March 5, 2018
A Buzzfeed News Investigation
In Search of New Jersey's Wild Bears
"[M]y ambition to see a bear in my back yard has not been completely insane. By the latest estimate, there are about twenty-five hundred bears in New Jersey now. Wild bears. Black bears. And perhaps not a few that have immigrated from Pennsylvania in search of a better life. In recent years, bears have been spotted in every New Jersey county." John McPhee in The New Yorker
Erect without breath, As cold as death
A Dildo Maker Has Finally Determined What The Shape of Water's Fish Dick Looks Like. You're welcome. Bonus: Guillermo del Toro Spent Years Making Sure The Shape of Water's Fish Monster Had a Sexy Butt. De nada. But wait! There's more: Doug Jones Had to Poop Before Getting Into His Fishman Costume for The Shape of Water. Suksma mewali.
Why Not Me?
The Lonely Island shares their demo of their "overly ambitious" Oscar song 'Unfortunately, it wasn’t chosen because it was “financially and logistically impossible”, so for fun we thought we’d share the rough storyboards of what would have been a fully shot, star-studded music video of exorbitant cost.' Just like the blockbusters this song is an ode to. (Could have been) featuring the Four Chrises. [more inside]
it is a principle of music to repeat the theme. Repeat and repeat again
Steve Reich's 1983 composition The Desert Music was released on LP in 1985. Written for chorus, percussion, piano, and strings, it draws its text from poems by William Carlos Williams. The performance on this recording [YT playlist, ~50m] was conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Side A: First Movement (fast), Second Movement (moderate), Third Movement Part One (slow), Third Movement Part Two (moderate) [more inside]
AI Punk
Dadabots' Bot Prownies is the first punk rock album created by artificial intelligence. [more inside]
You know something, Jon Snow...
Every year, Jon Snow describes a popular song for the Big Fat Quiz of the Year and that's always been plenty funny enough, but over the past few years what has followed is pure joy... [more inside]
Weak states: Causes and consequences of the Sicilian Mafia
The Mafia is often cited as one of the main reasons why Sicily has lagged behind the rest of Italy in economic and social development. This column describes how in an environment with weak state presence, the socialist threat of Peasant Fasci organisations at the end of the 19th century induced landholders, estate managers, and local politicians in Sicily to turn to the Mafia to resist and combat peasant demands. Within a few decades, the presence of the Mafia appears to have significantly reduced literacy, increased infant mortality, limited the provision of a variety of local public goods, and may also have significantly reduced local political competition.
A world of (disco and more) sounds from Athens of the North
Need a little pick-me-up today? Try some proper rare vintage soul and disco from the label Athens of the North, a nickname for Edinburgh, Scotland, where the label is based. Euan Fryer, label head, talked about his favorite releases from his label with The Vinyl Factory back in 2015. Since then they've branched out farther, for instance two albums by Hampshire & Foat, one of nocturnal jazz bliss and and the other of hypnotic ambient folk sounds for a fictional fairy tale book, Galaxies like Grains of Sand and The Honeybear, respectively. Or just poke around their collection on Bandcamp and find your own jams.
"in my family, somewhere out there, our ghost was still alive"
There are two sides to every story; but when you run away from your family only one story remains. And that story, retold by the people you have hurt and horrified, becomes embellished and embroidered. You leave behind memories of your shortcomings and your mistakes, and you take the good times and the character strengths with you in your suitcase. Or that, at least, was what seemed to have happened with Prim. Saddest of all, as I was to discover, your story stops on the day you leave. What happens to you next – however brilliantly you do, whatever you make of yourself – happens in a parallel universe that your family are not connected with, not interested in, and not even aware of.
America’s last audience of loyal, committed TV watchers: Latinos
Why Latino Viewers Are Important for Networks Latino viewers are an increasingly important demographic for all networks. The Nielsen Company found that Hispanics in the US have over $1 trillion in purchasing power and represent more than half of US population growth between 2000-2010. Bi-lingual homes where both Spanish and English are spoken currently watch about 50% Spanish-language television, while English-dominant Hispanic households watch a mere 3% of Spanish-language TV. [more inside]
"Having a daughter makes it less likely that they keep having children."
Americans Might No Longer Prefer Sons Over Daughters. New evidence suggests a shift, possibly because of “a subtle fear of boys and the trouble they might bring.” (SLYNYT by Claire Cain Miller)
"Around the world, parents have typically preferred to have sons more than daughters, and American parents have been no different. But there are signs that’s changing. It may be because there’s less bias against girls, and possibly more bias against boys."
...and maybe some entrepreneurial expenses...
Chile wins its first foreign language film Oscar led by Daniela Vega.
Daniela Vega starred in 'A Fantastic Woman' (Una Mujer Fantástica) the first Chilean feature length film to win an Oscar (and the second award overall for the country after Historia de un Oso won for best animated short). She was also the first openly transgender presenter at the Oscars. This comes as the Chilean senate might be close to approving a Gender Identity Law which would allow her to have her ID card and passport show her actual gender and name. She's fierce, outspoken and takes no shit.
Bricksit means bricksit
In this week's episode of You Couldn't Make It Up, (previously), after easily solving the Brexit Irish border issue, Theresa/Bob/Thomas borrows more Labour policies and delivers a speech/routine in front of a "carefully" designed backdrop. This time, a somewhat unrealistic and badly timed wall. Or chimney. Will she leave or wander or be forever trapped?
(title)
RT @alexismadrigal 1/63
Retweets are Trash
A couple of months ago, I made a small tweak to my Twitter account that has changed my experience of the platform. It’s calmer. It’s slower. It’s less repetitive, and a little less filled with outrage. All of these improvements came about because I no longer see retweets.[more inside]
Last Stop for the David Bowie Museum Tour (Brooklyn)
Guardian Columnist Michele Hanson has died
'kind, clever, exccentric and sweary' Michele Hanson wrote a column for the Guardian for over 30 years. She wrote about bringing up her daughter "Treasure", teaching, living in London, pets, and looking after her mother, a respected chef who lived to be over 100. A lifelong Londoner, her writing is wry, funny, humane and urbane. Her work is characteristic of one of the best Guardian commissioning traditions, the autobiographical column, often from non-professional writers, that shines a vivid light on seemingly mundane things.
Obituary linked above, tribute from Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett. [more inside]
The Mountain Shepherds
Every autumn one of the world's most spectacular animal migrations takes place in a little-visited corner of Georgia. Tag along with one band of shepherds as they make their deadly, boozy journey from the mountains of Tusheti to the plains of Kakheti. [more inside]
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