May 27
26 more books from small presses
“Will you tell everyone that I was halfway cool?”
How Kid Rock Went From America’s Favorite Hard-Partying Rock Star to a MAGA Mouthpiece A deep look into a very dark heart. [more inside]
I’m furious that they are responding at all.
Quit arguing about the Apple Music albums list. From Slate music guy Carl Wilson on his Substack.
Randomness or the Perception of Randomness?
"All this leads to the inevitable question, which one – perceived randomness or true randomness – should a GM aim to use in his [sic] games? After careful consideration, I don’t think there is any one right answer to this question; depending on the circumstances, either could be correct." A neat previously featuring random maps.
The Vast Jalapeño Conspiracy
Here’s Why Jalapeño Peppers Are Less Spicy Than Ever is an investigation by food writer Brian Reinhart as to why jalapeño peppers are milder than they used to be. Willa Paskin of Slate turned the article into an episode of her podcast The Decoder Ring and went further.
bridge, burning
Palaeontology while using a power wheelchair
Palaeontology while using a power wheelchair. Eleanor Beidatsch recently graduated with first-class honours in geoscience at the University of New England (UNE). Eleanor has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 and has never had use of her legs. Her arm movement is also limited. "I cannot move myself around at all," she said. "When I'm in the wheelchair I can move, thanks to the wonders of technology."
The disease, which affects her respiration as well as her mobility, was generally considered fatal by doctors when Eleanor was born. "I'm more of a lab rat than a field mouse," she said. "Palaeontology is very physical, but only if you're out digging. [Information about fossils] essentially then gets put online, that is then accessible for people to do lab work, and you don't need to be able bodied [for that]."
We used to have choices. Now we are railroaded.
All this matters because the interfaces in question do the job of the dictator and the censor, and we embrace it. More than being infuriating, they train us to accept gross restrictions in return for trifling or non-existent ease of use, or are a fig leaf covering what is actually going on. from The accidental tyranny of user interfaces by Oliver Meredith Cox
The Chickens of the Night
The village of Snettisham, who play in the Kevin Grimmer Division of the Norfolk Sunday Cricket League, is allegedly 'plagued' by nocturnal chickens. Guardian: Dwellers in Snettisham, Norfolk, have said their life is being made “hell” as the chickens swarm in from a nearby wood. Mirror: But not everyone shares this anger and some even defend the chickens, insisting the animals contribute to the village's appeal. Graeme McQuade, 43, said: "I have no issues with the chickens whatsoever. Before we moved here, we didn't know chickens get up at 4am, but it gives character to the place. (Bluesky) Mrs Schwarzski: Is Snettisham the Florida of England? Derelict Geodesic Dome, MA: Have you seen Snettisham? It’s /insane/ that a town that small has a church that looks like that.
May 26
Virgil.
Nudging not Budging
The Problem with Behavioral Nudges. "When we gave participants one website as a default—in other words, we nudged them to choose it—70% opted for it, compared with 48% who chose the same one when it wasn’t preselected. That’s typically how default nudges work: People are much more inclined to pick the default, which presumably will be the one that is best for them or society. Next came the important part. We waited..." [more inside]
Art world mourns death of superstar Aboriginal artist
Art world mourns death of superstar Aboriginal artist Destiny Deacon. Tributes are flowing from friends and the art world for a trailblazing contemporary Aboriginal Australian artist. [more inside]
Hmong Cornhole
Paleolithic Pareidolia
"The influence of pareidolia has often been anecdotally observed in examples of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, where topographic features of cave walls were incorporated into images. As part of a wider investigation into the visual psychology of the earliest known art, we explored three hypotheses relating to pareidolia in cases of Late Upper Palaeolithic art in Las Monedas and La Pasiega Caves (Cantabria, Spain)." [SLPDF] Pareidolia previously, back in '03. [more inside]
full fathom five thy (fore)father lies
There’s no reason or evidence for a modern structure to have been built underwater at this site, says team member Marcel Bradtmöller, an archaeologist at the University of Rostock, Germany. Nor can the team think of any natural process that could create such a structure. [doi] [more inside]
“I believed every word of the song. It was happening to me."
The personal anguish underlying Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," perhaps the greatest song in Motown history, is starkly evident in the recording's haunting isolated vocal track (SLYT). [more inside]
Cameras reveal wombat burrows can be safe havens after fire
Cameras reveal wombat burrows can be safe havens after fire and waterholes after rain (The Conversation.)
And here is a cartoon about it: A wombat burrow is the food court of nature – and so much more. It is like an Airbnb combined with an Aldi. (First Dog on the Moon).
