Tuesday, December 31, 2024
The Floppy Sombreros of the Sea
The unique body shape of stingrays lets them bury themselves under the ocean floor to catch prey.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Jimmy Carter Saved The Day In Canada 1952
The young Navy lieutenant from Georgia played a key role in helping prevent a nuclear catastrophe in 1952 at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario Canada.
Tokyo”s Subterranean World
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| Image: Japan Tours |
Fifty metres under Tokyo lies an underground system of tunnels, water tanks, massive chambers and pillars constructed to withstand 200 tonnes of water per second. Tokyo is vulnerable to river overflows during heavy rain and typhoon seasons. When flooding is expected, these chambers can pump the water away from the city and into the nearby river, reducing the risk of catastrophic flooding.
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Sunday Links
Mazes and Labyrinths: From the ancient water and stone mazes of Egypt (image above) and Crete through the Middle Ages, when nearly 25% of cathedrals had a labyrinth in their grounds, to the then fashion for mazes made from hedges.
I hope you have as much fun on New Year’s Eve as this rowdy bunch had in 1953.
Quiz: Do You Speak 2024 I scored 2/10. I guess I’m not as hip as I thought I was. (NYT gift link)
The Color of Memory Wonderful photographs from Albert Kahn’s Archives of the Planet. This homage to a changing world contained more than a hundred hours of film and over 72,000 autochromes.
Excerpts from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Read by Levi Shiach.
“If Jane Austen made a pretty good case that an economic system reliant on inherited wealth is a bad idea because it might pressure your brilliant daughter to marry her idiotic cousin, Agatha Christie added the compelling argument that the idiotic cousin is probably going to murder you next time you invite him to visit for a long weekend.” I have probably said this before but I’ll repeat it: I love Frank Bruni’s column and I think you should too. Here are his favourite sentences of 2024 (NYT gift link)
Jimmy Carter and the killer rabbit In 1979 this story was used to portray the president as weak. Times have changed. Today the president-elect is a demented rapist and a large segment of the population think it’s ok.
Frank Hamer, the legendary Texas lawman who bagged Bonnie and Clyde.
A Long Rest “My grandfather shut himself in a room on the first floor of our home 32 years ago, and we couldn’t open the door from the outside. My mother said, ‘Leave him in there,’ and he was left as he was. I think he’s dead.”
We all see ourselves in him: How Scrim went from shy stray to New Orleans’ favorite outlaw.
Some vintage calendar girls as we enter the new year via Memo Of The Air
Gamblers Anonymous meetings are filling up with people hooked on trading and betting. Apps make it as easy as ordering takeout. Read more:WSJ
The Year in Pictures 2024: Far From Ordinary (NYT gift link)
This gift seemed like a good idea at the time…
“The whole house seems to be filled with birds, to say nothing of what they leave behind them.”
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Riders Of The Apocalypse
In this mural in south-east London former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Yuri Andropov ride a cruise missile in a nuclear arms race around the world. It was painted in 1984 by Brian Barnes.
Architecton - Trailer
How the design and construction of buildings from the ancient past reveal our destruction — and offer hope for survival and a way forward.
Via Kottke
Skylight | 'They're male adolescents'
Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy feature in this Olivier Award-winning production of David Hare’s hard-hitting tale of love, passion and ideology.
Friday, December 27, 2024
(Just Like) Starting Over (1980)
Weeks after his death, John Lennon's (Just Like) Starting Over went to #1 in America.
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Boca Chica
Unrestricted access to beaches is a public right in Texas. But for the little-known, magical, and untamed stretch of beach called Boca Chica, that right is curtailed when SpaceX takes flight. This film shows the footprints SpaceX is leaving on our planet in its quest to reach beyond it.
