November 14
Therapist Raises Bees to Use Venom to Treat Patients
"On his rooftop in the outskirts of Cairo, Omar Abulhassan raises thousands of bees -- not for the honey, but their venom." After reading about the benefits of bees in the Koran, Abulhassan, 30, decided five years ago to raise the insects and use the venom in alternative therapy. He believes bee stings can relieve pain and cure illnesses such as rheumatism.
Mohamed Abdelfattah, 29, a regular patient, said the therapy improves his mood and makes him feel healthy.
"I constantly receive treatment using bees to increase my immunity and body strength," said Abdelfattah.
THE WIZARDING WORLD IS AT RISK OF EXPOSURE – WE NEED YOUR HELP – WIZARD
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite [YouTube] Here's Your First Look At Pokémon GO Dev Niantic’s Upcoming Harry Potter AR Game.
“Please resist the urge to panic. Traces of magic are appearing across the Muggle world without warning and in a rather chaotic manner. We worry it is only a matter of time before even the most incurious Muggles catch wind of it. We call on all witches and wizards to help contain the Calamity or risk the worst of times since You Know Who. Brush up on your spells, get your wand ready, and enlist immediately.”[Official Website]
Nels!!!
RIP Katherine MacGregor, 93, best known as Harriet Oleson on the Little House on the Prairie TV show. Interview posted in 2012. She had an uncredited role as a mother in "On the Waterfront." Nellie offered her condolences, as did Laura. Fun fact: the character was never given a first name in the book, and was Margaret Owens in real life.
infuse my humble brush with POWER
Cartoonist Matthew Thurber (...) takes on the art world in his latest book Art Comic, a series of interrelated stories about the trials and tribulations of would-be artists. Megan Liberty reviews for Hyperallergic.
Kurt was really into those lilies. He had them all over the stage.
The best television episode of the 1990s starred a short, blond man and his band. On November 18, 1993, at Sony Music Studios in New York City, Nirvana took on MTV Unplugged. That night, the biggest group of the decade staged one of the most hypnotically intimate rock concerts ever captured on film.
The light at the end of the "tunnel" is a Eurostar
At the time of writing, Theresa May's cabinet is meeting to discuss a draft Brexit deal between the UK and EU, that has emerged from the "tunnel" of secret negotiations. Will it be acceptable to her cabinet, or will there be resignations? Will it pass parliament, or will it fall afoul of, well, pretty much everyone? (DUP; Scottish Tories angry over fisheries; Moderate remainer Tories; Labour; frothing crazy ERG Tories; LibDems) [more inside]
Let's talk turkey.
It's that time of year when a young person's fancy turns to thoughts of turkey. It's important to note, then, that brining turkeys is out. Low on oven space? Maybe cook that turkey outdoors. Or skip roasting it entirely. Or a bunch of other ways. Should you buy a fancy new gadget to fry your bird?
Just be careful, there's a salmonella scare going around right now.
something something virtue something
Here's 17 minutes of an old steel vice being quietly, painstakingly restored.
"You leave Tamara without ever having discovered it."
There are interesting attempts to procedurally generate realistic cities, though it turns out to still be a hard problem, as all the most famous cities in games are built by hand. The exceptions are often interesting to play with, like Wave Function Collapse [PC only] which lets you walk through an infinite and beautiful Mediterranean-style city. If you prefer overhead maps, here is an interactive in-browser fantasy generator or this approach, which generates random navigable cities. Developers keep teasing new approaches to city building however, you can see some animated GIFs generated by another interesting approach to creating a cyberpunk city, along with some procedural brutalism.
A fruit bats documentary
Getting in a Van Again (A Fruit Bats Documentary) A short film about the making of the Fruit Bats new album, featuring unwatered plants percussion and a Bastards of Young video homage in front of curtains.
A Dream of Spring
With a new preview trailer HBO have announced the date of the final season of Game of Thrones as April 2019. George R R Martins' Wildcards series of books is to get a couple of television adaptations... and the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire...? Er... er... well, there's a new history of Westeros book!
