in England, playing traditional folk music. They released three albums in the mid-to-late 1960s as The Watersons and were known as the premiere traditional folk family*. Then in 1972, Mike and Lal (with various friends and visitors) recorded some unusual, original songs in Bright Phoebus. There were some mis-drilled records, and reviews of that time weren't too positive, sinking the record into obscurity. 45 years later, the album was remastered and re-released, with a set of demos (YT official audio playlist) by Domino. This is the stunning pagan Brit folk cult classic that you must hear before you die!** [via Johnny Wallflower] [more inside]
Making Christmas
“Rufi-o-o-o-o!”
Dante Basco Discusses Becoming Rufio for Hook, the Character's Legacy, and So Much More [io9] We talked to Basco about how he got the role, the food fight, the amazing costume, Rufio’s legacy and so much more.
“I think it’s one of those things that, as you grow up, you’re able to appreciate aspects of your career and celebrate them with fans out there and understand and engage on social media. Like it’s nostalgic for me too so it’s kind of fun to capsulize a part of your life which, to me, was 15. Clearly, it means a lot to so many people and it’s something I’m proud of too, work-wise. Look, everyone who ever comes to Hollywood, you hope to do something that people will remember you for. We work on so many things and I continue to work today, not just as an actor but as a writer and a producer. But [certain roles] really kind of mean things to people. [Hook] has become, for a certain generation, a part of the vernacular.”
Resembled a budgie that had inhaled a lumberjack’s breakfast
A Naturalist With a Checkered Past Rediscovered a Long-lost Parrot from Audubon. Audubon article updated October 2. Wildlife group investigates claim night parrot photos were staged today in The Guardian.
Figure / Ground
The New York Times has just created an online map showing the silhouettes of the 125,192,184 buildings in the United States of America. [more inside]
Say not the struggle naught availeth
Novelist Chuck Wendig fired by Marvel
& as I went to grab her buttcheeks she screams "NO MY GLASSES!"
please tell me about a time you laughed so hard you cried. (SLTwitter) Currently best viewed via the user's timeline, since she's retweeted the best ones, but I made the original tweet the main link for posterity. Also, I am deceased. Happy Friday!
Pick It Up!
Reel Big Fish Release Track From First Album in Six Years Reel Big Fish are partnering with AP to premiere their track “You Can’t Have All Of Me.” As if that’s not exciting enough, they’re also revealing plans to release their first new album in six years, Life Sucks…Let’s Dance!, this winter.
(Video for the first release, "You Can't Have All Of Me," is embedded therein. Also, tour dates. Enjoy.)
Wave and ripple
A Meji-era design book of waves and ripple designs is now available for download. The three book series, titled Hamonshū, was created by artist Mori Yuzan.
Direct link
Dammit, Moon Moon
It it live?
On the heels of the In Dreams: Roy Orbison in Concert hologram tour currently underway in America, BASE Hologram has announced a 2019 Amy Winehouse hologram tour, featuring "digitally remastered arrangements of the British singer’s hits — including 'Rehab,' 'Back to Black' and 'Valerie' — with Winehouse’s hologram backed by a live band, singers and 'theatrical stagecraft,' according to BASE."
Haunting of Hell Hill (1999)
Know Your Haunts: A Crash Course in Horror's Most Confusingly Similar Ghostly Titles, a brief list that mentions the new Haunting of Hill House Netflix series but omits The Legend of Hell House. Shirley Jackson’s opening paragraph To The Haunting of Hill House remains one of the best of all time.
Her interpretation: Call 911, get sticker.
قل كلمتك … وامش
Jamal Khashoggi (twitter), is a Saudi Arabian-born journalist [Al-Jazeera English] and opinion[Washington Post] writer[Al-Arabiya]. A critic[MidEastEye] of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman[aka MBS][AJE] and his policies[WaPo], he left Saudi Arabia for Turkey last year. On October 2, he was called to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul[MEE] on what was apparently a routine paperwork matter.
He has not been seen since[AJE]. [more inside]
He has not been seen since[AJE]. [more inside]
“going to the biggest-worst”
“Futility is a strategy. An indispensable aspect of this is to make people associate the unionization election itself with the pain and discomfort of the polarized, harsh language coming at them from all sides: The sooner the election goes away, the better they will feel. Things will return to “normal,” since they will stop fighting with friends and family, and the once-bad normal — the reason for the struggle in the first place — suddenly feels better, until their employer cuts benefits weeks after the election. Futility makes the act of voting, discussing and even thinking about the election feel bad.” Three Lessons for Winning in November and Beyond : What union organizers can teach Democrats (NYT Op-Ed) by Jane McAlevy, author of No Shortcuts (Labor Notes.) Jane McAlvey Structural Power Requires Structure-based Organizing (Vimeo 01:28)
Vale Greg Stafford
Dancing With Death
These vintage photographs and postcards of women dancing and flirting with skeletons (NSFW) are more than mere memento mori or snapshots of ladies at carnivals having a jolly wheeze in the face of death—they are in some respects quite transgressive. Some of these pictures were intended as, well, shall we say, “educational erotica” giving the viewer a frisson of arousal while at the same time battering them on the head with the salutary warning that the wrong kind of boner could lead to disease and death. Something those Decadent artists used to bang (ahem) on about in their paintings.
A Person Who Has Not Seen A Star Is Born Ranks Its Entire Soundtrack
Natalie Walker, who is really just the best, has done "something very dumb that will destroy my existing relationships and cut nascent ones off at the root" .
Skibidi ua-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa
{randomly NSFW} Skibidi is the latest release by the Russian dance/rave/art/electro/satire Little Big. The band/collective have a reputation for their videos, which include the Disney-lawyer-baiting AK-47, Kim Jong Un tribute LollyBomb, the gangster culture Give me your money, to the retirement home Faradenza, the street life With Russia from love, the nightmare-inducing Hateful Love, and the unforgettable {definitely NSFW} piano-playing Big Dick.
libraries change lives
Of course libraries can be a temple of books. I love nothing more than a well-stocked bookshelf and a leather armchair, but if, like me, you are into that sort of thing, you probably have the benefit of a literate upbringing. You were probably never in danger of being left behind. But we need to be careful of our romantic mistake, because a "temple of books" can be a very easy target for those looking to cut costs. [more inside]
October 11
dispensing with the soft focus in adoption stories
Why do you think we are asked to lean so hard into this fantasy of everyone being the same, deep down? Nicole Chung (formerly of the Toast; previously) in conversation with Mira Jacob (previously) about Chung's new memoir All You Can Ever Know. [more inside]
She Says, He Sues
One of the men named in the Shitty Media Men spreadsheet (earlier), author and filmmaker Stephen Elliott, has now followed up his recent essay "How An Anonymous Accusation Derailed My Life" with a lawsuit against Moira Donegan, creator of the list, for libel and emotional distress.
Capitalism with a communist face
You buy a purse at Walmart. There’s a note inside from a “Chinese prisoner.” (vox.com)
“First, a shopper in the US or Europe finds a note in the pocket or on a tag of a product from a big retailer — Walmart, Saks, Zara. The note claims the product had been made using forced labor or under poor working conditions. The writer of the note also claims to be in a faraway country, usually China. The shopper takes a photo of the note and posts it to social media. It’s reported on by all sorts of publications from Reuters to Refinery29, where the articles reach millions of readers.
Then the hysteria cools, and the story falls into the viral news abyss.”
“First, a shopper in the US or Europe finds a note in the pocket or on a tag of a product from a big retailer — Walmart, Saks, Zara. The note claims the product had been made using forced labor or under poor working conditions. The writer of the note also claims to be in a faraway country, usually China. The shopper takes a photo of the note and posts it to social media. It’s reported on by all sorts of publications from Reuters to Refinery29, where the articles reach millions of readers.
Then the hysteria cools, and the story falls into the viral news abyss.”
Should marrying a child be allowed?
She was 16. He was 25.
Even in an era when the median age of marrying has climbed higher and higher, unions like Phil and Maria’s remain surprisingly prevalent in the United States. Between 2000 and 2010, an estimated 248,000 children were married, most of whom were girls, some as young as 12, wedding men. [more inside]
Co*Star: the Record Acting Game
Today is the day your bizarrely specific dream comes true: this is your chance to act with Vincent Price in scenes from An Enemy of the People and The Importance of Being Earnest. [more inside]
I think that we basically waited out the span of his short-term memory
Please Adjust Your Set for Live Disasters
Live Disasters is not just a video game. It is a surreal, dizzying piece of art comprised of a nightmare collage of hallucinated blasts of cable news coverage, disaster fetishism, and staticky, between channel weirdness from American multimedia artist (mefi's own) Andrew Vennell. You play as a perpetually-crashing airliner that is on fire. You can fly around, collecting power-ups, avoiding obstacles, and ejecting passengers with the space bar. Or not! [more inside]
It's hard to get things right and we will fail; we must be humble
Shaping our children's education in computing : a talk by Haskell designer Simon Peyton Jones at Strange Loop about computer science in childhood education- its nature and place, and the work of effectively implementing it.
