November 15
When will there be enough women in Congress? When there are 535
Why Aren't U.S. Workers Working? - "Labor force participation among U.S. men and women ages 25 to 54 has been declining for nearly 20 years, a stark contrast with rising participation in Canada over this period. Three-fourths of the difference between the two countries can be explained by the growing gap in labor force attachment of women. A key factor is the extensive parental leave policies in Canada. If the United States could reverse the trend in participation of prime-age women to match Canada, it would see 5 million additional prime-age workers join the labor force." [more inside]
I speak the sounds of the people of the rain
"The mountain fairy does Adams a solid, and summons a gigantic eagle!"
A thread of images from a Japanese illustrated history of America from 1861. Nick Kapur posts images from "Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi" (童絵解万国噺): "A Child's Illustrated Book of All Countries". Including: John Adams battling an enormous snake, Ben Franklin's impressive squat and more. [more inside]
Does what it says on the tin.
You like pizza. You like bananas. So you are bound to like...
Banana, peanuts, mushrooms and curry powder on a pizza? It's maybe not everyone's can of pineapple (previously) or tin of Dr. Pepper flavored baked beans, though some like banana topping occasionally in Plymouth, with blue cheese in Iceland or nutella in Belfast or chilies and bell peppers in India or with dulce de leche and caramel popcorn in Adelaide. The taste test? "This is like someone forced a smoothie on a pizza." Best covered in coleslaw and eaten on a plate with a knife and fork. But hey, healthy pizza such as Granola Crust Fruit Pizza is good for you so maybe switch? The future of hot dogs? Recipe for Mini Fruit Pizza. (also previously, some New Yorkers have opinions)
Persuasive Cartography
A collection of maps intended primarily to influence opinions or beliefs - to send or reinforce messages - rather than to communicate objective geographic information. Browse by subject. [more inside]
November 14
when you move, I'm moved
After performing a breathtaking solo dance to Hozier's hit Take Me to Church in a video directed by David LaChapelle, ballet dancer Sergei Polunin stars in the official music video to Hozier's newest single Movement (dir. Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor), only this time, he's not quite dancing by himself. [more inside]
Fursona reveal included
Tim Berners-Lee, Act Three
Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web, has some regrests. He has seen his creation debased by everything from fake news to mass surveillance. But he’s got a plan to fix it. "The power of the Web wasn’t taken or stolen. We, collectively, by the billions, gave it away with every signed user agreement and intimate moment shared with technology. Facebook, Google, and Amazon now monopolize almost everything that happens online, from what we buy to the news we read to who we like. Along with a handful of powerful government agencies, they are able to monitor, manipulate, and spy in once unimaginable ways. Shortly after the 2016 election, Berners-Lee felt something had to change, and began methodically attempting to hack his creation." [more inside]
hardy, keeps well in winter, loads o' vitamins
Descendants of the field mustard, call 'em cole crops, brassicas, crucifers, or one of their many, many names, "It is the cabbage which surpasses all other vegetables":
Of Cabbages and Kings. [more inside]
Of Cabbages and Kings. [more inside]
Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens
Where, exactly, did the idea of ancient aliens building the pyramids begin? Since the late 19th century, science fiction writers have imagined Martians and other alien lifeforms engaged in great feats of terrestrial engineering. Earlier alien theories surrounding Atlantis may have spawned fantasies about alien building. The most substantial evidence for non-earthly creatures arrived in the wake of H.G. Wells’s success. Capitalizing on the fervor surrounding Wells’s The War of the Worlds, astronomer and science fiction writer Garrett P. Serviss penned a quasi-sequel titled Edison’s Conquest of Mars in 1898.
between fabulousness and death
Trans Women, Glamour, and Death by Denny discusses the space she occupies as a trans woman and how small the space between being fabulous and being dead can get.
The Competitive Book Sorters Who Spread Knowledge Around New York
Inside an annual contest of brains, brawn, and library logistics. For the sixth time, an elite squad of 12 professional New York sorters—the fleet-fingered men and women who feed books into the machine—will compete with their counterparts from Washington State’s King County Library System to see who can process the most books in an hour. [more inside]
Now in color...
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]