July 16, 2015
And So It Warms
Scott K. Johnson, an Hydrologist and
freelance writer for Ars Technica attended the
Tenth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC-10) held on June 11-12.
For a science writer, however, the event was fundamentally a tedious experience. On the first night of the conference, one of the presenters actually invaded my dreams. In the dream, I was in some sort of friendly geology group, gathering to discuss some interesting research. When this fellow announced his topic, I interrupted him. “Wait—is this more of that retired medical doctor’s weird theory about volcanoes that you talked about for two hours last time?” I asked. The presenter blinked, puzzled by my tone, and said, “Well, yeah. Of course.” The rest of the group shot me pained glances and sank down in their chairs.That’s kind of what the conference was like.
"having a wife and children was a trap to be avoided"
Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite, How Esquire Engineered The Modern Bachelor,The Awl.
"I knew that the traditional role was not going to be enough for me.”
Marlene Sanders’ Feminist Legacy [Slate obit] - "She wrote of her accomplishments: 'As I look back on my career, the women's movement provided an exceptional point when time, place and position all came together to give me the power and focus to contribute to the country’s awareness of the status of women.'" [more inside]
"You can go wild on the wall, everything that comes to your imagination"
"The thing I find very exciting is waiting for the subway train and sometimes you'll get a glorious one that arrives decorated like a birthday cake!" Watching My Name Go By is a short 1976 BBC documentary about graffiti, artists, and graffiti artists in New York City. The film is based on Norman Mailer's 1974 essay for Esquire magazine, "The Faith of Grafitti." [via]
Only cats can handle this much bling
Twinkle Tush is a jewel you hang from your cat’s tail. Add some bling to your cat’s bum and watch them strut their stuff.
Your cat secretly wants it.
Eat Meat. Not Too Little. Mostly Fat.
Even during the years I was sound man for the Grateful Dead, I stuck to my guns and remained totally carnivorous. Owsley Stanley, underground chemist, ate nothing but meat for 50 years, until he was killed in a car crash. [more inside]
You're no Ferdinand Magellan
Star Wars: Wilco Edition
Star Wars: The Ring Theory
Texas denying birth certificates to children of undocumented immigrants.
A recent civil rights lawsuit alleges that undocumented parents are being denied birth certificates for their children born in Texas, effectively denying the children the birthright citizenship enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment and federal law. State legislators have voiced their concern.
Viewer Discretion Advised
Animal Planet presents The Cute Channel, with clips from their show Too Cute. Caution: With this much concentrated cuteness, you may be rendered temporarily speechless. [more inside]
"[T]he flaw at the heart of our country is not just geological."
Confronting New Madrid (Part 1): In the winter of 1811-12, the New Madrid fault in southern Missouri triggered a series of earthquakes in so powerful they altered the course of the Mississippi River and rang church bells as far away as Philadelphia... and we still don't fully understand why. A similar quake today is estimated to be the costliest disaster in US History.
Confronting New Madrid (Part 2): As dangerous as the threat of "the big one" might be, however, the real disaster is us. [more inside]
Confronting New Madrid (Part 2): As dangerous as the threat of "the big one" might be, however, the real disaster is us. [more inside]
“Ordered lists of songs are as old as radio itself.”
At Pitchfork, Marc Hogan has put together a long read on “how playlists are curating the future of music.”. He speaks to various folks in positions of power at the different services, including former Pitchfork editor-in-chief Scott Plagenhoef (now running music programming and editorial across Apple Music) and former Pitchfork associate editor Jessica Suarez (now lead streaming editor at Google).
Filmless Animation
Utah, get me two!
With designs inspired by Peking opera the facekini protects its wearer from jellyfish stings and sunburns.
Funky Israeli (sampled) hip-hop from Socalled, Alchemist, and friends
Not since (Socalled's) The Socalled Seder has Hebrew and hip-hop been so thrillingly merged. In his signature funky collage style, Alchemist layers drum brakes, with various warped and looped vintage Israeli records. On “Shalom Alechem,” a pitched up vocal recording of the Sabbath song refrains over a hard, 90s style boom-bap beat, spiced up with intermittent “check it out”s from the voice of an unidentified hype-man. It's awesome.From Shalom Life's review of The Alchemist's new instrumental album, Israeli Salad. The review also notes that this is similar to Alchemist’s 2012 album Russian Roulette, which uses 1970's Soviet music as its main source material.
Cage of Thrones
F is for Fabulous. F is for Fabio.
Fabio: Confessions of the Original Male Supermodel. Known to the world as Fabio (no last name needed), he is king of the stereotypical romance covers, spokeshunk for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and is doing just fine, thanks. [more inside]
“It has begun.”
The Shannara Chronicles [Official First Look] [YouTube]
Watch an exclusive first look at ‘The Shannara Chronicles,’ a new scripted series based on Terry Brooks’ best-selling fantasy books, coming to MTV in January 2016. This preview originally debuted inside "The Shannara Chronicles" panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con 2015.[more inside]
The Tories want to switch to a for pay NHS
If David Cameron, or his Chancellor or Health Secretary had announced such an inquiry to re-consider a principle that has been sacrosanct since 1946, you’d expect front page headlines and Newsnight specials considering the implications.The Tories are launching in investigation into a for pay NHS, switching from a tax supported to an insurance/charges model, according to Richard Grimes at OpenDemocracy.net.
Mystery meat, bologna soup and maggots
The Uncomplaining Zombie
If you heard that Robert Bartleh Cummings was attached to direct a biopic of Groucho Marx's last years from a screenplay by the writer of I'm Not There and Love & Mercy, you might shrug. But what if you knew that Cummings changed his last name back in the '90s to match his stage name: Rob Zombie? [more inside]
Auriculis midae non musica gratior ulla est
Cat Pianos, Sound-Houses, and Other Imaginary Musical Instruments "One might suppose that imaginary musical instruments, deprived of physical reality, have no place in the cultural histories and heritages that a museum of musical instruments aims to illuminate and preserve. Yet in their own strange ways, imaginary musical instruments exist. What’s more, they have not merely shadowed or paralleled musical life; they have formed a vital part of it, participating in ways that show the fragility of the distinction between imaginary and real."
One true religion. All we need is one worldwide vision.
Slovenian band Laibach, known for their ambiguous martial pop reworkings of Europe's The Final Countdown, Queen's One Vision, and Edwin Starr's War, to name but three (along with the many original tracks you hear over the course of their live set), are due to be the the first foreign band to play North Korea. [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »