January 9, 2017
and the price you pay is to cut the culture and religion
The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi Rozina Ali revisits the cultural legacy of Rumi in the West: 'The erasure of Islam from Rumi’s poetry started long before Coldplay got involved. Omid Safi, a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Duke University, says that it was in the Victorian period that readers in the West began to uncouple mystical poetry from its Islamic roots. Translators and theologians of the time could not reconcile their ideas about a “desert religion,” with its unusual moral and legal codes, and the work of poets like Rumi and Hafez. The explanation they settled on, Safi told me, was “that these people are mystical not because of Islam but in spite of it.” This was a time when Muslims were singled out for legal discrimination—a law from 1790 curtailed the number of Muslims who could come into the United States, and a century later the U.S. Supreme Court described the “intense hostility of the people of Moslem faith to all other sects, and particularly to Christians.” In 1898, in the introduction to his translation of the “Masnavi,” Sir James Redhouse wrote, “The Masnavi addresses those who leave the world, try to know and be with God, efface their selves and devote themselves to spiritual contemplation.” For those in the West, Rumi and Islam were separated.' [Rumi previously]
Holy Grail of Fashion History
A skirt believed to have belonged to Elizabeth I -- probably the one depicted in The Rainbow Portrait -- has been discovered in St. Faith's church (Bacton, Heresfordshire), serving as an altar-cloth for the last 400 years. It is the only surviving piece of clothing worn by Elizabeth I. [more inside]
Reviewing the Unreviewable Restaurant
NYT's Pete Wells, arguably the most influential restaurant reviewer in the US, visits Locol, a new restaurant venture with a significant social agenda, to bring accessible food to neighbourhoods otherwise devoid of choices. He declares the food a fail.
The LA Times' Jonathan Gold, arguably the other most influential restaurant reviewer in the US, wonders if Pete Wells has missed the point of the whole thing.
Lava + Water
Lava entering the ocean at Kamokuna viewed from the Kalapana side of the flow (flikr). For more recent lava, like another view of the ocean entry, or a lake of lava in Halema‘uma‘u, see "What's going on with the volcano?" at the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The facebook page is also quite nice.
Belief and Fear in Ungurtas
Many believe Bifatima Dualetova to be one of the last Sufi dervishes in Kazakhstan. I first met her in September 2010 while traveling in Central Asia. The locals that I was staying with in Almaty told me about a shaman woman living on the outskirts of the small village Ungurtas, close to Kyrgyzstan's border. "The last house in the village, at the foot of the 'Sacred Hill,'" they said. ...... I ended up staying with her for more than two months, from January to March 2011, documenting her rituals and practices, herding sheep, and working on my van.Photographer Denis Vejas documents the practices of one of the country's last Sufi dervishes. Russian language post (Google Translate). Note: some images of animal sacrifice.
Do what you will, just don't shutter Flickr
With the (maybe not) closing of the roughly $4.8 billion sale of its core business to Verizon Communications Inc., Yahoo says goodbye to Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, co-founder David Filo and others and changes its name to Altaba Inc. More in the small print of Form 8-K. On Flickr: the MetaFilter group, the MetaFilter HQ reception, and other search results for 'MetaFilter'.
"I haven’t worked out everything."
"...in the New Year I worked out part of what Shakespeare’s Sonnets were about one day when I was sitting around doing nothing." A Crooked Timber commenter going by "ZM" shares a theory that includes William Herbert the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Christopher Marlowe, Mary Sidney, infertility, and espionage.
The Best
Cristiano Ronaldo, Carli Lloyd and Claudio Ranieri, Silvia Neid were The Best in 2016, according to FIFA. [more inside]
The "Unbegun" Symphony
The "Unbegun" Symphony: In which Peter Schickele conducts a piece of music that is NOT by P.D.Q. Bach, but which exhibits most of the 21st Bach child's worst traits, namely plagiarism. [Ed Note: I have here skipped the mostly superfluous and very in-jokey 3rd movement and gone directly to the 4th movement. There are no first or second movements, because Schickele was born too late to compose them.]
“A winner is you!”
