May 10
There are infinite planets, infinite stories, and infinite possibilities
Nobel prize-winning astrophysicist Didier Queloz explores the astronomy behind Hovoyerse (developer of Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd et al)'s new interstellar turn-based RPG Honkai Star Rail.
Durham NC, USA: Did not expect to find a tuba museum.
V & E Simonetti Historic Tuba Collection Pictures from the 2016 grand opening. "We are actively acquiring instruments for the collection...contact Vince directly." [more inside]
Islam’s forgotten bohemians
"I am love’s infidel; the Muslims’ creed is no use to me.
My veins are taut like wire; I’ve no need of the Hindus’ holy belt.
So go away from my sick bed you foolish physician:
For the lovesick, the only cure is a glimpse of the beloved.
"That is why fundamentalists, whether the Pakistani Taliban, the Saudi government or ISIS, have destroyed so many Sufi shrines and places of pilgrimage. The poetry sung at those places celebrates and advances an Islam that rejects political power, an Islam incompatible with the ambitions of religious fundamentalism." [more inside]
My veins are taut like wire; I’ve no need of the Hindus’ holy belt.
So go away from my sick bed you foolish physician:
For the lovesick, the only cure is a glimpse of the beloved.
"That is why fundamentalists, whether the Pakistani Taliban, the Saudi government or ISIS, have destroyed so many Sufi shrines and places of pilgrimage. The poetry sung at those places celebrates and advances an Islam that rejects political power, an Islam incompatible with the ambitions of religious fundamentalism." [more inside]
Son House -- Full Live Performance (November 15, 1969)
"Allah is not imprisoned by the binary"
When I first spoke with wadud over Zoom, she told me she started diversifying Allah’s pronouns after teaching an undergraduate religious studies course at Virginia Commonwealth University in the late 1990s. wadud asked her students to explore the lyrics of Joan Osborne’s song, “What if God Was One of Us.” While discussing pronouns for God, the men in the class told her that they could relate to God when God was referred to as “He,” but not when God was referred to as “She.” In that moment, wadud decided to start using female pronouns for Allah, who, according to traditional Muslim teachings, transcends gender, yet has historically been described with male pronouns.Hafsa Lodi: The Muslim Women Using Feminine Pronouns for Allah.
"I tried to title this post for 20 minutes and failed"
Trigun Fan Account's Tweet Turns Queer Sci-Fi Novel Into An Amazon Bestseller. An enthusiastic tweet on Sunday from the account of one bigolas dickolas woIfwood now has the 2019 scifi novella This Is How You Lose The Time War sitting at #7 on Amazon's bestseller list. Co-author Amal El-Mohtar reacts and is interviewed. Co-author Max Gladstone says it feels like coming full circle. Bookriot: "There is something so delightful about this whole experience."
Crushed
Crushed - Imagine Dragons released a music video filmed on the front lines of Ukraine. It follows Sasha, a young boy who endured months of shelling in his town.
Heather "dooce" Hamilton has died
According to her Instagram. Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka dooce aka love of my life. July 19, 1975 - May 9, 2023. "It takes an ocean not to break." Hold your loved ones close and love everyone else.
secretly portuguese
Why Portuguese Food is Hiding Everywhere "Cultures and cuisines inspire each other all around the world, especially in the last few decades. But Portugal seems to be a special case. It's a not a cuisine that's in the spotlight a lot, yet a lot of very different countries around the world have a dish that has some sort of Portuguese influence. Today, I skim through some of the biggest examples of Portuguese food hiding in other cuisines and briefly look into the different historical reasons to how it happened."
To be more specific, he’s a surgeon.