Why Doctors Hate Their Computers
"Something’s gone terribly wrong. Doctors are among the most technology-avid people in society; computerization has simplified tasks in many industries. Yet somehow we’ve reached a point where people in the medical profession actively, viscerally, volubly hate their computers." (SLNewYorker) [more inside]
God is in the Gaps
You know about Fallout 1 through 4, but what else happened on the long road to Fallout 76? Rock Paper Shotgun, a PC gaming news, review and article site since 1873, has asked actual real games historian Nate "Regular "FrogCroakley" Frog" Crowley to write, one tweet at a time, the history of Fallouts 5 through 75. Even if he weren't already two tweets in, we'd still be getting in a few floors above the ground floor, because of your previously-mentioned knowledge of Fallout 1 through 4.
30 years of American anxieties
For more than half a century, Dear Abby—America’s longest-running advice column, first penned by Pauline Phillips under the pseudonym Abigail van Buren, and today by her daughter, Jeanne—has offered counsel to thousands of worried and conflicted readers. Syndicated in more than 1,200 newspapers at the height of its popularity, it offers an unprecedented look at the landscape of worries that dominate US life. The column has been continuously in print since 1956. No other source in popular culture has elicited so many Americans to convey their earnest concerns for so long.
A data-driven analysis of 30 years of 'Dear Abby'.
A data-driven analysis of 30 years of 'Dear Abby'.
“I have no compunction about filling my pockets with croissants”
Eggs Benedict for later? Or tiny packets of Nutella? Adam Buxton asks Louis Theroux “What about twenty rolls?” While non-guests eating the hotel buffet are less shameful, is there exhilaration in filling ziploc bag and tupperware (or a holdall and trouser pockets) with cheeses and waffles? (where you can, unlike here and here) If you are more buffet and less fine dining, with a nod to a 2008 mumsnet debate, opinions are divided. For: logistics and room service charges make this the only fair option for some; better milk than in your hotel room; excess food left is thrown away or rehashed. Against: “It's all you can eat, not all you can fit in your car.”; moderation and nutrition. Related: other hotel items (slippers: yes, but flatscreen TV: no) and airport lounges with buffet-style food.
November 13
She's earned her Runway Walk Merit Badge
Pattie Gonia Is the World's First Backpacking Queen. A Nebraska-based photographer is bringing positivity and drag culture to the great outdoors—in six-inch heels. [more inside]
Protest
On March 8, 1979 seasoned Iranian photographer Hengameh Golestan (one of only a few women working as a photographer in the country) captured a protest of 100,000 Iranian women protesting the new Islamic government’s hijab law, which ordered women to wear a headscarf to leave the house.
Raise Hell and Eat Cornbread, Comrades!
A weird lookin' f*ckin' cat
"Ma! Yo, there's a stray cat outside!" [SLYT, NSFW language]
Mikutap
Enjoy the mesmerizing fun of Hatsune Miku vocaloid improvisation with bonus music-synced visuals. Click or tap around, or if you're on a computer, try hitting random keys!
The Perfect Animator's Desk
In Disney's Golden Age, a Modernist Pioneer Designed the Perfect Animator's Desk. In his latest book, Kem Weber: Mid-Century Furniture Designs for the Disney Studios, author and former Disney animator David A. Bossert offers fresh insights into the Disney-Weber relationship, particularly in the way it affected the half-dozen or so different desk styles Weber designed for character animators, layout artists, and animation directors. Naturally, Weber received a steady stream of input from Disney, but Weber also solicited ideas from one of the greatest animators of the 20th century, Frank Thomas, who used the prototype of the desk he helped Weber design—built by the Peterson Showcase & Fixture Company—to complete his work on “Pinocchio.” [more inside]
extraweg is provocation, nonconformity, risk, personality and attitude
Oliver Latta, who goes by @extraweg online (IG, FB, YT) is a German 3-D artist whose "animations are disturbing but at the same time strangely beautiful and hypnotic." A few examples: Human Paste, Daily Routine, Face Crumple, Breadxit-Discobolus On Toast
TELL THEM TO STOP LISTENING TO MY FARTS!
Anna Trupiano is a first-grade teacher at a school that serves deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students from birth through eighth grade.
Recently, a six-year-old child farted so loud in class that some of their classmates began to laugh. The child was surprised by their reaction because they didn’t know farts make a sound. This created a wonderful teaching moment for Trupiano. [more inside]
To use clarity and imagination to build hope.
Long Read: A mission for journalism in a time of crisis.
In a turbulent era, the media must define its values and principles, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner.
In a turbulent era, the media must define its values and principles, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner.
On the four original poetic codices in Old English
What Do Our Oldest Books Say About Us? "On the ineffable magic of four little manuscripts of Old English poetry." [more inside]
Modernism: Light, Air and Sun, all the foes of tuberculosis
Robert Koch discovered the tubercle bacillus in 1882 (National Institutes of Health). As germ theory became better understood, medical professionals knew that isolation was key to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. A person’s best hope for recovery was to live somewhere with plenty of fresh air, sunlight, rest, and nourishing food. The standard of care (Harvard Library) for TB was primarily environmental—and the design of sanatoria influenced Modernist architecture (NIH). How the Tuberculosis Epidemic Influenced Modernist Architecture (Elizabeth Yuko for CityLab)
Period-tracking apps are not for women
The golden age of menstrual surveillance is great for men, marketers, and medical companies. [more inside]
Jeggings, rebranded
Clothing brands have been smuggling Spandex onto the legs of unsuspecting men.
“I definitely didn’t explicitly understand what I was buying,” Austin Ray, a 36-year-old writer in Atlanta, told me. What he was buying were Gap Soft Wear Jeans in Straight Fit with GapFlex, which is a nine-word phrase to describe a two-word trend: stretch jeans. “Apparently I didn’t think too hard about what those words meant,” he said. The Sneaky Way Clothing Brands Hooked Men on Stretch Jeans
Take another puzzle piece of my art
Puzzle Montage Art by Tim Klein
"Jigsaw puzzle companies tend to use the same cut patterns for multiple puzzles. This makes the pieces interchangeable, and I sometimes find that I can combine portions from two or more puzzles to make a surreal picture that the publisher never imagined. I take great pleasure in “discovering” such bizarre images lying latent, sometimes for decades, within the pieces of ordinary mass-produced puzzles."
Some favorites: Timekeeper; The Mercy Go-Round (Sunshine & Shadow); Thaw (Warm Breath on a Winter Window); Bow Wow
"Jigsaw puzzle companies tend to use the same cut patterns for multiple puzzles. This makes the pieces interchangeable, and I sometimes find that I can combine portions from two or more puzzles to make a surreal picture that the publisher never imagined. I take great pleasure in “discovering” such bizarre images lying latent, sometimes for decades, within the pieces of ordinary mass-produced puzzles."
Some favorites: Timekeeper; The Mercy Go-Round (Sunshine & Shadow); Thaw (Warm Breath on a Winter Window); Bow Wow
The Haunting of a Dream House
One night in June 2014, Derek Broaddus went outside to check the mail. Derek and his wife had closed on the house at 657 Boulevard three days earlier and were doing some renovations before they moved in, so there wasn’t much in the mail except a few bills and a white, card-shaped envelope. It was addressed in thick, clunky handwriting to “The New Owner,” and the typed note inside began warmly: “How did you end up here? Did 657 Boulevard call to you with its force within?” [more inside]
There should be no more poaching of private companies with public funds.
Amazon's HQ2 to be split between New York and Virginia, with a smaller hub in Nashville [The Verge] “Amazon has announced that its second US headquarters will be split between two cities, with smaller-than-expected offices in the New York City borough of Queens and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia. The announcement caps a year of deliberations that saw over 200 frenzied proposals offering billions in incentives to the e-commerce giant. Amazon had promised 50,000 jobs and $5 billion of capital spending for the so-called HQ2, which will now be split equally between the two chosen locations.” [more inside]
Reds On The Rise
So, how well did Democratic Socialists Of America backed candidates do in the midterms anyway? (DSA USA) How well did criminal justice reform do at the ballot? (Twitter) 2018, The year the Democrats met the Democratic Socialists. (America Magazine) “This year, a majority of House Democratic candidates endorsed Medicare for All, according to the union National Nurses United.” (Splinter) Capitalism only works for the rich (USA Today) Regardless of elections, the American Socialist Movement isn’t going away (City Lab)
“We can’t be sued because no one believed us anyway”
Wells Fargo says its promises to restore consumer trust were just ‘puffery.’ But they look more like lies. (SL LATimes by Michael Hiltzik)
tea party with a demon
Air Traffic Con-Trolling in Flight Simulator X
Including the Paulman Acre SoCaliANTe, which yes, has ants in it
Do you like hot sauce? I mean, do you really like hot sauce? No, I mean, do you have a collection of more than 8,600 bottles of hot sauce in your living room?
