November 21, 2023
"I would have worked at Bandcamp until I retired, happily"
A shrimp that dwells in trees
A shrimp that dwells in trees in the Cyclops Mountains, in the Indonesian province of Papua, on the island of New Guinea. In a patch of forest toward the top of the Cyclops Mountains, the researchers found an unusual type of shrimp, slightly larger than grains of rice. These crustaceans were all over the place, including in trees, moss, rotting logs and even under rocks, said Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou, the expedition's lead entomologist who works at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
"It's a very weird creature," Davranoglou said, adding that it's able to leap three or four feet in the air to escape predators. "We were quite awe-struck, really."
There are about nine other species of terrestrial shrimp, all of which live by the shore and are known as beach hoppers. "Our species definitely hops, but it lives nowhere near a beach," Davranoglou quipped.
Gathering Paradise:
ODI cricket not dead yet
Why the 50-over Cricket World Cup is more vital than ever in modern era. In the moments after Australia’s historic victory over India on Sunday, a euphoric Pat Cummins described how this Cricket World Cup had made him “fall in love with ODI cricket again”. Going by the numbers at least, it appears he wasn’t alone. [more inside]
"Nothing's free in Waterworld."
Move aside raw water antediluvianistas, water sommeliers are quenching their thirst in luxury. [more inside]
the penguins are gathering in a circle
Vaporwave goodbye to the waking world in dreamcore95.exe, a chill, short idle game with impeccable vibes and, if that's not enough inducement, also a defragging widget.
The Lady of the Hypnotic Eye
Cassie Chadwick was an early 20th century fraudster who conned banks, shopkeepers and gullible men out of about 20 million in today's dollars. Claiming to be the illegitimate child of tycoon Andrew Carnegie, she used fake securities in his name as collateral on a series of further loans. She lived a lavish lifestyle buying trays of gems, solid gold picture frames, a pipe organ and giving 8 grand pianos as gifts one Christmas.
PJ Harvey at the Tiny Desk
This is where Harvey lives as a fully realized artist: on her own artistic plane, inviting listeners to take their time to fully join her. Harvey keeps her gestures minimal as she sets her scenes and speaks through them. Matching her voice to those of her trusted collaborators John Parish and James Johnston as they invoke the forest's ghosts — the "chalky children of evermore" — she lets the fecund imagery of her lyrics resonate.
A daily visit to Hotel Fred
Roger Langridge is a cartoonist. Every morning, he draws a four panel strip about whatever happens to be on his mind and posts it online. Some are about the everyday trials and delights of family life, some are about his dog and others simply rif on what the medium can do. I like them a lot.
Some obscure and mysterious mix of expected and unexpected
Regardless of how we understand “timelessness,” that vague but irreplaceable quality we take to inhere in any classic, a good joke comes as close as possible to embodying its reality in the written word. [more inside]
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