May 21, 2016
A pencil and a dream
Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum. "I now have over 3000 different sharpeners, with NO duplicates in here." [more inside]
Wide Awakes in America
Election season, 1860: "Stumping for the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, [a] strange movement electrified the presidential election. Young men from Bangor to San Francisco and from huge Philadelphia clubs to tiny Iowa troupes donned uniforms, lit torches, and “fell in” to pseudomilitary marching companies." The Wide Awakes, as they were known, began as escorts for Republican speakers, but as the campaign season continued, these "political police" became an intimidating presence throughout much of the nation--young, fervent brawlers and unapologetic supporters of an aggressive style of American political combat. [more inside]
Hiroshima: The New Yorker, 1946
A year after the bomb was dropped, Miss Sasaki was a crippIe; Mrs. Nakamura was destitute; Father Kleinsorge was back in the hospital; Dr. Sasaki was not capable of the work he once could do; Dr. Fujii had lost the thirty-room hospital it took him many years to acquire, and had no prospects of rebuilding it; Mr. Tanimoto’s church had been ruined and he no longer had his exceptional vitality. The lives of these six people, who were among the luckiest in Hiroshima, would never be the same.--originally published in The New Yorker, August 31, 1946.
Because rent in SF isn't high enough already
"Rentberry is a new startup that turns the rental process into a quasi-auction. (I saw this on Tumblr and I thought no way, it can’t be real, but IT’S TOTALLY REAL.) Tenants register with Rentberry, look at available listings, and bid on how much they’d be willing to pay in rent. Landlords examine all of the potential tenants and their bids, and make a decision. If you’re all “bidding on rent is a terrible idea,” I absolutely agree with you—but according to San Francisco’s Curbed blog, some people are already making bids in order to secure apartments."
J-DAR
J-DAR, presented by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, is a web app that analyzes the Jewishness of your favorite films.
Reading and Art
Do your parents know you're Ramones??
"Bloodlines make bonds irrefutable. You might hate your brother for what he's done, but you can't undo the blood; he's still your brother, you're his. A makeshift family, the kind many bands construct, may seem easier to leave behind. It's a musical partnership, a fraternity at best. But the bonds can be just as indelible, as sublime, as painful." -- The Curse of the Ramones by Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone
“...tapping and talking, browsing and clicking, scrolling and swiping.”
How Technology Is Changing Our Hands by Darian Leader [The Guardian] Doctors predict that our increasing use of computers and mobile phones will permanently alter our hands. What will this mean for the way we touch, feel and communicate? [more inside]
London's 2020 Tube trains unveiled
London takes stock for the New Tube. Revealed after three years of design work, here are the deep tube trains Londoners will be riding until the middle of the century. Although the designers are being coy over full automation - a politically sensitive area - with features like active displays replacing the internal advertising and route signage, the removal of internal car divisions, and new door designs for swifter passenger movements, the constraints of the capital's venerable tunnels and stations are being pushed as far as possible. Bonus info in article: what unique features China and New Zealand demand for their next-gen trains
So I watched Swingers many, many times
The past week was Weird 90's week at Stereogum, and they explored some of the strangest musical moments and trends of the decade. Highlights inside. [more inside]
The Replicator Can't Replicate This
Just about three years ago, Sir Patrick Stewart, hung over one morning, had his first true New York slice of pizza. Today, on Twitter: "OK - forget the pizza slice. I just ate and LOVED my very first PO' Boy. Ate it here - in LOUISIANA, what's more."
Don't Drink and Dive
To raise the public's awareness on the risks of taking a dip when intoxicated, [Swedish insurance company] Trygg-Hansa invited Stockholm Men’s Synchronized Swimming Team to participate in a little experiment. All they asked was for the three-time world champions to perform their regular, winning routine — but with one small difference. They performed drunk. [via]
Are humans unique and alone in the vast universe?
A New Empirical Constraint on the Prevalence of Technological Species in the Universe
Recent advances is exoplanet studies provide strong constraints on all astrophysical terms in the Drake Equation...We find that as long as the probability that a habitable zone planet develops a technological species is larger than ~ 10-24, then humanity is not the only time technological intelligence has evolved.(Paper published in Astrobiology [paywalled]; preprint available on arXiv) [more inside]
420
These days a smoker can order from an online head shop for his smoking paraphernalia needs. But how can you know the quality of any items you might purchase? YouTube can answer that. R3DBAND's Bong Reviews (he is a marijuana medical patient living in CO.): Some examples - DankStop Online Headshop Review w/ One12Glass, New Glass Gravity Bong, New Glass ThunderDome from SmokeCartel. [more inside]
A view from outside the Goldfish bowl.
A world war has begun. Break the silence.
In 1947, a series of National Security Council directives described the paramount aim of American foreign policy as "a world substantially made over in [America's] own image".
( John Pilger previously). [more inside]
In 1947, a series of National Security Council directives described the paramount aim of American foreign policy as "a world substantially made over in [America's] own image".
( John Pilger previously). [more inside]
"Of Albions glorious Ile the Wonders whilst I write"
Poly-Olbion is a cycle of 30 poems describing England and Wales, county by county, composed by Michael Drayton in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries. It was published in two parts, 1612 and 1622, along with sumptuous black and white maps engraved by William Hole meant to be colored in by its buyers. Now Poly-Olbion will be republished as a coloring book entitled Albions Glorious Ile. The Poly-Olbion Project website is worth exploring, as well as its blog and tumblr.
@YouNeverDidThe
Work work work work work work ... something that you've never seen
Rihanna's "Work" (explicit video) with nose twerking (Instagram)... or something (FB, original source).
Meteor Showers On Demand
For the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, forget the fireworks for the opening show... How about an on-demand meteor shower instead? [more inside]
Student food == Animator food
I'm keeping it weird, baby!
This year we've seen Batman vie with Superman (it's Just Us) and Captain America's civilized war against Iron Man, but for the greatest battle between superheroes ever captured to the screen you have to go back 20+ years to the classic-est episode of THE classic animated satirical superhero series: “The Tick vs. The Tick”. Explanation why is provided by Evan Narcisse. (hint: The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight)
"This is the gay space comic of our dreams."
Tonight I've watched / The moon and then / the Pleiades / go down...
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