January 29
tips on changing a car's tire
Well, that's rich. Or is it?
What does it mean to be rich in America, where the elite need to re-earn their position anew each day and
experience the demands of wealth without its promised sense of security and ease? [more inside]
Regional textile economies (aka soil-to-skin)
Each year, the United States produces enough wool to create millions of sweaters. But a big hunk of that wool production ends up composted or even landfilled. The Regional Fiber Manufacturing Initiative at Fibershed includes tons of research, e.g. current capabilities of Western U.S. fiber manufacturing (artisanal bottlenecks and all) and their Fiber Visions of how dogbane, wool, and cotton could honor Indigenous practices and regenerate soil health for Central & Northern California. Small wool mill Ewethful (in Oregon) on what goes into the price of a skein: 12 lbs of unprocessed wool --> skirt the wool (remove any vegetable matter, poop and/or unwanted fiber) --> 9 lbs of raw wool --> wash --> resulting in 6.5 lbs of clean wool. [more inside]
In 1183, a Chinese Poet Describes Being Domesticated by His Own Cats
In 1183, a Chinese Poet Describes Being Domesticated by His Own Cats. In Korea cat owners aren't called cat owners: they're called goyangi jibsa, literally 'cat butlers.' Clearly the idea that felines have flipped the domestic-animal script, not serving humans but being served by humans, transcends cultures.
This Is Not Laid Back
Almost ten minutes of a cutesy depressed anthropomorphic bread undergoing existential torture, a daily occurence for Bernd das Brot (previously) every night when the Kinder Kanal is not broadcasting. In German with English subtitles.
Time Sync
CERN engineer Daniel Valuch discusses synchronizing a pendulum clock with the ALPHA Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock.
Is Yunchan Lim’s Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto the greatest ever?
Yunchan Lim is South Korean pianist who June became the youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn piano competition. Among the pieces that the 18 year old player were Liszt's Transcendental Etudes and Mozart's Piano Concerto #22. Most notable however, was his performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto, which created something of a stir. [more inside]
The Violin Doctor
Monterey Park & Half Moon Bay: One week
LATimes has many news articles about what happened at Monterey Park: honoring the victims' lives, how the shooter's motives remain a mystery, whether domestic violence played a part, the deafening silence of Californian Republican politicians, and how to continue to dance and rebuild after a tragedy.
In Half Moon Bay, the shooter admits to his rage being sparked over a $100 repair bill, long hours, and being bullied at his place of employment. LATimes remembers the victims of Half Moon Bay. [more inside]
January 28
Low-income people need ‘15-minute cities’ the most
"Those who think “15-minute cities” are for wealthy urbanites should consider this graph from a recent nationwide study. It shows a powerful reverse correlation between household income and use of services and amenities within a 15-minute walk of home. In other words, the wealthier you are, the less you rely on goods and services within your immediate neighborhood or adjacent neighborhoods. (You can easily afford to drive, or take a cab or Uber/Lyft to more distant locations)." [more inside]
Free pedicures at the beach
Culture, identity, and belonging
My Son Asked For Minnie Mouse Underwear And I Realized We Have A Big Problem. If we believe in equality and inclusivity, it’s incumbent we create space early in kids’ development to experiment, experience and grow outside of narrow labels. For me and my son in that Target, these labels raised questions on why we separate genders in the first place and the ways this separation impacts how each of us sees the world.
This case is closed.
Tom Verlaine was a member of Television, the first band out of the CBGB scene in New York City to get signed to a major label. Their album Marquee Moon has been a huge influence on generations of bands. Verlaine died (non-paywalled) this morning after a brief illness.
How A24 Cinematically Highlights the Asian American Experience
New YouTuber HupahZ, whom I believe to be Asian and tried to research but got nowhere, has some insights into Asian American cinema, and specifically three A24 films. He explores how The Farewell, Minari, and Everything Everywhere All At Once are each a glimpse into the prism that is being Asian American. I really enjoyed this a lot. How A24 Cinematically Highlights the Asian American Experience [30m]
5318008
The Calculator Drawer is the Internet Archive's new collection of emulated calculators (and, in some cases, manuals.) [more inside]
A True, Truthful and Genuine Life
Adolfo Kaminsky saved thousands of Jews by changing their identities [The Economist; ungated] [more inside]
The photography of Tyre Nichols
Beyond the headlines, the man. From Heather Cox Richardson.
Ladies of Andor: A SAG-AFTRA interview
For all the Andor lovers a great interview with Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O'Reilly and Fiona Shaw by Erik Davis.
Zoo clones critically endangered Przewalski's horse using 42 yr old DNA
California zoo clones critically endangered Przewalski's horse using 42-year-old DNA. The foal, named Kurt, was born to a surrogate mother, a domestic quarter horse.
January 27
Chronophoto
Chronophoto is a game in which you guess the dates of some photos — the closer the guess, the higher your score. That's it!
They're all good dogs.