Larger Spleens Help Bajau “Sea Nomads” Dive
'Sea Nomads' Are First Known Humans Genetically Adapted to Diving. "For hundreds of years, the Bajau (previously) have lived at sea, and natural selection may have made them genetically stronger divers."
“We had insolently threatened to roast the Duck.”
How we roasted Donald Duck, Disney's agent of imperialism [The Guardian] “We had received death threats, an irate woman had tried to run me over and neighbours – accompanied by their children – had stoned the house where my wife, Angélica, and I lived in Santiago, shouting: “Long live Donald Duck!” It was later discovered that the 5,000 copies of the third printing of the book [How to Read Donald Duck] had been taken from a warehouse by the Chilean navy and cast into the bay of Valparaíso. What had we done to incur such enmity? Armand and I had denounced Walt Disney as an agent of American cultural imperialism, incarnated in the life, adventures and misdeeds of Donald Duck, that innocuous icon, then one of the most popular characters in the world.”
For Sale: Haunted Shoes. Very Cursed.
Haunted teddy bears, eyeglasses, dolls, and teacups are big business on eBay. So we bought some. [more inside]
Environmental protection is incompatible with capitalism
What Is Eco-Socialism? (Motherboard)
for the rest of your life
How I Learned to Love Bonsai, Harley Rustad - "When my amateur attempts at the art weren’t working, I went to YouTube star Nigel Saunders"
Inuit of Clyde River v Big Oil, a block to seismic testing
How an Inuit community won against Big Oil (New Republic), in which the Clyde River community teamed up with Greenpeace Canada to forge a new relationship in the wake of Greenpeace's public apology for demonizing the traditional practice of seal hunting and won in Canada's Supreme Court to block seismic testing that would have had a ound impact on marine animals.
A Tale of Two Games
With Magic: The Gathering turning 25 this year, it's creator Richard Garfield is not resting on his laurels. November sees the release of not one, but two brand new Garfield designed card games with very different philosophies - Keyforge on the tabletop and Artifact online. [more inside]
October 10
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
The Life Of Saint Death
Santa Muerte (previously) is considered the patron saint of outsiders. In popular culture she’s been painted as the patron saint of drug traffickers and gangsters, who are drawn to her for her deathly appeal. But she has also come to be known as a representative for trans and queer individuals, as well as undocumented immigrants. […] This short documentary from AJ+ follows the celebrations of a group of Santa Muerte devotees in Queens, New York who believe that since death comes for us all, it’s best to be on her side when she does.
Free Your Self
The Chemical Brothers have a new song out, from last month. I finally found it not on a streaming service. The Chemical Brothers - Free Yourself. It's possible they have a new album coming out (their first since 2015). [EBW 12 is apparently imminent, Free Yourself is a direct descendent.] [more inside]
It’s incredible what you can accomplish when you’re not high.
My name is Neal, and I’m a marijuana addict. But I’m not a child with intractable epilepsy, or a veteran with PTSD, or a person who just wants to chill a little, or Willie Nelson. Unless you count writing articles about marijuana, I’m not profiting from the industry. I’m just a middle-aged house dad with a substance-abuse problem. [more inside]
Panopticism
Airbnb and the commodification of home - "What does this to do our relationships with one another? When every interaction becomes a rateable exchange, we can no longer just be two humans holding a conversation: we are conducting a business transaction in which your ‘communication’ will be given a score out of five."
Anthony Bourdain: the College Course
Bourdain's influencers, movies and literature, infused his work. There's no doubt Bourdain's profound influence on how we view the world as travelers, as storytellers, as both outsiders and insiders, as consumers — of food, culture and media — will stir thoughtful discourse for years to come.
But if you're a student at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, you'll have a chance to discuss all things Bourdain — and earn college credit for it — as early as 2019.
Professor Todd Kennedy, the head of the university's film studies program, is teaching a new class entitled "Anthony Bourdain and His Influencers" next spring.
The Emu and The Weasel
Professor sanctioned for refusing to write a recommendation letter
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor has disciplined a professor who retracted his offer to write a letter of recommendation for a student who wished to study in Israel. After the associate professor refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student, the student went public about it, the professor was sanctioned by not getting his merit raise and his planned sabbatical was cancelled and he cannot apply for sabbatical for 2 years. [more inside]
F*ck it, we’ll do it live!
On Warner Bros.’ remake of “A Star Is Born,” actor-director Bradley Cooper and co-star Lady Gaga refused to settle for the traditional practice of pre-recording their songs and later lip-synching on set. Instead, they embraced the more risky approach of performing the movie’s songs live. The studio was aware of the danger, but with the help of state-of-the-art technology, a dedicated crew and some of the most innovative sound professionals around, Cooper and his team pulled it off.
Corruption in the 42nd
The State Sponsored Conspiracy to Destroy Pedro Hernandez Shaun King, journalist and co-founder of Real Justice PAC, has leveled charges against NYC 42nd Precinct detectives and an Assistant District Attorney that puts most conspiracy theories to shame. [more inside]
And she nailed it, of course
The surviving members of Nirvana played a short set at CalJam 18, with guest performers including Joan Jett taking Kurt Cobain's role for "Breed", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and "All Apologies".
We the Polarized
The Hidden Tribes of America - Social scientists and researchers from YouGov, in conjunction with the More in Common initiative, researched the current state of civic life in the United States. Among their major findings:
- 87% of Americans: "most divided our country has been in my lifetime"
- 70% frustrated by how "both sides" handled Kavanaugh nomination
- But 77% say that "the differences between Americans are not so big that we cannot come together"
"One of my favourite shots is the aquarium-like garage..."
Russian photographer Daria Garnik's project Gagarin looks at "the nostalgic traces" of Yuri Gagarin's life in his hometown of Gzhatsk, which was renamed in his honour in 1968.
"I am a different person"
"Hark! A Vagrant, such as it is, is an archive website now." About ten years ago, Kate Beaton started posting her history-themed comics at "Hark! A Vagrant" [previously]. She's now moving on to other comics and books projects. "I miss making humour comics, but coming back to them, I will have to figure out what that will look like." Beaton dedicates this archive to her late sister Becky.
What does depression feel like?
What does depression feel like? A spoken word and dance performance. (Performance starts at 0:08 after a short ad)
The Plasticians: Death is not The End
Dr. Gunther von Hagens developed the preservation process of plastination in the late 1970s, which "unite[s] subtle anatomy and modern polymer chemistry." The result was not only a preservation process that improves medical teaching, but also allowed for the creation of Gunther's Body Worlds exhibits. Now, suffering from Parkinson's disease, which he says is "like practising dying," von Hagens wants to be plastinated when he dies, where his wife, fellow anatomist Dr. Angelina Whalley said she will eventually join him on display. Gunther has asked his wife to transform him into an exhibit. “It’s somehow finalising his life’s work,” she said. “I understand now that it’s more an appreciation and an expression of love for me to do it.”
Benchmark Testing "There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity"
Following the debut of Intel's new 9th generation CPUs, Intel published a set of benchmarks commissioned from third-party Principled Technologies - ten full days before the press embargo was to be lifted. A set of benchmarks, that upon closer inspection, are suspect at best. With mistakes ranging from poor memory settings on the AMD systems and different hardware per test system, to the Intel CPUs given high-performance coolers with AMD CPUs running stock or unsuitable coolers and actually disabling half of the AMD Ryzen CPU's cores, there's a lot of questions about the testing Intel released ahead of the press embargo date. Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus drove to Principled Technologies' offices and sat down with one of the co-founders to try to find some answers.
October 9
The last full measure of devotion
As life ends for one person, it is just beginning for someone else. That is the bittersweet reality of organ donation, and the staff and care givers at St. Luke’s Meridian have found a way to honor that process with something they call the “walk of respect.”
dun dun dun da-dun DUNNNN dunnnn
the faint sound of a grown ass man SCREAMING in pain
The Specialized Field of Fetal Surgery
Dr. Timothy Crombleholme has dedicated his career to fetal surgery. Article from D Magazine. [Post title is from Longreads on the article.]