“I AM A SURGEON!!” [Twitter] If you’ve been on social media over the past few days, you’ve probably seen an incandescent doctor (played by Freddie Highmore) yelling that he is a surgeon while an impassive Dr. Jackson Han (played by Daniel Dae Hyun Kim) watches from his desk. It’s a fascinating few seconds of television, especially when it’s been divorced of all context, then remixed, amplified, and snipped into smaller memes. Where did this even come from? The Good Doctor is a show originally adapted from the South Korean drama Good Doctor, and it aired in the United States on ABC for six seasons. [...] The clip of this scene, which has now circulated across numerous social media platforms, seems to have first been interpreted ironically on TikTok. Users initially posted it in full in late April; then it proliferated in a series of increasingly absurd edits, before making its way onto Twitter. People aren’t sharing this clip because they’re amazed by Highmore’s intense performance or the quality of the script.” [via: Polygon]
Hundreds of endangered seahorses released into the wild off NSW coast
Hundreds of endangered seahorses released into the wild off New South Wales coast. White's seahorse used to be a common sight in the waters off Sydney and Newcastle, but numbers have declined dramatically over the past 20 years. Scientists hope that might be starting to change.
MTV News to shut down as Paramount Media Networks slashes US workforce
A major Paramount division announced Tuesday it will shutter MTV News and slash its US workforce by 25%, bringing to an end the iconic music video network’s news division that once covered a range of issues from pop culture to politics and became a household name for Generation X and Millennial adolescents. [more inside]
what's red and invisible? no tomatoes
Nothing survives transcription, nothing doesn’t survive transcription: a talk (or the text thereof, and, yes yes, you're very clever, now shut up and read it) about the fundamental inability of transcription to capture that which it is transcribing, by Mefi's Own Allison Parrish.
George Santos Charged with Fraud, Money Laundering
Congressman George Santos (R-NY), who repeatedly lied about his qualifications during the election, has been charged in Federal court in a 13-count indictment: seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. Santos was arrested Wednesday morning and will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.
The charges stem from a grand jury investigation, and allege that Santos embezzled political contributions, fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits, and lied in his disclosures to the House of Representatives. [more inside]
Don’t Look Too Closely at the Charts
If there is one thing that I want you to take away from this article, it’s that venture capital firms and other heavily invested players in the crypto space should not be trusted to give us the facts on the industry they desperately need to promote. They will produce superficially objective-looking reports full of numbers and charts, but a critical reading shows just how blatantly they are manipulating numbers to arrive at the conclusions that fit their narratives. from Andreessen Horowitz's State of Crypto report: Narrative over numbers by Molly White
Here Comes the Streams
"Here Comes the Sun" is now the first song by the Fab Four to hit a billion streams on Spotify. It has been the most popular song by the band since their streaming debut on their platform since 2015.
May 9
Video clips from the coronation (with the Succession opening soundtrack)
SLYT What it says on the tin.
Listen to Wikipedia
Listen to the sound of Wikipedia's recent changes feed. (English, French, Sanskrit selected - you can choose your own filters). [more inside]
How painful it was for my parents to see me in a doctor's mask.
Vacation Baby [1h2m] is Hari Kondabolu's most recent hour of stand up comedy, from earlier this year. It's about having a new baby during a pandemic. being Asian in America, and a lot of other stuff.
It's been a long road, getting from there to here.
Remember this? The five year mission to seek out new lyrics and new dramatizations is finally over and KHAN!!! The Musical is now playing in New York!
Over-thinking a plate of beans (slurry)
Will it Tofu? is a short YouTube Playlist asking the hard-hitting question everyone needs answered. [more inside]
Certain Songs
This is the most important thing to happen in the history of the world.
The Oppenheimer trailer is here. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy as the title and historical character. [more inside]
"CNN is the most politically polarizing media source."
Trust in Media 2023: What news outlets do Americans trust most for information? A YouGov survey about 56 media outlets, of which Politico's Jack Shafer is not a big fan.
That Fucking Guy ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $5MM
Not the Beta you're thinking of (it's way better)
Technology Connections' new video is about Sony Betacam.
“I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)”
Profile of Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of Uvalde victim Lexi Rubio's mother: “Is this never going to come to an end?”