Sex, drugs, pedicabbing, a landscaping convention, and lots of dread
The convention seemed endless. We wandered into Hall J. Everywhere, people clamored to shake the Palm Tree Wholesaler’s hand, either nervously introducing themselves or trying to hide their dismay as they reminded him of their names. I asked if he had a booth at the conference, if he was here to sell trees, and he said, “I’m on the board of the association. I’m the keynote speaker this year.” from The Smoke of the Land Went Up a short story by Andrew Cominelli [Guernica]
May 25
Australia: Solar for First Nations communities? Where?
10,000 Aboriginal households in the Northern Territory go without power. Prepaid meters leaving households disconnected
For around 10,000 Aboriginal households in the Northern Territory, mostly in remote areas, getting power and keeping it on can be a difficult task. [more inside]
Day 1: ruffled fur and lethargy
Researchers found raw cow’s milk infected lab mice with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1). They demonstrated both mammal to mammal transmission and that the milk remained infectious for weeks when stored at refrigerator temperatures. [more inside]
The Legacy of KMT's "Lost Army" After Losing China
Unless you knew modern Chinese history well, you probably have no idea what I am talking about. Most people only knew that "after Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalists, or KMT, was defeated by Mao Tse-tung Communists, Chiang took his army to Taiwan and settled there and turned it into an economic powerhouse..." What most people do not know is that a portion of the KMT Eight Army, under General Li Mi, comprised of KMT 26th and 93rd Divisions, actually remained in Yunnan after after Chiang's retreat, and in order to grow their support, they, with permission from Chiang, allied themselves with the the Karen National Defense Organization and tried to help them take over Myanmar / Burma. Those of you who watched Rambo (2008) may recognize "Karen", as in the Karen Rebels. Yes, it's the same people, still fighting the Myanmar government decades later. And there are a lot more involvement of the Lost Army... [more inside]
“All art is propaganda … on the other hand, not all propaganda is art”
Not All Propaganda Is Art is a nine episode series of the podcast Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything. In it, Walker tells the story of the CIA’s cultural Cold War propaganda operations in the 1950s as reflected in the lives of three men, cultural theorist Dwight Macdonald, theater critic Kenneth Tynan, and novelist Richard Wright. The show notes are also full of interesting links and images. If you’re not sure you want spend nine hours in the paranoid fifties, Sarah Larson gives a very good overview in the New Yorker [archive].
I want to go to somewhere where I’m guaranteed to have a good time
We interviewed three people whose holiday habits seem precision-engineered to wind up people on Twitter and TikTok. The adult Disney fanatic who’s been on more than 70 Disney-themed holidays. A private landlord who flies first class while leaving his kids (and their nanny) to slum it in economy. And what about a 47-year-old who still stays in hostels? Do these people deserve their pariah status? Or might we have something to learn from listening to their perspectives? from Three Maligned Modern Tourists Defend Themselves [Vice]
For when "Crusader Kings" is a bit much
Sort the Court is a charmingly addictive "kingdombuilder" of sorts that's perfect for a lazy Saturday. Designed and written by Graeme Borland in just 72 hours for Ludum Dare 34, the game casts you as a new monarch who must judiciously grow your realm's wealth, population, and happiness with an eye toward joining the illustrious Council of Crowns... all by giving flat yes-or-no answers to an endless parade of requests from dozens of whimsical subjects. It's possible to lose, and the more common asks can get a bit repetitive, but with hundreds of scenarios and a number of longer-term storylines, the game can be won in an hour or two while remaining funny and fresh.
