January 13, 2015
We only come out at night, the days are much too bright
Projections in the Forest is a micro-scale projection video ("making of" short) that imitates a bioluminescent forest (project site), with projections to look like foxfire and such bioluminescent mushrooms, plus some animals and elements that usually don't generally glow in the dark. If you like such projection techno-magic, 3hund have a few other projection projects on their Vimeo account.
"I'll be honest: I don’t want to stay up until 4 AM any more at shows"
Music critic Sasha Frere-Jones is leaving The New Yorker to annotate lyrics at Genius. Here's his first post.
That last line sounds kind of familiar
If they say I never loved you, you know they are a liar.
Orthogonal
Greg Egan's Orthogonal Trilogy is perhaps the ultimate in hard sci-fi world building: starting by simply "changing a minus sign to a plus sign in a simple equation that governs the geometry of space-time", Mr Egan then derived, from first principles, how light, matter, energy, motion, gravity and time would work in this alternate universe. The result is 80,000 words on his web site describing the physics and cosmology of the universe (minor spoilers) and three novels: The Clockwork Rocket (extract), The Eternal Flame (extract) and The Arrows of Time (extract) [more inside]
Something cold about this investigation
Locals couldn’t understand why police hunting the murderer of a 13-year-old girl were taking DNA samples of elderly women. A high profile Italian murder investigation exposes the secrets of more than one family, with controversial collateral damage. [more inside]
How can I learn? How can I help?
"I want first to thank you, watching/reading you advocate is an inspiration. I hope to one day be as articulate and hard-working as you. If you're able, could you point me to some favorite writings on privilege/intersectionality/feminism? I'm interested to see what's inspired/informed you. Thank you!" Writer, feminist (and crafter) Ijeoma Oluo provides ten solid links to educational resources online (caveat: she does state, though, that these links barely scratch the surface.) [more inside]
Fist Full of Dollars isn't listed
Open Culture has published Akira Kurosawa’s 100 Favorite Movies
His daughter Kazuko Kurosawa described the list’s selection process:
His daughter Kazuko Kurosawa described the list’s selection process:
My father always said that the films he loved were too many to count, and to make a top ten rank. That explains why you cannot find in this list many of the titles of the films he regarded as wonderful. The principle of the choice is: one film for one director, entry of the unforgettable films about which I and my father had a lovely talk, and of some ideas on cinema that he had cherished but did not express in public. This is the way I made a list of 100 films of Kurosawa’s choice.
What's Wrong With 'All Lives Matter'?
When we are taking about racism, and anti-black racism in the United States, we have to remember that under slavery black lives were considered only a fraction of a human life, so the prevailing way of valuing lives assumed that some lives mattered more, were more human, more worthy, more deserving of life and freedom, where freedom meant minimally the freedom to move and thrive without being subjected to coercive force. But when and where did black lives ever really get free of coercive force? One reason the chant "Black Lives Matter" is so important is that it states the obvious but the obvious has not yet been historically realized. So it is a statement of outrage and a demand for equality, for the right to live free of constraint, but also a chant that links the history of slavery, of debt peonage, segregation, and a prison system geared toward the containment, neutralization and degradation of black lives, but also a police system that more and more easily and often can take away a black life in a flash all because some officer perceives a threat.George Yancy interviews Judith Butler for NYT: What's Wrong With 'All Lives Matter'? [more inside]
newborn calves are a sensitive bunch
Farm Animal Winter Wear from modern farmer. What the coziest animals are wearing this season.
By leaves we live
"Why applaud ‘cripping up’?"
“If you do a film about the Holocaust, you’re guaranteed an Oscar,” goes the famous Kate Winslet joke in Extras. The same can be said for an actor doing a film about disability. Unless you’re a disabled actor, that is. Then you’re lucky to even get the part.
vermontism
Tourist: Whaddya call that window over there?
Vermonter: Which window?
Tourist: Thanks! drives off [more inside]The confused, contradictory charm of Yerba Buena Island
A lovely meditation / photo essay about California's Yerba Buena Island.
The place of Saussure’s Memoire in historical linguistics
You may be familiar with Ferdinand de Saussure as the founder of structuralism or as one of the defining contributors to semiotics but did you know that he also did ground-breaking work in Proto-Indo-European linguistics at the age of 20? Welcome to the Laryngeal Theory. [more inside]
KidZania, KidZania, you’re always in my heart
At Kidzania, the theme-park chain where children pretend to be adults, children from Mexico to Kuwait can learn about responsibility and citizenship by renting go-karts, making Quaker granola bars, delivering packages for DHL, cleaning up dog poop, making plastic gewgaws, and flying planes, but they may not be able to answer the important questions "Is it a school? Is it a nursery? Is it some devil-run thing that isn’t acceptable in our culture?"
Abstract of Underpinning Rthymns
"In short, goats are pretty much everywhere."
Pixel's Revenge
The best team won
"Gregg Nibert had something he needed to discuss.
The Presbyterian College head basketball coach had just seen his team lose its season opener to Duke, 113–44. “We’re not 69 points worse,” Nibert would say in his post-game press conference. No one in the room cared. Nibert wasn’t the story, nor were his Blue Hose players.
“We’re never gonna forget this night,” Nibert said. He repeated it. Then he collected his box score and walked out the door. But then Nibert stopped. He had to speak for those without a voice." -- From The Cauldron, a story of a NCAA Basketball Coach who has cared for 37 foster children, and his ongoing attempts to get the sports media to care about the issue more than sports.
The Presbyterian College head basketball coach had just seen his team lose its season opener to Duke, 113–44. “We’re not 69 points worse,” Nibert would say in his post-game press conference. No one in the room cared. Nibert wasn’t the story, nor were his Blue Hose players.
“We’re never gonna forget this night,” Nibert said. He repeated it. Then he collected his box score and walked out the door. But then Nibert stopped. He had to speak for those without a voice." -- From The Cauldron, a story of a NCAA Basketball Coach who has cared for 37 foster children, and his ongoing attempts to get the sports media to care about the issue more than sports.
First on the list: Cut the disabled people
On the first day of the new Congress, a Texas Republican is leading an effort to make deep cuts in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) to take effect within about a year. Democrats appear to have little recourse due to the recent election results. Fraud in SSDI is not a major problem despite Republican claims and mythmaking by NPR and 60 Minutes. The inspector general found only about 0.4 percent of cases were approved by fraudulent judges. [more inside]
They're here. Oh god! They've found you!
Birds on a wire
Birds on a wire....."One morning while reading a newspaper, Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph of birds on an electric wire. He cut out the photo and was inspired to make a song using the exact location of the birds as musical notes. He was curious to hear what melody the birds created."
Time May Change Bowie
For David Bowie's 68th birthday (Jan. 8), artist Helen Green drew all of his hairstyles over time. The colorized, animated version is even better.
What do you anonymously send the person you can't stand?
Glitter. Piles and piles of loose, dandruffy, get-into-everything glitter. Ship your Enemies Glitter is a welcome disruption in the vengeance market. For the low, low cost of 9.95 they'll send your enemy an anonymous note buried in a mess of glitter. [more inside]
What defines Dutch cycling?
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward
We met at 18. We wed at 24. At 27 I checked my wife into a psych ward—for the first time. How mental illness reshapes a marriage. [more inside]
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