"pRoVen INnoCeNt"
Despite everything, Justice Kavanaugh was sworn in to the SCOTUS on the evening of Saturday, Oct 6, by Chief Justice John Roberts. The NY Times has reported evidence of tax fraud from the '70s and '80s; Donald Trump and his family evaded a tax bill that could have been as high as half a billion dollars. Trump is currently the President of the United States. Nikki Haley, ambassador to the U.N., has announced her resignation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produced a new report warning of warming by as much as 1.5°C as early as 2040. More shady shit around Trump's 2016 campaign is coming out. [more inside]
What We Owe to Each Other
"If 'Seinfeld' was a show about nothing, 'The Good Place' is a show about everything — including, and especially, growing and learning. By all rights, it should probably be awful — preachy, awkward, tedious, wooden, labored and out of touch. Instead, it is excellent: a work of popular art that hits on many levels at once. It has been not only critically acclaimed but also widely watched, especially on streaming services, where its twists and intricate jokes lend themselves to bingeing and rebingeing." [more inside]
“a slight ready salted flavour with a hint of pine”
“Some of us appreciate the seasonal tastes of the season, like your pumpkin beers and cinnamon-steeped fruit bakes. But as the end-of-year holidays approach, the ambition of these seasonally-specific snacks increases significantly. Case in point: The British-based Iceland grocery chain has just released these holiday-themed crisps (which we know as potato chips): “Luxury Christmas Tree Flavour Salted Hand-Cooked Crisps.” [via: The Takeout]
Hear the Otherworldly Sounds of Skating on Thin Ice
This small lake outside Stockholm, Sweden, emits otherworldly sounds as Mårten Ajne skates over its precariously thin, black ice. “Wild ice skating,” or “Nordic skating,” is both an art and a science. A skater seeks out the thinnest, most pristine black ice possible—both for its smoothness, and for its high-pitched, laser-like sounds.
YouTube video link.
"I’m an English person who has not been to Mexico" (NOT ACCURATE)
As research for a new play, Daniel Radcliffe visited the fact-checking department at The New Yorker. He even got to fact-check an article, saying, "I’m more nervous about this than I am about going onstage tonight." This is not Radcliffe's first office gig. It's good to see young actors with backup career plans.
The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth
"The promise, the deal, was almost unheard of: “work hard, work smart, create value for society, and you’ll become wealthy, your own master for all eternity.” The slave works for his owner. The indentured servant for his master. The communist for everyone. The American for himself. It’s a powerful idea, a powerful motivator, and a powerful system. [...] And they make perfect competitors.
For those who have forgotten their first Economics lecture:
Perfect Competition: 'In a perfect market the sellers operate at zero economic surplus…This equilibrium will be a Pareto optimum, meaning that nobody can be made better off by exchange without making someone else worse off.'
Oh. Right. That sounds fun.
In the Kingdom of the Bears
The human-bear bond is ancient, but across the northern hemisphere, only a few societies remember the art of neighboring bears. [more inside]
cities out of wood
The Case for Making Cities Out of Wood. Alphabet's (nee Google) Sidewalk Labs proposal for Toronto's Quayside development may be The world's largest timber project. Heavy timber construction is becoming popular, with project in France
, Vancouver, Amherst, and planned for more, like Tokyo. The Race for the Wood Skyscraper Starts Here. Mass Timber 101. Can building codes keep up? [more inside]
What Happened to the Houston Astros' Hacker?
None of the other inmates knew about Correa's background—or that he was the camp's most prominent resident—until Jan. 30, 2017. That was when baseball commissioner Rob Manfred levied a $2 million fine on the Cardinals for Correa's actions, ordered the club to surrender two draft picks to the Astros and banned Correa from the game for life. Inmates in Cumberland are not allowed to access the Internet, but it was on the news. "Was that you?" people asked him. "Yeah, that was me," he said. [more inside]
as it turns out, Pieter has cats and isn’t afraid of going on solo dates
A woman's attempt to make the anti feminist hashtag #HimToo happen--by tweeting a photo of her Navy vet son--backfires amusingly. [more inside]
Ending Bail On Paper But Not In Practice
“...Recent events in Atlanta show that while more and more progressive officials are embracing bail reform, the optics may be better than the actual results. After legislation passes, the problems presented both by implementation and backlash are where the rubber meets the road, and substantive changes either happen––or don’t.” What will it take to truly end wealth-based detention? (Scalawag)
Little Green Receptionists
Dr. Claire Simeone, marine mammal veterinarian, received several mysterious calls from the seal hospital. But who was on the other line? [more inside]
SISTERH>>D
On this Ada Lovelace Day, Girls Who Code Debuts International Day of the Girl “Sisterh>>d” Visual Album : Sisterh>>d is a digital visual album celebrating young women driving our most transformative movements — and calling on girls around the world to join them. [more inside]
Lady Voldemort flies again
Supporting Fast Payments for All – and Economic Freedom
Democratising online payments – and the digital economy - "When Berners-Lee and his team were building the world wide web and designing HTTP and HTMP standards, they included error codes such as '500: internal server error', or '404: page not found'. In the early 90s, they were trying to realise Licklider's vision and setting out the rules for how we were all going to interact over this information network. One long-standing error code is '402: payment required'. The original intention – the reason 402 is reserved for future use – was that this code would be used to transact digital cash or micropayments. It has never been implemented – and the Collisons argue this is the reason tech is turning from an equal access opportunity to an oligopoly controlled by five companies now worth more than $3 trillion." [more inside]
Ghost notes
When Classical Musicians Go Digital - How the switching from physical printed scores on paper to digital ones on tablets is changing the performance of classical music.
October 8
United Daughters of the Confederacy Problematic History
Things the UDC don't want you to know about them. "It’s helpful, in the midst of any conversation about this country’s Confederate monuments, to understand who put these things up, which also offers a clue as to why. In large part, the answer to the first question is the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a white Southern women’s 'heritage' group founded in 1894. Starting 30 years after the Civil War, as historian Karen Cox notes in her 2003 book 'Dixie’s Daughters,' 'UDC members aspired to transform military defeat into a political and cultural victory, where states’ rights and white supremacy remained intact.' In other words, when the Civil War gave them lemons, the UDC made lemonade. Horribly bitter, super racist lemonade."
Graduate Student Solves Quantum Verification Problem
Urmila Mahadev spent eight years in graduate school solving one of the most basic questions in quantum computation "How do you know whether a quantum computer has done anything quantum at all?"
Dr. Mahadev's (she recently finished her PhD) paper, Classical Verification of Quantum Computations has been described as “one of the most outstanding ideas to have emerged at the interface of quantum computing and theoretical computer science in recent years.” [more inside]
Good food
Grace Stone Coates (1931), "Wild Plums": "I knew about wild plums twice before I tasted any." Benjamin Rosenbaum (2001), "The Orange": "An orange ruled the world. It was an unexpected thing ..." Shing Yin Khor (2018), "Say It with Noodles": "I have forgotten how to speak two languages. But I have learned this one."
A woman and her dog go camping
All Cats Go to Heaven
Bruce and Terry Jenkins run a retirement home for old cats (The Atlantic). Their charges are rescues, often having been abandoned due to the death or sickness of a previous owner. Cats Cradle is a short film about them. And where do they go after they die? The Rainbow Bridge, according to Kirk Rudell at the New Yorker.
Pizza pizza!
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned.
In the span of less than a week, Hurricane Michael has gone from being a low pressure system on October 2nd, all the way to a full-fledged hurricane by October 7th. By the time it makes landfall tomorrow, it is projected to be a major Category 3 Storm. [more inside]
“We are a people who have historically been on the verge of extinction”
On Lupe Fiasco' seventh album, the conscious hip-hop fallback poses a revisionist fantasy about underwater slaves sinking other slave ships— [Pitchfork Media] “...Drogas Wave, a wildly unrealized 24-track, 98-minute concept album with a surreal premise: What if African slaves thrown overboard during their transatlantic passage had managed to survive underwater and dedicate their existence to sinking other slave ships?” [more inside]
To join the Highpointers club, just keep climbin'
If the Seven Summits (Wikipedia; previously) are a bit too daunting, or the number seven isn't your jam, you could work on climbing (or strolling) to the top of extreme elevations in countries around the world (sortable Wikipedia list). In the United States, there's the Highpointers Club who have the goal of getting to the highest points in all 50 states, plus D.C. (Peakbagger). Wikipedia also has a list of (major) cities by elevation and capitol cities by elevation. Peakbagger takes it to another level with more than 200 lists of peaks by continent and country.
Final Call to save the world from 'climate catastrophe'
The most recent climate report from the IPCC minces no words. We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN. [more inside]
Don't see evil
"...any hope for a rescue is unlikely."
Obituary: Rick Stein, 71, of Wilmington was reported missing and presumed dead on September 27, 2018 when investigators say the single-engine plane he was piloting, The Northrop, suddenly lost communication with air traffic control and disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rehoboth Beach. Philadelphia police confirm Stein had been a patient at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he was being treated for a rare form of cancer. Hospital spokesman Walter Heisenberg says doctors from Stein's surgical team went to visit him on rounds when they discovered his room was empty....
