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‘How do you reduce a national dish to a powder?’
The weird, secretive world of crisp flavours.
Why can you buy lasagne flavour snacks in Thailand but not in Italy? Which country can cope with the hottest chilli? And why do Germans like paprika so much? Amelia Tait for the Guardian.
≸ traditional christmas carols
Following in the footsteps of reimagined yuletide music of yore comes snethyxmasparty, featuring seasonal cello-and-kazoo favorites nipnees nuug n’blinting blaizdos and nuntos durgi-dog. Each track has lyrics inside.
The Language of the Third Reich
Victor Klemperer's The Language of the Third Reich (1947) describes how the Nazis manipulated the German language in order to get the general population using extreme right-wing words and phrases in their everyday discourse without them even noticing.
Plagiarism and You(Tube)
HBomberguy's latest video is about plagiarism.
It's almost 4 hours long but really worth a watch.
The new, sweet oranges quickly displaced the bitter variety
The word for orange and its cognates in several Indoeuropean languages arrived in Europe via Persian (نارنگ nārang then, and نارنج nārenj nowadays). At the same time, in Persian oranges are called پرتقال (porteqāl) which literally means... Portugal! Why is that? from Portuguese Orange, Persian Portugal
To take credit for having grown is to admit having once needed to
The Simple Truth According to John Romero
Games journalist and designer Duncan Fyfe reviews John Romero's recent autobiography Doom Guy: Life in First Person for Remap Radio, with special emphasis on how it reveals as much about its subject and author by what it does not say as by what it does.
Read Palestine Week - Nov 29-Dec 5
Palestinian books shared this week by their publishers.
These are free to read at the publisher sites, and cover a diverse array of genres, ideas and languages, with more activities planned and shared from over 400 publishers. As Kazuo Isiguro said: "But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?"
Blind people gesture (and why that’s kind of a big deal)
"People who are blind from birth will gesture when they speak. I always like pointing out this fact when I teach classes on gesture, because it gives us an an interesting perspective on how we learn and use gestures. [...] Not only do blind people gesture, but the frequency and types of gestures they use does not appear to differ greatly from how sighted people gesture. If people learn gesture without ever seeing a gesture (and, most likely, never being shown), then there must be something about learning a language that means you get gestures as a bonus."
Is John Likeglass Still Around?
The Mystery of VelmaDinkley.com [25m] is an internet mystery posted earlier this year. YouTuber CHUPPL has lost countless hours of sleep trying to answer the questions surrounding this subject. Ruh-Roh! Does a community of Scooby Doo fans have something to hide? The ensuing investigation is entirely human and the end is entirely satisfactory.
Ceasefire now
NYT: Gaza Civilians, Under Israeli Barrage, Are Being Killed at Historic Pace
- Even a conservative assessment of the reported Gaza casualty figures shows that the rate of death during Israel’s assault has few precedents in this century, experts say.[ungated]
Together, we can get paid in full
"May the Lord Watch is the definitive story (1:40:06) of Little Brother, the North Carolina rap group composed of rappers Phonte, Big Pooh, and (formerly) producer 9th Wonder, the underground legends that bridged the gap between The Roots and Kendrick, Tribe and Cole, De La and Drake. The film follows the rise, breakup, and reunion of the preeminent 2000s rap group"
Catherine Christer Hennix, drone composer
Catherine Christer Hennix (1948–2023) was a composer of minimalist, electronic, and drone music. Grounded in maths and sciences, her music adapted ideas from Indian ragas, Arabic music, jazz, and blues. She had a a wide ranging career across academia, writing, painting and sculpture, and intellectual movements from Fluxus to Lacan to Sufi Islam. She studied with Stockhausen, took inspiration from La Monte Young and Pandit Pran Nath, but had a modest commercial showing unlike her contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Her music is astonishing.
"An account of a Time Lord's adventures through SPACE AND ONLY SPACE"
Tomorrow (Saturday November 25) starting at 3pm PT (6pm ET/11pm GMT) and running for approximately 24 hours, Laser Webber of the Doubleclicks (several previouslies, dating back to 2011) and Becca McGlynn (with some special guests) will be participating in a charity livestream that watches Doctor Who in chronological order -- but NOT chronological order of the airdates. This chronology is presented in order of when each event took place, from the perspective of the show's internal universe.
Happy Bi- oh wait.
Cat Scans
is one of the strangest instagram pages I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got their cats onto their scanners, or why. (via boing boing)
How bison are restoring US grasslands
How bison are restoring US grasslands.