See the forum or the wiki for help, enjoy the original art of Amy "amymja" Gerardy and the soundtrack by Bogdan Rybak, or check out some other fantasy decisionmaking games in this vein: Borland's spiritual prequel A Crown of My Own - the somewhat darker card-based REIGNS - the more expansive and story-driven pixel drama Yes, Your Grace (reviews), which has a sequel due out this year
Found at last
long-lost branch of the Nile that ran by the pyramids:
Geological survey reveals the remains of a major waterway that ancient Egyptian builders could have used to transport materials (Freda Kreier for Nature). Satellite images and geological data now confirm that a tributary of the Nile — which researchers have named the Ahramat Branch — used to run near many of the major sites in the region several thousand years ago. The discovery, reported on 16 May in Communications Earth and Environment1, could help to explain why ancient Egyptians chose this area to build the pyramids (see ‘Ancient river’). [more inside]
Gaza & University Protest
There has been 1 arrest since counterprotesters violently attacked the UCLA pro-Palestinian encampment on April 30. Archive.is. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testified before the House committee on the protests, where he admitted that he thought he should have removed the encampment sooner to prevent violence. Other universities also participated in the hearing, where the focus was mostly on how/whether the protests were antisemitic and should have been shut down earlier. Over 1000 people walked out of the Harvard commencement to protest Harvard denying 13 student protesters from participating. Encampments and student protests have spread to Australia, England, Germany, Italy, and more. [more inside]
At home with the pronatalists
[CW: eugenics, racism, violent child abuse incident] Guardian: “His little brother, two-year-old Torsten Savage, is on his iPad somewhere upstairs. Simone, 36, in an apron that strains across her belly, has her daughter, 16-month-old Titan Invictus, strapped to her back. The imminent arrival of their fourth child, a girl they plan to name Industry Americus Collins, turns out to be only the first in a string of surprises – and one really shocking thing – that I will encounter during my day with the pronatalists.” [Previously: November 2022, You say 'Eugenics' like it's a bad thing (it is)]
Katey Sagal Question And Answer Session
I didn't really know what to expect going into watch Katey Sagal | Full Q&A | Comic-Con Liverpool 2024 [40m] but what I found was really delightful, honest, human interview that left me feeling really good. If you've ever enjoyed Married With Children or Futurama or Sons Of Anarchy or any of her other projects, you should check this out.
Root maps
1,180 drawings of plant root systems. A variety of strategies for collecting water and nutrients into the plant. [more inside]
The Drowning of "Lyonesse"
"Stories about a submerged land named Lyonesse abound in culture traditions of Southwest Britain and plausibly derive from memories of land loss within the Scilly Isles. We review Lyonesse stories, their links to Arthurian romances and Greek/Roman accounts of the Cassiterides, and trace their divergent evolution. From this region’s history of land-sea movements and human occupation, we propose Lyonesse stories originated more than 4000 years ago when rising sea level divided a single inhabited island in the Scilly group." Lyonesse previously. [more inside]
You'll be pleasantly surprised by the huge range of options
Wrapped up in the thrill of discovering this new, delightful art and securing versions of it to gaze at while stirring tea in the morning, my dark, skeptical, spidey-senses failed to engage. High on consumer dopamine and browsing picture frames, I forgot, for an important moment, that we recently crossed over into a different sort of world. The sort of world where it is trivial to prompt a neural network to create an image that pulls on the traditional patterns, subject matter, and motifs of William Morris, but layered with the hyper-realistic, high-definition, pixel-perfect asethetics of the modern web; dramatic lighting and sweeping landscapes ripped from ArtStation, meticulously art-directed details from Wes Anderson film stills, the two-tone color overlays and soft glow effects popularised on Instagram and Pinterest. A system trained on everything we've clicked like on, priming us to like what it makes. from Faking William Morris, Generative Forgery, and the Erosion of Art History
More Than 1000 Fossils Given to Brazil’s National Museum Following Fire
More Than 1000 Fossils, Including Rare Dinosaurs, Given to Brazil’s National Museum Following Fire. (Smithsonian Magazine.) The massive donation was made by Burkhard Pohl, a Swiss-German collector, as the museum works to replenish its collections after a devastating blaze in September 2018. [more inside]
May 24
They are not maternal. They are PUNK AS F*CK.
Otoboke Beaver: A quartet from Kyoto with an unusually complex and original stye of punk rock, played with great precision, energy, and attitude. Their songs tend to stop, start, and change tempo unpredictably, but they make it look deceptively easy and natural. [more inside]
I think I’m going to have to go supersize.
