August 22
Python Action Team
Python wars: the snake epidemic eating away at Florida "There are tens of thousands of pythons in the Florida wild, attacking animals and damaging ecosystems – and the quest to stop them has become a collective crusade. [. . .] "the FWC (Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission) and the South Florida water management district each created independent python removal squads in 2017 of hardy, civic-minded individuals who are skilled at capturing the non-native constrictors" (SLGuardian) (CW: of course, some pictures of snakes plus some of the links in the article lead to possibly disturbing videos or articles.)
Ninja History
Only one woman had completed the American Ninja Warrior City Finals course in the history of the show, and that was Kacy Catanzaro in 2014.
[more inside]
Smell is especially important when it comes to these Dunks
Zac leans into the pair of sneakers in his hands and takes a great big whiff—the sort of noisy inhale typically reserved for fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies and the heads of newborn babies. Zac is a sneaker authenticator at Stadium Goods [... and they] are entrusting Zac’s nostrils to safeguard their investment. Today, he is eagerly hoovering the vapors from a pair of Nike x Supreme SB Dunks from 2002 that have been on a long and telling voyage—one that says a lot about the booming, and still-growing, sneaker resale industry. How a Single Pair of Sneakers Explains the Booming Billion-Dollar Sneaker Resale Industry -- Inside the wild, shockingly lucrative world of sneaker reselling. (Cam Wolf for GQ) [more inside]
A Random, Motley Crew Of Fuckups Flying Through Space
Mission to Zyxx is an improvised science fiction podcast following a team of ambassadors as they attempt to establish diplomatic relations in the remote and chaotic Zyxx Quadrant. What elevates it above other improv podcasts is an obsessive dedication to professional sound design and editing, with each 30-45 minute episode requiring up to 80 hours of post-production work. Read about the team's process here - and then get listening.
All the world’s a stage, especially when you have no job prospects
"an ultraconservative news outlet and a conspiracy warehouse"
Trump, QAnon and an impending judgment day: Behind the Facebook-fueled rise of The Epoch Times (NBC News) [more inside]
“...you can just have Cookie Monster eat whatever you’re writing about.”
"Now, as it marks its 50th anniversary — after 4,526 episodes, not to mention specials, movies, albums and more — the legacy of “Sesame [Street]” is clear: It impacted the music world as much as it shaped TV history, inspiring countless fans and generations of artists. And the show is still innovating, finding ever more ways to sing out loud." (SLNYT) [more inside]
He Hate Good Brand Design
With the relaunch of the XFL in February 2020 drawing closer, the nascent league has announced their initial eight team lineup. Needless to say, the release has resulted in panning of the new team logos, along with comparisons to the original XFL roster. [more inside]
Will no-one think of the male ultrarunners?!
Earlier this month, Ellie Pell won the Green Lakes Endurance Run 50K, finishing in 3:58:37. Pell took both the 1st Place Overall and 1st Place Female trophies, but because the overall winner was wrongly predicted to be a man, there was no 1st Place Male trophy available for Richard Ellsworth, the second place finisher. [more inside]
Miette, her eyes wide
“She also records the early advent of being online, lovingly, like a relative with a camcorder at the internet’s birth, before it grew into a brute. It helped in return to birth her voice, intense and lewd and personal, the sound of someone ripping off the tastefulness that afflicts American letters, performing the literary equivalent of that tablecloth magic trick. Though we had never met, listening to the book created the uncanny sensation I had already spoken to Lockwood for ten hours and sixteen minutes, so it felt perfectly natural when she did not offer much in the way of hellos. It just … began.” A Tortoise Stakeout With Patricia Lockwood - The Paris Review catches up with the ‘Poet Laureate Of Twitter’ while NY Mag’s The Cut talked to her about her cat’s internet fame. (Lockwood previously Previously)
"When she reaches the road, Felicity understands her fate..."
Headlights; Toward Happy Civilization; Olingiris; The Size of Things; Irman; Father Christmas Spends the Night; My Parents and My Children and To Kill a Dog are short stories by the Argentine writer Samanta Schweblin, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell, Daniel Alarcón, Kit Maude and Brendan Lanctot. "The Grimm brothers and Franz Kafka pay a visit to Argentina in Samanta Schweblin's darkly humorous tales..." blurbs J. M. Coetzee.
August 21
Bird Watching Goes Both Ways
The Shitpost Sampler (patterns on gumroad) takes the finest affirmational neo-dadaist shitpost stylings and creates patterns so people can immortalize them through cross stitch. For example: When I want an opinion I'll read it in your entrails. Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people. I refuse to die until things get better and that is a threat.
