May 10, 2020
Re-runs in pantyhose: we just sit in our rooms, and pretend we're there
Re-runs in Pantyhose Presents: Carrie in Quarantine, Mommie Dearest in Quarantine, Golden Girlz in Quarantine and Three'z Company in Quarantine. Featuring Sherry Vine, Jackie Beat, Alaska Thunderfuck, and an occasional guest, usually with salty language.
Creating a COde-Free RPG using Sable
Sable is a new game development system which just entered alpha testing. The main thing which distinguishes this from many similar tools is that it is explicitly intended to be used by developers who are blind. [more inside]
We might hope for many more such absurd and extravagant books
Sawin' up the cotton
Shipwright Louis Sauzedde demonstrates the art of ship plank caulking. I had no idea that caulking could be done with anything besides the caulking that comes in a tube. The world is an endlessly fascinating place!
Old Film Clips from All Over Iceland and the North Atlantic
Ísland á filmu (Iceland on Film) is your opportunity to gallivant around Iceland in space and time, via the medium of nearly three hundred old films, of varying age and length, stored and digitized by the Icelandic Film Museum. Many are home movies, but there are also documentaries and newsreel footage. For example, this 1939 black and white clip of a farmer taking care of sheep and horses, a feature length silent color documentary from 1946 about life in Reykjavík, and a 1965 documentary about a hiking trip in the Icelandic highland desert. All this can be navigated from the map of Iceland. If you tire of that particular North Atlantic Island, zoom the map out and you can watch old films from Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Denmark, all from the Danish Film Institue.
'The Celebrated Minuet’, and other music for String Quintet
In classical chamber music the standard string quartet line-up of two violins, viola & cello when joined by a fifth player (typically a second violist or cellist; less often a double-bassist or a third violinist) naturally forms a string quintet. Perhaps the single most recognisable piece for string quintet (on this occasion including a second cello) is the 3rd movement of Luigi Boccherini’s Quintet in E major, op. 11 no. 5, aka The Celebrated Minuet, which, for example, features prominently in The Ladykillers; serves as background music in the restaurant scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; and even turns up, re-arranged, performed by Spinal Tap. But Boccherini wrote over a hundred quintets: if you feel inclined, look inside to find one of them, plus a couple of dozen quintets by other composers... [more inside]
Designing the world's first home computers
The story of how computers infiltrated our homes is not one of technology, but one of marketing and design, according to writer and journalist Alex Wiltshire, whose new book, "Home Computers: 100 Icons that Defined a Digital Generation," tells the industry's early history through its most influential models.
50 years ago, the Abortion Caravan forced Canada to pay attention
In Canada, Mother’s Day weekend of 1970 was the site of a historic reproductive rights protest: the members of the Abortion Caravan would eventually shut down Parliament—the only group to ever do so. Fifty years ago this weekend, hundreds of women from across Canada arrived in Ottawa to protest an abortion law passed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau's government in 1969. They arrived in a convoy led by a Volkswagen van with a black coffin strapped to the roof. They argued that the existing law was too restrictive, forcing women to seek unregulated abortions by unqualified practioners that resulted in hundreds of deaths each year. After government representatives refused to meet with them, dozens of protesters chained themselves to chairs in the visitors' galleries of the House of Commons. [more inside]
Do you like dog?
Mum's the word
Mom Hid My Game! [Game Trailer] “Mom Hid My Game for Switch was known as Hidden My Game By Mom on phones. It’s pretty simple. Your mom hid your Nintendo DS, and you need to solve some puzzles in order to find it. By tapping on the screen to move things around or to pick up and use items, you can find where your mom has hidden your game. If your mom sees you looking for it, it’s game over.” [via: Kotaku][Available for purchase on the Nintendo Switch, but free to play on Apple iOS & Google Play Store.] [more inside]
Something new to listen to on a Sunday
It's hard to describe Brian Wright and The Sneakups' new album, Lapse Of Luxury. Maybe "Dylan and The Beatles did LSD in Nashville and hired a studio" hits the mark. The lead off track Patrick's Crossing only starts to hint at the rest of the album. Here's a live performance of the track Tractor Beam. Unfortunately not much of this truly inventive album is available on YouTube, but it's available on streaming services. Here's a Spotify link. One of the most interesting albums I've heard in a long time.
Omnigenics
The more closely geneticists look at complex traits and diseases, the harder it gets to find active genes that don’t influence them. [more inside]
Wingspan Wins Wall of 'Wards
Wingspan is a pretty popular board game. It got a NYT piece (and a MeFi FPP) after its first two print runs quickly sold out, and last week it came almost as close as a game can to sweeping the BoardGameGeek.com Golden Geek awards, winning (takes breath) Board Game of the Year, Best Artwork Presentation, Best Card Game, Best Solo Game, Most Innovative, Best Family Game, and Best Strategy Game. [more inside]
Singy Songy Sessions
Folk musicians Kate Rusby and Damien O'Kane are currently posting a home-recorded song each week. Playlist. 1. Walk the Road (and karaoke version). 2. As the Lights Go Out. 3. Blooming Heather. 4. Hunter Moon. 5. Greenfields. 6. The Yorkshire Couple. 7. We Will Sing. 8. Until Morning. [more inside]
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