December 12, 2017
The Anarchist Bikers Who Came to Help
In November, the artist and writer Molly Crabapple spent a week in Puerto Rico documenting grassroots efforts by communities to rebuild after Hurricane Maria. Here are excerpts from her sketchbook
The Doomsday Diet
As the 1950s unfolded, it became clear that buying a few extra cans of food at the grocery store wasn’t going to feed the entire country sufficiently. In urban areas, high-rises, and many southern states where homes lacked basements, there would need to be larger government-run shelters. People couldn’t be expected to bring their own supplies and food; everything they would need had to be ready and waiting inside a shelter when nuclear war arrived. The Eisenhower administration embarked on the quest to develop the perfect “Doomsday food.”Meet the all-purpose survival cracker, the US government's Cold War-era nutrition solution for life after a nuclear blast.
The essence of joy and heartbreak
"He channeled the essence of joy and heartbreak into hook-laden three minute pop songs infused with a lifelong passion for rock & roll." Pat DiNizio, lead singer and songwriter of the Smithereens, has passed away at the age of 62. [more inside]
Is this a stain I see before me? Out, out damned spot!
How to Clean up Holiday Party messes. "TH: What other tips or tricks for the holiday party season can you give us?
JK: If I had to tell people to carry just one thing with them to handle stains on the fly, it would be hand sanitizer. Weird but true. It has a high concentration of alcohol in it, which is a very good stain remover and will work on everything from pen to food spills to blood. Not that you’d need to get blood stains out of anything during the holidays, of course."
Theater Of War
The Healing Power of Greek Tragedy: Do plays written centuries ago have the power to heal modern day traumas? A new project raises the curtain on a daring new experiment [Smithsonian Magazine lengthy article, lightly discusses PTSD from war or police violence]
The name is Finland. Tom of Finland.
Earlier this year, Finland submitted the eponymously-titled Tom of Finland as its foreign-language film entry for the 2017 Academy Awards. The film - directed by Dome Karukoski and starring Pekka Strang - is a biopic chronicling the life and artwork of Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland. It is currently screening on selected dates in the United States and Canada (direct link to trailer here) . Some links likely NSFW. [more inside]
Which famous Toronto raccoon are you?
Raccoons are some of Toronto's most famous residents. Their exploits and adventures frequently make the news. Now you can answer that age old question: Which famous Toronto raccoon are you? [more inside]
Do not need Ultraman
Rusborg (Русборг) is the largest international festival of military reenactors in Russia. Last May, during the Battle For The Bridge, one of the participants spotted a sky demon and brought it down with a mighty spear cast. The heroic deed was immortalized with a runestone. [more inside]
Foundation and Empire
Jim Simons, noted mathematician (winner of the Veblen Prize) and founder of ungodly-successful quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, is spending his retirement running an institute focusing on data analyses in support of tough scientific problems. Simons made more than $1.5 billion in 2015, despite being retired from the fund. Some of that money is going to support the private foundation the Flatiron Institute. Its mission is "to advance scientific research through computational methods, including data analysis, modeling and simulation." But what do we think of a world where patronage of science is once again passing into the capricious and unaccountable hands of the uber-wealthy? [more inside]
“I created this game for a certain kind of person...to hurt them.”