...a thrill similar to flying an F-4 fighter jet, but, um, on the ground
The Rezvani Vengeance is a quarter-million dollar SUV designed exclusively for idiots [Kotaku.com] “You know where you’re going wrong? After a long day indiscriminately firing your Beretta 1301 in the desert, you’re home chugging back your InfoWars Ultimate Bone Broth Plus, when you discover you’re all out of SSI Sight-Rite chamber cartridge laser bore sights. So you jump into your SUV to head to the nearest Dick’s Sporting Goods, right? Only, in that SUV? Is it bulletproof? Does it fire pepper spray out the wing mirrors? Does it even come with gas masks? No I don’t think it does. Which is why you want to get yourself a Rezvani Vengeance, designed by video game vehicle artist, Milen Ivanov. [...] This laughably silly vehicle, yours starting at $285,000, is made to order, and thanks to bizarre TikTok influencer videos, a demonstrably extant creation. Based on the Cadillac Escalade, your standard model comes with all the features you’d expect in your bog-standard quarter-million dollar car.”
The horse has a sensitive digestive system
Farmer, artist and writer Lynn R. Miller on working horses: "There are fewer rules to working horses and more subtleties and opportunities." A review of Miller's Art of Working Horses. "Then the seat broke and he was tossed forward under the plow, under the feet of his horses and the tongue of the plow, with one thigh up against that sharpened coulter, a steel disc meant to bite deep into sod. The horses had stopped in an instant." And another review. Archived "Ask a Teamster" [the horse driving type] columns at Small Farmers Journal, established by Miller in 1976.
Seagulls also drool, especially when eating pepperoni
In March of 2018, 18 years after being banned from the Empress Hotel in British Columbia, Novia Scotia resident Nick Burchill wrote them a letter and asked for forgiveness. In October of 2022, Benedict Cumberbatch did a dramatic reading of the letter.
Bike Lanes good? Myths about them
The Guardian posts Ten common myths about Bike Lanes, and why they're wrong.
(archive link)
And in Wired, the Battle over Bike Lanes.
(archive link) [more inside]
(archive link)
And in Wired, the Battle over Bike Lanes.
(archive link) [more inside]
The umlaut is a pain in the ass to type
The move by Mr. Erdogan’s government is unusual. It involves the difference between what linguists call the “exonym"—the name for a place or thing in other languages, and the “endonym"—the local name. [more inside]
“They weren’t actually looking at my ancestors as people.”
“My ancestors put me here,” Pappenfort said. “They came from Illinois, and it’s my responsibility to do everything I can to get them where they’re supposed to be again.” The Museum Built on Native American Burial Mounds (Logan Jaffe, ProPublica, 2023-01-27)
OK Google, Save My Life
Google researchers unveil a generative music AI, MusicLM. "We introduce MusicLM, a model generating high-fidelity music from text descriptions such as a calming violin melody backed by a distorted guitar riff'..." [more inside]
The Very Human Experience of Falling For a Robot
Aria Code podcast episode: Guys and Dolls. Host Rhiannon Giddens, along with Soprano Erin Morley, conductor Johannes Debus, machine learning researcher Caroline Sinders, and psychologist Robert Epstein explore Jacques Offenbach’s 1881 opera The Tales of Hoffmann and how its automated character Olympia echoes current day concerns about A.I. technology. [more inside]
Succession
Roxane Gay in Antarctica: The Things We Do for Love
January 26
What time is it on the Moon?
Defining lunar time is not simple. Although the definition of the second is the same everywhere, the special theory of relativity dictates that clocks tick slower in stronger gravitational fields. The Moon’s gravitational pull is weaker than Earth’s, meaning that, to an observer on Earth, a lunar clock would run faster than an Earth one. [...] “This is a paradise for experts in relativity, because you have to take into account so many things.” 1300 words from Elizabeth Gibney for Nature.
the posh and parentally blessed
[Vice] American Nepo Babies Have Nothing on the British Perhaps the British sequel to the ongoing (US-centric) nepo baby discourse, previously seen on the Blue here.
"No ideas but in things" is an idea not a thing
No the CIA Didn't Invent "Show Don't Tell". Or maybe they did? Perhaps the effects of CIA money on the Iowa Writer's Workshop are overblown, but this piece in Current Affairs makes a strong case how the CIA has influenced "literature" in America. (previously)
“...being accused of being a gamer, solve the problem like a gamer,”
The union-oriented Twitter account Daily Union Elections asked the world in a recent tweet, “Union folks, what is the best grievance/[Unfair Labor Practice] that you’ve ever won?” And the world responded in kind.
““A member was accused of playing video games on his work computer,” union organizing director Erik Strobl said. “I got him cleared by proving conclusively that the employer-provided graphics card couldn’t handle the resource-hungry game his supervisor claimed to have seen.””The worker wasn’t even playing a game, but watching “a game review on his break (which is fine),” Strobl clarified, “but he was accused of installing unauthorized third-party software on a government computer (which he 100% didn’t do and, as I showed, couldn’t have done). Zero abuse of time or state property.” [via: Kotaku]
We all know what a rotten egg smells like, right?
How Andrea Riseborough pulled off that shocking Oscar nomination
What Was Ethical Consumption Under Capitalism?
