August 20, 2016
Democrats- we put the fun back in funding!
Instead of inevitable forces, the New Liberal Economics argues that these changes are the result of the changing rules of the economy. The way that markets are structured and enforced, what the Roosevelt Institute calls the “rules” of the economy, are powerful determinants of who the economy works for.
[mechanical voice] ro. to. po.
You are a stick figure. In 3D. On squares. Don't fall down.
"The real award is the warm regard and respect of our peers and fans"
On Thursday, the 1941 Retro-Hugo Awards were presented at the 74th Worldcon. Relevant material online includes Slanology: An In-Depth Guide to A.E. van Vogt's Slan, "A Study of 'If This Goes On--'," 1950s radio adaptations of "The Roads Must Roll", comments/links on "Robbie", and Batman #1, as well as a review round-up of many finalists. The 2016 Hugo Awards ceremony set for 8pm CDT this evening will have both video and text coverage (see also #MAC2 on Twitter). The nominees have been broken down by slate at File 770, and Alexandra Erin offers timely remarks in anticipation of the outcome.
Inside the darkroom retreat movement
"A darkroom retreat is the modern day version of a yogi meditating in a cave in total darkness for an extended period...We got to reconnect with something the modern human race has completely lost touch with: just BEING. Not DOING anything…just being." [more inside]
Here, we see a mefite in her natural habitat!
Ride the Tube at 3 a.m.
Joining such cities and Berlin, Copenhagen, and — of course — New York, London inaugurates 24-hour Tube service (weekends only, limited lines).
"Because we know Pussyfoot is fine, we can laugh..."
Saturday Morning Cartoons: Feed the Kitty (1952) "This brief moment of black humor is a perfect example of how sophisticated Jones’ cartoons really were under the surface." by Brandie Ashe, The Retro Set
“A building heavy with secrets"
In 2005, junior Harvard historian Caroline Elkins's controversial first book, Imperial Reckoning: Britain's First Gulag, resurfaced the history of Britain's brutal internment camps for the ethnic group the Kikuyu, believed to be supporters of the 1950s Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya. She then found herself working for survivors of the camps in a landmark case seeking reparations from the British government. The plaintiffs were aided by the stunning discovery at the time of their case of massive archives--1.2 million files worth--held in illegal secrecy by the Foreign Office which included files systematically removed from former colonies as the British withdrew.
(Note: many of these links contain descriptions of violence against civilians.) [more inside]
"Tattoo With Heritage Since 1300"
El Hombre de 1000 Caras
MAMBO! with Luciano Rosso and Yma Súmac. Perhaps you prefer the Macarena? Don't miss his duet with a charming young lady.
There's more. [more inside]
There's more. [more inside]
From Montreal to Minnesota, by Inland Sea
"I was so used to driving and flying, my understanding of North America had become distorted. Then I took a slow boat through four Great Lakes. I saw every mile." [more inside]
Oh how I hate the morning
"Sexual pleasure as a theme in heavy metal largely died out with glam, but Type O revitalized the topic by turning the tables on the idea of the male frontman as mere sexual conqueror." Invisible Oranges: Type O Negative's October Rust turns 20.
It is as if you were playing chess
You’ve always wanted to be a chess master! But you aren’t one! Are you! Now you can at least look like one! Pretend you’re playing chess! Make moves! Act like you feel things! Smirk! Frown! Weep! Chess!
Poor Bugger Me, Gurindji
[This post includes links to names, images and audio of Aboriginal Australians who have died.]
It is fifty years this week since the start of the Wave Hill Walkoff of 1966-1975, which led to the first victory of the land-rights movement in Australia. Indigenous workers went on strike at the Vestey mega-station in Australia's Northern Territory. Walking off the job and sitting down in Daruragu country, the Gurindji people began a nine-year campaign to regain control of their land. To mark the occasion, I give you Gurindji Blues, recorded during that struggle in 1971 by Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Vincent Lingiari and written by Ted Egan. I have long lost my copy of this single and wanted to hear it again tonight. Thanks internet! [more inside]
Fictitious Feasts
A series of pictures of food as eaten in world famous scenes in literature. Charles Roux creates these fictitious meals, photographs them and then eats them. His goal is to collect the photographs in a book, putting the meals back on paper, where they belong.
there exists no evidence for ontological nihilism...
John O'Leary Hawthorne and Andrew Cortens:
TOWADS AN ONTOLOGICAL NIHILISM (JSTOR, Springer, Academia.edu )In this paper, we wish to motivate a radical cluster of metaphysical pictures that have tempted philosohpers from a variety of traditions. These pictures share one important theme - they refuse to accord countable entities any place in the fundamental scheme of things. Put another way, they all suggest that the concept of an object has no place in a perspicuous characterization of reality. Such pictures suffer from a number of fairly obvious prima facie difficulties. They seem to fly in the face of common sense. They seem to suggest that just about everything we say is false. They seem to gesture at a noumenal reality that human language is unable to describe. And so on. Our aim is to meet such difficulties head on, and by doing so, vindicate this sort of radical picture as one that deserves to be taken seriously.[more inside]
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