A Fireball To The Skull
A Fireball to the Skull: a love story about mental illness and RPGs. "I’m convinced those rulebooks played an important role in my recovery. I think it’s because there’s order and optimism in RPG rulebooks. Rulebooks are the marriage of the natural order inherent in story structure and math, and pure, wild imagination." From the blog Robot Goblin: Overthinking Role Playing Games Since 1983. Robot Goblin is also on Twitter.
Dog Racing Died Without A Funeral
Amendment 13 isn’t responsible for the death of dog racing. The sport has been in decline for nearly three decades. In 1991, the total amount of money gambled on dog races in the United States was $3.5 billion. By 2014, it had dropped to $500 million. . . It wasn’t until 2017 that Tom Lee, a Republican state senator from Tampa, proposed amending the state constitution to get rid of dog racing entirely. That effort became Amendment 13, and now card tables no longer need to tether their game to dog racing. The track owners got to keep the cards and get rid of the money-draining races.
a box with 48 cans of cabbage soup
The Quest to Find a Lost Arctic Explorer’s Buried Soup An "Arctic mystery" may lead to a future of food under the permafrost. [Atlas Obscura]
Once upon a time, before Cowboy Curtis...
The Pee-wee Herman Show, recorded live at the Roxy Theatre for HBO in 1981. (SFW but naughtier than Pee-wee's Playhouse.)
Not the cheapest way to get a helicopter ride
Recently, David Lesh (owner of the Virtika sportswear company) purchased a 1979 Beechcraft Bonanza. Yesterday, August 20, he crashed it in to Half Moon Bay, California. He and his passenger were unharmed, and Coast Guard SAR picked them up about 45 minutes after the accident.
Here he is talking with Aviation YouTuber Matt Guthmiller about the crash, including video of the crash itself. [more inside]
Dep’t of Corrections
The U.S. federal government issued revisions to some key economic indicators this morning: First, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its job growth figures for the past year downward by about 500,000 jobs, the largest revision since 2009. Second, the Congressional Budget Office adjusted its projection of the budget deficit in 2019 upwards by $63 billion, for a total of $960 billion, while noting that interest rates remaining lower than expected over the next decade could make up some of the difference. Third, the CBO also estimated that Trump’s planned tariffs could render U.S. GDP 0.3% lower than projected in 2019.
"You could just go and buy a submarine for $4,000"
Marine biologist Shanee Stopnitzky is on a mission to spend as much time under the ocean's surface as possible. To achieve her goal, she bought two used and broken submarines, and is fixing them up, making them functional again, learning as she goes (Wired Video, 10 minutes with English captions) She's not alone in this effort, and to that end she founded the Community Subermersibles Project, a 300-strong cooperative of volunteer engineers and fabricators dedicated to upgrading the machines and piloting them at sea, supporting the goal of submarines for the rest of us (MakeZine). [more inside]
Trails of Wind: The architecture of airport runways
R.I.P. Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda, the son of Old Hollywood royalty who helped usher in New Hollywood with Easy Rider fifty years ago, died last week at age 79. In those fifty years, he worked mostly on the fringes of Hollywood, though he experienced a notable resurgence in the late 90's with The Limey and Ulee's Gold (for which he was nominated for an Oscar).
Matrix: Resurrection
Lana Wachowski is writing and directing a fourth Matrix movie starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, with production rumoured to begin early next year. While Lilly Wachowski will not be involved, concept artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce are both set to return.
Mark Zuckerberg Is A Slumlord
In trying to make sense of Facebook and the numerous scandals that have engulfed the social media giant, it has been difficult to find a good analogy for the firm. As part of a collection of writings on alternative visions of the internet, Bryan Menegus argues that the best comparison is to the slumlords who created the tenements of the Gilded Age - and how the horrific and unsafe living spaces they created were only fixed through regulation. (SLGizmodo)
our world has become an attention battleground
20 ways to pay attention (sl medium)
August 20
Where Do Reactionary Ideas Come From?
“Beginning in the mid-20th century, the modern suburb was designed as a comfortable hideout for white America: a low-density environment with many of the conveniences of city life, but none of the friction of heterogeneity or shared space. Roads for cars replace public transit, “lifestyle” affiliations are established through consumer choices, and outsiders are barred, if not through explicitly racist rental policies then through policing. Today, one of the best predictors of one’s political orientation is the density of the neighborhood they live in; people who live in the suburbs are also more likely to get their news from broadcast and local television.“ Outer Limits: Conservative movements thrive when social media connect the suburbs (Real Life) Race And Class In The Liberal Suburbs (1:59:00) How conservative and liberal postwar suburbs have more in common then not. Dan interviews Lily Geismer, the author of ‘Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party.’ [more inside]
I love streaming. I often run into trouts.