Monopoly for Millennials
There have been jokes made about a version of the board game Monopoly made specifically for Millenials: Millennial Monopoly: Modern Horror Stories Comedy Central UK; Monopoly: Millennial Edition The Feed; Monopoly for Millennials Chance cards Readers Digest; Twitter... but they were just jokes, until now... [more inside]
“We Can’t Save Everyone”
The Hopeless Mission Of The Only Ship Still Rescuing Refugees: Can the Aquarius continue saving people from drowning in the Mediterranean? [more inside]
Monopoly, fascism and antitrust
Extreme economic concentration creates conditions ripe for dictatorship - "In the 1930s it contributed to the rise of fascism. Alarmingly, we are experimenting again with a monopolized economy." [more inside]
"trying to air-condition a room with the roof off"
While there are a few ideas floating around these days for removing pollutants from the air, it's still a Sisyphean task. So, how do we do the smart thing and stop creating smog in the first place? [SL Guardian]
Watch Beatboxers Break It Down Inside an M.R.I. Scanner
The research, based on scans of five different beatboxers, was presented Wednesday at the Acoustical Society of America. The scientists, with specialties in computer science, engineering and linguistics, are comparing the movements in beatboxing to those used to make speech. They hope to learn more about how the human body produces language and to develop algorithms that can accurately describe the dynamics of the vocal tract.
The Simple Joy of "No Phones Allowed"
A few nights ago I saw Jack White in concert. It was a wonderful night, and a big part of that was due to a new rule he has imposed on all his tour dates: no phones.
November 12
Reverse liposuction
The Australian freakshake (drink, dessert and topping presented colourfully in and over one glass) can contain up to 39 teaspoons of sugar, say health professionals and campaigners. BBC News: "The Toby Carvery Unicorn Freakshake is made with grape and raspberry flavoured ice cream, blackcurrant jelly pieces, milk, freshly whipped cream and topped with marshmallow, skittles and almond macaroon." Toby Carvery have also launched a Yorkshire Pudding freakshake. Though not always lucrative, other variations include Nutella (Dublin), Crème Egg (Chelmsford), 1.5 litres of thick chocolate milkshake (Dubai), cheesecake (Manchester), doughnuts (Somerset), red velvet cake (Aberdeen), vegan freakshakes and a Baileys cake-version. Best eaten with eight slices of pizza.
In the mood for some archaology tourism?
There's only one rule that I know of, babies
Today is World Kindness Day (previously). It's a good day to perform random acts of kindness, or maybe become a kindness advocate. Or at least learn about The World Kindness Movement. (Random acts of kindness previously)
What is wrong with you
Windows is awesome. Linux sucks forever. Programmers are evil. (YouTube, 40-50min each). Bryan Lunduke at LinuxFest Northwest
The fashion industry
PIKA PIKA
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu - Official Trailer The first-ever live-action Pokémon movie, “POKÉMON Detective Pikachu” stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular character in the first-ever live-action movie based on the iconic face of the global Pokémon brand—one of the world’s most popular, multi-generation entertainment properties and most successful media franchises of all time.
Do not repress the thoughts that continue to disturb you
The Stories War Tells Me
Washington has spent between $900 billion and $2 trillion in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11 and certainly killed tens of thousands of Afghans in that never-ending war. Yet, just about everything that happens there is generally ignored here. That’s perplexing in a way. After all, we could have paid for the college education of every student in America for the last 25 years with $2 trillion. [more inside]
Washington has spent between $900 billion and $2 trillion in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11 and certainly killed tens of thousands of Afghans in that never-ending war. Yet, just about everything that happens there is generally ignored here. That’s perplexing in a way. After all, we could have paid for the college education of every student in America for the last 25 years with $2 trillion. [more inside]
Rethinking Crime Photos & Rights of Nonviolent Offenders
Thanks to the internet’s meticulous record-keeping, journalists are rethinking the ethics of publishing the identities of nonviolent criminals. There is a growing movement in newsrooms across America to end the tradition of naming and shaming people for minor crimes. The advent of online news has prompted journalists to consider how such reporting can perpetuate the criminalization of nonviolent offenders far into the future, thanks to the meticulous record-keeping practices of search engines like Google.