April 3, 2020
Ted Chiang Explains the Disaster Novel We All Suddenly Live In
What we’re living through is only partly a disaster novel; it’s also—and perhaps mostly—a grotesque political satire. A 1250-word email conversation between Halimah Marcus and Ted Chiang for Electric Literature.
An enigma inside an Enigma
Elgar's Enigma Variations has become a well loved piece of classical music, but due to clues the composer wrote in the program and hints he left during his life, it has also led to many attempts over the years to solve the seeming mystery hidden within it. A recent elaborate attempt to crack the code is detailed in over 100 blog posts—of course not everyone agrees.
Voleflix, a public domain movie site
MeFite malevolent trawled some lists of public domain movies (lots of great film noir) and put together a new, improved, or at least free version of Netflix. Behold: Voleflix! Includes films featuring Ed Wood, Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Stanley Kubrick, Boris Karloff, Frank Sinatra and more… It also has daft Voleflix Originals and rates your taste in movies from your watchlist. [via mefi projects]
Not Very Well Hidden, Really
Crossword editors are strange arbiters of cultural relevance. Read tweets by Awkwafina or Olivia Wilde on learning that they’ve been immortalized in the black-and-white grid—it’s the bookish version of handprints on a slab outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. But any pub-trivia attendee—exposed to categories on craft beer or things that smell like sourdough or whatever the emcee is into—will tell you that personnel is policy. That crossword mainstays such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal are largely written, edited, fact-checked, and test-solved by older white men dictates what makes it into the 15x15 grid and what’s kept out. The Hidden Bigotry of Crosswords By Natan Last [more inside]
Universal Right To Food
As NYC expands its free meal program to include anybody in the city, no questions asked, and food banks across the country report shortages and half-mile long car lines, food policy experts think expanding and increasing SNAP could stave off poverty and increase public health. Meanwhile, dairy farmers urged to dump milk as demand declines.
The American Film Institute Movie Club
The American Film Institute is inviting you to movie night - every night. The American Film Institute will select an iconic movie each day for the world to watch together, via their new Movie Club, creating a communal viewing experience during these unprecedented times of social distancing. [more inside]
Ain't No Sunshine
Bill Withers, the soul legend who penned timeless songs like “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has died from heart complications according to a statement from his family. He was 81. [more inside]
Join us as we take Venture all the way from the Pacific Ocean 460 miles
Venture to Idaho Join us as we take Venture all the way from the Pacific Ocean 460 miles inland to Idaho up the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Learn about the perils of the Columbia River Bar, the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition and the cataclysmic floods which altered the landscape through which we traveled. Stay with us while we take a jet boat through Hell's Gate on the upper Snake.
Wholesome gaming post.
The 88-year old grandma who's played Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 4,300 hours (check out her beautiful flower garden) has started to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons. She also has a character in the new game named after her, called Audie, a wolf with a nice pair of sunglasses and some spectacular winged eyeliner. Her name is significant, as Audie is the username used by Audrey when playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Nintendo decided to pay tribute to her as a thank you. In this unboxing video, Audrey answers some fan questions and opens a brand new gift - the new, limited edition New Horizons Switch console. She also boots up the game, finding out that her first villager friends are Katt and Bam. [via: Kotaku]
Alternative to Audible
Libro.fm is a neat alternative to Audible. Points in its favor: DRM-free; kick-backs to independent bookstores; credits never expire; not owned by Bezos. Like with Audible, the first month is free. Switching from Audible? First three credits are free by using the code SWITCH. Yes, they have far fewer books than Audible, but the selection is pretty good overall and the sale books have some great titles as low as 69 cents. [more inside]
The Worm is Back!
The "worm" has returned. The futuristic redesign of the NASA logo introduced in 1976 was retired in 1992 with the agency reverting back to the classic "meatball" logo. While the "worm" logo is returning to use, the press release suggests both logos will co-exist and they are "still assessing how and where [the worm] will be used".
Overly Descriptive Color Palettes, or Hiya, Jerking Grapefruit!
Do you wish your Crayola box were populated with Ungentlemanly Light Grey and Unauspicious Lilac? Colors.lol has you covered. [more inside]
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