March 20, 2019
I'll be Bach
JS Bach was born exactly 334 years ago, so now you can create Bach-ified harmonies on today's Google Doodle using AI. [more inside]
Say it ain't so, Joe!
Risk: Systemic Financial Collapse. Tags: Government
Spreadsheet Horror Stories "These stories illustrate common problems that occur with the uncontrolled use of spreadsheets. In many cases, we identify the area of risk involved and then say how we think the problem might have been avoided." [more inside]
I Want to Go There
Disney is adding Star Wars lands to its American parks. This TechCrunch article is an in-depth look at how they're doing it with quite a few pictures that have me really excited. The official word is that Disneyland's version will open on 5/31 and Disneyworld's debuts on 8/29. [more inside]
The British Medical Journal’s recent decision to ban formula ads
Formula Is Feminist. Her baby, her body, her breasts, her choice. It sounds obvious, but in the world of breastfeeding promotion, it has become anything but. The latest example is the British Medical Journal’s self-congratulatory announcement that the journal and its sister journals would ban formula advertising from their pages...It’s nice that they want to be part of the solution, but this action actually makes them part of a much bigger problem. Formula is a legitimate solution to what is often a serious health problem (and a feminist solution to an age-old gendered problem). The argument the BMJ has deployed to explain its decision to limit advertisements isn’t justified by the scientific evidence and instead shows its willingness to pressure women to use their bodies in culturally approved ways. [more inside]
North of Nowhere, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and South of Sirius
If you want to escape in a world of fantasies, to tromp through an imagined landscape populated by creatures and characters from ancient myths, Arthurian legends, folklore, and more contemporary nursery rhymes (Atlas Obscura), check out British author and illustrator Bernard Sleigh's 1.8 meter wide excursion into unreality, An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland, Newly Discovered and Set Forth (1925, via jjjjjjjijjjjjjj''s Big Map Blog, previously). There are also two other versions at the Library of Congress: one with slight variations and an associated booklet, and a smaller scale image, possibly an early draft, or possibly designed to be a tiled image on linen.
Classical Animation Elysium
Animated Antiquity: Cartoon Representations of Greece, Rome and Beyond by Chiara Sulprizio. "I have been a big animation fan since I was a teenager, and I am also interested in the reception of Greco-Roman culture in the modern age. I figured I would merge these two interests and that is pretty much how this project was born. I want to trace and explore the many manifestations of ancient Greece and Rome in the realm of cartoons and animation, since the inception of the medium in the late 1800s to the present day."
10 Authors with Tattoos Inspired by Their Own Books
Jane Kamensky, author of A Revolution in Color - The World of John Singleton Copley: A Boy With a Flying Squirrel (nytimes.com). Elizabeth Hand, author of Hard Light: the same phoenix in flames tattoo with the motto TOO TOUGH TO DIE as the protagonist in her book Generation Loss. Kevin Wilson, author of Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine: Buster and Annie from the cover of his book The Family Fang. Brian Keene, author of The Rising: the cover of his book 4x4 as a back piece. China Miéville, author of The Scar, Iron Council: "skulltopus". Rob Hart, author of Take-Out: tattoo inspired by the cover of his book New Yorked. Joe Clifford, author of The One That Got Away: sleeve commemorating getting two books published and major life changes. Kristen Proby, author of the Safe With Me series: one musical note for every book she has had published. Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain: Bull Mountain back piece (first session). Melissa F. Olson, author of the Old World urban fantasies: griffin back piece inspired by her book Boundary Crossed. (All links are SFW.) [more inside]
Red Light Special
“ In his 1859 preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx implies that at earlier points in its development, capitalism is still “progressive” because it produces rapid increases in productivity. There aren’t enough material goods to support everyone at this stage, so socialism would only amount to the redistribution of scarcity. But at some point, Marx argues, production increases to such a scale that it becomes possible and necessary to socialize the existing mechanisms of production and redistribute the social product fairly. This would, for some, be enough to constitute socialism: a democratically run, centrally planned economy that ensures every person’s material needs are met. A Walmart for the people, with the same low prices and efficient logistics but without the poverty wages—and no billionaires at the top raking in the profits.” The People’s Republic Of Walmart? Could large megabusinesses be a starting point for a democratically planned economy?
The Lost Futures of Mark Fisher
The Kirk Center's Ben Sixsmith reviews K-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher (1968-2017). [more inside]
Advertising Movies with the African Gaze
SOAS London is hosting an exhibition of Ghanaian film posters from the 1980s. These dramatic and highly charged images, usually some six or seven feet high, were conspicuously displayed by the roadside or in prominent public positions to alert filmgoers to the release of new films. Many of these films were made locally in Ghana or imported from Nollywood, Bollywood, and Hollywood. Their iconography emphasised the melodramatic, combining a blend of elements that drew on the local beliefs that intersected with the range of popular imported films, such as the imagery of America's Hollywood and India's Bollywood that were also shown in Ghana.
Google Stadia: Youtube for video games?
Google has announced Stadia, its platform for streaming video games. It's designed to instantly run demanding games on (and seamlessly between) ordinary PCs and mobile devices. As always, Digital Foundry gives you the performance details.
You've Come a Long Way, Buddy
Nona Willis Aronowitz on the short-lived Men's Liberation movement of the 1970s: This is the story of the few years when men tried to spark a parallel, pro-feminist movement linking the personal to the political, with varying levels of success—only for it to go very, very wrong.
🎵 Hel-lo!!
get you some data
Mass Incarceration: the Whole Pie 2019. The United States incarcerates 2.3 million people, more than any other country. Where and how does mass incarceration actually happen?
Composed By, Arranged By, Producer, Performer
Hey, wow! It entirely slipped under MY radar (and probably yours) that Vangelis released an album earlier this year. (!) Nocturne: The Piano Album is an album of, well, Vangelis playing mostly just (electric) piano. The maestro of (in his words) "playing everything at once" is focussing mainly on the simple keyboard sound, although he certainly can't resist throwing in a few other synths for texture. The program [YT playlist] is largely original compositions with some remade classic Vangelis music mixed in for good measure. Side A: Nocturnal Promenade; To The Unknown Man; Movement 9, Mythodea (piano guest - Irina Valentinova); Moonlight Reflections [more inside]
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