October 29, 2021
I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into dresses
The US Library of Congress hosts many images tagged, Animals in Human Situations. Similar, sometimes overlapping collections include those of the New York Public Library, Massachusetts' Digital Commonwealth, and Wikimedia Commons. [Includes as much old-timey racist imagery as you'd expect.]
"His mouth is under the sea now."
Friday Open Thread (with Nuthatches)
Amal El-Mohtar (co-author of This Is How You Lose the Time-War, and other delightful things, and a Houston Spies blaseball *redacted*) recently posted a photo on Twitter of a nuthatch feeding from her hand. She posted on her blog today about the story behind the photo and ended with a request: "I'd love for you to tell me, if you want, whether you've ever nourished a hope in your heart you know to be vanishingly unlikely, but then found it fulfilled; whether, while you felt yourself dull and undeserving, you've ever felt a small, joyous grace light on you like a bird. I wish this for you with all my heart. "
The long, dark history of disinformation in the US
Rigged is an online archive and podcast documenting the history and evolution of disinformation in America researched and curated by investigative journalist Amy Westervelt. Westervelt, a longtime and award-winning environmental journalist, is the host of the climate disinformation podcast Drilled and the founder of the women-run podcast network Critical Frequency.
It contains new articles, profiles of many key villains, an excellent glossary, and over 1,000 deeply researched archival images documenting the history of disinformation in the US right up to today.
Roll Up Your (Kids') Sleeves
The FDA has authorized Pfizer vaccines for kids age 5-11.
"Cormac McCarthy does not know who Mario is."
A LIST OF OLD PEOPLE WHO I BELIEVE DO AND DO NOT KNOW WHO MARIO IS (Ben Jenkins, Gawker)
"This isn’t a question of whether or not the person has played a Super Mario game or even watched someone play a Super Mario game. The only test is whether, if shown a picture of Mario, the person would be able to say something like 'That’s Mario.' They can’t say 'That’s a computer game guy' or 'That’s the little jumping fellow from the whatsit.' They have to know his name, but that’s it. Let’s begin."
"This isn’t a question of whether or not the person has played a Super Mario game or even watched someone play a Super Mario game. The only test is whether, if shown a picture of Mario, the person would be able to say something like 'That’s Mario.' They can’t say 'That’s a computer game guy' or 'That’s the little jumping fellow from the whatsit.' They have to know his name, but that’s it. Let’s begin."
The very rich are different from you and me.
Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm. A consulting architect on UCSB’s Design Review Committee has quit his post in protest over the university’s proposed Munger Hall project, calling the massive, mostly-windowless dormitory plan “unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being.” 97-year-old billionaire and amateur architect Charles Munger donated $200 million toward the project - an 11-story, 1.68-million-square-foot structure that would house up to 4,500 students, 94 percent of whom would not have windows in their small, single-occupancy bedrooms - with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly.
Is it NSFW if it's claymation?
not your inspiration
#CriticalAxis is a community driven project from The Disabled List that collects and analyzes disability representation in media, including ads from companies such as Toyota and IKEA. All too many are "Inspiration Exploitation" or focus on the "charity" bestowed upon the recipient. The project also highlights examples of "crip humor" and media informed by the social model of disability. [more inside]
low orbit and a salmon run
Two speculative stories about young people escaping bad situations (bullying, homophobia, sizeism, etc.). "How to Make Friends in Seventh Grade" by Nick Poniatowski: "But the worst thing about it was that I didn't help him." "Riparian" by Seanan McGuire: "Molly begged her mother to let her start mermaid lessons for five years before she finally received her starter tail, a glorious confection of silicon and spandex..."
What would happen if we slowed down
What if, for example, you aimed to work 20% less than you had time to reasonably handle? "If you worked deeply and regularly on a reasonable portfolio of initiatives that move the needle, and were sufficiently organized to keep administrative necessities from dropping through the cracks, your business probably wouldn’t implode, and your job roles would likely still be fulfilled. This shift from a state of slightly too much work to not quite enough, in other words, might be less consequential than we fear." [more inside]
A physical, musical and visual reflection of the temporal aspect of me
yeule is the name used by 23-year-old Nat Ćmiel, a Singapore-born, London-based musician and artist who identifies as a nonbinary cyborg entity. They make ethereal, digital dreampop, often with themes of self, (dis)embodiment, alienation and intimacy in the online world. they also have a Twitch stream, which covers topics from gaming to makeup, and a Discord server shared with their fan community. There's an interview with yeule in MusicTech, discussing their background in online culture, their ideas (Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto comes up), the recurring idea of “glitch” their upcoming album Glitch Princess, and a 4-hour ambient track they recently made in collaboration with the hyperpop producer Danny L. Harle.
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