NBA legend, bicycling enthusiast and longtime Deadhead Bill Walton announces a recent White Sox game, and we learn the record for the most strikeouts in a single inning (spoiler alert: it's three), and that rainbow is a flavor.
The scattered pages of a book by the sea
1972's Genesis was, well, it was Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hacket, and Phil Collins. It was deeply prog. Every track was an adventure. And thus we were given Foxtrot (discogs). Perhaps it's a love you've forgotten about. Perhaps you've never heard it. It's worth a listen either way. It's... well, it's 1972 Genesis. Side A: Watcher Of The Skies, Time Table, Get 'Em Out By Friday, Can-Utility And The Coastliners [more inside]
Spider-Man will leave MCU
Marvel and Sony end their partnership. The character’s cinematic future suddenly looks bleak at best.
Carillon my wayward son
A behind-the-scenes and above-the-dome tour of the University of Chicago carillon, second largest in the world, with Rob Scallon and carillonneur Joey Brink. Come for the fascinating history and trivia (there are 600 of them), stay for the improvised minor-key jam. [more inside]
The. Whole. World.
Amid ongoing criticism of high-end restaurant guides like the Michelin Guide [The New Yorker] and the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants [Eater] list, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure have teamed up to release their own, one that aims to celebrate different cultures and cuisines found across the world.
The list, along with commentary on each restaurant, is split between articles for North America, South America and Africa/Middle East [Food & Wine] and Asia/Australia and Europe [Travel + Leisure]. [more inside]
The list, along with commentary on each restaurant, is split between articles for North America, South America and Africa/Middle East [Food & Wine] and Asia/Australia and Europe [Travel + Leisure]. [more inside]
Lobotomy, lobotomy, MLS did a job on me
By Banning Protest Signs, Major League Soccer Is Trying To Lobotomize The Fandom It Asked For. "MLS and its clubs are currently embroiled in a fight against their own supporters over what the league claims are violations of its anti-politics rules. Over the last two weeks, multiple fans in multiple stadiums have been ejected for banners that run afoul of the league’s Fan Code of Conduct. There has also been a blanket ban on imagery pertaining to the Iron Front, an anti-fascist supporter group that spans across clubs." (SLDeadspin)
Steam-powered
Every year, Massachusetts offers residents a weekend free of sales tax. During this year's tax holiday, one man bought a game on Steam, but was was surprised to discover that he had been charged sales tax on the transaction anyway. He inquired with customer service as to why. They replied dutifully, citing Massachusetts General Law regarding the decision. [more inside]
The near crash of Air Canada flight 759
On the 7th of July 2017, Air Canada flight 759 lined up to land on the taxiway instead of the runway at San Francisco International Airport, in the process coming just seconds away from causing what might have been one of the worst aviation disasters in history.
co-ed prison, an impromptu wedding, a U.S. Supreme Court decision
In Sickness, In Health—and In Prison A Nebraska couple fighting to marry behind bars wouldn’t be the first: Three decades ago, two prisoners took their bid to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. [The Marshall Project] [Co-published with Longreads]
The public has a right to art: the joy and rebellion of Keith Haring
The public is being ignored by most contemporary artists. Art is for everybody. Keith Haring did much more than provide cute cartoons. He was publicly minded. His art faced outwards. He wanted to inform, to start a conversation, to question authority and convention, to represent the oppressed.
The fight to make soccer [sic] less fun
Though VAR, in the grand scheme of global politics, is not that consequential, it perfectly encapsulates this contradiction at the heart of liberal politics. Is there any better example of our present historical moment than an automated system that strives for perfect fairness in a match between a team worth billions, backed by a petro-state, and a small, community owned club facing bankruptcy?Sam Wetherell writes about how Video Assisted Refereeing is taken the fun out of football.
The American Aristotle
Charles Sanders Peirce was a brilliant philosopher, mathematician and scientist. His polymathic work should be better known (Daniel Everett, Aeon).
No longer any masters, but only slaves commanding other slaves
How Life Became an Endless, Terrible Competition: Piece in the Atlantic on the psychic cost of constructing a meritocracy.