The end is nigh
Good Omens - Official Teaser Trailer. Based on the best-selling novel by renowned authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, this series follows the story of Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon, who have formed an unlikely friendship spanning 6,000 years and have grown fond of life on earth. However, the end of time grows near with the approaching Armageddon and they must now join forces to find a way to save the world.
"Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare..."
Some of the most remarkable lost artefacts from the ancient world were the titanic wrecks of the Nemi ships. In their 1st century heyday they held gardens, palaces & baths in a floating wonderland. But barely a decade after their recovery, they were lost forever.
Once upon a time in Sichuan...
Vlogger Li Ziqi (李子柒, Weibo link, verified YouTube channel though I'm not sure what's up with that given YouTube's status in China) cuts some bamboo down and makes a living room set, forages for and prepares mushrooms, makes paper, and cooks a lot of traditional foods over wood stoves and coal braziers. There are costume changes, flute music, and more puppies than you might initially suspect. Also an oven shaped like a cat. [more inside]
"It’s a start, a step.”
Visual rare grooves ripe for sampling
"I’m sorry. By the end of this post, I will have completely eradicated all productivity from the rest of your day, simply by mentioning fulltable.com." (Via) Full Table previously. [more inside]
The City At The Bottom Of The Sea
I’d never known my grandfather to show any interest in boating but, even at seven or eight, I understood that this was how he did things, with an impulsiveness so decisive and so laconic that the whole question of premeditation seemed somehow beside the point. Explanations, generally speaking, ran counter to my grandfather’s mode of being. If he had an idea about how to farm pigs more efficiently, he became a pig farmer. If he wanted to fly, he bought an airplane. Was there a boat he liked? Let’s hit the water. Why would someone need to know what he was thinking, when anyone could see what he was doing? [slNewYorker Personal History]
October 7
Tsukiji Market (1935-2018)
The bells ringing out at 6 AM signal the final tuna auction at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji market. Many merchants are in mourning. Some have decided to retire. Others are migrating at dawn [video] to new facilities in Toyosu, still skeptical that tourists and old customers will follow. [more inside]
The worst may yet be to come
Sharing is good, and with digital technology, sharing is easy
Redditor elfsoamah discovered that "Party Rock Anthem" has the same BPM as "Hungry Like the Wolf". Redditor actuallydavide found that it also has the same BPM as "Uptown Girl" (and works in either direction). Now there's a SharedBPM subreddit.
FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT.
100 years ago today the Lost Battalion was rescued. It may have been the most famous American story of the Great War: more than 500 soldiers in the Argonne forest totally surrounded by the German Imperial Army, cut off, starving, under nearly continuous attack by artillery, gas, snipers, flamethrowers, and infantry assaults, not to mention subjected to friendly artillery fire. Commander Charles White Whittlesey refused multiple German entreaties, and six days later reunited 194 survivors with their army. [more inside]
::desirable difficulty for your brain::
Sans Forgetica! The Font That Helps You Remember? Brought to you by Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the idea behind the new font was to create a slightly more difficult reading experience, forcing the reader to absorb each word as they stare at it. Wait until you see it. [more inside]
Just a few recent comic book (etc.) recommendation threads
Gail Simone (Twitter, 10/07/2018): "So today, I ask, what was the most recent comic you read that you really enjoyed?" Zen Cho (Twitter, 05/29/2018): "What's your favourite cheerful book by a PoC author? Graphic novels, comics & manga count. Extra points for female creators!" Sara Saab (Twitter, 06/15/2018): "Tell me about one book you read one time that gave you a feeling that life was big and meaningful and transcendent?" Goblin Barbarian (AskMe, 08/11/2018), "Manga for Adult Women." Abraham Riesman (Vulture, 06/07/2018): "The Best Comics of 2018 (So Far)." Brandi Bailey (Book Riot, 05/04/2018): "Feminist Graphic Nonfiction."
Klahowya, nika tillcum
100,000 people from the California / Oregon border to the Inside Passage spoke this language, and it was used in legal courts and newspapers from 1800 to 1905. So what happened to Chinook Jargon, also known as Chinook wawa? [more inside]
The map just might be the territory
Counter Mapping: “To assume that people would look at the earth only from a vantage point that is above and looking straight down doesn’t consider the humanity of living on the landscape." ... The Zuni maps have a memory, a particular truth. They convey a relationship to place grounded in ancestral knowledge and sustained presence on the land.Modern maps don’t have a memory: ‘More lands have been lost to Native peoples probably through mapping than through physical conflict.’
Mathematics couldn't fill the void of Richard's heart
The Museum of English Rural Life shares an 18th century teenager's homework . Spoiler: Teenagers don't need social media to goof off when they're supposed to be studying. Also, a good dog and amazing handwriting.
More about the MERL here.
Haunted Hollywood, ghosts and graves and frights, oh my!
Oh, Hollywood! Sure, it’s the land of sunshine, stars and swirling, sweeping spotlights, but there’s a darker side to the entertainment mecca—an underside teeming with wandering, unrooted spirits and wild tales of paranormal activity. With Halloween just around the corner, Parade takes a spook-tastic tour of some of the most hair-raising places and eerie events of Haunted Hollywood. And L.A. Tourist has more resources and stories if you're interested in the spirits wandering around Tinseltown and surroundings.
video games skies
🍂❄️🍃🌻
Video games and the change of autumn by Rob Dwiar [Eurogamer] “Some games have wondrous, gorgeous autumn landscape that present supreme autumnal palettes, narrative-mirroring landscape conditions and encapsulate the mysterious change that hangs in the air. Autumn's transitional nature enables it to offer different aesthetics and atmospheres - perfectly encapsulating our often-mixed feelings about the season. This flux occurs in games, too: storyline changes; mysterious plotlines, character and atmosphere intricacies; constant environmental transformations; and a powerful sense of mystery, story-foretelling and landscape-opening are all harnessed to be used as game-changing devices.” [more inside]
Movie Nerds Unite
10 Best Uses of Color in Cinema of All Time by Youtuber Cinefix.
Many other lists & geeky compilations from Cineflix below [more inside]
Relax, Ladies. Don’t Be So Uptight. You Know You Want It
"Look, I get it. I was 20 years old in 1990. After my boyfriend punched me in the eye, he cried too. I held him until he felt better. I told friends I’d stupidly walked into the corner of an open cabinet. Because, like the Washington Post in 1990, I understood it was my job to help men feel better about themselves. It was my job to understand that their gross, abusive language was just locker room talk. Most men don’t mean to hit us or rape us or verbally abuse us. They don’t really want gay people strung up and hung. It’s just a macho act, you know? Like the Diceman. Besides, if women don’t like that sort of thing, why do they go for guys like that? Or vote them into office? Or make them Supreme Court justices?" Anastasia Basil in Medium
My Great-Grandfather the Bundist
Molly Crabapple explores the history and ultimate tragedy of the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund (General Jewish Workers' Union), an early-twentieth-century political movement devoted to a radical, secular, diasporic Jewish identity. Bundists celebrated Doykeyt or Hereness, the belief that Jews should stay in Eastern Europe and fight to build a society in which they could thrive. [more inside]
October 6
"My Doctor is in. And it's about freaking time."
7 October brings the debut of Series 11 of Doctor Who with Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor and Chris Chibnall as showrunner. The changes have been greatly anticipated and warmly received: Doctor Who Season 11 Marks a New Era — and It's Been a Long Time Coming (Maureen Ryan, TV Guide); How Doctor Who could change the way women are portrayed in sci-fi (Danush Parvaneh, Vox); and The unimaginable joy of finally seeing a woman as 'Doctor Who' (Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY); [more inside]
On this strange and mournful day
How about some curated animal posts by MeFi's own Miss Cellania?
Dog Has Conversation With Rubber Chicken
Catwalk
Baby Rhino Wants to Play
Great Dane Does Lunges
Senior Cat Loves These Little Girls More Than Anything
Cow Plays Fetch
and for something more interactive:
Make Your Own Hybrid Animal with the Hybridizer
Dog Has Conversation With Rubber Chicken
Catwalk
Baby Rhino Wants to Play
Great Dane Does Lunges
Senior Cat Loves These Little Girls More Than Anything
Cow Plays Fetch
and for something more interactive:
Make Your Own Hybrid Animal with the Hybridizer
pick one: driverless cars OR high-quality, human-scaled communities
Safe, efficient self-driving cars could block walkable, livable communities. Ready or not, here they come.
Humble Publishing
In 2010, Wolfire Games decided to try "an experiment" in selling indie games online: they called it a 'Humble Bundle'. The initial bundle of games sold out, spawning several imitators and many more Humble Bundles. Now, Humble is their own store, competing with Steam and GoG— and they've just moved into publishing.