South Dallas-raised Karen Attiah on witnessing in real time the variety of social deaths that don’t get captured in victim counts or statistics, in the aftermath of the Allen TX mall shooting.
For months, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action (including families from Uvalde) have descended on the Texas State Capitol, demanding lawmakers take action on a bill to #RaiseTheAge for gun purchases. The bill advanced out of committee yesterday, finally, but still may stall before being brought to the full chamber. [more inside]
South Dallas-raised Karen Attiah on witnessing in real time the variety of social deaths that don’t get captured in victim counts or statistics, in the aftermath of the Allen TX mall shooting.
For months, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action (including families from Uvalde) have descended on the Texas State Capitol, demanding lawmakers take action on a bill to #RaiseTheAge for gun purchases. The bill advanced out of committee yesterday, finally, but still may stall before being brought to the full chamber. [more inside]
Training And Diet Are Simple Because Your Body Is Complex
Because your body is complex and redundant, training and nutrition can be simple. Short and sweet article about why you can relax about your exercise routine by Greg Nuckols at Stronger by Science. previously, previously.
The prince's ghost
$100B well spent
In Québec, A New Traffic Light Only Turns Green for Safe Drivers
Refresh your memory for the next big Zelda game.
Relive the Story of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [Story Recap Trailer][YouTube][Spoilers] “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is only a week [2 days, 16 hours, 12 min.] away from release, and many Nintendo Switch owners may be saying to themselves, “Oh, yeah, what exactly happened in Breath of the Wild?” After all, it’s been more than six years since Breath of the Wild landed on Switch (and Wii U), and a refresher may be in order. [...] To get players back up to speed for Link’s next adventure, Nintendo has condensed the story of Breath of the Wild into a six-minute video. It explains why Link was taking a 100-year nap, reminds you of Zelda’s very important role in containing the evil of Calamity Ganon, and touches on where Link and Zelda wound up at the end of the game. A good portion of Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild story recap video is about the century before the events of the game itself, and it’s pretty high-level stuff. The video doesn’t touch on many of the side characters or supplementary stories of Breath of the Wild, but it’s a solid primer for players jumping into Tears of the Kingdom.” [The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Trailers: #1 #2 #3]
«We are fucked» vs. «It’s not too late»
This is as much a problem of genre as a problem of ideology — or, more precisely, it is a problem of temporality: how we think about time. The « it’s not too late » of Earth for All misses what « we are fucked » demonstrates: a genuine grasp of tragedy. from Tragedy & farce in climate commentary by Ingo Venzke [European Review of Books; ungated]
May 8
A new documentary, "The Stones and Brian Jones" (plus, his dulcimer)
A new documentary on the founder of the Rolling Stones will be on BBC Two next week, May 15 from 9 to 10:30PM. Interview with film-maker Nick Broomfield in The Guardian, the inside story of Rolling Stone Brian Jones. "He epitomized the dazzling 60s and then was gone." But what about the kid who swiped his electric dulcimer, 1n 1966? There's [more inside]
More Evidence Discard in South Central Virginia
Questions on Virginia Police Computer Fraud Unanswered Questions into a Virginia State Police Investigation on computer fraud in small town south central Virginia are left unanswered as Special Prosecutor Michael Newman, an insider with Pittsylvania County Virginia is appointed to investigate his own. Small town good ole boyism is commonly assumed as computer forensic evidence is ignored in favor of local district attorney opinion on computer hacking techniques routinely used by police officers. In this case, there is no warrant for the computer breach and forensic evidence is discarded even with the state police.
Pod Save The UK
Pod Save The UK is an American-style political chat and humor show that just launched. Hosted by comedian Nish Kumar and journalist Coco Khan, their premiere episode Is the UK Ready to Ditch the Monarchy? [1h2m] brings in Amelia Hadfield from Surry University and Labour MP Clive Lewis to discuss the role of the monarchy in the UK in the 21st Century and how, if at all possible, they might get rid of the crown. [more inside]
Scientific Progress Goes "pspspsps"
French scientists study the important issues and have discovered the best way to call a strange cat to you. (SLGizmodo) [more inside]
"I find I have to be the sad clown."