Liza Lou - “Trailer”
Trailer fills the interior of a 1949 Spartan Royal Mansion mobile trailer stationed in the Brooklyn Museum’s entry pavilion. Inside, the colors are limited to replicate the allure and intensity of Hollywood film noir. Everything is rendered in glass beads, from the furniture, typewriter, and glossy men’s magazines to the guitar, guns, and shots of whiskey.
via madamjujujive
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Canadian Santas
Last year history podcaster Craig Baird created AI Santas that reflect the unique character of each Canadian province. Worth a repost.
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| Nunavut |
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| Quebec |
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| British Columbia |
Thanks Bruce!
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Snow Shoveler Bhangra
The Maritime Bhangra Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia, dance to raise money for the ALS Society.
Via Miss Cellania
If you like this you might want to check out Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon who makes my day a little brighter every time I see him.
Monday, December 23, 2024
Did Street View Solve A Crime?
A Street View car passing through the tiny Spanish village of Tajueco captured images of what sure looked like a man loading (or unloading) a wrapped body from the trunk of a car.
Read more
AI Generated Tango Video
I first heard the music of the Gotan Project at the Evita Museum in Buenos Aires years ago and have loved it ever since. David Szauder made this AI video using Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre). The piece has been used in many films over the years
@davidszauder Tango- Based on the fantastic sound of @gotanprojectofficial #tango #tangoargentino #dancer #fashiontiktok #ai #animation #stagedesign #setdesign #cos #cosplayer #costume #musicvideo #glamour #surreal #artwork #contemporarydance #trippyart #motiondesign ♬ Santa María (del Buen Ayre) - Gotan Project
via Memo Of The Air
The World’s First Transparent TV
Making its debut at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the Signature OLED T features a self-lit display that can can be used in either fully transparent or opaque mode, a breakthrough for television tech.
$60,000US
$60,000US
Instruments of a Beating Heart
In this short documentary, filmed in 2022, first graders at a Tokyo public school are presented with a challenge for their final semester: to form an orchestra and perform at a school ceremony. As the children are taught to “make your hearts as one” and rigorously rehearse, we see both the pressures and the wonders of being held responsible to a group.
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Sunday links
Vintage photos of people dressed as Christmas Trees (image above) via everlasting blort
I wish I had a memory like this guy
Let Zoox handle the traffic, while you enjoy a smooth, relaxing ride in a spacious cabin designed around you. via Duck Soup
A food timeline: From water to cronuts.
Don't expect to ever be reunited with your phone if it gets pinched by balaclava-clad thieves patrolling the streets of central London. How your stolen phone ends up in China's 'Silicon Valley'
This Rice and Squash Bombe looks fancy but it appears fairly simple to assemble. (NYT gift link)
Read Nackles, Donald E. Westlake’s horror story about the Anti-ClausI present to you a game that is very relevant this winter. It is called: “Find your car”
How can Harriet tell John to get lost solely by repunctuating her letter? See the answer hereWe'd like to take your measurements ma’am.
“He has chosen to be a farm stand that serves salty, fatty, sugary pseudo-thinking.”
The Most Scathing Book Reviews of 2024
New font: Times New Dumbass via everlasting blort
This week I learned what it means to be “crunchy”. (NYT Gift Link)
American Values, American Election, 2024
They missed their cruise ship but were able to watch as the ship that held their clothes, their medication, their luggage, and their phone chargers started her mighty engines and sailed away. They were about to learn the meaning of force majeure.
The art of the washing machine
How to eliminate family tension around the Christmas dinner table.
Soothe your soul by taking a virtual walk around Takayama, Japan's most beautiful traditional town.
The 25 most popular recipes of 2024 at NYT Cooking (gift link)
Want to feel old? Check out these Classic Christmas Gifts from the Year You Were Born
Something no one needs for Christmas: 14 Carat Gold-Plated Staples
Music For Sunday Morning
This song has been dubbed Song Of The Year by Matt at Web Curios. I like it too.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Evan
As the school year winds down, one student finds himself starting an unexpected relationship.
This is a PSA by Sandy Hook Promise, a group whose mission is to prevent gun violence before it happens. This is a good thing but we already know why other countries don’t have this uniquely American problem. They have gun control laws that protect innocent children. Simple as that.