As Shipped: Shavings to Starboard, Plugs to Port
Tool-manufacturer Ryobi noted that boat builder Louis Sauzedde wields one of their electric planes (albeit well-used) from time to time on his "Tips from a Shipwright" YouTube channel. Unprompted, they sent him a new one, requesting he "unbox" it in a video. I wonder what they think of the segment? [more inside]
30 Years a Prince
This is the story of a man with an amazing talent and chutzpah. He may or may not be a Saudi prince. According to some in this article, he seems to believe he is.
Sarcastic answers, awkward pauses, Dada-ist boot tossing
Conspiracy Theories Replace Systemic Understanding Of Oppresion
“Illuminati theory helps oppressed people to explain our experiences in the hood. Society throws horrible stuff in our faces: our family members get locked up for bullshit. Our friends kill each other over beefs, money or turf. Our future is full of dead-end jobs that don’t pay shit. We struggle to pay bills while others live in luxury. On TV, we see people all over the world dying in poverty, even though we live in the most materially abundant society in history. Most people act like none of these terrible things are happening. Why does this occur? We start looking for answers, and Illuminati theory provides one.
We believe Illuminati theory is wrong, and we wrote this pamphlet to offer a different answer. “ How to Overthrow the Illuminati: How conspiracy theories thrived in the aftermath of the Black Power movements and how to combat them.
We believe Illuminati theory is wrong, and we wrote this pamphlet to offer a different answer. “ How to Overthrow the Illuminati: How conspiracy theories thrived in the aftermath of the Black Power movements and how to combat them.
Code-named Fracture Jaw
In 1968 general Westmoreland asked for nuclear weapons to be sent to Vietnam. The story was contained in a cable declassified in 2014, but only now being written about in a new book. (SLNYTimes) [more inside]
waiting for this moment
Will Vinton, 1947–2018
Innovative animator Will Vinton, who coined the word "Claymation," has died at the age of 70, following a long illness. Vinton animated popular and toyetic advertising mascots, such as the California Raisins and the Noid, but he was also capable of eerie, dark work, as with the stones in Return to Oz and the appearance of Satan in The Adventures of Mark Twain. Children of the '80s will remember his work vividly for its rich, uncanny, lifelike qualities.
The architecture of a Nazi murder exposed
On September 18, 2013, in a working class neighborhood of Piraeus, Greece, Golden Dawn nazis, attacked and stabbed to death 34 year old rapper Pavlos Fyssas [previously]. His murder precipitated, albeit belatedly, the seminal and ongoing trial of the organization. A guilty verdict on charges of forming a criminal organization would lead to Golden Dawn being outlawed in Greece.
At the trial, which has been dragging on for 4 years now, the prosecution invited Forensic Architecture, a "multidisciplinary research group based at the University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world", to sort through the evidence and recreate what happened the night of Pavlos Fyssas murder. The findings where damning for both the police and the Golden Dawn thugs. The police is shown to have lied about the time of their arrival at the crime scene and about their proximity to the crime, standing next to Fyssas as he was being stabbed. The Golden Dawn members' mobile phone calls corroborate that there was a chain of command that ordered the killing.
Forensic Architecture's video on the murder summarizing their analysis, presented to the court along with their full report, is a masterpiece of analytic exposition and impressively recreates the events surrounding the murder based on available data sources.
At the trial, which has been dragging on for 4 years now, the prosecution invited Forensic Architecture, a "multidisciplinary research group based at the University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world", to sort through the evidence and recreate what happened the night of Pavlos Fyssas murder. The findings where damning for both the police and the Golden Dawn thugs. The police is shown to have lied about the time of their arrival at the crime scene and about their proximity to the crime, standing next to Fyssas as he was being stabbed. The Golden Dawn members' mobile phone calls corroborate that there was a chain of command that ordered the killing.
Forensic Architecture's video on the murder summarizing their analysis, presented to the court along with their full report, is a masterpiece of analytic exposition and impressively recreates the events surrounding the murder based on available data sources.
“In the end, there can be only one.”
An eight-year-old girl has pulled a 1,500-year-old sword from a lake in southern Sweden. [The Guardian] ““I felt something with my hand and at first I thought it was a stick,” Saga Nevecek told the local Värnamo Nyheter newspaper. “Then it had a handle that looked like it was a sword, and then I lifted it up and shouted: ‘Daddy, I found a sword!’” The find, made in July but announced only this week for fear it would trigger a summer stampede to the site at Tånnö on the shore of Lake Vidöstern, felt “pretty cool and a bit exciting”, she told the Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio.”
Banksy banksys Banksy (and Sotheby's)
An original, authenticated Banksy painting was sold for more than a million pounds -- and then it shredded itself.
Human forms
October 5
Articles of Interest: Fashion
Four podcasts on specific articles of clothing #1 Kids Clothing
#2 Plaid
#3 Pockets
#4 Hawaiian Shirts
Podcaster talks to historians, museum curators, and more, about each of these specific things.
Forty-seven States and the Soviet of Washington
'Still, there are ghosts dwelling here: old memories — dimly held, to be sure. Here is Yesler Way, once better known as Skid Road because of the logs rolled downhill along its course to Henry Yesler’s sawmill on the shore. Nowadays a nondescript thoroughfare dotted with cafes frequented by tourists, including a branch of the city’s ubiquitous Starbucks chain, it used to heave with disreputable saloons, brothels, and flophouses, making Skid Road synonymous with any district where the down-and-out may gather: places that are rough, sometimes radical. The Industrial Workers of the World put down roots in this quarter among loggers, itinerant farm workers, and miners bound for the Yukon, as well as the shipyard workers who led the Seattle General Strike of February 6–10, 1919, the only true general strike in US history and the one occasion when American workers have actually taken over the running of a city — the sort of endeavor which earned this state, now given over to the billionaires of the new economy, the appellation “the Soviet of Washington.”' [more inside]
Yes, that's Apocalypsewang!
Something to occupy you while you REMAIN INDOORS this weekend, a bit of fun from Mitchell and Webb, creators of Countdown parody Numberwang. Fear The Quiz Show. (MLYT) [more inside]
GLORIOUSLY, CATASTROPHICALLY THEMSELVES
For 40 years, Cindy Sherman, the great chameleon of our time, has created more than 500 photographs and almost as many distinct characters. She has transformed herself into vamps and victims, biker chicks and slasher babes, lonely-hearts and killer clowns. She has made herself over to look like a Goya painting and a lactating Madonna; a society matron with pink-rimmed eyes, radiant with contempt; an ashen-faced corpse, the lividity just setting in. John Waters has called her a “female female impersonator.” She has put it more simply, joking, “I collect breasts,” referring to the prosthetics she uses in her work.(SLNYT)
I've got the weight of a rather tempestuous life to carry
Safe House
A group of Latina women across the country have been working in secret, turning their homes into shelters for abused immigrant women. (tw: domestic violence) [more inside]
...and counting
Scott Ashlin reviews horror, sci-fi, fantasy, giallo, b-movies, and trash from across the entire history of film at 1000 Misspent Hours (previously). Despite the occasionally lurid subject matter and defiantly old school HTML styling, Ashlin's reviews are thoughtful, literate, and often take unexpected detours into critical and historical minutiae. (His review of the 1946 gothic melodrama Dragonwyck, for example, contains a brief history of the Hudson Valley Rent War, and recent coverage of Green Room draws on the author's experience with a touring punk band.) A number of films paired with Ashlin's reviews wait below the cut. [more inside]
Je suis un Génie, jongleur, magicien
If you've ever wondered "what might a cut-rate Disney musical cartoon number look like?" Alex Ramirès has the answer, in a series of low cost adaptations, in French: La Petite Sirene | Pocahontas | Vaiana feat. Elodie Arnould | La Reine Des Neiges | Le Roi Lion Feat Max Bird | Aladdin with Nino Arial | Bonus: playlist of other low cost movie scenes. Double bonus: if you want to sing along or understand the literal translations of the lyrics, head over to Lyrics Translate.
The End Of Big Ag?
“That same year, Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm next door also suffered; the farmers managed to earn a small profit—enough to net each farmer the equivalent of $5 an hour. It wasn’t much, but had the farm been structured in a typical hierarchy, the owner would have already paid out the labor and been left to bear the losses alone. “In our case, as bad as it was, no one was in debt,” says Dylan Zeitlyn, one of the founders of the worker-owned farm. “We were more resilient because of [our model]—it could have bankrupted somebody.” The Co-op Farming Model Might Help Save America’s Small Farms (Civil Eats) - Cuba’s Urban Farming Revolution: Creating more self-sufficient cities (Architectural Review) - The road to restoration: smaller, sustainable farms (UN Environment) - Agroecology can free farmers from dependency, manipulated commodity markets, unfair subsidies and food insecurity. It is resisted by giant corporations that profit from the status quo. ( Climate And Capitalism)
His stories "throw torches over the underground lakes of the human soul"
Ashley Stimpson and Jeffrey Irtenkauf (Johns Hopkins Magazine, Fall 2018), "Throngs of Himself": "Near the end of his life, [Cordwainer Smith] wrote to a friend: 'Life is a miracle and a terror. The progress of every day, any day, in the individual human mind transcends all the wonders of science. It doesn't matter who people are, where they are, when they lived, or what they are doing—the important thing is the explosion of wonder that goes on and on—stopped only by death.'" SFE entry. ISFDB entry. [more inside]
So that's what would've happened if I invented the Finglonger
What if your phone had a finger? Just think of the possibilities. (cw: kinda weird?)
