July 21, 2012
"Maybe she is in a tree, he tells himself. Like a bird."
He turns to the girl. "It would be really nice," he says, "to have a cigarette now."— Sean Flynn writes the story of what happened on July 22nd a year ago [single page] when Anders Behring Breivik carried out a bomb attack and massacre in Norway that killed seventy seven people, and how those who survived and those who lost loved ones have dealt with the trauma. [Warning: It's not the easiest read, emotionally]
"Yeah," she says without looking at him.
"Do you think the shop is open?"
The girl laughs and Adrian laughs, and then they laugh about their water-wrinkled fingers and the cabaret scheduled for tomorrow night that probably won't happen, and they keep laughing, because there is nothing else to do until someone finally gets them off Utøya.
Soloautocircumnavigation and more
Software engineer Erden Eruç left in a rowboat from Bodega Bay, California on July 11, 2007, after riding his bicycle from Seattle. The goal? Human-powered circumnavigation of the globe., including climbing the highest peak on each continent, in order to educate, inspire (and raise some money for) children's organizations. On the evening of July 21, 2012, he completed his trip, mostly successfully. [more inside]
Dreamers
Theory of Mind and Belief in God
How Humankind's Theory of Mind Could Have Produced God "As a direct consequence of the evolution of the human social brain, and owing to the importance of our theory-of-mind skills in that process, we sometimes can't help but see intentions, desires, and beliefs in things that haven't even a smidgeon of a neural system... More than a few of us have kicked our broken-down vehicles in the sides and verbally abused our incompetent computers.... So it would appear that having a theory of mind was so useful for our ancestors in explaining and predicting other people's behaviors that it has completely flooded our evolved social brains. As a result, today we overshoot our mental-state attributions to things that are, in reality, completely mindless. And all of this leads us, rather inevitably, to a very important question: What if I were to tell you that God's mental states, too, were all in your mind?" [more inside]
You will believe a man can fish
While the world ponders the impact of superheroes on the population in the wake of this weekend's tragic (and still unfolding) events in Colorado, and some ponder what a return to the bad of days of comics might mean, Warner Brothers has released two slightly different trailers for their attempt at latest updating Superman for the modern era: The Man of Steel, in Pa Kent or Jor El flavours.
Via i09.
A Tall Tail
Byzantium 1200 AD
Byzantium1200 is a project to create a 3d digital map of Constantinople and its famous monuments. The Hippodrome and Agia Sophia have been modeled as they would have appeared at their height. You can even watch a video of a Hippodrome race or see the results in book form.
The Corporate Olympics
On Friday, Baron Sebastian Coe, the conservative politician, former athlete, and Nike board member who
is chair of LOCOG (the London Organizing Committee) for the 2012 games, ignited a furor
when he said anyone wearing a Pepsi T-shirt is likely to be "booted out" because it would
upset Coca-Cola, who is an official sponsor. [more inside]
Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore
"The world's super-rich have taken advantage of lax tax rules to siphon off at least $21 trillion, and possibly as much as $32tn, from their home countries and hide it abroad – a sum larger than the entire American economy." [more inside]
It's Fret Buzz!
How to get rid of that annoying Fret Buzz. Lots of serious technical information on fixing your guitar, combined with a dash of silly humor. (SLYT)
Medical Drug Policy Anemia
Anemia drugs made billions, but with what benefit and at what cost? 'For years, a trio of anemia drugs known as Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp ranked among the best-selling prescription drugs in the United States, generating more than $8 billion a year for two companies, Amgen and Johnson & Johnson. Even compared with other pharmaceutical successes, they were superstars. For several years, Epogen ranked as the single costliest medicine under Medicare: U.S. taxpayers put up as much as $3 billion a year for the drugs.' [more inside]
Dancing with the Stars
Views from the ISS at Night (Vimeo) - Knate Myers assembled this video from a series of time-lapse videos taken aboard the ISS. Plus, one of my favorite movie soundtracks! Naturally, go full-screen HD for best experience. [more inside]
Tap This - More Female Tribute Bands
Tap This : Does for Spinal Tap what a plastic surgeon does for Beverly Hills. Also: Aerochix, Hell's Belles, & Zepperella. via
Your Satudray Afternoon Cartoons or Pre-Sunday Funnies
Cartoonists on the world we live in from the GrauniadGuardian, including such obvious suspects as Nicholas "PBF" Gurewitch and Kate "Hark!" Beaton, as well as others you've probably seen before but don't recognize but should.
LET ME LOVE YOU
CAT LOVES GIRL Girl is unsure about it.
Farewell, Alex, My Friend
Our friend and comrade Alexander Cockburn died last night in Germany, after a fierce two-year long battle against cancer. His daughter Daisy was at his bedside. [more inside]
Aurochs
Heavy Breeding. "In 1920, the brothers Lutz and Heinz Heck, directors of the Berlin and Munich zoos, respectively, began a two-decade breeding experiment. Working with domestic cattle sought out for their 'primitive' characteristics, they attempted to recreate 'in appearance and behavior' the living likeness of the animals’ extinct wild ancestor: the aurochs. 'Once found everywhere in Germany,' according to Lutz Heck, by the end of the Middle Ages the aurochs had largely succumbed to climate change, overhunting, and competition from domestic breeds." [more inside]
Zakalwe enfranchised;
Guardian Book Club: Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks, Week one: John Mullan discusses the twist [more inside]
noncommutative balls in boxes
Morton and Vicary on the Categorified Heisenberg Algebra - "In quantum mechanics, position times momentum does not equal momentum times position! This sounds weird, but it's connected to a very simple fact. Suppose you have a box with some balls in it, and you have the magical ability to create and annihilate balls. Then there's one more way to create a ball and then annihilate one, than to annihilate one and then create one. Huh? Yes: if there are, say, 3 balls in the box to start with, there are 4 balls you can choose to annihilate after you've created one but only 3 before you create one..." [more inside]
You never know; this could be valuable information one day!
A time slip in "Midnight in Paris"
Woody Allen's 2011 movie Midnight in Paris tells the story of a modern-day character repeatedly finding himself in the 1920s, in a kind of temporary time travel. As it turns out, this is a real-life phenomenon known as a time slip. Perhaps the most famous documented case was from 1901, at the Palace of Versailles. [more inside]
Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.*
Prada Menswear Fall/Winter 2012 — starring Neo-Victorian gentlemen Garrett Hedlund, Gary Oldman, Jamie Bell, and Willem Dafoe. Photographed by David Sims. (*quote by Coco Chanel.)
"We could not afford to buy that much heroin."
Q: What's the connection between heroin in Glasgow and a dead goat in Turkey? A: Anthrax.
It is no great shame for an artist to be taken for a man of the wider world.
He is unknown. No name, no profession, no identifying details, but he looks out with the calm sternness of one who knows his place in the world. And because of this calmness, this sternness—the skeptical gaze and tight lips—we suspect it might be an image of the artist himself. Why Is This Man Wearing A Turban?, by Teju Cole.
"Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war."
Taking the Piss
Brandalism, a mixture of vandalism, graffit and art,i is a form of guerrilla art which recently involved 26 artists from 5 countries transforming billboards in the UK. Original post here on Dangerous Minds.
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