July 31, 2017
A desert is a place without expectation
Luca Tombolini:
In my photography I’m following a fascination for desert primordial places. No other places are so helpful in making that mind shift needed to try to enquire beyond our limited lifetime. This process implies contemplation, the Self, the Unconscious and the perceived reality. I’ve found photography particularly efficient to make considerations about time, either when it’s clearly stopping it or on the contrary when it gives the impression of compressing time as if the moment pictured could have existed forever.The photographer's website has more stunning landscapes.
Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish...
What is the flavor in bubble gum?
The power of an eyebrow pencil
"w", they shout, and "a", and "s", and "d", a mob of discordant voices
Twitch Plays Battlegrounds, in which a formless crew of chatroom drivers on a Twitch stream try to play battle royale circles-of-death surviv-o-shooter plunkbat. [more inside]
The Preserver of the Passengers
Remembering Grace Darling: Heroine and Victorian Media Sensation. At Flickering Lamps, Caroline writes about Grace Darling, a lighthouse keeper's daughter who in 1838 assisted in rescuing shipwreck survivors. "The fame of Grace Darling provides a fascinating insight into the way that the 19th Century media helped to create modern-day heroes, and how Grace's character reflected the period's idea of the virtuous woman." Additionally, you can take a virtual tour of the RNLI Grace Darling Museum here.
Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones
The Battle of Passchendaele begins One hundred years ago today British imperial forces opened the Battle of Passchendaele, attacking German positions in an effort to win Channel ports and take pressure off of the mutiny-weakened French. Attacks would go on through November over sodden, hideous terrain, involving tanks, air power, artillery, and mustard gas. Fighting nearly exhausted both sides, costing hundreds of thousands of casualties for each, and yielding several miles of territory. [more inside]
Conversations with people that hate me
"Hi. Is this Josh?"
"Yeah, it's Josh."
"Sooo. . Back in January, you wrote: You are the most pathetic human being I have ever seen on the internet in my entire life. . . . Josh, what inspired you to write that message?"
Dylan Marron* (previously) has a new series: Conversations With People That Hate Me, where he tries to get to know some of the people that have left him hateful messages. [more inside]
"Yeah, it's Josh."
"Sooo. . Back in January, you wrote: You are the most pathetic human being I have ever seen on the internet in my entire life. . . . Josh, what inspired you to write that message?"
Dylan Marron* (previously) has a new series: Conversations With People That Hate Me, where he tries to get to know some of the people that have left him hateful messages. [more inside]
🍒🍒🍒
Have you ever found an egg with two yolks? An avocado without a pit? How about an extra long French fry? If so, congratulations! You're the Winner of The Food Lottery! 🎰 But don't gloat, because for every winner there is a Loser of the Food Lottery. Someday it could be you!
“the most fascinating, best, smartest crook I ever encountered.”
Turkey one year after the failed coup
Turkey one year after the failed coup, ~28 min Deutsche Welle documentary; devotes considerable coverage to members of academia who have been imprisoned or purged, and also to "veterans" of July 15th, Turkish citizens who were injured while opposing the perpetrators of the coup
A Farewell to Screen Savers
Slate Future Tense: What Were Screen Savers? Originally a software solution to the hardware problem of burn-in on CRTs, screen savers gradually morphed from a practicality to "...artworks that we rarely thought of as art, partly because we never knew the names of the artists who had made them." After Dark was one of the most prominent, now featured in an exhibition called Sleep Mode and memorialized in Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark. [more inside]
"Cured my "fish" of its tooth, ear and foot infections - 4 Stars"
A possible consequence of high health and prescription insurance copays and premiums: some Americans appear to be ordering antibiotics online intended for ornamental aquarium fish to treat human ailments. "Because of a legal loophole, fish antibiotics, which are formulated to dissolve in a tank, do not require a veterinarian's prescription, unlike similar medications for cats, dogs and other animals." But there are a lot of reasons why this is a bad idea. [more inside]
Buried Adult
Sam Shepard, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author, actor, director, and screenwriter, died Sunday, age 73.
Jeanne Moreau 1928-2017
Show me what you got!
Master of All Science: The makers of Frinkiac and Morbotron (previously) have now made a screencap and GIF generator for Rick and Morty. Welcome to the darkest year of our adventures.
'Do you think you're homesick?' Medicine's woman problem, illustrated
Aubrey Hirsch's brilliant comic about her long, painful journey to a diagnosis hits painfully close to the bone.
17th Century Kindle
Only four copies of this traveling library were made. And two are in the US: one in California and one in Ohio. It's amazing that this has been held together for so long. It must have been put on a shelf and forgotten. Lovely workmanship.
Does Sir Mix-a-Lot even HAVE an oeuvre?
Without a major national election to watch, the analytical power of FiveThirtyEight has turned to The Ultimate Playlist of Banned Wedding Songs. [more inside]
Christmas approaches
As the nights draw in at an accelerated rate, Christmas show trailers are released, autumn fruits ripen, elves are recruited, bookings are made, events fill up and sell out, supermarkets unveil their festive food ranges and stores begin to organize for Christmas. Though on the negative side, Cadbury chocolate selections e.g. Milk Tray seems to get smaller and more expensive every year. Smart shoppers have already completed their lists, and with the big day now only 21 weeks away, Selfridges opens its festive store to cater to demand - Christmas pudding being available from this Friday. Reaction has been somewhat mixed on Twitter, while some communities are not deprived of Christmas shopping opportunities at any time. Current mood.
Close the roads so children can play in the streets
Roads should be closed regularly to allow children to play in the street as they did a generation ago, health experts have said, after a study showed pilot schemes increased youngsters’ activity five-fold. More than 500 communities in Britain have already signed up to the ‘Playing Out’ initiative, which works with local councils to temporarily pedestrianise roads for an hour or two each week to allow children to play safely near their homes.
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