Dave Allen In Search Of Eccentrics
A 1974 documentary in which Irish comedian, Dave Allen, meets a variety of British eccentrics, including a man who lives in a box on wheels, a cowboy vicar and a man who pretends to fly a Lancaster bomber in his garage.
via Web Curios
Friday, December 20, 2024
Winter Solstice Dawn at Newgrange
Newgrange is one of 40 passage tombs in Brú na Bóinne in County Meath.Ireland. During sunrise on the Winter Solstice mornings (19 – 23 December each year) a beam of sun light penetrates the roof-box and travels up to 19-metres (62 ft) along the passage, and illuminates the chamber. As the sun rises higher, the beam widens, dramatically lighting up the entire chamber. This video captured the solstice four years ago.
On Saturday, December 21st 2024, the Winter Solstice Sunrise will be livestreamed from within the ancient passage tomb at Newgrange. For more details, visit Heritage Ireland
Never Too Small
You probably know Simone Giertz as a builder of shitty robots. In this video the inventor and product designer opens the door to her tiny Los Angeles home.
I have posted many of her robot videos over the years. Just plug her name into the search box if you’d like to see a few.
The Moon Star
The moon was a star this morning over the lobster-trap Christmas tree in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. (photo by Darren Stone)
People Struggle To Open Milk Cartons (1976)
“I can imagine that to a person who’s a little bit emotionally unstable the trauma of trying to open one of these cartons could have devastating psychological effects.”
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Full Sensory Theater 1969
This contraption was meant to provide a total viewing experience at the movie theatre.
Death Of A Unicorn- Trailer
A father and daughter accidentally kill a unicorn. Ethical conflicts ensue.
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN - A Time Travel Adventure
Two will-they-won’t-they friends are just keeping it simple this New Year's Eve — until their house is crashed by a man from the future who tells them that the fate of the universe rests in their hands.
via Memo Of The Air
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sanborn Fire Maps
Sanborn maps were designed to help insurance companies assess the fire risk of individual properties. They were highly detailed, showing the size, shape, and construction of buildings, as well as the materials used in their construction. This information was used by insurance companies to calculate the premium that a property owner would have to pay for fire insurance. The maps are valuable for documenting changes in the built environment of American cities over many decades.
“Planners use the maps to study historic urban planning designs. Historic preservationists use the maps to understand the significance and historical evolution of buildings, including their historic uses and building materials in conservation and rehabilitation efforts. Demographers and urban geographers use them to study patterns of growth and migration of populations. Environmental scientists also use the maps for historical analysis of properties, as the maps often showed the locations of gas stations, drycleaners, and other potential sources of soil and groundwater contamination.” (wikipedia)
via Feuilleton
Terry Fox to be new face of the $5 bill
Terry showed Canadians the power of courage and determination and has left a lasting legacy in the form of the annual Terry Fox Foundation which has raised over $800 million for cancer research.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
First Toronto Post Office
This post office has been nestled in the heart of Old Town on Adelaide Street since the 1830s. This historic site opened when the city was still called York, a part of the British Empire. It still operates today, complete with quill pens and ink for writing letters.
Household Objects Up Close
This video by Dutch filmmaker Michiel de Boer provides close-ups of a series of square-millimetre surfaces of everyday objects around his home, capturing them in 4K resolution.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Tis The Season Of Intricate Gingerbread
Gorgeous gingerbread versions of famous landmarks from around the world.
The Jalousie Neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
More than 80,000 people now live in Jalousie. Many of them moved here after the earthquake which devastated much of Haiti in 2010. 74% of Haiti's urban population are now living in slums without running water or electricity.
