September 25
Impressive Cheekbones If Nothing Else
Copying a mid-century stool….mid-14th century BCE
Copying a mid-century stool….mid-14th century BCE -- in which brachiopod (self-described "hobbyist woodworker") builds a stunning replica of an ancient Egyptian stool and documents the process with many photographs and charming sketches. Well worth a look for woodworkers, but even non-woodworkers will enjoy the research and reverse-engineering involved.
[via mefi projects]
Into The Woods
Stephen Sondheim wanted to something funny. After the intensity of Sunday In The Park With George, he decided to turn, again with James Lapine, to classic art. In this case, fairy tales. The resulting show, Into The Woods, is one of those truly magical creations, running for over 750 performances across nearly 2 full years on the boards. It lost the 1987 Best Musical Tony Award to Phantom, but won Best Score and Best Book and Best Actress, so. there. Here is the American Playhouse filming of the original Broadway production of Into The Woods [2h31m]. [more inside]
September 24
I figured he knew what he was talking about.
Dan Savage Revolutionized Sex. Then the Revolution Came for Him. What does he believe now? [more inside]
“The room doesn’t seem to have an exit, or even a window.”
Party Is Such Sweet Sorrow is a free, online, point-and-click ‘90s homage mystery game published by Vice.
It was designed by Anthony Smith, who you might recall from his earlier Google Docs Escape Room
It was designed by Anthony Smith, who you might recall from his earlier Google Docs Escape Room
Mississippi John Hurt Video Collection
Mississippi John Hurt Video Collection
Pretty much what it says on the tin, but, oh, the cameos — both aural and visual.
Pretty much what it says on the tin, but, oh, the cameos — both aural and visual.
We've come to take your toilet
plumbing adventures in the big apple My daughter had a similar experience last week so this kind of experience is apparently not that rare - the mind boggles...
The Digital Death of Collecting
How platforms mess with our tastes. In the era of algorithmic feeds, it’s as if the bookshelves have started changing shape on their own in real time, shuffling some material to the front and downplaying the rest like a sleight-of-hand magician trying to make you pick a specific card — even as they let you believe it’s your own choice. (Substack) (Previous Kyle Chayka posts.) [more inside]
Time for walkies
How Many Daily Steps Should You Take to Live Longer? Gretchen Reynolds for the NYT. Two studies suggest the sweet spot for longevity lies around 7,000 to 8,000 daily steps or about 30 to 45 minutes of exercise most days. [more inside]
sign read: "PERMANENTLY CLOSED." The lock on the door was busted.
Two short, bittersweet scifi stories about people changing their journeys. "Personal Trainer" by Meg Elison has a new way to exercise and a new kind of hammock to relax in. "Wait Calculation" by Derrick Boden has political intrigue aboard a generation ship.
Doctor Who: Russell T Davies returns as showrunner
Screenwriter/producer Russell T Davies, who helped revive the sci-fi series Doctor Who in 2005 will return to take over the show again next year. [more inside]
My Drowning (And Other Inconveniences)
Link to Outside article. Tim Cahill recounts his experience of drowning while on a Colorado River raft trip and the aftermath. (Archive link).
History’s most daring freediver
Natalia (Molchanov) was regarded as a sort of sage in the sport. “Freediving is not only sport,” she once said, “it's a way to understand who we are. When we go down, if we don't think, we understand we are whole. We are one with world.” Through deconcentration, a form of advanced meditation she described as having evolved from techniques used by ancient warriors, she could reset her mind and feel more prepared to take on the world. But in 2015, during a presumably routine training dive near the Mediterranean island of Formentera, she disappeared. She never resurfaced—just literally vanished into the sea. Secrets of The World’s Greatest Freediver, Alexey Molchanov, from GQ. [more inside]
Taking the Shame Out of Female Anatomy
Taking the Shame Out of Female Anatomy (SLNYT) Allison Draper loved anatomy class. As a first-year medical student at the University of Miami, she found the language clear, precise, functional.... Then one day she looked up the pudendal nerve, which provides sensation to the vagina and vulva, or outer female genitalia. The term derived from the Latin verb pudere: to be ashamed. [more inside]
That village near Gomorrah got too hot for Lot
The city’s destruction was associated with some unknown high-temperature event. An interdisciplinary research team claims that the ancient city of Tall el-Hammam (present-day Jordan) was destroyed by a meteor, or comet which detonated in mid-air. [more inside]
Thank you, Tecuelhuetzin. But our tlahtoāni is in another yāōcalli.
