May 25, 2018
The Human Factor In The Animal’s Life
The collection of photographs [by Jayanti Seiler] are part of a photographic essay that began in 2013 titled, “Of One and The Other”, which seeks to inspire consideration of the complexity and depth found in the relationships between animals and humans from all points along a spectrum that spans the chasm from lifesaving to exploitation.
Sign Language Isn't Just for Babies
Language welcomes, but it also excludes. The fundamental injustice of the baby sign-language trend is that our culture touts the benefits of signing for hearing children, but disregards A.S.L. for the deaf children who need it the most.
[more inside]
Paperback Portals: the Legacy of Lesbian Pulp Fiction
World War II made paperback novels popular in the U.S. thanks to Armed Service Editions, which evolved from earlier failed book drives. G.I.s came back home with their little books, and wanted more. After pulp magazines died off (because of the war efforts), pulp paperbacks flourished, first with hardcover titles repackaged for an audience grown used to portable Army editions, but soon came the "lascivious and streetwise stories that made steady work for a generation of writers," including potboilers and pin-ups that showed gay and bisexual women they were not alone. [more inside]
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing it would be this: “Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood; you were always the wolf.” So when I was entrusted with the honor of speaking here today, I decided that the most important thing for me to say to you is this: BARNARD WOMEN—CLASS OF 2018—WE. ARE. THE. WOLVES.Former U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach delivers the commencement address at Barnard College. Transcript. via.
“Khajiit has wares, if you have coin.”
An appreciation of in-game shopkeepers [Engadget] “In-game shops are more than handy outlets to transform random metal scraps and tired old gear into new and useful items. Shops offer a reprieve from the action of whichever digital world you've entered, allowing you to take a moment, breathe and consider the situation from afar. Do you want to play as a gun-toting tank or a sneaky spy? Is your bow powerful enough for the battles ahead? Do you have enough health potions? Does your character look better in green or purple? Only the shop can provide the answers. Overseeing all of these calculations -- and guarding stores' impossibly large piles of loot -- are the shopkeepers.” [more inside]
How to talk to bears
What to do when there's a bear in your yard? As in any other interpersonal/ursine situation, communication is the key. Here are some practical demonstrations on how to establish boundaries with your furry neighbors. Canadians like to do it politely, while we Finns like to be a bit more assertive. Via SATW.
Two Babies and a Bride
ULC-ordained mother-to-be performs maternity ward ceremony from her hospital bed. Adorable photos of both babies included within.
Death to America
America’s Version of Capitalism Is Incompatible With Democracy "American democracy is unwell; on this much, President Trump’s detractors can agree. But when they turn to the tasks of identifying our republic’s symptoms, naming its illness, and writing a prescription, different factions of “the resistance” produce divergent diagnoses." [more inside]
I mean, Daniel Day Lewis, I think he could learn something from me.
Hot Take In The Summertime (Northern Hemisphere Edition)
The Tastes of Summer, Ranked: Peach vs. watermelon. Kielbasa vs. hot dog. Fudgsicle vs. Chipwich. New York Times food critics and writers assess the season’s peak pleasures. [No fire wall]
♣ ♢ ♠ ♡
Cardgames.io: your one-stop shop for rounds of cribbage, euchre, gin rummy, hearts, idiot, manni, classic rummy, spades, spit, switch, whist, and more. No bells, few whistles, mostly cards (plus backgammon, checkers, and Yahtzee). [more inside]
Pankaj Mishra on the absence of compassion
A Gandhian Stand Against the Culture of Cruelty. An essay by Pankaj Mishra on the importance of compassion in public life, and its absence today. "More ominously, this moral calamity in the world’s largest democracy is part of a global rout of such basic human emotions as empathy, compassion, and pity."
The Poor People's Campaign And The Religious Left
From healthcare to tax and immigration, Rev William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign are driven by faith to focus on the disadvantaged ‘Jesus never charged a leper co-pay’ (The Guardian). The revitalized Poor People’s Campaign calls for ‘a moral agenda based on fundamental rights.’ THE SOULS OF POOR FOLK is an audit of the state of poverty, systemic racism, and militarism since the last campaign 50 years ago. Find a campaign event near you.
Let's Not Play
Idle Animations, depending on who you ask, are either the animation a video game character plays when no input is given, or the animation played when no input has been received for while. Read what a number of game developers have to say about their favorites, or maybe you'd just like to sit through 20-odd minutes of sprites killing time.
Witness to Reggae – the 80s Archive
Beth Lesser's cool photographs on the Greek website, Lifo. During the 1980s, my husband and I traveled frequently to Kingston, Jamaica and Brooklyn, NY from our home in Toronto, Canada to follow the changing reggae scene. At the time, we were publishing Reggae Quarterly magazine and Dave was hosting Reggae Showcase on CKLN radio. [more inside]
What does the fox say about *this*?
Expat Wildlife Vet for Emirati Royalty (for now)
She has an astonishing resume, starting with her current job as vet to Emirati royalty's animals. Here's her Linkedin list: Stewart at linkedin
And here's one of her YouTube videos from Hawaii: Hollis on Whales
Nudge Theory
Tokyo is home to the world’s busiest train stations, handling a combined 13 billion passenger trips annually. Beneath the bustle, unobtrusive features are designed to unconsciously manipulate passenger behavior, via light, sound, and other means. [more inside]
Misinterpretative dance.
In the last several decades, performance art—or at least the evocation of “performance art”—has somewhat unexpectedly wormed its way into popular music.
Wrong sport!
"One crucial function of the brain is the retention of traumatic events and the feelings associated with them. Theoretically the function is designed to prevent us from repeating our mistakes, but more often than not it just means a flashback in the middle of Whole Foods to that one time in first grade when you called your teacher “Mom.” Certain scenarios are ripe for producing those decadeslong cringes, but the arena of childhood sports might combine all the elements necessary for a permanent scar: audiences composed of peers and strangers, shows of dexterity, the agony of adolescence." What Childhood Sports Failures Keep You Up at Night?
General Data Protection Regulation
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation has gone live today. Some American newspapers have decided that it's easier to block European users than comply. Having had two years to prepare, they say that they continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. What is the goal of the GDPR, and what impact will it have? [more inside]
Brexit bites
Mate, I really don't care. The issue of Brexit was settled almost two years ago. We have ten years from the point at which we leave the European Union to negotiate a free trade agreement. Your next ten years are irrelevant. I was not prepared to end up with absolutely the most harmful outcome imaginable. If they don't support and help Theresa May to get a deal, there is the risk of having somebody much, much more aggressive. You're deluded if you think you'll be able to blame the debacle just on them. I'm beginning to think I may have voted the wrong way. [more inside]
Five part musical harmony
Working with "Amazing Grace", musician Jacob Collier discusses and demonstrates five levels of understanding of harmony - from child level to expert (with an expert who I'll leave as a surprise). [more inside]
Omar's coming... and coming... and coming
Question Your Answers is a series of short films that 'challenge our certainties'. Michael K. Williams ‘Typecast’, Jeffrey Wright ‘Should I Be Scared?’ (mlyt)
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