Plains bison co-evolved with the short-grass prairie. In the 12,000 years since the end of the Pleistocene, they have proven themselves to be potent ecosystem engineers.
An adult bison eats about 25lb (11kg) of grass a day. The grasses adapted to their foraging. Vegetation across the plains uses the nutrients in their dung. Birds pluck their fur from bushes to insulate their nests.
Bison also shape the land literally. They roll in the dust and create indentations known as "wallows" that hold water after rainstorms. After the bison move on, insects flourish in these pools and become a feast for birds and small mammals. Pronghorn antelope survive by following their tracks through deep winter snows.
The Science Behind Our Musical Tastes
According to Nolan Gasser, a musician and musicologist, sociology plays a tremendous role behind our musical tastes. What we hear when we were babies and throughout our formative years become the home base of our musical sensibilities. But as we grow older, our taste in music evolves and expands as we become exposed to different music. For a deeper dive into musical taste, you may check out Nolan Gasser's Why You Like It: The Science & Culture of Musical Taste.
Kathleen Sully, the Vanished Novelist
"[Kathleen Sully's] name appears in no encyclopaedia, in no dictionary of biography, in no other survey of the English novel. One reason for her critical neglect is that she didn’t fit in—a reflection of the institutional prejudices of the English literary world. She was a woman writing when writing was a man’s game—not just a man’s game, but a public school/university-educated man’s game.
On Growth and Form
Toby "Tibees2" Hendy, explainer of science, has posted a beautiful 15m tribute to "The book biologists hate to read but love to cite". No, not The Origin of Species but On Growth and Form (1917) [Gutenberg Full text] by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. MetaPrev 2008.
Mastodon is Easy and Fun Except when it isn't
Erin Kissane has some criticisms of Mastodon's culture and technology
Since Elon Musk's enshittification of twitter, many new social platforms have sprung up. Mastodon, Bluesky, Cohost, Threads; to name a few. Even Metafilter got in on it by spinning up a MeFi Mastodon instance. Do you agree with the author's assessment of the state of Mastodon? Have you joined one of the new social media sites? How do your experiences stack up next to the author's?
Lord David Cameron
What David Cameron’s return says about British politics
- A man who caused many of Britain’s problems is now offering to fix them (Economist; ungated)
From Ukraine with Love
WaPo: Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack that shocked and mystified the West [archive.is]
Roman Chervinsky, a decorated 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was the “coordinator” of the Nord Stream operation, people familiar with his role said, managing logistics and support for a six-person team that rented a sailboat under false identities and used deep-sea diving equipment to place explosive charges on the gas pipelines.[...] Chervinsky did not act alone, and he did not plan the operation, according to the people familiar with his role, which has not been previously reported. The officer took orders from more senior Ukrainian officials, who ultimately reported to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer, said people familiar with how the operation was carried out. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details about the bombing, which has strained diplomatic relations with Ukraine and drawn objections from U.S. officials.Notably claims that President Zelensky was kept out of the loop, especially since Chervinsky is currently behind bars for an unrelated rogue operation. As with any anonymously-sourced story, to be taken with a grain of salt, though the Washington Post is somewhat more reliable than Seymour Hersh's Substack theorizing [previously].
Is Finland the best place in the world to be a parent?
What the world can learn from childcare in Finland
[yt] - "Finland is a world leader when it comes to early years education. Childcare is affordable and nursery places are universally available in a system that puts children's rights at the centre of decision-making. Now the country is applying the same child-first thinking to paternity-leave policies in an attempt to tackle gender inequality in parenting."[1,2,3]
Thanksgiving Rider
It's that rare thing
- a New Yorker humour piece that's actually funny!
"What?????? What the hell???"
TLDR: Pulling off an advanced scam on Wikipedia and got blocked, made a new account and spent five years of pretending to be an indie singer, emotionally traumatizing the person who revealed their fake(!) identity, disappeared off the face of the earth. [X thread from depthsofwikipedia; nitter thread; wikisignpost summary: Admin bewilderingly unmasks self as sockpuppet of other admin who was extremely banned in 2015]
The Hidden Formula Behind Almost Every Joke on Late Night TV
Slate.com reveals how talk show writers formulate each night's topical jokes.
"When you have to write more than 100 topical jokes each day, there’s no time to wait for inspiration to strike. You need a reliable algorithm." (SLYT)
Beatles memorabilia from Mal Evans saved by an office temp and Yoko Ono
One article I read about the forthcoming release of a book based on Mal
Evans archives (namesake of MAL, the software that Peter Jackson used to extract John Lennon’s vocals for Now and Then) mentions the papers “languishing in a publishing house basement.”