Adherence to TINECUC ["there is no ethical consumption under capitalism"] allows organizers to focus on building solidarity between workers or community members rather than buyers, whose common interests may be superficial. It is also, in a world system of production based on exploitation, a factually true statement, insofar as no purchase of anything made with exploited labor has any business branding itself “ethical.” But the unexamined phrase isn’t worth using; before people start attributing TINECUC to Marx or Lenin, we should figure out how Sandinista beans turned into Starbucks — and how anti-consumerist politics fell out of fashion on the American left.
January 25
“Everything That’s Bad, We Do in Tela"
Dan Exton, the head of research at Operation Wallacea, recalls standing on the beach in Tela with Antal for the first time and thinking there couldn’t possibly be a coral reef beneath the murky water. “I almost cancelled the dive,” he said. But as soon as he descended, Exton saw “mind-blowing coral. I’d never seen a reef like that. Everywhere you looked, something unusual was happening.” from The Mystery of the Healthy Coral Reef [Nautilus; ungated]
The little black and white movie that could
Love it or hate it, there is no denying the influence and impact of one little movie from 1994. Join everyone involved with the movie in celebrating three decades of Clerks with the late 2022 documentary We're Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today [1h13m]. Covers the entire Clerks trilogy and some of the View Askewniverse, and is mostly a lot of people amazed this even happened. And wow, a lot happened!
The Traditional Cultures Behind Genshin Impact
Open-world RPG gacha game Genshin Impact heavily draws from and features traditional cultural arts, particularly Chinese arts - such as engaging a professional Chinese Opera artist to sing for operatic character Yun Jin (live concert version). For this year's Lantern Rite (the in-game equivalent of Lunar New Year), their YouTube channel features collaborations with more traditional Chinese artisans, such as a short film set during the Shexian Lantern Festival and art handmade using Chinese woodblocks.
Japanese Music Sirens
A lengthy post at airRaidSirens.net details the mechanical Yamaha Music Sirens of Japan. These can be played with a keyboard, but sadness: "some were being removed or are going to run until they die and will not be repaired." And if they're replaced, it will naturally be with something electronic. They play familiar old tunes which signal the start of a factory's working day, etc. There's a link to a playlist embedded in the article. [more inside]
A new kind of smartwatch with a special living component
A slime mold for your wrist! By taking care of a living organism within the watch, feeding it a mixture of water and oats, users can enable the slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) to grow, forming a living wire that in turn enables a heart rate sensor. [more inside]
The end of Frank.
The biggest bank in the country did something extraordinary: It said it had been conned. JPMorgan Chase is suing Frank Financial Aid (YouTube), a higher education financial aid company it bought for $175 million in 2021. The finance company now alleges that Frank massively misrepresented its work and assets, and paid a data science professor to create millions of fake accounts. [more inside]
Dashing Diva Nails Abandoned MLM Plans After Executive Rant Sent to ALL
I'm a guy, so I have never heard of Dashing Diva, which I understand has a cult following for its high-quality pre-made nails with great color selection, and reasonable prices, and they sell direct as well as in major drugstores and supermarkets.
However, I do track MLMs at times, and I was surprised to see a mention on BehindMLM.com that DashingDivas had abandoned their attempt to go MLM after major member backlash.
And the story indeed had less to do with MLM, and more to do with one man's hubris... [more inside]
Imagine that a dead man arrives in a city.
Paul La Farge died about a week ago. He wrote strange, luminous novels, works of fiction that often did not fit easily into simple categories, and he also was an essayist. Not quite inexplicably, he became known several years ago for the publication of The Night Ocean, a metafictional novel about an author with an eldritch obsession.
"breaking ground in the field of longevity"
How to Be 18 Years Old Again for Only $2 Million a Year Middle-aged tech centimillionaire Bryan Johnson and his team of 30 doctors say they have a plan to reboot his body. [more inside]
The trunnions support the rotor in the turret structure
War Thunder is an MMO about tanks and guns and things. Its playerbase has a lot of overlap with people who use tanks and guns for a living, as evidenced by how they won't stop leaking classified documents to ask for changes to the video game. [more inside]
Ain’t It Funny How the Knight Moves?
the game's map software identifies the UN Buffer Zone as a military area
The history of Cyprus is a problem in Pokémon Go [Eurogamer] “Pokémon are banned across a sizable swathe of Cyprus. There isn't a physical wall to keep them out - at least not in most areas. But in Pokémon Go a large area across the width of the Mediterranean island is still a Pokémon no-Go area, thanks to the country's past. Before being contacted by Pokémon Go players based in Cyprus, I admit to being pretty ignorant of the island's recent history, and how its geography remains shaped by the after-effects of the country's 1974 Greek-backed coup and subsequent Turkish-led invasion. History lesson aside, the country remains divided by a United Nations Buffer Zone, a red ribbon on maps that cuts across the middle of the country. The internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus lies to the north, while in the south sits the island's larger Greek Cypriot-dominated region. Between the two sits the Buffer Zone - an area which on paper sounds like a hazard, but in reality is home to 10,000 people - where Pokémon cannot spawn naturally.”