Morgan Spurlock, ‘Super Size Me’ documentary director, dies at 53. Morgan Spurlock, a documentary filmmaker whose Oscar-nominated “Super Size Me” chronicled a month of watching his body swell and health decline while eating only McDonald’s meals, launching a highflying career that later imploded after he acknowledged past incidents of sexual assault and harassment, died May 23 at a hospital in New York City. He was 53. [more inside]
“The Mist” is a novella
Leroy and Leroy Uber Alles
I’ve met a lot of bears, but not nearly as many bears as men
This leads us straight back to the original conversation about “Man or Bear,” which has nothing to do with bears. (Sorry, bears!) “Would you rather be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear?” is just another way of asking, “Are you afraid of men?” It’s the same question I’ve been fielding for the entirety of my life as a solo female traveler. It’s the same question that hovers over women all the time as we move through the world. And it’s a question that’s always been difficult for me to answer. from A Woman Who Left Society to Live With Bears Weighs in on “Man or Bear” by Laura Killingbeck [Bikepacking]
Elvis Has Not Left The Building
The Tennessee Attorney General is investigating the mysterious investment company that attempted to have Graceland, the late Elvis Presley's mansion that is one of America's most successful tourist attractions, sold at a foreclosure sale. [more inside]
Research finds doctors & families are turning off life support too soon
After Brain Injuries, Doctors and Families Should Take More Time With Life Support Decisions, Research Finds. (Smithsonian Magazine.) A small study suggests some severe traumatic brain injury patients can later recover a level of independence or return to their pre-injury lives. [more inside]
Small Press Economies & Roundup
"There’s a vague, deliberately unexamined idea that the goodness of art and literature will transcend the complicity of the structures art ‘has to’ use to reach people. And sometimes they can transcend; sometimes they can destabilize culture generatively, even using corporate-owned pathways. But more often, of course, challenging work is not going to make it through those pathways. It’s going to be excluded, and readers are not going to encounter it and be changed by it. This is a political problem." From Small Press Economies: A Dialogue by Hilary Plum and Matvei Yankelevich. [more inside]
You didn't know how much you needed this until you read this.
The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots
A Furious, Forgotten Slave Narrative Resurfaces (NYT gift link)
John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged. [more inside]
It was a *very* scary ham.
A very old ham finally got the funeral it deserved. Ellen Klages, during her intro on a recent episode of "Jeopardy!" mentioned an old, scary ham, and encouraged people to learn more about it. The tale of the "heirloom ham" does not disappoint. [more inside]
A House Falls On The NCAA
Facing the potential of a ruinous $20B decision against them in the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit, the NCAA and the major conferences are coming to a settlement that will see college athletes recieve revenue sharing, as well as former athletes being eligible to recieve damages for payments wrongly withheld. [more inside]
Apple Records
100 Best Albums (a list from Apple Music (Wikipedia, 1-100 list that should work with most browsers)) [more inside]
A Notably Eponymous Watercolorist
John Sell Cotman was known for his paintings and drawings, especially watercolor. Wikipedia has the bio and suggested further readings, as well as information about others in his artistically-inclined family. Likely most people who know the name "Cotman" know it in the context of watercolor paints available from Winsor & Newton, which have appeared previously a number of times in discussion on Ask.
🌈🐕ciao
窓からは柔らかな光が射し込み、Kabosu, the beloved Shiba-Inu behind the globally popular Doge meme, has passed away peacefully at home today at the age of 18. [more inside]
[Soft light streamed through the window]
窓の外では鳥たちが歌う美しい朝に、
[Outside, birds were singing on a beautiful morning]
私に撫でられながら眠るようにそっと逝きました。
[As I petted her, she passed away gently, as if falling asleep]
長い間かぼちゃんを愛して下さったみなさま、本当にありがとうございました。
[To everyone who has loved Kabo-chan for a long time, thank you very much]
かぼちゃんは世界一幸せな犬だったと思います。そして私は世界一幸せな飼い主でした。
[I believe Kabo-chan was the happiest dog in the world, and I was the happiest owner]
Education for “a whole ecosystem working together”
“Right now in Hollywood, certain actors are having intimacy coordinators baked into their contracts, which I think is awesome,” says Jasmine. “For us in the adult industry, that might look like performers saying, ‘I’m going to bring my friend with me for support’, but, instead of taking two people but paying for one, it would be really great if [there was an industry standard, so every studio] could say, ‘Our budget includes an intimacy coordinator, as well as mental health support before, during, and after’.” from Meet the Trailblazers Changing the Face of Porn [Huck] [NSFW]
“Sawney Freeman, likely America’s first published Black composer”
A once-enslaved man’s music was hidden for centuries is an article by Diane Orson about Sawney Freeman, who published a book of his violin compositions in 1801 in New Haven, Connecticut. That work is lost, but in 1817, Gurdon Trumbull copied down many of Freeman’s tunes, and that manuscript survived. His music was arranged for a quintet by Anthony Padolfe Jr. and is available online. My favorite is the haunting New Death March, but all 15 compositions are lovely. Connecticut Public Television also made a video based on Orson’s article, part of a series on Connecticut’s history of slavery.
May 23
Roger Corman's Fantastic Four Movie up on the Tube
Corman imbued his version of the MCU with the 80s/90s feel it so richly deserved. The classic Silver Age Marvel comics didn't suffer from being low-budget productions, and from what I've seen of this so far (only 15 minutes—it's late) this Corman film didn't either. Too bad the embedded ads are the usual short-term rental and learn-AI things and not pitches for sea monkeys and a travelogue of Palisades Park.