Elton made the music. Bernie made the words. History made it a legend.
45 years ago, October 5, 1973, Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released. Possibly Elton John's/Bernie Taupin's best, but you also can't discount his band who contributed mightily. You probably know a bunch of songs off of it even if you never intended to. Nearly the entire release is worth chewing through; it's One Of Those. It's still a bold double album, 45 years later. Let's listen! Full Album Playlist, ~75m. Side One: Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Candle In The Wind, Bennie And The Jets [more inside]
Drops of water
‘Human impulses run riot’: China’s shocking pace of change Thirty years ago, politics was paramount. Now, only money counts. China’s leading novelist examines a nation that has transformed in a single lifetime
October 4
The Art of Japanese Funeral Flowers
The lavish display of funeral flower arrangements is only 30 years old. But it's become really big business. A lot of money is spent on funeral flowers in Japan. In fact, in 2006 Beauty Kadan became the first publicly traded Japanese company specializing in funeral flowers when it listed itself on the Mother’s section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Youkaen, a general flower company that entered the funeral flower business in 1972 now says that roughly 75% of their 50 billion yen in sales (roughly $44 mm USD) comes from their funeral flower segment. [more inside]
The Viruses That Neanderthals Spread to Humans
Deep in Human DNA, a Gift From the Neanderthals. "Long ago, Neanderthals probably infected modern humans with viruses, perhaps even an ancient form of H.I.V. But our extinct relatives also gave us genetic defenses." "The two ancient hominin groups swapped genes, diseases, and genes that protect against diseases, according to a new study."
"The idea is for humanity to be attracted by its own viscera"
With his work, Javier Pérez (previously) reveals his inquiries and reflections on mankind, using a language full of intense metaphor and imbued with a strong symbolism,” a statement says. His works contain an intrinsic dialectic, showing how weak can be the boundary between concepts seemingly opposite such as the natural and the cultural, the inside and the outside or life and death. The idea of cyclical fluctuations, circularity, temporality and impermanence are some of the artist’s recurring themes.
Nobel Prize winner Donna Strickland & physics' problems with sexism
Canadian physicist Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo) has become the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics in 55 years (previous discussion of Strickland in MeFi Nobel post). Strickland and French physicist Gérard Mourou shared half the prize for their laser technique called chirped pulse amplification. She is only the third woman ever to win for physics, illustrating the field's continuing problems with sexism. This past weekend, at a conference hosted by CERN intended to address the issue of gender bias, prominent Italian physicist Alessandro Strumia claimed that women are worse at physics than men and lectured a group of predominantly young women scientists about "the dangers of gender equality." [more inside]
First Nation water is cheap for companies, unavailable for residents
Canada is home to 60% of the world’s lakes and one-fifth of the world’s fresh water, yet there are currently 69 indigenous communities with long-term boil water advisories (Gov't of Canada, Water in First Nation communities), which means tens of thousands of people haven’t had drinkable water for at least a year. Meanwhile, working legal ambiguity to their favor, Nestlé extracts water on expired permits for next to nothing, paying the province of Ontario $503.71 (US$390.38) per million litres (CBC, Nov. 26, 2017). But they pay the Six Nations nothing, despite their pumps pulling water out from Six Nations treaty land. In response, the Six Nations are suing the province, in a case before the superior court of Ontario. (Alexandra Shimo for the Guardian, Oct. 4, 2018) [more inside]
HUD And Its Discontents
"Indeed, the real-estate industry grew in tandem with and helped to popularize racist, even eugenic ideas about African Americans, including the notions that Black residents negatively impact property values, are undesirable neighbors, and pose an existential risk to communities and neighborhoods. As early as the 1920s, the National Association of Real Estate Boards had threatened professional discipline against any agent who disrupted segregated neighborhood racial patterns." How Real Estate Segregated America (Dissent)
always online?
Low Tech Magazine [previously] has built a solar-powered version of their homepage. How To Build A Low-Tech Website
DIY-abetes glucose monitors
"By some estimates, as many as 2,000 people around the world have used a home-built pancreas , cobbled together mostly via social media and the free-code clearinghouse GitHub. Tech support consists of parents and patients who use Facebook Messenger or email to help newcomers fix bugs or revive busted equipment. There are plenty of potential converts: In the U.S. alone, about 1.3 million people have Type 1 diabetes, and there are indications the technology could also help some sufferers of Type 2, the group that accounts for most of the world’s 422 million diabetes cases…. [more inside]
Today's menu: Virginia possum
For gentle enjoyment of our impending decay: the Virginia Museum of Natural History's dermestid flesh-eating beetle live cam. More details here. "When the colony is really active, they can be given a mouse whole - without skinning or gutting the specimen - and finish it in a single day."
This post is not a hoax
To "expose the reality of 'grievance studies,'" three scholars submitted 20 "hoax" papers to a variety of journals. Seven were accepted. The authors say their goal was to expose an "undeniable problem in academic research on important issues relevant to social justice." Critics say it reveals only that it's easy to lie to people who assume honesty. Dubbed "Sokal squared," after the 1996 hoax article "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," the incident has generated robust debate on Twitter.
BARTENDER: “What is this, a joke?”
So a racehorse runs into a bar... [YouTube] “Reuters reports that a racehorse got loose and busted into a bar near the racecourse in Chantilly, France, about 30 miles north of Paris. The filly’s trainer said that he lost control of the animal as he led her from the stables (where some scenes in the James Bond movie A View To A Kill were shot) to a racecourse, and stated that “the young horse has a fondness for running off.”” [via: The Takeout]
Go home birds, you're drunk
Spy chips found on server motherboards
Bloomberg reports a major supply-chain hack. After Apple, Amazon and others started to see unusual behaviour in servers from SuperMicro, investigations found chips on the motherboards that shouldn't have been there. Disguised as other components, the chips reportedly intercepted and modified low-level code, creating back doors for remote exploitation. But who put them there?
Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend
Who was the "One Tin Soldier?"
"Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
‘Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below..."
The song, written by Canadians Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, became a Northern American sensation when Skeeter Davis recorded the single, which also coincided with the Billy Jack phenomenon. [more inside]
"Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
‘Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below..."
The song, written by Canadians Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, became a Northern American sensation when Skeeter Davis recorded the single, which also coincided with the Billy Jack phenomenon. [more inside]
October 3
The little lost computer that could
A man finds a Commodore 64C left outside for a decade. Will it still work? I was given a Commodore 64C that had been left outside for a decade or more in rural Oregon. It dealt with everything mother nature could throw at it while it sat outside; rust, water damage, even an ant colony. Could this machine possibly still work?
The Weird of Wendy Pini
A biographical sketch of Wendy Pini The life and work of Wendy Pini, co-creator and illustrator of ElfQuest and occasional Red Sonja Actress(!) - from the pre-elf days to the recent completion of the quest. content warning: some references to abuse and death
Are you ready for some fat bears?!?
"On Wednesday, October 3rd, Katmai National Park and Preserve kicks-off Fat Bear Week 2018 to determine which gluttonous giant sits atop the brown bear oligarchy of obesity. The annual march madness-style competition, now in its fourth year, pits commonly seen bears on the Bear Cam against one another to decide which bear indeed, looks the fattest. The public is encouraged to vote on Katmai National Park and Preserve’s Facebook page in head-to-head matches each day beginning October 3rd. The bear whose photo receives the most likes will advance to the next round, until one bear is crowned “Fattest Bear” on Fat Bear Tuesday, October 9th." [more inside]
Morbidly beautiful medical illustrations
Dr. Frank Netter was a surgeon during the great depression, though as a child growing up in Manhattan, he aspired to be an artist. As it turns out, Netter became both a great artist as well as a doctor [NSFW] […] His use of color is in line with schemes used in classic pulp novel illustration, and he used real patients for his subjects when depicting various medical issues, such as a man suffering the after-effects of a brain injury[…], or what goes on inside the human body during a fit of unbridled rage. [NSFW] Netter’s paintings and illustrations are as remarkable as they are often strange and off-putting at times. [more inside]
Tomorrow Never Knows
Geoff Emerick, Beatles engineer, passes away at 72. Many comments on @thebeatles, Paul pays tribute to Geoff. Without a doubt, he threw himself whole-heartedly into the adventure.
a Zulu groove bomb
Blinded in the age of 5 due to illness, Steve Kekana was one of the most successful south african musicians of the eighties, and actually one of the first to take his band to perform overseas. In 1980 he probably had a big continental-european hit called "Raising my family", that tooped the charts in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria etc. "Bushman" was another hit from this era (reminds me Sting & The Police), and so "Africa". Most of his work is collected in an english-album compilation "The English Album". [more inside]
The Elevator-Phobes of a Vertical City
It’s hard to live in any urban area if you are anxious about elevators. Somehow, these New Yorkers make it work. [more inside]
He makes Patrick Bateman look like Mr. Rogers
The official trailer for Vice, the Dick Cheney biopic starring Christian Bale and directed by Adam McKay (The Big Short), has dropped.