Steam Passes 14 Million Concurrent Users for First Time Ever [PC Gamer] “Steam has surpassed 14 million concurrent users. The milestone was hit early January 7 and peaked at 14,207,039, according to Steam's stats page. It's now back to the mid-to-high 13 millions. Unsurprisingly, Dota 2 was the game with the highest concurrent player count at the peak today with 951,942 concurrent players. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive followed with 675,195 players, while Grand Theft Auto V rounded out the top three with 116,230. It's worth underlining that concurrent users isn't the same as concurrent players. The 14,207,039 number includes users who have Steam running in the background while they're doing other things or away from the PC altogether. Still, the figure is one measurement of Steam's growth over time.”
🔘
On Saturday photographer Kaylyn Messer found a giant, near-perfect circle of ice [looped] spinning in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River near North Bend, Washington. [more inside]
Malibu Crypto
The Barbie Typewriter has a hidden built-in cryptographic capability. Specifically, four alphabet substitution cipher modes that were explained in the manual for the original Mehano electronic typewriter that served as the basis for the Barbie Typewriter. However: As it was probably thought that secret writing would not appeal to girls, the coding/decoding facilities were omitted from the [Barbie Typewriter] manual. Nevertheless, these facilities can still be accessed if you know how to activate them. Via Bruce Schneier.
The hidden artist of the Soviet space program
When Galina Balashova designed her first space habitation module for Soviet cosmonauts, she drew a landscape on its interior wall, something that could remind them of home. In a 2015 interview, she said, "When I popped by to commission the final product they asked me where to procure the painting for the wall. When I replied that it was not needed I was reproached: 'No, it’s been signed off and so we will build it exactly that way.' So I sat down one night and painted pictures for the space capsules. Usually watercolors depicting Russian countryside. They all burned to nothing on re-entry." [more inside]
There Be Ter-Dragons
Brainfilling Curves, by Jeffrey Ventrella, is an explanation and exploration of various subspecies of fractal curves, including fat dragons, Gosper islands, and the occasional aggressively self-touching specimen. Also in PDF if you like.
7 Kinds of Makeup Chemistry [8min 33sec SYTL]
Ever wondered about the chemistry of everyday makeup? Taking a look at seven different types of makeup, Youtube channel SciShow explains some typical makeup ingredients, the chemical reasons for those ingredients and the how those chemicals adhere to a face. [more inside]
You zombie, be born again my friend
Put your hands together for Steely Danzig.
The World Continues to Get Less Marvelous
Marvin Yagoda, founder and proprietor of Detroit area attraction Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (previously), has died. [more inside]
I Love the 90s
Anne Helen Peterson on going to college after the internet became a thing, but before it became *a thing*. Part of 1999 Week at Buzzfeed. [more inside]
Tunnel trees had their time & place in the history of our national parks
Tunnel trees are a thing. Created in the 19th and early 20th century to promote parks and inspire tourism. They're good for engagement, but bad for the tree. One of the last known sequoia tunnel trees was recently brought down by a storm in California. A sequoia drive-throughable tunnel log does still exist.
@tinyspires
Women Who Draw
Women Who Draw is an open directory of female professional illustrators, artists and cartoonists who take freelance work. [more inside]
WAKE ME MAYBE BECAUSE I'VE MADE MISTAKES AND I'M AN ALL STAR
The best thing you've heard all year | In which a techno-alchemist creates musical gold. The ingredients: equal parts this and this with a dash of this; mix well and serve over a tasty beat. EUREKA!
Fireflies and Biplanes
The Sky Rover travels on a glider and never stays in the same place twice. He is a free spirit and likes the unexpected aspects of life.
The Lantern Maker is a crafter who loves her work. She makes lanterns and sells them at the market as a living.
Nunumi is a story artist in the animation industry in Montréal who just published her first web comic, a simple 44 page wordless story that may be the cutest thing you see this week.
The Lantern Maker is a crafter who loves her work. She makes lanterns and sells them at the market as a living.
Nunumi is a story artist in the animation industry in Montréal who just published her first web comic, a simple 44 page wordless story that may be the cutest thing you see this week.
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