Another article goes more in depth on how Leena Kutti, a temp was assigned to clear out a publisher’s basement storage area. She discovered the Beatles memorabilia, manuscript and diaries of Beatles gofer Mal Evans. To save what she found, she dropped a note to Yoko Ono.
How to cut the most common vegetables
Chef Jean-Pierre Bréhier shows us how to cut the most common vegetables.
Eruption seems likely on Icelandic peninsula
The peninsula of Reykjanes, which is home to the town of Keflavik as well as the famous "Blue Lagoon" geothermal spa, has seen a number of recent earthquakes as well as a measurable movement of ground level centered on the mountain known as Þorbjörn. The lava ledge growing below the peninsula is estimated to be one metre thick and six million cubic metres large. Evacuation plans have already been circulated for the towns nearest Þorbjörn, however experts fear that fast moving magma could isolate the residents of the peninsula without power or clear escape routes.
Don't leave me my wretched memory, Don't leave me now.
The Jazz Butcher, Pat Fish has died. Born Patrick Huntrods in 1957, Pat Fish put out records under variations of The Jazz Butcher name since the mid-’80s. As the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, he collaborated with David J, members of The Woodentops, Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom, and of course, Max Eider. He was known as quick wit, a generous soul, and a fantastic songwriter. Fans are sharing memories over at jazzbutcher.com.
Never heard of him? Links to some classics are below the fold. (Previously)
The Empire Won That War
I'll confess to not having watched Saturday Night Live at all this season but this sketch—Washington's Dream—is damn funny. The host was Nate Bargatze, who is a comedian I've never heard of, and he also had a funny opening monologue.
It's more complicated than that
Literary It Girls may have the standard markers of what we think of when we think of an It Girl: they’re beautiful, stylish, and social, with a certain je ne sais quoi. But what really makes them influential is the creative ways they stage and elevate their work — both on the page and in persona. from The Makings of a Literary It Girl
"So, when do the cops actually enforce gun laws?"
Investigative journalist David Forbes (previously) writes on the US gun control debate: "As a journalist I've investigated police departments for over 20 years. The reality is that they will not enforce gun laws against white supremacists, the far-right or the kind of abusive guy that makes up 95 percent of mass shooters on any scale that matters. They do not do so now and they won't in the future." Her post "A reality check on cops and gun laws", published June 5, 2022, aims to rebut assumptions "often held unconsciously by people who are in good faith trying to find an answer to appalling violence." Content warning: police and gun violence, hate crimes, domestic abuse. Disclaimer: I know David Forbes and she is a friend of mine.
“I could just break into tears, the human he’s become.”
"The evolution of Steve Albini", a Grauniad long read about a punk rock personality who is growing past his edgelord youth. Many previouslies, including another post on being offensive, but also Christmas, punk rock ethics, food, the music industry, producing 'In Utero', being pompous, producing records, being offensive (yes, it's a theme), selling out, beautiful sunrises, answering questions, and an even older post with mostly broken links.
All Crimewaves Are Bullshit
Target and other chains have overblown the impact of shoplifting. The rash of store closures across the nation are, as might have been suspected, driven by other factors - in the case of Rite Aid bankruptcy to avoid opiate lawsuits.
"Knowing what is missing is an important first step."
Zachary Turpin (Commonplace, 10/2023), "Have You Seen Me?: Missing Works of Nineteenth-Century American Literature": "To students new to the study of nineteenth-century American literature, it may seem that the field has been so thoroughly studied and catalogued that there can be very little left to discover about it. This could hardly be further from the truth." Partially inspired by Johanna Ortner (2015), "Lost No More: Recovering Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's Forest Leaves": "Having done my secondary source reading on her, I knew that Forest Leaves was deemed lost. Call it my naiveté as a young graduate student, but I figured I might as well type in the title in the society's catalogue."
it would appear our potholes are so bad that hell sprung a leak
nola_prepared is a satirical city emergency preparedness Instagram account for New Orleans Louisiana (although the official nolaready IG appreciates their different skill sets). Recommended posts: Hurricane season preparations include rescue gators; new hazard signs; a Hell vs NOLA comparison chart; flood warning; the dysfunction of Sewerage & Water Board; the toxic optimism of a happy New Orleanian as told by a marine iguana (do NOT click if you have a fear of snakes, like even a vague unease, unless you have some form of emotional support near you). No Instagram account? You should be able to see a few posts before they cut you off.