(w/ Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld.)
(w/ Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld.)
at some point they backtracked on scrotality
Natural selection has sculpted the mammalian forelimb into horses’ front legs, dolphins’ fins, bats’ wings, and my soccer ball-catching hands. Why, on the path from the primordial soup to us curious hairless apes, did evolution house the essential male reproductive organs in an exposed sac? It's like a bank deciding against a vault and keeping its money in a tent on the sidewalk.Why are testicles kept in a vulnerable dangling sac? It’s not why you think.
Understanding Reality: What Hallucinations Reveal
Hallucinations Are Everywhere: Experiences like hearing voices are leading psychologists to question how all people perceive reality.
A Good Wolfenoot to You!
This November 23rd you can celebrate the first Wolfenoot. Jax Goss's 7-year old son invented a holiday called Wolfenoot, and the internet got very excited to join him in celebrating. #Wolfenoot has lots of pictures of doggos and plans to donate to wolf sanctuaries and animal shelters. [more inside]
Afrobeats Worldwide: Nigerian Musicians making the new global pop
Kelefa Sanneh wrote for the The New York and recently profiled ten Nigerian musicians and groups who are changing the sound of global pop, including brief bios of each and a description of how they fit (or don't fit) into the Afrobeats sound. "But isn't Afrobeat old?" Yes, but this is Afrobeats plural. For more context, last year Fareeda Abdulkareem wrote for The Culture Trip and provided An Introduction to Afrobeats, Nigeria's Beloved Music Genre, but wait, there's more! If you have the time, start with an hour long audio-history of Nigerian music from Afropop Worldwide. Even more music and links below the break. [more inside]
The Philanthro-Capitalist Class
“First, for years, they allowed problems to fester—real problems like declining social mobility, what trade was doing to America, issues around cities and gentrification. Every time you say Lean In is going to fix gender equality, or one charter school in Bed-Stuy is going to solve education, or you’re going to have some kind of tote bag that saves the environment—every time we were promulgating phony change, that is not doing real change. It is crowding out real change and redefining change so we cannot do more ambitious change.” Why Real Change Won’t Come From Billionaire Philanthropists - “Just as the firm dodged the collapse of those toxic securities, it dodged the public’s thirst for justice. The e-mail’s recipients—and the very affluent in general—would capture most of the gains from the long recovery. A Times analysis of Federal Reserve data last year found that, while the average American household was still thirty-per-cent poorer, in net worth, than in 2007, the top ten per cent of households were twenty-seven per cent wealthier than before the crisis“ After the Financial Crisis, Wall Street Turned to Charity—and Avoided Justice - Anand Giridharadas, author of Winners Take All, on the win–win business- and plutocrat-friendly philanthropy of today’s rich (Jacbonin Radio)
Fingertip Universe
Nikon Small World in Motion Annual Winners 2018-2011 — beautiful microscopic movies and digital time-lapse photomicrography. (See also Nikon International Small World Photomicrography Competition Annual Winners 2017-1975).
The Tenacious Spirit of Servitude
For NYC sommelier Yannick Benjamin, integrating disability and hospitality was the only way forward.
SPOIDS
Spiderween: An Arachnophobe-Safe Guide To Spiders. "I think everyone deserves a chance to learn about such an amazing corner of the animal kingdom, and so for an entire thirty-one entries in a row, we're about to go over some of the most interesting spider species, spider habits and spider superpowers without a single realistic spider in view. Instead, we're substituting the real animals with anthropomorphs I believe I've designed to capture as much of a spider's 'character' or 'personality' as a four-limbed, two-eyed, endoskeletoned biped ever reasonably could." [more inside]
"No, I can assure you it sucks in many other ways"
Scott Galloway, 2018 Code Commerce
NYU professor Scott Galloway speaks at the 2018 Code Conference and calls again for the breakup of big tech (Amazon, Facebook, Google) with lots of data and insight. Galloway predicted the Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods weeks before it happened.
October 2
Ju-Jitsu Suffragettes
In 1914 suffragettes learned to fight back. It’s Edwardian Era Glasgow, circa 1914, and the stress mounting in St. Andrews’s Hall is unbearable. Flocks of Suffragettes and policemen are waiting for the woman of the hour, Emmeline Pankhurst, to magically surface and fight against her own arrest — the tension is so palpable, you could cut it with a knife. Or karate-chop it, which is exactly what “the Bodyguard”, a top-secret secret society of feminists, decided to do. They were corseted, they were clever, and they could flip a man over like a pancake. [more inside]
We're talking away
24 Years of The Interactive Fiction Competition
2018's IFComp has seventy-seven entries, which is actually less than 2017's seventy-nine entries - a long way from 1995's twelve. This year shows a continued trend of browser-based online games, although ADRIFT and Z-code based games still make a showing. This year's organizer is Jacq, who previously organized IntroComp, which helps IF writers consider try new things out and gauge reactions before finishing the whole game. [more inside]
Science fiction is for real, space opera is for fun
Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta
Volta Jazz :
Wêrê Wêrê Magne,
Mama Soukous,
Djougou Malola
When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture [more inside]
Wêrê Wêrê Magne,
Mama Soukous,
Djougou Malola
When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture [more inside]
Life, Death, and John Prine
When my wife had been in labor for 16 hours, I played her John Prine’s “Everything Is Cool.” She’d begun gasping instead of breathing, climbing into the tub to gather herself. As Prine’s fingerpicking rang out from a tiny speaker, she closed her eyes and smiled. […] When my daughter died two years later, the song rang out again into the stricken silence at her service. This time, it felt like a hymn.
Pitchfork's Jayson Greene talks to John Prine about his latest album, The Tree Of Forgiveness, and discusses how he came to Prine's music.
Also, the heartbreaking official video for "Summer's End" dropped last week. [more inside]
Pitchfork's Jayson Greene talks to John Prine about his latest album, The Tree Of Forgiveness, and discusses how he came to Prine's music.
Also, the heartbreaking official video for "Summer's End" dropped last week. [more inside]
Dear Dads:
Dung beetle worms in PNAS
From Ed Yong: "TFW your genitals are full of sexually transmitted worms, and that's great news for your kids" (and you're a dung beetle). [more inside]
Even God is uneasy, Say the moist bells of Swansea.
And who robbed the miner?/Cry the grim bells of Blaina. A little-known poem discovered by Pete Seeger became a popular folk standard and subsequently recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Besides the original, most folksy version by Pete Seeger (1964 live performance linked, but originally recorded live for the 1958 album, "Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry"), the most famous version is probably by The Byrds and was released on their debut album, "Mr Tambourine Man" (1965). A poppy version that borrows heavily from The Byrds was recorded by Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians (1984); and Cher tried her hand in 1965, with good results. [more inside]
Historic low for Liberals as the CAQ wins majority in Quebec
With the sovereignty question largely off the table in this election, the Quebec Liberal Party was ousted as the ruling party in Quebec, with historically low numbers, while the Coalition Avenir Québec formed their first government, a majority. Along the way, Québec Solidaire gained 7 more seats, bringing them to the cusp of official party status (10 seats and 12 are required) while the Parti Québécois dropped from 28 seats to 9, losing official party status and their leader, Jean-François Lisée, lost his seat and resigned from his leadership position. [more inside]
The stream is coming from inside the Netflix House
What up, haints, it’s October times. Let’s get Halloweird with it. Here are some movies of the horror and horror-adjacent genres that you might watch by yourself or with a party of friends or with a 20 foot tall whistling ghost who grinds the bones of womanizers into dust inside his sack. - Yes, it's The Haunting of Netflix House VI: Netflix Lives, the annual roundup of the spookiest streaming spookmares for the spookiest month. This post is of course a sequel to previous archival spookings.
