December 12, 2021

Recording...

"Unless we dramatically transform our way of life, climate change and other man-made perils will cause our civilisation to crash. Earth’s Black Box will record every step we take towards this catastrophe… The purpose of the device is to provide an unbiased account of the events that lead to the demise of the planet, hold accountability for future generations, and inspire urgent action. How the story ends is completely up to us. Only one thing is certain, your actions, inactions, and interactions are now being recorded.” [more inside]
posted by Thella at 11:36 PM PST - 30 comments

Barrelworks

Dutch flugelhornist and barrel organist Reinier Sijpkens accompanies himself on Philip Glass's Etudes 1 and 2 . [more inside]
posted by waninggibbon at 5:37 PM PST - 19 comments

Ashe, the Power to Make Things Happen

A giant in the study of African art has left us. Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson - also known as "Funky Bob" and "Master T" - has died at 88. A legendary scholar as well as lecturer, Thompson coined the phrase "Black Atlantic" civilization and was widely known for decades for his advocacy of the importance of the arts of Africa and its diaspora.
posted by PhineasGage at 4:24 PM PST - 10 comments

Jingle Hell

"This is the true dark side of Christmas, the proper soundtrack to the lights that flash in call centres and the marriages that end in the kitchens of family gatherings." Tariq Goddard reviews this year's Christmas Music for The Quietus.
posted by misteraitch at 2:31 PM PST - 41 comments

Max Max Max Super Max Max Max Super Super Max Max Max

Max Verstappen is the 2021 F1 World Champion. Sergio Perez brilliantly blocked Lewis Hamilton for over two minutes turning an 8.5 second gap between Verstappen and Hamilton into a 1.05 second gap and the final lap with that incredible overtake and subsequent defense.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 11:59 AM PST - 98 comments

The Four Corners potato

Solanum jamesii, aka the Four Corners potato, has sustained Indigenous people in the American Southwest for 11,000 years; USDA is now studying its 8-year shelf life, and its resistance to disease, heat, and drought. The future of this remarkable little potato remains unwritten.
posted by ShooBoo at 11:27 AM PST - 17 comments

The Underground Railroad to Mexico

In 1829, Mexico's black president Vicente Guerrero, abolished slavery. Unlike going to the North where slaves legally had to be returned, slaves in the U.S. and Texas could travel south to complete freedom. A sort of underground railroad to the south formed. [more inside]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:26 AM PST - 17 comments

"I don't know how long I've been at this now."

Two short fantasy comics: "HSTHETE" by Melanie Gillman is a comic about "our goddess of mishaps" and someone who seeks her. "A Hero" by Madeline Sharafian (also on Twitter) shares glimpses the thrills and lows of an older hero's life.
posted by brainwane at 7:53 AM PST - 6 comments

"These things might destroy me. But then again, they might not."

Anne Rice Dies at 80 She was the author of more than 30 novels, including 1976's Interview With the Vampire, which was adapted into a 1994 movie starring Kirsten Dunst.
posted by box at 6:50 AM PST - 71 comments

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