When Driving Your Car Causes You to Sin
Love and a Peaceful World
The Day Job Has Been a Generative Force in U.S. Art
In the end, the art in Day Jobs is not demystified by its source material as much as the day jobs are remystified by artistic success. The only way for this effect not to have occurred might have been to show unfinished, unrealized, or nonexistent art: what artists couldn’t quite bring to completion, or couldn’t even start, because they were too busy with, or tired from, their jobs. But no one wants to see that, no matter how much more representative it might be. from The Art of Work by Megan Marz
May 7
Ancient human DNA extracted from 20,000-year-old deer tooth pendant
Scraps of ancient DNA coaxed out of a deer tooth pendant show it likely hung around the neck of a woman or girl around 20,000 years ago. We don't know what she looked like, but she was related to a population of humans further east of Denisova Cave in southern Siberia, in which the pendant was unearthed. (Nature article.)
Question Mark, Ohio
Question Mark, Ohio is a new immersive internet mystery from Joe Meno and Dan Sinker that attempts to recapture the wonder of the early internet; follow along on Instagram as Violet Bookman investigates the case. More about the project here and here.
Only Five To Blame
I don't know who exactly is going to watch all three hours of this, aside from me. Duran Duran: Only Five To Blame is a pop culture time capsule of a single band's career. A non-narrative documentary told entirely through popular media appearances, this is the chronicle of a band in their infancy, through into meteoric fame, across breakups and reformations, and finally into the literal present, ending on New Years Eve 2023. It's an astonishing chronological collage demonstrating the enduring capacity of a collection of art school lads from Birmingham and the power of massive egos to keep rock alive in the 2020s. [more inside]
Exploring the 90's (and others!) 'literary canon'
Matt Daniels for the Pudding used Open Syllabus to explore what books from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s are being assigned in college-level classes. It’s a fascinating look at a new “turn-of-the-century literary canon” pulling out the top ten titles for each decade, both fiction and nonfiction.
How does a book become a present-day classic, enthusiastically assigned by educators? Among the things I considered were: was it heavily awarded? Did it have an outsized impact on culture? Does it pertain to a topic that the next generation should know?[more inside]
Young Chinese Love Everything About Sweden. Except Living There.
After years working in China’s finance industry, Helen Wang was feeling on the edge of burnout. She was fed up with working grueling hours, then being expected to be on call during her precious time off. The 28-year-old wanted to find a new path: one where she could “lie flat” for a while.Then, a friend gave her a left-field suggestion: move to Sweden. On Chinese social media, Scandinavia is often portrayed as a socialist utopia — a place where women’s rights are respected, parents of young children receive lavish support, and the working culture is relatively relaxed. What better place to start over? [more inside]
"The only way to get homelessness out is to help people find housing."
'They just need a safe place to be.' How public transit became the last safety net in America (slVice)
Nüshu
Nüshu: China’s secret female-only language "Throughout history, women in rural Hunan Province used a coded script to express their most intimate thoughts to one another. Today, this once-“dead” language is making a comeback." [See also: Tan Dun's symphony Nu Shu: the Secret Songs of Women]
If you want to learn about AI killing people, “Get a Tesla”
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak owns a Tesla. “And boy, if you want a study of AI gone wrong and taking a lot of claims and trying to kill you every chance it can, get a Tesla,” Wozniak told CNN earlier this week.
Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Humphrey Bogart
In other words, this isn’t the most obvious foursome to occupy a painted, nostalgic eternity together. But now, ironically, thanks to these ubiquitous paintings, Monroe, Dean, Presley, and Bogart seem forever inseparable. So who decided on this grouping, and why? The answer is comically, unnecessarily complex. from The Hopper-Consani Connection [The Believer; ungated]