In The Language Is Life, In The Language is Death
Degrowth/Green Deal
"Since the chimera of sustainable development is an alibi for permanent growth, degrowth is meant to grab hold of the dominant discourse of growth, envelop it and its apologists, and in fact take on fundamentalism where one must: at the roots. The idea of degrowth, this book included, is meant as invitation to debate. Degrowth is not meant to replace communism, anarchism, or democratic socialism as horizons for human hope, and it is certainly not a recipe for disregarding class struggle." Degrowth Considered "Clearly then, even under a degrowth scenario, the overwhelming factor pushing emissions down will not be a contraction of overall gdp but massive growth in energy efficiency and clean renewable-energy investments—which, for accounting purposes, will contribute towards increasing gdp—along with similarly dramatic cuts in fossil-fuel production and consumption, which will register as reducing gdp. Moreover, the immediate effect of any global gdp contraction would be huge job losses and declining living standards for working people and the poor." Degrowth Vs. A New Green Deal - All Of A Sudden Putting 'Green" Next To a Policy Idea Makes it More Popular - The New Green Deal Report
Booksellers, this one weird trick could increase your bottom line by 25%
Nicola Griffith points out in a helpful post (with downloadable guide!) why making bookstores and book events accessible to disabled readers both online and in RL makes profitable sense. She also updates her Fries Test (named after activist Kenny Fries) count. Given that 1 in 4 people already in the US have some kind of disability, there should be roughly 1.25 million books out there on the Fries Test list yet so far only 55 have made it past the extremely low requirements -- which do not include the disabled character even having a name. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes sadly did not make the cut.
Inside Tokyo's audiophile venues
Inside Tokyo's audiophile venues. Small bars, good sound systems. (Not really audiophile as that term is normally used.)
I’ll never work in restaurants again—my body won’t allow it.
Taria Camerino writes about finding her way back to working with chocolate after her breast cancer diagnosis.
When you post a video, you’re the star
A lot of people I’ve run across shouldn’t be exposed to public comment. Some of them want exposure anyway, and the exposure will make them worse. Some want exposure but aren’t ready for the criticism it will bring. Some don’t realize they’re exposed. Issendai (previously re: sick systems and estranged parents) is a blogger who often writes about abusive relationships and disordered personalities. Recently, she's been watching "CPS took my children" videos and wondering: When it comes to analyzing YouTube videos, where’s the line?
October 1
“We're gonna talk about urbanism and economics and social issues.”
The Socialist YouTuber Using Cities: Skylines To Explain Politics [YouTube] “Roczniak’s main Skylines series is centered on a city named Franklin. The videos are unflinching looks at how American history and politics have created its cities. The series approaches cities from a historical angle, beginning with the time before colonization in North America and then slowly building period-to-period from there. There is no blank slate from which cities emerge, the videos argue, but instead they are founded through mass displacement and control. The early videos are dominated by discussions of trade and mercantile systems because Roczniak is plainly claiming that thinking the American city without taking those things seriously means that you’re not really addressing what cities are. Franklin exists as a kind of allegory for real cities, not being based on any one in particular, but the things that happen in and around the city of Franklin are all based on the history of city development.” [via: Kotaku] [more inside]
Tropical Storm Kirk's exposed low-level circulation. Freaking awesome.
If you would like to spend an evening admiring the spinning weather from above with an enthusiastic host, Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) on Twitter has you covered. You can find Florence ramping up, and get an idea of the flooding that resulted. Or maybe a more tranquil wave of clouds off of Lake Michigan. Or possibly a little GOES-17 water vapor imagery?
Just a pair of eyes, walking through the world unseen
"I have always wanted to be just a pair of eyes, walking through the world unseen, only to be able to see others.”
In 1933 the artist Jeanne Mammen was labelled a degenerate.
She was a chronicler of life in Berlin between the wars, her portrayal of lesbians was ground-breaking, often portraying women simply enjoying the company of other women. A little bit more and a pdf.
In 1933 the artist Jeanne Mammen was labelled a degenerate.
She was a chronicler of life in Berlin between the wars, her portrayal of lesbians was ground-breaking, often portraying women simply enjoying the company of other women. A little bit more and a pdf.
2018 Nobels
It's Nobel Prize week! The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded today to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo for discovering how to release the immune system's brakes and enable it to attack cancer cells. Who will the awards in Physics and Chemistry go to? Inside Science (from the American Institute of Physics) has some predictions. [more inside]
Putting the FUN in funeral
Nearly a million people have downloaded the starter kit for the Conversation Project, (previously) a guide to discussing plans for the end of life. Others use the popular WeCroak app, which sends five daily reminders that we are all going to die. All share a common idea: that Western culture has become too squeamish about talking about death, and that the silence impoverishes the lives leading up to it.
The Positive Death Movement Comes to Life (John Leland, NYT)
The Positive Death Movement Comes to Life (John Leland, NYT)
The Horror Oscars
Sean Fennessey picks "The Best Scary Movies of Every Year Since 1978’s ‘Halloween’"
André Leon Talley, Fashionista
Diana Vreeland loved him, as did Lagerfeld and de la Renta. But his style roots are in Durham NC On a clear and lovely Saturday evening last April in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 450 guests gathered on the lawn of the city’s Mint Museum for its annual gala, a black-tie shindig called Coveted Couture, a reference to the museum’s dazzling show The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta, which opened the next day. André Leon Talley, the towering (he is six foot six) former Vogue editor who was a close friend of the late designer’s and the curator of the exhibit, sat slightly apart from the crowd, bedecked in a stately Tom Ford cape made of black silk faille—“like those,” he informs me, “of the bishops and cardinals.”
The music was neither fake nor true.
"The Comforting Fictions of Dementia Care." Larissa MacFarquhar explores many dimensions of treatment for people afflicted with memory diseases. (SLNewYorker) [more inside]
Mum you've got the dog's arse!
Woman frightened by VR experience snuggles the wrong end of dog for comfort. Dog to forever be known as Snugglebutt. (SLYT via BoingBoing) [more inside]
Love is blind, and Brooks Orpik is still a Washington Capital.
"Boys and girls and babes, we all learned so much during the 2017–2018 NHL season. For example, I learned that chaos rules the universe, sports predictions are horoscopes but less accurate, and hockey games are won by pure, defiant, you-said-I-couldn’t-do-it spite and very little else.
The meteoric rise of the Vegas Golden Knights and the triumph of the Washington Capitals reveal the true keys to hockey success. Depth at center and a hot goalie? No. You need a team that is obsessed with each other, and feels unfairly maligned by God. “Nobody believes in us but we believe in each other.” Romance, and grim vindictive gall: it’s how the ragtag Knights sailed past the West and how the cursed Caps clawed through the East. Throw in that center depth and the hot goalie, and you’ve got a Stanley Cup champion.
Amid the rampant parity of the NHL, a team needs to nail it in three categories: spite, love, and I guess something to do with being good at hockey, each on a scale of 1–5. Here’s how all 31 teams stack up." Hockey podcaster Kelly Harris presents All You Need Is Spite: A Very Emotional NHL Season Preview
The piano player is shot
Matthew McConAUUUUGH!hey
ImagineNative
It's a coin flip as to if you're now going to achieve the American dream
It used to be that people born in the 1940s or '50s were virtually guaranteed to achieve the American dream of earning more than your parents did, Chetty says. But that's not the case anymore. "You see that for kids turning 30 today, who were born in the mid-1980s, only 50 percent of them go on to earn more than their parents did," [Harvard University economist Raj] Chetty says. "It's a coin flip as to whether you are now going to achieve the American dream." Chetty and his colleagues worked with the Census Bureau's Sonya Porter and Maggie Jones to create the The Opportunity Atlas ... merging U.S. Census Bureau data with data from the Internal Revenue Service. (Via NPR) [more inside]
“Who’s gonna milk the cows?”
“Nelson was freaked out. There was no phone call, of course. The mysterious chubby man had asked Hoyer to have us ejected. According to Nelson, she had told him that an article about dairies and immigration would “destroy our lives out here.” It was an incredibly sensitive subject. “It’s kind of a third rail among dairy farmers,” Nelson said. “Whenever I go to a dairy farm, I never ask about the immigrant-labor thing unless they bring it up themselves.” Devin Nunes’ Family Farm Is Hiding A Secret
(Esquire)
Charlie Squirrel
RIP Carlos Ezquerra, comic artist who was the co-creator of Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog for 2000AD [more inside]
A future that exceeds the most daring fantasies of George Orwell
The cameras register not only a car’s license plate number but also the face of its driver. At night, lights are projected over the camera lenses, blinding drivers more than oncoming headlights ever could. As we drove past another checkpoint, I tried to shield my eyes with my hand in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the road. The gesture did not go unnoticed: all four cameras immediately flashed a series of strobe lights.Meduza publishes a report by a Russian-speaking journalist and traveler who managed to enter Xinjiang during the summer and observe how the new technologies in use there facilitate total surveillance, segregation, and discrimination. [more inside]
A Premature Attempt at the 21st Century Canon
A panel of critics tells us what belongs on a list of the 100 most important books of the 2000s … so far. [Vulture] [more inside]