"A person whose wealth and status depend on her human capital simply cannot afford to consult her own interests or passions in choosing her job. Instead, she must approach work as an opportunity to extract value from her human capital, especially if she wants an income sufficient to buy her children the type of schooling that secured her own eliteness. She must devote herself to a narrowly restricted class of high-paying jobs, concentrated in finance, management, law, and medicine. Whereas aristocrats once considered themselves a leisure class, meritocrats work with unprecedented intensity." [more inside]
I'm shocked - shocked - to find gambling going on in here!
One for the Rook One for the Crow
Sing As The Crow Flies is "a set of nine vocal tracks re-voicing the rural landscape, surrounding reed beds and marshes on the Norfolk/Suffolk border" by Laura Cannell and Polly Wright. It includes "One For the Rook One for the Crow," a "vocal instant composition recorded inside Raveningham Church in Norfolk in Spring 2019." The Guardian: "Cannell and Wright take as their source material a terrifying sounding 19th-century book: The Norfolk Garland: A Collection of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Proverbs, Curious Customs, Ballads and Songs of the People of Norfolk." Sing As The Crow Flies on Youtube.
Over 500 random facts from the researchers at QI
The Large Hadron Collider was turned off for a short period of time because a piece of baguette was found in the machinery. When he was bored [former American president] Calvin Coolidge used to ring a bell to summon his bodyguards and then hide from them under the Oval Office desk. There is an original Picasso that no-one will ever see because it was eaten by his dog. In 2008 the University of Bath invented a 3D printer that could print a copy of itself. Within three minutes that copy had copied itself to make a third copy and today nobody knows how many of these printers exist in the world.This is a complete list of all the facts presented on episodes 1-142 of the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, hosted by the researchers from the UK trivia game show QI.
The Joe Rogan Experience; the American Male Experience.
Where Atlantic writer Devin Gordon argues that Joe Rogan just *understands* modern men...
"Single guys. Married guys. White guys, black guys, Dominican guys. Two South Asian friends of mine swear by him. My college roommate. My little brother. Normal guys. American guys." He warns, The rest of the country should start paying attention...
Root to stalk: How to use all parts of the vegetable
When it comes to vegetables, it's all good: secondary edible parts of vegetables (University of Florida Department of Horticulture); how to prepare roots, ends and leaves (SF Gate); 11 delicious vegetable [and fruit] parts you should stop throwing away (Plated Morsel); don't trash the best part of the melon [well, maybe not best -- tl;dr: roast the seeds, they're tasty!]
Like a cursed prince in a fairy tale who wished upon a monkey's paw...
New York Magazine's "I Think About This A Lot" is dedicated to those little private fixations that play forever in our minds. In this case, about Dana Schwartz's fascination with that time Robert Pattinson made up a story on the Today show about watching a clown explode.
The Purpose of a Corporation
Nearly 200 chief executives, including the leaders of Apple, Pepsi and Walmart, tried on Monday to redefine the role of business in society — and how companies are perceived by an increasingly skeptical public. Breaking with decades of long-held corporate orthodoxy, the Business Roundtable issued a statement [PDF]on “the purpose of a corporation,” arguing that companies should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, the group said, they must also invest in their employees, protect the environment and deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers. Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say [NYT] [more inside]
VVVVVV
Dicey Dungeons is a new roguelike deck-building game where you're a walking dice from Terry Cavanagh, a single-person game developer best known for VVVVVV and Super Hexagon. Terry shares the Girls Aloud-adjacent inspiration behind Dicey Dungeons and unfinished game prototypes going back to 2002. [more inside]
Ishkur's guide to electronic music updated for 2019
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music was one of the early influential web-based guides to electronic music, spanning decades and dozens of genres. It was also an early Flash app that provided a visual interface to music and how different genres were influenced by each other with samples of prominent songs in each genre. Ishkur has updated the guide for 2019 with a new interface AND has a 2 GB 3.5 hour mix that spans decades and multiple genres.
August 19
quantum ungulations
The mysteries of space can be tragically unreachable for all but a select few. While you may not meet the requirements to be counted among their number, that's no reason to fret: if you have a compatible computer, an Xbox, or the ability to wait for the game to appear on other platforms, you can just play Outer Wilds instead. Originally discussed here in 2015, several critics agree that you should probably play the game before learning too much about it, so consider whether you'd like to watch the trailer or try it yourself before clicking through. [more inside]
San Francisco Disco Preservation Society
The mission of the San Francisco Disco Preservation Society is to collect, restore, digitize, preserve, and present historic audio and video recordings pertaining to DJ and nightclub history in San Francisco and internationally, as well as educate, inform, and entertain the public and future generations through its archives, public events, screenings, and online access to its resources. Hours and hours of themed disco! ENJOY! (Via WFMU)