The old-school, side-scroller game for Android and iOS, "Yaopan. Un Juego de la Conquista" was developed by scholars at UNAM to challenge popular historical narratives. You play as a Tlaxcalan during the conquest and the fall of Tenochtitlan. (Text is in Spanish with Nahuatl words, but the game is playable without reading it.)
We need to talk about 'moderate' Democrats
Why Are Moderates Trying to Blow Up Biden's Centrist Economic Plan? [ungated] - "In attacking the Build Back Better Act, they are working against their own purported aims." [more inside]
September 23
Anita Mui
The biopic trailer of the Cantopop legend, a pet project of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragons producer and friend, Bill Kong.
Pause and calm down, not pause and reload.
The Secret To a Fight-Free Relationship. "Conventional wisdom says that venting is cathartic and that we should never go to bed angry. But couples who save disagreements for scheduled meetings show the benefits of a more patient approach to conflict." [more inside]
Dun dun dun dun...dah dah dah dah
The archive department of Fremantle Media, the company that owns the Thames Televison archive and brand, has been posting its contents the Thames TV YouTube Channel for some time. It contains playlists by subject, and a compilation of the iconic Thames Television station identification from 1968 to the 2000s. [more inside]
#deleteinstacart
Instacart workers have organized a national boycott ahead of a rumored IPO.
An open letter from Instacart Workers. They're asking all customers to delete the app until it improves dismal working conditions and reinstates a 10% tip and commission pay.
Instacart previously: Tip theft reported by Business Insider and Prop 22 ruled unconstitutional by Alameda Superior Court
The Grand Old Lady
“When we opened the back panel, it revealed an amazing array of moving relays, stepper units and scanning motors worthy of vintage mechanical telephone switching equipment. I happily let my friends play the machine while I sat in the back watching the mechanism work. Eventually, I started to manipulate it, learning how the components worked. This machine taught me Boolean logic and was the genesis of my career as a software engineer.” K Lars Lohn reverse-engineers the electromechanical brain of a 1955 United Tropicana pinball machine.
the washy center between acerbic and ambrosial
Like denim jackets and air, apples are everywhere in autumn (and also year-round, but you get it). You can almost smell the "generic apple promotion" of National Apple Month (September!) in the increasingly chilly wind! It only makes sense to rank them—all of them. Apples, ranked: An indisputable list of the best apple varietals we could get our hands on.
“Soon, you can log in to MetaFilter using your analprint”
The Verge: “The idea for an analprint was sparked by Salvador Dalí, who discovered that 'the anus has 35 or 37 creases, which are as unique as fingerprints'” Real clear science: “A team of researchers primarily based out of Stanford University has engineered a proof-of-concept smart toilet module designed to monitor a user's health based on their urine and stools.” Business Insider: “We know it seems weird, but as it turns out, your anal print is unique...” Mashable: “The so-called Precision Health Toilet is equipped with four cameras: the stool camera, anus camera, and two uroflow cameras.” Boing Boing: “Oh, and apparently one's 'analprint' is scannable and unique” (n.b. it is unclear whether it is 'analprint' or 'anal print')
Common knowledge but important nonetheless.
"I am here on business and my accountant's a real wizard."
Alexandra Erin (previously) posts short speculative fiction stories on her Patreon, including a one-sided conversation about dead people posting status updates on Facebook, a fairy tale about a healer's price, a political horror story about scars that don't go away, and a card game in space (part of a series). (Disclaimer: a friend.)
‘Iran was our Hogwarts’
my childhood between Tehran and Essex SLTheGuardian
Even though I am a portly, red-faced person with beady, pale eyes, I recognize everything about this long read, and I suspect many MeFites whose parents were immigrants will too.
Starship Impossible, or, White Giant
Remember Spamland, the bizarre 2006/2007 animated short trilogy set in a world where the gibberish they used to put in spam emails is real? Recently, its creators, The Brother McLeod, have released a twelve-part animated sci-fi comedy parodying Star Trek and its ilk, Starship Impossible. Total runtime: a little over half an hour. Contains extremely simply drawn nudity.
A Knockout (Against the Machine)
sing together
Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the universal power of the pentatonic scale. Apropos of absolutely nothing except sometimes it's good to be reminded, every 10 years or so, that it exists (previously and previouslier).
So which songs should've been on this list instead?
666 Teeth: the best metal songs EVAH!1! (Well, according to Dutch music journalist, metal podcaster and headbanger Peter van der Ploeg.)
I'll be: Your man.
Joji - Your Man - A freaking fantastic clip.
The ancient seasons of Australia
Aboriginal Australians were acutely aware of the annual cycles of their home. Researchers at the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO have compiled calendars detailing the many seasons of Australia based upon their understanding.
September 22
Ultrasonic Teabag Warhead
Is Steeping Your Balls the Future of Male Birth Control? A new male contraception prototype called COSO Contraception could provide a form of long-acting reversible birth control for men. German design graduate Rebecca Weiss won a James Dyson Award for conceiving the device, which uses ultrasound waves to temporarily halt sperm regeneration. [more inside]
The Search Engine of 1896
A Very Old Search Engine "The end of the 19th century was awash with the written word..." [more inside]
Color Is Weird
I had a chance to travel anywhere. Why did I pick Spokane? (SLNYT)
Link to NYT article Having been to Spokane on more than one occasion, I couldn't resist clicking this link. Instead of a snarky takedown, I found a poignant reflection on Covid, parenthood, and what we are leaving our children. There's also a lot about baseball :). (Mirror link) [more inside]
No One HERE Overthinks Beans
Rancho Gordo, the California-based specialty heirloom bean company, is celebrating its 20th year in business this year. The resulting press has paid homage not only to founder Steve Sando and the unlikely founding of the company, but also to Rancho Gordo's Bean Club, a subscription service treating members to a variety box of beans four times a year. More so than the beans, though, press about the Bean Club has featured another perk enjoyed by members - access to the club's private Facebook group, described by some as "the happiest place on the Internet." [more inside]
better run nazi scum
The Moomins are the ideal image for @ett_klibbkonto’s protest stickers because they highlight the fact that even the most gentle of people should not stand for fascism. from How the Moomins became an anti-fascist symbol [more inside]
The Great Calamity of the Age
An oral history of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, compiled from eyewitness accounts by Robert Loerzel.
"they were persuaded by the immediacy of suffering"
"Byzantine Empathy" is a novelette by Ken Liu about virtual reality, moral reasoning, atrocities, institutional philanthropy, geopolitics, and two very determined women at odds with each other. Content note: violence, including harm to children.
Salute the rank
New Space Force uniforms draw comparisons to 'Star Trek,' 'Battlestar Galactica' – The Hill, Michael Schnell, 09/21/2021. The Space Force enlisted rank insignia are here, and they look a lot like ‘Star Trek’: 'The Delta, of course, is pure Star Trek and everybody knows it.', Task & Purpose, Jeff Schogol, Sep 21, 2021.
You don't want this award.
September 21
"It costs less to house people than to police the unhoused."
Tiffany Ferg talks about [SLYT] influencer vanlife, the history of and discrimination against Roma, homelessness, public housing, legal and physical dangers against people who live in vehicles, and asks if van life an actual rejection of capitalism, materialism, and modern living. [more inside]
Pricking, Thumbs, etc
The Tragedy Of Macbeth from Joel Coen and A24, with Denzel and Frances and others. The teasingest of teaser trailers at 55 seconds.
Nominations for Yuletide (2021) are open
You can nominate any "small" fandom (less than 1000 works on ao3 and fanfiction.net combined) for the long-running winter holiday exchange event here! [more inside]
Living the Good Life
What does a good life look like to you? “For some, the phrase may conjure up images of a close-knit family, a steady job, and a Victorian house at the end of a street arched with oak trees. Others may focus on the goal of making a difference in the world, whether by working as a nurse or teacher, volunteering, or pouring their energy into environmental activism… [more inside]
#epikfail
On Sept 13, 2021, hackers self-identifying as "Anonymous" breached domain registrar and web services provider Epik, which provides domain name, hosting, and DNS services for a variety of clients including the Texas GOP, Gab, Parler, and 8chan, among others. [more inside]
Let them eat chipboard
Deadwood Releasing 10.9 Gigatons of Carbon Every Year – More Than All Fossil Fuel Emissions Combined [more inside]
The US Border Patrol filmed whipping migrants gathering water
On the 243rd day of Biden's presidency and the 244th day of a Democratically controlled Congress, US Border Patrol agents were filmed whipping Haitian migrants gathering water. Days earlier, the Biden administration vowed to increase deportation efforts targeting these same refugees [more inside]