May 22, 2020
“Showers, good”
Five hours of the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4. Sleep well!
nextdoor & the police, sitting in a tree
The hyper-local social media platform Nextdoor is winning over local law enforcement and other government officials in the U.S., alarming civil rights advocates. [more inside]
four Good Emperors, some forgotten guy, and one more Good Emperor, then:
Obama Aurelius: on undead imperialism, Laurie Charles
It's fine, I put some blubber on it
Ferris Jabr critiques bird nests and the personalities that build them in Bird Nesting Styles: A Critical Review, via (appropriately enough) Twitter (Part 1, Part 2) or Threadreader (Part 1, Part 2). Just some lighthearted Friday fun.
The coronavirus invades Trump country
Axios reports that according to a recent poll, Republicans are less worried about the coronavirus than Democrats or independents, even as it spreads out from primarily urban areas into suburban and rural Republican-leaning areas. [more inside]
Wakka Wakka Wakka
Mory Kante rip
Legendary world music superstar and one of the most influential died at 70. Seriously how could anyone vote this as the worst, not the best, song of the 80's? However, his 70's career as the vocalist of Super Rail Band made his name. 2020 is bad for world music so far.
Dreaming of the CE 2000, the Year Formerly Known as the Future
People were dreaming of what the year 2000 might hold for well over a century, including illustrator and futurist Albert Robida (French fan site; works digitized on Internet Archive), whose illustrations and ideas seemed to foretell the future (Art Kaleidoscope / vsemart.com). Many focused on his visions of future wars (previously), but he also had a view of leaving the opera by air in 2000, as displayed and described by Public Domain Review, who also have a collection of other 19th century French visions of the year 2000. But now, looking back 20 years might be a bit of a future-past shock. 2000, the Year Formerly Known as the Future (Medium.com).
It’ll give you an ice cream headache without the ice cream
Scary northeast Minneapolis ice cream truck has heavy metal, no ice cream. The truck displays images of metal band logos on ice cream sticks but does not actually sell ice cream. The owner has been known to participate in art car parades.
"I want in on it"
Paige Alms is one of the best big-wave surfers on the planet (Surfline). Watch her win the 2019 Jaws Big Wave Championships, get an enormous barrel at Pe'ahi, and a few of her other massive waves -- plus this brutal wipeout -- from last year (Youtube). A new documentary titled “Paige” (trailer, Amazon) chronicles her remarkable career. If you don't want to pay for the latest film, check out the full-length documentary "The Wave I Ride: Paige Alms' Story" (Red Bull).
Scientists Stunned by Alliterative Assertions of Baffled Boffins
people r mixed about it but 1 thing everyone agrees on it’s a great idea
Remember Yesterday - the movie about how the Beatles never existed save one guy who remembered? Interviewed a year after it's release Jack Barth relates how his first feature film script, which he sold after working in comedy biz for 40 years, turned into a serious of disappointments. From getting cut from writing credits, to paying his own way to the premier, Barth ultimately gets erased from the whole project. The irony - the main difference appears to be that Barth's screenplay was a "meditation on professional disappointment", while the movie turned out to be a romcom about a fella who had to decide between global fame and his a childhood crush.
Butch Walker’s Complicated ‘American Love Story’
Earlier this month singer/songwriter/producer Butch Walker released the rock opera (or concept album if you prefer) that he wrote in the wake of Trump's election and the horrifying events in Charlottesville VA back in 2017. He originally shelved it because he didn't think he could tour or promote around it given that it's a concept album and some songs don't make much sense individually, and in fact can be downright offensive if taken out of context. But since we are stuck at home with time to invest in listening to the whole story... [more inside]
The Artisanal Pizza You Ordered Might Secretly Be Chuck E. Cheese
Other fingers must run errands elsewhere on the keyboard...
The Unexpected Solace in Learning to Play the Piano During Quarantine (illustrated) "Playing the piano is the opposite. I know I will never produce anything at the level of a talented 8-year-old on Youtube. But when I stumble into a moment of unexpected beauty, I have no choice but to enjoy it...because it disappears the moment it is created."
they made friendship bracelets for the moss mice
Herd-Like Movement Of Fuzzy Green 'Glacier Mice' Baffles Scientists "'They really do look like little mammals, little mice or chipmunks or rats or something running around on the glacier, although they run in obviously very slow motion,' says wildlife biologist Sophie Gilbert."
Rededicated
Ecco the Dolphin, but you do murders
Maneater [Game Trailer] [13 Minutes of Gameplay] “Maneater is an open-world-action-game with some RPG elements, starring an unnamed shark on a revenge mission. At the start of the game, you play as a big and powerful shark who is captured, then brutally killed and gutted by a shark hunter named Scaly Pete. During the gutting, he literally rips out a baby shark, but that pup bites Pete’s arm off and escapes. For the rest of the game, players take on the role of that baby shark and level up, growing bigger and stronger in the process. The end goal is to kill Scaly Pete and get revenge for what he did to your mother.” [via: Kotaku] [more inside]
We’re on the cusp of something… ordinary
Pandemic on the Appalachian Trail
How the Pandemic Splintered the Appalachian Trail. (Single link New York Times - possible paywall.)
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