April 18, 2017
☀ + ☃ = ♨
An Ice Scientist’s Worst Nightmare [The New York Times] “On April 2, the temperature of a storage freezer in the Canadian Ice Core Archive rose to about 100 degrees — some part of the cooling system failed, “then tried to get itself back into action and in the process, piped hot air back into the room,” according to Martin Sharp, the director of the archive. The freezer became so hot that it tripped the fire alarm, Dr. Sharp said, and partially or fully melted 180 ice cores collected by government scientists since the mid-1970s from the snowy expanse of the Canadian Arctic.”
Furry Meets Furries
Loco mía keeps your body movin'
Locomia is a Spanish pop group popular in the 1980s. Both their outfits and their fan-twirling (the eponymous song Locomia, 1986) became trademarks of the group and contributed to their huge popularity. Without the fan-twirling, they're not as impressive (Loco Vox, 1991). [more inside]
Now read it to the last bitter page
Why You Should Read Books You Hate: New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul on hate-reading Ayn Rand, parenting books and Harry Paget Flashman. [more inside]
Click "comments" for the fighting
The value of emotional labour
The New Zealand government has reached a $NZ2 billion settlement which will see aged care workers receive pay rises between 15 and 50 per cent, depending on their qualifications and experience. [more inside]
Working Violin Made Out of 16,000 Matchsticks
Hubert Gwiżdż made a violin of 16,000 matchsticks that has stood the test of time: beautifully, and without combusting into sudden flames even once. The matchstick violin eventually traveled back to Poland while, and there, after some time, it was finally exposed to the orchestral world thanks to efforts from Hubert's grandson.
Additional links: classicfm.com, boingboing.net
Additional links: classicfm.com, boingboing.net
"I'm not in spandex clothing, yeah. It wouldn't go with my personality."
How many supergroups can you name in 30 seconds without thinking? Let’s see… there’s Bad Company, Blind Faith, Cream, Them Crooked Vultures, Asia, GTR, Streets, The Highwaymen and Crosby, Stills & Nash… just to name a few. One that may slip under the radar—but should be on par with all the others—is Animal Logic. Thirty years ago, this trio, featuring the unique combo of Return to Forever bassist Stanley Clarke and Police drummer Stewart Copeland hit the scene with a sound that wasn’t quite jazz, wasn’t quite new wave (certainly wasn’t hair metal), but was all its own.[more inside]
Beer! Math! Beermath!
Craft beer — so hot right now. But what city is the microbrew capital of the US? An interactive data-visualization visual essay on the many ways to proclaim cities "Best" on beer, by Russell Goldenberg
The real party is in the SHUTTLEBUS!!!
Possibly the greatest artifact in the history of the demoscene: DAS BUS, a Powerpoint ode to the shuttlebus.
The piano playing nun
About the life and music of the 93 yr old Ethiopian nun Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. The guardian article links to this BBC Radio 4 documentary.
Birth of the Cool: RIP Barkley Hendricks
RIP, Barkley Hendricks. His paintings, most of which featured people of color, sit at the intersection of realism and postmodernism: portraits full of personality pictured against a flat plane of color. [more inside]
Squatty Potty sold separately
Days after legitimizing the theretofore secret-menu-only pink drink and announcing a new gluten-free breakfast sandwich, Starbucks has announced what might be the pinnacle of comestible engineering, the color and flavor changing unicorn frappuccino (North America only).
Chick-a-boom
All we know are the facts, ma’am
USAFacts.org is a new data-driven portrait of the American population, our government’s finances, and government’s impact on society. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. We provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future. [more inside]
"They don’t believe that we’re even able to define what a place is."
Learning from Shankleville Scholars in Texas study unincorporated black "Freedom Colonies" formed during Reconstruction and still living communities -- upending conventional assumptions of community planning in the process. [more inside]
The Deadly Tomato
Tomatoes were nicknamed "the “poison apple” because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on this particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time; the tomato was picked as the culprit. " [I]t was an astonishing event when, in 1806, Jefferson served them to guests at the President’s House.
Accessibility and water parks and non-electric wheelchairs
The PneuChair is lighter than most powered wheelchairs, "recharges" faster, and has no electric components, meaning that it can be used in water parks. It would also allow users to bathe more independently and worry less about weather.
Big strides? No. But better steps to combating sexism in beer.
Brewers Association announces plans to crack down on offensive and sexist beer labels. [more inside]
He wasn’t her most gifted student. But he was the most persistent.
An annoying distraction from Eurovision
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced a general election for the UK on the 8th June. In a speech, the PM describes Brexit, unity et al, and Jeremy Corbyn, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP as the core reasons. With "I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion", this reverses her previous position on a snap election. The PM needs first to overturn the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act, which will be attempted in the House of Commons tomorrow. Before the general election, there are the local elections on May 4th.
God in the Machine
Bagoas - awesome (male) tribal fusion bellydancer
Bagoas dances with sinuous and rhythmic beauty and plenty of playfulness. Not typical bellydance/doumbek music most of the time, either. Art of the Belly solo - wow, I say - and a fab duet, Oriental Job and an early (2011) performance at Rakkasah East, with heavy metal cello. Also, a very playful Ya Halla Y'all , with the songs Mr. Sandman and Sheik of Araby. He has more vids, but these are some of the high spots. His FB fanpage, linked from his website, will give you his real name. Originally from Baltimore, he seems to be located in Seattle now.
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