1927 Great Mississippi River Flood
This video restoration and colorization shows the magnitude of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. It was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) inundated in depths of up to 30 feet (9 m) over the course of several months in early 1927. Approximately 500 people died as a result of flooding. An estimated 750,000 people were left without food and water, clothing, or work, and authorities were severely criticized for favouring the white population during rescue and relief operations.
via Memo Of The Air
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Sunday Links
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| (François Prost, 2023) |
François Prost photographed the facades of cute roadside love hotels in Japan that offer private rooms with prices advertised by the hour. The series is a love letter to the kitschy landmarks that dot Japan’s highways.
A sustainable and adorable trio of cabins in the Helsinki archipelago.
Hex codes for all 16.7 million colours
Form Letter: Thank you for choosing United Healthcare for your healthcare needs. After a careful review of the claim submitted for emergency services on December 4, 2024, we regret to inform you that your request for coverage has been denied
A gruesome but interesting story about the 1955 LeMans 24-hour endurance race which became known as Racing's Deadliest Day
Snake Oil? Evidence for popular health supplements.
While Trump rails against U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants Russians are flocking to his properties to give birth to U.S. citizens.
Fascinating facts about Japan’s Golden Submarine and her final journey and fate.Big britches
Introducing the First-Ever Smart Thermostat for Perimenopausal People
What is a Spamalanche? You don’t want to find out.
Eugene and Marie established an “all-encompassing” world of their own – a world where stages of exotic theatres were mounted. Eugene Von Bruenchenhein And His Wife Marie: A Love Story
What do hard-boiled eggs, actors, aspirin, and railroad travel all have in common? They all incurred the ire of Raymond Chandler. (Literary Hub)
Suffer the Children: The Tragic Fate of Indigenous and Doukhobor Children in Canadian Governmental Care
Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About Thanks to Vaccines “Parents in the early 1950s lived with a terror: the substantial prospect that their child could touch the wrong toy and end up in a wheelchair, an iron lung or a grave.”
Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About Thanks to Vaccines “Parents in the early 1950s lived with a terror: the substantial prospect that their child could touch the wrong toy and end up in a wheelchair, an iron lung or a grave.”
Pigcasso
“When I worked at Cafe Minnie’s in 1995, I was the target of more customer complaints than any other server. Thus my claim to have been ...The worst waiter in Seattle“
Riding made them feel “happy and scared.” Happy because freedom is joyful. Scared because of the fury it provoked in men. These women were some of Afghanistan’s best athletes. Then the Taliban came back.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Couch Possum
Possums came inside through the cat door looking for something to eat. The baby possum likely fell off his mother and ended up in their couch. They were woken up by noises like a bird in distress. The possum quickly found a foster mum.
Read more: Laughing Squid@toni_mk1 I think this little baby fell off its mom when she out the cat door? #fyp #fypシ #foreyoupage #babypossum #possumsoftiktok #orangecat #wildanimals #vetsoftiktok #possumrescue #possumhelp ♬ original sound - 🦈✨TONI ✨🦈
What Is A Cat? Mining Accident Theater #12
Bogdan, Catherine and Tom are stuck down in a mine, waiting for rescue, and in the meantime they watch old film reels they find in the mine and comment on them. Here they watch an educational cat video from the 1970s.
via Metafilter
Friday, December 13, 2024
A Letter From WW1 Captain Reginald John Armes To His Wife 1914
The Christmas Truce was a series of unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front of World War I during the Christmas season of 1914. On the evening of December 24th, the first day of the truce, Captain ‘Jack’ Armes wrote to his wife and described this incredible occurrence. Peter Capaldi reads that letter:
What Happens When A Police Killing Is Caught On Tape
Incident reconstructs a 2018 police shooting in Chicago, reassembling the event and the immediate attempts to shape the story using a variety of sources, including surveillance, CCTV, dashboard, and body-worn cameras, as a synchronized split-screen montage.
*WARNING: Violence*
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Bonsai In Training
This video by Stephen Voss is of a tree called Goshin, which has been in training since 1953.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
The Telluride Blanket
“No other complete specimen exists. There are only two other patterned prehistoric blankets that match this when it comes to its undamaged state.”
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