December 23, 2021
Many Proposals, but Little Desire to Act
“Does it have to be yours?” she asked recently. “Is that what it’s gonna take to get it?”
TW: This story discusses a child’s fatal case of food poisoning. [more inside]
It's official: A beach is coming to Williamsburg
Developed by Two Trees Management, the massive project, years in the making, was just approved by the New York City Council and construction is expected to kick off by 2024. According to plans, the 2.9-acre waterfront park will feature a circular esplanade that extends into the East River, plus an amphitheater, a boating cove, some nature trails, a play area for kids and, of course, the sandy shore.
Eve Babitz, chronicler of LA in the 70s and 80s, passes at 78
Called the "dirty Joan Didion" she dedicated her first book to “the Didion-Dunnes, for having to be what I’m not.” Called a "child of Hollywood," and "voluptuous bard" Eve Babitz, famous for playing naked chess with Marcel Duchamp, taking drugs, and dating famous men wrote 7 books that influenced a generation of writers culminating in a renaissance at 76. [more inside]
Bad smells.
Amazon Yankee Candle reviews are mirroring the COVID-19 surge — again: Northeastern University professor Nick Beauchamp [...], who specializes in natural-language processing and machine learning, used a scraping tool to pull reviews from the top three Yankee Candles that included the words "no smell" or "no scent." The pattern he found almost eerily resembles the current COVID-19 surge.
Bolivian indigenous skaters
El País photo-essay of indigenous women skaters in Cochabamba, Bolivia I always enjoy reading/watching people find that certain thing that brings them a little joy in life... spotted on Deb Cachras twitter feed, a fantastic slideshow of Bolivian indigenous women skaters. Related from October 2020 - Bolivian Women Skateboard in Aymara Garb to Showcase Culture and related video from the AP story.
Joan Didion has died.
Her obit can be found here. As always with something like this, I don't what to say other than she will be missed.
street fighter, more like, uh, sheet...highlighter
Fabien Sanglard looks into when Capcom stopped laying out CPS-1 arcade sprite sheets by hand with scissors.
If you don't have a bird pun in that line, you're missing out
"I am horrified; I am delighted."
Two speculative stories about women whose adventures don't go the way they think they will. “So I’m your only hope,” Sabeena presses, “which means there’s bonus pay, ain’t it? "The Prince and the Pirate" by Andrea Tang (previously) is a fast-paced science fiction story of a sarcastic, galaxy-weary contractor rescuing an old acquaintance. She said we were only going to ask for a minor demon, one who could help us with our homework and harangue our exes. "The Exorcism of Lily Quinn" by Claire Schultz (published this year) is a spooky fantasy/horror story involving a not-great friendship and a student who doesn't know whether she's possessed. [more inside]
Japan has invented a lickable TV screen
Tasty programming for the future. “Another step towards creating a multisensory viewing experience.”
Three French Heads
Tired of maids a-milking and lords a-leaping? Time to make revolutionary shifts in your Christmas gift-giving, with the Twelve Days of Thermidor. (Cute kid cameo too.)
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