December 4, 2018

Stop stacking stones and painting rocks in natural places

The balancing of stones is an elementary kind of creation, not unlike the building of sand castles. Stone stacks, or cairns, have prehistoric origins.... Contemporary stone stackers, then, are taking up the mantle of an ancient and artistic tradition. In the past decade or so, though, there has been an explosion of cairns around the world.... Park rangers, environmentalists, and hikers have all become alarmed, to varying degrees. The movement of so many stones can cause erosion, damage animal ecosystems, disrupt river flow, and confuse hikers, who depend on sanctioned cairns for navigation in places without clear trails. People Are Stacking Too Many Stones (Sophie Haigney for The New Yorker) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:39 PM PST - 77 comments

“Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!”

Watership Down [YouTube][Trailer] “It’s a tale of survival, pain, and the unyielding power of hope that rings just as true now as it did almost half a century ago. The first trailer for BBC One’s Watership Down is here, boasting an A-level cast and a powerful message about doing whatever it takes to seek a better life.” [via: io9]
posted by Fizz at 4:20 PM PST - 80 comments

A picture-perfect Hebridean island

Scottish islanders are buying out their lairds (The Economist) [more inside]
posted by bq at 1:49 PM PST - 14 comments

Nothing could be finer than North Carolina...

...in this year's Oxford American Music Issue. Notes on songs include: Tift Merritt on Elizabeth Cotten's "Holy Ghost, Unchain My Name," Rhiannon Giddens on Joe and Odell Thompson's “Lights in the Valley,” Michael Park on Ruby Johnson's “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied),” Mark Powell on Malcolm Holcombe's “You Don’t Come See Me Anymore,” and Harmony Holiday on Sun Ra and His Arkestra's (feat. June Tyson) "Somebody Else's World." [more inside]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:21 PM PST - 13 comments

"It’s a good video, I think you’ll be at least fine with it."

Kelly Conaboy (previously) ranks the top five parts of this sloth and kangaroo video.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:14 PM PST - 10 comments

The Case of the Missing Meerkitten

Was it a bird of prey? Was it a plane? The day before it was to be introduced to the public, a baby meerkat vanished from its enclosure. Perth Zoo appealed to the public. [more inside]
posted by Hypatia at 1:03 PM PST - 15 comments

Woman Astronomer's Firsts Not Credited

Cecelia Payne wrote her PhD thesis on the composition of the sun. Everybody poo-pooed her idea that it was composed of hydrogen and helium, as were other stars. Fellow astronomer Henry Norris Russell, who had doubts about her theory, persuaded Cecilia not to present her thesis, only to publish her discovery in 1930 as his own discovery. Cecilia’s 200-page long research was ignored and she was robbed of her of her due credit. [more inside]
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:57 PM PST - 16 comments

Thoughtful, Compassionate, Wrong

Ozy Frantz, who writes the blog "Thing of Things," asked their readers to list "thoughtful and compassionate people you disagree with." Here are the results. [more inside]
posted by HoraceH at 11:44 AM PST - 68 comments

I’m going to talk about abortion! ABORTION!

An interview and biography of Pat Maginnis, the founder of Society for Humane Abortion, whose legal branch would become NARAL. [more inside]
posted by zenon at 11:02 AM PST - 6 comments

Thousands of Untold Resistance Stories

Freedom on the Move from Cornell University is the first major digital database of fugitive slave ads from North America. [more inside]
posted by standardasparagus at 10:14 AM PST - 6 comments

I miss my harp

Give in to the understated allure of genteel Twitter with the self-proclaimed 20-something seabird adrift on the tides of London, Bougie London Literary Woman. [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:03 AM PST - 23 comments

We're Here - Get Used to It

It's that time of year again! While the world continues to descend into a garbage pile, amazing music continues to be made. This is the best albums lists of 2018 round-up. [more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:54 AM PST - 67 comments

Best mimicry ever

Best mimicry ever "It’s all done with color and shading: nature’s smoke and mirrors."
posted by dhruva at 9:03 AM PST - 19 comments

Remaining seeded

Native Seeds/SEARCH preserves indigenous food strains [more inside]
posted by poffin boffin at 8:29 AM PST - 5 comments

A noble warrior hero

Kree! Skrulls! Young Nick Fury! Mohawk helmet! It's all there in the new Captain Marvel trailer!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:29 AM PST - 92 comments

Irony is dead: UK food bank edition

Happy food poverty!” On BizarroIsland, Conservative MPs have been using food banks as a PR exercise. Newsworthy Claire Perry is particularly jovial, while Ross Thomson is hypocritical. The pictures have not gone down well; recently, the now-former Brexit minister said a typical food bank user is ‘someone who has a cashflow problem episodically’. Context: the UK is the 5th or 6th largest economy by GDP. Since 2010, food bank use has greatly increased; Universal Credit rollout has led to higher demand, and 4.5 million children live in poverty. Recent UN investigation: “14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty. Four million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line, and 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials.
posted by Wordshore at 2:53 AM PST - 47 comments

Finding another person to love is finding another person to lose

Viv Albertine on Dating Again in Her 50s | Groundbreaking Slits guitarist Viv Albertine writes about dating, aging, and how it feels to be a woman of a certain age in a world that we never saw coming. [more inside]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:30 AM PST - 75 comments

Chasing away individual academics is so 20th century

CEU has been forced out,” said CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff. “This is unprecedented. A U.S. institution has been driven out of a country that is a NATO ally. A European institution has been ousted from a member state of the EU. “ [more inside]
posted by kmt at 1:12 AM PST - 25 comments

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