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy [YouTube][Gameplay Trailer] “Getting Over It is a game where you play as an at least partially nude man in a giant pot who navigates the world by using a sledgehammer. This is controlled entirely with the mouse, making for a rather curious control scheme as you try to drag or push yourself along. It was developed by the eponymous Bennett Foddy, who's best known for games like QWOP and CLOP and says it's meant as an homage to the 2002 game Sexy Hiking. But as you can see in the video above, playing it is a maddening, hilarious experience. You're meant to ascend a mountain to find "great mysteries and a wonderful reward," but doing so is much easier said than done. ” [via: Gamespot]
Nope nope nope nope nope
Nematomorpha - The Parasitic Worm That Turns Crickets Into Suicidal Maniacs (Matt Simon, Wired) [more inside]
Yusuf is this year's Lucia at school, as a robot
In Scandinavia, children make a Lucia procession every December 13th. This year Yusuf was able to lead the procession even though he cannot leave his home (Facebook video link)
A school teacher and a pedagogue at a special needs school in Copenhagen have a 13 year old student with a genetic mutation that has forced him to stay home in order to avoid infections. Together, they built a robot for Yusuf, so he can not only attend class online, but also go along on school outings and participate in some physical activities. [more inside]
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee dies in office
At the age of 65, the Mayor of San Francisco died unexpectedly Tuesday morning. Ed Lee was a tireless advocate for San Francisco values, and was a huge supporter of the city's Sanctuary policies. He was the first mayor of Chinese descent, a huge deal in a city with a large Asian population that has not always reckoned with its racist past. He will be missed. He is replaced until a special election by London Breed.
Computron does not enter sleep mode for 10:36:02:22
Fandom for Robots, by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Short Story) Computron feels no emotion towards the animated television show titled Hyperdimension Warp Record (超次元 ワープ レコード). After all, Computron does not have any emotion circuits installed, and is thus constitutionally incapable of experiencing “excitement,” “hatred,” or “frustration.” It is completely impossible for Computron to experience emotions such as “excitement about the seventh episode of HyperWarp,” “hatred of the anime’s short episode length” or “frustration that Friday is so far away.”
See two aitch six ohhh
Buzzfeed's Eugene Lee Yang and Kelsey Darragh drink every state's most iconic alcohol, although the definitions of "most" and "iconic" are frequently stretched to breaking (video; contains strong language). [more inside]
We're HR and We're Here to ... Ahem ... Help
The New York Times reports on the growing dissatisfaction with HR departments' responses to sexual harassment allegations. Inspired by the #MeToo movement, more victims of harassment are coming forward to report incidents after they've taken place. But story after story suggests that HR may not only be ineffective, but actually be part of the problem. [more inside]
[Puts down snifter]
Time once again for our holiday tradition: The Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog by Drew Magary. [more inside]
It's basically about the weiner dog
Earlier this year, Southern California-based sister band Haim released a video for their single "Want You Back," which demonstrated an effortless sort of swaggery cool. The video inspired parodies, most of which only highlighted how well done the original was: Some are very (intentionally?) bad. Some are bad, but earnest. Some are brief, but endearing. And one, featuring a weiner dog who transcends time and space, is very, very good. [more inside]
Kipple Field Notes
Things We Carry, by Hillary Predko [Archive]
Kipple Field Notes is a work of independent research by Hillary Predko. This work is a self directed exploration of the question: "How might we use design to reframe systems of production, products, and methods of consumption to create a paradigm of resource stewardship which could protect the biosphere and build more resilient human communities?" This work explores the concept of kipple, or useless objects, in the context of maker culture, gentrification and mass production. The following five essays explore this question in a few different ways
A few scenes of holiday shopping from yesteryear
Struggle for the Heart of Dixie
One month ago, Alabama's sleepy special election to replace Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate was rocked by bombshell underage sexual assault allegations against far-right firebrand Roy Moore, lifting Democratic challenger Doug Jones into an unthinkable lead.
But after state leaders resisted calls for Moore to drop out, GOP opposition eroded, with the most toxic elements of the party eventually giving full-throated endorsement (and $$$) to the twice-impeached theocrat.
Polls showed Moore rebounding, but the unique confluence of scandal, tribalism, enthusiasm, and high stakes in this deep red state makes turnout impossible to predict.
Polls are opening now, and close at 7PM central time -- stay tuned to see if the Yellowhammer state elects a radical child abuser... or the first Democrat in a quarter century. [more inside]
Spotify Playlists Are Extremely My Shit
Grace Spelman is obsessed with ultra-specific playlists. [All non-YouTube links are to Spotify] [more inside]
We add songs and they start playing all over the world
All borderlands hum with the frequencies of the unconscious.
Paul Scraton walks a stretch of the Irish border and reflects on the visible and invisible, past and current, borders of Europe. [more inside]
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