Nag on the Lake

Monday, August 17, 2026

When You See Me, Weep

European Geoscience Union

The Hunger Stones have words engraved on them. They were etched in years of hardship—such as 1616, 1746, and 1892— when droughts brought soaring food prices and starvation. They are resurfacing again as Europe is experiencing record droughts. The stone above was found in Děčín in the Elbe river in Germany. It reads “When you see me, weep” written upside down so it can be read from above

(Previously posted here in 2018)

Cesar Dias Full Performance

This dragged a chuckle or two out of me.

Via Rusty’s Electric Dreams

Fjordenhus

Fjordenhus (Fjord House) is the first building designed entirely by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann with Studio Olafur Eliasson. The brick structure was built for the company Kirk Kapital in a fjord and reacts to the tides and the surface of the water.

Sunday, August 16, 2026

This Year’s Flower Carpet in Brussels

Every two years a massive temporary floral masterpiece is displayed in the historic Grand-Place in Brussels. This year Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama has recreated Hokusai’s Great Wave with 750,000 dahlias. Today is the last day to see it.

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Sunday Links

Photo credit MVRDV

Rotterdam Rocks (image above) is the winning proposal for a landmark on the banks of the river Maas. Designed by MVRDV for The Shift Embassy whose aim is to raise public awareness of the climate crisis. It is a 30,000 square metre mega structure made of seven huge, stacked, porous boulders. The space will house immersive art, architecture, community building, storytelling, a hotel and real-world examples of sustainable living and business practices.

I don’t go to all this trouble, I just eat the peel Via Memo Of the Air

How badly do you want that IDANÄS bed frame with storage? IKEA complexity index (Via Webcurios)

Download a high resolution file of details from Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. Read more at Public Domain Review

Invertebrate of the Year 2026

When to kiss

The Living Record There is now an archive of eulogies given by Palestinian journalists to their martyred colleagues.

If I hadn’t learned my lesson from The Great Purge when we moved not long ago I’d be all over this auction like a duck on a Junebug: Atomic Kitsch: The Allee Willis Collection

A strange reality is unfolding around one of history’s most infamous “extinctions.” I would be happy to learn we had not killed them all. Read more

The iconic green bathrobe is made from dried lamb's ear Art submission captures iconic photograph taken in St. Paul Minnesota during an incident with ICE.

The Last Surviving Castrato in the Sistine Chapel Choir

Bartłomiej Kubkowski is the first person to swim across the Baltic Sea non stop. It took him 55 hours! No wonder he looked kind of cranky when he finally emerged from the water.

Thanks to social media, canned sardines are vanishing from grocery shelves

From 1988: What could top Perrier as the ultimate yuppie frivol?

1911 Sunset Boulevard: Gallery Luisotti’s exhibition of photos about a departed, treasured restaurant.

'The Tumblehair' is a 10ft tall human hairball that is rolling down the streets of NYC to mark the launch of the latest "hair longevity" serum from biotech haircare brand K18.

New Bedford Whaling Museum printed its 1-star review on a hoodie. It sold out.

That time tennis legend Serena Williams humiliated five men at once as they collectively failed to score a single point against her.

I’ve been power walking and I hope this is true.

Something silly: ’Monty Python and the Holy Grail' Re-Edited in Alphabetical Order

Music For Sunday Morning

Bud Shank Quartet, Laurindo Almeida – Amor Flamengo

(The Listening Post)

Saturday, August 15, 2026

New York's Smallest Restaurant Is in Queen’s

This is an absolutely charming video by Harrison Webb. He eats at Warung Selasa, a single table restaurant tucked inside Indo Java Groceries and is only open on Tuesdays.